Hi everyone! My cat, Olive, was diagnosed on the 14th and it's been a nightmare since. We rescued Olive 8 years ago and uncertain as to her real age. We are thinking about 13 now. She was 18 pounds when we adopted her and fearing diabetes, we put her on a slow feeder that gave her 5 portions of food a day working around the clock. This brought her weight down to about 13 pounds over the years. We were told feeding small meals often would help with her metabolism.
It was her constant water intake and peeing frequently that alerted us something was up, but we'd just lost our 19 year old cat a few months before and we thought Olive's distancing herself from us and then her drinking more was from anxiety at the loss of our other cat. When she stopped wanting to eat her kibble we KNEW something was wrong because she had always been the kind of cat who ate anything and wanted more. A week later she was diagnosed diabetic and was now at 10 pounds.
They had her start on one unit of Lantus twice a day (Her first dose was given that night at 9pm) and I started keeping a notebook handy to jot down the numbers. The next morning at her 2nd dose, her numbers went to 76 midway between insulin shots. Same things happened the following day when she now dipped to 55 and showed signs of not doing so well so I offered her food. The vet had us feeding her twice a day, at 9am and 9pm and since the vet's office was closed at the time I took her BG, I was fearful of another hypoglycemic drop and didn't give her any insulin that night until I could talk to the vet in the morning. As luck would have it our vet wouldn't be back for days and the so another vet told us to continue with the one unit of insulin twice daily for a few days until our vet was back in. Against my better judgement I listened and gave her the shot that morning at 9 and by 1:30pm she was throwing up, looked bad, and her BG was at 65. I gave her some food and the numbers steadily went up over the day but I just couldn't give her another shot knowing she was going to continue to go so low.
Olive had spent her life with us eating RAWZ dry kibble and in the mornings I would offer her whatever healthy canned food we had on hand so I could mix her Cosequin/probiotics/enzymes into it. She'd only get about a tablespoon of wet food each day (usually RAWZ pate or the equivalent). Within a week of diagnoses we started switching her over to raw food. She liked it and did well so had her completely switched over to raw by the end of the first week.
When I finally did touch base with my vet, she said she wanted to try Olive on a curve for a week without insulin to see how her numbers went but that she didn't want to see her go above 500. I got into a panic a few days in when her BG reached over 525 and despite the fact we were told you can't give a cat half a unit of insulin, my syringe allowed for half units (I have the walgreens version) and I decided to give her half a unit. Six hours later she was at 94 and 12 hours later at the 9pm feeding she was at 192. I didn't offer anymore insulin at that time and by morning, 12 hours later, she was at 572. Got her to run around and even without the insulin she dropped to 60 by 3pm midway though day.
Since then, I figured I was messing her system up by not being consistent, so decided to go back to the original plan which was to go a week without insulin and test frequently to get a good snapshot of her numbers. It's been a scary time and I'm spending my days with high anxiety and my nerves are shattered.
A diabetic friend of ours suggested we feed Olive more frequently because she was used to eating 5 times a day and so we went to feeding her 3/4 of a cup of raw food into 4 smaller meals: 1/4 cup at 9am, 1/8 cup at noon, 1/4 cup at 3, and 1/8 cup at 9pm. Her BG is still off the charts, but feeding her this way has shown a pattern of making her BG levels lower than at night. Night is a nightmare time as her levels will rise to 500 and a few times closer to 600 by 9am the next morning. I have been getting up at the midway point around 3-4am every night to check her levels and then get her to play and run around. But despite this, her BG is still way high by morning.
She's been on the raw diet now for just under 2 weeks along with probiotics and enzymes given every meal. (I had only been giving her a portion of the amount needed and only once a day) I spoke to the creator of these supplements who holds a masters in holistic approaches to diabetes and Dr. J said that by switching Olive to raw and giving her these supplements in every meal, that it was going to take time for Olive's body to find its balance. He said it could take a good two months for these changes to happen but to look at the whole body approach this way "You are replanting Olive's garden and it's going to take time for things to grow and evolve."
