New Sugarcat Nessie

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Kelly Ballard

Member Since 2022
My name is Kelly and my recently diagnosed sugarcat is 7 years old. I noticed something was off when she started losing weight and drinking a ton of water. I was afraid she was going into renal failure. She was seen by my vet and he drew a cbc with differntial, metabolic panel, and Liver Function Panel. He really didn't know what he was looking at. He called me an hour later and told me her BS was in the 400s and was diagnosed at being diabetic.

We started Vetsulin 2 units twice a day on 4/14/22. At that time, I had purchased an Accucheck. During our next visit, he said the AlphaTrak was better and gave me a starter kit.

It took me a few days to figure out the spreadsheet and how frequently I should be testing her.

On 4/19/22, we went back for a follow up appointment. Prior to her follow up, her BS ranged from 274-472. He increased her to 2.5 units twice a day (8:00 am and pm)

I am so appreciative of this resource. I have found some wonderful information on here. She has a follow-up of Friday and I am going to ask for Lantus instead of the Vetsulin

Kelly and Nessie
 
Hi Kelly and welcome to you and Nessie to the forum
I’m glad you are going to ask for a change to Lantus insulin……much better choice for cats.
Also the Accuchek is a perfectly good meter…in fact most of us here prefer the human meters over the pet meters which are very expensive to run with the test strips very expensive. And our dosing methods are based on the human meters.

With the vetsulin, are you feeding and then waiting 30 minutes before giving the dose? Vetsulin hits hard and fast and you need to have food aboard before giving the dose. Make sure you test before every dose to see it is safe to give the dose. And then test during the first half of the cycle to see how low the dose is taking her. Around +4 is good for vetsulin.

I am going to give you a link to the spreadsheet, signature and the hypo kit HELP US HELP YOU
If you could set those up, it will help us to be able to help you. If you have any trouble setting up the SS let us know and I will get someone to help you.

What are you feeding Nessie?
Are you giving snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the preshot meal.
We recommend increasing in 1/4 unit increments so you don’t go past the best dose and to also keep your kitty safe.
Ask lots of questions. We are very happy to help you.
Bron
 
Hi and welcome to the club you never wanted to join. Glad to hear you are going to switch to Lantus it is a much better insulin for cats. I am pretty new to all this as well so just wanted to say hi and welcome. Sounds like you are doing a great job already.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Kelly and welcome to you and Nessie to the forum
I’m glad you are going to ask for a change to Lantus insulin……much better choice for cats.
Also the Accuchek is a perfectly good meter…in fact most of us here prefer the human meters over the pet meters which are very expensive to run with the test strips very expensive. And our dosing methods are based on the human meters.

With the vetsulin, are you feeding and then waiting 30 minutes before giving the dose? Vetsulin hits hard and fast and you need to have food aboard before giving the dose. Make sure you test before every dose to see it is safe to give the dose. And then test during the first half of the cycle to see how low the dose is taking her. Around +4 is good for vetsulin.

I am going to give you a link to the spreadsheet, signature and the hypo kit HELP US HELP YOU
If you could set those up, it will help us to be able to help you. If you have any trouble setting up the SS let us know and I will get someone to help you.

What are you feeding Nessie?
Are you giving snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the preshot meal.
We recommend increasing in 1/4 unit increments so you don’t go past the best dose and to also keep your kitty safe.
Ask lots of questions. We are very happy to help you.
Bron
Click to expand...


I check her at 8:00, feed, and give insulin at 8:30. I have a spreadsheet. I will post here...I don't know if you will be able to see it.
I thought I was just suppose to feed her before the Insulin so I've been starving my poor cat. I just rechecked her and she is down to 76. I'm giving her some kibble to help bring her BS up.
As far as diet goes, she absolutely refuses to eat wet food. I think I'm past 40 different flavors. I've been cooking for her...lean hamburger and turkey, chicken, and eggs. I give her a little bit of kibble so she gets the micronutrients she needs. I'm waiting for the samples that are low carb. I'm hoping they come soon.

