AM preshot 196

Status
Not open for further replies.
Julie Berber

Julie Berber

Member Since 2017
Nippets test this morning is 196. I didn't know not to feed her and wait to test again in 20 or so mins. So she's ate (she thought she was starving). Do i go ahead a shoot but lower her amount of insulin? I was going to lower her anyways from 2 to 1.5 to help with bouncing. Should i go even lower?
 
Julie Berber said:
Nippets test this morning is 196. I didn't know not to feed her and wait to test again in 20 or so mins. So she's ate (she thought she was starving). Do i go ahead a shoot but lower her amount of insulin? I was going to lower her anyways from 2 to 1.5 to help with bouncing. Should i go even lower?
Click to expand...
This is a tough one because you don't have a lot of data yet. She's so close to the 200 mark that I think you can give 1 unit. She's had DKA so it's best not to skip insulin. Test her at +2 to see if she's showing signs of dropping then. That +2 test can be predictive: if it's a lot lower than the pre shot number more monitoring will be needed.
 
Will do.

I have lost faith in my vet at this point. What if she's got something else wrong with her and she's not even a diabetic? There are infections, dental issues, etc that can cause sugar levels to be high. During her stay at the ER they gave her antibiotics. What if all I was fighting was some form of infection that the antibiotics took care of? Could there be other reasons for her to have ketones in her urine? Will insulin actually hurt her if she doesn't actually need it? He only told me her blood count was a little elevated and she was a little anemic. I'm trying to make sense of her lab work and its crazy. I have another curve coming up this friday and I'm thinking i need to find a different vet. Maybe 3rd one is a charm?? Do I HAVE to do the curve? Obviously the vet stresses her out. Before all this, she would want to go outside if i was out there, now she just looks at me and will not follow me at all. She has this panic look on her face.
 
Deep breathes Julie! It looks to me like the 2u may be too much insulin at this point in time and we just need to see what she does with the 1 unit today. Given that Nippet may have steroid induced diabetes, it's possible the effects of the shot are wearing off and her need for insulin is dropping. If you have changed diet recently, that too could be having a positive effect. I doubt given the readings I see on your SS that the diagnosis was wrong. Also if she had DKA, I think that proves it as well.

If I were you, I'd do a curve myself rather than take Nippet to the vet. Vet visits usually result in elevated BG and give the vet erroneous info on which to recommend dosing. The other alternative is to get some more tests in each cycle by always doing pre-shots and at least one mid cycle test. The more data you can get, the easier it becomes to see what is going on.

When their BG is fluctuating, our kitties often seem somewhat lethargic. It's important to note your observations because they are just as important as those BG numbers. Some kitties don't feel well on Vetsulin but whether that or the fluctuating BG is causing Nippet to seem disinterested is unknown and it's still early to tell. Are you still checking for ketones? This is important especially with a history of DKA!

Insulin would indeed be an issue if she didn't need it but there is no indication of that. Her BG is still elevated. It appears you have yet to find the right dose to keep her in good numbers and the dose she was on (2u twice daily) might have been too much. This takes patience and slow methodical changes along with collecting data daily will help you get Nippet sorted out.

See what she does this cycle and keep us posted and we'll help you figure her out. :bighug::bighug:
 
I have completely changed her diet from only dry store brand to now only wet FF Classics. The vet had her on 4U twice a day and I dropped her to 2U twice a day. Today ill try the 1U twice a day. She isn't really that lethargic. I mean she sleeps like a normal cat does and if i get up, she does too and follows me. I caught her twice today raiding my husbands lunch box and she found his beef jerky and then she had a honeybun (still in plastic) toting it in her mouth. Im feeding her 2 meals plus 2 snacks right now. But she seems always hungry right now. She's very playful even; which wasn't the case just a week ago. I've never tested Nippet for ketones. I had asked the vet to test for pancreatitis and ketoacidosis. At this point i don't even know if they would have tested her if i didnt ask them to. I only found out about the ketones from reading enough on the web to see if thats why she stopped eating. When i brought it all up about me doing some personal research to the vet tech, i was told "you can't believe or listen to anything you read on the web". I thought to myself WTF!! If it wasn't for me reading up on diabetes, i would have never known about ketones in the first place.
 
Diabetic cats (until they are well regulated) cannot process food effectively so they are always hungry.

You could try making the snack a bit bigger and using freeze dried treats (no carbs and only one ingredient - meat) for treats.
 
Julie Berber said:
i was told "you can't believe or listen to anything you read on the web".
Click to expand...

I think we've all heard that one!!!

Looks like she's bouncing tonight....Not surprising considering how low she went today! With her dropping to 67 @ +5, I would have suggested getting at least 1 more test in to make sure she didn't continue to drop after that

Remember, it's important to get at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle....most cats go lower at night and it's important to keep her safe.....also, without getting PM tests, you're missing half the data on what's going on with her (and it could be a very important half!!)

Julie Berber said:
Today ill try the 1U twice a day
Click to expand...

Did you do 1U or 1.5?
 
I need to test her more but I'm just not home a lot. I work 6 days a week. I'll try to test her more at night.

The day i work up and found her at 196 i had gave her just 1. Then she was back up to 400s by that night so i went ahead with the 1.5 and figured I'd see what that does after the next 3 days.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top