Cat keeps swinging between hypo and hyperglycaemia

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sweetcherrypie

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Not sure how to reply to helpful responses. Do I post a new topic?

Thank you so much for all your responses they are all most helpful. I am based in the UK, in Yorkshire.
The problem is I have not kept a record of my cats blood sugar readings since I managed to regulate her last year. However, as they are all over the place at the moment, I have taken your advice Pam and started recording these again. I do think that you are right Mary that the Caninsulin is not very consistent and does not last the 12 hours that it is supposed to. Unfortunately my vet is going to tell me to put my cat back on the Hills. I did try feeding my cat a raw food diet when she was first diagnosed and I could not regulate her. When I finally succumbed to feeding her the Hills and I was more successful with the regulation, the vet was most condescending. The Bozita is Swedish and is supposed to be 97% pure meat. I think it is possible that I have been underfeeding my cat, should she have more food now that she is on a low carb cat food? A vet told me that I could halve the quantity prescibed on the bag/tin. Carbonel was being fed 234g a day of the Hills and I just fed her the same of the Bozita. I increased her food by 30g's last night and decreased her Insulin by 1/2 a unit which was probably a mistake. I should not have done both. However after 3hrs her blood sugar levels had not dropped dramatically as before, but her blood sugar level was a whopping 16.9 this morning, oh dear. I am used to 8 or 9 as a pre shot reading.
Carbonels routine is as such: I give her her shot at 8am ( this morning 1unit) with about 1 tablespoon of food. After 1 hour exactly I feed her her main meal ie. half of her daily quota of food and then I do the same again at 8pm in the evening.
I am not testing for keytones Kate as I do not know how to do this . Carbonel has no other health issues other than IBS when fed the wrong food. The vet prescribed dried Hills for this condition and I may be wrong but feel that this food caused the Diabetes. I am going to see if I can get my cats Insulin changed to the levemir or Prozinc. Thanks again, Carol and carbonel
 
normally you just hit Post Reply rather than starting a new thread. when you add a post your thread will bounce back to the top of the page, so you won't necessarily get more eyes on your thread by starting a new post. if you start a new related post, tho, it would help to link to your prior post so we know what the prior discussion was.

i don't see your prior discussion, so i'm just answering some questions you posted here...

can you feed right after testing/shooting? no need to wait an hour.
re what you feed, go by the calorie count rather than the carb count. carbs do make you feel fuller but weight wise we're still talking calories just as we do for humans. if your cat isn't regulated, tho, it's fine to feed a little more especially if you're concerned about keeping her weight up.

to test for ketones, you get ketostix or ketodiastix from the chemist (pharmacy), and you stick them in your cat's urine stream as she's peeing or pop into the litter right where she's just peed and before she has a chance to cover it up. a positive reading will practically glow in the dark.

my cat harry also has IBS (IBD) and dry food is not good for it. unfortunately vets seem to rely on what the pet company sales reps tell them and not on substantial nutrition training in school. the same low carb food you feed any diabetic is good for an IBS/IBD kitty, but you try to keep the fat percentage a little lower and try to avoid anything that may cause gastric distress (some cats respond better to chicken or turkey than to beef or fish). i'm sure people have pointed you to dr lisa's site for more info on food and feline health conditions like IBS/IBD [http://catinfo.org
 
Hi Carol,

I have replied to your pm.
Chris spot on with Dr lisa's site-well worth a read for the IBS.
If you can, cross post on this thread and one in isg-so easy forfolk tofollow you. You do get a lot more eyes in health than in vet/can isg, but some of us do keep checking it for posts.
All you do is copy the url at the top and then paste it into whichever post and say it's a link to ...... :mrgreen:
 
Hello everybody,
I cannot get the hang of the posts! :? I seem to have messages all over the place including messages that have not been sent!
I have had lots of good advice from everybody, thank you all so much and have decided to change to Insuvets PZI as a result of all your help.
Unfortunately my vet would not change my cat over to this new Insulin until I got her stabilsed. I am also going away tomorrow and have a query with regards to using the U-40 Caninsulin with the new U-100 syringes. I have had to purchase these as I run out of U-40 syringes before the changeover to the new PZI Insulin on Saturday week. A couple of you have given me the link to the U40 to U-100 conversion chart and I am a bit confused about the dosage and would hate to overdose my cat.
If the U-100 is stronger than the U-40 why do you give more Insulin instead of less? Is it because the U-40 syringe is .5ml and the U-100 is 0.3ml?
Kate and Mary I am now feeding more food and directly after shot and Carbonel seems a lot better with better readings between 6 and 15. Not yet regulated though probably never will be on the Caninsulin. I responded to your message Kate and then foregot to post readings later as I struggled to meet work deadlines, sorry. I would appreciate some help with the above though.
Thanks again
Carol and Carbonel
 
Hopefully this doesn't confuse you more.

