Newly Diagnosed Need Reassurance

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Wizard's Mom

Wizard's Mom

Member Since 2017
Hi everyone. My 7 year old male, Wizard was just diagnosed a couple weeks ago. Today is his first day on insulin (vetsulin). I know there are better insulins out there but this is the one I could afford. I'm completely new at this and I can't stop googling and freaking myself out and it's been incredibly stressful for not only me, but Wizard as well as I can't explain to him what it going on. He's always been a pretty big boy (16 pounds) but not super overweight. His ideal weight is probably about 14-15 pounds. He was a dry food eater his whole life until now of course. I've switched him and my other gal to strictly fancy feast classic twice a day. When the vet initially diagnosed him because he was urinating and drinking a lot as well as losing a lot of muscle mass his BG was in the 500's. I understand from reading online that his normal level is likely much lower than that because of stress at the vet. I've been testing his glucose at home with a glucometer and before the insulin he always tested in the 200's. So as far as diabetes goes he is a pretty mild case, but even switching him to the fancy feast, while I've noticed an improvement in his urine output and thirst, he is still lethargic and losing mass. He is as cool a cat as they come and I wasn't expecting to have so much trouble getting blood samples but I was so wrong. He is now anxious and tired all the time and a little wary of me. It's breaking my heart and his poor little bruised ears crush me. I know I'm doing the best for him but I keep crying thinking I'm destroying our bond. I started the vetsulin this morning. And it couldn't have come soon enough because while his BG is only in the 200's he seemed very weak last night. Wants to sit and lay down a lot. When I tested him this morning he was at 206 at 7am. I then fed him and gave him his first dose (1 unit) and I just retested at 11am and it's down to 170. I plan on curving him myself, but as of right now I don't want to put him through more stress as he already seems unhappy as it is so I'm shooting for every 4 hours to test him until he and I get more comfortable with it. Any advice you can give me on whether I'm doing the right thing or if there's anything else I could do would be so very appreciated. I've recently fallen on some hard times so this couldn't have happened as a worse time, but he's my baby and I want to do everything I can for him, but my funds are limited. My name is Joanna by the way!
 

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HI Joanna, welcome to you and adorable Wizard! It's overwhelming at first, but it sounds like you're off to a great start with the food change and home testing. Tell us what meter you are using, and get a spreadsheet set up and we can better help you understand Wizards BG numbers and dosing. While some think Vetsulin isn't the best insulin, many have had great success with it, so don't let that worry you. To make testing more appealing to Wizard, make sure you give him several treats every time you test, even if the test is unsuccessful. Also be sure his ear is very warm before you poke and hold a little pressure after to help stop the bleeding and prevent bruising. You can also take him to spot you test him at, but don't test him, just pet and love him and give him his treat so he doesn't always associate your catching him with tests or shots. Here are the instructions for the spreadsheet, if you need help setting it up, just ask and someone will do it for you.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
Welcome to you and your handsome kitty! You're doing all the right things and it'll get easier over time. As Sharon said setting up a spreadsheet would help us a lot. We truly understand the worry and confusion you're feeling because every one of us was in the same boat at the beginning. :)
 
Sharon14 said:
HI Joanna, welcome to you and adorable Wizard! It's overwhelming at first, but it sounds like you're off to a great start with the food change and home testing. Tell us what meter you are using, and get a spreadsheet set up and we can better help you understand Wizards BG numbers and dosing. While some think Vetsulin isn't the best insulin, many have had great success with it, so don't let that worry you. To make testing more appealing to Wizard, make sure you give him several treats every time you test, even if the test is unsuccessful. Also be sure his ear is very warm before you poke and hold a little pressure after to help stop the bleeding and prevent bruising. You can also take him to spot you test him at, but don't test him, just pet and love him and give him his treat so he doesn't always associate your catching him with tests or shots. Here are the instructions for the spreadsheet, if you need help setting it up, just ask and someone will do it for you.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
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Thank you so much! I filled out my spreadsheet and it's attached to my signature. We are getting better with the readings. Some are more difficult than others depending on how sleepy he is. I think his numbers are looking good for the first day. Any recommendations on low carb treats? I've been giving him small amounts of wet food after readings and he's growing a little wary of his food now which I do not want! Right now I'm using the Freestyle meter because I don't have a Walmart nearby, but I just placed an order for the Relion that is highly recommended here so after next week that's what we'll be using. He's been off sleeping a lot and keeping to himself today. Pretty much since yesterday when I started blood testing him. Is this normal? He's not his normal social self.
 
Great first day, very nice numbers! Many here use Pure Bites treats, which is just freeze dried meat and can be bought at Petsmart and Petco. Others use cooked chicken breast, with no seasonings, cut into small pieces. As far as sleeping a lot, not sure if it's 'normal', but my kitty did that too in the beginning.
 
