Blackie
Member Since 2015
Well, here we are. we don't know what to do at this point as we have been treating our cat Blackie for a year for diabeties. I have to tell you, he was a feral cat and lived outside until last year. Neutered and gets his annual shots and exams, a friendly good kitty. So last year when he was diagnosed we brought him and his 'girlfriend' Petunia indoors. They have taken well to living in the house. Blackie is 10-12 years old, we think.
We home test using an alphatrac but have a human testing meter as well if needed.
For the first 4 months he did well on Lantus, 1 unit twice a day. BG below 150. Eats only canned food, mainly fancy feast classic, low carb, no dry food. Then in January the BG started to rise and we had to eventually reach 2 units twice a day, going up a .5 unit at a time. Slowly it kept rising, and before we knew it, he was at 6 units twice a day on Lantus. After some more tests at the vet, we found he had Pancreatitis. No tumors. He takes a half a pepcid each day, and he eats about 6 oz of food for breakfast and again for dinner. He eats only twice per day, no free feeding. drinks water, but not too much. Has not lost weight, about 14 lbs. His activity level was good until recently, now his hind legs are bothering him and we have started to give him B12 for that.
The pancreatitis does not seem to have gotten worse or better, but we know it has an effect on the insulin. Since he did not respond well any longer to the Lantus, we have switched to Levimer in the hope it works better. But we are now at 5 units twice a day. He gets his shots at about 7am and 7pm.
His BG is typically anywhere from 290 to 350 at +4 and +6 but pre shot is typically around 425 to 450, so we don't see a huge drop whether it is 1-2 units or 5 units. We are afraid to raise the insulin dose much higher.
At this point we fear insulin resistance, but are hopeful there is something we can do. We are off to the vet today because he is not having a good day, walks a few steps and then laying down. Seems to be having a great deal of trouble walking. We don't know what to do next, he is laying under the basement steps, alert but out of the way for his morning nap.
Is there anything we can do to get his BG under control again?
We home test using an alphatrac but have a human testing meter as well if needed.
For the first 4 months he did well on Lantus, 1 unit twice a day. BG below 150. Eats only canned food, mainly fancy feast classic, low carb, no dry food. Then in January the BG started to rise and we had to eventually reach 2 units twice a day, going up a .5 unit at a time. Slowly it kept rising, and before we knew it, he was at 6 units twice a day on Lantus. After some more tests at the vet, we found he had Pancreatitis. No tumors. He takes a half a pepcid each day, and he eats about 6 oz of food for breakfast and again for dinner. He eats only twice per day, no free feeding. drinks water, but not too much. Has not lost weight, about 14 lbs. His activity level was good until recently, now his hind legs are bothering him and we have started to give him B12 for that.
The pancreatitis does not seem to have gotten worse or better, but we know it has an effect on the insulin. Since he did not respond well any longer to the Lantus, we have switched to Levimer in the hope it works better. But we are now at 5 units twice a day. He gets his shots at about 7am and 7pm.
His BG is typically anywhere from 290 to 350 at +4 and +6 but pre shot is typically around 425 to 450, so we don't see a huge drop whether it is 1-2 units or 5 units. We are afraid to raise the insulin dose much higher.
At this point we fear insulin resistance, but are hopeful there is something we can do. We are off to the vet today because he is not having a good day, walks a few steps and then laying down. Seems to be having a great deal of trouble walking. We don't know what to do next, he is laying under the basement steps, alert but out of the way for his morning nap.
Is there anything we can do to get his BG under control again?
