So we just found out

Status
Not open for further replies.
Luke B

Luke B

Member
Well this is the one thing I never expected my vet to tell me. Possible diabetes, I honestly never thought that could happen to my cat especially since he was so healthy and active ALL his life. Funny thing is he was at the vet June 30th for his annual check up and was given his usual clean bill of health. I suppose I should give a little background. Bear is my cat. He is a 12 year old all black short hair. I got him on a Friday the 13th when I was in high school. I was at a rec center with some friend on a cold rainy September night waiting for a friend to come pick me up when I noticed a car drive past the dumpsters and toss something in that didn't look quite right to me. I walked over and there he was, cold, wet, stinking to high heaven, and only 6 weeks old. My heart just melted and I couldn't leave him there. Fortunately I was with a friend who worked at a pet store and was more then happy to help me make him my cat. After she took him to her store, cleaned him up, got him checked out, he was my mine. He is so smart, we have such a strong connection, and he has a way of letting you know just what he's thinking, its almost unreal. Suddenly he started vomiting more then usual, we take him outside so the usual grass meal always had a way of making him leave us little piles of love around the house plus he's always had the more sensitive kind of stomach. I then noticed his almost near obsession with water, constantly at his water dish or begging by the bathroom faucet. My wife, being the keen observer she is, notice he was dropping weight and immediately pointed it out. Well yesterday after becoming too frustrated with his lethargy and other symptoms I put him in his carrier, which he despises, and headed off to the vet. We were taken back and the check up began. After it was all said and done, the obvious blood and urine test were completed, our vet told us with 90% certainty pending the results of the blood test that Bear was diabetic and due to his high sugar content in his urine he has a slight bladder infection and would need antibiotics. I was shocked and didn't know how to react, uncertainty, fear, and sadness hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm currently a nursing student working only part time while my wife works to support the both of us, we were just recently married on June 24th, so expendable income is something we struggle to find at times. I called my parents and did not get the answer I was hoping for from them even though Bear was there cat for those 12 years too. They said I need to consider that he's a 12 year old cat and this might not be a challenge I should take on. They told me putting him down is something I should consider. With Bears diagnosis, the response from my parents, and the reality that my wife and I will be going at this alone were too much to handle and I broke down in tears. I couldn't help it, I don't want to loose my Bear cat like this. So here we are today, waiting for the blood test results and wondering what our future holds. We've have a nice nest egg saved up we planned on using to buy a house that we may have to tap into but we have decided that we are not going to let this take our cat from us. Our vet told us that once we start the insulin treatment there is a good possibility since we caught this so early that Bear will respond well and remission is a high possibility. So today starts our journey. We have a tentative appointment set up for 5pm to learn how to properly inject insulin and check BS. Fortunately, being a student nurse, this is something I am very familiar with and have had much practice on with humans. I have monitored many blood sugars and administered many insulin injections during my clinicals. I'm still sad, still nervous, but also very optimistic. I was so happy to find a site like this immediately upon starting my research. I thank you all in advance for tips and advice and will keep you updated on Bears status.
 
hello Mr. Bear and Luke bean,
I am kinda a newbie ~still~ My sugar Bean was dx in april and off the insulin -OTJ- by May 24 (her last shot).... All because of diet!!! hang in there, this is a wonderful place, lots of great advice and simply kind and understanding!
How great you already know how to poke, test, shoot.....now to get Bears ears ready lol!
Let that baby live! It is not expensive even if he does not go off the juice! Welcome!!!!!! ;-)
 
Newbie here, too. And like you we were overwhelmed. Bobbie was diagnosed back in the spring. Since finding this site and switching to all canned food- Friskies Classic Pates, and close BG monitoring at home, she too is in remission and OTJ with our vets blessing. Hang in there, this site is really going to help you get through this.
 
Thanks!!! Like I said we're very optimistic about this. Our vet seemed to be also, she's had a diabetic cat for 10 years now and is very familiar with this. So here we go! My mission right now is to restore Bear back to the highest quality of life he is accustomed to. I'm confident he will react well to the diet change and insulin injections. We actually have 2 cats, Smokey is our other, and we're confident he should be able to adjust to a feeding schedule also. Bear is a strong cat, he has a good heart. Since yesterdays diagnosis he's already shown improvement with the antibiotic and turkey breast I've been feeding, a lot more active. He even ran up the stairs from our basement again which I haven't seen him do in a week. So hopefully we can kick this.
 
