Riulake
Member Since 2017
Hi everyone! I’ve been creeping around the FDMB since diagnosis but held off posting until I knew a little of what I was talking about. I first want to say a big thank you for the time, effort, and work you all have contributed to the community. It has been such a challenge to navigate this new world, and this forum has already been an immensely helpful resource and a source of relief so for that, I thank you.
Allow me to introduce my little Canadian kitty. Murrie is a 7yo male, neutered, white shorthair / brown tabby, diagnosed in November 2017. He had been eating a high-quality dry food with some wet here and there.
On the night of diagnosis and with the vet’s recommendation, we switched to the dry Purina DM. They said to stay with dry food until he refused it, and only THEN consider wet food.
Day two, we got him started on the prescribed 2.5 units of Lantus - that evening he was at the edge of consciousness. We did not receive any info / training re: how to identify and treat hypo, but my instinct was to finger-feed him wet food which, very thankfully, brought him around. Day three, he was vomiting the DM kibble so went back to the vet and they lowered his dose to 1 unit. I started researching the DM food, and upon finding the FDMB and reading Dr. Lisa’s work, we bailed on the Purina DM and switched to a high-protein wet food (Canadian brand Boreal). After one week of 1 unit, he was drinking a lot and vomiting. We had no idea what was happening in his little body: was the dose was too high now that he was on wet food, or was it too low. I was worried about DKA so we went to the late-night Emerg; he was not in DKA but did have ketones in his urine.
He spent three long, heartbreaking nights in the ICU. They said he was having separation anxiety and wouldn’t eat or sleep if we weren’t there, so we went 2x a day to hold his little head so he could rest. They re-started his Lantus and did a mini curve; he was apparently very difficult to regulate but they advised 2 units.
The Emerg vets said if the initial 2.5 dose was too high, the first vet shouldn’t have brought him down quite so low to 1 unit; it should have been a gradual decrease to find his sweet spot. That he basically just went from hypo to hyper. This was very frustrating to hear; those four days in the ICU were so upsetting for Murrie and for us, and of course extremely expensive. Just to learn such a seemingly obvious lesson. We have not returned to that vet.
Two weeks after taking him home and administering 2 units, we started seeing hypo symptoms. The original vet had heavily advised against human meters, stating the only viable option was the Alpha-Trak. I had read on FDMB that human meters were common and after a bout of vomit, we couldn’t take being in the dark any longer so we purchased the Aviva Accu-Check. We are so relieved to be able to read him at any time and have the peace of mind of knowing where his BG is.
SO, I have followed the instructions and included in my signature the link to Murrie’s BG Log. As you can see, based on high / low readings, we have been slowly adjusting his dosage and he has been quite comfortable now receiving 1.75 units. I’ve seen a few comments about “surfing the green.” As I originally heard 6-10 mmol was ideal, we have been trying to keep him out of the dark green and in the blue. Can someone provide some clarity re: dark green, blue, and ideal numbers?
Please feel free to provide any feedback / experience, it would be greatly appreciated as we are still so new to this. We have also started looking into the Tight Regulation (Lantus) but I’m still learning about this.
Many thanks in advance from our little clan,
Amy, Andrew and Murrie <3.
Allow me to introduce my little Canadian kitty. Murrie is a 7yo male, neutered, white shorthair / brown tabby, diagnosed in November 2017. He had been eating a high-quality dry food with some wet here and there.
On the night of diagnosis and with the vet’s recommendation, we switched to the dry Purina DM. They said to stay with dry food until he refused it, and only THEN consider wet food.
Day two, we got him started on the prescribed 2.5 units of Lantus - that evening he was at the edge of consciousness. We did not receive any info / training re: how to identify and treat hypo, but my instinct was to finger-feed him wet food which, very thankfully, brought him around. Day three, he was vomiting the DM kibble so went back to the vet and they lowered his dose to 1 unit. I started researching the DM food, and upon finding the FDMB and reading Dr. Lisa’s work, we bailed on the Purina DM and switched to a high-protein wet food (Canadian brand Boreal). After one week of 1 unit, he was drinking a lot and vomiting. We had no idea what was happening in his little body: was the dose was too high now that he was on wet food, or was it too low. I was worried about DKA so we went to the late-night Emerg; he was not in DKA but did have ketones in his urine.
He spent three long, heartbreaking nights in the ICU. They said he was having separation anxiety and wouldn’t eat or sleep if we weren’t there, so we went 2x a day to hold his little head so he could rest. They re-started his Lantus and did a mini curve; he was apparently very difficult to regulate but they advised 2 units.
The Emerg vets said if the initial 2.5 dose was too high, the first vet shouldn’t have brought him down quite so low to 1 unit; it should have been a gradual decrease to find his sweet spot. That he basically just went from hypo to hyper. This was very frustrating to hear; those four days in the ICU were so upsetting for Murrie and for us, and of course extremely expensive. Just to learn such a seemingly obvious lesson. We have not returned to that vet.
Two weeks after taking him home and administering 2 units, we started seeing hypo symptoms. The original vet had heavily advised against human meters, stating the only viable option was the Alpha-Trak. I had read on FDMB that human meters were common and after a bout of vomit, we couldn’t take being in the dark any longer so we purchased the Aviva Accu-Check. We are so relieved to be able to read him at any time and have the peace of mind of knowing where his BG is.
SO, I have followed the instructions and included in my signature the link to Murrie’s BG Log. As you can see, based on high / low readings, we have been slowly adjusting his dosage and he has been quite comfortable now receiving 1.75 units. I’ve seen a few comments about “surfing the green.” As I originally heard 6-10 mmol was ideal, we have been trying to keep him out of the dark green and in the blue. Can someone provide some clarity re: dark green, blue, and ideal numbers?
Please feel free to provide any feedback / experience, it would be greatly appreciated as we are still so new to this. We have also started looking into the Tight Regulation (Lantus) but I’m still learning about this.
Many thanks in advance from our little clan,
Amy, Andrew and Murrie <3.
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The Lantus folks will be very impressed! Do you have to feed small snacks to keep Murrie's BG so stable? If not he has remarkably calm responses to the insulin.
