Very Nervous About This

We just got Benny's diagnosis on Friday the 25th, and are awaiting some sendout lab work, including urine culture. He starts insulin this week and we are determined to home test blood sugar in hopes of reducing trips to vet. Although I am a nurse, he is our baby, and the thought of sticking needles in him makes me cry--as does fear of shortened life span.

 

Welcome Patricia and Benny,

I'm sorry you need to go through this with your baby. Since you didn't ask any questions, I want to tell you not to fear about a shortened lifespan. We have many cats here who have not only gone into remission, but have lived normal life spans as diabetics! My own cat Gandalf has been diabetic for almost 5 1/2 years now and is 17, which in itself is elderly and a normal life span!

An owner who is willing to learn the idiosyncrasies of feline diabetes, home test and make the necessary dietary changes for their kitty will most likely help them to live as long, if not longer, than non-diabetics. We become very in-tune to their health and often discover issues such as swellings, teeth problems, etc before someone who is not taking such care and get those issues resolved before they become life-threatening.

I probably take Gandalf in to the vet more often than I would were he not diabetic. A couple years ago my vet found a swollen thyroid and to make a long story short, that resulted in surgery to remove a rare parathyroid tumor. That will be 2 years ago this coming December. If he had not been receiving regular vet care, it may have been too late by the time it was discovered.

So please don't be scared. You've found the best resource to help you in the best treatment course for Benny, right from the beginning. Please ask any questions you may have.

 

WELCOME, this forum is a great place to gain knowledge and really learn how to manage feline diabetes. By doing just a few things each day (that really won't take up much of your time at all), you won't need to worry about losing your precious cat, not where feline diabetes is concerned.

There are three key factors to managing diabetes: food/nutrition, home testing and insulin

1) Feline Nutrition: Now, as far as diet - definitely dump the dry food (if you are feeding any) and if the vet recommends purchasing prescription food like DM just say "no thank you". ALL cats, and especially those with diabetes, do best on a species appropriate diet that is high in protein and low in carbs. Dry food DOES NOT fit that bill and DM food, even canned, just really isn't that great as far as quality. Most here on FDMB feed low carb/high protein canned, raw bought from a pet store or they make there own.

Here great links, one is to a food chart put together by one of our board members that breaks down the carb % and protein % of most of the commercial brand foods. You want to keep the carb % below 10% and around 7% is great. The other link is to a site by a vet "Dr. Lisa DVM" ... who also posts on this board from time to time ... there is in-depth info. there about many things, including nutrition and how to make raw food.
Nutrition/food info

The good thing with feeding your diabetic cat this way, is that it is ALSO good for any non-diabetic cat too. All your cats can safely eat the same food without worry and it may save you some costs and headaches of having to do separate feedings and keeping track of what they are eating.


2. Home testing: It is impossible to convey the value of testing your cat's BG (blood glucose) level at home. Some vets will "suggest" this, but most won't even mention it. They will send you home with insulin and an amount to shoot and maybe some instructions about hypoglycemia (blood sugar dropping to a dangerously low level).

Well, the thing is, human diabetics don't EVER give themselves insulin without checking there BG to make sure it is safe to do so, so why shouldn't it be the same for our kitties. Here on FDMB it is. You will notice that the vast majority of people here test their cat's BG at least 2x/day (before giving each shot to make sure the level is safe enough) and periodically at other times to see how the cat is responding to the current dose. We use a human glucometer, test strips and lancets - which are all very readily available and easy to use.

Our kitties get lots of love and treats for "putting up" with this and most of them actually come out to be tested on their own 'cause they want those treats . Here is a collection of great links that "Carolyn and Spot" pulled together about hometesting. See what you think ... it truly is the best way to not only keep Your cat safe but also really get a handle on this disease and help him to live a healthy life with FD (feline diabetes).

Home testing Links

3. Insulin: There are several types of insulin available. Many people, myself included use Lantus or Levimer both of which are great insulins. They are gentle insulin and given twice (BID) per day in 12 hour increments. Or you could also choose PZI or the new version called Prozinc.

Please read up on the insulins available, here is a link to the Insulin Support Groups:

Insulin Support Groups

However, one caveat and again this shows how these three things are inter-related:

If you are feeding dry food or even a high carb food, BEFORE removing these foods, please make sure of your insulin dose as it will most likely need to be reduced, so as to avoid a possible hypoglycemic situation due to the removal of the dry/high carb foods that will lower the BG’s and reduce the amount of insulin required. Again, another reason why home testing is important.

I know this all seems like a lot, and that's because it is ... there is a learning curve here. But as long as you are determined and keep at it, you will have it down before you know it and you'll be seeing the results in Your cat' overall health and happiness. Ask all the questions you can think of - that's why we are here!