Welcome Bear and Luke :-D

Glad you found us, and now we can help you, help Bear. First off you are way ahead of most of us when we arrived, you already know how to test his blood sugar and give shots, and have no fear of needles...Big plus over when I got here and was a nervous wreck and shook like a leaf at the mere thought of a needle that wasn't attached to a tattoo gun...lol.

I think I had about the same response when I was told Muse was a diabetic..."What? Cat's can get that?" Well you already caught Bear's diabetes much sooner than I did Muse's and by the time I did it was too late for her, but with the support of these wonderful folks, I now have not one but two sugarcats Maxwell and Musette that I adopted as diabetics from this very board. Maxwell age 12 is already in remission now for 8 months and going strong, Musette age 11 is well on her way there. So diabetes is no more a death sentence for a cat than it is a human. We just handle it a little differently. instead of pricking their finger, we prick the edge of their ear, we use the same meters and lancing devices as humans. Most of us even use human insulin, either Lantus or Levermir, although some use the newer Pet only insulin PZI.

Both my sugarcats purr through the whole testing process and Musette even reminds me when it is time to test, mainly because she gets her favorite low carb treat at testing time, and she loves roasted turkey. Now if I can do this with two cats that didn't know me from Jack, imagine how easy it is going to be for you who first off have known Bear for 12 years, and secondly already have the blood-letting skills down. :-D

Once you have your insulin in hand, treating Bear isn't going to be anymore expensive than he already was, just need to tweak his diet a little bit, give two tiny shots a day and check his blood sugar with before each shot. The only time he will need to go to the vet's again is for the routine stuff. And even his new diet doesn't have to be expensive, we have lots of low carb/high protein commercial choices. Since I personally hae 12 cats of which only 2 are diabetics everyone eats what my diabetics eat, good old fashioned, Friskies, 9-lives and Walmart's Special Kitty pate style cat food. Which in reality works out cheaper than feeding everyone dry, because they can use all of what they eat, so I have less waste in the litter box, so what little bit extra I pay in cat food, I make up for by not having to buy as much litter.

Once you know what insulin you will be on and what his starting numbers are we can guide you through all the rest. You can even do your own curves at home, I just email my results to my vet and then make a phone call to discuss how Musette and Maxwell are doing..no expensive trips to the vet's which only stress out the cat and raises their BGs anyhow, so I get much truer numbers at home anyhow.

I'm sure others will be along shortly to give you a ton of links to read through. For now read everything here, and ask as many questions as you have, you have now become a member of a family of sugarcats and the people that love them.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Thanks Momma!!!! Great advice! I like that "sugar cat!" That's for sure our Bear, he's such a sweetie. My wife will be along soon too. She is at work but got the link to the site and plans on joining. I'm excited to get started now just from reading the few responses I've gotten. I can't wait to get Bear back to his normal self! My optimism is certainly peaking!
 
Hello Luke B! Honestly, I feel from the bottom of my heart that all will be well with you and your family. The tears told me that. ;-) It's because you care...and that love will get you through this. I was the biggest crybaby ever (honestly don't cry much at all) here is the story of Mary and Stella The biggest expense is when you go to the vet. Learning to test BG's on your own was the hardest thing for me, and you are a student nurse, so getting a tiny drop of blood from an ear will be easy peasy for you! You caught this sooo early, and you have a wife to help. This will make you the strongest family ever!!! What a bond the three of you will form. :mrgreen:

This video is my favorite on YouTube for testing BG levels called, "
How To Test Your Diabetic Cat's Blood Sugar At Home" http://youtu.be/_zE12-4fVn8

The most time consuming thing was figuring out what Blood Glucose meter to use. I use the Bayer Contour Meter. The one in the above video was discontinued, and they replaced it with the Contour. It is very easy to use and uses the smallest of drops of blood.

You won't be using your 'nest egg' either once you get your kitty out of the vet, and into home testing.

Welcome, you found an amazing group of people here on the FDMB!
 
Oh one other thing, if your vet goes with either Lantus (my personal fav) or Levermir, ask that she write the script for the solostar pens rather than a vial, the pens are more expensive up front about $230 for 5 pens, but each pen contains less insulin and you open them one at a time, so you can use up most of it before it loses its punch, whereas with the vial you will throw out most of it as it will go bad before you use it up. But where you work in the medical field perhaps you can get a local hospital to sell you a single pen.

