Button's Diabetic Journey Cotinues

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kats toy

Member Since 2014
Buttons day today:
Woke me up again last night crying at my door, tonight if she does I will get BG.
Up at 4:15 the dog had to go out, Buttons was ravenous and crying for food. She seems to like the turkey or chicken I cook. Is there any fish type canned that she can have ? ( mackeral, tuna, salmon etc.....?)
6:30 BG 239 gave 1 unit
Was eating and acting fine. I had to leave for work. Left alone most of day.
Low carb,nocarb options left for her to graze on. She does not feel as "bony" when I pet her.
6:30 pm BG 234 gave 1 unit.
Not really eating well tonight. Does not seem to like the Fancy Feast food, want to get to petco to see if I can find something she really likes.......
Got a sample with sugar dip stick, it read 500. Not sure if really bad,she is at least half of what she was 11 days ago. When diagnosed she was 1000+
Will have Saturday off hope to get spreadsheet filled in.
 
If she started out at 1000+ it'll take a while to get her regulated and feeling better. My cats have been getting bored with Fancy Feast Chicken, Beef, and Liver so today I tried Salmon and Cole and to my surprise they loved it. Those two flavors are around 1-2% carbs, try those. Canned fish of any kind should be fine, just check the label to make sure there isn't any sugar added.
 
It looks like her numbers are improving :-D It is recommended that fish be fed no more than once per week, although I am not one to speak because my cats definitely were getting it more often :oops: It just so happens most of the fish flavors seem to be low carb. As long as you stick with low carb you should be good. I don't know if your doing it aleready, but you may want to get a variety of flavors just keep an eye out for tummy issues when feeding different flavors. I know my cats will stop eating if I try to feed them the same thing. Right now mine eat the Merrick Turkey Pate, Merrick Chicken Pate and the Merrick Beef Pate.
 
Am printing the list and going to petco they have more variety. Was sure they would all eat the Fancy Feast but they have been eating the High Carb foods for years. They are jonesen for that sugar fix. lol Buttons seems to like the roast chicken I make and the turkey.
She was 264 this morning and had eaten the Friskies that was about 4/5 carbs. Guess she's very sensitive to those carbs. Checking again at about 6:30. Was a crazy day at work today , I'm so tired. Going to try to get spreadsheet done tmr. But we are re-doing our bathroom and am sure my husband is gonna want to go out :(
 
LOL I understand the time thing....tiling the ENTIRE house.

As to the carbs Hidey is the same way, he has to stay 5% or lower and his numbers are still a bit higher than most but as long as he stays under 100 I'm happy.

I know Petco has Merrick and Wellness. From what I here the Wellness is a bit higher in carbs :( I know they carry the Merrick as well. Ill attach the AS FED values I got a few months ago because I dont know if they updated in the list or not. Over the months I've contacted so many companies looking for as fed values since Hidey's so carb sensitive lol
 

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That's what is killing me the foods she's picky. I got one that has the runs. Had to give him some probiotics. Talked to a lady today in groctery store. She has a 13 year old diabetic, the vet has the cat on 5 units am and 5 pm. They never test his sugar! She is feeding human fish but still feeds some kibble. I gave her the link to look at the web
site.
Buttons was a bit high tonite 286 without doin a check mid day I don't know if she got her unit this am :oops: its so hard when u are giving so little. And she is kinda tired of the whole situation. But her attitude is great, tonight she was looking in floor vents for something she's grooming and her fur is getting better.
 
Do you have diabetic friendly treats for her? That helped a lot for Hidey. I get the freeze dried chicken and also boil chicken for his testing treats. He doesn't mind at all now. He sneaks into the kitchen and knocks the freeze dried chicken container off the counter if I forget to put it away, like heyyyyyyy where's my chicken lol he's even snuck the boiled chicken out of the pot (left it in pot to cool and forgot about it)

Have you tried food that is shredded like real meat? Some cats favor certain consistancies. Hidey wouldn't touch pates until he had his upper canines removed and then it became too difficult for him to eat it. Pieces would start to gag him so he wouldn't eat it anymore and had lack of options. A good one of that type of texture that are low carb and great quality is Tiki canned food. I know they sell them on chewy.com and wag.com, maybe even amazon.com but if you go to their website they have a store locater that will tell you if it's sold local, unfortunately for me their is no place so I had to buy it online although all the food I've bought the past year has been a lot cheaper on chewy and heir customer service is AWESOME!!!!!

