I have started a spreadsheet, but I should preface that we started this journey back at the end of July when Duke started losing weight and acting ravenous hungry. We took him to the vet, find out his numbers were at like 600 and that he was diabetic. My spreadsheet only reflects the past couple of days because a bunch of stuff has happened and we did not have a very accurate set of numbers for the first several months Please read the story and see if you can offer any help/advice and let me know if we're on the right path here...
Duke was diagnosed in late July and we started on 1 unit of Glargine twice daily. Previously he had been on a Science Diet dry food, but almost immediately we got him onto Fancy Feast Pates with the occasional Fancy Feast Medley. We were told by our vet that glucose readings weren't that important so long as we kept him regular. We did readings about once a week as the vet recommended. Truth be told, in the beginning, we were not very good at getting his glucose readings so even one test could result in poor Duke having his ear poked 3 or 4 times. He did not enjoy it and we were improperly trained how to do it by the vet. Ugh. Anyway, in the beginning when we did check, we were getting numbers like 420, 419, etc. But by Mid August lower numbers started to show up. We got an 81, a 212 and then in September we saw 81 a few more times. I almost couldn't believe it, because it seemed awfully low, but it kept showing up.
During this time, we kept diligent on our insulin injections, twice daily, 12 hours apart. We had always checked with the Alpha Trak 2 tester and strips. It was around this time we ran out of strips and didn't check his glucose for a couple weeks. Which in hindsight is pretty awful, but we were only testing once a week anyway so it didn't seem like much of a big deal.
Around the 21st of October something strange happened. Duke began acting weird. He was a bit "off" during the day and we wondered if maybe he had eaten a leaf we tracked in or something. He wasn't overly strange, just a bit off. We went to bed and I woke up to Duke wandering around the house acting VERY bizarre. I actually thought he had went blind. He was walking in areas he never walked before, he was getting "stuck" in spots he could have easily gotten out of if he could see, etc. We rushed him to the vet thinking that something had happened and he'd somehow gone blind. But as we waited to see the vet (several hours had passed) he seemed to be returning back to normal.
The vet ran a litany of tests including checking his glucose (it was 212 on 10/22) and the vet speculated that perhaps his glucose had gotten too low. She speculated that due to our diligence in giving him his shots, changing his diet and his weight loss (he used to be a 15ish pound cat, now he stays at about 10.8) that he could be in remission. We were told not to give him anymore insulin for a bit and then test him each day and report back in a week.
Starting on the 24th we tested each day, with no insulin.
10/24 - 410
10/25 - 327
10/26 - 282, 293 (we checked twice that day)
10/27 - 285, 388
10/28 - 350
It was pretty obvious to us that he was NOT in remission, we called the vet, who admonished us for not giving him insulin (even though it was them who told us not to give it to him, grr) and we started giving him insulin again.
However, I decided we would not give him 2 doses of insulin unless he needed it. The vet told us that he should be within the 80-180 range as "normal" and that even a little over 180 should not be considered high. I opted not to give him his second dose of insulin if he wasn't high. They also recommended doing a new curve, which we are doing today.
10/29 - 154 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
10/30 - 118 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
10/31 - 49, 127 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
11/1 - 118 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
As you can see, his numbers were quite low each day after giving him one unit of insulin. These readings were taken about 10 hours after his shot and after his morning and afternoon feedings. On 10/31 when his number came back 49!! I made sure to test him again later at night which is when I got the 127.
I am of the stance that obviously the insulin is regulating him, but I refuse to give him insulin when his numbers are so low. The day I got the 49 it was around the normal time he should be getting his second shot. I can only imagine what would have happened had I done that.
Today is his new curve and he has not yet had any insulin. Should I give him some? I don't know.
At 7:30 AM his level was 93
At 9:30 AM (after he'd eaten his first meal of the day) it was 107
At 11:30 his level was 175
At this point I'm not sure if/when I should be giving him his insulin. I understand the concept of giving it to him twice daily to regulate him, but that is clearly what caused his day of confusion and since we've been giving it to him once daily, his numbers have always come back good.
At what point today should I give him his insulin? Do I wait until his numbers go over 180 during the curve?
