Renegaderem+Dainty
Member
Hello all! My little baby Dainty was just diagnosed with kitty diabetes.Being very upset and not thinking very clearly I forgot to ask my vet several questions which are heavy on my mind atm.
A little background on her, she's always been heavy. I've had her since she was a kitten and for the last 10 years its been a struggle to keep her weight down. At her heaviest this last June, she weighed 16 pounds. So it was the sudden dramatic weight loss combined with her increased thirst (it seemed like she went to the litter box only to come out and find her water bowl again) that got us to take her into the vet. Her sugar levels were around 516, just how bad is this? Like on a scale of 1-10?
She is currently getting 2 units of insulin twice a day. The vet taught me to "tent" the skin and poke the needle through the middle. I'm okay with giving her the shots, I just don't want to hurt her. She has long, thick fur and it is hard to find the skin through it. I read that administering the shot into the scruff of the neck is like the worst place. Is this true and if so, where would be a better place? We are going to be going back to the vet in about 5 days or so, to check how well she has adjusted to the shots and if she needs more or less. Should I give her the shot before or after she eats? She's a grazer, eating little at a time but all throughout the day. I'm VERY afraid about giving her to much insulin and harming her. She's not a very active kitty, jumps off the couch, walks a few feet and then lays down again. I'm worried that I will mistake her showing signs of hypoglycemia as her normal behavior. Is there anything in particular that I should look for? And if she does go hypo, how much honey should I give her? I will probably try to learn how to test her blood levels myself, does the ear method of drawing blood hurt the kitty?
These are all the questions I can think of. I just hope that Dainty doesn't start to associate me with pain, I know that to keep her healthy that she needs this, the more I know the better I can take care of her!
A little background on her, she's always been heavy. I've had her since she was a kitten and for the last 10 years its been a struggle to keep her weight down. At her heaviest this last June, she weighed 16 pounds. So it was the sudden dramatic weight loss combined with her increased thirst (it seemed like she went to the litter box only to come out and find her water bowl again) that got us to take her into the vet. Her sugar levels were around 516, just how bad is this? Like on a scale of 1-10?
She is currently getting 2 units of insulin twice a day. The vet taught me to "tent" the skin and poke the needle through the middle. I'm okay with giving her the shots, I just don't want to hurt her. She has long, thick fur and it is hard to find the skin through it. I read that administering the shot into the scruff of the neck is like the worst place. Is this true and if so, where would be a better place? We are going to be going back to the vet in about 5 days or so, to check how well she has adjusted to the shots and if she needs more or less. Should I give her the shot before or after she eats? She's a grazer, eating little at a time but all throughout the day. I'm VERY afraid about giving her to much insulin and harming her. She's not a very active kitty, jumps off the couch, walks a few feet and then lays down again. I'm worried that I will mistake her showing signs of hypoglycemia as her normal behavior. Is there anything in particular that I should look for? And if she does go hypo, how much honey should I give her? I will probably try to learn how to test her blood levels myself, does the ear method of drawing blood hurt the kitty?
These are all the questions I can think of. I just hope that Dainty doesn't start to associate me with pain, I know that to keep her healthy that she needs this, the more I know the better I can take care of her!