About the tummy issues, that could be from changing the food so suddenly sometimes it can upset their stomach.
 
Going to pet co today have the approved list print, I'm running out of ink lol. I printed the web pages explaining the process for the vet, so she could see the process. Buttons gets roast chicken and turkey all day. She seems to like that better than the canned. I think I will try boiling it its easier. I will get this. Is your profile picture your hidey? He looks like a kitty I had named Gilligan, he went to the bridge last year CRF. He was only 12, I am praying now that I know how to feed my kitties, I can avoid some of these illnesses. Am confused as the vets I use say to high protien is bad too? Might call a vet school to check on that statement lol. My vets say it can't be controled with diet. I want to prove to them it can be.
 
Yup.....that's Hidey....he's male. Not like the little girl but because he hides and it stuck lol he gets he'll from my husband though.

The high protein issue is 50-50 I think. I've read so many vet things lately especially dr Lisa's info and it's a BIG disagreement between vets......my vet being anti-high protein.

My vet is one of those vets that gave me short acting insulin when I was told and charged for prozinc, instead I was given vetsulin, she told me I didn't have to home test BUT if I was really stuck on the idea the only thing I could use was pet specific and only do it every few weeks....ummmm I would have killed him, oh and I didn't have to worry about diet but if I was to switch he should be on science diet. So after a month of arguing I was able to get him on prozinc, during his check up I kept asking about his dental because I knew they said he needed it but they wouldn't do it until he was regulated....ok I get that, I got him OTJ in a month and a half. No better feeling then shoving my info down their throat (besides the diabetes, and pushing science diet at me they really are great to my babies) and saying lets do the dental. We'll of course they do blood work prior, and after his dental they tell me he's showing signs of early kidney issues and it's because I'm frying his kidneys and liver with high protein food. Ummmm, I'm confused in the wild that's ALL they eat.

I was already watching phos because I know he's getting older and it can start to cause issues, that's the reason I can't feed fancy feast it's low carbs but high phos. So I don't know what to believe about the high protein I can't really see it being bad but I switched them to merrick anyways. It's lower protein, lower carbs, and lower phos (although not LOW phos)

When Hidey was tested he had bad teeth that needed to come out, dehydrated from fasting, and under stress which according to my research on his panels could raise certain areas so within the next month or two I have to take him in for his check up and I'm gonna have them do full labs again to see if there's any change.


Wow I just rambled lol.
 
love the ramblers. I have many that are over 12 and I have to balance this all. My youngsters should benefit from this knowledge. Does not help I have a husband that is giving me a hard time. Im working to much, and my 35 year old daughter is back living with us and not able to support herself, I work my ass off and all I get is stressed.....
 
Don't understand. Another member set it up when I go to my google account it shows up with all info. But it does not in my posts. Any help would be appreciated :?
 
The BG number went down a bit today. I think she is carb sensative, all she ate today was roast chichen, turkey and the Young Again kibble. The young again has vitamins so she is getting what she requires. She is acting so much better. Grooming, sleeping in windows with others and her fur is so soft.
Have a hard time now when I see ppl buying the high carb crap. Met a lady, her diabetic kitty is getting 5 units am and pm. She feeds low carb human foods mostly and a bit of Blue Buffalo kibble. Vet wanted cat on 6 and 6. Am sure he is prescribing to level at appointments when sugar is high. I kinda joked as the husband is diabetic he should test cat with his meter, his eyesight is not so good prbly won't happen. That soul prbly getting way to much insulin. If I had not found this site I would be giving Buttons to much am sure and still feeding high carb foods.
 
buttons is eating the Purina One. She is jumping like a kitten again! Am encouraged. She will get OTJ. Actually I know at her young age that her pancreas will heal :-D Thank God I found this web site. Wish I could get this forum out to more ppl, but most would be satisfied "shooting blind" as long as their cats are acting fine, they think this ois time consuming its not, its overwhelming at first but don't quit.
 
