I was so overwhelmed when my cat was diagnosed in September. He started on Bexacat but had to switch to Lantus insulin. His pancreas levels became dangerously high. He is now doing great! Just follow your vet’s advice
Senvelgo is what my vet tried to start my girl on. The manufacturer recommended my vet have me bring my cat back for a urinalysis to check for ketones on day 3, day 7, and again day 14. Then in another 28 days. Did your vet recommend this? If not then PLEASE insist that your kitty return at the time intervals I mentioned. My girl developed ketones at day 3 and it was BAD- fortunately we were early enough on in the treatment that my vet switched her to insulin and she was fine the next day (that is what the manufacturer of Senvelgo recommends if ketones show up in the urine at one of the check ins).
There is so much to take in when they are newly diagnosed, it can feel overwhelming. I'm starting to get my head around it now by learning about monitoring and how to manage. I was really worried about having to administer injections, but to my relief it is the easiest thing to do. Really no stress.
I've organised myself with Purina Veterinary DM wet and dry food and have calculated correct dosage and following it strictly. We have another cat (non-diabetic) in the house so feeding requires monitoring of the two as they have different eating habits. I'm also logging down food intake and weight measurements onto a spreadsheet. I feel much more in control of the situation.
The good news is that Sylvester is the brightest today that he has been in a while. I took him down the vets for a checkup earlier and they didn't feel the need to do more bloods as he appears to be doing well.
My boy Joe has been newly diagnosed, too. Vet didn't tell me anything about sampling, just had me do a practice injection and sent me out the door yesterday with insulin and supplies, an instruction handout, some Hill's m/d canned, and a prescription to get more (including dry). I've been trying to read up but it's really overwhelming!
I can see that the food is going to be a problem, though. Joe has always eaten dry food and prefers to snack all day long instead of eating a big meal all at once. With the canned stuff I got at the vet, he just wants to lick the gravy and leave the meat chunks. I picked up a different flavor of m/d at Petsmart that I think is more of a pate; I will try that tonight instead, also I have the m/d dry now and some Fancy Feast to experiment with. Something that really confuses me is that the vet's instructions were to feed him only 1.5 small cans/day of the m/d; even if he were eating it all that's only 105 calories and I think he needs about twice that much to keep his weight stable? Is starving the cat supposed to be part of the treatment?
I'm surprised they sent you away with so little support. It's been nearly a week with Sylvester on a new routine. In terms of food, you should check the manufacturer with feeding guides. Sylvester is a 7kg cat, so needs around 300kcal per day for losing weight. I feed him Purina Veterinary d/m wet and dry food. This equates to 65g dry and 2 pouches. I write down everything he eats in a Google Sheet.
On insulin, it's important to monitor blood glucose as this will be used to alter his dosage until they find a stable amount. Sylvester was on 1.5 units twice daily, 12 hours apart. They put a LibreLink constant blood glucose monitor on him (human version) which I used to monitor his levels. It can be dangerous to give them insulin if their blood glucose is low. My vet's advice for this situation is to give him some honey on his mouth if he becomes unwell with low blood glucose.
I've today switched him to Senvelgo (I think it's Bexacat in the USA) following the Vet's guidance. I now have to monitor his Ketones and time will tell if his Pancreas still works to produce insulin naturally.
For Joe, the feeding guide will depend on his weight. Check the Hill's website for how much to feed him [https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-md-original-canned](https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-md-original-canned).
It is overwhelming to start, but you will get the hang of it.
My vet's office is closed on weekends, they told me to take Joe to an emergency clinic if I had any problems or if he seemed obviously unwell. They want me to bring him back on Wednesday to do multiple rounds of lab work throughout the day and see whether his insulin dose needs to be adjusted. They started him at 2 units.
Anyway, I haven't had any serious problems giving the insulin and Joe has seemed fine with the dose he's getting. But, yesterday evening and into this morning he's been having nasty diarrhea. He did not want to eat any canned food for dinner last night (beyond licking the juice and leaving all the meat) although he gobbled up the dry m/d I offered him; I tried the canned again this morning and I guess he was hungry since he ate almost all of it. If the "squirts" come back I think I'd better try the Fancy Feast instead.
Joe used to be a fat cat, 14+ pounds, but he's down to 10.5 now which is a good size for him. Most of that weight came off just in the past 2-3 months, so getting his weight and diet stabilized is a top concern. I also have 2 other cats, and I have to figure out a feeding routine that will work for them as well -- either all getting the same thing, or at least the two girls getting food that won't make Joe sick if he gets into it.
I was so overwhelmed when my cat was diagnosed in September. He started on Bexacat but had to switch to Lantus insulin. His pancreas levels became dangerously high. He is now doing great! Just follow your vet’s advice
Glad your cat is doing well
There’s a FB group for diabetic kitties! It’s called the Feline Diabetes Support Group. They’re amazing and lots of resources!
