Newly diagnosed from San Diego

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Marciegee

Marciegee

Member Since 2015
Hello! My name is Marcie and my twelve-year-old kitty was diagnosed with diabetes today. For about a month and a half now, he has been extra-thirsty so after blood tests and a urine analysis, it was confirmed today that he has diabetes. (His count was around 470) My veterinarian friend recommended this site instead of me wildly googling "cat diabetes" and freaking out while reading overly-dramatic sites that only show the bad side of diabetes and I am so grateful I came!

My vet has a session set up this weekend to show my husband and I how to do insulin injections, but I was wondering what other questions are good to ask during that visit? I really know nothing of diabetes so I am pretty green to all of this.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I really look forward to connecting with you all.
 
Hi and welcome, Marcie!
Nice to see that the site is "vet recommended".
This is a brief note that one of our members (BJM) put together on what to discuss with your vet-
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1BqrojKe9oBVAoexL59pUWidEd7viNmxSqW5l2IBTWjY

I didn't know anything about feline diabetes either, when the vet said " Bob has diabetes". Then I found this place and I've learned a whole lot since that day!

You found a fantastic community. Welcome to it!
 
Hi Carl & Polly! Thank you for your kind welcome. And the Google Doc is very helpful, I just re-called my vet and asked for the insulin type and they are giving me Lantus, which is mentioned in the document, so I feel good about that. Wow, I've only been here not even an hour and you have already helped me a ton! :)
 
Moby's a natty dresser! Great photo in your avatar. :cool:

When you're going to the vet to learn how to give injections, it can be handy to take an orange along with you. The vet who diagnosed Saoirse suggested it to me when I went in for the tutorial. It really helped to do the first few jabs on the orange - helped me to overcome the fear of getting it wrong before giving Saoirse insulin for the first time. I actually kept a syringe aside at home and did a practice injection on the orange before injecting Saoirse for several days after she started treatment.
 
Hi Marcie

Welcome to the forum. I was in your position just a few months ago. It was all over the place when my cat remi was first diagnosed but with the help of the lovely people on this forum remi soon started toast more like his normal self and we got into a good routine.

It's great to hear that your vet has prescribed lantus. If you have any questions about this medication or indeed anything else such as diet, home testing, etc then please join in or start your own thread over on the main health forum

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

The links contained in this forum are great and helped me in the beginning.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/
 
Welcome to FDMB!
We can tell you more than you ever thought you needed to know about feline diabetes, but we'll start you off with basics.
We strongly advocate home blood glucose testing. Folks have lots of questions about meters and reliabilty and what the numbers may mean, so I wrote up Glucometer Notes, which has a link in my signature.
That said, glucose numbers are only 1 measure of how your cat is doing, so I also wrote up Secondary Monitoring Tools, of other assessments which you may use to evaluate your cat. There is a link for those in my signature as well.
 
Critter Mom - thank you for the orange advice! I didn't have an orange, but I did have a grapefruit and brought that with me to the vet. The assistant laughed and said she practiced on fruit, too, and sponges. What a great idea! It definitely helped me! Thank you so much! We did our first injection last night and my husband did today's a.m. injection. What a relief to get those first ones out of the way.

Phlika 29 - Thank you for those links. Definitely reading up on them today.

BJM - my vet is supportive of home testing so as soon as I can take in all the initial information, learning about that is next. Thank you for your kind links. (And I used to live in Columbus, OH, for a piece.) :)
 
Just want to stop in and say Welcome! The forum is such a great resource, especially when your cat is newly diagnosed.

I'm happy to see a fellow San Diegan on the board!
 
april_sd said:
Just want to stop in and say Welcome! The forum is such a great resource, especially when your cat is newly diagnosed.

I'm happy to see a fellow San Diegan on the board!
Click to expand...

Hey April! It's nice to know there's someone local! Thanks for the hello. Yes, this group has already led me in a supportive and well-equipped way. I feel not so alone anymore.
 
Hi Marcie

I was just wondering how things were going with Moby. The first couple of weeks can be a whirlwind but hoping that you are beginning to get the hang of things.

Have you managed to get any blood glucose tests at home? How is the insulin going ?
 
phlika29 said:
Hi Marcie

I was just wondering how things were going with Moby. The first couple of weeks can be a whirlwind but hoping that you are beginning to get the hang of things.

Have you managed to get any blood glucose tests at home? How is the insulin going ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for following up! It's been going okay. He's on his fifth day of injections and I think I've gotten over the fear of the needles, etc. Right now I'm just really watching his behavior. He seems kind of lethargic after injections, laying on the floor, as opposed to jumping up to his normal spots, so I'm talking with his vet about that. I am just mostly trying to figure out how he's adjusting to the insulin, if he's feeling better. Physiologically, he is improving: not drinking nearly as much, eating up all his food, litterbox looks great, it's just his energy level I'm concerned about.

That's probably way too much more than you wanted to know! Phew!

This weekend I am researching home testing, but I did schedule him for an all-day curve testing at the vet next week and will discuss options with them, too.

I feel overwhelmed, but I am taking it a day at a time! I really appreciate you following up! Hugs to you!!!
 
Marcie , my cat Squiggles was diagnosed 7 weeks ago, & like yours she's drinking less & passing less urine , but she's also more lethargic. Her blood glucose levels are better than they were.

I'm only a Newbie, but have you rung your vet about his lethargy ? Could he be on too high a dose of insulin ? You will feel overwhelmed, but you will come to terms with it all eventually.

Lxx
 
Hi Marcie and welcome to the FDMB. Please pop over to the Feline Health (the Main Forum) to ask any questions you may have.

Thanks.
 
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