Kate & Willow
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New Member
My cat, Willow (15 years old), got diagnosed with diabetes on September 12th. She was at the vet for her annual exam- routine bloodwork came back to show her BG was 373, as well as glucose in her urine. No ketones. She had lost a little bit of weight when they weighed her, but it wasn't anything I noticed prior. She showed some increase thirst which was the only symptom I had noticed.
Like most of us, I started doing heavy amounts of research. My cat is my world and I obsessed about all of the information out there. I found so much solace on here. My vet was pretty general in his instructions and I'm so grateful that I found this thread full of amazing information and suggestions.
I immediately switched to low-carb. She was on Instinct grain-free salmon dry food before. She's a very picky dry food girly, so I went with the Dr. Elsey's brand. I also got her fancy feast pate. She doesn't love it, and has never been a cat to eat a large (enough) amount of wet food at once, but she will eat some twice/day. She loves Applaws but it isn't a complete meal for them. I give small amounts of the Dr. Elsey's throughout the day. She was a free-feeder before.
I got the ReliOn monitor and we've been doing so great with the BG readings. I test before every shot and we've already performed 3 curves at home. She handles the ear prick, as well as the insulin injections, like an absolute champ.
After her diagnosis, I switched her food and didn't start insulin until \~1 week later so I could see what the diet change did to her numbers. It brought her down by about 100. So she was consistently in the mid-upper 200s with the diet change and no insulin.
I'm struggling because-
The very first night I administered her Lantus glargine, she had a very strange reaction. She was disoriented and kind of wobbly. Very "off." We all know our cats so well and I knew instantly something was weird. I initially suspected a hypo event, so I checked her BG and it had gone from 270 to 212. She wasn't hypo in the numbers. I monitored her the rest of the night.
In the morning, I called my vet and described the reaction to insulin. They told me to check her BG that night and if she was under 300, don't administer insulin, and then do a curve the following day (no insulin). She might be extra sensitive to the medicine so we would go slow.
I did that- sent in the numbers- her BG was still high, so they recommended I start at 1U once/day in the morning for 1 week. After that, do another curve.
We did that, sent in the numbers, was instructed to start 1U 2x/day as she was still high, a couple times her number went much higher (\~400) than any number before starting insulin. We did 1U 2x/day for 10 days. And then I did another curve. These were the numbers. BTW we do 8am/8pm EST shot times.
10/14
AMPS 7:53am 343
shot 8am
+3: 244
+7: 275
+9: 273
PMPS: 297
shot 8pm
11pm 221
I emailed the vet the curve results the following day. I hadn't heard back yet, and then on 10/16, about 3.5 hours after her morning insulin, Willow was sleeping next to me on the couch, jumped down to go to her water bowl, collapsed and had a seizure. It was AWFUL. It lasted about 15 seconds. Again, I immediately thought maybe she was hypo, I ran and grabbed honey and rubbed it along her gums. Right after that, once she had stopped shaking and was upright again, I checked her BG- it was 286. Not hypo at all.
I called the vet, and luckily they could see her right away, with a different veterinarian. After an examination, another BG check at the vet to confirm the number I had measured, and a blood pressure test, they had no idea why the seizure had occurred. My vet mentioned the Somogyi effect but didn't seem too concerned and said that in her 24 years of practicing, she only had 1 cat go Somogyi. They thought maybe the seizure was a one-off. We went home and she seemed to improve throughout the day but I monitored her very closely.
The next day, my regular vet emailed me back- saying her numbers are still high so let's start 1.5U 2x/day. Do that for one week, and another curve. We increased the dose starting the evening of 10/17, so only 5 days ago.
With the dose increase, she seemed to be doing okay for awhile, numbers getting into the lower 200s. Last night, however, after her evening shot, she seemed SO uncomfortable/restless. Like, laying down for 5 seconds and then immediately switching spots or sides. She had a funny walk again- kind of drunk. She was 305 pre-shot just before 8pm, immediately started acting weird, at 9:22 she was at 243, and at 10:43 she was at 228. Again, not hypo.
This is a lot of information and maybe not all of it necessary, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with a cat reacting badly to Lantus in particular? We get the Lantus pen, refrigerated, and use the U100 3/10cc syringes to dose. I feel like ever since we started insulin, she has declined and seems so much more uncomfortable. I've asked the vet multiple times if they've ever experienced this, or have any other concerns about other things going on. Why did she have a seizure? Why does she have hypo symptoms with hyperglycemic numbers? I'm at a loss at this point and am terrified every time I have to dose her. Could it be as simple as switching brands of insulin?
Overall, her demeanor is low. Her coat has also gotten incredibly dry since starting insulin. I'm so worried about her and can barely eat or sleep.
Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated
My cat, Willow (15 years old), got diagnosed with diabetes on September 12th. She was at the vet for her annual exam- routine bloodwork came back to show her BG was 373, as well as glucose in her urine. No ketones. She had lost a little bit of weight when they weighed her, but it wasn't anything I noticed prior. She showed some increase thirst which was the only symptom I had noticed.
Like most of us, I started doing heavy amounts of research. My cat is my world and I obsessed about all of the information out there. I found so much solace on here. My vet was pretty general in his instructions and I'm so grateful that I found this thread full of amazing information and suggestions.
I immediately switched to low-carb. She was on Instinct grain-free salmon dry food before. She's a very picky dry food girly, so I went with the Dr. Elsey's brand. I also got her fancy feast pate. She doesn't love it, and has never been a cat to eat a large (enough) amount of wet food at once, but she will eat some twice/day. She loves Applaws but it isn't a complete meal for them. I give small amounts of the Dr. Elsey's throughout the day. She was a free-feeder before.
I got the ReliOn monitor and we've been doing so great with the BG readings. I test before every shot and we've already performed 3 curves at home. She handles the ear prick, as well as the insulin injections, like an absolute champ.
After her diagnosis, I switched her food and didn't start insulin until \~1 week later so I could see what the diet change did to her numbers. It brought her down by about 100. So she was consistently in the mid-upper 200s with the diet change and no insulin.
I'm struggling because-
The very first night I administered her Lantus glargine, she had a very strange reaction. She was disoriented and kind of wobbly. Very "off." We all know our cats so well and I knew instantly something was weird. I initially suspected a hypo event, so I checked her BG and it had gone from 270 to 212. She wasn't hypo in the numbers. I monitored her the rest of the night.
In the morning, I called my vet and described the reaction to insulin. They told me to check her BG that night and if she was under 300, don't administer insulin, and then do a curve the following day (no insulin). She might be extra sensitive to the medicine so we would go slow.
I did that- sent in the numbers- her BG was still high, so they recommended I start at 1U once/day in the morning for 1 week. After that, do another curve.
We did that, sent in the numbers, was instructed to start 1U 2x/day as she was still high, a couple times her number went much higher (\~400) than any number before starting insulin. We did 1U 2x/day for 10 days. And then I did another curve. These were the numbers. BTW we do 8am/8pm EST shot times.
10/14
AMPS 7:53am 343
shot 8am
+3: 244
+7: 275
+9: 273
PMPS: 297
shot 8pm
11pm 221
I emailed the vet the curve results the following day. I hadn't heard back yet, and then on 10/16, about 3.5 hours after her morning insulin, Willow was sleeping next to me on the couch, jumped down to go to her water bowl, collapsed and had a seizure. It was AWFUL. It lasted about 15 seconds. Again, I immediately thought maybe she was hypo, I ran and grabbed honey and rubbed it along her gums. Right after that, once she had stopped shaking and was upright again, I checked her BG- it was 286. Not hypo at all.
I called the vet, and luckily they could see her right away, with a different veterinarian. After an examination, another BG check at the vet to confirm the number I had measured, and a blood pressure test, they had no idea why the seizure had occurred. My vet mentioned the Somogyi effect but didn't seem too concerned and said that in her 24 years of practicing, she only had 1 cat go Somogyi. They thought maybe the seizure was a one-off. We went home and she seemed to improve throughout the day but I monitored her very closely.
The next day, my regular vet emailed me back- saying her numbers are still high so let's start 1.5U 2x/day. Do that for one week, and another curve. We increased the dose starting the evening of 10/17, so only 5 days ago.
With the dose increase, she seemed to be doing okay for awhile, numbers getting into the lower 200s. Last night, however, after her evening shot, she seemed SO uncomfortable/restless. Like, laying down for 5 seconds and then immediately switching spots or sides. She had a funny walk again- kind of drunk. She was 305 pre-shot just before 8pm, immediately started acting weird, at 9:22 she was at 243, and at 10:43 she was at 228. Again, not hypo.
This is a lot of information and maybe not all of it necessary, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with a cat reacting badly to Lantus in particular? We get the Lantus pen, refrigerated, and use the U100 3/10cc syringes to dose. I feel like ever since we started insulin, she has declined and seems so much more uncomfortable. I've asked the vet multiple times if they've ever experienced this, or have any other concerns about other things going on. Why did she have a seizure? Why does she have hypo symptoms with hyperglycemic numbers? I'm at a loss at this point and am terrified every time I have to dose her. Could it be as simple as switching brands of insulin?
Overall, her demeanor is low. Her coat has also gotten incredibly dry since starting insulin. I'm so worried about her and can barely eat or sleep.
Any words of wisdom are greatly appreciated
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