Newly diagnosed

[Lissa]

My name is Lissa, my 9 year old cat Jasper was just diagnosed last Saturday and is on 2 shots of insulin daily. How long should it take for me to start seeing improvements in my boy? I hate seeing him like this it's killing me

 

[Tracey&Jones (GA)]

Hi Lissa and Jasper,

I see you are from Canada - welcome from a fellow Canuck!

Let us start with some questions and info.

Questions:

1. What insulin are you using?
2. What dosage did you start given Jasper?
3. What diet is Jasper on?
4. Are you home testing?
5. Have you done any reading of the sticky notes on the board yet?

Information:

1. Home testing is really important and is the most important tool in your tool belt to keep Jasper safe and hopefully see improvement. If you need information on how to do that, where to get the supplies we can help you with that. You need to do 4 tests a day - always before you give a shot - to make sure it is safe to do so and two mid-cycle tests to know how low the insulin is taking Jasper. I am sorry to say, this isn't a situation where you do X and you get Y outcome it is more of a dance as we say here (some days a tango and other days a waltz ) and a marathon versus a race.
2. Home testing allows the people here help you when you need dose advice, assistance with low numbers etc.
3. We have a spreadsheet that we use to keep our data - as Jasper's pattern to insulin will be unique and will be established over time. Here is the link to the spreadsheet and setting it up. If you have problems - let us know - we can help with that too.
   http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
4. Here is some additional information on how to use the spreadsheet. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
5. Here is the instructions on setting up your profile - so you don't have to keep answering the same questions and in an emergency people can quickly scan and get your information.
   http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/creating-a-fdmb-profile.159626/
6. And here is information on hypos just in case. I have this printed on and on my fridge. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Welcome Lissa and Jasper!
Tracey has given you majority of the new member information links. I'm just going to add one more. The answers to her questions are help to put in your Signature, so other members don't ask the same basic questions should you post on the Main Health Forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

As for your time to see improvements question, it varies and Every Cat is Different (ECID). Some see improvements relatively fast, others a couple months. Our saying is this is a marathon, not a sprint

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

Welcome Lisa and Jasper.... looks like your in good hands and I am sure overwhelmed. Take a deep breath.... you are in good and very experienced hands on the forum. I won't add any info as you already have great input from a few members.
FD is NOT a death sentence, it does have challenges but life has challenges.
You will be surprised how quickly your kitty will teach you new things!