Stay away from NPH, N is too harsh an insulin for cats who metabolize insulin faster than humans. You will also want to start Bear on no more than .5 to 1u b.i.d. So when you get syringes you will want to get the ones with 1/2u marks. (Normally I would write this all out but since you have medical knowledge I figure you read medical lingo..lol)

Once you know which insulin, we will point you to the right insulin support group where you can read all the info on how each works, and should be handled and stored, again slightly different than in humans, like we store in the frig even the pens so they last longer because our cats use so tiny dosage at a time.

And my civies (non-diabetic) cats thought they hit the jackpot when we adopted first Maxwell and then Musette because they now got canned food all the time, but if you have trouble getting someone to switch over we have tips and tricks for that was well.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Welcome Luke and Bear!

Luke B said:
With Bears diagnosis, the response from my parents, and the reality that my wife and I will be going at this alone were too much to handle and I broke down in tears. I couldn't help it, I don't want to loose my Bear cat like this.
Click to expand...

I know it may feel like this, but we are all here for you and we will get through this together. I am a newbie myself, and this whole situation is very overwhelming at first, but you and Bear will be OK! Everyone here is very helpful. I am doing this 100% on my own. The only help I have are from the fantastic people on this board. The first, most important thing is to always remember to breathe!

You've got some great tips here already. A lot of people, myself included, use the ReliOn Confirm or Micro meter from Walmart. It's inexpensive and the test strips are the cheapest I've found too. My one tip...when you are testing Bear's bg, put a very tiny smear of either neosporin or vaseline on his ears before you prick him. It will help the blood bead up instead of letting it soak into his ear fur. That was a HUGE help for Kit and I.

Welcome to our family!
 
Welcome Luke, wife, and Bear. We are a one-income family too, with 2 young babies. But with the right meter (right=cheap :lol: :lol: ) I promise you can do this on a small budget. I use the relion micro from walmart. It's cheap, reliable, and the test strips are cheap too. In the beginning, you'll probably go through strips like water. At least I did, while I got the hang of testing. It took about a week (and a fdmb helper who came over and helped me figure out what I was doing wrong) before I could get a big enough drop of blood to test with. But when we figured it all out, it became easy. A good place to start is a switch to low-carb canned food. I use 9-lives pates (again, cheap), but others use fancy feast classics or friskies pates. There are fancier, better brands, but those are the low-cost foods. Just like people, cats benefit from low carb diets. Some even can become diet-controlled! You may want to switch foods before starting insulin, since the glucose level can be significantly affected by the switch. Here is a link to a site that lists carb content in cat foods: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html You will want to keep Bear under 10% carbs. I think you and your wife will do a great job taking care of Bear!!
 
Bear is only 12.....a teenager. My (((Baby)))GA was dx'd at 13 and lived another great 5 1/2 years with diabetes. Many of us have gone on an adopted diabetic cats because it is so treatable. Wishing you and Bear all the best.......any questions.......just come on here. Oh, don't forget to buy some Ketostix (ketones) or KetoDiastix (ketones and glucose) for testing his urine for ketones.
 
12 years old is not an old cat. There are many of us here that have had cats live 17 - 20 years or more. Your cat is just middle aged. He still can have many good years to spend with you.

Feline diabetes is a very managable disease. It is managed through diet, hometesting and insulin.

1) Diet: You will need to change to a low carb/high protein diet. You do not need that prescription crap, no matter what your vet tries to tell you. Many of us feed our cats Fancy Feast, Friskies or Special Kitty canned foods. There are a lot of great brands out there and we can help you find the foods that would work best for your cat. One thing that you do not want to feed is dry food. If your cat is currently eating dry food, you want to transition to either all canned or raw food diet. This will help immensely in controlling your cat's diabetes.

2) Hometesting: This means using a human glucose meter to test your cat's glucose levels before EVERY shot. You want to test to make sure the blood glucose (BG) levels are at a safe level to shoot and also to determine if the dose you are at is working effectively. Hometesting is not difficult and you can use any brand of glucose meter. There are video's on this site that can show you how easy it is and possibly a member in your are that can also help teachyou if needed. Your vet's office can also show you how.

