Recently Diagnosed FD

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AmbeeyG

AmbeeyG

Member Since 2016
Hi there!

I'm running out of patience and $$ and stumbled upon this site. Hopefully someone can help me! So the patient here is my 12 year old tortie "Ling" Her normal weight is 7.6, she's always been that weight. She's been my constant companion and a sassy lil monster. She is the ultimate lap cat. The moment you sit, she's ready to curl up on your lap. She (along with my two other rescue boys) are fed three times a day, on a wet only diet - I was feeding Wellness but that became too rich for them and they all started regurgitating it and they are now eating Trader Joes brand wet. The boys LOVE kibble though and if they're being brats (i.e. knocking things over) I have a ball I fill with kibble they have to push around to get the kibble out.

Now that that's out of the way, June 27th I took her in for her annual senior exam. My vet does blood, urine and physical in their senior exam ($380). They weight her and she's down to 6.3lbs!So they took blood - I warned them she's bad and they bruised up both back legs to get a sample but were unable to get a urine sample. Two days later they call me and say the lab showed very high glucose - 500!! And stage 2 kidney disease. Kidneys make me nervous, I lost my family dog at 12 due to sudden kidney failure 4 years ago... So I asked what our next steps are. Vet told me add on another $80 for this other test they can do with the sample which would clarify if the glucose was a stress spike or her actual level. Ok fine. They do the extra test and tell me yes the level is accurate and she needs insulin which will help make her kidneys work less. Vet mentioned something about special food but didn't actually give me any information. I also don't have really the funds to be purchasing special food especially after the insulin + her senior exam. Which is btw incredibly frustrating because the pen costs $400!! Wish the vet had clarified that the $400 covers a box of 4 pens. So now I will end up with two extra pens that will go unused. >:C (I'm working with a rescue to find someone who could use them).

ANYWAY. After getting the insulin, I followed vet instructions administering a single dose following breakfast, then exactly 12 hours later administer her second single dose. I do this at the same time for about a month. THEN this past Saturday, she has a hypoglycemic episode following breakfast and her first insulin dose. I caught her trying to puke (foamy bile is all that came up) Very groggy, basically non responsive, but no third eye lid visible. She drooled all over her tail curled up in a little ball. I force fed her some corn syrup and she perked up enough for me to move her where I could watch her. She didn't really improve so I forced a little more corn syrup and she perked up enough to eat a treat and nibble a bit more food with lysine powder on it. I then called my vet and a different DVM than my usual instructed me to monitor her and not to administer insulin later if she didn't seem interested in dinner. I spent the day cuddling her and she seemed mostly normal. (but let's talk about how if I had left right after giving her insulin she might have not made it?! That's scary!) That evening she wasn't interested in dinner so I skipped the insulin. Sunday she's acting totally normal, so I administer insulin morning and evening. MONDAY (yesterday) she's still normal, I administer her morning dose and go to work. When I get home my AlphaTRACK 2 meter had finally arrived so I fed her dinner and then figured I'd calibrate it and watch how to videos until the 12 hours since her last insulin came. I decided I'd take a reading before I give her insulin and low and behold the reading showed 76. Yes, I've called my vet and left a LONG voicemail. I also emailed her with all this information to ask what the heck I should do. I'm so frustrated. At least if it was a high reading it would mean she does need the insulin, but 76 is so low. Too low! The best I can do is take a half day this coming Friday and do a glucose curve at home. I've asked her for help on how best to do that. But gosh... I'm just at a loss... I don't even really know what my question is. I just want my girl to be ok... :c
 
Welcome to the site. Gosh - you've been through a lot already but you are in the right place for help. 76 is too low to give insulin - have you continued to monitor her glucose levels? Can you answer a few questions and the lovely people here will help to get you back on track.

What insulin do you have and what dose did the vet tell you to give?
What food are you giving her?
Have you any more readings, could you post them, the times you took them and the insulin dose you were giving?

Well done for handling that hypo in the way you did - it is probably the most scary thing you will have to deal with.

Good that you are starting home testing, we can talk you through everything you need to know so any questions please ask away!
 
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be! The wonderful people here helped me get my cat, Jersey, into remission after just a few months on insulin. I know how overwhelming it is to get the diagnosis. Lots of hugs to you!

