? My cat has Diabetes and I don't know what to do

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Sky Energy

Sky Energy

Member Since 2020
I'm going to start from the beginning and tell you what I know. I'm at a loss. I'm just going to give you the information I have and I need help. I need guidance.

My cat started losing a lot of weight last year and drinking a lot of water. I have a blood glucose monitor so I tested her. She was through the roof, 360. So I took her to the vet and they diagnosed her with diabetes. We put her on vetsulin... scratch that. She told me it was vetsulin, but it turns out that it's ProZinc now that I'm looking at the bottle.

That was sometime in the fall/winter. Oct/Nov/Dec, sometime. I've been giving her 2 units every 12 hours and thing were great at first. She was putting on weight.

The first time I gave it to her I was nervous, because there's a chance her blood sugar would go too low. I called the vet and asked her if I should test her blood sugar. She said no, it doesn't work that way... ok... I should only need to test it after a few weeks at about 4-5 hours after giving her the insulin.

It's several months later and the insulin isn't working anymore. I started doing some research and come to find out I'm not supposed to be using the same insulin veil more than 28 days after its been opened. It's been several months.

I just trusted her on this, now I'm reading things online and the things I'm reading online are not the things my vet told me. My vet doesn't work there anymore and I just dropped 3 grand on my other cat for his urinary issues, so I don't have any money and my wife is out of work. I can't just start a new relationship with a new vet.

I don't really know what to do or what to believe and I need some help.
 
Sky Energy said:
I started doing some research and come to find out I'm not supposed to be using the same insulin veil more than 28 days after its been opened.
Click to expand...

If it's kept refrigerated, it should last you a lot longer than 28 days.

Sky Energy said:
I'm reading things online and the things I'm reading online are not the things my vet told me.
Click to expand...

That's a common thing we hear here a LOT. The sad truth is that vets get less than a full day's worth of education on diabetes in school and that covers all types of animals. Once they're in practice, they just don't have the time to stay up to date on the latest treatments for every disease in every type of animal. They wouldn't have time to see any patients if they tried! That's why this message board is such a valuable resource. The people here have years of real life experience to share with you.

What are you feeding? Have you done any more home testing since she was diagnosed?

Hang in there! It's late so the board is kind of quiet sometimes, but you're in the right place and we'll help you any way we can!

If you haven't already read it, here's a great "New to the Group. The ProZinc basics here" sticky with lots of basic information
 
The good news is that Prozinc is a better insulin for cats than Vetsulin, so that part is right. If for some reason the insulin is off, but you've gotten it from the clinic before, you shouldn't need to have a vet visit just to buy more of it.

Vets so often see people not want to treat diabetic cats, that they don't want to overwhelm their clients with testing too if they are going to treat. Here we find that testing is very important and people can end up managing the diabetes without much help from the vet. Have you tested your kitty (name?) recently? What type of meter is it? Here is a post on how you can help us help you. The blue is a link.
 
Thank's guys! I'm forever in your debt. I'll start answering question in chronological order.

I'm feeding her the dry Dietetic Management Purina prescription food. Once a day I give her the dry food. I tested her last night and she's at about 360.

My cats' names are Momma and Sonnington. Momma has the diabetes, Sonnington has urinary issues. It's a keto mojo tester. It does both ketones and blood glucose.

I've done very little testing. Maybe 3 at the beginning, and then one last night.

Edit: I feed her whenever the other cat asks for food. So, usually I give her insulin before she eats in the morning. As soon as I wake up. Then I work from home and whenever he meows I move them into their secluded rooms to eat. So there isn't a firm schedule for that.
 
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This is interesting the dry food isnt good for EITHER condition whether its a "diabetic management" dry or not. I WOULD suggest to try and stop the dry food
BUT!
Not until you are testing on a regular basis*.
Dry food of all kinds contains carbs and depletes kitty of water. Please keep positing...We care.
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
This is interesting the dry food isnt good for EITHER condition whether its a "diabetic management" dry or not. I WOULD suggest to try and stop the dry food
BUT!
Not until you are testing on a regular basis*.
Dry food of all kinds contains carbs and depletes kitty of water. Please keep positing...We care.
Click to expand...
Thanks! How often should I be testing and is there a proper time for it? I give her insulin at 8am and 8pm.
 
