Karen & Biscuits
Member Since 2021
Hello Everyone! My name is Karen and I am mama to 2 sugar babies, Biscuits and Skittles. They are both 12 years old next month and have a 3rd littermate, Purrcey, who is not diabetic (yet!).
I've been having great success with Skittles on Vetsulin, 4.5 units, twice a day and he has had very few issues since his diagnosis. Biscuits on the other hand, is a whole different ball of wax. We started her on Vetsulin as well but she did not respond to it in a good way and her sugar levels remained high until I finally convinced the vet to try Levemir, which was readily available in my household at the time, due to a human household member being on it. We started Biscuits on 2.5 units twice a day and initially she didn't do very well with that either. She also developed severe neuropathy in her back legs before the Levemir and was barely able to walk and could no longer jump on anything. She was doing a lot of jerking as if she was going to have a seizure, but the vet told me those were muscle spasms, which would likely stop if her sugar was regulated.
Since being on Levemir, she is now experiencing "bouncing" where her sugar gets very low and then bounces super high. I understand that Levemir is a depot insulin so I'm a bit puzzled as to why it would allow her sugar to be so high at different intervals, especially nearing the 12 hour mark after her morning injection.
I started a new pen around the middle of March and I'm seeing very high numbers again. Earlier this month her sugar was almost bottoming out below 100 for a couple of weeks. I was pleased to see low numbers but not that low and now it's shooting super high again and I cannot figure out why.
She has not had a change in diet at all, she eats Weruva Cats in the Kitchen wet food, 1/3 of a can each morning as she shares a can with her brothers. She often finishes off what they don't eat but that has never had any major effect on her sugar. She eats minimal Hill's Prescription Diet m/d - and by minimal, I mean maybe a tablespoon worth throughout the day. She likes it but she doesn't eat a lot of it. I have been told that is not a good food for a diabetic cat (does Hill's know this???) so I'm trying to get them off of it and find something else, as they have always loved dry foods to graze on during the day and night. She doesn't really eat at night very often though.
My question is why is her sugar so high all of a sudden after being so low for a few weeks? Could it be the insulin is bad in the new pen? It has been refrigerated as it should be, it is not expired, but we didn't have this issue until I started with the new pen. That's the only thing that would make sense to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
I have her spreadsheet up to date, so you can see what I'm talking about. What would you recommend I do with her to get her sugar regulated again?
I forgot to mention, she is also taking a 5000 mcg tablet of methylcobalamin every morning, which has not bothered her sugar levels so far. I got a brand recommended to me on the feline health forum, and one that has no fillers containing sugar or starches. It has helped tremendously with her ability to walk and jump and she is doing so much better with that in her system.
She doesn't get any kind of treats throughout the day, she doesn't eat table scraps at all, so I'm feeling really confused as to what is going on. I try to be so careful with her and I feel like I'm failing my cat by missing something that is causing her sugar to spike again. What can I do to help my baby?
I've been having great success with Skittles on Vetsulin, 4.5 units, twice a day and he has had very few issues since his diagnosis. Biscuits on the other hand, is a whole different ball of wax. We started her on Vetsulin as well but she did not respond to it in a good way and her sugar levels remained high until I finally convinced the vet to try Levemir, which was readily available in my household at the time, due to a human household member being on it. We started Biscuits on 2.5 units twice a day and initially she didn't do very well with that either. She also developed severe neuropathy in her back legs before the Levemir and was barely able to walk and could no longer jump on anything. She was doing a lot of jerking as if she was going to have a seizure, but the vet told me those were muscle spasms, which would likely stop if her sugar was regulated.
Since being on Levemir, she is now experiencing "bouncing" where her sugar gets very low and then bounces super high. I understand that Levemir is a depot insulin so I'm a bit puzzled as to why it would allow her sugar to be so high at different intervals, especially nearing the 12 hour mark after her morning injection.
I started a new pen around the middle of March and I'm seeing very high numbers again. Earlier this month her sugar was almost bottoming out below 100 for a couple of weeks. I was pleased to see low numbers but not that low and now it's shooting super high again and I cannot figure out why.
She has not had a change in diet at all, she eats Weruva Cats in the Kitchen wet food, 1/3 of a can each morning as she shares a can with her brothers. She often finishes off what they don't eat but that has never had any major effect on her sugar. She eats minimal Hill's Prescription Diet m/d - and by minimal, I mean maybe a tablespoon worth throughout the day. She likes it but she doesn't eat a lot of it. I have been told that is not a good food for a diabetic cat (does Hill's know this???) so I'm trying to get them off of it and find something else, as they have always loved dry foods to graze on during the day and night. She doesn't really eat at night very often though.
My question is why is her sugar so high all of a sudden after being so low for a few weeks? Could it be the insulin is bad in the new pen? It has been refrigerated as it should be, it is not expired, but we didn't have this issue until I started with the new pen. That's the only thing that would make sense to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
I have her spreadsheet up to date, so you can see what I'm talking about. What would you recommend I do with her to get her sugar regulated again?
I forgot to mention, she is also taking a 5000 mcg tablet of methylcobalamin every morning, which has not bothered her sugar levels so far. I got a brand recommended to me on the feline health forum, and one that has no fillers containing sugar or starches. It has helped tremendously with her ability to walk and jump and she is doing so much better with that in her system.
She doesn't get any kind of treats throughout the day, she doesn't eat table scraps at all, so I'm feeling really confused as to what is going on. I try to be so careful with her and I feel like I'm failing my cat by missing something that is causing her sugar to spike again. What can I do to help my baby?
, Biscuits has shown that 3.0 units is way too much insulin now. For her sake, please reduce the dose.