In my eyes, there are three keys to managing feline diabetes:

1. The right food: Most prescription diets from the vet are too high in carbs for diabetic cats. Ideally, the carb levels should be less than 10%. Here is a chart that a veterinarian put together that shows the carb levels for various foods. The chart is a bit outdated and not all foods are listed on it....but it's a good place to start. Since you're dealing with kidney disease, it makes finding the perfect food even more difficult. However, there are many individuals here who are dealing with those issues, too, and they can give you some food guidance if you need it.

2. The right insulin: Some insulins are better for diabetic cats than others. Lantus, Levemir, and Prozinc are all good insulins. It sounds like you may be using Lantus. Is that correct? How much insulin did you give when your kitty experienced hypoglycemia?

3. Home testing: Home testing is extremely important to keep our kitties safe. When we test, we can tell if it's safe to give insulin and if a dose is taking kitty too low. You did a great job getting that test in! And you're right, 76 is too low to give insulin! Many people here actually use inexpensive human glucose meters for testing. I know the AlphaTrak test strips are expensive. If you're looking to cut costs, you might consider switching to a human meter. If you're happy using the AT, that's okay, too.

I don't want to overwhelm you, so I'll stop there. Don't be afraid to ask whatever questions you may have. The people here have a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Shelly
 
Welcome. I had a cat with both diabetes and kidney disease. There are other cats in the same predicament here as well. I don't want to overburden you, but the more information you can give, the better folks here are interpret. And there's also a handy dandy spreadsheet where you can enter your blood glucose readings and make notes. Give a yell on the forum if you have problems with setting it up.

Stage 2 kidney disease is manageable and is NOT kidney failure. The expensive vet food can be replaced with cheaper, diabetic friendly, store bought cat food. Depending on the phosphorus levels, you may at some point have to add a phosphorus binder to the food.

There is an excellent site (http://www.felinecrf.org) which is an encyclopedia of knowledge. They also have a forum similar to this one.

I know you are taking in a lot of information now in regard to diabetes/kidney and feeling overwhelmed. It's a steep learning curve, but it's amazing how fast the knowledge comes. You did so well with the hypo.

Ask the vet for copies of all lab work. There are people on the kidney forum and this forum who are good at looking at lab results.

With diabetes and kidney disease, do not withhold water. Let her drink as much as she wants.
 
Alexi said:
Welcome to the site. Gosh - you've been through a lot already but you are in the right place for help. 76 is too low to give insulin - have you continued to monitor her glucose levels? Can you answer a few questions and the lovely people here will help to get you back on track.

What insulin do you have and what dose did the vet tell you to give? She's getting Lantus (glargine) - one click of the wheel thing in the morning after breakfast and 12 hours later after first dinner.
What food are you giving her? Trader Joes brand wet - only the pink and orange cans she won't eat anything else - Plus lysine sprinkled on top.
Have you any more readings, could you post them, the times you took them and the insulin dose you were giving? Just did the one reading, she was not super pumped about it but was a good citizen. I will take another tonight probably

Well done for handling that hypo in the way you did - it is probably the most scary thing you will have to deal with. SERIOUSLY. I keep thinking about what if I had left her :C

Good that you are starting home testing, we can talk you through everything you need to know so any questions please ask away!
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Hi again! (Saw you over on the Welcome board!:)).

You have obviously been through a trial by fire this week. This whole diabetes situation can be overwhelming to start with but to have Ling go hypo so soon is beyond what anyone wants or should have happen. It's clear Ling is in good hands with you as you handled the situation like a pro, so take a few good deep breathes because as hard as this seems right now, it does get much easier. And we may be able to help keep costs down somewhat too.

I'm guessing from your description of the insulin that it is Lantus and that you are located in the US given the price. If that is the case, many folks here order their insulin from Canada at considerably less cost. The 4 extra pens are not necessarily going to waste if Ling continues to need insulin. They can be stored in the fridge and used until the expiry date which is usually at least a year out if not more. We also do not use the pen needles but rather use syringes so that doses can be decreased/increased in smaller increments so the correct does of insulin is not passed by.

