Newly diagnosed and feeling lost

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Flynn Ryder

Member Since 2020
Hi everyone!
My little man, Flynn Ryder (just turned 8 years old!) was just diagnosed on Friday. He was prescribed 1 unit of vetsulin twice a day. And to be honest I was scared about giving him shots because I didn't want to hurt him. But were getting the hang of it and its getting a bit easier each time!

So a little background: He has been on dry food (hills science diet) since I adopted him nearly eight years ago. Hes always been a grazer, but ive never fed him more than what the bag said to. I do give him treats when I leave for work (greenies) and I would do some Sheba wet food as a treat once or twice a week.
The past two weeks (ish) he wasn't super interested in his dry food, so I started giving him wet and he would eat no problem. He wouldnt ravish it, or cry like he was hungry, but he was still crazing and just eating about half of it, and then the other half a little later (after having a good bath)
Now that he is on insulin I switched him immediately to wet food. Im doing 3-4 meals a day (depending on him)

I have just a couple questions.

1.) they told me to make sure he eats before giving insulin, but how much does he NEED to eat before giving him the shot?
Like I said hes used to just crazing, not structed meal times. So I can get him to eat about half his wet food before the shot and the rest like 15-20 minuets after. My vet recommended feeding twice a day, but im worried if I do that he wont eat enough.
Is it ok to do 3 or more smaller meals a day? or any advice on transitioning him to just twice a day? How much wet food do you recommend. im worried im under feeding him!

2.) Is it ok to cut his dry food cold turkey? or do I need to ease him out of it? Hes not super interested in dry food and doesn't look for it. But I don't want to hurt him.

3.) Any advice on getting him to play? He follows me around the house, and at night I can usually get him to play for a couple minuets. But he just seems tired and uninterested. Will that change the longer hes on insulin, or any games that gets you cats going?

4.) Any advice on easing my own mind. I feel like im checking on him every second (which im sure is starting to annoy him) I just get so worried and scared that im doing something wrong, or im not doing something I should be doing. Any signs or anything I need to look out for?

Sorry if this was a lot! I just want to thank you all because this sit as helped me so much already. I feel like ive read everything, ive don't so much research and its so nice to see all the support. I was so lost and surprised by his diagnosis, but thank you for your support helping me feel better and not alone in my fur babys diagnosis! :)
 
Well you are no longer lost. You found us! WELCOME to FDMB the best possible place to help you help Flynn.

First I'm going to ask you to look in this section
Suggestions, Tech Support & Testing Area (sorry my links arent working but if you go to the main page you will fid that section to click on)
There you will find how to set up your signature and spreadsheet. Theres other things to read also while you wait for more replies.

Again WELCOME TO FDMB!
jeanne
 
Hi everyone!
My little man, Flynn Ryder (just turned 8 years old!) was just diagnosed on Friday. He was prescribed 1 unit of vetsulin twice a day. And to be honest I was scared about giving him shots because I didn't want to hurt him. But were getting the hang of it and its getting a bit easier each time!

So a little background: He has been on dry food (hills science diet) since I adopted him nearly eight years ago. Hes always been a grazer, but ive never fed him more than what the bag said to. I do give him treats when I leave for work (greenies) and I would do some Sheba wet food as a treat once or twice a week.
The past two weeks (ish) he wasn't super interested in his dry food, so I started giving him wet and he would eat no problem. He wouldnt ravish it, or cry like he was hungry, but he was still crazing and just eating about half of it, and then the other half a little later (after having a good bath)
Now that he is on insulin I switched him immediately to wet food. Im doing 3-4 meals a day (depending on him)

I have just a couple questions.

1.) they told me to make sure he eats before giving insulin, but how much does he NEED to eat before giving him the shot?
Like I said hes used to just crazing, not structed meal times. So I can get him to eat about half his wet food before the shot and the rest like 15-20 minuets after. My vet recommended feeding twice a day, but im worried if I do that he wont eat enough.
Is it ok to do 3 or more smaller meals a day? or any advice on transitioning him to just twice a day? How much wet food do you recommend. im worried im under feeding him!

