Newly Diagnosed.

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beene5052

beene5052

Member Since 2017
Hello Everyone.

I am sad. Our Cole, 10 yr old cat was diagnosed with diabetes today wit BG of 480. Cole weighs 20(?) lbs. I know, too much. We have had him on a synthetic Protien food Blue Buffalo (dry because we did not know any better until now) due to IBD and food allergies.

Today the vet started him on Humulin, 1 unit 2x day and Hills M/D food. He was also started on the antibiotic Orbox 2ml Once daily for a urinary tract infection.

I am heartsick but feel better after finding this forum. We just took him to @ 24 hour emergency clinic after he had been drinking and peeing a lot for about a week. We see a cat vet on Monday for a second opinion and probably curve/monitor.

I hope I can start home monitoring. How long should I let the vet do it? This home monitoring and his food allergy concerns me.

Any advise at this point would be greatly appreciated❤️
 
I'm sorry you are at the best place you never wanted to be.

There are a lot of experienced people here who live Feline Diabetes alongside other issues 24/7.

I don't know enough about food allergies to comment. Other people will chime in on that.

You might want to start doing some general reading here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/feline-diabetes-faq-newcomers-start-here.2502/
and here for Humulin: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/humulin-n-primer.303/

Feline diabetes is a steep learning curve. You will get a handle on it quickly, and we are here to help.

Home monitoring is the best way to keep your cat safe. No one would give insulin to a child and not test their blood sugar. This is an excellent site: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Most cats run higher numbers at the vet than at home. Also, testing at the vet's only gives you a small window at look at. Home testing gives you a panoramic view.

The vet may want you to use an AlphaTrak2 meter designed especially for pets. A human meter works just as well (albeit on a different scale) and the strips for the human meters are much cheaper. We can recommend some, depending on what country you live in.

Feel free to ask any question.
 
Thank you so much for your reply. I live in the US. From the reading I have done I should start testing soon. All this seems overwhelming right now. Started mixing dry and wet food tonight. I hope he can tolerate the new food. Lapped it up. I see most use Fancy Feast. I also don't see the insulin ( I am using) anywhere on forum yet. Where do u get freeze dried treats? Thanks. I need all the help I can get.
 
beene5052 said:
hank you so much for your reply. I live in the US. From the reading I have done I should start testing soon. All this seems overwhelming right now. Started mixing dry and wet food tonight. I hope he can tolerate the new food. Lapped it up. I see most use Fancy Feast. I also don't see the insulin ( I am using) anywhere on forum yet. Where do u get freeze dried treats? Thanks. I need all the help I can get.
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Welcome :) Curves at the vet are absolutely unnecessary and expesive - especially if you are home testing. It is recommended you do a curve (testing every 2 hours for a cycle) at home once a week and also test for ketones at lest once weekly.

My boy is a diabetic and had IBS. Switching to novel proteins ie. - duck, venison, quail, anything that hasn't been a part of your cats diet on a usual basis. Also probiotics like FortiFlora, S. boulardii can help alot. We just recently started S. boulardii and his BMs have been much better. Slippery Elm Bark may also be an option for you, but you should give it at least 2 hours after any other medications/supplements have been given.

Glad to see you're looking at food options as I'm pretty sure the Hills is too high in carbs for a diabetic. Most of us feed fancy feast, but with the IBD, that might not be your first best option. Here's a link for carb content and it has many options for IBD kitties. http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf We use alot of the Halo, Wild Calling, Hounds and Gatos, Nature's Variety Instinct Original. They are a little pricy, but check out chewy.com. Also, they are the best thing for IBD and helping your kitty getting back to normal.

Home monitoring seems overwhelming besides shots... It really isn't so bad once you have established a routine. It can be stressful. But I promise you'll get the hang of it. @Kris & Teasel has a nice video of how to home test. Tagging @Squalliesmom since they have some experience with IBD.

I promise all of this is doable :) We only began our journey this February, and while there is a steep learning curve, you'll catch on in no time.

The forum you're looking for goes under http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/caninsulin-vetsulin-and-n-nph.19/
 
So sorry for your diagnosis, but rest assured you have found a super helpful group of people here.

So glad to hear you are interested in learning how to home test! It's the best way to keep your cat safe and find the ideal dose. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC.
 
Welcome! Actually @JanetNJ has the home testing video for you to watch. This is the essential tool for getting on top of FD and is probably the thing that frightens people the most - until they try it and learn how easy it is. It might take a bit of practice but it really is easy and we can give you helpful tips. :)
 
Welcome to FDMB!

Wet food under 10% carbs is what we recommend for diabetic kitties, and it is also better for IBS/IBD. A lot of kitties with IBS/IBD do really well on a raw diet. My IBD girl is a very picky eater, I despaired of ever finding a food she would actually eat that didn't make her symptoms worse. One of the best thing I ever did was to put her on s.boulardii; I mix it in with her food morning and night when she has a flare and it practically stops the diarrhea in its tracks! She had constant, nasty diarrhea for almost two years, from the time I got her until I put her on the s.boulardii. Slippery Elm Bark (SEB) is good for helping to soothe the digestive tract; it coats the lining of the intestines, which is why it should not be used within two hours of any other oral meds as it will inhibit the absorption of them. I used Fortiflora for her for along time but it never helped with the diarrhea; it did, however, help encourage her to eat (she is now on an appetite stimulant). Be cautious with Fortiflora because it can actually cause diarrhea in some cats. Another thing you can try is adding a little bit of pure, unseasoned, pumpkin puree (NOT the pie filling) to meals. I also always add about a tablespoon+ of water to her food, it helps to mix the meds in better and it helps keep her hydrated, especially if she is having a flare and losing fluids. There is a drug that is frequently used to treat IBD in kitties, called metronidazole. If your vet gives it to you make sure they give you the chicken flavored rather than the candy flavored, which has lots of sugar in it. Your cat won't care which flavor it is, because it's bitter and nasty at the best of times so be prepared for your cat to hate it and try to avoid taking it - it also can cause them to drool nasty big drools because it is so bitter. I gave up on it after about 3 days of torturing us and the cat, trying to get it in her; she is only about 5-6 pounds but very wiry, but it took at least two people to administer it and we always ended up wearing more than we got into her, lol!
 
Thank you for all the info on your journey. I appreciate it very much. I will try the s. boulardii. Cole can't handle metronidazole. What do you feed your cat? Cole is really picky as well.
 
Welcome Beene and Cole!
You've got some great information to start you off so I just wanted to add a request :smuggrin:. When you have a moment, if you could setup your Signature with some information about Cole, it will be helpful as you continue to post :) http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
Second, once you start home testing, we use Google Sheets to record data and share with other members, should you ask for dosing advice. Just need a google e-mail (gmail) and if you are not tech savvy, don't be embarrassed to ask for help in getting one set up, just ask :): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Understanding the Spreadsheet

Lastly, your question about freeze dried treats. I scanned over the thread quickly and didn't see a response (may have missed it though :rolleyes:) but PureBites are available at Petco and PetSmart, as well as some other brands. They're available at smaller pet stores too if you are not near any big name ones :). In addition to purebites, HERE is the link to a list of low carb treats.
 
Just saw your post on welcome forum, Jim and Anthea, I'll be glad to help you with the Signature and Spreadsheet when you're ready :)
 
beene5052 said:
Are you available to help with Spreadsheet now?☺️
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You would be best to start a conversation with Yong as she will need some more information. If you click on Jong's profile picture a box will come up with an option "start a conversation" Click on that and enter your message, the same way you do on the regular forum, but the conversation will be private.
 
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