In the meantime, I'm a nervous wreck. Clinically, Olive is acting like her old self again since switching to the raw diet. Last night, for the first time in I don't even know how long, she actually kept running through the house as I played a string chasing game with her. It was like she was a kitten again. She is now moving more than ever, and is once again spending her time around us instead of hidden in another room. You can't begin to tell by her actions that her BG levels are so high.
I keep trying different things to see how it will effect her numbers. Just when I thought I saw a pattern develop, she shocked me again. She was at 249 at 9pm last night before her last snack of the day. By 4am she was at 464. So instead of the 15 minutes of play I've been giving her at that time of the morning, I decided to see if she'd want to play longer. To my shock she started running after her toy and chasing it, and swatting at it, and before I knew it 45 minutes had elapsed. I thought for sure this would bring her numbers down by 9am, but to my utter shock she was at 569. I rechecked her instantly and the numbers jumped to 580. I checked her again before the noon feeding and she was at 498. So I'm on here hoping somebody can help me figure this out. I love Olive so much and I'm at a loss at this point. I would like to see how she does at 1/4 unit of insulin, but I've already rocked the boat this week by not getting an uninterrupted BG curve. It would seem to me that she does far better during the day than at night and the only change there is the fact she's not eating for 12 hours. I think this is a major player in a cat who has spent her life eating around the clock in a timed feeder. She was eating about every 4 1/2 hours with that.
I'm confused by the terminology I'm reading on here. But I think I'm correct in saying that if the BG levels stays high for long periods of time, which is the case with Olive, that a bounce can happen, which is what I've seen happen during the times when her BG has actually reached a somewhat good level. I just don't know what to do. I want to allow her body to find balance after adjusting to the total diet change, but her BG levels get so high it scares me. But not as much as her dips were doing while on the insulin.
Our vet told us she's not real knowledgeable in feline diabetes and has ZERO clue about raw diets. She wants us to put Olive on the Diabetic food from Hills/Purina, and so forth. She's a great vet, but Olive is out of her wheelhouse and we need HELP. Any thoughts from this group would be welcome. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this.
It was her constant water intake and peeing frequently that alerted us something was up, but we'd just lost our 19 year old cat a few months before and we thought Olive's distancing herself from us and then her drinking more was from anxiety at the loss of our other cat. When she stopped wanting to eat her kibble we KNEW something was wrong because she had always been the kind of cat who ate anything and wanted more. A week later she was diagnosed diabetic and was now at 10 pounds.
They had her start on one unit of Lantus twice a day (Her first dose was given that night at 9pm) and I started keeping a notebook handy to jot down the numbers. The next morning at her 2nd dose, her numbers went to 76 midway between insulin shots. Same things happened the following day when she now dipped to 55 and showed signs of not doing so well so I offered her food. The vet had us feeding her twice a day, at 9am and 9pm and since the vet's office was closed at the time I took her BG, I was fearful of another hypoglycemic drop and didn't give her any insulin that night until I could talk to the vet in the morning. As luck would have it our vet wouldn't be back for days and the so another vet told us to continue with the one unit of insulin twice daily for a few days until our vet was back in. Against my better judgement I listened and gave her the shot that morning at 9 and by 1:30pm she was throwing up, looked bad, and her BG was at 65. I gave her some food and the numbers steadily went up over the day but I just couldn't give her another shot knowing she was going to continue to go so low.
Olive had spent her life with us eating RAWZ dry kibble and in the mornings I would offer her whatever healthy canned food we had on hand so I could mix her Cosequin/probiotics/enzymes into it. She'd only get about a tablespoon of wet food each day (usually RAWZ pate or the equivalent). Within a week of diagnoses we started switching her over to raw food. She liked it and did well so had her completely switched over to raw by the end of the first week.
