4 months of tryin with no results...

[Chrissistah]

Hey everyone,
I m new here, I got two 13yo cats, a boy and a girl and the boy has been diagnosed with diabetes in September..
I started testing his blood every 12 hours (in the first 2 weeks even in the between) and started doing Lantus shots. The initial dose was 2 units, then it went down as the numbers were good but now we are at 2.5 units and his numbers vary from 250 till 450..He eats only Diabetic food, mostly dry and before his insulin shots canned. I read about the damage of dry food and I will switch to mostly canned till I can make it only canned at some point. Problem is he won't let me sleep at night, he wakes me up every 1 or 2 hours, until I finally get up at 5 am to test him and do his shot. I ve tried natural supplements to calm him but with zero effects... Any advice? Thank you!

 

[CORKY]

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB!

Lantus is a good insulin for feline diabetes. That's a big plus! It's also great that you're home testing. Lantus dosing is based on the blood glucose reading at the lowest point in the 12-hour cycle. If you're testing only at shot times, you don't know how well the dose is working. We suggest that you get at least 4 tests per day. Your pre-shot tests and at least one test during both the AM and PM cycles. You will also want to get an occasional curve (testing every 2 hours over 12-hours). The curve will give you information about where the low point (nadir) in the cycle generally falls.

One bit of information... The prescription "diabetic" food isn't really diabetic. In particular, the dry food can be very high in carbohydrates. The pet food manufacturers loss a class action suit for calling several of their prescription foods "prescription." Many of the labels for formerly "diabetic" food now read, "dietetic" food. There are lots of canned foods that are less than 10% carb so you have options. There are only a handful of dry foods that are low in carbs. You may want to think about a timed feeder for your kitty. It will save you from your cat being your alarm clock.

You may want to take a look at this post on helping us to help you. It has guideline for setting up your signature and a spreadsheet. The signature gives us basic information about your cat so we don't pester you with the same questions. The spreadsheet will let you track your cat's progress and we can follow along and provide input.

 

[Chrissistah]

Thank you for taking the time to reply, I did fill some information in my signature, I hope I did it right. English is not my native language, I am Greek but I m trying to understand everything!
As for the diet, I have it in my mind to start switching to only wet food but I don't want to stress them, I will do it in my own time..
As for the 2 protocols, I really don't know how to do it because I work most of the day and I can't stay home and measure my car every couple of hours.. When I first had the news and started doing insulin shots, I took a week off work to be there for him but I can't do it whenever it's needed.. All the cat food, insulin, glucose tapes etc cost a lot of money and I have to work to be able to provide it...
I can try to do the two hours after shot test because my testing time is 5 am and 5 pm but that's the best I can do, honestly!
I don't want to sound disrespectful, all these 4 months I try to do what's best for him, putting aside my own needs, I am diabetic as well and tbh I haven't been taking care of myself.

 

[CORKY]

You definitely need to take care of yourself there’s a lot to take in and having to work is stressful, you are doing great I’m sure your baby knows it, you ma want to look into CGM the Libre, by ABBOTT, It relieves you from pinching testing, it’s a sensor that goes on your cat and you program it with your phone, and it reads tge glucose levels 24/7, it’s ok to make the food transition on your time, slow is good, and you might want to invest in a wet food feeder, it’s programmable, this way your boy can have 2-3 meals while you are gone, making this diabetes
Process without stress for you or your cat, they also stress out, will make it easy on both of you

 

[Chrissistah]

You definitely need to take care of yourself there’s a lot to take in and having to work is stressful, you are doing great I’m sure your baby knows it, you ma want to look into CGM the Libre, by ABBOTT, It relieves you from pinching testing, it’s a sensor that goes on your cat and you program it with your phone, and it reads tge glucose levels 24/7, it’s ok to make the food transition on your time, slow is good, and you might want to invest in a wet food feeder, it’s programmable, this way your boy can have 2-3 meals while you are gone, making this diabetes
Process without stress for you or your cat, they also stress out, will make it easy on both of you

I do know about this device, I already have it (a pregnant lady gave it to me because she didn't need it anymore) but I m worried because I know it doesn't measure right and it will definitely stress him a lot to have this thing on him, he might try to take it out... I will definitely look for automated feeders, I wasnt aware there were for wet food also.. Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!

 

[CORKY]

Here are a couple of examples one has a camara you can program on you phone

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Christina:

On a daily basis, the minimum number of tests should be 4 if that's possible. It may be hard on a day that you're working but hopefully, you have time on the weekends to get some tests closer to the middle of the AM cycle. For most of us, the PM test is before we go to sleep. If allows for some confidence that your cat's numbers are in a good place while you're sleeping. With curves, for those who work, we get them on a day we're home. It's not something you need to do every day. When I was caring for Gabby, I worked full time and my test time was also at 5:00. It really is possible despite it seeming overwhelming at times.

Please let us know how we can help.