All the information Alexi asked for is important and is necessary for others to be able to assist you in the best way possible. So that we always have the necessary info available, we set up signatures (the lighter grey text at the bottom of our messages) with pertinent information about ourselves and our sugar kitties. If you could set up a signature, it will ensure you get appropriate advice and don't have to keep repeating the same information when you need assistance.

To set up your signature, go to the upper right of the screen and hover over your screen name. This brings down a menu and you select Signature from there. This opens up a text box into which you can type info including your cat's name, diet, type of insulin, type of glucometer, other health issues as well as your location and your name if you care to share. You can add any other info you choose but the signature can only be three lines long so if there is a lot of info you can separate each piece of info with a "|" or slash.

I would also strongly suggest you have a look at the sticky for handling hypos. You may want to print this out so it's always available even though hopefully , you won't be needing it again any time soon.

We also have a spreadsheet onto which we enter our data and keep the spreadsheet accessible by the members on the board so when assistance is needed, there is some history that will help people offer the best advice possible. The spreadsheet instructions are here so when you can spare a few minutes, you can have a look and get that set up too. You will need to use one of the pet meter spreadsheets. If you need any assistance setting this up, just holler.

I don't mean to overwhelm you, but getting these little tasks done will help make sure you get all the assistance you want and need to keep Ling happy healthy and safe.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Welcome. I had a cat with both diabetes and kidney disease. There are other cats in the same predicament here as well. I don't want to overburden you, but the more information you can give, the better folks here are interpret. And there's also a handy dandy spreadsheet where you can enter your blood glucose readings and make notes. Give a yell on the forum if you have problems with setting it up.

Stage 2 kidney disease is manageable and is NOT kidney failure. The expensive vet food can be replaced with cheaper, diabetic friendly, store bought cat food. Depending on the phosphorus levels, you may at some point have to add a phosphorus binder to the food.

There is an excellent site (http://www.felinecrf.org) which is an encyclopedia of knowledge. They also have a forum similar to this one.

I know you are taking in a lot of information now in regard to diabetes/kidney and feeling overwhelmed. It's a steep learning curve, but it's amazing how fast the knowledge comes. You did so well with the hypo.

Ask the vet for copies of all lab work. There are people on the kidney forum and this forum who are good at looking at lab results.

With diabetes and kidney disease, do not withhold water. Let her drink as much as she wants.
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Thank you for your reply!! And linking that site. I will do some digging.

She's getting one unit of the glargine Lantus pen twice a day (I've got two extra pens, anyone in the Chicago area need a pen?) HOWEVER, I just got off the phone with my vet, she told me it's possible because Ling is so little she may only need a once daily administration. Her reco was giving it to her in the morning and skip the evening until I do the glucose curve this Friday. I will post here Ling's readings on Friday.
 
Most people here use syringes rather than pens as it is a lot easier to vary the dose. You just use the pen like a vial to draw up the insulin, it is better to give insulin every 12 hours in a cat because of their fast metabolism, but if you post her numbers once you have done the curve we can identify how she responds to the insulin and what her lowest point is and when. If you do go the syringe route you will need u100 syringes, some states need a prescription for syringes - I am not in the US but we do have some members in the Chicago area who could tell you, but probably best if we see that curve first before you spend more money. Pop over to the Lantus forum and have a read of the sticky posts which will help you understand your insulin and how to use it, and how to draw up from a pen using a syringe. Lantus keeps for a very long time in the fridge so don't be too quick to give it away!
 
It is very rare for a cat to need only one shot of insulin per day due to their fast metabolism. With Lantus the goal is to find a dose that can be given consistently twice daily without taking them too low. If you have been giving one unit twice daily, perhaps Ling only needs 0.25u, 0.5u or 0.75u twice daily and this is why we use syringes instead of the pen. The pen can be used just like a normal vial.
 
Yikes. If I am understanding correctly, you gave Ling 1 unit on the day she had a hypoglycemic attack.....and your vet wants you to continue to give 1 unit but just give it once a day. If I'm not misunderstanding....I would have to respectfully disagree with your vet's advice. If Ling had a hypoglycemic episode on 1 unit, that means that 1 unit is too much for her. In addition, some cats become especially sensitive to insulin after a hypoglycemic episode, which would mean the insulin needs reduced even further.