Buttons day:
AM 318 (1.5 given)
PM +13 hours 254 (1 given)
Eating still a bit of an issue, eats the canned food once then turns her nose up at it. Still wanting roast poultry. Her attitude is getting so much better. Her fur is coming back in, and is shiny and soft. Glucose in urine still +500 but she was +1000 only 2 weeks ago. Never went DKA thank God. Praying I'm doin this correctly. Any input on her numbers appreciated. :smile:
 
When you can, you need to get mid-cycle numbers between +5 to +7 hours after the shot to see how low Button is going. If the low point is still above 150 mg/dL, you will be able to increase 0.25 units.
 
Looks like from this post I need to get U100 syringes the U40 don't go in .25 incriments. Will try to get the +5 and +7 numbers this week. Am off tmr off to get food today gotta find something she will eat consistantly. Am pleased with her she is more like a kitty again everyday.
 
U-100 will let you shoot in 0.2 unit increments - every half unit mark is 0.2. With a U-100 insulin, you would have to eyeball it, which many of us have done.

How it works:
U-100 has 100 units per mL
U-40 has 40 units per mL, ie it is only 40% or 0.4 of the concentration of U-100
To adjust the tick marks for U-40, then you just multiply by 0.4.
0.4 * 0.5 = 0.2
0.4 * 1.0 = 0.4
0.4 * 1.5 = 0.6
0.4 * 2.0 = 0.8
0.4 * 2.5 = 1.0
0.4 * 3.0 = 1.2
Etc
(This works great in a spreadsheet - you just copy the formula down as far as you need.)
 
Buttons was a bit high last night I had to work till 8:30 :( so she was tested a bit late +14, 263. She was acting normal all day still prefers the human poultry to canned cat food, may have to get cat vitamin pills lol, do they make them? Other cats still looking for high carb foods. Hope to get a couple mid day numbers today 9/2.
 
If the shot is 2 hours later than usual, she definitely could be expected to be high. Watch this am - if you shoot at your usual time, it will only be 10 hours since the last shot. Be sure the number is rising.

Did you say you had FortiFlora? That sometimes works. It is okay to mix the regular human meat with the catfood as long as she eats the catfood too. (It has ingredients she needs) I am not aware of any supplements that will make up the difference. Have you tried burying her favorites in the wet food so she has to eat around to find it?
 
Trying everything to get her to eat wet food. sometimes she will eat it but not much. Put the poultry in some this am she walked away. Gonna try the Merrick food. She was a bit high this AM & PM not sure why. didn't get a mid day. Am going to ask my daughter to get one tmr. Her urine is still about 500. Any way to get that to lower? I'm not deterred, her attitude is so much better and she is not waking me up at nite. Food is left out for her she likes to graze. She will heal herself in time. Would like a bit better numbers as she is going to vet next week. Off to clean horse stalls.
 
It is not a good idea to give the harsher insulins on an empty stomach, but since ProZinc comes on more slowly, it's not as much of an issue. It would be nice if she has something in her tummy before or right after the shot, and then continues to eat during the cycle.
 
Do you have FortiFlora? Was she eating dry food okay before? If so, you might crush some of it up and dress the wet. Have you tried adding tuna juice or parmesan cheese?

Sometimes you can use 1/4 of a regular plain Pepcid tablet (10 mg tablet so 1/4 of that) if her tummy is upset. Does she seem to be hurting? (sometimes a cat can develop pancreatitis and go off food). Is her tummy seem sore when you pick her up?

She does need to eat so the faster you can figure out a way to tempt her or can figure out if something else is wrong, the better.

How about starting a new thread about the eating issue so you can get advice specifically on that? Lots of people here have dealt with pancreatitis so you could ask about that too.
 