Well I remember that you must test BEFORE you give insulin (havent had a diabetic in years) and test in between at least 2 hrs apart? I'm sure these is info on this, in the "sticky notes" above the threads. You will get better info there. than from me. Also I will try and tag some people to help. ok hang on.;)
@deb and wink
well my tags still arent working. :(
 
Sticky PROZINC DOSING METHODS
from the Prozinc / PZI ISG (Insulin Support Group)

p.s. @jt and trouble (GA) You have to type the entire user name or select it from the list that appears, after you start typing the name. I think you are doing only part of the name, and then adding the rest manually. No space between the @ sign and the start of the User ID either.

Was off gardening, since it's such a nice day.
 
ahhh in the proZinc forum DUUUHHH:banghead:

ok let me try and you dont have to respond if it works @Deb&Wink
well smh i am looking pretty stupid right now aint I? :p
So I didnt give bad advice...sigh thats my biggest worry.

Dear sky energy,
sorry to hijack your thread.:(
use the above link to find specific answers
 
JT is the cheering team and moral support.

I'm more of a "just the facts M'am" type poster. Too technical ofttimes.
Different posting styles, but we both care about you and your cat. Very much.
And we are both trying to help you, so you can help your cat get better.
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
ok let me try and you dont have to respond if it works @Deb&Wink
Click to expand...

It has to be exactly like the sign on name....Like if I put @Chris&China, it doesn't take, but if I type the @ key and then start typing Chris, a drop down menu pops up and I can choose the correct one

@Chris & China (GA)

upload_2020-4-7_16-49-22.png


If you want to tag Deb, type the @ sign, then immediately follow it with Deb....the drop down should come up for you to choose the right Deb
 

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I TRIED IT exactly that way it didnt take either. I did upper case, lower case, proper case, with spaces, without spaces. I tried every conceivable way there is. I do think its my computer at this point. THANK you for trying. I truly appreciate it. But I dont want to keep tying up this thread with my problems.
I am so sorry Sky
:(
 
Deb & Wink said:
Hi Sky Energy.

Would you please get some basic information set up in your User Id "Signature" please?
It helps us to help you better. How to's are below. Thanks.
Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences
Click to expand...

Got it. I think it's readable. I just don't know what "TR or SLGS or Custom" means.

Quick Question, my ProZinc is at least 5 months old. Is that too old?

I've been reading through the links here. Let me know if I'm on the right track. I just bought some Fancy Feast Classic and I'm going to feed her the wet food exclusively, if I can. Tonight I'm going to test her BG before I give her, her shot, 2 hours later, and an hour after that. Tomorrow I'm going to do the same thing. Test before, 2 hours after, 2 hours after, etc, to find the Nadir. She's been taking the ProZinc for a while so I'll take it from there. If her BG is above 200 I'll increase her insulin by .25 units.

What do you guys think? Good strategy? Am I missing something?
 
For now, don't worry about the dosing method. You'll probably start with SLGS which is Start Low, Go Slow.

That Go Slow also means go slow on the food conversion, for a couple reasons. First, it's easier on their tummies to do a slow food transition. Second, the difference in carbs between the two foods can make a dramatic difference in the amount of insulin needed. We'd rather you not be worrying about a potential hypo as you are just getting up to speed on regular testing. BTW, the timing of your tests sounds good.
 
Sounds like a good start!!….but until we have a few day's worth of testing data, I'd stick with the 2U dose.