2.) Is it ok to cut his dry food cold turkey? or do I need to ease him out of it? Hes not super interested in dry food and doesn't look for it. But I don't want to hurt him.

3.) Any advice on getting him to play? He follows me around the house, and at night I can usually get him to play for a couple minuets. But he just seems tired and uninterested. Will that change the longer hes on insulin, or any games that gets you cats going?

4.) Any advice on easing my own mind. I feel like im checking on him every second (which im sure is starting to annoy him) I just get so worried and scared that im doing something wrong, or im not doing something I should be doing. Any signs or anything I need to look out for?

Sorry if this was a lot! I just want to thank you all because this sit as helped me so much already. I feel like ive read everything, ive don't so much research and its so nice to see all the support. I was so lost and surprised by his diagnosis, but thank you for your support helping me feel better and not alone in my fur babys diagnosis! :)

I second JT in giving you a big welcome!!

I can answer questions 1&4

it’s okay to keep feeding him more than twice a day. In fact it’s better for cats who are grazers as opposed to dogs. I get the feeling your vet is more experienced with dogs since he also prescribed you an insulin more used in dogs than cats

For me what made me feel better is home testing so I can check Minnie’s levels every day. If you’re willing to do that we can help and there are lots of great tips abs resources here

welcome again! :bighug:
 
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The relationship of dry food (of ANY kind) and Blood glucose is a tricky one. ALL dry foods are packed with carbs. You remove the carbs and bg levels can drop dramatically. I would not stop the dry cold turkey especially if you are not home testing. Once you get on a regular schedule of insulin you can give a little less dry everyday. AGAIN I cannot stress this strongly enough. The ONLY way to keep your kitty safe is to home test his blood glucose levels. I know its daunting but its the best thing you can do for Flynn. Trust me. You will be glad you did. Ask ANYONE here. We CAN teach you how to do this. All you have to do is try.
j.
 
Hi and welcome!
With Vetsulin you need to make sure he eats a good meal 1/2 hour before you give the vetsulin. Vetsulin is a strong, fairly fast acting insulin and you need to have a good amount of food aboard. Eating some more a bit later is ok too as is snacking during the first half of the cycle.

I would definitely look at home testing as that is the only way to keep your kitty safe.
Keep feeding as you are until you are home testing as removing the dry food can drop the BG by up to 100 points
Keep asking questions.
Here are a couple of useful links
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.186099/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
 
One thing you can do to help folks give you guidance is set up your signature so they can see at a glance all the info about your cat. Insulin, meds, food etc. See mine as an example. here are step by step instructions for that:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

I’m going to add a little more to question #1

I would transition him away from the greenies as well and try less carby treats like freeze dried chicken or turkey. Minnie loves the freeze dried shrimp and also the minnows so you might have to try a few flavors to see what he likes. Or even real chicken. However, as you’ll see mentioned in the link above, always good to have a stash of high carb foods in case his BG level drops too low. As far as how much food, it depends on his weight. Is he at his ideal weight or did he lose weight because of the diabetes? Minnie was on a 300 calorie a day diet to gain the pounds she lost and now she’s back at 16 so I’m giving her a bit less food. To give you an idea, 300 equals about 3 and 1/2 cans of FF a day. You can find the calorie content on the back of each can. I’d ask your vet about weight maintenance versus weight loss. My feeling is if the cat is ravenous, he needs the calories. One thing to note is that diabetic cats lose calories simply by peeing since they’re losing sugar in their urine.

I have to second JT and Bron and as I said I’m only at peace by checking her BG levels throughout the day, but especially before each insulin shot so I know if it’s okay to give the current or dose or less or skip completely.

we don’t want to overwhelm you so I hope this all makes some sense to you :)
 
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