3) Insulin: There are many good insulins that are effective - Lantus, Levemir, PZI and ProZinc. These are all long acting insulins. Lantus and Levemir are human insulins that work well in cats. PZI & ProZinc are formulated for pets. If your vet prescribes Lantus or Levemir, ask for the script for either the cartridges or pens. The initial cost is higher than a vial, but there are 5 in a package. The problem with the vial is that usually the insulin becomes ineffective long before you will be able to use all of it. With the pens or cartridges, you will be able to use almost every drop. One package should last almost a year depending on your dose. And speaking of dose, you want to start low and slow. This means start at 1 unit twice a day. Insulin is not dosed by weight in cats. If your vet wants to start at a higher dose, you should stress that you want to start at 1 unit to make sure how he responds to it.
 
How Bear came to be with you brought me to tears. How can people be so cruel? And I'm so very glad you didn't listen to your parents.

This IS doable and like others have said, you are already ahead of the game; or dance as we like to call it - the sugar dance. dancing_cat You've gotten great info so far.

WELCOME Bear (and beans) beans are human beans :-D
 
Thank you all so much for the info. My wife was able to come on earlier, not registered yet, and read your comments. Her name is Lindsay by the way. It has made her feel as confident about this as it has made me. I was at Walgreens and got the urine test strips my vet wanted me to start with. I will also be going to Walmart tonight to look into the meters, Our vet said we need to have one within a week. So I think the biggest challenge is going to be the food. Our cats have always had dry food, we tried to go onto a canned due to our cats having dry skin but they just didn't seem interested. Our vet has given us the option between Lantus and PZI for insulin. I was aware that the insulin came in 1000 unit vials and was only good for 28 days after the first use so the solostar pen sounds like it going to be the winner. I did get the call earlier today by our vet confirming that bear is indeed a sugar cat (I love saying that!). She stated that his tested glucose levels are around 600-650 right now so we certainly need to get this under control. Our appointment is at 5 tonight to learn the ropes. I will be sure to come and update everyone on how everything went and what our vet says. Thanks again, I cant say it enough it seems.
 
Dear Luke, Lindsay, and of course, you too, sweet Bear,

The FDMB was my first message board experience. Giz was diagnosed at age 14 and danced for four years. Diabetes didn't take her. She simply decided her work here was done. She was an avid poster...

Welcome to the place you never wanted to be; but, will be blessed for having found.

Love and countless encouraging hugs for you all as you dance,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever dancing in my heart...
 
We even have a link for transitioning your cats from dry to wet and here you go http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=956 Lots of handy tricks and tips, and I have to tell you even my non-diabetics are 100% better on an all canned diet, sleek, shiny and soft coats, more energy and even my guy with allergies and on pred for over a year had them all go away. You just need to convince them it is yummy and at least with my gang they never looked back.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Next on my to do list is trying to figure out how to get a picture of Bear on my profile so you can all see the cat we're working so hard to save.
 
Avatars have to be really tiny pictures so you will probably have to resize it...but if you just want to show him off for now, look at the very bottom of the screen when you go to post a new message and you will see a tab that says upload attachement Then hit browse, find the picture you want on your computer, hit "add the file" put the cursor where you want his picture and hit "place in Line"

And Voila...This is my sugarcat Maxwell.


That is all there is too it

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 

Attachments

  • 150.jpg
    150.jpg
    235.4 KB · Views: 3,161
Hi Luke, Lindsey and Bear.

You have a huge head start on this and have already received lots of great info.
I'll only add my personal experience with diet change. I had to convince my sugar baby that she would like it, and once she figured it out, man, she wants me to know every time her bowl is empty!
And she's one of the sugar cats that no longer need insulin as long as I keep her on a proper low carb diet.
Bear will get there. He may just need a little coaxing. If your vet has any available by the pack, you may want to see if you can get some Fortiflora. It can be used on Bear's food to get him to eat it. You just sprinkle a little on top like you would salt/pepper your own food. Cat's can't resist it.
I won't add anything else to your plate.
Just wanted to welcome you all.
(((((hugs)))))

Angela
 
Ok, for some reason its not working for me. I found the file but when I hit "attach the file" all I got was a blank screen. I'll try it again once my wife gets home. Hopefully we can figure it out
 
Okay when you say blank screen is that a completely blank screen or do you still see the message box like you would when posting a message?
It should be "upload attachment"
Then Browse
then "Add the File"
Then you should see at the bottom of the message screen where it says File Comment and under that in blue the file name.
and two grey boxes One says "Place inline" the other says "Delete file" you want to hit "place Inline"



All you will after that until you submit the message is the computer code...once you hit submit you will see the picture...this one is Musette, my newest sugarcat.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 

Attachments

  • 156.jpg
    156.jpg
    249.3 KB · Views: 3,129
Here's a Wal-Mart shopping list, hopefully if I missed anything, someone will advise on that.