Here is here spreadsheet. Can you let me know if you can see it? Nessie's spreadsheet - Google Sheets

I appreciate your input. TY
 
Kelly Ballard said:
I check her at 8:00, feed, and give insulin at 8:30. I have a spreadsheet. I will post here...I don't know if you will be able to see it.
I thought I was just suppose to feed her before the Insulin so I've been starving my poor cat. I just rechecked her and she is down to 76. I'm giving her some kibble to help bring her BS up.
As far as diet goes, she absolutely refuses to eat wet food. I think I'm past 40 different flavors. I've been cooking for her...lean hamburger and turkey, chicken, and eggs. I give her a little bit of kibble so she gets the micronutrients she needs. I'm waiting for the samples that are low carb. I'm hoping they come soon.

Here is here spreadsheet. Can you let me know if you can see it? Nessie's spreadsheet - Google Sheets

I appreciate your input. TY
Click to expand...
Have you retested since getting the 76? …..yes I can see on the SS you have and the BG has risen to 196.
Please reduce the dose down to 2.25 units immediately at the next dose. 2.5 units is to high a dose.
Make sure you have a hypo kit set up.
There is a link to the hypo kit in post 2
 
There's a few threads now so let's keep everything in this thread please.

cross linking other posts:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fluctuations-in-bs-this-am.262528/

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/drop-in-bs.262561/

My latest advice is this (posted in other threads for consistency):
Just as a quick reminder, yesterday I advised reducing to 2.25U. If you look at the top banner, right hand side there is an "Alerts" drop down - you can use that to find your post from yesterday where I also linked those protocols for you.

That 76 is pretty low for an AlphaTrak, we don't want them that low on Vetsulin.

So I would give 2.25U if she's above 400 with her preshot.

I would give 2U if she's between 300 and 400.

I would give 1U if she's 200-300. I don't expect a preshot lower than that anytime soon...

What is her current meal schedule?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
the SS days she is using the alphatrak meter
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know.....was kind of just waiting for everything to get decided. When I set the SS up, she said she was using the Accu Check....then the AlphaTrak comes into the picture...kind of trying to get it nailed down before I start re-doing the whole thing

She's also ordered some EZ Complete and some samples of the low carb kibbles so I'll probably need to change her Signature at some point too
 
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FrostD said:
There's a few threads now so let's keep everything in this thread please.

cross linking other posts:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fluctuations-in-bs-this-am.262528/

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/drop-in-bs.262561/

My latest advice is this (posted in other threads for consistency):
Just as a quick reminder, yesterday I advised reducing to 2.25U. If you look at the top banner, right hand side there is an "Alerts" drop down - you can use that to find your post from yesterday where I also linked those protocols for you.

That 76 is pretty low for an AlphaTrak, we don't want them that low on Vetsulin.

So I would give 2.25U if she's above 400 with her preshot.

I would give 2U if she's between 300 and 400.

I would give 1U if she's 200-300. I don't expect a preshot lower than that anytime soon...

What is her current meal schedule?
Click to expand...


She eats at 8:00 am and pm. I’m going to check her sugar at 7:30, let her eat, give Insulin, and then recheck her around 10 pm and thereafter depending on numbers.

She refuses wet food. I just got the samples from Dr Elseys. I’ve been feeding her lean hamburger and turkey, chicken, and eggs. I give her 1/8 cup of Hill’s W/D for nutrients. I also ordered the EZ Complete where you add protein
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Kelly and welcome to you and Nessie to the forum
I’m glad you are going to ask for a change to Lantus insulin……much better choice for cats.
Also the Accuchek is a perfectly good meter…in fact most of us here prefer the human meters over the pet meters which are very expensive to run with the test strips very expensive. And our dosing methods are based on the human meters.

With the vetsulin, are you feeding and then waiting 30 minutes before giving the dose? Vetsulin hits hard and fast and you need to have food aboard before giving the dose. Make sure you test before every dose to see it is safe to give the dose. And then test during the first half of the cycle to see how low the dose is taking her. Around +4 is good for vetsulin.

I am going to give you a link to the spreadsheet, signature and the hypo kit HELP US HELP YOU
If you could set those up, it will help us to be able to help you. If you have any trouble setting up the SS let us know and I will get someone to help you.