I just did what was supposed to be his pre-shot reading and it surprisingly said 106 so I retested and it said 117. He was fighting me so I didn't test again to triple check and instead gave him his evening can of fancy feast which he is eating. Seems too low for me to give him a shot. Should I test again after his meal? and is it normal in the beginning for the numbers to fluctuate like this by going high and low throughout the day? Thanks for the treat recommendations, I'll pick some of those up tomorrow.
 
117 is definitely too low for a shot! I would skip tonight and get back on track tomorrow. Will you be able to test some during the day? Im not familiar with Vetsulin, but since this was his first shot, and he was too low to shoot tonight, he may need less insulin. Let me tag @Squalliesmom she has used Vetsulin and can maybe guide you for your AM shot.
 
Thank you, that's what I was thinking. Since his numbers aren't terrible to begin with perhaps he needs less. I will skip tonight and test him again in the morning before his breakfast. I'll be home all day tomorrow as well so I'll be able to monitor his levels and see if I'm getting similar results.
 
Wow, I just took a look at Wizard's spreadsheet. Great numbers! I think 1U may be too high a dose for him. Definitely no shot tonight, and in the morning, test and post his numbers and ask for dosing advice. There's not enough information on his spreadsheet for me to make a recommendation now for his AM shot, but my thinking is that it should be less than 1U!
 
Thanks so much! I will do that tomorrow morning! Based on how much muscle mass he has lost and how much urine he was putting out and how hungry he was etc I'm surprised his glucose levels are pretty mild compared to some, but I guess diabetes is diabetes and any level of severity will give you symptoms if it has gone undiagnosed for awhile. He could have been diabetic for awhile, but I only noticed to take him in to get checked when I started seeing symptoms. Luckily he didn't have any ketones in his urine when the vet checked him out last week. I'm so happy I found this forum or I would be a bigger mess than I already am about this!
 
Wizard's Mom said:
Thanks so much! I will do that tomorrow morning! Based on how much muscle mass he has lost and how much urine he was putting out and how hungry he was etc I'm surprised his glucose levels are pretty mild compared to some, but I guess diabetes is diabetes and any level of severity will give you symptoms if it has gone undiagnosed for awhile. He could have been diabetic for awhile, but I only noticed to take him in to get checked when I started seeing symptoms. Luckily he didn't have any ketones in his urine when the vet checked him out last week. I'm so happy I found this forum or I would be a bigger mess than I already am about this!
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One thing you could consider is adding a b12 methylcobalamin supplement to his food to help with energy. I agree with the others that 1 unit is too much.
You have a good shot at remission!
For low carb treats I give cold cuts like ham and turkey (boars head has less/no fillers) or cat nip. I tried freeze dried treats but my cat doesn't like them.
 
The number may be a little higher tomorrow morning because of no insulin tonight but that's OK. I'd probably do 0.75 (depending on the preshot test) and see what the numbers look like.
 
Hi everyone! Thanks for the help last night. This morning he tested at 289. I haven't injected him yet, he's eating his breakfast now. What dose should I do?
 
I'm not experienced with Vetsulin, but wasn't it suggested previously that you reduce the dose?
 
Yes, I'm reducing it today, but how much to reduce it was going to be dependent on what his morning reading was. He hasn't eaten much this morning so I'm holding off on dosing him yet anyway until he eats more.
 
I think @JanetNJ uses Vetsulin. Hopefully, she can help you. Do you have the syringes with the 1/2 unit marks?
Eat your food, Wizard!
 
Unfortunately I only have the 3/10 syringes so I'll have to eyeball it. He's usually a good eater but all the ear pricking has stressed him out a bit. I left to go to the pet store to get him some low carb treats and hopefully the food will be all gone when I return.
 
Update: I got him the freeze dried treats recommended and he LOOOOVVVESSS them. I was able to stash some in his wet food (he doesn't love classic pate as much as the gravy stuff - go figure) and he ate it up. I gave him 0.75 units of Vetsulin while he was busy eating a treat and he purred right through it. I'll test him in a few hours to see how that dose is effecting him and keep you all posted! Thanks for the guidance!
 
JanetNJ said:
One thing you could consider is adding a b12 methylcobalamin supplement to his food to help with energy. I agree with the others that 1 unit is too much.
You have a good shot at remission!
For low carb treats I give cold cuts like ham and turkey (boars head has less/no fillers) or cat nip. I tried freeze dried treats but my cat doesn't like them.
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My cat won't eat the freeze-dried treats either, so I switched to Orijen. It's expensive, but she loves it. I learned about it from someone on this forum.
 
Good job on the testing, Joanna. :cat: Try to keep on with the night time tests too, if you can.
 
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