Newbie in need of major support!

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rsvlbelle

rsvlbelle

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Hello!

My name is Belle and my 1 yr old tabby (Wilbur) was just diagnosed with diabetes. The vet told me it was quite rare in a cat so young and that he was probably born with it.
I am currently an unemployed student so I am really struggling with not only the monetary commitment (so much for that low balance credit card), but also the time and attention that needs to be spent on him. I also just re-located so my first vet introduction/visit was the one where I got the diagnosis. The vet had no literature for me on what to do so I am trying to read up on everything I can find online and it is QUITE overwhelming!

Wilbur was given to me last summer when I was suffering from really bad depression (partly due to the fact that my 6 yr old dog had just been diagnosed with bone cancer) and he was a big factor in me overcoming it. I love this kitty more than I can say and can't bear to think of having to put him down and although it makes me cry I am wondering if I should start looking for another diabetic cat owner who might be willing to take him. I am going to try and do it on my own, but I'm just really doubting myself. :sad:

I have gone so far as to buy an electric meat grinder and all the supplements/ingredients listed on Binky's cat food recipe and made my first batch of food last Friday. I have been giving him 1/2 a unit of insulin every 12 hours for about 2 weeks and as soon as I get the rest of his glucose monitoring stuff in the mail (hopefully tomorrow) I'll start his glucose curve. He is super skinny and acts starving about every 3 hours, so the raw food is going pretty quickly.

I have so many questions I don't even know where to start, but here are a few, if anyone can help, I would really appreciate it!

* Where to give the shot? - My vet told me to do it in the scruff of the neck, but I have read on various sites that the upper part of the leg (which he doesn't like) or on one or the other side of his spine is the best place.

*Avocado - I heard this was a good source of calories for a diabetic cat and I've been giving it to him for about a week, but was just wondering if anyone had heard or knew anything about it.

*Chicken skin - I thought I read that grinding up the skin with the meat and bone was good for them because they needed the fat, but then another site said remove all the skin. Anyone know about this?

I'll probably be on here daily once I start the curve, so please bear with me and THANK YOU so much to anyone who chimes in :)
 
* Where to give the shot? - My vet told me to do it in the scruff of the neck, but I have read on various sites that the upper part of the leg (which he doesn't like) or on one or the other side of his spine is the best place.

*Avocado - I heard this was a good source of calories for a diabetic cat and I've been giving it to him for about a week, but was just wondering if anyone had heard or knew anything about it.

*Chicken skin - I thought I read that grinding up the skin with the meat and bone was good for them because they needed the fat, but then another site said remove all the skin. Anyone know about this?
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I can't help with too many of your questions, but I wanted to say welcome! Its great that you are making your own raw food and adding the appropriate supplements! Your kitty's health will thank you!

Shot locations: You can use either the scruff of the side of the body. Some have noted that shooting in the scruff results in less insulin absorption, which is why many of us choose to shoot on the side. The most important thing with wherever you decide to shoot is to rotate injection sites. Try not to inject in the exact same place for at least 1 week. Some kitties can develop a small bit of scar tissue if the same place is used every time.

What kind of insulin are you using currently?

I am sure others will chime in here soon about your other questions!
 
Thank you!! Right now I am using Prozinc. I had been giving him all his shots in the scruff of the neck up until this morning, I tried it in his upper leg once but he jumped and ran away with the needle hanging out of him so I'm pretty sure I did something wrong. I gave it to him on the right side of his spine towards the back legs this morning, and it did bother him a little. He is so skinny it has been hard to create the 'tent' in his skin for the shot.

Quick site question - I'm trying to upload a picture for my profile but am having a hard time figuring out what size 9.77 KiB is, I took my picture down to 1 pixel by 1 pixel and it still said it was to big??
 
I know my foster kitty Yoda was so skinny when I got him that I had no choice but to shoot in the scruff until he built up a fat layer under the skin. If that is the easiest place to shoot right now - then that is where you have to shoot. Just try to rotate around in that area as much as you can to prevent scar tissue. I haven't heard of many using the leg, but lots of beans use the side of the belly.

For your avatar: Go to this site and upload your picture: http://www.shrinkpictures.com/create-avatar/
For wanted size - put in 90 pixels. Save the new smaller picture to upload to FDMB. This one worked for me when resizing on my computer didn't.
 
Thank you, that worked great for the photo.

So you pinch skin on the side of the belly? I'll have to try that for his shot tonight :)
 
Hello and welcome!

I'm sorry to hear that Wilbur is diabetic, especially at such a young age! For food, he's going to be "starving" until you get his blood glucose under control. Basically since he's diabetic, his body doesn't know what to do with the sugar so it gets dumped out in his urine instead of nourishing his body. When that happens the body begins to consume muscle mass, fat and anything else it can do to keep alive.

