Hitchcock now has Diabetes

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dana moore

dana moore

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Hello everybody its been a long time since I've been on this website. Why Riley is doing great he's in remission but now my cat Hitchcock today was diagnosed with diabetes. I've got to try to remember the protocol for prozinc and what to do when I bring him home from the vet tonight. I do know that he has an infection and he was stressed out and his sugar was 550 at the vet but when I checked it at home before I took them it was 300. The vet is giving him two milliliters of insulin prozinc and he's going to send him home tonight.
If I remember correctly my cat Riley had the same situation and ended up I was giving him too much insulin because the infection started to subside and he wasn't as stressed out and his number is shot down super low.
Now I know when I bring Hitchcock home I need to test him before I give him any insulin and if it's below 200 I believe I do not shoot. I'm definitely going to be giving him soft food only this is new to him and I know this can also bring his numbers down but he was showing keytones in his urine today. What is your recommendation as far as giving him his insulin in the morning if his sugar is around three or four hundred? Should I give him 2 milliliters or should I cut it back to a half or 1?
 
You may want to add the ? prefix to your post to get more immediate help. You definately want to be checking urine for ketones. You can get the ketone strips at any pharmacy that sells diabetic supplies.
 
Sorry Hitchcock has been diagnosed with diabetes. @Sue and Oliver (GA) @Rachel and @Robin&BB can help with the dosing. Please pick up some ketone test strips and check for ketones daily. Make sure to add lots of water to his food to help flush the ketones out of his system. @Bobbie And Bubba has some experience with ketones, maybe she can add some info.
 
Hi, Dana - Welcome back (although I'm sure you'd rather not be here for this reason). Here is the link to the guidelines for using ProZinc: Protocol for ProZinc/PZI

I'm glad you're already familiar with the routine, due to having dealt with Riley's bout of diabetes (so happy to hear he's still in remission, btw). If Hitchcock were mine, I'd make certain of what time today the vet gave him a shot of ProZinc and verify what the amount given actually was. I would also recommend checking his BG tonight, too - is always good for you to have more data than less, and I would really want to know how he's processing that shot of insulin the vet gave him, too.
dana moore said:
The vet is giving him two milliliters of insulin prozinc and he's going to send him home tonight.
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Could you please clarify this statement? I think you really meant that the vet gave two (2) UNITS of ProZinc - isn't that correct? (Because the entire vial of this insulin is only 10 mL.)

You are wise to be concerned about whether or not Hitchcock's dose may be too high, as stress hyperglycemia can be pretty common in cats during a vet visit - some cats BG will spike more than 100 pts. higher at the vet's office vs. when they're at home and more relaxed. So my #1 concern would be that you do the following:

1) Monitor his BG numbers a few times tonight after you get him home to make certain he's not dropping too low. It's important for you to get an idea of how his body is processing that first dose of insulin that the vet gave; this information is really going to help you determine in the morning how much ProZinc you should give him. Please let us know what time the vet gave that dose today, as this will help us tell you when you should be testing his BG levels tonight.

2) Unless you would need to steer him out of a BG # that is nearing 50 or less on your meter, do not feed him in the two-hour window directly before your morning pre-shot test time. (We don't want his pre-shot BG # falsely raised by food before you decide on whether to shoot and/or what dose to give.)

3) As soon as you get his morning pre-shot BG #, post this on this forum with the thread title: First Dose of ProZinc @ Home - Need Dosing Advice ASAP. That way you'll get a quick response from advisors. @Rachel and @Bobbie And Bubba are both in the Eastern Time Zone (I'm on California time here in AZ), so I know they will keep an eye out for you if your dosing time is early in the morning there in SC.

I am glad you plan to keep testing for ketones; very important. If you have any questions about the ProZinc guidelines after you've read through them, please ask us!

As for food, low-carb canned (less than 10% carbs) is best. Many of us use the Fancy Feast Classic pates; for example, I use the turkey with giblets pate as my cat's main food source - it's only 3% carbs. Keep in mind that if you're switching from a high-carb type food to lower carbs, your kitty's need for insulin may also be less. This is why closely monitoring BG #s when he's first starting on the insulin is so very important. Please print off a copy of the hypo instructions and keep it handy, along with higher carb food & Karo syrup - just in case you should ever need these for a sudden low drop in blood glucose. Here's the link for that:
Hypo links - be prepared just in case!

Again, welcome back to FDMB - we'll do everything we can to help you with Hitchcock!:) - Robin






 
Hey Dana ~ so sorry that you have to be back here again. But, as you know, the peeps here are great and so helpful. :)

About the ketones : what level were the ketones at? Also, it takes longer for the ketones to show up in urine. It shows up immediately in blood. Because of that, I bought a ketone meter (Abbott's Precision Xtra) so that I would know ASAP. The meter is fairly inexpensive around 30 dollars on Amazon. But the strips are very expensive. The cheapest I found them were for about 2.25 /strip at a pharmacy in Canada. It was too difficult for me to get a urine sample as Bubba is very private in the box.

As long as he is showing ketones, it will be important that you make sure he eats and gets enough water intake. I mix 1/4 cup of water in every 3 oz. can of food I give Bubba AM and PM because of him having ketones. Even though he doesn't have them anymore, I still do this and will continue to do so the rest of his life because he is one of the cats that just doesn't drink water. The water helps to flush them out. That amount of water will make the food soupy so I place it in a dinner size plate so I can spread it around and he eats it just fine. Plus, spreading it out over the large dinner plate slows down his eating.

