Zoey, diagnosed a few days ago.

[SamuraiFox]

Hello! My Zoey is a big 16# black and white tuxedo who suddenly became 14# and I could feel his back spine and hipbones. As soon as I noticed I took him in & he was diagnosed as diabetic. I'm trying to not panic and let this control my life, but my dude & I have weird schedules and the cats (2 indoor, one indoor/outdoor adopted from the neighborhood) have all been free feeders, so this is bringing a LOT of change- we canceled a camping trip that was planned for this weekend because we needed to be here to give my boy insulin. That's crummy.

I am an RN, so I already got a glucometer (the relion from walmart- thanks for the tips on where to get that cheap!) and will start training him to test, which on our first attempt was fairly successful. I think I'll talk with my vet about doing our scheduled glucose curve myself, to save money and keep him out of stress. He's already acting much more like himself even after just 2 days of insulin.

The schedule is the hard part for us. I work 12+ hour overnights, so it's not possible to be on an exact 12 hour schedule. On my days off, I flip over to daywalking, so there's no consistent routine around here. I currently have vetsulin since that's what the vet sold me at the time of diagnosis, and someone said that's an 8-10 hour insulin so we will have some flexibility there on when to give it again.

Also, none of the cats are eating their full amount during their new mealtimes, so I'm worried about this adjustment as well- I think they'll catch on, but for now they just bother me all the time asking for more snacks. I'd love to know how y'all with weird schedules and sugarcats are able to keep things on the steady.

I'm also looking for suggestions on low-carb treats. I didn't think Zo even liked treats until we tried the Temptations- then I was able to teach him all sorts of tricks, like shake and high five. Now that those are probably on the no-no list, I need to find something new that he'll beg for. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for existing- it was such a relief to find support when I felt most lost about how to even keep going with my life and my (extra) sweet boy!

 

[Idjit's mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Zoey. You have some very valid questions about insulin dose scheduling as well as how to manage the diet changes and feeding schedule..like any of us can actually tightly schedule a cat's eating habits!

First, just so all members have Zoey's info right there when you post, please set up a signature. It displays every time you post a message:

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 he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the country/time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

Since you are already testing, and bless you for that !!!! another thing that will help us help you better is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. You will see how the trends and patterns emerge, and members can review his progress 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/

My next suggestion to get more members' eyes on the issues and questions is for you to copy your post here, create a new thread in the Main Health forum HERE and paste the message. This forum is just mainly to introduce yourself and to tell us a bit about what's happened, what's going on and to present questions so we can point you in the right directions to get the information you need.

Some of our members also work different schedules and will be able to pass on what they tried and what worked for them. Regarding feeding, our sugar cats do better with more frequent smaller meals, and since unregulated cats are not able to process food as well, they are usually much hungrier, and need to be fed more. Many of us use a timed feeder so that we can leave food out when going to work. The feeders open at pre-programmed times and have the portion amount we want kitty to have.

We can discuss diet and feeding, etc further on the Main Health forum, ok? I am looking very forward to following Zoey's progress along this new journey.

 

[SamuraiFox]

Thank you so much! I'll set up that signature & copy my questions over to the health forum. This is all so helpful!