03/10 Romey AMPS 111 +3 241 +6 181 +9 133 PMPS 73 +4 43

R

Romey

Member Since 2022
Hello,

Romey is our newly diagnosed diabetic kitty and I was hoping someone with some more experience could take a look at his numbers and point us in the right direction. Please see spreadsheet below.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TtPJuJq0777v_17pT5PgmxrV4PY1yCzk36z3yDXlLq8/edit?usp=sharing

He seems to be responding very well to the .5 Dose we have him at currently. Occasionally though he does drop into the 30s range which is a bit worrisome so we have had to feed extra and use honey for him. His pre-shot numbers are mostly done an hour or so after food, which I believe is why they are a bit higher. He currently likes to eat at 4am, but we give his shot at about 6am, and 6pm each day.

Some days we are just a little nervous to give his shot when he is on the lower end since has shown to drop pretty drastic on some days.

Thank you,

Patrick & Romey
 
Welcome. You were right not to give insulin this morning. We ask everyone to start out with an intro in main/health but I was concerned looking at your spreadsheet so will respond here. We need to know what you are feeding him. It looks like you intend to follow TR but are not taking the required reductions earned. Any bg under 50 calls for a .25 reduction. It’s good you skipped this morning. You might need to skip again tonight. Did you switch from dry food or a high carb food to a low carb?

Please read the TR directions. We ask cats new to insulin to not shoot under 200 at first. You have data so you could shoot 150. If lower STALL, DON’T FEED and recheck the bg in 20-30 minutes.

How was Romey diagnosed? What were his symptoms? We’re ketones found in his urine ? How old is he? Any other health conditions or meds he’s on? All this needs to be put in your signature as well as the spreadsheet link, insulin used, and type of meter.

What is happening is he is dropping too low and then his bg shoots up high? We refer to that as bouncing. He might even have gone lower. When you get a bg under 50 you need to feed higher carbs and retest in 20-30 minutes. Otherwise you are risking a symptomatic hypo.

I suspect he is becoming diet controlled with the numbers you are seeing. Please read the stickies at the top of this forum, especially dosing methods and handling low preshots.
I know I asked a lot of questions but we need all that information to help you. Actually read the Basics sticky and how to help us help you as well. I know it’s a lot and I don’t expect you to retain it all.
 
Thank you for the response!

Romey was recently diagnosed diabetic. He was previously on a dry food only diet. We have since switched him to DM Savory Selects wet food. He is 3 years old, which our vet said was unusually young for diabetic cats. He was fairly overweight beforehand, around 14 pounds or so. We noticed he had been losing weight, 3-4 pounds or so and drinking a ton of water. I don't believe he had ketones when the vet tested for them, but he did have extra sugar in is urine. They confirmed the diagnosis with a fructosamine test. No other medications or issues, he acts like an otherwise healthy young cat.

The vet initially wanted us to start at 2 units of insulin, which ended up being way too much. His blood sugar would be in free fall. We reduced to 1 unit, which was still having the same effect. We having been giving him .5 unit where appropriate and trying to monitor him closely. I am not sure if our syringes can measure up any less insulin accurately, it is already such a small amount.

I will go over the sticky'd threads again and add the info to my signature. I did not totally understand the reduction process for TR. It seems most people have the opposite problem, where they need to find the right level of increases to make. But from the beginning we have been having trouble with what seems like overdosing him. Even though he has not showed any hypo symptoms so far.

Again I really appreciate the response, it helps a ton!
 
He is young for diabetes. These symptoms came on recently z? What is his ideal weight? You need to feed him as much as he wants to get him there. Since he is overweight he might not need to gain back more Tyson two pounds I am thinking!

You don’t need to feed RX food. There are many low carb better foods available. We would never have started him on 2 units. We would have started him on no more than 1.0 since you switched to wet food.
Keep posting daily, a new thread each day. That way you will have lots of experienced people helping you. And ask questions. There is always someone here to help since we are from around the world.
What is your shot time and what time zone?
 