Just one thing....no food for the 2 hours immediately before shot times. You want to get your Pre-Shot tests when there's no influence from food. Test, Feed, Shoot, in that order (most of us T/F/S in about 5-10 minutes)

Other than the Pre-shot tests, you can feed multiple small meals throughout the cycle until you get to +10 (10 hours since the shot) and then you pick the food up for 2 hours again
 
Thanks so much for setting up the "Signature" portion of your user id. That helps, because through the "magic" of technology, that information is now at the end of all your posts. Even has that info there retroactively. Any time you update the "Signature", the software behind the scenes "magically" attaches the info to your posts. Pretty neat.

Sky Energy said:
Quick Question, my ProZinc is at least 5 months old. Is that too old?
Click to expand...
That is kind of old.
Has it been refrigerated all this time?
Has it ever been pushed to the back of the fridge and been frozen?
Does the prozinc look cloudy, but does not have big floating particles in it?
Are there clumps, or visible white particles remaining, after you have gently rolled the vial of Prozinc?
Have you protected it from light?
It should be the color of very pale skim milk when it's mixed well.

Have you been mixing it thoroughly, before each draw of insulin?
What is the expiration date on the vial itself?

Much of the info I asked about and more info on handling and storage for Prozinc can be found here, in this document from our Prozinc ISG (Insulin Support Group) forum.
Sticky INSULIN CARE AND SYRINGE INFO Proper Handling and Drawing

Prozinc is usually good for about 60 days, after you have pierced the rubber stopper on the top of the vial. Some people can get longer usage from a vial. But 5 months is not common.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Thanks so much for setting up the "Signature" portion of your user id. That helps, because through the "magic" of technology, that information is now at the end of all your posts. Even has that info there retroactively. Any time you update the "Signature", the software behind the scenes "magically" attaches the info to your posts. Pretty neat.


That is kind of old.
Has it been refrigerated all this time?
Has it ever been pushed to the back of the fridge and been frozen?
Does the prozinc look cloudy, but does not have big floating particles in it?
Are there clumps, or visible white particles remaining, after you have gently rolled the vial of Prozinc?
Have you protected it from light?
It should be the color of very pale skim milk when it's mixed well.

Have you been mixing it thoroughly, before each draw of insulin?
What is the expiration date on the vial itself?

Much of the info I asked about and more info on handling and storage for Prozinc can be found here, in this document from our Prozinc ISG (Insulin Support Group) forum.
Sticky INSULIN CARE AND SYRINGE INFO Proper Handling and Drawing

Prozinc is usually good for about 60 days, after you have pierced the rubber stopper on the top of the vial. Some people can get longer usage from a vial. But 5 months is not common.
Click to expand...

Of course, no problemo, and thank you.

Yes, it's been refrigeratred.
Never frozen afaik and it's unlikely. Nothing else is freezing.
It looks cloudy with no floating particles.
No visible particles after rolling.
It's protected from light mostly. I keep it in between two opaque bottles. Since February or so it gets morning light as I bring it into the living room. Living room has 0 natural light.
It's probably lighter colored than that. Like the color of fog.
I mix it thoroughly.
Expiration is 3/21

Two things that make me a little nervous. Sometimes it'll fall over in the fridge when things get moved around. That's very rare, but it's obviously getting shaken more than it should. How bad is that? The second is, when I draw too much insulin I shoot it back into the vial. After reading the page there, I guess I shouldn't be doing that. How bad is that to do?
 
I like your description, "the color of fog" which is a much better description than I used comparing it to very pale skim milk.

Ok, sounds like good storage and handling techniques. Many people store the insulin in the original box, as that helps to protect it from light. Some people store the insulin on a shelf in the fridge, instead of in the door. The theory being that opening and closing the door of the fridge all the time shakes up the insulin. I don't think insulin is that fragile, but some people still do that extra step anyway. Human diabetics carry insulin pens around with them all the time, in a purse or pack, and the insulin is still good. It gets plenty of shaking around, when carried in a woman's purse, trust me on that one. So I would not worry too much about the vial getting tipped over a few times.

Falling over in the fridge is not too bad, not excessively shaking it. I kept my insulin vial in a coffee mug, so it was much harder to tip it over. Protected it with bubble wrap too, so in case I dropped it, the vial was less likely to break.

