Newbie.....just diagnosed this morning

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Grady'smom

Member Since 2014
Good afternoon:

First of all, I am so thankful to have found you all. I am already feeling a little bit more confident that my boy and I can handle this!

Grady went to the vet this morning because had a cut that needed to be checked and I noticed in the last few days that he seemed thinner. Long story short, after an exam and bloodwork, the vet announced that she was shocked to find diabetes. I felt like I'd been hit with a brick. My head is spinning right now with questions, not even sure where to start. He is an old cat who had a very rough life before he came to me so I will do whatever I can to make him comfortable and well.
I'm waiting for my vet to call me back to discuss this more. I want to know about meds, diet, symptoms of hypo/hyper- am I missing anything? I thank you for any and all advice and I look forward to learning as much as I can here.
 
Hi Grady's mom,
Welcome! I am somewhat of a newbie myself and my kitty Noodle isn't regulated yet but I did want to offer you words of encouragement and tell you you've come to the best possible place for ongoing help. If you ever have a real crisis, mark the 911 icon at the top of the page and that alerts the experienced forum members that you need help in a hurry. Also, I don't know what your kitty is eating but one of the most crucial things you can do is get him off dry food and onto low-carb wet. Many times this alone will improve his blood glucose numbers measurably. If you're like many of us, your vet will be pushing some food they sell like Hills WD dry or Purina DM dry. These are terrible choices. What you want is a quality canned food with under 10% carbs, the lower the better and the food should be high-protein. I will try to locate the link and send it to you. Some wonderful person out there has put together a list of great foods to start with.
When you find out what kind of insulin your vet wants to start with, everyone on here will be able to guide you as to what specifics are best for you and your sugar baby. There are specific forums for Lantus users, Levemir users, ProZinc users, etc. The experienced members here emphasize that you have the best chance for remission and the least big blood glucose swings on Lantus, Levemir, or ProZinc. Vetsulin doesn't get many positive votes although of course some people use it and their kitties do fine on it. One thing everyone has emphasized to me is ECID--meaning every cat is different. Believe me, I know about the feeling of being socked in the gut when your cat is diagnosed. I'm still a basket case but the people on this forum are VERY experienced and have had years and years of experience and they will help you. There are no silly questions. Ask anything and everything, especially in these early panicky days. We've all been there. :o
Another thing you will want to do is hometesting so that you don't give an insulin shot without knowing your kitty's glucose number, risking sending him into a hypoglycemic emergency. You can get a very inexpensive glucose meter at WalMart (the ReliOn brand) and the test strips are reasonable compared to many of the other meters. You do not need to buy the super-expensive meters; the ReliOn brand get good reviews for accuracy. There are several videos explaining how to home test and everyone here is glad to share their tips.
One other thing that will help you immensely is to set up a spreadsheet where you will list the blood glucose numbers from testing your kitty. I am so tech-challenged myself that I had to have help in setting mine up. The member SUEANDOLIVER did mine for me. I am sure someone on the board will read your post shortly and help you get set up.
It is also very important to get some test strips at the drugstore to do urine-testing for ketones. Ketones can build up and become life-threatening very fast, especially when a kitty has high blood sugar and is not yet controlled with insulin. Did the vet say how high Grady's blood sugar was?
This is just a very short course and I'm sure I've left a lot of things out which many other members will be jumping in with. But I saw that you just got this shocking news and wanted to tell you that there IS hope and that Grady can be helped to get healthy again. You have already done a great thing by getting on this board right away and asking questions so you are off to the best start.
Sorry this is so long, but "welcome" and please keep us posted about your sugar baby.

Christi
 
Welcome to fdmb,

The key things to controlling the diabetes, and possible remission is having the best insulin, home testing, and diet change. Most here will recommend Lantus, ProZinc, Levemir, and BCP PZI. All of these are good insulin's to use and last about 12 hours per shot. When starting insulin it is best to start low and go slow.

