Did anyone else get diagnosed shortly after receiving steroid shots?

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Midnite

Midnite

Member Since 2020
This is my first post here, so I'm not too familiar with how this forum works. Anyway, I took Midnite to the vet back in the end of August to get a steroid shot because she was experiencing some type of allergic reaction. I have to drive her three hours away for summers when I am not in college. The vet told me that she most likely was allergic to something in the environment there. After she got her shot, her scabs cleared up and she was feeling better. Shortly after her shots, she started drinking and urinating much more frequently than normal. I took her to the vet on Monday and they told me she is diabetic. I asked the vet if her food caused the diabetes (she was on unhealthy dry food, and I feel terrible for not realizing what I was letting her eat). The vet told me that it was more than likely the steroid shot that caused her diabetes and that this was fairly common. She even told me that her own cat become diabetic after receiving a steroid shot. I really wish she would have told me this before letting her get the steroid shot. The vet also did not give me any records when she got her blood sugar tested. I found this a bit odd. I assumed she became diabetic because of her diet, but being told this information by the vet made me question it. Has anyone else experienced something similar to this?
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. There are great people here and so much information that is helpful.

My cat Charlie was diagnosed in August with diabetes believed to be caused by the steroid he started in the spring for his asthma. I'm pretty new myself but it seems this is fairly common unfortunately.

I highly encourage you go to the main page and review the information how to use the forum, set up your signature and work to get a spreadsheet set up when you can. Since your vet had a cat with diabetes you are probably off to a good start, but unfortunately some vets don't have extensive experience with diabetes (general practitioner vs. specialist) and there are a lot of individuals here with extensive experience who can help out. Not to scare you but in my situation, my cat would have likely died from hypoglycemia had I followed the vets initial directions.

There are wonderful people here who are so helpful. You will hear from members who have great advice.

Midnight looks like a very sweet kitty.

I don't know how to rename a link, but this should take you to information on how to use the forum.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/announcements-how-to-use-the-fdmb.33/
 
Julie & Charlie said:
Hello and welcome to the forum. There are great people here and so much information that is helpful.

My cat Charlie was diagnosed in August with diabetes believed to be caused by the steroid he started in the spring for his asthma. I'm pretty new myself but it seems this is fairly common unfortunately.

I highly encourage you go to the main page and review the information how to use the forum, set up your signature and work to get a spreadsheet set up when you can. Since your vet had a cat with diabetes you are probably off to a good start, but unfortunately some vets don't have extensive experience with diabetes (general practitioner vs. specialist) and there are a lot of individuals here with extensive experience who can help out. Not to scare you but in my situation, my cat would have likely died from hypoglycemia had I followed the vets initial directions.

There are wonderful people here who are so helpful. You will hear from members who have great advice.

Midnight looks like a very sweet kitty.

I don't know how to rename a link, but this should take you to information on how to use the forum.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/announcements-how-to-use-the-fdmb.33/
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what was your starting dose of insulin if you do not mind me asking? Midnite was immediately put on 2 units a day of ProZinc twice a day. From what i have been reading, it seems like this was a very high starting dose. It makes me wonder if I should follow everything my vet is saying or not. I have ordered a glucose reader from her that should be here next week, so i definitely will be beginning home testing. Thanks for the response!
 
My vet wanted me start at 3 units but I actually started with 1. It is better to start on the low side until you gain some knowledge and can track your cat's blood glucose levels. I use Lantus which is a different insulin than you are using.

