Rupert's Human needs help!

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Kenai_21

Kenai_21

Member Since 2017
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This is my 1st time posting since joining. I need all the help i can get. My 8yr old male cat Rupert I also call him poopy. Has been diagnosed as a diabetic March 21st 2017. He originally went in for surgery to have a oral mass removed. My vet said no that wasn't his cause for losing weight. He went from 16 pounds to 13 pounds. She did a complete blood work up. Mind you he has been NPO since March 20th at 7pm. His sugar was 420, his BUN was 14(low) and his AMYL was 425(high), ALT 184(high), ALKP 155(high), CHOL 273(high), LIPA 1,430(high), all urine, thyroid tests was all normal. He was put on Novolin 2 units every 12 hours. His sugars were still high. He ended up getting up to 6 units of Novolin every 12 hrs. June 24th after 3 months of no changes in his sugars. I asked to change his insulin my vet agreed. She changed it to vetsilin 2 units on June 24th,2017. She said Rupert maybe insulin resistance or Symogi? He has been on vetsilin for 5 months and there still isn't any changes in his sugars they range from 614 to 214. On July 11th his vetsilin was increased to 3 units every 12 hrs. July 24th vetsilin increased again to 4 units. Sugars still 616-214. I take his sugars myself. I have Alpha Trax 2 kit. I test him 3 times a day. Before his 10am shot, mid day and his 10pm shot. I'm going to ask my vet to change his insulin again. What should I ask her to range it to. He has been on a wet fancy feast diet ever since he stopped eating back in March. I am at a loss for his sugars. I want to get him regulated. I think I'm more stressed and worried than anything
 
Hi Rupert's human!!

First of all, good that you're feeding a low carb canned food....that's the first part of the battle!!

Next, your vet has been increasing you pretty drastically.....We suggest doing dose increases in .25 unit increments because it's easy to bypass what could be a "good dose". Insulin is very powerful and even a drop too much or too little can make a big difference.

Novolin and Vetsulin aren't really good insulin for cats....they tend to drop them quickly and then wear off before the next shot time. Better insulins are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc. They're longer lasting and more gentle.

GREAT that you're home testing!! You might also want to add at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle....Most cats go lower at night, so it's important.

Can we get you to enter the last couple weeks of tests into our spreadsheet? We're very data driven here and our spreadsheet is one of our best tools.

Here are Instructions on getting the FDMB spreadsheet. I don't know where you live, but you'll want to make sure to use the spreadsheet for the AlphaTrak if that's the meter you're using.

Hang in there....Help is on the way!!
 
@Chris & China We are in Duluth MN. We are taking his sugar before his 10pm insulin is our bed time check and shot. Should it be done in the middle of the night? If so how many hours after he has been fed and shot given?
 
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Rupert_09 said:
Should it be done in the middle of the night? If so how many hours after he has been fed and shot given
Click to expand...

Can you maybe change his shot times to something earlier that would let you get some PM tests in? Like 7am/7pm?

Vetsulin usually has it's nadir at about +4 to +6 (4 to 6 hours after the shot)....If you can get a +2 (test 2 hours after the shot) that could give you an idea of how fast he's dropping and if (or when) you might need to test again.
 
Most definitely.... whatever helps him get regulated I'm all for... I'm at work so tomorrow I'm off i will get the sugar numbers up..... Thank you, thank you, thank you!
 
You are getting great advice from Chris. And you are doing home testing, which is also great. Just wanted to say that Rupert looks very sweet. He is lucky to have a cat parent like you.

I use AlphaTrax also. The test strips can be expensive. Many people including myself - we use FreeStyle Lite strips. You can usually get them for around $0.40 apiece from Ebay in quantities of 150-300. Just a thought.
 
@JeffJ do you have to do anything different with the freestyle lite strips? I just ordered 100 strips cost me $107.00. I will do anything for my cat.... I LOVE LOVE HIM so much! Thank you for all the help. I've been stressin for some time now with his sugars.....
 
Nothing different. I set the meter at 36 or 38.

That will be the last time you pay that much for strips. Go on Ebay and get some cheaper ones for the future. It takes longer to get them because you have to bid - win - ship.

This Freestyle Lite discussion occurs about monthly in the forum. Do a search. Other people are using human Relion meters, and they work good too. They get the meters and strips from Walmart.

Yeah, I know about stress and kitteh health. If you look at Leo's thread you will see I got him treated for Acromegaly. Summary: drive round trip from Austin to Ft Collins, radiation there (in Sept 2016). And he has small cell lymphoma now, that is being treated successfully. Education and treatment preparation are both key to keeping our kittehs with us. Plus some luck. You're doing good. It takes awhile to ramp the knowledge and be comfortable with the skills. Now to me, it is all just routine. But Leo and Rupert both deserve great treatment, don't they???
 
They sure do! I also have a leo. He's 1. I have him on hard food still away from Rupert. He refuses to eat wet anything....
Here is my lover Leo
 

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Your Leo is such a poser in that picture! We also have an orange kitteh - Little Dude, who alternates between wet and dry food. Here they are, just outside the kitchen.
 

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Sorry to bud in...but when I came here (oredered to use NPH by DVM) on 1/1/2016, I was encouraged to use Lantus . Following the advice of these "experts" really!!!...Elliott went into remission within 4 months. Of course, I bought it from other members due to cost...I am just curious as to why Lantus was not tried..
 
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