ReliOn Meter (Micro or Confirm)
It will come with a lancet device

Lancets

I would go ahead and just pick up the syringes too, I like the 30 unit capacity, 30 gauge, 5/16" short unit with half unit markings. Make sure they have the half unit markings or you may be guessing at your doses.
More on dosing later. Just having the strips now keeps you from having to make a special trip.

Test Strips for the type of meter you buy

Neosporin + pain relief OINTMENT, not the cream. This will help minimize bruising and helps the blood bead.
Some plain white rice, if you don't already have some, so you can make a "rice sock". You will take an old thin sock and put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of rice in the toe, then sew it up. This will be used to warm Bear's ear at testing time. Warm ears bleed.
OR you can use a washcloth, wet it with warm water, then stick it in a baggy so Bear's ear doesn't get wet.

Treats!!! Lots and lots of treats. LOW CARB treats. You may have to get these at the pet store.
There may be others, but I buy the freeze dried chicken (in the dog treat section), freeze dried shrimp and freeze dried salmon. The shrimp and salmon are in the cat treat section. Or you can make your own chicken bites.
I think the idea is to just stay away from the high carb dry stuff. Like Temptations and stuff like that.

ok, I *think* that's it.
If I forget something, someone will let you know............ :lol:
 
Awww, look at Musette!

Her hair is growing back in nicely. I bet she secretly likes being naked with this heat wave we are having!!! :lol: :lol:
 
Ok, its completely a blank white screen. Once I hit attach the file it thinks for a minute and then goes to a blank screen. I'm using a Mac, do you think that may be an issue? Well I'll attempt it again in a little bit, we need to get Bear ready for his visit to the doc.
 
It could be the mac but don't know for certain since I haven't used one since back when dinosaurs walked the earth (read high school here) lol. Another easy way to get a picture is to open a photobucket account, upload pictures to that and then just copy and paste the img code into a message. For the avatar you will need to resize the picture so it is no bigger than 90 x 90...a little bit bigger than a postage stamp.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
It sounds like you have a very good vet. I love to hear it when a vet encourages hometesting.

One trick I used when transitioning my cats over to canned is to put some of the dry food on top of the wet. Then as they get used to eating canned food, start reducing the amount of dry every couple days until you are only feeding cans. Also, if you leave dry out, take that away also and feed them 2 or 3 times a day instead.
 
Hey Luke & Lindsay!! Welcome!
You are two steps ahead being a nursing student! I still shake a little when I try to take his BG. Cedric was diagnosed on 4/22 (same way as you described, he went in for his regular check up and I mentioned the water intake, they ran tests and called back the next day with the diagnosis). He used Lantus and my vet prescribed it because he wanted to get my nearly 6 year old into remission. I changed his diet from 3oz of canned and 1/2 cup of blue buffalo weight control (which never helped him drop fro his 18 lbs) to grain free, high protien, low carb canned & dry. I reduced his dry (Blue Buffalo Wilderness) from 1/2 to 1/4, then I finally took it away on 5/19. His numbers dropped 100 points (see spreadsheet below). Two days later he received his last insulin injection. I get normal numbers and am testing him about every 3 days now (had issues with the A/c last week, so.....). He is usually in the 60s.

I get about the $$$. I bought a townhouse in March and we had moved in a week before his diagnosis. I am single and work 2 jobs, so this was not a great time for this to happen. The up front "cost" was a lot due mostly to the insulin - but being in the biz, you might be able to get a single pen like suggested here, versus the 10 ml bottle I bought at $120 (I have since given it to a friend with a FD cat). I also had a vacation planned, so boarding Cedric at the vet (no choice, other kennels would not give him his insulin) was $$. I bought the Relion Micro from Wal-mart for $9 (it comes with 10 lancets BTW) and the bottle of 50 strips is $20 (you must get at the pharmacy). I buy the 28 gauge lancets and try to prick him freestyle (the micro does come with a device). I buy the lancets at Target because they come with a little cap and Cedric has a tendancy of putting everything in his mouth.