There is a lubricant in insulin syringes. You should move the plunger of the syringe up and down the length of the barrel a few times, so it moves more freely. Then draw a bit of air into your syringe, equivalent to your dose. Shooting the excess insulin back into the vial can contribute to the insulin degrading over time. If you are able to replace your insulin every 42 days, as the manufacturer recommends, not as much of an issue.

If you have been using your insulin for 5 months, as you have, then the insulin will have degraded more. It's better to overdraw a bit on the insulin dose, remove your syringe from the vial, then gently tap the syringe to get any remaining air bubbles to float up to the top, sort of a "finger flick" against the syringe barrel. Then you can slowly and gently "twist" the plunger to push out any excess insulin. It's usually only a drop or too. You'd be surprised at how little insulin 1 Unit is.

That syringe lubricant is the reason it's not recommended to pre-fill insulin syringes ahead of time. Plus, with a suspension type insulin like Prozinc, it's really difficult to get the insulin back into suspension within a syringe.
 
Second thing for you to setup if you would. We have a color coded, standardized spreadsheet where you copy a template, and then record your insulin doses, pre-shot tests, mid-cycle tests, etc.

Instructions for that SS (spreadsheet) setup follow. We can see a view only version when you link the SS into your signature. Setup includes screenshots, and directions for setup on a pc, tablet, smartphone.
>>>>> FDMB Spreadsheet Instructions

Second link is what it means. It's basically a simple grid to record your data.
>>>>>>>> Understanding the Spreadsheet/Grid

p.s. I have a little tortie and white girl that looks so similar to your kitty.
 
I'll be setting up my spreadsheet later on today. Last night her BG went from 303 PS to 202, two hours later. So the insulin is doing something. I think it's probably lost potency.


I'm a real novice at using the lancets. Months ago, I pricked her ear the first time and she -hated- it. It also left a huge bruise, so I don't want to do that again. Today, I went on break, and spent 15 minutes pricking her hand and I just couldn't get enough blood. Now I've been stuffed up with my eyes watering for the rest of the day(I've become pretty allergic to them over the years.) Is there a trick to getting a proper blood sample on the first prick?
 
some people put a tiny dab of Vaseline on their fingers rub slightly with the opposite finger, then apply to the tip of the ear. That way the blood pools to the top. Ugh I'm not describing it correctly but thats basically the way its done.
You can put rice in the toe of a clean sock you no longer use, tie it off and microwave it JUST to warm it. hold sock to ear and it will draw blood to the surface.
Hope this helps. GOOD LUCK! :)
 
Lots of tips on home testing here.
Hometesting Links and Tips - includes numerous links, instructions, pictures, & videos
This is one of my favorites, within that larger document. Marje and Gracie's Testing and Shooting Tips

I'm only quoting part of that link for you below.
"Testing
We all know the basics:
  • Warm the ear with a rice sock or a warm washcloth wrapped in a plastic bag.
  • Either freehand or use a lancing device; new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed; then progress to a 31g or 33g which are finer.
  • Be sure to poke in the "sweet spot" and not the major vein that runs along the length of the ear. Poking the vein will not only hurt, but will result in a lot of blood. The sweet spot is on the edge of the ear.
4395c545-36bf-4aba-bec7-4392fcdb191c-jpeg.48119

But did you also know there is a particular way for the lancet to be used? It has one side that is beveled so the sharpest part goes in first, if used correctly." To read more, click on the blue highlighted links.

Hold pressure on the ear after the poke, to stop the blood from pooling and forming that bruise.
 
So far so good. I've got a spreadsheet going now! Feels like I'm getting somewhere now.

Ugh, I hate the idea of shooting a lancet into her ear. We'll see how it goes.

At this point I'm going to completely switch over to the wet food tomorrow. She's barely touching the dry food as is. How long should I keep her on the wet food before adjusting insulin dosage?
 
Sky Energy said:
Ugh, I hate the idea of shooting a lancet into her ear. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...