Yes the weightloss started maybe 2-3 months ago, and the excessive drinking in the last month or so. The vet actually thought he seemed like a good weight now, he has the frame of a pretty small cat. If he was always this weight we would be happy, but we were concerned since he was quite a bit heavier in the past. We are finishing up the last of his prescription food, and going to feed him a different low carb option. Do you have any recommendations?

I will update at the end of the day with his glucose numbers, but this is the second day now we have not give insulin. Perhaps is he falling within range on diet alone. We give his shot at 6am and 6pm typically, Central Standard Time

Thank you!
 
You gave .50 last night but test us too much. The next time you shoot the dose needs to be .25 because .50 is taking him too low

Please DO NOT GIVE INSULIN TONIGHT if the pmps is under 150. In fact list and ask fir advice if UNDER 175. If over give .25. Even that night he too much.

BG under 50 means you need to feed hc and test every 30 minutes until over 60 without food for ideally 2 hours without food. BG of 35 is dangerous. He was in danger of a symptomatic hypo and needing to go to the ER for an IV drip.

Is he drinking and peeing like normal now with the good BG?

Lantus is dosed based upon how low it takes your cat. He was dangerously low last night. If ever under 50 you need to test again and keep testing until in safe numbers.

I think he very well might be becoming diet controlled but it’s too soon to determine that. If you look on the main forum you will find Dr. Lisa’s food lust but it is outdated. Manufacturers change ingredients often. I am not up on this. I feed my two who are not diabetic raw and would make my own food if one didn’t have skin allergies.
 
At the start of Gus’ journey he went from about 18-19lbs to 14lbs… (he’s a big boy not just chubb) weight loss continued a few months into treatment. We were happy with this weight (14lbs). He ended up gaining some weight back once his numbers became a bit more regulated and from extra (necessary) feedings throughout the nights while we treated low number events - he’s currently 15.8lbs roughly

We decided best thing was to primarily treat diabetes and worry about weight once regulated. We also did weekly weigh ins to make sure nothing was totally out of whack, incase we did need to intervene.

Long story to say we feed FF pates 2-3% carbs. And it has been maintaining his current weight. He gets many mini meals throughout the day (good for diabetics and to help with digestion) and I’ve started to reduce the amount given at each mini meal to help him get back to that 14lbs we were happy with.

I hope that helps even just a little bit :) it what worked for Gus but ECID ;)
 
Gus the Furminator said:
At the start of Gus’ journey he went from about 18-19lbs to 14lbs… (he’s a big boy not just chubb) weight loss continued a few months into treatment. We were happy with this weight (14lbs). He ended up gaining some weight back once his numbers became a bit more regulated and from extra (necessary) feedings throughout the nights while we treated low number events - he’s currently 15.8lbs roughly

We decided best thing was to primarily treat diabetes and worry about weight once regulated. We also did weekly weigh ins to make sure nothing was totally out of whack, incase we did need to intervene.

Long story to say we feed FF pates 2-3% carbs. And it has been maintaining his current weight. He gets many mini meals throughout the day (good for diabetics and to help with digestion) and I’ve started to reduce the amount given at each mini meal to help him get back to that 14lbs we were happy with.

I hope that helps even just a little bit :) it what worked for Gus but ECID ;)
Click to expand...
Weight is where it should be now. Which flavors of ff are you feeding Gus? Some are hard to get. Others are higher in carbs now.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Weight is where it should be now. Which flavors of ff are you feeding Gus? Some are hard to get. Others are higher in carbs now.
Click to expand...

We feed Turkey and giblets, chicken and liver, chicken feast and beef pates. I should have also mentioned that I feed special kitty (Walmart) duck pate, 3oz, as well - though I don’t have a % for that one but the ingredients looked good and tests showed it was ok to feed.

Note: some folks see BGs go a little higher with beef flavours… haven’t noticed this with Gus though.
 
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