You can change diet before starting insulin but its best to slowly switch to prevent stomach issues, also when switching diet it is very important to home test. BG can drastically reduce due to diet change and cause hypo (which can kill) Here is a link for signs of hypo, and treatment viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887

Here is a link to the foods that are recommended but most here seem to use fancy feast pates, or friskies. It is recommended 10% or less for carbs.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Also here is also a list of low carb treats:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9172

We also advise to home test. You can use a human glucose meter, although some vets push the pet specific meter on you...mine being one of them. I was a sucker and bought it, spent $150+ to find out after a month that the human meters are a LOT cheaper and just as reliable. Some vets don't even bring up home testing, mine didnt. She advised me to bring him in a week or so to check his numbers. If I took her advice, I would have killed him for sure by giving him his shot when his blood glucose was too low. The thing that slapped me in the face with a huge DUH! was when someone on here said "would you give your child a shot without knowing their blood glucose first?" Well, no.....and my cats ARE my children. Testing seems intimidating at first, but it does get easier for both of you. Also, your vet may suggest bringing her in to do a curve (testing every hour) this is not necessary if you start home testing. Blood Glucose will rise from stress, and illness so if your cat is like mine it would be a very stressful ordeal, and results (most likely) wouldn't be as accurate as they could be at home, not to mention it saves you some money.

Heres a shopping list of things you might need:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Uf ... edit?pli=1

Once you start home testing it is a good idea to start a spread sheet to keep track.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130


Good luck, and if you have any question no matter how stupid it sounds.......ask. This board is full of caring people with an amazing amount of information. My Hidey wouldn't be in remission without them.
 
Thank you so much for the quick responses! As I'm sure you can imagine, I was beside myself earlier when I got this news but I can honestly say now I feel so much better now. My boy and I are going to do this, I know it!

My vet wants to start him on vetsulin, 1 unit every 12 hours. If it doesn't work, we will switch to Lantus. She also recommended a low carb, canned diet. Thanks to some info I found here, I went out and bought him some Fancy Feast canned. He was never a big dry food guy anyway so getting him away from that shouldn't be too hard. We are meeting with the doctor tomorrow to pick up his meds ( they had to order them) and get some lessons on how to give the injections, what symptoms we need to be on alert for, and how to manage hyper/hypo episodes. I also told her I want to discuss home testing as well. My vet assured me that I am not doing this alone, that this will be a collaborative effort between her and myself.
I am so grateful to have found this site and for all of the helpful advice & support we've already received. Grady and I once again thank you all and I look forward to sharing our progress with everyone.

Annie (Grady's Mom)
 
Unfortunately vetsulin is not a 12 hr insulin, usually lasts about 8 hrs or so. That is what they started Hidey on, even though I was told prozinc, and his numbers wouldnt budge. You can see for yourself by looking at Hidey's spreadsheet and scrolling to the beginning. Granted every cat is different, but if you do a search on here for vetsulin youll find many dont use it because of the short effect. A lot of vets tend to go to the vetsulin and alike I think because it can be used on cats AND dogs.
 
Dirtybirdsoaps,
Thank you for the info on Vetsulin. I looked at hidey's sheet - wow! I think my vet is going with it because it's cheaper although I have repeatedly said that money isn't a deciding factor. Granted I'm far from wealthy but if Lantus is a better option then that's what he will have. My boy will get the best I can provide for him, I promised him that!
 
Lantus is a good one from what I here. From the posts I see on this site the best way to go is get a prescription for a single pen and I'm pretty sure it is target that sometimes will do it. Lantus and levemir (don't know if it's spelled right) are human insulins that are used for animals as well. I do know there's a prescription card to get you a discount not sure about how to get it though....maybe their website? I got Hidey on prozinc, after they had him on vetsulin for a month. I was so frustrated watching his numbers go up and up then finally after I had him switched to prozinc he went in remission within a month, every cat is different. but I only paid $80 for a vial of prozinc that was supposed to last 3 months.....never had to use it that long lol.
 
After yesterday's shocker news, I've had time to do some reading and educate myself. Knowledge is a very powerful weapon in my opinion.

