Advise needed

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Alan

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My cat aged 10 has been diabetic for just over a year. We had him well regulated on his insulin Caninsulin.

When his sister died in the summer, his insulin levels when abit crazy but we have gradually improved his readings.

He varies from 7 to 15 on average. European readings when we check his levels with our glucometer usually just before feeding.

I give him between 1.5 and 2.5 units each time.

The problem is he gets very hungry. I feed him around 150g of wet in the morning with his insulin and the same in the evening.

He usually finishes this within a hour perhaps two.

But he meows more 2 hours or so before his feed and insulin shot. He has started ripping his fur when he gets hungry.

Any suggestions would be helpful
 
copied from isg-

Hello and welcome.

A couple of things to mention for you to have a look at.

Caninsulin works so quickly that often offering a snack about 90 minutes after the injection can take the edge off that hunger and also slow down the drop so it is easier on the system. Please have a loot at this info about using this insulin. With that hunger I wonder if he is dropping quite a bit in the mid cycle area ( 3-6 hours after shot ) perhaps indicating he is getting too much insulin.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=302
What does are you currently giving?
How do you determine dose changes are needed?

Are you hometesting?
Would you mind sharing some recent levels and the time they correspond to the shot?
ie :

15mmol- +1 ( means 1 hour after shot )
11mmol +3
etc...

If you multiply these mmol numbers by 180, those of us who are used to seeing the levels that way can help you more readily.

The pulling hair....
-allergies
-hyper thyroid
-flea allergy dermatitis
these are just a coupe of things that come to mind and might be worth a blood panel check to see what more is going on. I have not seen hair pulling as a direct result of feline diabetes here on the board, only as a secondary issue.

I agree about crossposting to the health board.
I will keep my eyes open for your posts here as well.

Thanks Kimmee
 
The mmol conversion factor is 18 --- not 180

so your range from 7 to 15 will look more familiar to US folks as: 126 to 270

I allow my diabetic cat to have as much food as he wants (low carb canned food) -- fortunately he does not make a pig of himself --- i have 4 cats total and leave canned food out 24 hours per day.

The 4 cats eat approx 25 oz per day of Wellness canned food and get some EVO dry (8% carb) for treats.

approx 710 grams / 4 cats = 178 gm each

At this time, Tiggy is well regulated.

When Norton (my first diabetic cat) was unregulated, he ate 300 to 500 gm of low carb canned food per day.

When their blood sugar is raging high, they cannot absorb the energy from the food and it gets pee'd away. Extra food is needed to help them feel better.

When insulin dose is right, appetite should return to "normal"
 
My cat would eat the house if it wasn't cemented down, but still I feed him 5 times a day. He eats 2.25 ounces of wet food 5 times each day. He'd eat ME if I only fed him twice a day at shot time.
 
Hi Alan!

We use the European numbers here in Canada, too (as do the Aussies and folks from NZ), so I have just gotten used to being "bilingual" and posting them both :

AM PS 10/ 180 gave 1u
+2 8.5/ 153

(By the way, AM PS means "morning preshot". Easier than using exact times since we cover about 18 time time zones from all over the world.)

An unregulated diabetic cat is *hungry* - all the time. He's getting a goodly amount of food (about the equivalent of 2 cans of Friskies a day), so maybe he just needs it split up a bit? And I assume it's food low in carbohydrates? If you can manage a curve for us - testing BGs every 2-3 hours- we can see how long the Caninsulin is lasting in his body, when the BGs start to climb again, etc.

And grief can play havoc with your cat's diabetes. I should know - my Conan developed diabetes one month after his brother, and my original sugarcat, Rambo, passed away. His grief was incredible, and I will always believe it triggered the diabetes.

Welcome aboard.
 
Hi

I have set the spreadsheet up. Thank you for pointing it out to me its great.

I did a curve last night. The first in a long while and it seems he is unregulated again.

I appreciate its only a limited number of readings but do you think the Insulin shots are too high?

Secondly our vet always advised us to feed him in a 40min window after each shot.

We have allowed him to free -fee for +3 hours. But he tends to sometimes eat to fast.

This morning he was eating very quick and he vomited. I have spilt the food into 2 portions

and do not give him the lot in one go.

Zimbas spreadsheet https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...mNGczBQNGMtUlhDMlBSM3c&hl=en&authkey=CNbgzdYO
 
Wow! Glad you are hometesting. I would not have given insulin this morning. We generally tell newbies not to give insulin under 200, but to wait 30 minutes and test again. The hope is that the number will have risen into a safer area. The other reason is that you always want to shoot a number that is going up.

I hope you can get some tests in today. The vomiting can be a sign that he is going too low.

Your numbers are generally low and I would suggest you start giving mini doses - like .5 units or so - depending on the preshot numbers you get. You can always post on Health and ask for dose advice and usually get an answer within 30 minutes.
 
I used a timer feeder sothat my cat could eat 4 times a day instead of two. 4 smaller meals seemed to help him. He liked it a lot.
 
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