You will want to check the ketones at least once a day until there are no more ketones or whenever he goes above 300. Once they have ketones, they can be prone to them again.
 
Just wanted to stop and welcome you back! I know it's not what you wanted, but at least you are already versed in this somewhat.
 
Okay I brought him home and no sugar was 350 instead of giving him 2 units like the doctor said I gave him only one and it's been 3 hours and it's already down to a hundred so I'm getting freaked out what should I do should I give him honey if it starts going even lower I don't have any gravy food I just have to say and hard food
 
I do have key to Ketone testing strips the doctor said he's not really worried about that right now I don't know why butt I'm just concerned that his sugar was going to drop too low
 
Thank you everyone for your replies I love you miss you so much I'm just freaked out right now I haven't had time to read through all of the posts.
 
I wasn't able to ask the vet all those questions because they close at 6 o'clock and I never even saw to ask if he was fed. The vet did tell me he gave him two units around11:30. He told me to go ahead and give him two more units at 6 o'clock which I thought was odd that's why I only gave him one.He did not give him prozinc. He gave him something else but I use prozinc.
 
You're doing fine, Dana. Remember 50 is the time we start to seriously intervene. I'd just give him a bit of regular food and retest.in 20 minutes.

Do you have some high carb gravy food? A teaspoon of the gravy off it would be a good choice if he nears 50.
 
I just gave him some treats I'll give him some more I don't know if they're high carb or not. The called party treats they were given to me as a donation.
 
I don't know if you remember from Riley, but the process is to steer his numbers with food. So just give him a little bit of regular food and retest in 20 minutes. If he gets to 50, add a tiny bit of honey into his regular food and see if that brings him up or levels him off.

Just don't let him get filled up. You want him to eat when he needs to, to rise.
 
He's not even interested in the treats anymore. He's an outside cat and I have him in the bathroom and he's more occupy about trying to get out.
 
Is need are different for every cat when is it normally around? And is that the midpoint or when his sugar is the lowest?
 
You signature says you are using a human meter. Is that correct? If so, the hypo range starts at 50. The nadir is usually around 5-7 hours after the shot.

65 is still okay. How many hours since the shot?
 
dana moore said:
92, can I sleep now!!!
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Wow, Dana! (I've been tied up with a local friend's crisis here, so missed all the excitement on your thread...) I am SO glad you only went with 1.0 unit of ProZinc, and that you effectively steered Hitchcock back up tonight (& that @Sue and Oliver (GA) was here to help guide you - she's the best!!!).

Will be interesting to see what your AMPS # is in the morning - one thing's certain: Hitchcock sure doesn't need a dose of 2 units!

You did a great job tonight, Dana!:) (When you get a chance, could you get a spreadsheet started for Hitchcock & plug in that dose you gave him tonight, along with all the #s from the BG testing you did? And please update your signature with Hitch's info, since he's the diabetic in the family now being treated instead of Riley.;))
 
How do I start a new spreadsheet. His # were 453 amps. I still only gave him 1 unit??? I couldn't get him to eat his food so I had to give him some hard food this morning just so I can give him his insulin
 
Robin&BB said:
Wow, Dana! (I've been tied up with a local friend's crisis here, so missed all the excitement on your thread...) I am SO glad you only went with 1.0 unit of ProZinc, and that you effectively steered Hitchcock back up tonight (& that @Sue and Oliver (GA) was here to help guide you - she's the best!!!).

Will be interesting to see what your AMPS # is in the morning - one thing's certain: Hitchcock sure doesn't need a dose of 2 units!

You did a great job tonight, Dana!:) (When you get a chance, could you get a spreadsheet started for Hitchcock & plug in that dose you gave him tonight, along with all the #s from the BG testing you did? And please update your signature with Hitch's info, since he's the diabetic in the family now being treated instead of Riley.;))
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Yes Sue is the best! :)
 
Hi Dana ~ what a night you had! I am so glad that you reached back out to this forum and didn't shoot 2 units! ?And I would stick with the one unit for now unless he shows that he needs less or more. Keep posting and everyone will help you with dosing.

As far as the food, if dry is all he will eat, so be it to get the insulin into him. Some cats are resistant to switching over to low carb wet food. There are some tricks to the trade in making that transition. Just make sure you are giving the lowest carb dry you can find. One of them is Young Again and can only be bought on their website. Another one is EVO.

This is the link on How to create our spreadsheet. If you have any trouble just yell and someone can help you.
 
dana moore said:
His # were 453 amps. I still only gave him 1 unit??? I couldn't get him to eat his food so I had to give him some hard food this morning just so I can give him his insulin
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Hi again, Dana - It's fine that you only gave him 1 unit this morning; it's better to "start low, go slow" until you have a clear idea of his nadir and how he's processing that insulin through the cycle. As for the AMPS of 453, it's possible that you're seeing a bit of bouncing this morning because he dropped so significantly during last night's cycle - this can happen if his body's not yet used to going into those lower numbers.

Were you able to get a +3 test on him this morning? If not, please test his BG now & state which hour in the cycle that is so that we can see how he's doing so far. Thanks!:)
 
I read that it's better to give soft food with gravy then to give hard treats because the dry food stays in their system longer is that true? I'm going to check his sugar again at 30 minutes
 
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