My personal two cents' worth would be to make sure you test before giving any insulin to make sure it's safe. If you are using the AlphTrak, you don't want your kitty's numbers to fall below 68. If they do, that's hypoglycemia range and requires immediate action (e.g., high-carb food, continued testing until safe).

Also, Lantus typically brings glucose numbers down to their lowest level (the "nadir") around 6 hours after the shot. That can vary from one cat to the next. Some reach nadir 4 hours after the shot, some 7 hours after the shot, etc. Lantus dosing is based largely on that nadir. So....if you could possibly get a test or two somewhere in that time frame, it could tell you how well the insulin is working and if the dose is too much.
 
AmbeeyG said:
Thank you for your reply!! And linking that site. I will do some digging.

She's getting one unit of the glargine Lantus pen twice a day (I've got two extra pens, anyone in the Chicago area need a pen?) HOWEVER, I just got off the phone with my vet, she told me it's possible because Ling is so little she may only need a once daily administration. Her reco was giving it to her in the morning and skip the evening until I do the glucose curve this Friday. I will post here Ling's readings on Friday.
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Hang onto your pens. They will last if you keep them in the fridge.
 
Shelly & Jersey said:
Yikes. If I am understanding correctly, you gave Ling 1 unit on the day she had a hypoglycemic attack.....and your vet wants you to continue to give 1 unit but just give it once a day. If I'm not misunderstanding....I would have to respectfully disagree with your vet's advice. If Ling had a hypoglycemic episode on 1 unit, that means that 1 unit is too much for her. In addition, some cats become especially sensitive to insulin after a hypoglycemic episode, which would mean the insulin needs reduced even further.

My personal two cents' worth would be to make sure you test before giving any insulin to make sure it's safe. If you are using the AlphTrak, you don't want your kitty's numbers to fall below 68. If they do, that's hypoglycemia range and requires immediate action (e.g., high-carb food, continued testing until safe).

Also, Lantus typically brings glucose numbers down to their lowest level (the "nadir") around 6 hours after the shot. That can vary from one cat to the next. Some reach nadir 4 hours after the shot, some 7 hours after the shot, etc. Lantus dosing is based largely on that nadir. So....if you could possibly get a test or two somewhere in that time frame, it could tell you how well the insulin is working and if the dose is too much.
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Excellent advice. Tonight I will test her again, and then tomorrow morning after I feed her breakfast I will test her. I'm very curious to see what kind of readings I get! Ling is a very very small kitty, her mama was equally a little thing and Ling was the runt on top of that. It's entirely possibly even 1 unit is too much! Will post the readings here. Thanks again everyone!!!
 
AmbeeyG said:
Excellent advice. Tonight I will test her again, and then tomorrow morning after I feed her breakfast I will test her. I'm very curious to see what kind of readings I get! Ling is a very very small kitty, her mama was equally a little thing and Ling was the runt on top of that. It's entirely possibly even 1 unit is too much! Will post the readings here. Thanks again everyone!!!
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You need to test before you feed her. The routine is test, feed then shoot. The food will send her numbers up. I know how hard this is wheb you and your kitty are new to the sugar dance.
 
Welcome!! Hang onto those pens...just keep them in your refrigerator and they'll last up to (and possibly longer) than the expiration date on the box...that's usually about 2 years away! Some cats go into remission (we always hope for that) but if Ling isn't one of those lucky ones, you'll want those other pens!!

In case nobody has given you the link yet, here's the information on buying insulin from a Canadian pharmacy....just in case you end up needing more eventually! They're 1/3rd the price here in the states!

Most cats need insulin every 12 hours...their metabolism is too fast for once a day dosing, so if 1 unit takes Ling too low, you should try something like .5 unit twice a day. You'll want to make sure she has no food for the 2 hours immediately before shot times so that you can Test/Feed/Shoot, all within about 5-10 minutes....You TEST (without the influence of food) to make sure they're high enough for insulin, FEED to make sure they're at least willing to eat and SHOOT.

To get half unit dosing, you'll need to buy regular insulin syringes with half unit markings and withdraw the insulin from the pen....when you take the cap off, there's a little rubber stopper to put the syringe into to withdraw the insulin.