You can do this!
 
I think I did a web search for the words make an avatar and found a site that lets you pick the size.
Welcome.
 
Hey everyone, WE JUST GAVE BEAR HIS FIRST INJECTION OF INSULIN AND IT WAS SUPER EASY!!!!!!! So the vet was real positive, she gave a great tutorial to my wife and dad about giving Bear his injections. We ended up getting the Relion Confirm reader due to the very small sample size of blood needed. Granted it was only a difference of 3 micro-liters between that and the micro, I figured if my wife and dad were having problems getting blood from Bears ears this might help a little. We decided to start Bear and Smokey out on the vet recommended DM dry food to make her happy just till we get things leveled out. From there we'll ween him onto something a less expensive that has a similar content to the DM food and obviously monitor his levels closely through the transition. So my wife is currently working on a spread sheet for us to record Bears BS levels, food intake, injection times, and all that fun stuff. Starting tomorrow we go 75/25 on his new and old food and continue the progression until the cats are completely on the new stuff. Right now my head is just swimming in all this new stuff were gonna have to do with Bear. Needles to say Lindsay and I are pretty exhausted. I don't think I've eaten since 10:30 this morning so that's my next project. Everyone here is so great and so helpful. Lindsay and I don't know what we would have done without this resource. I think the picture issue will have to wait until tomorrow :-D
 
Hi Luke, Lindsay, and, of course, you too, sweet Bear -- and Smokey taking notes,

You're officially dancing now! And, apparently vampires, too! Bet you never thought you'd hear those words, did you?

Give your collective heads a rest. A log book will do just fine until Lindsay figures out the spreadsheet deal. I'm old school and keep a log book...

I have a Mac and would be happy to help you both show us Bear -- and Smokey taking notes. Just PM me (somewhere to the right under Nikki's picture) is the PM button, then go to the Upload attachment tab kind of under and to the left of the Save draft, Preview, and Submit buttons. We'll figure it out...

Love and continued encouraging hugs for you both and Bear -- and Smokey taking notes,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever dancing in my heart...
 
Hi Luke, Lindsay and Bear!
Welcome to the dance.

Luke, I just pm'd you instructions on how to put an avatar on your posts. I had recently sent them to another member, and only learned how to do it last week myself. At the top left of any screen you're on, you'll see an icon saying User Control Panel. Next to it is ( # new messages) that should now say (1 new message). if you click on it, it'll show you the PM I sent.

Carl in SC
 
Luke B said:
Thank you all so much for the info. My wife was able to come on earlier, not registered yet, and read your comments. Her name is Lindsay by the way. It has made her feel as confident about this as it has made me. I was at Walgreens and got the urine test strips my vet wanted me to start with. I will also be going to Walmart tonight to look into the meters, Our vet said we need to have one within a week. So I think the biggest challenge is going to be the food. Our cats have always had dry food, we tried to go onto a canned due to our cats having dry skin but they just didn't seem interested. Our vet has given us the option between Lantus and PZI for insulin. I was aware that the insulin came in 1000 unit vials and was only good for 28 days after the first use so the solostar pen sounds like it going to be the winner. I did get the call earlier today by our vet confirming that bear is indeed a sugar cat (I love saying that!). She stated that his tested glucose levels are around 600-650 right now so we certainly need to get this under control. Our appointment is at 5 tonight to learn the ropes. I will be sure to come and update everyone on how everything went and what our vet says. Thanks again, I cant say it enough it seems.
Click to expand...

Hi Luke, you've gotten lots of great advice and welcomes so far!

I just wanted to pop in to let you know that info given about Lantus for human use doesn't really apply to cats. Most importantly the Solostar pens should be kept in the fridge, even the one in current use. The reason the insulin manufacturer labels it for use for only 28 days is because the idea behind the pens for humans is so that it can be kept at room temp and injected at room temp. Please read this discussion from the old version of this board : http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?15,1906669

Also, what was the starting dose the vet recommended? It's very important to not start at more than 1U, as finding the best dose with Lantus requires a step up approach and if you begin the dose too high you might surpass the best dose.
 