Are you using a lancet device? A lot of us freehand and don't use the device at all. I always felt I had more control that way (and I could see where I was poking better). Either way will work though!

Sky Energy said:
How long should I keep her on the wet food before adjusting insulin dosage?
Click to expand...

She'll need to be on the wet food the rest of her life. (I don't think you meant to really ask that question that way though)

By testing, you'll see how she's responding to the current 2U dose. You need to always test before feeding/shooting and then get at least 1 test somewhere mid-cycle on the AM cycle (if possible) and a "before bed" test on the PM cycle. Most cats go lower at night so it's important to get that last test so you know if you need to set an alarm to get more tests in.

If you can test more than that, it's even better! Think of your spreadsheet like it's a puzzle...the more pieces (tests) you have sprinkled around, the easier it is to see the whole picture. Maybe one cycle get a +4 and +7, the next get a +3, +6, +9, another get a +5 and +8, etc. etc.

Hold the dose for at least a week:
  • Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
  • Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments. (if you get enough "random" tests, you may not need to do an official curve)

Going from 303 to 202 in 2 hours is a BIG drop for so early in the cycle. I would have suggested getting another test last night. Usually the +2 will be about the same as the PS so when there's a big drop like that, it's a good idea to plan on testing more.
 
You've made fantastic progress so far! Spreadsheet up and running, signature info, you're learning about how good low carb wet food can be for a diabetic kitty and so much more. You rock! Good job!

You only joined Monday, 4/6/20 and think how much better things are already.

Did you ever contact your vet about getting a new bottle of the Prozinc insulin?

I'd like to ask you a favor. Would you please make some minor changes on your SS? On your spreadsheet (SS), where the tab says Sheet1? Would you change that to say 2020, which is the current year. Then, for the name of the spreadsheet, it currently says "Insulin spreadsheet". Would you include your kittys name in the title of your spreadsheet? I often have 3 or more spreadsheets open at a time, and knowing which cat that SS belongs to is very helpful. Up at the very top of the SS, there are some orange/peachy colored boxes. Where it says Diagnosis date, include your cat's diabetes diagnosis date. Dosing Method, for now put SLGS after the words "Dosing Method (SLGS or TR):" , add the insulin you use after the words "Current Insulin:" and last but not least, where it says "Meter:" add the name of the meter you use for testing after that word.

Sure would appreciate those changes.

Since you are switching directly from dry to wet food, the BG (blood glucose) levels could drop a lot. You might seriously consider dropping the dose to 1U for now. You can always increase the dose, but with the food change, that 2U dose may be too much and your cat could drop to a very low BG level. Let's keep Momma kitty safe.

Are you able to get any mid-cycle tests today? Don't know what your work/life/family responsibilities are, so let us know if you are able to test during the day.
 
We're definitely getting somewhere. Little by little.

I never got new insulin. I figured if it's lowering her BG then it's doing its job. I might lower the dose since fresh insulin is probably going to be stronger than the stuff I have now. Should I just throw the one I have now away?

I got a chance to test her today during lunch. It's been pretty busy at work. I'll try to do a 12 hour curve over the weekend.
 
Sky Energy said:
Should I just throw the one I have now away?
Click to expand...
Keep it for now, just in case. Just label the old vial well, so it's harder to grab the wrong vial.
There are reported Prozinc insulin shortages in the UK, due to manufacturer issues. So keep the old vial around, until that supply issue resolves.

Sky Energy said:
I got a chance to test her today during lunch. It's been pretty busy at work.
Click to expand...
Imagine that! Busy at work is an understatement for many folks right now. What do you do for work? Are you able to work from home right now?
Sky Energy said:
I'll try to do a 12 hour curve over the weekend.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good plan. Testing every 2 hours from one pre-shot to the next pre-shot.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Keep it for now, just in case. Just label the old vial well, so it's harder to grab the wrong vial.
There are reported Prozinc insulin shortages in the UK, due to manufacturer issues. So keep the old vial around, until that supply issue resolves.