All these have half unit markings and are the correct syringes for U100 insulin and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort
BD Ultra-Fine

They're also available at WalMart if you have one near you..Their Relion Brand 3/10ml, 3o or 31 gauge, 8mm insulin syringes all come with half unit markings and are only $12.58 for a box of 100 (although it seems a lot of WalMart employees don't realize that they DO come with half unit markings!!)

Keep asking questions!! The sugardance has lots of steps, but the people here will help you learn them all and soon you'll be dancing along with the rest of us!
 
Hi everyone. So I tested Ling last night and her reading was 85. So no insulin for her. I tested her this morning BEFORE feeding breakfast and her reading was 88. So I skipped the insulin again. I also have isolated her so I can see how much she's urinating. I'll test again tonight as soon as I get home from work before giving her dinner. If she'll even eat, she acts like she's excited for food but then barely picks at it. She has now not had a dose since Tuesday morning. :/
 
Yay for no insulin! If she maintains numbers in the normal range for 2 weeks, we consider her officially in remission. She'll then be a diet-controlled diabetic kitty.

I'm not sure what to tell you about the appetite. When she approaches the food, does she lick her lips....like maybe she's nauseous? If so, there are several meds that might help. I'm going to tag @tiffmaxee. She has a lot of experience with kidney disease and pancreatitis. She may be able to give some suggestions on foods and lack of appy.

Great job testing!!! :D
 
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Hi and welcome. Torties are very close to my heart and my soul kitty was a tortie and I lost her at barely 12 years old. Do look at CRF.org and try and feed a food that is around 1% phosphorus and as low carbs as possible. If you can get a copy if all her labs and post the results I can help you figure out what's going on. If she's not eating she might be nauseous. Post a copy of all her results. The kidney numbers mist important are creatinine, phosphorus, BUN. What was the urine USG? That will show if she is concentrating her urine. Was she dehydrated? Both kidney disease and diabetes can cause that.

Ask your vet to email you a copy if the labs for your records. Should you ever need an ER that will be helpful. Then post them here.

Pancreatitis and kidney disease can make them nauseous. We have good drugs for that. Cerenia is a vet med and ondansetron is a human med that I use for nausea. They don't have to vomit to be nauseous. Inappetence is often the only symptom. If they don't eat at least 3/4 of their regular amount of food they can get fatty liver disease quickly which is very serious so you need to get her eating. Try finger feeding. Try Gerbers all meat stage 2 baby food. Max loves the ham as do most cats.
 
They were unable to get a urine on her when she went in for her exam. :c
I've also requested her lab work from the vet and will share here as soon as they send it.

I will note that before starting the insulin I did catch her drinking water a lot. Anytime I'm near her water fountain she'd be at it. Straight up guzzling. She'd sit and drink and drink and drink. Now I haven't caught her drinking except once Sunday (the day after her hypoglycemic episode) but she didn't drink and drink and drink, just a few normal laps. I do also water down her already wet food a little.

I don't notice her licking her lips; she's VERY vocal for food. The moment I put the bowl down she's in and pumped! And then she wanders off until I sprinkle some lysine on top then she'll eat a little more. And then she cries at me and wanders off again and even with more lysine on top she's over it and won't finish her bowl. Today I've put her with the rest of her breakfast in our spare room (with water and litter box) and I'll see when I get home from work if she nibbles on it anymore throughout the day. Before I moved in with the other two cats she was a kibble grazer and never had any issues. I switched to exclusively wet and three times a day feedings about four years ago.

She was diagnosed in late June with a 500 from the blood work from the vet. She's only been on insulin since July 12th. I will test again tonight and see what we get... She's a very good patient. Squirmy but behaves well. Thank goodness the AlphaTRAK only needs a very tiny drop to function. Now the kidney disease has me more concerned and I'm willing to invest in different food for her if that will help her appetite. She's skin and bones right now. She used to be on Wellness cans but all three of my kitties started regurgitating it and apparently it can be too rich for some cats and mine loved it, but I didn't love the puke everywhere. I haven't seen much puke at all since switching to Trader Joes wet, and I'll probably leave the boys on it since they seem to be fine. But she's my special girl and I just want her to be ok. :c
 
Those are classic signs of nausea. Max has had chronic pancreatitis for many years and he doesn't smack his lips or appear nauseous. He just stops eating or eats less and less. Tiffany would drink the water from the food but not eat. I just thought she was being picky. Drinking a lot was my signal to check Max's urine for glucose as his kidney numbers were good so it's a sign for both. Pancreatitis destroyed his pancreas and led to him becoming diabetic and not going OTJ.
 
