Biscuits - SOS!

[Karen & Biscuits]

Hi everyone! So sorry I have been MIA for the past month, a lot has been going on and it's all I can do to keep up with the basics in my household. One thing I have NOT neglected however, is my cat Biscuits and her glucose levels. They are all over the place and no matter what I try, nothing is working. I mean NOTHING! I am starting to wonder if the insulin is bad. It isn't expired and I keep it in the fridge, but for awhile she was doing great, her glucose levels were leveling out a bit and then almost overnight, they shot up into the 300-600 range and I can't get it down. Her diet has not changed, she's still eating Weruva Cats in the Kitchen and I've been working on taking out the Science Diet m/d because I know that is an issue. I am rationing what they get because I want to eliminate it completely but all 3 indoor cats love their kibble so it's not easy taking it away from them. Skittles only eats the kibble but his sugar is well-regulated so I don't worry too much about him, but Biscuits does have issues so she gets maybe 1/8 of a cup per day, which isn't a whole lot. If you look at her spreadsheet, you can see how her sugar is staying very high. She's not acting sick, she's quite happy in fact, but her numbers are seriously out of whack and I can't figure it out. I have calibrated my meter with the control solution, it appears to be working fine. It had perfect readings according to what the manual said it should read with the control solution. I have a new battery in it as well to make sure it's working properly so I don't think that's the issue. Using a Reli-On human meter, the numbers are still very high, though about 50 points off in either direction. I'm still not confident about using that one anyway so I don't use it much. I talked to my vet about this, he wanted me to do a home curve test, so I have on several occasions and I'm just seeing mostly high numbers or serious jumps from very low in the morning to very high at night. I know there's the issue of bouncing which is what I'm guessing is happening but why? She has been on the Levemir now since January 1st and should be well used to it. Maybe it's the wrong insulin for her? She seemed to be responding well in the beginning but after several months I'd think that she would be doing a lot better by now.
I'm frustrated and afraid for my sweet girl. I feel like I'm failing her because I'm missing something but I can't figure out what it is.
There was one day a few weeks ago where we had a guest over and he didn't know she was diabetic and was tossing out treats to the dogs and Biscuits got a hold of some of them without me knowing until it was too late. She never gets treats so it was quite a shock to her system and shot her sugar into the 600+ range. I was livid! Thankfully I was able to get it down with a shot of Levemir but that really scared me. Suffice it to say, he won't be offering treats anymore without my knowledge!
I have started a new Levemir pen around the 1st of May and thought maybe that would help but it has made no difference. I only have one more pen left before I run out completely. I haven't heard back from Diabetic Cats in Need since I put my application in several months ago. I know they are busy but I have to do something as I cannot afford insulin other than Vetsulin, on my meager income. I get Skittles Vetsulin through a local cat sanctuary for $35 but it usually lasts about 6-8 weeks which makes it affordable. With Levemir, I have to get it through Walmart or another pharmacy and they are talking about over $100 for a box. That in itself isn't bad since it has 4 or 5 pens (can't remember), so that would last us several months but I don't want to spend that kind of money if it's not going to work for Biscuits in the long-term.
What do I do? Am I missing something? Am I doing something wrong?
I know I was told to knock her insulin back down to 2.5 units twice a day - and I did that for awhile and her sugar got worse. When I spoke to the vet, he recommended back up to 3 units and even that isn't helping. I have not gone over that however as I am afraid to overwhelm her body.
I'm feeling really lost and frustrated right now and really scared for my baby. What do you suggest?

Please be patient with me if I don't respond immediately. I have 8 kittens that are making me crazy, despite their incredible cuteness, 2 of the mamas had c-sections, one of them lost her whole litter and then developed mastitis, and on top of that I've had both my parents down with covid. Hence the reason I've been MIA for so long. It's getting better but slowly. I will do my best to check in here as much as I can. I just didn't want you to think I wasn't interested in the replies I may get if I don't answer right away. It's just with 37 cats and sick parents, things get a bit nuts around here, that's all
I hope you have a blessed day everyone! Looking forward to a solution.

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Hello! I’m very new to this so I don’t have much advice. But, my small, local pharmacy was willing to sell me an individual pen. It’s a smaller amount then the vials so should be cheaper for you if you want to try the one you mention without fully committing. Maybe try an independent pharmacy?

Also… 37 cats! Sounds glorious, but how do you even remember all their names?!

 

[Karen & Biscuits]

Hello! I’m very new to this so I don’t have much advice. But, my small, local pharmacy was willing to sell me an individual pen. It’s a smaller amount then the vials so should be cheaper for you if you want to try the one you mention without fully committing. Maybe try an independent pharmacy?

Also… 37 cats! Sounds glorious, but how do you even remember all their names?!