Awesome!!!!!! I figured out the avatar so you can all get a small look at my sugarcat. Thanks to Carl for sending me the info on how to get it done, it worked flawlessly. So today is a great day, it started out with Bear jumping on my bed and waking me up purring his little butt off. Took the cats food away last night and started the DM food today also, well the 75/25 split anyway, and Bear ate like a MACHINE!!!!! I haven't seen him eat like that in weeks. While he was eating I got his second shot of insulin ready and warmed it up a little before I gave it to him. The only reaction I got is he walked to the other side of his bowl to get away from me pinching his skin so he could eat. Oh, we're also starting on 1 unit of insulin to begin. You can see improvement from him already. He looks better, moving around more, and starting to be his usual vocal self. Lots of positives today, I feel so much better about where we're at now.
 
What a handsome boy you have there!!!! It really is amazing on how quickly they can turn around once treatment is started. When I first adopted Maxwell last october, he was nekked from being shaved because he as so matted from not being able to groom himself, didn't really jump on anything, didn't purr, didn't play and was a walking skeleton at 10.5 lbs....today 8 months later, he has a silky long and perfectly groomed coat, leaps from the bed to the dresser, up on the cat perches, and chases my 1 year old kittens through the house, purrs his brains out and tips the scales at 17.5lbs. (He's a big, tall & long cat, mostly likely a Maine Coon mix) and the best part is after a change in his diet (removed the dry) and a short course of insulin (2 weeks) he went off insulin and remains diet controlled to this day.

Once you get the home testing down, you will know exactly at a moment's notice how Bear is doing on his insulin, and we can help you learn to adjust the dosage, you can do your own curves at home, and will feel even more empowered than you do right now.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Yeah Bear has always been a smaller cat. I think in his prime he was only around 11 pounds. At his last visit in June, before he joined this exclusive club, he was 9.5 lbs. When we got him in on Tuesday at the beginning of this ordeal he was 8.12 lbs. I'm hoping we will be able to get him back up to 9-10lbs in the next few weeks/months. In the next 4-5 days I have to go back to the vet to practice BS with them, more for my wife and dad then me, on one of their cats. The vet was very confident in letting us do our own curve at home due to my experience. Our vet also told us that the insulin we chose, the Lantus vial, would be good for a long time and not just the 28 days the Pharmacist told it was. She stated that it doesn't need he "kick" for cats that it needs for humans and that shes has patients that use it for 6 months before getting a new vial. The only thing is to track Bears BS to make sure the insulin is still doing the job as it does get older and deteriorates. Did anyone else get the same info or have the same experience with using the insulin for that long?
 
Well I can only tell you what as happened with my Musette, I adopted her on June 25, and a solostar pen of Lantus came with her. Now since there was a delay in getting it through the USPS of about 24 hours (suppose to be overnight, took an extra day). At half-way through that pen and 28 days later, her numbers started to skyrocket and would not come down out of the 200-300s. Yesterday, after her morning shot, her new insulin arrived. Before her shot last night she was 307, now she is on a tiny dose of .25u (down from the .5u that she had crept up to on the old insulin). This morning, after that tiny tiny dose of a new pen...she started her morning at 174. So no it doesn't last 6 months for a vial, at least it hasn't for us so far. Now again something could have happened to that old pen in the mail, as it could have gotten too warm as when she came to me we were just starting this horrible heat wave.

At most I think you can expect maybe a couple of months before the numbers start creeping up again, and you have to start shooting more and more insulin to get the same effect, that is why we recommend the pens. Because when you finally switch vials you will have upped the dose so much, if you aren't careful with the new insulin you stand a good chance of over-dosing Bear.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Ok, I have a question about feeding for Bear and Smokey. Our vet stated that we should feed twice a day and each time should be done close to when we give Bear his insulin. The cats seem hungry now and Bear isn't due for his next shot and feeding until 7:30 tonight. I gave smokey some treats but Bear was right there looking for food too. I don't know what to do at this point. We had been giving him turkey through this just for some food but we're trying to get him, and Smokey, into a routine. Since we're trying to get Bears BS down not giving him food, or treats at that matter, at this points seems like the right thing to do. What advice can anyone give me. We're at the point were we're not testing Bears BS yet. I also haven't been able to test Bears urine with the strips yet since the only time he went I was at the gym running. On the plus side his water consumption has decreased.
 
I, personally. free feed wet to all my cats, Since I'm home all day, basically fresh food goes down 4 times a day, At 6am when I test and shoot Musette, at noon, or her +6, again at 6pm when Musette is again tested and gets her insulin and then again about 10-11 pm right before we go to bed for the night. I do try to pick up at least Musette's food about 2 hours before shot time so when I test right before I have a non-food influenced number.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Hi Luke
I just want to chime in.
Korbel was diagnosed when she was 6, back in 2000. She has been living with diabetes for 11yrs, cats can and do live long happy healthy lives with diabetes.
 