Interesting! I'll pick up some of the baby food tonight and see if she's interested in a little of that... I'll also see what the meter says tonight and post it here along with the lab report as soon as I get it. By this evening she will have been without insulin since Tuesday 9AM. I'm curious - is 500 too high to be just a spike? Pancreatitis also causes excessive drinking?
 
In the meantime, try raising the feeding and water dishes so that the cat's head doesn't have to bend down to eat or drink. Nothing fancy - just put a couple of books or a cookie tin underneath the dishes if you can't find anything else.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
In the meantime, try raising the feeding and water dishes so that the cat's head doesn't have to bend down to eat or drink. Nothing fancy - just put a couple of books or a cookie tin underneath the dishes if you can't find anything else.
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I thought about that too! When she first started getting finicky. Her dish is in a raised dish holder now.
 
Pancreatitis doesn't usually cause the excessive drinking but sometimes fluids help during a flare. It's likely either CKD , diabetes, or a combo of the two.
 
Update! Got home from work a bit ago. Let Ling out of her "isolation" room to discover she 1) ate most of her breakfast throughout the day 2) before feeding her dinner I took a reading and she's now at 93. Better! 3) I got some fancy feast cans to mix a bit into her regular food and she was pretty excited about dinner. She was her usual super sweet and affectionate self and was a perfect lady letting me get a blood drop from her ear. She ate maybe 2/3 of her dinner portion then didn't want anything more to do with it. I took it away and will offer it to her in a few hours. The isolation room urine in the box looked normal to me. Two fecal movements and three small avocado size urine balls. The box was cleaned at 9PM yesterday and she had it to herself since then. The water fountain is in the isolation room (where my computer also happens to be) and as I'm sitting here typing she's currently drinking water. I caught her headed to the fountain and she drank for exactly 23 seconds. Dunno if this means anything at all but a reading of 93 certainly makes me feel better. My vet sent over her records but somehow didn't include her last blood draw. Still waiting on that. Will post when I receive it!
 
Great news! I'm guessing you will skip insulin? I would and get another check in about three hours if possible.
 
That's really great!! It would really help if you'd start using our spreadsheet though so we can see how Ling has been doing before as well as going forward. If you need help with it, please give me a holler! I'd be happy to set it up for you if you can't get it. Here are the Instructions for setting up the spreadsheet again in case you missed them

It's also possible that the hypo you had earlier "kick started" her pancreas....we've heard of that happening before when cats went really low.

Smile!! This is great news!! :):):) If she can stay in normal numbers for 2 weeks without insulin, she'll be officially in remission!!
 
Hi everyone. Ling seems to be doing fine. When I took her remaining dinner away last night, about two hours later I offered it to her again and she finished it. Midnight dinner she picked at but finished most of it by morning. Again breakfast she wouldn't touch until I mixed a bit of fancy feast in.... Sneaky girl! But even then she didn't eat much of it. My boyfriend is home today and has been instructed to keep an eye on her and see if she finishes it throughout the morning. I will take another sample tonight, and then tomorrow I'll do the curve throughout the day and see what kind of numbers I get!

Here's her blood work from this past late June. I should mention I got her 2015 blood work and her glucose level was 106 last year. That may not mean anything but I thought it was interesting.

Also thank you for sharing the spreadsheet, I have opened it and started to fill it out.

Thanks everyone!!!
 

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The bloodwork values tend to indicate pancreatitis and recently problems of not eating.
The fructosamine results indicate poor BG control
 
Her T4 is a little high for a 12 year old, in the gray zone, but that can fluctuate. If on the next BW it is still above 2.5 I would consider getting a thyroid panel or at least a free T4 to rule out hyperthyroidism. Max had similar numbers at times but rechecks were normal and when the throws panel was run it was normal. Just something to keep on the back burner.
 