Also, if you haven't done it yet, take the time and fill out your profile. It will help when others come on and read this. Also, let us know where you live - city/state as there are probably people in your area who can provide on the ground support and help you to learn home testing, etc.

Here are some links to help get you started:

How to Treat Hypos
Hypo Tool Kit
Transitioning your cat from dry to wet foods
Home Testing Links and Tips
Nutrition and Diet Links
Lantus Forum
How to create a profile
How to Create a spreadsheet

I highly recommend that you read as much as you can and learn.

 

Many of us now realize that diabetes is a much easier disease to treat than others, and you will realize this too one day! The needles are a breeze, testing becomes easy, and his quality of life need not suffer.

Read the faq first; the link is a few posts above this one on the list. Put your 'nurse mode' on and get rid of the emotions as much as you can as Benny will sense them. You'll do fine!

Jen

 

We all know how scary it is when you first hear the diagnosis of Feline Diabetes. But it will get easier as you go and you will begin to feel more confident as you go along. I have no specific suggestions regarding how you should be handling treatment -- I'll leave that to the more seasoned veterans. My only suggestion is read, read, read.

Whether it's browsing through felinediabetes.com or the Wikia site, or just spending time reading some of the threads here on the FDMB -- even the ones that don't seem to apply to your situation because, well, you never know when the information might come in handy. And don't be afraid to post your questions here -- even if you think they might be silly -- the folks here are very helpful. And there are usually several people on here at all hours of the day and night.

You can do this. I know the thought of sticking needles in him is scary. I almost passed out at the vet's office the first time I had to do it, so I hear ya.... But it does get easier. In the meantime, we're all here if you need us!

 

Sticking kitty can be tough at first. I recommend using the lancing pen that comes with the meter until you are used to seeing your furry friend's ear bleed a little. Watch the youtube videos and look at the ear picture with the "target zone". Even if as a nurse you are sure you know what you are doing. Once you have used the pen a few times (I just used up the free lancets that came with the meter), you will see how fast your kitty's ear will heal and how little pain it causes. Then you can try the free hand lancets. Which will give you more control and will let you easily do two small shallow lances right next to each other, instead of one deep one. After just a couple weeks of testing my kitty, I've gotten good enough that almost every other time she doesn't even notice the lancing.

 

I have a newly diagnosed kitty named Blackie, who's 10 years old. She was diagnosed in March, and was first put on the Glipizide tablets, but they soon made her vomit, and she went to insulin, at first 1 unit 1x a day, then it was increased to 1 unit BID. She was put on the Vetsulin, until we found out that it was recalled (I found out through the internet, and my vet had told me that the company wasn't making it anymore).

After that, she was put on ProZinc. Graduallay (by vet's standards), she was increased 1 unit almost each weekend since the beginning of ProZinc, and was put on the Hill's Prescription W/D dry. Bad mistake. She went through 2 bouts of glucose curves (1 was an overnight stay, and the other last from Wednesday until Saturday morning). After the 2nd curve, she was on 5 units BID. Then, she was upped to 6 units BID the weekend after. 2 weeks after that, they jumped her to 8 units BID. The following weekend, I told the vet that I wanted her to go on a wet food diet only, and I wanted to put her on Fancy Feast. Vet wanted me to put her on Hill's Prescription W/D wet. I told vet that I'll try this for 1 week. Blackie didn't last a week. She had a hypoglycemic episode Tuesday afternoon when her BG's went as low as 21. I was scared I was going to lose her. With the help of a wonderful board member, I managed to get her BG's back up to a more respectable level, but it still climbed to a low 400. This same board member presented me with a home testing kit when she came over the day before Blackie's hypo episode. She taught me how to hometest, and I'm glad that she did. If I didn't have that monitor, etc., I wouldn't know what was going on with Blackie, and what her BG's were, or how to treat her. I immediately dropped her insulin to 1 unit BID from 8, and she's now on the Fancy Feast Classic wet food diet (chicken flavor).

I learned fairly quickly to get over the fear of seeing the blood, and do the testing. Sometimes, I test her often, and there's been 1 day when I gave her a rest, but I still tested her PS (pre-shot). Today, I gave her a mini curve, and then just tested her about 1 hour ago for the heck of it. I'm glad I did because she gave me a red number. Not good. I'll have to call my friend tonight and find out what to do from here.

You can do it. Sure, it seems a bit daunting, and a lot to take in, but you can do it. Believe me, I'm still new at this thing, too.

