Newbie

[jmroy81]

Hello all,

Just joining, as my cat was diagnosed this week with diabetes. We just got his medication today and new food. I'm not sure if I should start the new food and insulin at dinner tonight or wait until the morning. I'm worried about a reaction. Is it common to have one or would you think it's better to start tonight?

Thanks!

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Welcome
What food? A prescription diet is not necessary. Al you need a low-card, commercial food. The fancy Feast pates are fine. Is a listing of such foods:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/
What insulin and what dose? a good starting dose in one unit twice daily.
Most of use here test our cat's blood sugar using a hand held meter used for humans. e test before each shot and periodically between shots.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!).

 

[jmroy81]

I have bought him new food (he switched from dry to wet now) that was on the list of appropriate foods for him. He is starting Lantus, and I have a glucometer. I've tried to take his BS tonight, but am having a hard time with it since this is new to us. I will try again tonight and definitely take it in the morning! I'm definitely committed to this. He's my first baby

 

[BJM]

Good for you!
It really helps to make sure the ear is warm. I would massage the ear, and maybe take a small, thin sock, fill with some rice, and microwave to baby bottle warm (warm on the inside of your arm, but not burning hot) to hold against the ear for a minute to help warm it up before trying to test.
I also used the lancet without using the device, because I could see better and I felt I had better control that way.

 

[jmroy81]

Great I will try that. Thank you!

 

[BJM]

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
general location (city and state/province)
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.