Please help -- dry food and dosage

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Rae's Family

Rae's Family

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Hi all, I got a bit overzealous about trying to get my Rae off of dry food after reading how horrible it was on here. She's only been diagnosed ~3 wks, and I thought I could try to do it myself :banghead: More info here

She got half of the dry food she's used to (combined with wet) at her PM meal yesterday, and I skipped the shot to make sure she didn't go too low. Last night's cycle looked okay (see SS), but now she's giving me a hard time getting her AMPS. Edit: AMPS 400 (I expected it to be high bc she was pretty upset with me)

I don't know if I should feed her the normal amount of dry food and her vet-prescribed insulin dose (that's the other problem -- the vet has told me to do 5u twice/day of Vetsulin which, after reading on here, seems like an absurd amount), or if I should do something else.

I apologize for jumping the gun, I'm just so worried about continuing to give my girl something so bad for her!
 
Rae's Family said:
Hi all, I got a bit overzealous about trying to get my Rae off of dry food after reading how horrible it was on here. She's only been diagnosed ~3 wks, and I thought I could try to do it myself :banghead: More info here

She got half of the dry food she's used to (combined with wet) at her PM meal yesterday, and I skipped the shot to make sure she didn't go too low. Last night's cycle looked okay (see SS), but now she's giving me a hard time getting her AMPS. Edit: AMPS 400 (I expected it to be high bc she was pretty upset with me)

I don't know if I should feed her the normal amount of dry food and her vet-prescribed insulin dose (that's the other problem -- the vet has told me to do 5u twice/day of Vetsulin which, after reading on here, seems like an absurd amount), or if I should do something else.

I apologize for jumping the gun, I'm just so worried about continuing to give my girl something so bad for her!
Click to expand...

I am not familiar at all with Vensulin, however I read here day in day out, you never not shoot a dose unless your cat is at a very low Bg, referring to the food, Corky grew up since 12 weeks old on Meau Mix for 10 years! they love the crunchy, make sure you so not make a sudden transition change, in small amounts you will be removing the dry food form the bowl, it can take about a week or so, all cats are different, it is important for your stress free feeling, and his safety, you should test after feeding at least every hour, and put the data on the SS for several cycles, to see how he reacts to the food transition, I will tag several members that can hepl you with dosing and any other concern you may have:bighug::cat::cat:
@Diane Tyler's Mom GA
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Wendy&Neko
 
Update: Gave normal amount of wet/dry about 10 minutes ago bc if I didn't, she and the other cats were going to eat me lol. Waiting to give Vetsulin until 20-30 min after feeding, hoping to hear from you all before then
 
The W/D kibble is about 36% carbs, so the sooner you get that out of the diet, the better, but *especially if you're going to continue giving 5U you will need to reduce it slowly. In the area of reducing 10% over a 24 hour period.

Personally, since there are no ketones, I might also consider dropping to maybe 3u which may allow you to push the kibble out a little faster. As long as you can test several times per cycle, you should be able to keep Rae safe. I do find it interesting that when you switched from the W/D last night her numbers went down with no insulin at all which again, leads me to think she's getting too much insulin.

An AMPS of 400+ is more than high enough to give insulin. For the rest of the day, I'd reduce the W/D by a total of 10% of her regular daily amount.

Are you free feeding? If so, start doing scheduled feedings instead. If there's kibble down all the time, it's almost impossible to know how much she's actually eating since a lot of cats will eat out of boredom so every time they walk by, they'll grab a snack. By scheduling feedings, you can also use hunger on your side to get her to be willing to eat what you want her to eat instead of so much of the W/D.

You should at least broach the subject of a different insulin with your vet. The AAHA hasn't recommended Vetsulin for cats for several years, only Glargine (Lantus, Semglee) or ProZinc which are much gentler and longer lasting than Vetsulin. (From the AAHA guideline (red is mine)---The initial approach to management of the diabetic cat is to initiate insulin therapy with glargine (Lantus) or protamine zinc insulin (PZI; Prozinc)

If your vet refuses to listen (not uncommon) you may need to find a vet that's a little more up to date on treating diabetic cats. Treating a cat like a small dog may feel more comfortable to the vet, but it doesn't usually work on the cat!

