Newly Diagnosed

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Kimbaglo

Member Since 2012
My sweet Boo Bear just started insulin today, his first shot went very well. As a result I am feeling better about the whole thing. I am wondering if the blue buffalo treats are ok? I have two bags, one tuna & one salmon. Can't seem to find carb information on them. What other treats can I give, that can be bought at PetSmart. Also, was switching him over to Blue Wilderness Duck wet food when this all happened. He loved it, but the vet told me to stick with the Fancy Feast for now. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks, Kim
 
Fancy feast is fine; just stick with the pates, no gravy flavors.. At PetSmart you can get PureBites (sometimes a bigger bag in the dog section), sometimes Bonito Flakes. I have only found Stella and Chewy's in the specialty pet shop but PetSmart is expanding their line of healthier foods.

Are you planning to hometest? That's a vital step in this process.
 
I haven't done anything about home testing. I just started today with the shots. My vet said she wants me back in a week, to test probably. What do I need to do to home test. This all is so overwhelming right now.
 
I know it is completely overwhelming. Will it help to know we all felt that way at first? And we survived and our kitties thrived? We just figure we would never go home with insulin from the doctor and shoot it into our 2 legged children without getting blood glucose levels. So we do the same for our 4 legged children.

Here is how we do it: Video for hometesting

Here is a shopping list:

What you need to start hometesting

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. We do stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. They have proven to be very unreliable and read lower than other meters. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

We have taught hundreds of people how to test, over the internet, and would be glad to teach you. Or if you want to post your city and state, there might be someone who lives near you who could come help you get started.

Let us know how we can help.
 
Someone recently asked a question about low carb treats :smile: Here's the thread: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=80544

The Blue Buffalo Kitty Yums treats are not diabetic-friendly. They contain maple syrup (!!) among other hig carb grains and ingredients.

The Wilderness treats are somewhat better but they do contain ground potato, another source of carbs which can affect blood gluocse levels.

Personally, I would not feed either of these treats.

Fancy Feast is fine. Just stick with the ones that have less than 10% carbs on this food chart: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf and on this list: http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm

You can continue to feed the Blue Buffalo Wilderness canned duck as well. It's low carb (2%). Blue Buffalo is on this chart: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmkyagqUb3nudG9sRVhTVnFEWlhaU19ZUXkxTnlhYXc#gid=0
 
Welcome, Kim! Take a deep breath and stick with it! We'll help you get on the right track. Keep asking as many questions as you need to - you're not alone!
 
Hello - just to add my recent experience to back up what others are saying. My cat was diagnosed 6 weeks ago, and we were in bits. But we got the home testing kit and the needles and gave it a go. The first few weeks were awful as the insulin seemed to have no effect. But 2 weeks ago the numbers started to come down, then they started staying within normal parameters and finally today he is having his first day without insulin.

I'm not certain that this will mean that he will revert but certainly it is possible. Give yourself time to get used to the situation but please do give the testing a go. Its not as bad as you might think once you get into it and the difference that proper treatment will make to your cat is immense. Good luck!
 
My husband and I are doing this as a team, and at this point I can't imagine doing it any other way. Now it appears that his wok will be leaving me to do this alone here and here. Any suggestions on how to hold him still, pinch the skin and give the shot all at once?
 
Kim,

The short answer for most of us: food. If you can give the shot while Boo's eating, he most likely won't notice. I wait until I'm sure Kitty Rabbit is focused on her food, talking to her as she eats. I then start stroking her head, moving back to her shoulders, still talking (and she's still eating). I then pinch the skin. She usually drops down to the floor but continues eating. As soon as she lowers herself I give the injection while still talking, telling her how wonderful she is. Every once in a while she'll growl when I pinch the skin, but she seldom stops eating!

You can do this on your own. I know, because I've been doing this on my own since KR was diagnosed in September. KR and I still struggle with testing (I now call it "playing Vampire and Pincushion"), but we're leaps and bounds ahead of where we were the day I found out what was wrong with her.

Christine
 
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