What are you feeding Nessie?
Are you giving snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the preshot meal.
We recommend increasing in 1/4 unit increments so you don’t go past the best dose and to also keep your kitty safe.
Ask lots of questions. We are very happy to help you.
Bron
Click to expand...
Yes…test, feed, insulin 30 minutes after, and then 10-10:30 and after that if need be
 
Kelly Ballard said:
She eats at 8:00 am and pm. I’m going to check her sugar at 7:30, let her eat, give Insulin, and then recheck her around 10 pm and thereafter depending on numbers.

She refuses wet food. I just got the samples from Dr Elseys. I’ve been feeding her lean hamburger and turkey, chicken, and eggs. I give her 1/8 cup of Hill’s W/D for nutrients. I also ordered the EZ Complete where you add protein
Click to expand...
She can definitely eat more frequently than just twice a day - in fact, letting her eat more (and higher carbs) earlier in the cycle will help slow those drops.

Would she eat a gravy/shreds style wet food? They're typically medium carb, sometimes.high. the reason I ask is I would give her a tablespoon of low carb 30 mins before the shot, then half hour after the shot I would switch to a medium carb food (13% or so). And I would actually let her free feed on medium carb until +2.5/+3.

(Now if you switch to Lantus you wont want to do that on Lantus, it's specifically to slow the Vetsulin dive down)
 
FrostD said:
She can definitely eat more frequently than just twice a day - in fact, letting her eat more (and higher carbs) earlier in the cycle will help slow those drops.

Would she eat a gravy/shreds style wet food? They're typically medium carb, sometimes.high. the reason I ask is I would give her a tablespoon of low carb 30 mins before the shot, then half hour after the shot I would switch to a medium carb food (13% or so). And I would actually let her free feed on medium carb until +2.5/+3.

(Now if you switch to Lantus you wont want to do that on Lantus, it's specifically to slow the Vetsulin dive down)
Click to expand...
I've tried 40 plus wet can foods...warming in microwave, not warming, adding water, adding kibble to it and finally, adding whichever protein she is getting for meals...she will not touch wet food. I just don't understand :)
 
Kelly Ballard said:
I've tried 40 plus wet can foods...warming in microwave, not warming, adding water, adding kibble to it and finally, adding whichever protein she is getting for meals...she will not touch wet food. I just don't understand :)
Click to expand...
Oh I see, you got one of those toddlers in a cat's body :joyful:

I am trying to think of something a little higher carb to slow her down. Does she get the kibble at the same time as everything else? Does she eat it at the same time as everything else?
 
FrostD said:
Oh I see, you got one of those toddlers in a cat's body :joyful:

I am trying to think of something a little higher carb to slow her down. Does she get the kibble at the same time as everything else? Does she eat it at the same time as everything else?
Click to expand...

She's a bit of a grazer as well. She'll eat about 1/2 cup of kibble (Hills W/D and trying Dr. Elseys) or I cook lean turkey and hamburger, chicken, and eggs. I'm going to try fish as well. She eats on schedule at 8 am and pm. I give her a little snack in between testing

Kelly
 
FrostD said:
Oh I see, you got one of those toddlers in a cat's body :joyful:

I am trying to think of something a little higher carb to slow her down. Does she get the kibble at the same time as everything else? Does she eat it at the same time as everything else?
Click to expand...

I try to get her to eat what I cook. If she refuses, I'll give her kibble. She is a toddler in a cat suit. All of my other cats love wet food. She eats at 8 am and pm

Kelly
 
I was very afraid that my cat wouldn't have diabetes as well. Sometimes I made the terrible mistake of sharing my eclairs or creamy ice cream with my Clary. Now there's no way I'll give my cat anything sweet. Of course, she doesn't have diabetes now, but she has sugar cats and kittens in her family. Unfortunately, this can affect her, and I asked my vet. My cat is now 2 years old and is a successful therapy animal. Her license is listed on esaregistration.org. She has a very sweet and friendly nature, so people with anxiety disorder often ask to give her my cat for therapy. At age 7 or 9, she might start having problems with her blood sugar levels, so I'll take her nutrition more seriously.
 
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