GA New Member! Cat Glucose is 749 and keeps going up!

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MelissaH

MelissaH

Member Since 2021
Hello, I am new to this forum, but I am desperate for some help. Here is my situation.

My cat, Emma is 16 years old. A year ago she started losing weight and drinking water like crazy. We took her to the vet and they said she had Diabetes. They gave us Vetsulin and told us to start her on 1 unit 2x a day. We did and her number kept increasing. So he moved her up to 2 units 2x a day. We had to buy the Glucose monitor to test her at home because it was getting crazy expensive to test her every week at the vet. Fast forward to January this year...she is on 15 units of Vetsulin 2x a day and has a level of 350-400. Vet said we need to try a different insulin. So, he puts her on Novolin (human insulin). She started at 1 unit 2x a day, and in 3 weeks she is at 4 units 2x a day and her #'s have just gone up and up...she was at 749 on Saturday. Everytime we call him with her numbers he tells us to go up a unit. (Note: She did get down to the 100s and 200s at about 10 units on the Vetsulin, but it didn't last long...about 3 weeks. Then he increased again and it never came back down.)

Vet did a blood test and sent to the lab. She has Coronavirus...not sure yet if she has the FIP...but symptoms are not showing for that. She is a normal cat as far as I can tell. Just aging. She eats, drinks, pees, and poops normally. She plays with her toys and jumps up on the couch to lay with us in the evening. She is kind of wobbly on her feet...not good on her balance.

But now ( a year later), the vet is wanting to run about $400 in more tests (ultrasound, another urine analysis, and a pancreatic test). But he said he doesn't know what he is looking for. WE still haven't gotten the final blodd test results back, so why should we do these more tets right now.

Any advise here? She is an EXTREMELY nervous cat. She is indoors only, and when wr take her to he vet, she gets so anxious. The first time we took her a year ago, we put her in a carrier and when they brought her back out to our car (due to Covid we could not go inside) she was panting and pooping all over herself.(lasted for 2 days) Now, we ask them to come to the car to look at her. She just can't take being away from us and especially in a carrier.

Oh, I hope you have some guidance for me. This is so frustrating. I am not happy with my vet right now.
 
My first suggestion would be to switch your cat to an insulin that is recommended for cats! The American Animal Hospital Association recommends either Lantus or Prozinc for cats. Both Vetsulin (which was developed for dogs) and Novolin are shorter acting insulins and wear off before 12 hours. Lantus and Prozinc are longer acting. a 15u dose of Vetsulin is HUGE. I would not be surprised if it's too high of a dose (and I don't say that often). I assume you're home testing. Are you able to get tests toward the middle of the cycle?

There is also the possibility that Emma is a high dose cat. We'd really need to see records of your test data to have a better understanding of how the insulins you've tried are (or not) working.

The other question I have is what are you feeding your kitty? If Emma is on a dry food diet, that may be contributing to the high numbers. There are only 2 dry foods that are low in carbohydrates and neither of them are diabetes specific formulas.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
My first suggestion would be to switch your cat to an insulin that is recommended for cats! The American Animal Hospital Association recommends either Lantus or Prozinc for cats. Both Vetsulin (which was developed for dogs) and Novolin are shorter acting insulins and wear off before 12 hours. Lantus and Prozinc are longer acting. a 15u dose of Vetsulin is HUGE. I would not be surprised if it's too high of a dose (and I don't say that often). I assume you're home testing. Are you able to get tests toward the middle of the cycle?

There is also the possibility that Emma is a high dose cat. We'd really need to see records of your test data to have a better understanding of how the insulins you've tried are (or not) working.

The other question I have is what are you feeding your kitty? If Emma is on a dry food diet, that may be contributing to the high numbers. There are only 2 dry foods that are low in carbohydrates and neither of them are diabetes specific formulas.
Click to expand...

Oh thank you so much for your reply. I will talk to them about the other insulins. Yes, we test her often. I have done several "glucose curve" tests where I test every hour or 2 for a 12 - 18 hour period. Her #'s are the highest an hour after her shot. Then it goes down from there, but never low enough. Then shoots back up when we give her the next dose.

She gets a half a can of Fancy Feast at 6Am and at 6PM right before her shot. And we have Royal Canin Urinary SO dry food in a bowl for free feed throughout the day (she had some urinary issues as a younger cat, so we never stopped that dry food). We also give her some treats mid day and mid evening of the GlucoBalance cat foot...she thinks they are treats, but they are actually a cat food. Note: we have 2 other cats, too. 1 that is a year older than her and 1 younger than her by 2 years.