When I finally did touch base with my vet, she said she wanted to try Olive on a curve for a week without insulin to see how her numbers went but that she didn't want to see her go above 500. I got into a panic a few days in when her BG reached over 525 and despite the fact we were told you can't give a cat half a unit of insulin, my syringe allowed for half units (I have the walgreens version) and I decided to give her half a unit. Six hours later she was at 94 and 12 hours later at the 9pm feeding she was at 192. I didn't offer anymore insulin at that time and by morning, 12 hours later, she was at 572. Got her to run around and even without the insulin she dropped to 60 by 3pm midway though day.
Since then, I figured I was messing her system up by not being consistent, so decided to go back to the original plan which was to go a week without insulin and test frequently to get a good snapshot of her numbers. It's been a scary time and I'm spending my days with high anxiety and my nerves are shattered.
A diabetic friend of ours suggested we feed Olive more frequently because she was used to eating 5 times a day and so we went to feeding her 3/4 of a cup of raw food into 4 smaller meals: 1/4 cup at 9am, 1/8 cup at noon, 1/4 cup at 3, and 1/8 cup at 9pm. Her BG is still off the charts, but feeding her this way has shown a pattern of making her BG levels lower than at night. Night is a nightmare time as her levels will rise to 500 and a few times closer to 600 by 9am the next morning. I have been getting up at the midway point around 3-4am every night to check her levels and then get her to play and run around. But despite this, her BG is still way high by morning.
She's been on the raw diet now for just under 2 weeks along with probiotics and enzymes given every meal. (I had only been giving her a portion of the amount needed and only once a day) I spoke to the creator of these supplements who holds a masters in holistic approaches to diabetes and Dr. J said that by switching Olive to raw and giving her these supplements in every meal, that it was going to take time for Olive's body to find its balance. He said it could take a good two months for these changes to happen but to look at the whole body approach this way "You are replanting Olive's garden and it's going to take time for things to grow and evolve."
In the meantime, I'm a nervous wreck. Clinically, Olive is acting like her old self again since switching to the raw diet. Last night, for the first time in I don't even know how long, she actually kept running through the house as I played a string chasing game with her. It was like she was a kitten again. She is now moving more than ever, and is once again spending her time around us instead of hidden in another room. You can't begin to tell by her actions that her BG levels are so high.
I keep trying different things to see how it will effect her numbers. Just when I thought I saw a pattern develop, she shocked me again. She was at 249 at 9pm last night before her last snack of the day. By 4am she was at 464. So instead of the 15 minutes of play I've been giving her at that time of the morning, I decided to see if she'd want to play longer. To my shock she started running after her toy and chasing it, and swatting at it, and before I knew it 45 minutes had elapsed. I thought for sure this would bring her numbers down by 9am, but to my utter shock she was at 569. I rechecked her instantly and the numbers jumped to 580. I checked her again before the noon feeding and she was at 498. So I'm on here hoping somebody can help me figure this out. I love Olive so much and I'm at a loss at this point. I would like to see how she does at 1/4 unit of insulin, but I've already rocked the boat this week by not getting an uninterrupted BG curve. It would seem to me that she does far better during the day than at night and the only change there is the fact she's not eating for 12 hours. I think this is a major player in a cat who has spent her life eating around the clock in a timed feeder. She was eating about every 4 1/2 hours with that.
I'm confused by the terminology I'm reading on here. But I think I'm correct in saying that if the BG levels stays high for long periods of time, which is the case with Olive, that a bounce can happen, which is what I've seen happen during the times when her BG has actually reached a somewhat good level. I just don't know what to do. I want to allow her body to find balance after adjusting to the total diet change, but her BG levels get so high it scares me. But not as much as her dips were doing while on the insulin.
Our vet told us she's not real knowledgeable in feline diabetes and has ZERO clue about raw diets. She wants us to put Olive on the Diabetic food from Hills/Purina, and so forth. She's a great vet, but Olive is out of her wheelhouse and we need HELP. Any thoughts from this group would be welcome. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this.
Thank you Nan!
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