Why is this all so confusing? I just want to do what's right, but the vet has not been a lot of help with this and there is so much information out there, it's overloading. I want to do what is right and safe for Duke.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Duke was diagnosed in late July and we started on 1 unit of Glargine twice daily. Previously he had been on a Science Diet dry food, but almost immediately we got him onto Fancy Feast Pates with the occasional Fancy Feast Medley. We were told by our vet that glucose readings weren't that important so long as we kept him regular. We did readings about once a week as the vet recommended. Truth be told, in the beginning, we were not very good at getting his glucose readings so even one test could result in poor Duke having his ear poked 3 or 4 times. He did not enjoy it and we were improperly trained how to do it by the vet. Ugh. Anyway, in the beginning when we did check, we were getting numbers like 420, 419, etc. But by Mid August lower numbers started to show up. We got an 81, a 212 and then in September we saw 81 a few more times. I almost couldn't believe it, because it seemed awfully low, but it kept showing up.
During this time, we kept diligent on our insulin injections, twice daily, 12 hours apart. We had always checked with the Alpha Trak 2 tester and strips. It was around this time we ran out of strips and didn't check his glucose for a couple weeks. Which in hindsight is pretty awful, but we were only testing once a week anyway so it didn't seem like much of a big deal.
Around the 21st of October something strange happened. Duke began acting weird. He was a bit "off" during the day and we wondered if maybe he had eaten a leaf we tracked in or something. He wasn't overly strange, just a bit off. We went to bed and I woke up to Duke wandering around the house acting VERY bizarre. I actually thought he had went blind. He was walking in areas he never walked before, he was getting "stuck" in spots he could have easily gotten out of if he could see, etc. We rushed him to the vet thinking that something had happened and he'd somehow gone blind. But as we waited to see the vet (several hours had passed) he seemed to be returning back to normal.
The vet ran a litany of tests including checking his glucose (it was 212 on 10/22) and the vet speculated that perhaps his glucose had gotten too low. She speculated that due to our diligence in giving him his shots, changing his diet and his weight loss (he used to be a 15ish pound cat, now he stays at about 10.8) that he could be in remission. We were told not to give him anymore insulin for a bit and then test him each day and report back in a week.
Starting on the 24th we tested each day, with no insulin.
10/24 - 410
10/25 - 327
10/26 - 282, 293 (we checked twice that day)
10/27 - 285, 388
10/28 - 350
It was pretty obvious to us that he was NOT in remission, we called the vet, who admonished us for not giving him insulin (even though it was them who told us not to give it to him, grr) and we started giving him insulin again.
However, I decided we would not give him 2 doses of insulin unless he needed it. The vet told us that he should be within the 80-180 range as "normal" and that even a little over 180 should not be considered high. I opted not to give him his second dose of insulin if he wasn't high. They also recommended doing a new curve, which we are doing today.
10/29 - 154 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
10/30 - 118 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
10/31 - 49, 127 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
11/1 - 118 (1 unit of insulin in the morning, none after)
As you can see, his numbers were quite low each day after giving him one unit of insulin. These readings were taken about 10 hours after his shot and after his morning and afternoon feedings. On 10/31 when his number came back 49!! I made sure to test him again later at night which is when I got the 127.
I am of the stance that obviously the insulin is regulating him, but I refuse to give him insulin when his numbers are so low. The day I got the 49 it was around the normal time he should be getting his second shot. I can only imagine what would have happened had I done that.
Today is his new curve and he has not yet had any insulin. Should I give him some? I don't know.
At 7:30 AM his level was 93
At 9:30 AM (after he'd eaten his first meal of the day) it was 107
At 11:30 his level was 175
At this point I'm not sure if/when I should be giving him his insulin. I understand the concept of giving it to him twice daily to regulate him, but that is clearly what caused his day of confusion and since we've been giving it to him once daily, his numbers have always come back good.
At what point today should I give him his insulin? Do I wait until his numbers go over 180 during the curve?
Why is this all so confusing? I just want to do what's right, but the vet has not been a lot of help with this and there is so much information out there, it's overloading. I want to do what is right and safe for Duke.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