There is a forum group for your brand of insulin so you might want to start to review information there. There is a "sticky" with information for newly diagnosed kitties. When you set up your signature block, you will be able to link the spreadsheet that you will want to set up where you record daily dosing and your testing. You can click on Charlie's spreadsheet in my signature block. You may want to post a new thread in the ProZinc forum. Experienced members will be able to help you better once you get your signature block set up and start your spreadsheet.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
 
Forgot to note that you do not have to use a specialty pet glucose monitor. Many of us use Relion brand from Walmart. Especially in the beginning you will go through a lot of test strips while you learn how to obtain samples and test Midnites blood glucose and the Relion brand is MUCH cheaper. My vet wanted me to get the other one too because they are thought to be more accurate but those on the forum are used to using human meters and adjust readings based on using those. You will want to make sure you use the correct spreadsheet based on human vs. pet meter, whatever you decide.
 
Julie & Charlie said:
Forgot to note that you do not have to use a specialty pet glucose monitor. Many of us use Relion brand from Walmart. Especially in the beginning you will go through a lot of test strips while you learn how to obtain samples and test Midnites blood glucose and the Relion brand is MUCH cheaper. My vet wanted me to get the other one too because they are thought to be more accurate but those on the forum are used to using human meters and adjust readings based on using those. You will want to make sure you use the correct spreadsheet based on human vs. pet meter, whatever you decide.
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Julie & Charlie said:
Forgot to note that you do not have to use a specialty pet glucose monitor. Many of us use Relion brand from Walmart. Especially in the beginning you will go through a lot of test strips while you learn how to obtain samples and test Midnites blood glucose and the Relion brand is MUCH cheaper. My vet wanted me to get the other one too because they are thought to be more accurate but those on the forum are used to using human meters and adjust readings based on using those. You will want to make sure you use the correct spreadsheet based on human vs. pet meter, whatever you decide.
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I wish i would have known this before ordering her pet one haha it just shipped
 
And I just want to add, the dry food alone may not have been the cause of it but it doesn’t help either. Once you start testing, I would consider transitioning her to wet food that’s low in carbs, 10% or less. Most of us here feed our cats fancy feast pate. Do not do this before home testing as it can drop the bg considerably and you want to be monitoring to avoid a hypo.

I also agree with a starting dose of 1 no matter what the insulin is. You want to start low and increase slowly from there. But let’s see what her numbers are once you start home testing. Good for you for doing that right away. We have lots of tips to make testing easier on both you and your cat so let us know when you’re ready so we can guide you :cat:

And thank you for setting up your signature and ss too!!
 
Often but not always once off steroids cats go into remission quickly and become diet controlled. We have had several here in the last couple of months. Vets tend to start on too high a dose and may discourage home testing which is reckless in my opinion as one here who has recently helped avoid several hypos from that. Working with one right now who was told not to test. The cat is close to a potential hypo three hours after the first shot of insulin.
 
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tiffmaxee said:
Often but not always once off steroids cats go into remission quickly and become diet controlled. We have had several here in the last couple of months. Vets tend to start on too high a dose and may discourage home testing which is reckless in my opinion as one here who has recently helped avoid several hypos from that. Working with one right now who was told not to test. The cat is close to a potential hypo three hours after the first shot of insulin.
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I hope this is the case. She only received one steroid shot back in August. She did have another shot about a year ago for the same reason, but did not become diabetic then. I didn't really make the correlation until my vet said something, since she only received one shot.
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
And I just want to add, the dry food alone may not have been the cause of it but it doesn’t help either. Once you start testing, I would consider transitioning her to wet food that’s low in carbs, 10% or less. Most of us here feed our cats fancy feast pate. Do not do this before home testing as it can drop the bg considerably and you want to be monitoring to avoid a hypo.

I also agree with a starting dose of 1 no matter what the insulin is. You want to start low and increase slowly from there. But let’s see what her numbers are once you start home testing. Good for you for doing that right away. We have lots of tips to make testing easier on both you and your cat so let us know when you’re ready so we can guide you :cat:

And thank you for setting up your signature and ss too!!
Click to expand...

I switched her to fancy feast classic almost right away, because her dry food has over 40% in carbs and I don't want her eating that anymore. She is doing suprisingly well switching to new food, but i do have to bribe her sometimes with some chicken mixed in ;)
 
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