She ate this am, roast chicken. Am still trying to find a canned food she will eat she turns her nose up to it after eating it once :roll: trying to get to pet co to try the Merrick food. am working way to much. Am to stressed....... She is acting good. No Ketones in urine. She must be eating at night. She seems to pick all day...... Really want to find the "sweet spot" and get her under 200. All in all she is looking and acting better. I posted a question about carb content, I have been trying to get food 5 or under. See others that use the under 10 as a rule.
Not discouraged just still frustrated a bit. Vet appointment next week. Hate to stress her but vet wants to see her. :YMSIGH:
 
I am glad she is eating something. This vet has some great ideas for transitioning picky kitties. www.catinfo.org

Maybe do a curve before the vet visit? It will let you know whether she is dropping low midcycle and bouncing back up. If that is the case, you don't want to increase the dose. I also think you have enough data to shoot at 180-200, instead of stalling or skipping. Maybe a skinny one unit? (Pull up one unit and then let out a drop.)
 
So I should shoot mid cycle. Am not understanding the "Stalling"..... Am going to look into acupuncture to stimulate her pancreas.
 
You could shoot at 180 -200 when you get that for a preshot number, maybe a skinny one unit. I would not wait until midcycle to give the shot (by that, I mean 5-7 hours past the time she would have normally gotten her shot, except you skipped) unless the preshot number is really low, below 180. You do not want to give a second shot - always wait the full 12 hours. Does that make sense?

Stalling is when you get a preshot too low to shoot and wait 30 minutes, without feeding, and retest. After the 30 minutes, if the number is rising and closer to your target (180-200) then you could safely shoot, but probably a little less insulin than the previous shot.
 
Not really understanding, think I understand the stalling. If pre-shot is between 180-200 wait to see if she rises then shoot? Am going to look into acupuncture to try to stimulate pancreas. Has any one tried that do you know?
 
We tell new diabetics it is best not to shoot under 200 until they have data to know how the cat might react. I am thinking that you have enough information to think she doesn't drop real low. So, if you feel comfortable, I think you could shoot at 200 and maybe even 180, as long as you have a previous number somewhere in the cycle to be sure she is rising, not falling. (if you don't have any midcycle numbers, then a quick second test 15 minutes later than the first can tell you if she is sure rising). I'd think .8 or .75 (depending on your syringes) would work for 180-200.

The thinking is you can stay on schedule and catch her before she jumps up into the 250s or 300s, which can happen if you stall 30+ minutes. The longer she stays under the renal threshold of 250-270, the more time her pancreas has to heal.

I don't know about acupuncture. Maybe start a new topic and ask?
 
kats toy said:
She ate this am, roast chicken. Am still trying to find a canned food she will eat she turns her nose up to it after eating it once :roll: trying to get to pet co to try the Merrick food. am working way to much. Am to stressed....... She is acting good. No Ketones in urine. She must be eating at night. She seems to pick all day...... Really want to find the "sweet spot" and get her under 200. All in all she is looking and acting better. I posted a question about carb content, I have been trying to get food 5 or under. See others that use the under 10 as a rule.
Not discouraged just still frustrated a bit. Vet appointment next week. Hate to stress her but vet wants to see her. :YMSIGH:
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Have you only tried pate style food? I know for YEARS Hidey would not eat pate style it had to be like REAL chicken, fish or beef. Good brands for that style are Tiki (Hidey LOVED but has a really hard time eating since he's missing 5 teeth), and Weruva. Im sure theres more brands but thats the only 2 that I know of off hand. I know some pet stores sell them. Unfortunately for me, no stores near me sold them so I ordered them online. If you go to their websites and use the store locator maybe you can find some to try.
 
Her attitude is better her fur is better. From the look of the spreadsheet may need to shoot 1.5 to try to get her below 200. :?:
 
If she were mine, I would try 1.25 first, for a few cycles.

Glad she is feeling better. The P's are an important part of the picture - pooing, peeing, playing, preening.
 
Am going to try a hair more than 1 unit to see if I can get her below the 200 number. Saw one of my old vets yesterday we chatted, he gave me the impression her numbers were doing damage to her organs? But yet the vet that diagnosed her didn't seem concerned, she was sent home with these numbers and was getting more insulin. Praying her pancreas is not totaly shut down. Will get more mid cycle numbers today. Have ordered the Tiki cat food. I guess if she won't eat canned, she is getting vitamins from YA that is left out for the house to nibble on. They are so satisfied with the YA that at times lm worried they don't eat enough, lol
 
It would be good if she were usually under the 250-270 mark, which is the renal threshold, the place where we estimate the pancreas can be healing, not struggling. We generally consider a cat regulated if they are in the mid to lower 200s at preshot and drop into double digits at nadir (but not below 40 which is approaching hypo territory). She is having some nice preshots but not dropping much midcycle. This isn't a pattern I usually see with ProZinc unless it is a bounce from an earlier number. Sometimes a bounce can look like a highish flat cycle, a cycle or two even after a low number or cycle. But unless she is having low numbers at night you haven't caught, I don't see the low numbers to cause a bounce.

