Fudge

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Holly and Fudge

Holly and Fudge

Member Since 2015
Hello,

My name is Holly and my kitty is Fudge. He is 10 years old Maine Coon mix. He was diagnosed with 2 nodules (tumors) in his lungs in May 2014. He was given prednisone 2.5 mg every other day and an inhaler for weazing. Well, his weazing ended and doing really well till this past month. Lost 3 lbs. The vet took his blood and everything was fine but his BG this past Tuesday. It was 354. The vet started a wean off of prednisone that will take about four weeks. I have been testing his BG the last few ways and it's anywhere from 236 to 320. His ketone are checked 2x a day and negative. He has been eating Fancy feast wet only since Wednesday. But, not enough. He is exhausted after about 6 ounces of wet and dying for his dry but I am not giving it. He is VERY picky eater. I have tried raw, freeze dried, etc the last two days and he hides and hisses. The vet wants to talk Monday and think of starting insulin. I live in Massachusetts. I know nothing about insulin. I can easily get urine and take BG. Thanks for reading and any input is great.

Thanks

Holly
 
Hi Holly and welcome to the FDMB! The best place you never wanted to be!!

First, you're already starting out right by getting off the dry and off the prednisone....if he can live without the steroid, it'll be much easier to get the diabetes under control and once the steroid is completely cleared from his system, he MAY be able to go into remission.

I know you've already learned a lot through the Facebook group so you're well on your way. It's also GREAT that you're already testing so we'll know how he's responding when you start insulin.

There are three insulins that work well in cats...Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc....if your vet suggests something else, they're not up to date on the best treatments for diabetes. A lot of vets still use insulins like Vetsulin, Caninsulin and some other fast acting insulins that are too harsh for most cats.

Since I know you already have the information you need on diet and home testing, I won't repeat it, but it will be helpful for you to add some information into the Signature line here on the message board so people don't keep asking the same questions over and over again. To edit your signature just go to the top right side and click on your name and choose "Signature". A new box will pop up for you to put information like most of us have directly below our posts. Info like your name/cats name, date of diagnosis, type of meter, type of food you're feeding, other health problems and when you get it done, your spreadsheet link will go there too. For now, just put something like "Not on insulin yet"

Next, we'll want you to start recording your blood glucose results on our spreadsheet. Any time you post, the experienced members will want to see it to see how Fudge is doing. Here are "Instructions on setting up the FDMB spreadsheet". If you have any problems with it, let us know! We can help!

The AMPS and PMPS are the AM Pre-shot and PM Pre-shot (morning pre-shot and night pre-shot) The Pre-shot is the test you're going to always want to get before shooting insulin so you know it's safe!! Since you're not giving insulin yet, the more "correct" thing to call them would be the AMBG and PMBG (AM blood glucose, PM blood glucose)

The U column is for the amount of insulin...since you're not giving insulin yet, you'd just put NS (No shot)

Any tests you get between those tests would go into the "+ columns"....those go with how many hours since the shot, so +3 is 3 hours after the shot, +6 is 6 hours, etc...until you're at +11 and then the next cycle starts

Happy to have you and Fudge here and hope to see you posting again soon! If you post over in the Health forum you'll get more replies too. We generally use this forum just to say "Hi and Welcome!"...the real work is done in the Health Forum and then once you know which insulin you're going to use, we'll invite you to the Insulin Support Group that goes with it

Hopefully, with the right low carb diet (you've already got that!) and getting the steroid out of his system, his time on insulin will be a short one!

Edited to add....There are lots of ideas within this Tips on Transitioning page that might help Fudge learn to like his new diet more
 
Hey Holly. The predisone probably cause transient diabetes. Now that he is being weaned off it and you have switched to a low carb wet, (I am including a food chart for you to look up the Fancy Feast you are feeding because they are not all Low carb, you want the CLASSICS) foodchart With the low carb food and him being weaned off the predisone, you are likely to see his numbers coming down even more. It is really good that you are testing his ketones too. I'm thinking, if he were mine kittie, I would keep testing him and wait to see how he responds off the predisone and if his numbers don't come down, then I would put on insulin, and then only either Prozince, Lantus, or Levemir as they are milder Insulins. Let's see what some of the other more experienced people have to say regarding that.
 
I just read Chris's reply to your post and I think I would go with what she suggested as she has been doing this a whole lot longer that I have. I am so glad that you are home testing to keep your kittie safe.
 
Check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional assessments you may find helpful in monitoring him.
 
Thanks for your responses !! I tried to post the BG spreadsheet but it's not working on my Ipad. I don't have a computer but can try that ?? Once I figure it out, do I need a computer to fill out his readings ? Fudge Ketone have been negative. His BG is anywhere from 230 to 340. Today he was 240 after eating. He is still weaning off the prednisone so basically still on it. My vet is going to put a script in for Lantus. It is 288.00 for a 10 ml vial. That doesn't include the vet apt to show me how to use it. I don't have thar type of money as its just me caring for 4 senior pets. I spend about 800 a month on meds now and can't add 300 plus vet apts on top of that. I can't imagine working anymore than I do now to afford this...How can I get this medicine cheaper ?? Help...
 
Hopefully someone can help you with the spreadsheet, unfortunately, I am a computer mo-mo. I understand about the finances and all the vet bills. It will be very important that you start testing him prior to the shots since he is weaning off the predisone and sometimes the kitties are no longer diabetic after being off the steroids.. You wouldn't want to give insulin to your cat if he is 200 or less. . Many of us use a human meter, the Relion Prime or Micro you can get at Walmart. The Prime strips are 1/2 the price. The meter is somewhere around 20 bucks and 50 test strips are about $9. I can't stress enough how important it will be for you to home test once you start giving the insulin to keep him safe. Keep us posted.

ETA: Here are a couple of links on how to Home Test.

http://s106.photobucket.com/user/chupie_2006/media/testingear/sweetspot.jpg.html

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Good job Holly!

All I have is a tablet at home as my computer is not working. I tried to download the SS but not allowing me to..I will see if I have time at work this week and use theres.

ETA: Keep a journal with your numbers and when your SS is up and going you can transfer data
Click to expand...
Thanks !!
 
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