Grady was at the vet's yesterday for a cut on his face, which is being treated with Clavamox. During the course of his testing, they also discovered that he has a UTI. He has lost weight and has been drinking a bit more than usual. Is it possible that perhaps the UTI and the mere stress of being in the vet's may have raised his glucose? I still have not been told how high his # actually was. Should I insist on another test before insulin is started? After reading extensively about vetsulin, I plan to insist on Lantus when the time comes. I think I would feel more comfortable with it.

My baby had a very peaceful, comfortable night after his rough morning yesterday. Can't remember seeing him sleep that soundly before and he looked so much brighter this morning.

Once again, Grady and I thank everyone for their support and advice. It's nice to know that we won't be traveling this road alone. :smile:
Annie
 
Grady'smom said:
I also told her I want to discuss home testing as well.
Click to expand...

My vet almost jumped in the air with excitement when I said I wanted to learn how to home test, however, from the stories I have heard on here, not all vets are like that....

Remember you can DISCUSS with her home testing, but you do not need permission to do so. Regardless of what the vet says, I would strongly encourage home testing. You do not need to buy the expensive pet meter that they sell, from what I hear the strips are like $1 each and with how many test strips I can go through, not feasible or realistic for me.

Especially if you want to try to get off insulin eventually, home testing will be key to that.

Grady'smom said:
I still have not been told how high his # actually was.
Click to expand...
I would definitely ask for what the specific numbers are.....

As for Lantus...it was a bit of a sticker shock for me, but I purchased the 10 mL vial in May and still have about a fourth of it left....from what I have read, once it is opened it is good for about six months for a cat (if cared for properly).....knock on wood, I am hoping to have Skooter off insulin before that time comes....fingers crossed!!
 
A quick update on Grady and I.

We met with our vet and, I'm happy to say, he is going on LANTUS tomorrow! As I didn't know his initial glucose reading,I asked and was floored: 405!! After I did extensive research here, I feel Lantus is the only choice and she happily agreed. She was over the moon to hear I wanted to home test.....she said she has very few people ask about it and she fully supports it. I did my first home test with him a few minutes ago and it actually worked. Saying I am relieved is an understatement. For the first time in days, I am feeling confident that we are going to manage this.

Thanks everyone for the support. Your help and advice is a great source of comfort for both of us and we appreciate it more than you know!
 
I'm glad to hear it's going well! Tasha and I are new to this as well, having our first day of insulin and tests, sort of figuring it out as we go and leaning hard on these forums, the people and the information. My vet was "meh" about home testing and I disagree with several things she told us this morning. I'm glad to hear your vet is really listening and working with you. You and Grady are going to be just great!
 
So glad to hear you were able to get the lantus. I dont know much about lantus except it takes a few days for it to build up in the system so these next couple days you want to try to get a few tests in to keep an eye on his numbers, especially if you have now changed his diet. Its such a great thing your vet is on board with the home testing, I dont get how any couldnt be! I know mine didnt think was important but would you inject your child or yourself without knowing? DUH! lol It's all trial and error but it gets easier.
 
Mt Tommy is getting stared on Vetsulin. I think it's because it's cheaper. He will go 12 hrs between shots so I want to switch to a longer lasting insulin. Will the type of insulin make a difference in his levels? Where do you do the stick on a cat for home testing?
 
Hello,

Jack is on Lantus. That is what the Vet recommended but did offer a lower (almost 1/2) cost alternative. I cannot remember the name.

I felt going with something the Vet knew about was an important factor.

As far as where to stick the cat. I do the ears.The is a vein running along the edge of the back of the ear. Take a flashlight and shine it through the ear and you will see.. That is the target.

The Vet tech showed me the paw, but I said nope, too much risk of infection let alone the inability to hold onto flailing legs.

I have a microwave bean bag that I heat up and apply to the ear and rub it to get the blood flowing. I used a rubber finger tip on my finger to support the ear. I then hold the Plunger lancet over/along the edge of the ear flattening it into a sandwich. Finger on the inside, ear, then lancet. It works very well for me. I think warming the ear is important.

Wish you all the best!
 
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