Newly diagnosed

[Mandie]

Hi all! We've had a bit of a hectic week here that started with an ear infection and ended with an overnight hospital stay and diabetes diagnosis. Teddy was a stray that we took in about 9 months ago. The vet thinks he's between 1 and 3 years old and he's our first ever cat. I did a lot of reading about feline diabetes over the last 24 or so hours and after learning how to give insulin shots this morning, I asked the veterinary assistant about testing his sugar levels at home. She said not to worry about it for now, but bring him in ASAP if he shows any signs of hypoglycemia and the vet said he didn't want us back for 3 weeks for a fructosamine test. Being the worrier that I am I'm concerned that's too long without testing his sugar, but I also know I might be overreacting. Opinions?

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Welcome Mandie!
I'm only about a month in with my diabetic kitty but I am so glad I joined this forum. The more experienced members will probably ask for some info about Teddy, like what's in most of our signature's. I worried about not testing his BG right away as well but I ended up doing the first 2 weeks without testing and worked on his schedule, giving his shots, etc. His numbers were pretty high to start so I knew he had to build a depot for the insulin prescribed and he still ate his old higher carb foods. (I didn't realize some of the canned food was so high in carbs )
I only did his first curve a few days ago and subsequently that was his first BG tests at home. I'm still getting the hang of testing. I'm babbling on lol. Last thing! Even with high numbers I worried about him going into hypo so I did buy some Karo syrup at the store, just in case.

 

[Mandie]

Thank you Yong! That was genuinely really reassuring We do actually have Karo syrup in the pantry already for baking so it's here in case of any emergencies.
We got him home about 6 hours ago so I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna do his feedings. The vet gave us Hill's d/w wet and dry and I know dry food is bad for diabetics but since he's underweight they told us to just let him eat whatever he's willing to right now until he gets healthier. I was figuring I'd do wet food in the morning and evening with his insulin and leave dry out for him through the day for now?
They started him on 1.5U of vetsulin every 12 hours.
I'm not quite sure how to set up a signature yet so I hope this is ok.

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Yeah that's why I still give Maury about 1/2 cup of DM dry to graze on in between. I plan to get the Young Again dry but I might have to wait til I start working again. He needs to put some weight back on his bones because he's part Maine Coon. I give 1/2 of a 5.5oz can for his morning and evening meal before his shot. He only ate the DM canned food for a couple days then stopped. I have half a case sitting in my kitchen and I try to sneak some to him if he asks for a snack and doesn't want crunchies.

Quick thing for your signature, top right bold blue bar has your name / Inbox / Alerts. Hover over your name "Mandie" and a drop down menu will show. Click on signature on left side and then save the info you put in

 

[JanetNJ]

Thank you Yong! That was genuinely really reassuring We do actually have Karo syrup in the pantry already for baking so it's here in case of any emergencies.
We got him home about 6 hours ago so I'm still trying to figure out how I'm gonna do his feedings. The vet gave us Hill's d/w wet and dry and I know dry food is bad for diabetics but since he's underweight they told us to just let him eat whatever he's willing to right now until he gets healthier. I was figuring I'd do wet food in the morning and evening with his insulin and leave dry out for him through the day for now?
They started him on 1.5U of vetsulin every 12 hours.
I'm not quite sure how to set up a signature yet so I hope this is ok.

Welcome. To set up a signature go to your name at the top and choose signature. Write in the age, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, food, and any other health issues.


Hills wet us low carb, the dry is not. Prescription food is really not necessary. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate.

 

[JanetNJ]

Hi all! We've had a bit of a hectic week here that started with an ear infection and ended with an overnight hospital stay and diabetes diagnosis. Teddy was a stray that we took in about 9 months ago. The vet thinks he's between 1 and 3 years old and he's our first ever cat. I did a lot of reading about feline diabetes over the last 24 or so hours and after learning how to give insulin shots this morning, I asked the veterinary assistant about testing his sugar levels at home. She said not to worry about it for now, but bring him in ASAP if he shows any signs of hypoglycemia and the vet said he didn't want us back for 3 weeks for a fructosamine test. Being the worrier that I am I'm concerned that's too long without testing his sugar, but I also know I might be overreacting. Opinions?

No reason you can't start testing right away. Your vet most likely uses an Alphatrak meter. I use that also add I like getting the same readings as the vet. The strips are expensive at about a dollar each. Most on here use a human meter such as the relion micro available at Walmart. The strips are MUCH less. I waited 6 weeks before testing, and once I started I wished I had begun right away.


What was your cats numbers? Is he on antibiotics for the ear infection? I ask because once the infection clears you may see a decline in the numbers.

 

[Mandie]

No reason you can't stay testing right away. Your vet most likely uses an Alphatrak meter. I use that also add I like getting the same readings as the vet. The strips are expensive at about a dollar each. Most on here use a human meter such as the relion micro available at Walmart. The strips are MUCH less. I waited 6 weeks before testing, and once I started I wished I had begun right away.


What was your cats numbers? Is he on antibiotics for the ear infection? I ask because once the infection clears you may see a decline in the numbers.

Thank you for the info! I don't have the paperwork on me right now but I believe he was 395 when they tested him yesterday and he is on antibiotics they gave him a shot of something that lasts 24hrs at the vet but at home he's on clavamox and otomax twice a day

 

[ELLIOTT & Fran Munschauer]

Sounds familiar..We took Elliott in because he was looking a lot thinner than his twin brother..DVM thought is was probably worms? And then, he shocked us with D.M. Thanks to all at FDMB, Elliott is in remission now (cross my fingers)..Good Luck. You have experts here that know much more than some DVM'S care to learn.!!!!