Imagine that! Busy at work is an understatement for many folks right now. What do you do for work? Are you able to work from home right now?

Sounds like a good plan. Testing every 2 hours from one pre-shot to the next pre-shot.
Click to expand...

I'll call my vet about that tomorrow.

Yeah I work from home. I do customer service for a hearing aid company, so it was rather easy for them to send us all home and keep the work going. Fun stuff!

So I switched her over entirely to the wet food today and now I'm only going to give her, her food when she's getting her shots. Her BG is relatively low tonight: 268. So I only gave her one unit.
 
I'm at a full week after switching over to wet food entirely. I'm thinking about increasing her dosage at night. I feed her two cans at night and one during the day, so I think that would be a more proper time for a higher amount of insulin. Perhaps even switching the dose to 2 units in the am and 1 unit at night to 1 unit in the am and 2 units at night. Tomorrow I'll make sure to get a mid day reading. Her BG level hasn't gone below 200-250 at any point. If I'm understanding treatment correctly, the goal is to get the BG level to at about 100. So I feel increasing the dosage is in order.

Thoughts?
 
You want to find an insulin dose that you can give twice a day, not a different dose in the AM that is different in the PM.

It's the mid-cycle tests that tell you what the dose should be, not the pre-shot tests. You need to get those mid-cycle tests, in order to know what her, Momma's, nadir or lowest point in the cycle is. How low this insulin dose takes her.

Please refer to the dosing guidelines, from our Prozinc ISG (Insulin Support Group) forum.
Sticky PROZINC DOSING METHODS

p.s. Would you please update your User Id "Signature" to reflect the food that you are now feeding. The fact that the diet is all wet food now.
 
Sky Energy said:
I'm going to start from the beginning and tell you what I know. I'm at a loss. I'm just going to give you the information I have and I need help. I need guidance.

My cat started losing a lot of weight last year and drinking a lot of water. I have a blood glucose monitor so I tested her. She was through the roof, 360. So I took her to the vet and they diagnosed her with diabetes. We put her on vetsulin... scratch that. She told me it was vetsulin, but it turns out that it's ProZinc now that I'm looking at the bottle.

That was sometime in the fall/winter. Oct/Nov/Dec, sometime. I've been giving her 2 units every 12 hours and thing were great at first. She was putting on weight.

The first time I gave it to her I was nervous, because there's a chance her blood sugar would go too low. I called the vet and asked her if I should test her blood sugar. She said no, it doesn't work that way... ok... I should only need to test it after a few weeks at about 4-5 hours after giving her the insulin.

It's several months later and the insulin isn't working anymore. I started doing some research and come to find out I'm not supposed to be using the same insulin veil more than 28 days after its been opened. It's been several months.

I just trusted her on this, now I'm reading things online and the things I'm reading online are not the things my vet told me. My vet doesn't work there anymore and I just dropped 3 grand on my other cat for his urinary issues, so I don't have any money and my wife is out of work. I can't just start a new relationship with a new vet.

I don't really know what to do or what to believe and I need some help.
Click to expand...
If you've been using the same vial since Nov it may have lost some potency. Is replace it every 4-5 months. Order it from chewy.com. It's about $100 and they will ship it in a few days.
 
Sky Energy said:
I'm at a full week after switching over to wet food entirely. I'm thinking about increasing her dosage at night. I feed her two cans at night and one during the day, so I think that would be a more proper time for a higher amount of insulin. Perhaps even switching the dose to 2 units in the am and 1 unit at night to 1 unit in the am and 2 units at night. Tomorrow I'll make sure to get a mid day reading. Her BG level hasn't gone below 200-250 at any point. If I'm understanding treatment correctly, the goal is to get the BG level to at about 100. So I feel increasing the dosage is in order.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
If it were my cat I would try 1.5 both morning and evening, but try to get a mid cycle number around 5 hours post shot. And if you can do a curve so we can see better what's going on throughout the day.
 
