Hello, my name is David Lafferty (user name Plotinus) and my cat is Bebe. She is a "diluted tortie" and is 16.5 years old. We are in Chicago, Illinois. She was diagnosed with diabetes about 3 months ago. Her Alpha-Trak numbers were very high, in the 700s. We started on Glargine insulin at 12 hour intervals and there was some effectiveness at first, but I could not get her below an average of 382. In my anxiety I kept using the original botte of insulin past its 28-day expiration, (I don't know how I could have been that stupid but somehow I though that because it was refrigerated, it was still effective). Once I realized my error she is getting fresh insulin as she should have been getting all along. Because the Alpha-Trak blood test was difficult for both of us, I because she struggled and I live alone with no one to help, I put her on the Free Style Libre Sensor. This is very expensive, but (when it works) it does give continuous glucose information.
The problem is that it is still very difficult to get her glucose to stay in the normal range for more than two hours each day. She gets 4.5 units of glargine insulin with food at 3AM (I get up from bed) and at 3PM and her glucose will drop to 140 or even somewhat lower and will stay there for 90 minutes. The it begins a slow rise to above 350, where it will remain for the rst of the 12-hour period. She gets100 ml of subcutaneous fluids every second day and this seems to make the normal periods last longer. For most of her life she has eaten prescription cat food to protect her kidneys, but recently she refused to eat those and now will eat only Fancy Feast. I mix Catney with that food to help absorb phosphorus that is bad for her kidneys. She has a good appetite but remains underweight. She likes Purina Hydra-Care which has become difficult to find because of distribution problems.
I would be very grateful if anyone has any suggestions about how I can get Bebe's glucose to stay in the normal range for linger periods. The vet says she has pancreatitis but there i sno cancer or other issues. I may be making some mistakes and please feel free to point those out to me.
Best to all!
David
The problem is that it is still very difficult to get her glucose to stay in the normal range for more than two hours each day. She gets 4.5 units of glargine insulin with food at 3AM (I get up from bed) and at 3PM and her glucose will drop to 140 or even somewhat lower and will stay there for 90 minutes. The it begins a slow rise to above 350, where it will remain for the rst of the 12-hour period. She gets100 ml of subcutaneous fluids every second day and this seems to make the normal periods last longer. For most of her life she has eaten prescription cat food to protect her kidneys, but recently she refused to eat those and now will eat only Fancy Feast. I mix Catney with that food to help absorb phosphorus that is bad for her kidneys. She has a good appetite but remains underweight. She likes Purina Hydra-Care which has become difficult to find because of distribution problems.
I would be very grateful if anyone has any suggestions about how I can get Bebe's glucose to stay in the normal range for linger periods. The vet says she has pancreatitis but there i sno cancer or other issues. I may be making some mistakes and please feel free to point those out to me.
Best to all!
David
Good luck!!