I think a small increase, keeping an eye on her may give you a drop midcycle. I hope so!
 
Got really good drops today, I think. Can you explain to me how I can get her to be closer to the numbers Im getting at +5 or more? I don't understand how she will get regulated when I get 200-300 in am and pm before she gets her shot?
Looked into the acupuncture many vets say it does not help. The Asian vet that I used to go to uses herbal support for his patients to help regulate blood sugar. Is that something others have done? I know she is sure feeling better so it will just be time before she is OTJ. She has vet appointment this week. Still not able to get her to eat canned cat food... sent for the Tiki Cat , I have one other the BFF otherwise she will get human turkey and chicken. She gets vitamins from the YA so will do bloodwork to make sure she is getting enough. :smile:
 
I like those blues today! I'd give her a few cycles at 1.25 and see if she drops lower. Some cats take a while to "settle in" to a dose.

If she doesn't drop as low as you want after a while at this dose, then you increase by .25 again, monitoring carefully the first cycle. Remember, once you have the data to show you how she might react, you can shoot in that 180 range, not just at 200 and above.
 
Dont forget to be cautious when starting the Tiki. My cats used to eat it and LOVED it, I may try it again thanks to another member suggesting chopping it up or putting it in the food processor....anyways, the carb content on most of them are 0% so bg will most likely drop :-D
 
Thank you for all your tips. I was reading a comment on the weurva when ordering the tiki cat. There is an additive in it that caused an 8 year old cat to become ill. I will try to copy the post to the main forum. The additive began with an "m". So much work these days am to stressed, my boss should be back next week so I can go back to my 3 days a week. I am classified 75% disabled from a condition called RSD sympathetic nervous system never shuts pain signals off, so with the cold weather coming I'm hurting. She is still only wanting the roast chicken and turkey. Will continue to monitor sugar. Am happy to report yesterday her urine test showed about 250 in urine, praise God, down from 1000+ 3 weeks ago. And her numbers have seemed to drop below renal threshold. She is looking and acting so much better. Will try to get her photo attached to my profile. She has vet appointment today not thrilled as her sugar will really spike. Am testing before I go today to see how much it changes. There I go I rambled lol.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
I like those blues today! I'd give her a few cycles at 1.25 and see if she drops lower. Some cats take a while to "settle in" to a dose.

If she doesn't drop as low as you want after a while at this dose, then you increase by .25 again, monitoring carefully the first cycle. Remember, once you have the data to show you how she might react, you can shoot in that 180 range, not just at 200 and above.
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Kathy asked me about this advice by PM so I wanted to reply on line. You could shoot at a 180 PRESHOT, not earlier than that. I am thinking that you know what her patterns are, so you don't have to stick to the No Shot Under 200 rule, if you want to shoot at a little lower number. So if you get a number in that 180 range for a preshot, and she is definitely rising, not falling, you could give her a smidge less insulin then, not have to wait until she is over 200. Does that make sense?
 
I understand now :-D I think her numbers are getting better, did not get her to the vet yesterday, she hid under couch and was to stressed to bother to take her, Brought the data and vet was impressed. Said not to bother bringing her back but will maybe have her checked at 6 months. AM numbers are still a bit higher than I like. Any feelings on that?
I have a new kitten so there will be a bit higher stress level until everyone gets used to him, lol. I believe he is Buttons brother that died suddenly last year on Sept 6th, this baby showed up at 10pm on Sept 7th, and looks just like Bugsy, but with a tail.....
 
I see your preshots as gradually lowering. I'd give the 1.25 dose awhile before changing anything and get the midcycle numbers whenever you can.
 
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