Newly diagnosed!!

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lesleymweick

lesleymweick

Member Since 2013
hi my name is Lesley and my 13yrold sweet fat cat Molly has been newly diagnosed. her glucose is 534. I am going to my vet on Tuesday to get insulin teaching etc. I am a registered nurse so giving shots and checking sugars is very familiar to me, however my girl is a big scaredy cat (lives under my bed). I work 12 hour shifts and although my husband is also a nurse, she only comes out around him when she is hungry.
I work 3 days a week (not always the same 3 days) Would it be feasible to give her insulin once a day on the days I'm working (perhaps at 10pm the night before?) I'm so scared that I give her a shot and she goes hypo when there is no one in the house. @-)
 
Welcome! You are way ahead of the game with your medical training. Testing at home should help alleviate some of your concerns about hypos; you'll have a good idea when you give the shot that the amount you are going to shoot is safe, because you'll have a number to guide you.

The 12/12 cycle is best. We have some Lantus users who shoot off a 12/12 schedule, but it isn't ideal. It might be wise to ask about ProZinc. It is more flexible in terms of shot times. Shooting once daily is problematic. Insulin lasts 12 hours in cats, so she would be in decent numbers for one 12 hour cycle and then high for the cycle without the shot. Not a good roller coaster to be on.

Meanwhile, I would be sure she is eating wet low carb food (www.catinfo.org) and start testing as soon as possible. It might be possible that she would be one of the lucky kitties that react well to the food change and that insulin would only be needed for a short time, in small amounts.
 
Giveing shot every 12 (+/- 1) hour is optimum but some time we have to do what can be done.
I used have work different hours on the weekends and would give shots at 4 AM and then again at 10:30 PM. Not optimum but it worked.
 
If she is a nervous cat testing could be tough, have you considered Prozac or something for her? Also Living under a bed isn't a great way to live.

Plus If she is easily stressed, high levels of cortisol can cause diabetes.. Or at least exacerbate it.. Anti anxiety meds might help control this.
 
Thanks for everybodys input, really appreciate it. When I adopted her 8 yrs ago she was 5 and was already a big nervous girl. Her previous owner had declawed her all 4 paws :cry: At that time I was single and she would come and sit beside me or sleep beside me but was never a fan of being picked up.She would always hide from other people when they visited. I've since married and have step children and a dog. We crate the dog at night and Molly comes out and explores. She will jump up beside me when I'm in the bedroom and will come out for my husband when she is hungry. When it comes to brushing her, I have to chase her out from under the bed, but she does ok with the actual brushing and we have plenty of cuddle time afterwards.
I know giving her shots etc will be very stressful for her I will talk to my vet about anti anxiety meds, however I'm scared that if I start her on one it will mask any signs of hypoglycemia..
 
Well if you start home testing then hopefully you will be able to know and prevent hypoglycaemia before she gets anywhere near that.

Giving shots is really easy as the needles are short and i find they dont even notice it, especially if they are eating or being distracted with brushing or something. Where you might have difficulty is the ear poke for the blood test. Does she like her ears being touched?

What are you feeding? wet/dry? brand.type? Does she get into the dog kibble?

Let us know how it goes tomorrow and we will help as much as we can!

Wendy
 
I just switched her from Science Diet senior dry food to fancy feast classic wet food. The dog food is in a tupperware container behind a door, she gets no where near it. She loves me to rub her ears and head (Gives me kisses and makes cookies(kneading)) I will absolutely ket you know how it goes. Very thankful to have found this site!
 
Great! The ear rubbing might make the ear testing easier since she likes it!

And the change of food will help a lot towards controlling her blood glucose. When did you make the switch from dry to wet? (and you give low carb treats too right?)
 
Just changed her this week. In the process of researching (using the great resources here) good low carb treats for her, seems like the freezed dried ones are popular. Open to any suggestions. Also I'm trying to upload her picture to my profile, keep getting told that it's too big. Any suggestions for this ?
 
Just got back from the vet, posted on another post all the recommendations.
Did my first ear stick today and it went very well, hope it continues to be not a huge deal for her.
I will give her insulin no1shot tonight with her supper. Just ready to get my girl to a healthier "sweet" place!
 
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