GregH
Member Since 2017
Hi Everyone.
This is my first time posting here, although i've been reading the forums and everything I can since my cat Moe started having complications with diabetes a couple of months ago.
3 years ago Moe had diabetes and we gave him insulin injections and then he went into remission after 3 months. Last November he started drinking more, acting like he wasn't feeling well, and he started picking at his food. We took him back to the vet and they started him on 2 units of Prozinc twice a day. He started responding over the next several days, gaining back weight and eating all of his food again. I took him in back in for a nadir reading and he was still higher than they wanted so they increased his dose to 3 units. I took him back in a week for a follow-up appoinmtnet and his reading was 260 at nadir and they considered raising his dose to 4 but decided against it since he was feeling well. The very next night, I found the poor guy seizuring (shaking, eyes blinking rapidly) due to hypoglycemia (I fed him honey and within 10 minutes he stopped). We took him into the Emergency Vet for the night and they stablized him. After that night we were scared to give him too much insulin, they recommended giving him 2 units going forward and I bought a glucometer and started testing him at home.
I've been testing right before I feed him, and 5 hours later, and he is all over the place. Pre-shot he'll be 400, then I give him 1.5 units and he's 60. Another time he'll be at 400, and then I give him 1.5 units and hes at 500 at nadir. Its very unpredictable. We've continued to monitor him and try to do our best to both keep the dose consistent, but also raise it gradually if he has several high numbers (500+) in a row, or give him half or skip a dose if his number is very low (<100 or mid range).
Another member I believe on this site with a pet named Gracie created a very awesome google spreadsheet which I've used the format to keep track of Moe's levels since the hypoglycemic event. I've been tracking it in that same format. It is located here.
He gained some of the weight he lost back (up to 9.8 lbs). Then a few weeks ago we tried to switch his food entirely to MD (he was half MD, half fancy feast) in an attempt to try to level out his glucose readings so we didn't have as many highs or lows. Not only did that fail, around that time he started losing weight again (down to 9.4 lbs) so we switched back. A couple of weeks have passed and he's lost another half a pound again. (he's down to 8.9lbs now!) Back in August he was 10.8 lbs! Also he's been very very hungry, constantly begging for more food, but he already gets 1.3 times the amount of food we feed his brother (Oscar), who is 13 lbs. We hate to give him more and upset his levels and feeding schedule. (Oscar will steal his food so we have to watch them eat twice a day)
Obviously I'm going to take him back to the vet, but I wanted to ask if anyone had any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks! We love our little Moe!
Greg
This is my first time posting here, although i've been reading the forums and everything I can since my cat Moe started having complications with diabetes a couple of months ago.
3 years ago Moe had diabetes and we gave him insulin injections and then he went into remission after 3 months. Last November he started drinking more, acting like he wasn't feeling well, and he started picking at his food. We took him back to the vet and they started him on 2 units of Prozinc twice a day. He started responding over the next several days, gaining back weight and eating all of his food again. I took him in back in for a nadir reading and he was still higher than they wanted so they increased his dose to 3 units. I took him back in a week for a follow-up appoinmtnet and his reading was 260 at nadir and they considered raising his dose to 4 but decided against it since he was feeling well. The very next night, I found the poor guy seizuring (shaking, eyes blinking rapidly) due to hypoglycemia (I fed him honey and within 10 minutes he stopped). We took him into the Emergency Vet for the night and they stablized him. After that night we were scared to give him too much insulin, they recommended giving him 2 units going forward and I bought a glucometer and started testing him at home.
I've been testing right before I feed him, and 5 hours later, and he is all over the place. Pre-shot he'll be 400, then I give him 1.5 units and he's 60. Another time he'll be at 400, and then I give him 1.5 units and hes at 500 at nadir. Its very unpredictable. We've continued to monitor him and try to do our best to both keep the dose consistent, but also raise it gradually if he has several high numbers (500+) in a row, or give him half or skip a dose if his number is very low (<100 or mid range).
Another member I believe on this site with a pet named Gracie created a very awesome google spreadsheet which I've used the format to keep track of Moe's levels since the hypoglycemic event. I've been tracking it in that same format. It is located here.
He gained some of the weight he lost back (up to 9.8 lbs). Then a few weeks ago we tried to switch his food entirely to MD (he was half MD, half fancy feast) in an attempt to try to level out his glucose readings so we didn't have as many highs or lows. Not only did that fail, around that time he started losing weight again (down to 9.4 lbs) so we switched back. A couple of weeks have passed and he's lost another half a pound again. (he's down to 8.9lbs now!) Back in August he was 10.8 lbs! Also he's been very very hungry, constantly begging for more food, but he already gets 1.3 times the amount of food we feed his brother (Oscar), who is 13 lbs. We hate to give him more and upset his levels and feeding schedule. (Oscar will steal his food so we have to watch them eat twice a day)
Obviously I'm going to take him back to the vet, but I wanted to ask if anyone had any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks! We love our little Moe!
Greg