win&coco
Member Since 2026
Hi, it's us again. Well, life's been chaotic, but I finally managed to update Coco's spreadsheet. He's feeling great. The ketone test came back negative, according to the vet. He ended up staying for about a week because it seems the catheter insertion site at the previous vet got infected.
The good news is his blood tests came back fine, according to the new vet, as did the ultrasound. They only prescribed antibiotics to treat any remaining infection (he'd been developing an abscess lately, so we had to take him back, but he seems to be doing better now).
The bad news is that the sensor fell out, and he apparently has some stage 1 kidney damage, according to the vet. He thinks it could be due to the infection or his high blood sugar levels, so he recommended retesting him in about a month.
And other news that's disappointing to me is that this new vet doesn't seem to know much about diabetes either. I feel like we're just going in circles and back to square one.
First, the week Coco was staying, they tested him with the 2 units he had, and it didn't lower his blood sugar at all. They said it wouldn't go down with 3 units either, so they stuck with 4 units. The thing is, he told us to give Coco 4 units every 24 hours because, supposedly, the dose was lasting Coco 24 hours.
I told him that Lantus is supposed to last 12 hours in cats, and he said that every cat is different and that's how long it lasted at the clinic (in one of the measurements they took, I can see the number 110 with that dose).
So that's what we're doing, 4 units every morning, and he said that if Coco's blood sugar goes up 400s at night, then we should give him 2 units... because, supposedly, if we give him 4 units at night too, we could cause hypoglycemia... so we're stuck again with an incorrect regimen despite telling him I didn't like it. But last time I adjusted the dose without vet help, I ended up messing it up, so I'm just doing what he says.
He said other things I didn't like, like food doesn't matter much, that the sensors are attached with a bit of glue (and that we didn't need a sensor right now), that the hours of checking his glucose (and insulin injections) didn't matter, so I'm disappointed. My dad doesn't want to buy a new sensor because of what the vet said, so I won't be able to check Coco every hour like I'd like.
Still, I'm going to see if I can ask him to help me measure at +6 hours after Coco's morning shot for a few days to see the nadir of this dose (vet told us to check only twice a day tho). I know ideally I'd have a 12- or 24-hour curve, but I can't prick him every two hours, honestly. Last time I tried doing it myself, I ended up poking him three times because of sensor errors (not enough blood, it shut off, the blood spread on his ear), so I don't want to stress him out more.
That's my plan, at least for now, to show those days to the vet and see what they say because I don't like leaving Coco without insulin at night. I talked to them today when I picked Coco up, and they said that maybe our insulin wasn't working (even though we bought it fresh and stored it in the refrigerator according to the instructions I read online) or that he gets very stressed at home having to have his wound cleaned, I don't know.
I feel like they want us to buy Lantus pens, but I don't see the point because we have a fresh vial of insulin. And I also have the measurements they took Coco during all those days he stayed there, but they're a total mess. I don't know how to add them up in the spreadsheet because they injected him at different times and with different amounts. I was hopeful after changing vets, but now I'm not so sure
If someone is from Mexico (Jalisco) and knows a vet who knows about diabetes please let me know because I don't want to keep Coco in this schedule.
The good news is his blood tests came back fine, according to the new vet, as did the ultrasound. They only prescribed antibiotics to treat any remaining infection (he'd been developing an abscess lately, so we had to take him back, but he seems to be doing better now).
The bad news is that the sensor fell out, and he apparently has some stage 1 kidney damage, according to the vet. He thinks it could be due to the infection or his high blood sugar levels, so he recommended retesting him in about a month.
And other news that's disappointing to me is that this new vet doesn't seem to know much about diabetes either. I feel like we're just going in circles and back to square one.
First, the week Coco was staying, they tested him with the 2 units he had, and it didn't lower his blood sugar at all. They said it wouldn't go down with 3 units either, so they stuck with 4 units. The thing is, he told us to give Coco 4 units every 24 hours because, supposedly, the dose was lasting Coco 24 hours.
I told him that Lantus is supposed to last 12 hours in cats, and he said that every cat is different and that's how long it lasted at the clinic (in one of the measurements they took, I can see the number 110 with that dose).
So that's what we're doing, 4 units every morning, and he said that if Coco's blood sugar goes up 400s at night, then we should give him 2 units... because, supposedly, if we give him 4 units at night too, we could cause hypoglycemia... so we're stuck again with an incorrect regimen despite telling him I didn't like it. But last time I adjusted the dose without vet help, I ended up messing it up, so I'm just doing what he says.
He said other things I didn't like, like food doesn't matter much, that the sensors are attached with a bit of glue (and that we didn't need a sensor right now), that the hours of checking his glucose (and insulin injections) didn't matter, so I'm disappointed. My dad doesn't want to buy a new sensor because of what the vet said, so I won't be able to check Coco every hour like I'd like.
Still, I'm going to see if I can ask him to help me measure at +6 hours after Coco's morning shot for a few days to see the nadir of this dose (vet told us to check only twice a day tho). I know ideally I'd have a 12- or 24-hour curve, but I can't prick him every two hours, honestly. Last time I tried doing it myself, I ended up poking him three times because of sensor errors (not enough blood, it shut off, the blood spread on his ear), so I don't want to stress him out more.
That's my plan, at least for now, to show those days to the vet and see what they say because I don't like leaving Coco without insulin at night. I talked to them today when I picked Coco up, and they said that maybe our insulin wasn't working (even though we bought it fresh and stored it in the refrigerator according to the instructions I read online) or that he gets very stressed at home having to have his wound cleaned, I don't know.
I feel like they want us to buy Lantus pens, but I don't see the point because we have a fresh vial of insulin. And I also have the measurements they took Coco during all those days he stayed there, but they're a total mess. I don't know how to add them up in the spreadsheet because they injected him at different times and with different amounts. I was hopeful after changing vets, but now I'm not so sure
If someone is from Mexico (Jalisco) and knows a vet who knows about diabetes please let me know because I don't want to keep Coco in this schedule.
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