Adam Roberts
Member Since 2020
Hi folks, I'm new here but wanted to ask your advice on my 9YO male, Boo Kitty, who was diagnosed as diabetic about 6 weeks ago but so far we've not been able to get him close to regulated. My vet here in San Francisco as well as a specialist that he's been referred to have not yet been able to crack the code. Today I completed his third-ever curve, and the first I've done (the other two were done by vets; I'm trying it to get hopefully more accurate results & save money). He's 9lbs, 9yo, and now up to 4U on Lantus, but we're seeing minimal effect. More background below, but other than the high BG readings, his only other symptoms are intense hunger -- constantly begging for food, sitting next to his bowl all day, jumping on kitchen counter (he's getting 3/4 can 2X daily of Purina ProPlan DM; no dry food at all), all of which is totally out of character. His thirst is normal. Other than Lantus, he's now on week 2 of weekly B12 injections and we did a round of Cerenia (though vomiting was hardly an issue; happened 1-2 times).
Background:
BK is an indoor cat who in all of his nine years has been very easygoing and never had more than the occasional hairball. In September, I noticed him acting a bit more lethargic than normal, brought him to the vet where they did a basic evaluation, checked vitals, nothing seemed too off so the decision was to simply keep a close eye on him. 4 weeks later (early Oct), he suddenly stopped eating and after 36 hours of not eating at all, I brought him into the vet where he was diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis. He was hospitalized for three days, was put on fluids and Lantus, then came home. Ultrasound revealed the pancreatitis, which led the primary vet to refer to an internist who performed more bloodwork and a liver sample, to which she concluded "[the liver sample results are] consistent with changes we see with poorly regulated diabetes. This is nothing to worry about and should resolve as he is better regulated." 6 weeks later, per these results, we continue struggling to get him regulated and (in turn, hopefully) less hungry.
Thoughts on how to proceed? We know 4U is at/above the limit for cats, so we're stuck with how to proceed.
Full curve from today: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...i-JEaH2CfJx/pubhtml?urp=gmail_link&gxids=7628
Background:
BK is an indoor cat who in all of his nine years has been very easygoing and never had more than the occasional hairball. In September, I noticed him acting a bit more lethargic than normal, brought him to the vet where they did a basic evaluation, checked vitals, nothing seemed too off so the decision was to simply keep a close eye on him. 4 weeks later (early Oct), he suddenly stopped eating and after 36 hours of not eating at all, I brought him into the vet where he was diagnosed with diabetes and pancreatitis. He was hospitalized for three days, was put on fluids and Lantus, then came home. Ultrasound revealed the pancreatitis, which led the primary vet to refer to an internist who performed more bloodwork and a liver sample, to which she concluded "[the liver sample results are] consistent with changes we see with poorly regulated diabetes. This is nothing to worry about and should resolve as he is better regulated." 6 weeks later, per these results, we continue struggling to get him regulated and (in turn, hopefully) less hungry.
Thoughts on how to proceed? We know 4U is at/above the limit for cats, so we're stuck with how to proceed.
Full curve from today: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...i-JEaH2CfJx/pubhtml?urp=gmail_link&gxids=7628
However, with the data you have so far, you had two options. One was the skip. The other was to wait 1/2 hour, without feeding, to see if he comes up to a number you feel more comfortable shooting. Since you are new, that skip was perfectly fine.