Anyone want a free diabetic cat?

Mostly because I thought I could find them cheaper that way. Well, I have enough to last a couple months right here, so I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

You are using the syringes more than once, right? I spent years using a new syringe for each shot. Then I dated a diabteic man who convinced me that that was silly. I did verify with my bro-in-law vet. I use one syringe per day, but I could probably use 3 o 4 times before tossing them.

As to Tico's point about storage - I buy cat litter in plastic containers when I need a knew recepticle for used syringes. And I replace the caps on the syringes before disposing of them. But, that last bit is a little excessive. Your vet should take the used syringes and dispose of them for you.

Here's a recent shot of Screechercat - he was attacking the camera strap - I have a whole series of ridiculous photos from that.




Thistle, you shouldn't have to give up your lifestyle for your Lucky. Once he's stable, things will be easier.......

I'm only using them once for now, because I'm obviously being over-cautious right now. I heard about using them twice too, but in this article my vet gave me to read, it said that the syringe is no longer sterile once you use it. But after I'm a little more comfortable with the whole thing I'll probably start re-using them too.

I'm also replacing the caps on the needles after I use them, and I keep them in the box that the syringes came in. I guess I'll bring them to my vet to dispose of. Haven't thought that far ahead yet. I'm still learning. Slowly, but I'm learning.

Oh my god, your cat...what a face! I should take some of mine.

Yes, take some of your cat! We have a whole cat thread here devoted to our critters. Many of them have health issues, some are rambunctious, all are loved to bits.

Your vet may require you to handle them in a specific way (the syringes). I think mine wants them in a metal or plastic container with the tope closed and taped. Because you are recapping them, maybe the paper box will work.

Just marking the time that I gave Lucky his shot now, because I don't want to forget. 10:20 PM. I cancelled my plans for this cat tonight, so I hope he appreciates it!

Aw, I'm sure he does...... the faster you get him regulated, the faster you can get back to something resembling your old lifestyle. I hope you don't end up regretting it!

By the way, I printed up a chart I could write in to help me remember when I last shot the cat (and whether I did).

So I have some more questions about dosage. My vet told me to give him the shots once a day at first, but then after looking at whatever test results she was looking at a couple days later, she told me she thought it would be better to give the shots twice a day. How is that kind of decision made? Is there any chance that once he's all regulated, I could eventually go back to once a day? Why does he have to get the shots twice a day? Why can't I slowly just up the dosage and do it once a day? This twelve hour time window is killing me.

I am going to call my vet tomorrow and ask about this, but I thought since you are so knowledgable, you might have some insight.

thanks

Last night I shot my cat 2 hours late and I have no good excuse!

The PZI is marketed as a way to the dosing just once a day - it's supposed to time-release over 24 hours (or something). I don't really understand, but if our cats are any kind of reliable sample population, PZI may be falsely advertizing.

There are a couple ways to test diabetic cats. I am not a vet and this info is simply what I have gathered in my addled little brain from my experience.

The first, more accurate way, involves leaving your cat at the vet all day. The vet draws blood every 2 hours, or so, and checks the level of glucose in the blood. Then they can track the ups and downs of blood glucose (BG). This is called a BG curve. What the vet wants to see, if the results are graphed, is a fairly steady BG level through out the day with higher BG levelat dosing time. So, a higher BG for the first hour or two with it lowering as the insulin kicks in (but not getting too low!) and then rising again. The highs and lows should not be extreme.

So, the 12-hour insulin time-releases over 12 hours and the 24 is supposed to do so over 24 hours (yeah, duh!). I am not sure what mechanism makes the 24 hour insulin get used faster. Like I implied above, maybe it was a marketing gimmick. If your cat's BG curve indicated that the dose was being used up in 12 hours, I guess they assume that more wouldn't make the dose last longer, it would just increase the insulin over the same length of time.

Am I making any sense? I think you ought to talk to your vet about it..... or look into one of those websites I listed.

I sort of understand that. But to tell you the truth, as the song says, I had a little drink about an hour ago and it's gone right to my head.

I thank you for taking the time to write though, and I will go into learning mode later.

Two hours late? BAD sugarcat owner!

You know, I don't know if I'm imagining it or not, but I think he is behaving a little bit more like his old self today. He's still peeing a lot and drinking a lot, but it seems like he's a little more alert and playful tonight. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

I have zero advice so have just been reading along, but hope that Lucky is in fact feeling better, and glad that you're trying so hard -- really hope it pays off.

And welcome to A2K!

Thistle - when did you start giving him insulin? I think my cat pees more than he used to, even now that he's regulated. But, frankly it's hard to be sure because I never pain that much attention to his output before he got sick.

Thank you for your support, Sozobe. I also hope it pays off.

littlek, Tuesday morning he was diagnosed, and that was when he was given his first insulin shot.

Well, then, here's hoping this settle quickly and that you find a way to shoot him just once a day. Did you call the vet today? Are you headed back in for another bg curve tomorrow?

Oh, by the way, Sweet Thistle Pie is me. I don't know why I did that. I guess I wanted to be anonymous. Sorry.

How's the cat doing?

He's doing better, thanks. It's me that's not doing so well.

He is pretty much back to his old self, but his legs are still weak, which is a huge pain in the ass. Almost every night, as soon as I get home, I have to try to clean all the clumped cat litter from his back paws because whenever he goes to the litterbox, his weak legs end up somehow laying in a pile of his own urine. I can't even keep up with it. I have even tried to cut the clumps out of his hair, but I can't get it all out. At this point, I've just resigned myself to the fact that there are going to be urine-clumps of litter all over the house when I get home every night.

Oh, and giving him shots every twelve hours is about the equivalent of a jail sentence to me. It's making me pretty miserable, to tell the truth.

I can imagine.

Did you say somewhere that you left your job? Does that mean that you have a new one, or are currently jobless?

Oh yeah, that's what makes this whole thing even sweeter. I put in my two-week notice one week before Rocky got diagnosed. I had planned on taking off a month or so, and going on a trip to California, among other places. Then I was going to come back and look for another job. I finally convinced myself that I am good enough to find work when I want it, and that I shouldn't worry about it if I want to just take off for a little while.

I really felt good about it too. I was ready to jump off into the wonderful world of being a hired gun freelance graphics guy. I was running around telling everyone I knew that I was going to put the FREE back in FREElance, not realizing what was in store for me in the next few days. Once I found out he had diabetes, I had to scrambe my ass off to find work, and luckily I got this gig, which is supposed to last two months.

So right now, I should be driving up the Pacific Coast Highway with the sun setting before me and the ocean breeze in my hair. But NOOOOOOooooo...instead of being free and unencumbered, I'm trapped in little twelve hour boxes for an undetermined period of time.

I'm still pisssed about it too. Dammit. Life blows.

Say, Kicky, when you were Sweet Thistle Pie, I didn't hit on you, did I?

I mean, if I did, it was because I was, you know, just messing around.

I knew it was you.

TELL ME I DIDN'T TRY TO GRAB YOUR VIRTUAL ASS, DAMMIT!!