Newbie

[Thundercat_tx]

Hi all,
I apologize if I'm introducing myself in the wrong place or in the wrong way.
I'm Aimee and my VERY newly diagnosed furbaby is Jenga. He is 11 yrs old. I am having a really tough time with this because his blood sugar levels just do not seem to want to dip down below 400. He takes PZI/ProZinc BID at 2 units. His curve check up will be Aug 25th, but I can't take much more of this anxiety. He has never acted any different, but from what I hear, it's probably because his body just got use to such high levels.
I feed my furkids TikiCat-grain free. I actually had switched, but just switched back to it. I wish I had never went off of TikiCat.
Not sure what else to say, but HI!!!!!!!!!!!!! God bless all of you who have had to deal with this stress. nailbite_smile

 

[Tiger(GA) and Ruth]

Hello Thundercat, welcome to the forum. Is there a human name that I can call you? It sounds like you are doing home testing, and that is the best thing you can do for your kitty! Feline diabetes is a very difficult disease, it is best described as a marathon, not a spring, so please don't feel discouraged if at first, the numbers don't look so good. Speaking of which, it is helpful if you have a spreadsheet to track Thundercat's numbers, you can find it here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

You might also want to include your name, kitty's name and what insulin you use and other health issues in your signature link. To do that, click on the User Control Panel link, top left of the page.

Take a deep breath, and pat yourself on the back for home testing and for reading the info on this forum, it was a Godsend for us!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Welcome! You have posted in the exact right place.

Is the Tiki Cat a wet pate food? If so, you are doing two of the important things to help you Jenga: wet low carb food and a mild long lasting insulin. The last and most important part of this sugar dance is to test his blood sugar levels at home. Are you testing him at home or are his numbers from the vet? We like hometesting because you have keep track of the levels during the cycle and see exactly how the insulin is working. And we know stress raises the sugar levels and most cats are stressed at the vet, so the levels there can be artifically high.

We would love to help you learn how to test his levels at home. Then you will be sure the amount of the insulin you are giving will be safe, and how that dose works - how low the level goes down. If you aren't testing, would you be interested in learning how?

If you are already home testing, do you want to share some of his numbers? We might have ideas about his dose and levels.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Hi and welcome to FDMB.

It is initially overwhelming when you first learn your cat has diabetes, but I can assure you that it does get easier. The members here on FDMB can help you learn how to manage Jenga's diabetes. FD is very manageable and we will help you find the methods that work best for you.

The basics of treatment are a low carb/high protein canned or raw food diet, slow acting insulin and hometesting. As Sue said, if the Tiki Cat is a low carb/high protein canned food, it is a good one to use. Dry food is high carb and will it make it more difficult to get Jenga's glucose levels under control. You are also already using a very good insulin. We can help you learn to hometest if you are not already doing so. You will use a human glucose meter for testing and will test a small drop of blood before every shot. Hometesting will ensure you give insulin when it is safe to and help you determine if you need to adjust the dose. It is also more reliable than tests at the vet since stress can easily raise your cat's glucose levels.

I know it does not seem like it, but it does get easier and very soon, you may be offering other newbies advice and calming words. :mrgreen:

 

[RobinCot]

Welcome Thundercat!!!

So glad that you are here with us so we can help you get settled in maintaining this disease. It really can be managed and you have made the first step in looking at your kitties diet. I also feed Tiki Cat - the chicken consomme mostly and then the salmon and chicken and ahi and chicken - are all LOW carb. Watch out for the ones with rice - they are not low carb.

There is a great group of people here who will walk you through everything you need to know and do for Thundercat - starting with testing and diet. You already have a good insulin so you are on your way. If you are not already testing at home - please consider it here. It will save you a lot of unnecessary vet costs. We do our own curves at home where our kitties are not stressed.

It will get easier - it really will!!!!

 

[ohbell]

Hello Aimee! and Mr. Jenga!
Welcome to the club of kitty madness...ok, we are the mad ones and our kitties are just extra sweet.
I have been visiting with you on fb and your spreadsheet is complete to date.
Can we step you thru putting it on your signature now? and perhaps a few other things that us folks will ask over and over if it is not there
;-)
Shellie & Sugar Bean!