Newly diagnosed diabetic

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B

Bart's Mom

Member Since 2014
Hi all. I have a 6 year old cat that has just been diagnosed as diabetic.
He also has stomaitis, and has been on predisolone for 3 years, which caused the diabetes.
He gets 2 units if insulin twice a day. And gets the pred every other day, 1.5mg.
I've started meal feeding him Friskie's canned pate twice a day.. He was free feeding TOTW dry, and a small amount of canned in the morning.
I also have 3 other cats that I will ne meal feeding, and friskies is what I can afford to feed them.
I have decided to give his insulin at 7:30 a.m, and p.m. But during the week I feed at about 5a.m., and about 5-5:30p.m.
We like to sleep in a little on the wkends, and that's why I went with 7:30.
Is it ok to wait that long between eating and insulin?
And can the insulin be given a little late or a littler early if need be?
Thanks all
 
Here's our protocol for ProZinc. It should give you some ideas and maybe more questions :mrgreen:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=109077

With ProZinc, you can shoot without food, although a snack would be good because any insulin can be hard on an empty stomach. But we would never encourage you to shoot without testing. (just this am, a kitty who has been in the 200-300 range for a few weeks on ProZinc had a 76 preshot. If the bean had shot the usual dose, she would be dealing with a hypo today)

Friskies pate is a fine food. If you were testing, we would encourage you to feed it only and drop the dry. It can make a big difference in the levels (with my Oliver 100 points overnight when we switched from dry to wet)

Would you be willing to learn to test at home? We have taught hundreds of people how over the internet.
 
Welcome. The pred every other day will likely make find the right does harder since the effect of the pred is less than two days.
Prednisone and prednisolone are considered to be intermediate-acting steroids, meaning that a dose lasts about a day or a day and a half
From:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=622
Thus, when you you start testing bBG at home, please include when you gave the last dose of pred.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I am now feeding only Friskies canned and no dry, as fo last night.
I would like to learn how to test at home.
I would like to find a better alternative to the pred. Even a natural treatment
 
Wonderful! You will find it gives a great feeling of control over what is going on with the diabetes.

Here's a video that shows how it is done: Video for hometesting

Here is a shopping list:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. Some members stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. Some people think they are unreliable and read lower than other meters. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

How to get the cat ready for home testing

First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him/her lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he/she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!

Not everyone gets it on the first try, so don't get discouraged. We spent a whole weekend poking Oliver before we got a drop. Some of the things that are really important at first: Warm the ear enough. Use a larger gauge lancet to make a big enough hole. Never, ever forget a treat - successful test or not.
 
I was also wondering if twice a day feeding is ok, or should I feed him something in the middle of the day too?
 
Most of us feed several smaller meals a day as we think it helps support the pancreas as it heals. You can leave the wet food out and let them graze, as long as you pull it up 2 hours before the am or pm test. Or you can feed mid day. I love my PetSmart 5 that lets me program up to 5 feedings a day, when I want them to happen. Others freeze the wet food ( a cupcake pan works great) and leave it out to thaw. I have to say this never worked for us, Oliver would drag it around the house until it completely fell apart. :mrgreen:
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
Most of us feed several smaller meals a day as we think it helps support the pancreas as it heals. You can leave the wet food out and let them graze, as long as you pull it up 2 hours before the am or pm test. Or you can feed mid day. I love my PetSmart 5 that lets me program up to 5 feedings a day, when I want them to happen. Others freeze the wet food ( a cupcake pan works great) and leave it out to thaw. I have to say this never worked for us, Oliver would drag it around the house until it completely fell apart. :mrgreen:
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LOL I can't leavr food out, beacuse I have 3 others including one fatty, and 2 dogs. BUt a midday meal is definately doable:)
 
Welcome to FDMB. :smile:

Where are you from? Nice to see if any new sugar-cats are 'neighbors'. cat_pet_icon

Sue's ProZinc protocol link has great info for you to get started.

Once you start home-testing, there is a spreadsheet we use here to keep track of BG test numbers/shots/etc. Once you set it up and it is accessible in your signature we will be able to view it. The spreadsheet data is an invaluable tool to monitor how Bart's insulin is working and enables us to help you with dosing advice. Here is the link to set one up. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
If you have any questions, let us know....we are here to help you.