Is there anything that would explain why she's showing low metered readings? Are they after effects from the hypo episode? How long does the insulin stay in her system? I'm guessing Friday's curve will show what her actual levels are? I really REALLY wish I had gotten that AlphaTRAK right when I started the insulin. I'm very curious to know what sort of levels she would have shown in the comfort of a home test. There's no way those lab numbers were just a stress spike? They did not handle her gently; and I know she is very VERY hard to handle for strangers but she returned from the exam room with both hind legs wrapped and bruised. Someone mentioned something about her Saturday hypo episode kick starting her pancreas? I'll test her again tonight and see what she shows. Last check was Wednesday night before dinner and she was at 93. Her last insulin dose was 1 unit Tuesday morning. And then of course tomorrow's curve. I'll share those numbers here!
 
I don't think it was stress because the fructosamine shows the average over the past few weeks was not normal. Someone commented that they have seen cats need a lot less or no insulin after a hypo. This is GREAT!
 
SIGH. boyfriend watched her all day. Throughout the day she finished most of her breakfast but not all of it. Took her levels right when I got home before dinner and she was at 90. Put dinner down and she was excited and seemed hungry but only picked at it. Put it away and an hour later offered it again. She picked at it a little more but not much. But she did eat her dental treats with gusto. Left her alone for another hour and took another reading. 69!!! What?? I'm guessing it's so low because she didn't really want to eat dinner? Anyway I offered some corn syrup and she licked a good little bit of my finger. (The spoon was no good) gave her some more treats and now she's hanging on my lap. I've just emailed my vet as well. We'll see what they say. :/
 
I think she is nauseous. Ask your vet about trying ondansetron which you can get an RX and take it to Costco or another pharmacy or cerenia which is a vet drug. She is in normal numbers. Without insulin you don't need karo. Have you offered Gerbers 2nds all meat ham, chicken, beef, or turkey?
 
tiffmaxee said:
I think she is nauseous. Ask your vet about trying ondansetron which you can get an RX and take it to Costco or another pharmacy or cerenia which is a vet drug. She is in normal numbers. Without insulin you don't need karo. Have you offered Gerbers 2nds all meat ham, chicken, beef, or turkey?
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I have not but I will pick some up tomorrow while I'm doing her curve and see how she likes it. Thank you so much for all your help and advice!
 
Tiniest Ling ... I will ask my vet about nausea and if we could get an rx for her. I'm curious to see how she likes the Gerbers.
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Just checking in on you and Ling. She's beautiful!!!!
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Would you be able to get a spreadsheet started to help us figure out what's going on in terms of Ling's insulin needs? I tried to go back and put together some of the numbers, but I'm afraid I didn't get the details right. The spreadsheet helps in that regard. Here's what I pieced together:

June 27: Diagnosis, bg = 500
July 12: Started Lantus, 1.0 unit 2x a day
July 30: AM shot given, signs of hypoglycemia
July 31: PMBG = 76
August 2: PMBG = 85
August 3: AMBG = 88
August 4: PMBG = 90, +1 = 69

Was the morning of August 2nd the last time Ling had insulin?

Please let me know what I've missed!
 
There's a 93 in there somewhere as well, I actually am working on a "spread sheet for dummies" version. I found the spreadsheet instructions, but since she's not getting any insulin it's very confusing for me to understand!

The entries for the spreadsheet/chart are
AMPS = morning pre-shot test
PMPS = evening pre-shot test
Units = insulin dose given
+5 = any test 5 hours after the shot
+7 = any test 7 hours after the shot
Remarks = any notes about possible impacts on glucos - illness, food change, stressors such as moving, etc.
 
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AmbeeyG said:
There's a 93 in there somewhere as well, I actually am working on a "spread sheet for dummies" version. I found the spreadsheet instructions, but since she's not getting any insulin it's very confusing for me to understand!

