Overwhelmed cat mom, but here we go.

[lovecacti]

Hello!

I have a female cat that is ~13 years old just diagnosed with diabetes on March 4th. The vet started us out by purging all dry food (she previously ate both dry & wet) and 1 unit of Lantus (glargine) every 12 hours.

I also bought the AlphaTrak 2 meter (yes, I read the posts that most of you use a human meter) and have some Freestyle Lite strips on the way from eBay.

I don't think Friskies wet food agrees with my cat. Her sugar shot up into the 280s the day after I gave it to her.

Canidae Pure Grain Free "Limited Ingredient Diet" seems to be the best fit I have found thus far. She had some last night and I checked her blood sugar this morning 10 minutes before it was time to eat breakfast and it was 119. It only went to 127 about an hour after eating. I decided to give her only 1/2 a unit this morning to see how that goes.

One of my other cats has IBD or lymphoma (the confirmatory biopsy is outrageously priced) so I have more experience than I'd like at treating chronic conditions in cats. I'm hopeful that I will be able to get diabetes management down to a science because right now I feel even more like a prisoner than I already did.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Good morning and welcome to FDMB. Your kitty is a beauty! I know it is very overwhelming at first, there is so much to learn about and learn to do! But you have made a wonderful start! You are implementing the three basic components of effective diabetic treatment: diet, insulin therapy and testing. We can help you over the bumpy spots, answer your questions and provide support.
First, please make a signature for kitty so that the pertinent information is available with your posts.
Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished. Another thing that will help us help you now that you've started BG testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. We can all see it and look at it before offering suggestions or advice:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
We can help you find other low carb canned foods other than the Friskies, although it may not have been a low carb variety that you offered her, and that resulted in the higher BG.
Come on over to the Main Health forum HERE so that more members can meet you and we can begin providing some additional information on food, the Lantus insulin and the protocols we use here. This forum is the welcome mat and more members monitor the Main forum so they are available to help out. We also have members with kitties that are IBD so they can help on that front also.

 

[lovecacti]

Thank you. I updated my signature. The Friskies was the "Mixed Grill" Pate from Target (vet said only pates, no gravy types) if that helps.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Thank you. I updated my signature. The Friskies was the "Mixed Grill" Pate from Target (vet said only pates, no gravy types) if that helps.

What is kitty's name? According to the food chart the Mixed Grill is only 5 carbs, so that shouldn't have raised the BG. It's a mystery. Your vet was right, no gravies or sauces. Those were Idjit's favorites.

 

[HeatherD]

Hello!

I have a female cat that is ~13 years old just diagnosed with diabetes on March 4th. The vet started us out by purging all dry food (she previously ate both dry & wet) and 1 unit of Lantus (glargine) every 12 hours.

I also bought the AlphaTrak 2 meter (yes, I read the posts that most of you use a human meter) and have some Freestyle Lite strips on the way from eBay.

I don't think Friskies wet food agrees with my cat. Her sugar shot up into the 280s the day after I gave it to her.

Canidae Pure Grain Free "Limited Ingredient Diet" seems to be the best fit I have found thus far. She had some last night and I checked her blood sugar this morning 10 minutes before it was time to eat breakfast and it was 119. It only went to 127 about an hour after eating. I decided to give her only 1/2 a unit this morning to see how that goes.

One of my other cats has IBD or lymphoma (the confirmatory biopsy is outrageously priced) so I have more experience than I'd like at treating chronic conditions in cats. I'm hopeful that I will be able to get diabetes management down to a science because right now I feel even more like a prisoner than I already did.

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Hi! Fellow new diabetic mom here...I am feeling exactly the same way. Overwhelmed and wondering if I can do this. Hazel has had several other chronic conditions for five years and is already a lot of work (but I am not complaining, she is my love). I just pray I have the strength and wisdom to also get a handle on the diabetes. Maybe we can be new diabetic moms together. We can do this