Squeek just diagnosed

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Carol R.

Carol R.

Member Since 2015
hi... I'm Carol and my Squeek was just diagnosed with diabetes.Her bloodwork this week showed her glucose was 387 and the fructosamine test was 569. I don't know what all the numbers mean, but that it's bad. I'm really stressed out and scared. I know nothing about diabetes and having to do this testing has me stressed even more.

I hope I can learn here. Thanks for this forum for newbies who are basket cases like me.

Carol
 
Hi Carol and Squeek and welcome. Squeek looks so beautiful in your picture - what an adorable kitty! :D

First things first - take a few deep breaths. We've all been exactly where you are and everyone here understands what you're going through. A diagnosis of diabetes isn't something anyone wants to deal with for their cat - it is scary and stressful - but you can cope and you've found the perfect place to get the help you need.

Have you been prescribed insulin for Squeek yet or are you waiting to see if a change in diet will help first? The more information you can share with everyone here about medication and diet, the easier it is for everyone to help you. It sounds as though you're already testing her BG at home - personally I found that the most difficult part to learn, so if you're already having even some success with that you're doing really well already.

And yes, there are people here who will help you through every step of this journey. One of the great things is that there are people here from all over the world so, no matter what time of day, there's just about always someone around to help. :)

And because we all need them, especially when everything is new and frightening - here are some hugs for you and Squeek :bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
hi April,

We haven't done any testing yet. I did another post on the other forum, the health one. I had more info on that one. Her glucose was 387 and the fructosamine test was 569. I don't know what the numbers mean, except that they're very high. The vet gave me insulin to give her, but didn't show me how to do any tests, he didn't give me a meter, so I ordered one today. He wants me to do the glucose curve, but won't be able to do that till I get the meter. I'm really nervous about doing the testing. I don't know how to do it. I've been watching youtube videos to see how it's done. I can't do the testing today, but I'm going to go ahead and give her the insulin anyway and test her later. I'm supposed to give her 1 unit. They gave me this insulin called Prozinc. It was very expensive. :( I hope it helps, because right now she feels really bad and won't eat but a few bites here and there.

Thanks for the support. <3
Carol and Squeek
 
I haven't used Prozinc myself - Rosa was on Lantus from the start and as it seems to suit her well (fortunately given the price of most of the insulins that can be used for cats) I haven't had to consider switching. I understand Prozinc is one of the better insulins for cats, so it sounds as though your vet is up to speed on which insulins work well. :) Can I ask which meter you ordered? A lot of vets recommend the Alphatrak as it's designed for use in animals, but most of us here use human meters (the ReliOn ones from Walmart are good) which are a lot cheaper, as are the test strips. The number range you aim for is just a little different depending on the meter you're using.

You'll be surprised how easy testing is once you get the first few out of the way (it can take a few attempts to be successful). I also learned by watching the Youtube videos - they really did help. And you do have options - if Squeek doesn't like her ears being touched, you can test a paw pad instead (I do both depending on which Rosa seems to be more amenable to at the time). It very quickly becomes routine, though I would suggest buying some low-carb treats for Squeek so she learns to associate the testing with something good. The Pure Bites treats that you can get from Petco are good because the only ingredient is the freeze-dried meat (or shrimp which Rosa loves). You might be able to find them cheaper online - I haven't looked because our local Petco is only 5 minutes away so it's convenient!

I would suggest that you don't try doing a curve immediately when you get the meter - give yourself a chance to get used to the testing for a few days, or even a bit longer, before you set yourself up for having to test every 2 hours. Frequent testing is fine when you're confident - it really doesn't take long once you're used to it - but there's no good reason to stress yourself out further by trying to test that often while you're still learning.

The 387 is high, but it could be a lot worse. If you take a look at Rosa's ss (in my signature), you can see just how high she was to begin with. Her initial reading at the vet was 680 and I got very little under 600 for the first week! It's amazing how quickly things improve once the insulin starts to work - they do start to feel better quickly even if it takes a little longer for the numbers to reflect that. No doubt your vet tested Squeek for ketones, but I would suggest that while her numbers are still up in the 300s you buy some Ketostix (again, you can get these at Walmart) so you can make sure that she's not developing ketones - catching those early is important. Not all cats will develop ketones - Rosa never did in spite of her horribly high numbers - but it's one thing you can check fairly easily, especially while you're learning to test, to help keep Squeek safe.

Let me jump over and take a look at your other post (I didn't see that one yet) so I have all the information and I'll see if I can add anything else for you that might help.
 
OK, I'll add the other info on here so it's in one place for you rather than on the other thread.

