08/20/18 Scar AMPS=95 +8=405

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Jeff_Scar

Jeff_Scar

Member Since 2018
Hello, my name is Jeff and my cat is Scar. This is my first post here. He is an 8 year old Snowshoe and is a recently diagnosed diabetic. He is a big, muscular, cat weighing in at 18 lbs. He is was at 23 lbs when this ordeal started. He is a ferocious eater and I have to separate him from my other two cats during feedings or he'll steal their food. Anyway, I've been trying to educate myself throughout this process and have learned so much from forums such as this. Thank you to the community!

Scar has been on Lantus since Aug 4th, but his BG levels are trending in the 300 range with periodic dips down in to the normal levels. I'm concerned because his dips are becoming more frequent and his bound backs are heading higher. So I visited my vet again this past week (a different provider from my normal) and she said the clinic no longer wanted to treat him because they are not familiar with Lantus and are not comfortable giving advice on a product they don't use. She suggested switching back to Novolin. When I brought up about Lantus being better for cats she just said they have had great success with Novolin in cats. She said she would give me a new prescription for Lantus and suggested increasing the dose to 6u, but I should consider another vet going forward.

So, I'll be seeing a new vet later this week (one who is familiar with Lantus). Hopefully we'll receive better advice going forward. I'll try to add Scar's history to my About page, but the site seems to think I'm posting spam.
 
Welcome to the best place for help with diabetic cats. It’s great that you are testing at home and started a ss. The first thing I notice is that you have increased too much at a time. We generally increase in .25 increments unless a high dose cat. Please read the yellow stickies on TR and SLGS.

Any other illness or issues? Is the cisapride being given for motility issues? What are you feeding Scar? Is he now at his desired weight?

It’s common at first for the bg to be all over the place. When not controlled they usually are very hungry. That will improve when the bg is controlled.
 
Welcome Jeff and Scar!!! You've definitely come to the right place. Most vets don't know a lot about how to treat diabetes but the people here do. Patience and trust is key.
 
Thanks for the welcome. I'm trying to reply with his history, but the forum doesn't like something in the content and is rejecting my post as spam. I'll try multiple posts...

May 1st - he was constipated and no longer eating. The vet kept him overnight and gave him to clear the constipation and prescribed Lactulose to prevent further occurrences. His pre-enema weight was 23 lbs. They also recommended that I put him on a diet for weight loss. So, I began feeding him less, not leaving out as much dry food, and giving him the Lactulose twice a day. His current weight is 18 lbs with a recommendation of 16 lbs.

June - took Scar back to the vet because he was acting like he was constipated again. The vet took an x-ray but said he really wasn't blocked. They kept him all day for observation and released him that afternoon prescribing Cisapride in place of Lactulose. Well, several hours after bringing him home to rushed him to the Emergency Clinic because he was very lethargic and had what I considered shallow breathing. They diagnosed him with hepatic lipidosis and diabetic ketoacidosis. They treated the DKA first. After several days they prescribed a "special" insulin called Lantus. This wasn't something they kept on-site and I had to get it from a pharmacy. They inserted several feeding tubes during this time to provide nourishment. Scar finally began to eat on his own on the 7th day, and was released a day later.

Since then it's been multiple visits to the vet. First they prescribed Novolin-N and later I convinced them to switch to Lantus. Now I'm having to switch vets as they will no longer treat him.
 
You have a very gorgeous boy there!

Congratulations on testing at home...that is the best tool in your tool belt for help Scar as well as keeping him safe. I would stay with the lantus, there has been some good success here with it. Another option is Levemir as in high doses Lantus can sting when injected. If you are not seeing an issue then I wouldn't worry about it for now.

Those green numbers are what you are aiming for and it looks like 6 units is getting you there. His reaction is called a bounce. The liver responded to a perceived "low" and then dumped some stored sugar to help "save" him. It is a normal response and in my mind not the same as non-treated diabetes. So even though it looks bad, Scar's body has to get used to the lower numbers, which will take time.

You indicated you did a lot of research...so can I ask, what food do you have Scar on now and what is the carb content? As you probably know dry is not good unless you use Dr. Elseys or Young Again. A site to check out is catinfo.org. There is a lot of information there on diet for our feline friends, but Dr. Lisa also has a list of food. You are looking for option 10% and under. And yes I know about multiple cats...I have individual feeders, some do the lock in the room thing and some have a timed feeder (which may help your boy spread out his calories).
 
Poor boy. He’s been through a lot. Hepatic lipidosis happened because he lost weight too quickly. I’m glad he’s doing much better. A good site to explain how to help him get to his ideal weight is felineinfo.org. She had a formula for how many calories to start with to lose gradually. It worked well for a friend’s cat. My Max I couldn’t get to lose but he was a geriatric and didn’t play as had many health issues.
 
Thank you Tracey. I feel a little better hearing what he’s going through may be a normal part of the process. As for his food, I removed all dry a few weeks ago. Since then Scar has been eating can food only. I’m giving him Fancy Feast Classic Pate, Chunky or Flaked that are 6% carbs or less. I’m using the database on cat info.org to pick out the lowest carb foods.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Poor boy. He’s been through a lot. Hepatic lipidosis happened because he lost weight too quickly. I’m glad he’s doing much better. A good site to explain how to help him get to his ideal weight is felineinfo.org. She had a formula for how many calories to start with to lose gradually. It worked well for a friend’s cat. My Max I couldn’t get to lose but he was a geriatric and didn’t play as had many health issues.
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Thanks for the info. I’m now aware that the rapid weight loss was a cause for the Hepatic Lipidosis. I only wish the vet had warned me of the possible consequences or signs to watch for. All she told we was if I’m giving him dry food cut to 1/3 cup a day. That was it.
 
Jeff_Scar said:
Thanks for the info. I’m now aware that the rapid weight loss was a cause for the Hepatic Lipidosis. I only wish the vet had warned me of the possible consequences or signs to watch for. All she told we was if I’m giving him dry food cut to 1/3 cup a day. That was it.
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Obese cats are more prone to hp but any rapid weight loss in a cat can abuse it. It took us a year for my friend’s cat to get down from 19 to 15 pounds. She also stopped feeding dry and switched to fancy feast pate at my suggestion because they are low carb. He gets a little dry now as a treat but the Dr. Elsey’s which is low carb and just a few pieces.

Vets get an hour of training on nutrition. I’m glad you are switching vets.
 
Hello and welcome. Make sure you read all the Sticky Notes on the top of the forum. Not all at once! There is a lot of good information in there. Keep asking questions. We will be able to help you with dosing since you are tesing and have a spreadsheet.

At the size of dose Scar is now (over 5 units), we typically make changes by 0.5 units at a time, unless just tweaking the numbers. My girl also got to larger doses - she had two of what we call high dose conditions, though not all kitties with IAA (insulin auto antibodies) or acromegaly require high doses,
 
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