What foods are good to move to? WE tried the wet GlycoBalance, but it gave her bad diarrhea.
 
MelissaH said:
Oh thank you so much for your reply. I will talk to them about the other insulins. Yes, we test her often. I have done several "glucose curve" tests where I test every hour or 2 for a 12 - 18 hour period. Her #'s are the highest an hour after her shot. Then it goes down from there, but never low enough. Then shoots back up when we give her the next dose.

She gets a half a can of Fancy Feast at 6Am and at 6PM right before her shot. And we have Royal Canin Urinary SO dry food in a bowl for free feed throughout the day (she had some urinary issues as a younger cat, so we never stopped that dry food). We also give her some treats mid day and mid evening of the GlucoBalance cat foot...she thinks they are treats, but they are actually a cat food. Note: we have 2 other cats, too. 1 that is a year older than her and 1 younger than her by 2 years.

What foods are good to move to? WE tried the wet GlycoBalance, but it gave her bad diarrhea.
Click to expand...


Dr Vet Lisa Pierson have this extensive food chart with all food brands - look for carbs under 10 %, medium 30-40 % fat, high protein 40-50 % foods https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
My first suggestion would be to switch your cat to an insulin that is recommended for cats! The American Animal Hospital Association recommends either Lantus or Prozinc for cats. Both Vetsulin (which was developed for dogs) and Novolin are shorter acting insulins and wear off before 12 hours. Lantus and Prozinc are longer acting. a 15u dose of Vetsulin is HUGE. I would not be surprised if it's too high of a dose (and I don't say that often). I assume you're home testing. Are you able to get tests toward the middle of the cycle?

There is also the possibility that Emma is a high dose cat. We'd really need to see records of your test data to have a better understanding of how the insulins you've tried are (or not) working.

The other question I have is what are you feeding your kitty? If Emma is on a dry food diet, that may be contributing to the high numbers. There are only 2 dry foods that are low in carbohydrates and neither of them are diabetes specific formulas.
Click to expand...

What are the 2 dry foods that are low in carbs? That list doesn't include any dry foods.
 
The Urinary SO is crazy high in carbs, so not an appropriate food for a diabetic. A low carb, low phosphorus wet food is best if you are dealing with urinary issues. Plus adding extra water. Dry food is not a good idea for cats with urinary issues. Details on the catinfo website. If you have to give dry food, the only lowish carb ones are Young Again (mail order) or Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein. You can also get freeze dried or air dried raw such as Ziwipeak if kitty needs some crunch. If you switch out the dry food, be very careful and vigilant testing, we had cats with sudden drops in insulin needs when switched to an appropriate low carb food.

On the off chance your cat really needs a high dose of insulin, Levemir is another option. It's a lot like Lantus, but without the acid base that can sting at higher doses. My girl was one of those cats that needed a higher dose than average.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
The Urinary SO is crazy high in carbs, so not an appropriate food for a diabetic. A low carb, low phosphorus wet food is best if you are dealing with urinary issues. Plus adding extra water. Dry food is not a good idea for cats with urinary issues. Details on the catinfo website. If you have to give dry food, the only lowish carb ones are Young Again (mail order) or Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein. You can also get freeze dried or air dried raw such as Ziwipeak if kitty needs some crunch. If you switch out the dry food, be very careful and vigilant testing, we had cats with sudden drops in insulin needs when switched to an appropriate low carb food.

On the off chance your cat really needs a high dose of insulin, Levemir is another option. It's a lot like Lantus, but without the acid base that can sting at higher doses. My girl was one of those cats that needed a higher dose than average.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. This morning we are dealing with lethargy, and vomiting. She hasn’t done this in months. I am really scared and hate that I can’t trust my vet. I am calling a new vet as soon as they open. Prayers please. She is not well right now.
 
Prayers for your Emma. :bighug:
I hope the new vet is better in regards to treating diabetic cats.
 
Well I have sad news. Emma is no longer with us. She had a blood clot that went to her brain and she lost all motor functions and vision. It has been a very hard week for my family.
 
I'm so sorry for the loss of your sweet Emma.
Fly Free pretty girl cat_wings>o
Please send your mama a sign that you are good and looking over her.
 
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