Keep asking questions! Everybody is here to help!
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
The W/D kibble is about 36% carbs, so the sooner you get that out of the diet, the better, but *especially if you're going to continue giving 5U you will need to reduce it slowly. In the area of reducing 10% over a 24 hour period.

Personally, since there are no ketones, I might also consider dropping to maybe 3u which may allow you to push the kibble out a little faster. As long as you can test several times per cycle, you should be able to keep Rae safe. I do find it interesting that when you switched from the W/D last night her numbers went down with no insulin at all which again, leads me to think she's getting too much insulin.

An AMPS of 400+ is more than high enough to give insulin. For the rest of the day, I'd reduce the W/D by a total of 10% of her regular daily amount.

Are you free feeding? If so, start doing scheduled feedings instead. If there's kibble down all the time, it's almost impossible to know how much she's actually eating since a lot of cats will eat out of boredom so every time they walk by, they'll grab a snack. By scheduling feedings, you can also use hunger on your side to get her to be willing to eat what you want her to eat instead of so much of the W/D.

You should at least broach the subject of a different insulin with your vet. The AAHA hasn't recommended Vetsulin for cats for several years, only Glargine (Lantus, Semglee) or ProZinc which are much gentler and longer lasting than Vetsulin. (From the AAHA guideline (red is mine)---The initial approach to management of the diabetic cat is to initiate insulin therapy with glargine (Lantus) or protamine zinc insulin (PZI; Prozinc)

If your vet refuses to listen (not uncommon) you may need to find a vet that's a little more up to date on treating diabetic cats. Treating a cat like a small dog may feel more comfortable to the vet, but it doesn't usually work on the cat!

Keep asking questions! Everybody is here to help!
Click to expand...


Thank you so much! I felt so bad this morning when I saw that I probably reduced by too much :nailbiting: but I will do 10% at a time now...

We are not free feeding, she gets 2 scheduled meals a day (one before each shot) that mixes the wet and dry food. I may feed her in another room until we're completely off the kibble so she doesn't try to eat her brothers' portions... (trying to get them off it too).

I think I would like to drop down to 3u because 5 just seems like so much, and we went up in dose so fast. I looked over her test results again and can't find anything about ketones, so I'm going to look into home testing for that today. I don't think she'll let me close enough to her while she's peeing (and the 3 cats share a litter box), so I might have to look into the blood sample types. I also requested her test results from the previous vet to compare numbers and see if they did ketones on that one.

I'll try calling the vet today to discuss the insulin type as well as dosage. I'm also going to look into getting the syringes with the half unit markings.

Thank you all so so much. This has all been so stressful and confusing, and I so appreciate your kindness and patience. :bighug:
 
Rae's Family said:
Thank you so much! I felt so bad this morning when I saw that I probably reduced by too much :nailbiting: but I will do 10% at a time now...

We are not free feeding, she gets 2 scheduled meals a day (one before each shot) that mixes the wet and dry food. I may feed her in another room until we're completely off the kibble so she doesn't try to eat her brothers' portions... (trying to get them off it too).

I think I would like to drop down to 3u because 5 just seems like so much, and we went up in dose so fast. I looked over her test results again and can't find anything about ketones, so I'm going to look into home testing for that today. I don't think she'll let me close enough to her while she's peeing (and the 3 cats share a litter box), so I might have to look into the blood sample types. I also requested her test results from the previous vet to compare numbers and see if they did ketones on that one.

I'll try calling the vet today to discuss the insulin type as well as dosage. I'm also going to look into getting the syringes with the half unit markings.

Thank you all so so much. This has all been so stressful and confusing, and I so appreciate your kindness and patience. :bighug:
Click to expand...
Normally the increases I see as recommendations are of 0.25 at a time, to see the effects as you drop the dose. Also it is recommended to give several meals throughout the day 2 main meals when you dose and 2-3 small meals (2-3 tsps) a day this keeps the insulin in check, and don’t worry about feeling bad we all have at one point or another, and second guess ourselves, you’re Doing great, and Rae knows you love her!!:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
And definitely ask your vet to switch Rae to Lantus or ProZinc
 
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