Advice for newly diagnosed...

[Beth W]

Hi all! My 13 year old kitty, Ozzie, was diagnosed with feline diabetes this past week. At the vet, his BG was over 500 (at high stress) , and ~300 on the AlphaTrak I bought for home testing. I’m still getting the hang of home testing, but this morning, pre-shot, he had a reading of 69. I ran a control sample with the meter and it read in the normal range. I fed him and then waited an hour and his reading was at 60, so I decided not to give him the 2u of Lantus that he’s been getting. I tested again 7 hours later and his reading was at 120. I have a call in to the vet, but I was hoping you could help in the meantime. Did I make the right call not giving insulin when his numbers were already so low? Where do I go from here?

Since his diagnosis I switched his food from Royal Canin dry to Wellness beef/chicken pate and Whole Earth Farms duck pate. I started setting up the spreadsheet last night, but haven’t even had a chance to use it yet.

I appreciate any suggestions you have.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Yes, you did the right thing not giving insulin since he was 69 then 60 on an AlphaTrak! It is possible the diet change could be enough to control his glucose. Since you are doing tests at home, you should be able to see if that is the case. 1u is the normal starting dose, so the 2u was high. Even if he ends up needing insulin, he may need a smaller dose.

The Lantus forum is the best place for you to get dosing advice.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I agree. You did a great job learning to hometest so quickly and catching his low reading. This could have turned into a scary and dangerous situation had you not been testing and gave him his normal dose.

 

[Coco’s Momma]

Good call! I found that switching to duck pate from prescription dry kibble has been enough for my Coco to be OTJ (off the juice) since the end of July. And duck pate is her favorite. She'll eat Whole Earth but prefers the Merrick bistro.

 

[Beth W]

Thanks you all so much! I was second guessing myself all day, so it’s good to hear that I made the right call. Is there a general rule of thumb if a BG is under XXX do not give insulin?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Is there a general rule of thumb if a BG is under XXX do not give insulin?

At first, until you learn more about how your cat responds to both insulin and food, we'll suggest if you get below 180 (since you're using the AlphaTrak) you stall, don't feed and post for help.. Test again in 20-30 minutes to see if the number goes up without the influence of food (and also, this gives people time to respond to your post!)…...Make sure your post is clear that you're "STALLING...NEED HELP!" so hopefully someone will notice and come to help you.

The first few times you shoot lower numbers, we like to have someone with experience who can agree to stay and watch to make sure everything is OK.

As you gain more experience and data on your cat, that "no shot" limit starts to come down. Those of us with enough data will shoot anything over 50 (68 on the Alpha Trak)

It'll also be helpful to you if you move over to the Lantus forum. You'll get the most experienced eyes there

 

[Bama Kitty Mom (GA)]

Good call! I found that switching to duck pate from prescription dry kibble has been enough for my Coco to be OTJ (off the juice) since the end of July. And duck pate is her favorite. She'll eat Whole Earth but prefers the Merrick bistro.

@Coco’s Momma
Congratulations on the OTJ. I had started following you because we were using the same insulin and was hoping to compare experiences. Bama has been diabetic and on Novolin N for 4 years. I've lost hope that he will ever go OTJ.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Idjit also went OTJ with less than 2 weeks of insulin support and a change to low carb wet food. It can and does happen, although I wish it could happen for all the sugar kitties.

 

[Beth W]

I spoke with the vet last night and she advised me not to give Ozzie any injection if he's under 200 until we get his dose stabilized. For BG over 200, she lowered his dose to 1U. Last night he was at 186 at feeding time, so I gave no injection. This morning he was at 269, so I gave him 1U. I'll start posting more in the Lantus forum, but I wanted to give you an update and thank you all for your support!

 

[Coco’s Momma]

@Coco’s Momma
Congratulations on the OTJ. I had started following you because we were using the same insulin and was hoping to compare experiences. Bama has been diabetic and on Novolin N for 4 years. I've lost hope that he will ever go OTJ.

I sure wasn't expecting it, but I'm thankful she's OTJ - for her and for my pocketbook. Since the need for insulin could return at any time, I watch her like a hawk for signs/symptoms. She prolly thinks I've turned into a crazy cat lady. Don't lose hope!