It seems that several small meals a day helps to smooth out the bg numbers (and thus help the pancraeas heal if it is so inclined). If you're not home to feed, you can either split both their meals into maybe 3 portions, give one and freeze two. Then put the other 2 portions out when you leave so that they can eat it as it thaws. The other alternative is to get a timed feeder and set it to open at may +4 and +8. Then they should be finished eating by the time you want to take a pre-shot bg reading. I have a 2 compartment feeder and this is what I do for daytime. At night, I feed half his food at his shot and then just time the other half for about +4. He sleeps pretty soundly and didn't seem to be waking up for the second timed portion.
 
Hi everyone, I'm Lindsay. Bear's mum and Luke's wife. I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm so happy Luke found this site. All of this is a little overwhelming. I think the day we found out was one of the worst days of my life. When I was growing up I was never allowed to have animals. Bear already found Luke when I entered the picture, 7 years ago. He's the first animal I've ever had a connection to. I haven't read all the threads yet, but I will. I am still learning all the terms and "jargon" but it doesn't seem that bad, just a little extra checking and watching and everything will be great!

I am so happy that so many of you are willing to help and are in the same boat as us. I don't feel alone. Although I have several friends with cats, none of them are diabetic.

Here is a little update:
Today Boo (he goes by a few nicknames) boo, bearly, boo-cat, booly-bear, squeaker (cuz he's so vocal) has been doing much better today! He will be given his third insulin shot in about an hour. First one that I am administering and I'm excited to do it! I will do anything for Bear, and I mean anything. That includes the stool sample I collected this morning and put in the refrigerator for Luke. Anyway, he's much more active today, not peeing nearly as much, probably because of the antibiotics and insulin, and we saw him run down the hall for the first time in DAYS...he was chasing my iPod headphones :lol: kitties are so funny.
 
Hi guys I just wanted to stop in and say welcome too! You have gotten a lot of helpful information here and I know you guys are all on info overload so remember, we will be here as long as it takes to get all your questions answered ..

Mocha was diagnosed just at 5 1/2 years old and did the sugar dance for 22 months but is now completely diet controlled .. This site is amazing and you won't find more dedicated animal lovers anywhere else!
 
So I was looking at the layouts everyone has for their spreadsheets and am REALLY impressed! Lindsay and I were going to make our own coincidentally before I saw all yours but now I would like to know if someone had the basic layout they could send us or let us download. That is a fantastic way to chart our progress and keep records.

On another note tonight when Lindsay and I gave Bear and Smokey their food and sat down to dinner Bear ate like a mad man and then went straight to the litter box. I was able to get a urine test strip in there and his urine/glucose content is definitely dropping! When our vet tested two days ago she said the strip just went almost black, tonight we were in the brown and hopefully going down (ha that rhymed!) Lindsay did her first insulin injection which also went so well, GREAT JOB again honey! Bear is on his way to being back to normal, both of us are so happy to have our Bear back. Thanks again to everyone for their love, support, info, and kind words. You all have helped us keep our sanity in the last three days!!!!!
 
There is a spreadsheet you can download off this site, but I am not sure how to get to it .. I am computer challenged, but I know someone will be along soon to help figure it out with you .. and YAY on the glucose already coming down!
 
Yes thank you all so much! Luke and I both have MacBook Pros and I think I can set up a shared spreadsheet so we can both edit/save simultaneously. I just have to figure out how to turn home-sharing on and we should be good to go. This feature will be nice if one or the other of us isn't home for the weekend. We can still monitor Bear's progress. bcatrun_gif
 
Hi Lindsey!

Welcome to the Family of crazy sugarcat lovers. Like others have said we will be around to answer any and all questions. And unlike the vet office we don't have office hours, we don't take vacations, or close for holidays or weekends. We literally have members all over the world so any hour of the day or night someone is lurking around here to answer questions. be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to vent to, or just offer up a ton of cyber hugs. From your very first post we will worry and fret over your Boo like he was one of our very own kitties. When you get to home testing if you want some in person, hands on help all you have to do is give us a general location (city & state) and we will try to track down someone local that can pop by and help you out.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top