U-100 is higher concentration that U-40.

There are 100 doses of insulin in 1mL of U-100 insulin, and 40 doses of insulin in 1mL of U-40 insulin.

So, 1U of U-100 insulin is going to be 0.010mL, whereas 1U of U-40 insulin is 0.025mL.

Syringes measure by volume(although they are marked in "units"). So, 1 "unit" in a U-100 syringe is only going to be 0.01mL, not the 0.025mL that you need for U-40.

MATH:
1 "unit" of U-100 = 0.01mL
Multiply both sides by 2.5
1 "unit" of U-100 * 2.5 = 0.01mL * 2.5
or
2.5 "unit" of U-100 = 0.025mL
0.025mL = 1 "unit" of U-40

So when using U-40 insulin and a U-100 syringe multiply your dosage by 2.5
 
sweetcherrypie said:
Hello everybody,
I cannot get the hang of the posts! :? I seem to have messages all over the place including messages that have not been sent!
I have had lots of good advice from everybody, thank you all so much and have decided to change to Insuvets PZI as a result of all your help.
Unfortunately my vet would not change my cat over to this new Insulin until I got her stabilsed. I am also going away tomorrow and have a query with regards to using the U-40 Caninsulin with the new U-100 syringes. I have had to purchase these as I run out of U-40 syringes before the changeover to the new PZI Insulin on Saturday week. A couple of you have given me the link to the U40 to U-100 conversion chart and I am a bit confused about the dosage and would hate to overdose my cat.
If the U-100 is stronger than the U-40 why do you give more Insulin instead of less? Is it because the U-40 syringe is .5ml and the U-100 is 0.3ml?
Kate and Mary I am now feeding more food and directly after shot and Carbonel seems a lot better with better readings between 6 and 15. Not yet regulated though probably never will be on the Caninsulin. I responded to your message Kate and then foregot to post readings later as I struggled to meet work deadlines, sorry. I would appreciate some help with the above though.
Thanks again
Carol and Carbonel
Click to expand...

If you are using u40 insulin in a u100 syringe, you are not actually giving MORE insulin. You are giving the same amount of insulin by VOLUME.
It is rather like saying 1 ounces (US, fluid) is equal to 1.04 ounces (British, fluid). They are the exact same amount of fluid - they are just measured differently.

u100 syringes also tend to be thinner than u40 syringes. The unit marks are closer together on a u100 3/10cc syringe than they are on a u40 5/10cc syringe.....so, If you were dosing, oh, say 1 unit of u40 insulin and you pulled 1 unit of u40 insulin into a u40 syringe, and then pulled one actual unit of u40 insulin into a u100 syringe, (that would be to the 2.5u mark on a u100 syringe), and then you measured the VOLUME of that insulin, you would find that it is the exact same volume of insulin REGARDLESS of which syringe you are using.

Conversion chart links - u40 insulin in a u100 syringe
http://www.medi-vet.com/Insulin_Syringe ... Chart.aspx
http://www.felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm

The best thing about using u100 syringes to dose u40 insulin is this:
You can fine tune doses SO much easier with u100 syringes because many of them come with half-unit markings,
they are readily available at ANY pharmacy, and, they are less expensive than u40 syringes.

Having said all that, it is NOT recommended that you ever dose u100 insulin in a u40 syringe.
Because u100 insulin is more concentrated, and u40 syringes are not as well calibrated,
you could easily overdose your kitty on insulin were you to reverse the conversion formula.

As far as regulating your kitty on Vetsulin, I don't think it is going to happen. Is your vet aware that the manufacturer is asking that it no longer be used due to the fact that it is not working properly? Are they aware that the US FDA has issued warning against using this insulin? The manufacturer is even requesting that veterinarians place their patients on another kind insulin because Vetsulin is not stable from dose to dose - batch to batch. If your vet is refusing to change insulins after knowing this issue, it is time to change vets. (S)he is asking for a malpractice suit to happen. My suggestion would be to go to these links, read the available information, print them out and hand carry them to your vet and DEMAND a different insulin. If they do not comply - kick that vet to the curb and find one who will.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/new ... 188752.htm
http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/Vet_ProductAlert.aspx

~M
 
For Hypos always keep a box of powdered glucose handy. It will only cost £1 or so and lasts for years.

You can rub the powder onto the gums or dissolve in a little water and syringe into the mouth.
It works very quickly

Hope this helps

Mary
 
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