I feed my Rumpelteazer 3 times a day. Have to segregate her during feeding time....SHE would gobble up all of my civies (non-diabetic kittys) food. :lol: :roll:

Keep us posted on your progress and be sure to ask any questions you have. A good idea is to go to our ProZinc/PZI forum and take a look at other ProZinc users' daily condos (condition reports). Here is the link.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=24
 
misty1477 said:
Welcome to FDMB. :smile:

Where are you from? Nice to see if any new sugar-cats are 'neighbors'. cat_pet_icon

Sue's ProZinc protocol link has great info for you to get started.

Once you start home-testing, there is a spreadsheet we use here to keep track of BG test numbers/shots/etc. Once you set it up and it is accessible in your signature we will be able to view it. The spreadsheet data is an invaluable tool to monitor how Bart's insulin is working and enables us to help you with dosing advice. Here is the link to set one up. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
If you have any questions, let us know....we are here to help you.

I feed my Rumpelteazer 3 times a day. Have to segregate her during feeding time....SHE would gobble up all of my civies (non-diabetic kittys) food. :lol: :roll:

Keep us posted on your progress and be sure to ask any questions you have. A good idea is to go to our ProZinc/PZI forum and take a look at other ProZinc users' daily condos (condition reports). Here is the link.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=24
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:-D I live in western Nebraska.
You all have been great :mrgreen:
 
Hi to sugardude Bart and his mom. What is your name?

Ohhhhhh! I see you are in Nebraska. MommaOfMuse is from Hastings, Nebraska. Is that very far away from where you live?

I'm with you on not being able to leave any food out. Two of my civies (non-diabetic cats) are hoovers, dysons, eurekas, dustbusters, shop- vacs, ------- well, you get the idea. It's meal feeding only around here so Wink gets some food, and I still have to guard his food sometimes so my civie Monet doesn't reach out his paw and snag Wink's dish to gobble it down. Sheesh! ohmygod_smile
 
Deb & Wink said:
Hi to sugardude Bart and his mom. What is your name?

Ohhhhhh! I see you are in Nebraska. MommaOfMuse is from Hastings, Nebraska. Is that very far away from where you live?

I'm with you on not being able to leave any food out. Two of my civies (non-diabetic cats) are hoovers, dysons, eurekas, dustbusters, shop- vacs, ------- well, you get the idea. It's meal feeding only around here so Wink gets some food, and I still have to guard his food sometimes so my civie Monet doesn't reach out his paw and snag Wink's dish to gobble it down. Sheesh! ohmygod_smile
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Hello:) I'm Krisitne.
Hastings is quite a ways east of me.
Haha :-D Yes, Garfield, Barts brother isn't orange but never misses a meal LOL
 
When I had Bart at the vet yesterday, and found out he's diabetic, I asked the vet about testing and he didn't sound like I needed to that often.
He said they want to retest him in a week, then it would be every few months ??
I don't know if he realizied I was going to get Bart started on a low carb diet. He of course suggested the high fiber prescription food they sell.
What can I do different for his stomatitis to get him of the pred?
 
We figure if our two legged children got diabetes, we wouldn't shoot blindly, taking them back in a month for a check up. We treat our 4 legged children the same way; we test before each shot (very important for you as the predisone may change the numbers) to make sure each dose we plan to give is safe.

It made be that your vet didn't want to overwhelm you on the first day, with shots and testing. Or he may prefer to have you pay him for something you can do much cheaper and safer at home.

You might start a new thread with questions specifically about the stomatitis.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
We figure if our two legged children got diabetes, we wouldn't shoot blindly, taking them back in a month for a check up. We treat our 4 legged children the same way; we test before each shot (very important for you as the predisone may change the numbers) to make sure each dose we plan to give is safe.

It made be that your vet didn't want to overwhelm you on the first day, with shots and testing. Or he may prefer to have you pay him for something you can do much cheaper and safer at home.

You might start a new thread with questions specifically about the stomatitis.
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Good point.
Ok, thank you
 
I searched online to try to get a testing meter for free, and the only thing I found was for people.
And it asked about me being diabetic. So, how would I go about that?
 
You can see if we have one - it will depend on what has been donated lately. Click on the picture above that says Home Testing Kits. But even if we have it, it will take a few days to get to you. You can get a ReliOn from Walmart with the 25-27 gauge lancets for about $30 and start right away.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
You can see if we have one - it will depend on what has been donated lately. Click on the picture above that says Home Testing Kits. But even if we have it, it will take a few days to get to you. You can get a ReliOn from Walmart with the 25-27 gauge lancets for about $30 and start right away.
Click to expand...
K, thanks:)
 
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