Thank you for your reply Jen, that's actually a good idea about asking the pharmacy for one pen at a time. I did ask Walmart a bit ago, since I was there anyway to pick up my own meds and they can't do that but the pharmacist said maybe the vet can purchase the whole box on my behalf and then sell it to me one pen at a time, so I will check that out too. I appreciate your suggestion
I do feral and stray cat rescue and currently have 37 cats and out of the 37, 17 of them are black LOL. I have 8 black kittens, the two mamas are black as well and then I have the grandmother, also black and 4 males that are the brothers to the two mama cats, also all black. So, 15 of them are related in some way and then I have 2 more not related, also black and also male. Some of them wear collars so I can tell them apart, but the 2 ferals do not, however they are easy to identify because one of them has a dual-toned body, he's mostly black but has some brown and it's very obvious in the sunlight.
The rest are orange tabbies, calicos, tortoiseshells and gray tabbies and one Siamese. They all have names and most of them know their names, some are just aloof and snotty and don't respond LOL. It is glorious, as you say, but also a lot of work. The kittens were not supposed to happen. The females did not indicate that they were in heat and the males showed no interest, at least not while I was around. I am a huge advocate of spay and neuter, but with limited funds and zero indication that there was some funny business going on, I was unaware of any pregnancy until it was too late. Thankfully I do have interest in the kittens so they should all find homes within the next few weeks. They are 7 and 8 weeks respectively, as there are 2 separate litters.
I had a stray that showed up pregnant as well, she gave birth to 2 kittens on her own, the 3rd one got stuck due to a severe deformity and was stillborn, but then her other two live kittens also passed away within 24 hours. I almost lost mama too but thankfully with wonderful vet care, she pulled through and she's doing great now, minus her kittens of course. They were beautiful babies too. I was sad to lose them but at the same time, eight is enough - no pun intended LOL. Hopefully once the kittens are rehomed, things will settle down. The colony as a whole has a fairly consistent routine so I can manage them pretty well when things don't get messy due to illness or injury, or in this case, kittens! I love what I do, all the cats are special to me in their own way, but it also comes with a lot of heartache and frustration. I couldn't do it without the help of my facebook page and the wonderful folks on there who are absolutely amazing. All the cats are worth it and I wouldn't trade a single one for the world

 

[Sugar’s Mama]

Holy cow! What a crew of kitties! They are very lucky to have you. My two feel like they need so much attention, I can’t even imagine.

Good luck with Biscuits and the babies!!

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

It may be because she is sneaking and eating the other cats food or eating the dry food too close to her shot time. I realize that trying to get that many cats off of dry food is a challenge. I know because I had to do it with 8 cats too. Another option is to switch to a low carb dry food while you are making the transition.

When was the last time she was seen by the vet? She may need a dental or have an infection. Cats are masters of hiding their illnesses. When we finally notice something wrong it probably has been affecting them for a while. It may be worth it to her checked by the vet and blood work done.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

@feralcatmama ....sending you a private message so please check your Inbox

 

[Karen & Biscuits]

It may be because she is sneaking and eating the other cats food or eating the dry food too close to her shot time. I realize that trying to get that many cats off of dry food is a challenge. I know because I had to do it with 8 cats too. Another option is to switch to a low carb dry food while you are making the transition.

When was the last time she was seen by the vet? She may need a dental or have an infection. Cats are masters of hiding their illnesses. When we finally notice something wrong it probably has been affecting them for a while. It may be worth it to her checked by the vet and blood work done.

She shares the Hills Prescription Diet m/d with her brothers - it's just the 3 of them in the house. There is a slight possibility that she could be sneaking dog food at night but usually I put it up so she can't. Unfortunately someone else in the house puts it down if he wakes up before me. She doesn't seem to like Iams dog food though so that's why I'm saying it's a slight possiblity because as long as she has her own kibble, she doesn't tend to eat their stuff. She used to sneak Kibbles n Bits dog food but we got rid of that and since then she hasn't really bothered their food that much. She saw the vet in March and other than her sugar, she was in fairly good health. Her bloodwork was all good except her glucose levels. She seems fine aside from her blood sugar being so ridiculously high. I ordered more control solution today and got new batteries for my meter. I should the the control solution tomorrow and if that shows the same as the solution I already have, then I know the meter is accurate. Skittles, her brother, uses Vetsulin and his sugar is usually in the high 100's like 180 or less as a rule and he does great. He has never had the issues she has had since she was diagnosed and he's been diabetic for 6 years I think. Biscuits did not do well on the Vetsulin which is why we changed her to Levemir and initially she responded very well but now she's all over the place and I just can't figure out why.
What dry food would you recommend that is low carb? I keep seeing this Dr. Elsey's food - is that pretty good? Just curious. I hate the m/d but the cats love it which is why it's so hard to get them off of it. I'm expecting a call from the vet tomorrow and hopefully he/she will have some idea of what we need to do next. This is really bothering me because I feel like I'm missing something and killing my cat in the process. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

I believe Dr Elsey's is low carb and another one is Young Again. Another thing to try is picking up the dry food and only putting it down at meal time. Then you will know if she has been grazing too close to meal time