The entries for the spreadsheet/chart are
AMPS = morning pre-shot test
PMPS = evening pre-shot test
Units = insulin dose given
+5 = any test 5 hours after the shot
+7 = any test 7 hours after the shot
Remarks = any notes about possible impacts on glucos - illness, food change, stressors such as moving, etc.
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You can still use the spreadsheet before you start giving insulin. The AMPS (AM preshot test) would be when you test in the morning before feeding. For "Units" you could just put NS (No shot). When you do another test later ...for instance 5 hours after the first test and feeding...you could use the +5 column, since it would be 5 hours since the last test...and so on. Hope I haven't confused you more :oops:
 
AmbeeyG said:
I'm afraid my art school degree doesn't help me when it comes to understanding/creating spreadsheets!
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Shoot, I thought the spreadsheet was more confusing than the diabetes itself when I first joined! ;)

Okay, so....some terms that might help. I apologize if you already know some of this.

AMPS: The stands for the morning ("AM") pre-shot ("PS"). It's the reading you get in the morning before giving insulin.

PMPS: This is the evening ("PM") pre-shot ("PS") - the reading you get in the evening before giving insulin.

If you see someone talking about "AMBG" and "PMBG," it's just our way of saying that we took a reading at normal shot times but we didn't give insulin. In this case AM or PM blood glucose (that's the "BG" part).

After recording our AM and PM pre-shot readings, we just count from there: +1, +2, etc. So, let's say I got a 250 for my AMPS and gave 1.0 unit of insulin at that time. Four hours later, I took another test and got a reading of 175. That 175 would be my AM +4 reading and I would record it in the AM +4 column on the spreadsheet. Does that make any sense?
 
Okay, deleted my original post for Marje's assistance since you have your spreadsheet set up now. That darn cross-posting gets me every time! :)
 
AmbeeyG said:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xKhI642h4mdXKSQ_PmIAltAJyDmFAEwx98YriqeBOlY/edit?usp=sharing

I think I'm doing this right?

She has not had any insulin since one unit 8:45AM Tuesday morning. Today I'm taking a half day from work and her readings this morning were 99 pre-breakfast (which she picked at) and 98 post-the tiny bit she ate. She's gotten very good about allowing her ear to be pricked! She just thinks it's fun cuddle+treat time now.
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Looks great!! So if you get a test in the morning before feeding then one a few hours later , that will show how Ling's body deals with glucose without any "outside" insulin. Another test in the evening, again with about 2 hours of no food and one more a few hours later, will go a good picture of how the day goes.
 
Your spreadsheet looks great. You also can add the link to your spreadsheet to your signature (where you have your kitties' names and info) so that it's always easily accessible.

Please let us know what questions you have. We've given you tons of information over the past few days, I know. :bighug:
 
Thank you all so much! Today I will be testing again as soon as I get home from work (taking a half day today) and then will test every two hours after that. So almost a glucose curve minus a few hours this morning.
 
You'll need to follow the instructions for publishing to the web and putting it in your signature block so it's always available when we need it.

If you need any help, please send me a private message by clicking on "Marje and Gracie" to the left and then "start a conversation".
 
Ok! I've added her spreadsheet to my signature. It's also here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xKhI642h4mdXKSQ_PmIAltAJyDmFAEwx98YriqeBOlY/edit?usp=sharing

So since her last dose of insulin was 8/2 I have tested her as often as I can and her level has yet to go over 99. I'm doing a curve today and her average so far is 90. She's also eating a bit better, thanks to some fancy feast mixed in with her regular food. I bought beef turkey and ham gerbers and she scoffed at it. Wouldn't touch it! Though the two boy cats went INSANE for them. I wonder how long they'll keep in my fridge... Anyway Ling is acting totally normal and seems just fine.
 
Alexi said:
Ling is adorable! I'm liking those green numbers as well.
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She's also SO SOFT on top of being a tiny cutie. Our vet says she's got chinchilla fur.

I'm still testing her every two hours; she was 103 before dinner and 98 two hours after. Whatever was going on with her when the vet took her blood sample June 28th seems to have worked itself out. She has not received insulin since Tuesday morning and unless I see a crazy midnight spike it sure is lookin like she's diabetes free? She's been eating much better too!
 
"Our vet says she's got chinchilla fur. "
Holy smokes, now you are just making us all jealous :) What a little cutie you have. And the spreadsheet looks good - no shot needed at those levels.
 
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