 

Patricia,

don't worry! Soon giving the insulin and testing the BG with a little ear poke will be second nature. I can say that as someone who nearly fainted at the mere thought of sticking my Danny with a needle. It took me a little time, but very soon it was just routine and easy to do. So easy that I deliberately adopted a second diabetic! Any of my future rescue cats will also be diabetic. I guess they're like potato chips... you can't have just one. :lol:

You can do it!

laur

 

Thank you all for your support. Over the last twenty four hours he's really worried us. Less energy, a liver enzyme spike, and poor appetite. He had subcutaneous fluids at the vet's today because he was a little dry.I managed to get 5 t. of wet food into him tonight and gave him his first insulin (1 unit Glargine). Then he had to take Clavamox because the vet thinks he's got biliary inflammation, and pancreatitis will have to be ruled out, and I understand these can be ascending infections from the small intestine. So far he has not thrown up the dose, but it's killed any desire he had to eat. It's the same stuff as Augmentin for humans, and they certainly get nauseated from it, so I am not surprised. If the lack of appetite is still an issue in the morning--it's hospitalization for our Benny. I waited the weekend to start to treat him for the DM because my husband and I needed to travel to check on his elderly mom, and we got the diagnosis at 4 PM on Friday afternoon, about two hours before we were to leave. I am kicking myself now, wondering if the delay made things worse. I should have stayed home. We have four cats. They are all our babies. This is a very worried household.

 

First, don't beat yourself up for waiting to deal with the FD issue. The truth is he probably has had FD for weeks, possibly months before you got the diagnosis. Yes, I know it's hard to hear, it was when someone said it to me about Maui. The point of saying it, is so you don't feel worse that you waited a week to take action. It's ok, that you waited, life happens.

Regarding the clavamox, if you cat is allergic to amoxycillin, clavamox has it in there. I know this is an issue for Maui, which is why I mention it. If possible when giving the drug, can you give some food before/after to help coat the stomach?

Hang in there, hopefully this is a temporary thing and will pass quickly and he will be back to being ok.

 

I didn't know that Blackie was diabetic until I saw her 1 morning laying next to the water bowl and drinking excessively. I thought it was because she was really thirsty, so I didn't pay attention to it. This was on a Thursday. The next day, being Friday, I noticed the same thing. A red flag came up, and I instantly thought "diabetes". When my husband came home from work that night, I told him that we needed to get her to the vet the next day. We did, and I asked for a full workup panel done on her. Everything checked out, except she was diabetic. Action was taken then, and we started her on Glipizide tablets. Soon those didn't work, and she was put on the Vetsulin, then ProZinc after finding out that the Vetsulin was recalled.

I don't like poking her as often as I do, however, I am glad that I do it because of the numbers I'm seeing. I look at it this way... It's saving her life. You'll do fine, and like someone on here said, it'll become second nature for you both.

I log the information both in a notebook so that I can take it to the vet's and have them copy it for their records, as well as I log the information onto the spreadsheet that's provided here so that if anyone wants to check Blackie's #'s, they can.

I'm learning things as I go along, too. You're not the only one new at this... So am I. We're all with you on this, and we all have been where you are right now. Mind you.. I still may be there with you. LOL Hang in there. You'll do fine. *HUGS*

 

You are a very good kitty-mama and are obviously doing your research to ensure you give your cat the best quality and quantity of life.

Diabetes need not shorten your cat's life or detract from its quality, once you and your kitty adjust to a treatment regimine that works for you both. You have come to the right place to do just that.

Some diabetic cats actually regulate and no longer need insulin after a time, that is, they control their diabetes with diet changes. But even of those who always need insulin, many have lived to quite a healthy old age.

Shots don't hurt kitties like they do us. Most cats have much thicker, tougher skin and the shots hurt less than even another nip from a brother or sister kitty. It is intimidating at first, but one day at a time and it will soon be no big deal to either of you.

Welcome to the club you never wanted to join, and will never regret!

 

You're a very good mom 'bean'. I know Benny would agree. You caught it... You're treating it... stop beating yourself up... Please... We all have stories of what we should have noticed.... and known, but didn't until we heard the DX Diabetes..... I just started begging for pills... I was so terrified to shoot insulin... But after giving him his first injection... I had to take a deep breath and smile. Not hard. And he started improving instantly... (well almost instantly).

FD doesn't shorten their life span.... I lost my Charlie at 18, almost seven years of insulin and ear testing.. He was and always will be my sweet boy... Sir Charles.

 

One thing I learned immediately with Greylie... once he started with low carb food he was diet controlled very fast.. Sophia took several months... but now after a few years it looks like they are creeping up again and we keep an eye on them I had one vet who said.. just give him the shot.... that would have killed him because he got lower with the diet.

I am glad that you came to this board.. I learned everything here and I knew 'just give them the shot' without testing is far too dangerous....

I wish you luck... you are among friends and I had so many questions and I always got answers,. so don't be nervous..... the shots won't hurt them.... we always gave it when they started eating maybe they don't like the testing on the ear,,,