Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatment

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persiankitty500

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Hi everyone,

Have been looking through the site and have found some great information : )

My beautiful little boy was diagnosed with diabetes several days ago. this was a bigh shock but it was clear that something significant was going on. he had lost a large amount of weight and was vomiting on a twice daily basis (pretty much all of the food he had eaten) and was drinking excessively.

I am fortunate in that I have a very good vet and I am confident that he is going to be well looked after. They want me to hospitalize him at the vet for 3-4 days so they can monitor him while they introduce the insulin. I am really worried about this because my little cat is very timid and gets stressed very very easily. he has never in the entire course of his life (12 years) been left at a vet clinic. I so scared of having to leave him there thinking about him all miserable and sad. The other thing is that the vet does not have somewhere there 24 hours. this basically means that he will be left alone throughout the night. i am not really comfortable with this so the vet told me that I have the option of collecting him in the evening and bringing him back in the morning instead. To me, this feels like the best option so that I can monitor him closely but I am really interested in getting the point of view of others who have been through this before.

He is dehydrated (the vet has given him fluid injections for the last couple of days to rehydrate his system) and is not keeping his food down at the moment. I feel that he probably does need to spend some time at the vet to get this under control. I am just very scared. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :smile:
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

Welcome to FDMB!

Wow, that's a hard choice. I can tell you what I did when that happened to Bob. He was in really bad shape, and the vet wanted to keep him for 2 or 3 days. Likewise, nobody was going to be there overnight, although my vet did pop in each night to check on him. Bob had never spent a night away from home either. But I had to do it. I couldn't provide the care he needed. Bringing him home each night may have been an option. But I thought "well, if I bring him home, I can't stay up all night with him every night and work all day long". I figured that being there was the best thing I could do for him. I still didn't sleep all that well, but my vet did keep me updated a couple of times a day. When he did come home, he was like a new kitty, and I realized that what he'd gotten was the best care possible, care that I couldn't have given him.

If you do decide to leave him overnight, take a sweater or shirt or something that smells "like you" for him to snuggle with. It might make him feel safer and better. And ask if you can visit each day. That will help him, and you.

Carl
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

I think I understand how you feel. It's really hard on everyone to leave the kitty at the vet.
If you are home all day this is really something you can do yourself.
Mostly all of us did.
We test our own cats every few hours to see the insulin at work.
We can help you figure that out.
Actually that is what we are doing here most of the time...treating diabeties...or as the cats call them "dire beasties"
You need to get equiped with a meter and strips and we can teach you the rest...how to test and all.
Are you up for it?
Lori
Newbie Kits
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

Hi again,
Can you tell us kitty's name and your's? We're pretty much on a first name basis here. :smile:
Can you tell us a bit more about the diagnosis? Do you know what kitty's blood glucose numbers were like when they tested him? Dehydration .... did the vet mention anything specific other than diabetes? Did he say anything about ketones maybe? Do you know what type of insulin they are using, or plan on prescribing?

The more little bits of info we have, the easier it is to help you to help him,

Carl
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

It is true that if ketones were present your kitty may be better treated at the vet for a few days.
Lori
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

I would add that if ketones are present, your instincts are good. Your cat needs 24/7 veterinary care. Ketones are dangerous especially if there are associated changes in electrolyte levels. If your vet simply wants to get insulin started and to run curves, this is a very conservative (and expensive) approach. All of us who have been doing this for a while home test. This will save you a small fortune in vet bills.
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

If it is just to run curves, then yes, it's much cheaper to do at home, but you said this, which makes me think it might be best to let him stay at the vet.
He is dehydrated (the vet has given him fluid injections for the last couple of days to rehydrate his system) and is not keeping his food down at the moment.
Click to expand...

He's probably dehydrated because of the diabetes, but also due to the vomiting you've been seeing. If he still isn't keeping food down at the vet, they can take care of that if needed. It just seems like a lot of things to juggle on the very first day at home - fluids, eating problems, blood testing and insulin injections. One or two things at a time maybe, but that's a list of things to try to take care of all at once if you've never dealt with any of them before. A month or two from now, you'd be able to do all that and still get a few hours sleep a night!

Carl
 
Re: Newly diagnosed - question about early stages of treatme

Thanks for all your kind responses everyone. My name is Isobel and my cats name is Heathy.

I honestly can't remember whether the vet mentioned anything about ketones or not. they gave me an awful lot of information about his blood results but it was a lot to take in at the time. I think the pressing thing is that he isn't keeping much of his food down at the moment and has lost a lot of weight. They were also concerned about his dehydration. From my reading on feline diabetes so far it sounds as though he is at the more severe end of the spectrum and this is probably why the vet sees hospitalization as necessary.

I think they said that on the first day they would probably not give him insulin but instead just test his blood and give him fluids. then on the second day they would administer some insulin. i am not sure what type. At this stage I think i have kind of accepted that given how ill he is, he needs to go into the vet for a while in order to get him back on track. But i think i will bring him home at night as i don't want him to be left alone.

I am more than happy to manage the diabetes myself (doing home testing and giving insulin) but i feel that he needs to be in a better state of health before this can safely begin to happen.
 
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