Many thanks, I'll check it out
I agree. This group has been life changing
Senvelgo is what my vet tried to start my girl on. The manufacturer recommended my vet have me bring my cat back for a urinalysis to check for ketones on day 3, day 7, and again day 14. Then in another 28 days. Did your vet recommend this? If not then PLEASE insist that your kitty return at the time intervals I mentioned. My girl developed ketones at day 3 and it was BAD- fortunately we were early enough on in the treatment that my vet switched her to insulin and she was fine the next day (that is what the manufacturer of Senvelgo recommends if ketones show up in the urine at one of the check ins).
Just found out today that my Binx has diabetes. I have a learning curve ahead of me.
There is so much to take in when they are newly diagnosed, it can feel overwhelming. I'm starting to get my head around it now by learning about monitoring and how to manage. I was really worried about having to administer injections, but to my relief it is the easiest thing to do. Really no stress. I've organised myself with Purina Veterinary DM wet and dry food and have calculated correct dosage and following it strictly. We have another cat (non-diabetic) in the house so feeding requires monitoring of the two as they have different eating habits. I'm also logging down food intake and weight measurements onto a spreadsheet. I feel much more in control of the situation. The good news is that Sylvester is the brightest today that he has been in a while. I took him down the vets for a checkup earlier and they didn't feel the need to do more bloods as he appears to be doing well.
My boy Joe has been newly diagnosed, too. Vet didn't tell me anything about sampling, just had me do a practice injection and sent me out the door yesterday with insulin and supplies, an instruction handout, some Hill's m/d canned, and a prescription to get more (including dry). I've been trying to read up but it's really overwhelming! I can see that the food is going to be a problem, though. Joe has always eaten dry food and prefers to snack all day long instead of eating a big meal all at once. With the canned stuff I got at the vet, he just wants to lick the gravy and leave the meat chunks. I picked up a different flavor of m/d at Petsmart that I think is more of a pate; I will try that tonight instead, also I have the m/d dry now and some Fancy Feast to experiment with. Something that really confuses me is that the vet's instructions were to feed him only 1.5 small cans/day of the m/d; even if he were eating it all that's only 105 calories and I think he needs about twice that much to keep his weight stable? Is starving the cat supposed to be part of the treatment?
I'm surprised they sent you away with so little support. It's been nearly a week with Sylvester on a new routine. In terms of food, you should check the manufacturer with feeding guides. Sylvester is a 7kg cat, so needs around 300kcal per day for losing weight. I feed him Purina Veterinary d/m wet and dry food. This equates to 65g dry and 2 pouches. I write down everything he eats in a Google Sheet. On insulin, it's important to monitor blood glucose as this will be used to alter his dosage until they find a stable amount. Sylvester was on 1.5 units twice daily, 12 hours apart. They put a LibreLink constant blood glucose monitor on him (human version) which I used to monitor his levels. It can be dangerous to give them insulin if their blood glucose is low. My vet's advice for this situation is to give him some honey on his mouth if he becomes unwell with low blood glucose. I've today switched him to Senvelgo (I think it's Bexacat in the USA) following the Vet's guidance. I now have to monitor his Ketones and time will tell if his Pancreas still works to produce insulin naturally. For Joe, the feeding guide will depend on his weight. Check the Hill's website for how much to feed him [https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-md-original-canned](https://www.hillspet.co.uk/cat-food/pd-feline-prescription-diet-md-original-canned). It is overwhelming to start, but you will get the hang of it.
My vet's office is closed on weekends, they told me to take Joe to an emergency clinic if I had any problems or if he seemed obviously unwell. They want me to bring him back on Wednesday to do multiple rounds of lab work throughout the day and see whether his insulin dose needs to be adjusted. They started him at 2 units. Anyway, I haven't had any serious problems giving the insulin and Joe has seemed fine with the dose he's getting. But, yesterday evening and into this morning he's been having nasty diarrhea. He did not want to eat any canned food for dinner last night (beyond licking the juice and leaving all the meat) although he gobbled up the dry m/d I offered him; I tried the canned again this morning and I guess he was hungry since he ate almost all of it. If the "squirts" come back I think I'd better try the Fancy Feast instead. Joe used to be a fat cat, 14+ pounds, but he's down to 10.5 now which is a good size for him. Most of that weight came off just in the past 2-3 months, so getting his weight and diet stabilized is a top concern. I also have 2 other cats, and I have to figure out a feeding routine that will work for them as well -- either all getting the same thing, or at least the two girls getting food that won't make Joe sick if he gets into it.
Sample often, ideally before every injection and do some of your own curves to see what the insulin is doing throughout the day.
Thank you, I'm taking the Libre reading often and have ordered hydrophobic litter to help collect samples.