JanetNJ said:
If it were my cat I would try 1.5 both morning and evening, but try to get a mid cycle number around 5 hours post shot. And if you can do a curve so we can see better what's going on throughout the day.
Click to expand...
Yeah, her BG got pretty low last night at the 10 hour mark so a skipped her second shot. I had her at 1.5 units at night for the past few nights and this morning I reduced her morning dose to 1.5 as well. I've got my alarm set and nothing to do today, so I'll be taking her BG all day.
 
So you are doing a curve today? Testing every 2 hours, from one pre-shot test to the next pre-shot test?

Pestering you for that signature update again. It makes a difference on what suggestions we make as far as insulin dose changes and which Prozinc dosing protocol you can use.
 
Deb & Wink said:
So you are doing a curve today? Testing every 2 hours, from one pre-shot test to the next pre-shot test?

Pestering you for that signature update again. It makes a difference on what suggestions we make as far as insulin dose changes and which Prozinc dosing protocol you can use.
Click to expand...

You got it.

I'm doing a curve today, but I don't know how useful it's going to be. Last night she only ate one can of food, when she usually devours two. This morning, when I gave her, her insulin, I wait until she starts eating before administering a dose. She started going at it, but when I returned in an hour she only licked up the sauce. She didn't actually eat any of the food. I put my other cat in the room and kept her out with us all day. I was a little worried her BG would fall too low, but so far so good. I've left out a can of food for her and she's been nibbling at it.

It's very weird how she's decided to get picky about canned food all of a sudden. Any ideas why this might be?
 
Deb & Wink said:
Not a clue. Sometimes cats get tired of a particular flavor, and you need to rotate the selection.

You could make notes on the SS, in the Remarks column, on what foods you fed, and if that flavor was a success or not.
Click to expand...

She's never been picky. I have her on a rotation of 4 different flavors, then the prescription food sometimes which would make 5. She usually goes to town on whatever I give her, but I've tried 4 flavors including the prescription and she's not super interested.

She eventually finished off her big can of prescription food yesterday. It took all day though. Then I gave her a can last night and she ate half of it. She has no other symptoms, just randomly decided to get picky I guess?

In any event, I did the curve yesterday. Any thoughts on it?
 
She dropped nicely, in the middle of the cycle. Just what you want to see.

Momma may be bouncing from that low of 124 PMPS on 4/18/20. SS says you gave 1.5U that evening. Is that correct?
But the comment in the Remarks column, doesn't make sense, if that is the case.

So I think you need to hold the dose for now. Until Momma clears the bounce. That can take anywhere from 3 to 6 12 hour cycles. Patience.
 
Deb & Wink said:
She dropped nicely, in the middle of the cycle. Just what you want to see.

Momma may be bouncing from that low of 124 PMPS on 4/18/20. SS says you gave 1.5U that evening. Is that correct?
But the comment in the Remarks column, doesn't make sense, if that is the case.

So I think you need to hold the dose for now. Until Momma clears the bounce. That can take anywhere from 3 to 6 12 hour cycles. Patience.
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That's incorrect, I skipped it because her BG was so low. She's back to eating like normal again. Yeah, I think I'm going to stick to 1.5 for the next week and do another curve.
 
Hey guys! Let me give you an update. Momma is doing a lot better. The last curve I did got a little low, so I've reduced it by a little bit.

Quick question. So my vet quit and now I have to deal with another vet at the clinic. He says that human glucometers are not as reliable as vet glucometers. I remember reading up on it and they give roughly the same results. So I'm a little hesitant to take his advice. What do you guys think? Also, based on the new curve, does it look like she may be going into remission? Should I reduce her dose to possibly .5 units or take her off entirely?

Thanks everyone!
 
For cost you cant beat the human meters. The Vet ones are good but the test strips are pricey. I guess its up to your pocket book. Most here use the ReliOn. Walmart carries them.

I cannot give dosing advice... hold on for more replies

Its GREAT to hear Momma is doing so well! CONGRATS!
 
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