A new member,Wendy, from the welcome board

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Mum of two felines

Mum of two felines

Member Since 2015
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/newly-diagnosed-struggling.153690/
From Wendy and Hunny

Good morning, my name is Wendy and my 10 year old kitty Hunny was diagnosed on 2/17. I like many was sent home with a new diet, insulin (Prozinc) and syringes. Thankfully I found this forum, and went out and purchased a human glucose monitor. I started with a Walgreens Trueresult and after seeing their readings may not be as good I purchased a RelionPrime. We started at 1u, his glucose at the vet was like 450. After second visit, still in 400's, he was upped to 2.5. I have entered glucose levels in the spreadsheet, he is all over the place, the RelionPrime definitely registers higher levels.

Changed food, he didn't like the M/D canned, been feeding FF classic chicken and turkey and M/D dry. With two other kitties, one who is on a special diet for UR, it is hard to make sure he isn't getting something he shouldn't, but I am trying.

He seems ok, not himself, sometimes a bit loopy...mostly sleeping, eating, drinking...not quite himself, but he is not super active anyway.

I have gotten one ketone (haven't been able to catch him in the act since) and it was fine.

I guess I just need some assurance that we are on the right track. His numbers just don't seem to be improving and I am worried that it has been too long. His morning numbers are terrible. It is so hard to manage all of this, with work, kids, busy schedules, but I am determined to do what I can for my Hunny.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...Nif5OG0GZMgSqRfveoTXUNA/edit?usp=docslist_api
 
Hi Wendy!

Welcome! I'm very very new here too, These lovely people will take amazing care of you and your furries!

Hope you find the missing puzzle pieces soon.
 
Hi Wendy, welcome to FDMB!

Yes, Hunny is definitely having some high numbers! His spreadsheet looks a lot like my Squallie's did until just a few days ago. I changed foods and, after a short while, was able to reduce his dose, and now he is doing very well.

One of the first things I notice is that Hunny is still eating dry food. Most dry food is very high in carbs which is a big no-no for our sugar kitties. Diabetic cats should be on a diet with less than 10% carbs. Dry food is also low in moisture and is, overall, not really a great diet for any cat. The FF Classic you are feeding should be fine. Here is a link to a wonderful article about the importance of diet to feline health:

www.catinfo.org

and to a list of low carb food choices:

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Here is a bit of information you may not be aware of - cats who are receiving too much insulin can "bounce" into higher numbers. A bounce occurs when BG begins to drop lower, or sometimes faster, than the body is accustomed to. The body may panic and respond to this by flooding the system with glucagon, produced in the liver. This will drive BG up. It is better explained here:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/what-is-a-bounce.108796/

(PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT saying this is what is going on with your Hunny, it is just one possibility you might like to investigate. That 78 at +6 on his first day at the higher dose could potentially be the beginning of a bounce, and the fact that his BG #s went up after the dose increase may indicate that this is possibly what may be occurring.)

I am sure others with more experience than I have will be weighing in soon, and have some other ideas for you.

Don't let all this overwhelm you, diabetes in cats is a very manageable disease, and it will get easier as you go, I promise! :):):)

Lucy
 
His numbers are certainly all over the place. The 140 on 2/28 and the 283 are certainly big drops and indicate the insulin is working. Data is your friend. Anytime you can get numbers, it helps to fill in the picture. If you work - a before bed test, an out the door test in the morning, an in the door test after work, a curve on the weekend. waking up sometimes at night to get a number. More numbers should help us eliminate some possibilities: Does the insulin not last long enough? Do the numbers indicate that the insulin is no longer helping at +9 or +10? Does he drop consistently and then bounce up for the pre shot numbers?

The other variable is the food. If there is any way you could feed them at regular times and make sure no one shares, that would be good. Offering a low carb snack during the day might keep everyone happy and be good for Hunny.
 
I can't access your spreadsheet from where I am at right now. However, going from 1 unit to 2.5 units since 2/17 is a significant increase in a little over 2 weeks. You may have missed your optimal dose and that is why you are not seeing a good response to the insulin. This causes the "bounce" that Lucy was talking about. Also, if you are feeding dry food, that is also affect the glucose levels.

The best method is to start low and slow. This means starting at a low dose such as the 1 unit you started with and stay at that dose for several days to give your cats body time to adjust to it. I usually recommend a week between each dose change. If an increase is needed, increase it by 1/2 unit and wait again for several days before increasing it again. Continue doing this until you find the best dose that works to keep the BG levels steady.
 
Thank you all! I agree from what I have been reading here it is a bounce we experienced when we went from 1U to 2.5U. I was doing as the vet instructed. I'm not sure how much experience my vet has. So should I decrease dosage tonight? Do I go down to 1.5? His +7 was 322 and PMPS is 550.
 
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I would not necessarily reduce until you have more data. 2.5 looks like it might have been too much for the 272 but it has given you some late blues on black pre shots. I do think the blacks could be bounces.

Maybe reduce to 2 units on the blacks for a few cycles when you can monitor and see what the mid cycle numbers look like, if they go down a little. It makes me nervous reducing without data. It may be what is needed but it is not good to give too little insulin on high numbers
 
Oh darn...I already gave him his shot...gave him 1.5U at 6pm. I'll keep a close eye on his numbers. He seems a little more like himself tonight. I am going to taper off on his dry food. Again, I was going by the advice of the bed and purchased a bag of their prescription food. I am mostly leaving some dry out during the day when I am gone.

Thank you all so much. The information here has been a life saver, it is so nice to have people who know what you are going through!
 
Wendy, if you are changing his diet and he eats it well, lowering the dose should be fine. Any numbers you can get in will help you figure out if the reduction works
 
Please be sure to monitor his BG very closely if you are removing the dry food from his diet! Removing high carb food from his diet can cause his BG to drop, sometimes unexpectedly and by a great deal; he will need to be watched closely and tested frequently to avoid a potential hypo!

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/

Not trying to scare you, just want to pass on knowledge that you may need! :):):)
 
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