To help with stretching the food out, when you make him his food put some extra water in it so he feels full longer. Also, you can get the super cheap ReliOn Meter from Wal-Mart. This thing was a godsent! Strips are so bloody expensive and thanks to the people on this board I will no longer run out of strips with the fantastic price of $40 for 100!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Ultima-Blood-Glucose-Monitor/3555238

The meter itself is like nine dollars, super cheap! And super easy to use!

You can also give kitty high quality canned food which is a little more expensive but easier to use. Some canned foods you can get for even cheaper than making your own. There is a list of Diabetic Friendly cat foods here:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/DrLynneFoodList.pdf

Some of the fancy feast varieties might be right up your alley. Good luck! And Wilbur is a cutie :D

-Breayle and Jake
 
I always used the scruff to shoot Maggie with no problems. Especially in the beginning, I would stick with the scruff if the other areas cause problems. Just use various parts of the scruff. If it were me, I'd get used to the whole diabetes thing experimenting with some of the other locations.
 
Shooting in the scruff is fine. There has been debate on the rate of absorption between scruff and belly (not leg-not enough fat to tent)
However if your using a longer acting insulin, why would you want to speed up the absorption?

Scruff was the only option for me with an extrmely fractious cat-beautifully regulated so I wouldn't spend time worrying over this.

Could cross post in PZI forum as this is where beans who use Prozinc tend to post as I believe it is similar to PZI. Relatively new on the market but sounds positive so far.

Good luck :mrgreen:
 
I just wanted to post and share a shoulder...it's overwhelming at first. But you know what? It also gets pretty routine pretty quickly. And the best part? It is not only doable, but it really can work in a student's schedule.

I am a student, starting my 4th semester of nursing school. 12 hour days for me are not uncommon (actually, they're 4 days a week), enormous amount of studying and writing. But if I can do it, you can too. Matter of fact, I "did" it so well with my first, I adopted a second, just because. LOL.

I love the fact you're gonna give this a shot; Wilbur deserves it, and so do you. Just because it's a scary illness, once you learn how to deal with it and get over the first "ohmygoodnesswhatdoIdo...???" part, you'll be flying with this. You really will.

We're here for you!

Best-
Michele
 
Hi and welcome.

Have you always made his food or is this new with the diagnosis? If not, what did he eat before?

If you haven't seen Dr. Lisa Pierson's site about nutrition, it's a great start.
http://www.catinfo.org/

Great info on making cat food: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatf ... e_Together

How was your kitty dx? Was it a fructosamene test, or a one time blood sugar test at the vet? It is rare, although not unheard of to have a kitty this young with FD.

ProZinc is a good insulin, but once you start hometesting you'll see for yourself how he is reacting to the insulin and in time you'll be able to see what food and normal activities do to his blood sugar. It will really help you save money because for only a dollar a day (much of the time) you'll know how your kitty is feeling, rather than the cost of blood glucose curves at the vet, or worse, a situation where your kitty gets sick from too much or too little insulin and you have to go to the vet.

Just today my little man went to low and because I hometested I was able to give him food and test again to keep him from going too low and ending up at the clinic.

Looking forward to learning more about your little man.
 
Thank you all so much for the information and support! I was able to give him his shot in the side of the belly last night and this morn, so I think I'll alternate between that and his scruff from now on.

Tuckers mom - I was feeding him Iams sensitive systems before the diagnosis, he'd been having tummy issues ever since he was a kitten, so yeah, this is the first time I've ever attempted making his food. He gobbles it up and is very satisfied for an hour or two after, then its back to starving kitty. I've also been giving him cottage cheese and avocado in between to try and stretch the raw stuff out longer. I'd been taking him to the vet off and on for months, he had swollen lymph nodes and he had some kind of lesion on his lip, along with trying to figure out what was wrong with his tummy (he constantly had gas, you could sometimes see his belly rippling). He accidentally peed on the exam room floor so the doc decided to test it and his sugar levels were in the 500's, then they did a blood test and the vet said that explained all the other issues he'd been having. The tummy issues have all but disappeared on Binky's raw diet. Thanks for the links! I'll check them out :)

Michele and Esse - Oh you made me feel so much better! I was really kind of freaking out about being gone so much when school starts. I just can't wait to get to the point where I can breathe a sigh of relief and relax a little bit because we've got it under control. Thanks!

Breayle and Jake - I just got the Precision Xtra meter from Wal-mart because my friend gave me 150 test strips of that brand, but I didn't check to see how much they are.. $40 for a 100 seems like a really good price! When I run out of the 150 strips, I'll do a little comparison shopping. Before I got all the ingredients to make food I was giving him fancy feast, and I'm sure I'm gonna need a fall back once in a while, thanks for the links and info!
 
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