Newbie in Minnesota

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KerryinMinnesota

Member Since 2017
I'm a newbie! My little princess, Kobe, was just diagnosed with diabetes. She's 15.5 yo now. She was hyperthyroid at age 12.5 yo and was treated with radioactive I-131 therapy (I'm in the Hyper-T FB group). She's had borderline diabetes for awhile, trying to work with diet, but I brought her back in to get her kidneys checked and look for diabetes again, which her labs confirmed (still awaiting kidney values before proceeding/no ketones either). She drinks a lot of water and produces a ton of pee. Her weight and muscle mass has declined (around 9-10 pds). I need to touch base with the vet this week to start treatment. What is the best insulin/how to check sugars/urine at home/etc. Do I need to leave her at the vet and do the curves thing a few times? Any advice is appreciated! I have 3 cats and have made dietary changes in the past that helped us. I work shiftwork at our local hospital and am a very busy person.

I need to purchase necessary equipment and get my script to get insulin. Still researching.
 

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Welcome! Your kitty is beautiful!
Almost all of us here test at home with a human meter or the Alpha Trak 2 pet meter. Test before meal and shot. No food 2 hours before test. If it's possible for you to do... it's cheaper, less stressful, and more accurate numbers when you do the curve at home. A lot of cats get higher BG readings at the vet due to stress.
We also use keto-strips, ketone test strips used with a urine sample to test for ketones. There are a few ways to get the sample: plastic wrap on top of the litter, long handle spoon placed under their butt while peeing, or some just pass the strip under the stream as they go.
Diet is important. Wet food is best- Low carb wet food. There is a list here, Dr. Lisa's cat food list, showing carb values in a lot of different foods. Many people feed multiple small meals throughout the day. Some feed twice a day. Auto feeders are a blessing when feeding more than twice.
Edit to add food list: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

As for the best insulin-- every cat is different. Some vets are set in their ways and like a certain insulin.
There are many "Pros" on this forum that can give you a lot more information than I can. They should be along soon. Usually pretty quiet over night. You definitely found the best place (in my opinion) for feline diabetes support!
 
Welcome. Glad to hear you are planning on home testing. Once you start doing that it eliminates the need to do the curves at the vet since you can do it yourself. What are you feeding them?
 
Obviously you care for your kitty and have already had some medical issues so you're already in the game. There's a lot of research you can do here: "Announcements & How to use the FDMB" will show you how to navigate the site, your next step is to post what you just said in "Feline Health, The Main Forum" and you'll notice their are forums for your specific insulin as well.
Kobe almost looks like an Abyssinian. I'm not much for purebreds but I once had a male Abyssinian that I got from "The Pound" for $20. He had an abscess on his back, easily treatable. I told everyone Walter was an Ethiopian hunting cat, he would sit atop the fridge observing his kingdom. Good luck to both of you, the hysterical part is over!
 
Hey, I'm in Minnesota too and my Krillin (14 years) just got diagnosed today. Mine has complications, too, except instead of hyperthyroid, it's chronic pancreatitis. I'm a bit nervous about the immediate future - I've given him subq fluids before so I know I can handle the injections, but he needs prednisalone for his pancreas, too, which as I understand it can interfere with insulin.

Good luck to you!!
 
JanetNJ said:
Welcome. Glad to hear you are planning on home testing. Once you start doing that it eliminates the need to do the curves at the vet since you can do it yourself. What are you feeding them?
Click to expand...
I'm using Fancy Feast Classic wet food. I work shift work at our local hospital, so I leave a small scoop of dry food in case I end up working 16 hours or more. I know dry is bad, they hardly eat any. I have 3 cats. We've kept my cat a pre-diabetic for a few years with diet, but she's not stable, so I need to start insulin. I'm sure the Hyper-T didn't help!

Nice log, BTW! I don't think I'll be as detailed!
 
Noah & me said:
Obviously you care for your kitty and have already had some medical issues so you're already in the game. There's a lot of research you can do here: "Announcements & How to use the FDMB" will show you how to navigate the site, your next step is to post what you just said in "Feline Health, The Main Forum" and you'll notice their are forums for your specific insulin as well.
Kobe almost looks like an Abyssinian. I'm not much for purebreds but I once had a male Abyssinian that I got from "The Pound" for $20. He had an abscess on his back, easily treatable. I told everyone Walter was an Ethiopian hunting cat, he would sit atop the fridge observing his kingdom. Good luck to both of you, the hysterical part is over!
Click to expand...
My girl is a tabby calico. Nothing fancy, she's just a little girl I got from the pound at 8 weeks old, along with 2 other cats. They will all be 16 this summer!
 
KerryinMinnesota said:
I'm using Fancy Feast Classic wet food. I work shift work at our local hospital, so I leave a small scoop of dry food in case I end up working 16 hours or more. I know dry is bad, they hardly eat any. I have 3 cats. We've kept my cat a pre-diabetic for a few years with diet, but she's not stable, so I need to start insulin. I'm sure the Hyper-T didn't help!

Nice log, BTW! I don't think I'll be as detailed!
Click to expand...
There are two diabetic friendly cat foods. evo cat and kitten in the purple bag is about 7 %, and my favorite Young Again Zero carb food which you can get a sample of if you ask from Youngagainpetfood.com.
 
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