You definitely don't need a prescription to buy a glucometer. Whichever store told you that is just plain wrong - it's perfectly acceptable for even non-diabetics to own a meter if they want to self-check every so often to make sure that a problem isn't starting. Walmart will absolutely sell you everything you need without a prescription - glucometer (around $15), test strips (unfortunately the expensive bit at close to $40 for 100) and lancets (start with the alternate site ones as they're a little bigger so make it easier to get enough blood to begin with - they run around $4-$5 for 100). And some Neosporin ointment with pain relief so you can put a little on after you test. At least some of the time, they have an offer on where if you buy the test strips, you get the glucometer free - worth checking to see if that's something they're running at the moment!

Food can be a tricky one. Rosa was a complete dry food addict which didn't help. I found that if I got the Friskies pates and mixed a load of water into them to make a sort of soupy, gravy consistency then not only would she eat them but so would all the other dry food addict cats in the house! And the pates are low carb so you don't have to worry that you're giving Squeek something that's going to raise her glucose levels. With that said, if she won't eat them then at least to begin with I'd feed whatever she will eat even if it's higher carb than you'd like - it's important that she eats something.

The other thing I would suggest, especially as you're having to start insulin without being able to test, is that you make sure you have supplies in the house just in case Squeek drops too low. Fortunately, there's nothing too complicated about what you'd need to deal with that - just some karo syrup or honey and some high carb cat food in gravy (Fancy Feast gravy lovers varieties are good for that).
 
I ordered an Accu-Chek Aviva Plus meter kit from Walgreens. We don't have a Walmart close by here. There's one about a half hr drive away, but we never go up there. I may go up there and check it out anyway.
 
The Accu-Chek should be fine :) I'm not sure how much the test strips are for that one, but as long as you're not getting stung by the Alphatrak prices I'm sure it'll work out pretty reasonable overall. :) We're lucky with that here - we have both Walmart and Petco really close to here so we've been able to find everything we needed without too much of a problem!
 
Carollynn said:
hi April,

We haven't done any testing yet. I did another post on the other forum, the health one. I had more info on that one. Her glucose was 387 and the fructosamine test was 569. I don't know what the numbers mean, except that they're very high. The vet gave me insulin to give her, but didn't show me how to do any tests, he didn't give me a meter, so I ordered one today. He wants me to do the glucose curve, but won't be able to do that till I get the meter. I'm really nervous about doing the testing. I don't know how to do it. I've been watching youtube videos to see how it's done. I can't do the testing today, but I'm going to go ahead and give her the insulin anyway and test her later. I'm supposed to give her 1 unit. They gave me this insulin called Prozinc. It was very expensive. :( I hope it helps, because right now she feels really bad and won't eat but a few bites here and there.

Thanks for the support. <3
Carol and Squeek
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I also se ProZinc, it's a good insulin if your schedule tends to a bit irradic as mine is, and actually cheaper than some of the others. Don't let them tell you it expires in 30 or 60 days after first use, as long as you treat it properly, it last about 90 days.
 
Mogmom said:
Don't let them tell you it expires in 30 or 60 days after first use, as long as you treat it properly, it last about 90 days.
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That is a very good point and pretty much valid for all insulins for cats. There's some rule where they have to tell you that's how long it lasts, but even with Lantus which is meant to be 28 days (and in humans they really do recommend you throw it away after that point) it will last a long time if you handle it properly. I definitely wouldn't buy a new vial every month or so as long as the one you have is still effective.

@Mogmom - I can see why Prozinc is popular if you don't have to be as perfectly accurate with dosing times. And of course, unlike some of the other insulins, it's properly effective in cats. There are days when it would probably have worked better for me not to be on a fixed schedule too, though I can't see me switching at this point with Rosa doing so well on Lantus.
 
How are you supposed to "handle" the insulin? All the vet told me was to put it in the refrigerator.
 
Never shake insulin.
ProZinc and PZI are suspensions/mixtures and must be rolled gently before use to redistribute the mixture evenly.
Lantus and Levemir are fine without rolling.
 
Oh, yes. I did do that, the rolling the little bottle in my hands. I saw that on one of the videos I watched. I got the meter yesterday. I haven't started to do the testing yet. Last night was hectic, one of my other kitties, Punkie, who has lymphoma, wasn't feeling well and I was with her all night. I have 3 of my cats who have cancer (Puddy, Punkie and Fluffy), 1 with IBD (Boo Boo), 1 with stomatitis (Fritz) and now Squeek with diabetes. There's not enough of me to go around sometimes! We just found out last week that Fritz had stomatitis and he's supposed to go in to get all his teeth pulled this week. :(
 
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