? Day 3 post diagnoses, past the panic and onto the questions.

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Tracey&Jones (GA)

Tracey&Jones (GA)

Member Since 2016
Hi,

Jones and I are from Alberta, Canada. My 12 yr old cat Jones was just diagnosed with diabetes on Friday Dec 9th. This has been a very long road. Starting the end of August through several weeks, blood tests, ultrasounds which showed he had IBS/pancreatitis but no signs of the big C. The latest blood test showed he was stable on the IBS/pancreattis but he was now diabetic. He dropped weight from 5.75 Kg to 4.2 which is quite scary. He was drinking and peeing a lot but thought it was due to the steroids. Our vet was good and checked for diabetes and he kept dropping in and out but now he definitely is in the special kitty group now. We are hoping if we switch the steriod he is currently on (predisonolone) to leukeran (a chemotherapy drug) that we can get him reverted back to normal blood sugars but we are not sure considering the severity of the infection he had in his pancreas. Right now his drug list includes: Cerenia 1/4 tab a day for vomiting; 2.5mg of predisone (will be taking this down in another week as we wean him off); 1 tabs every 12 hrs of metronidazole (anti-diarrhea) and 0.25 ml of B12 every second week and now we have 2 units glargine BID (Lantus). It took 3 months to get to the part we could get the nutrients from the food into his system and now we are faced with from the blood into the cells. His first dose was Friday. Still learning on doing the prick for the blood check - got it down to 1 poke this morning. Learning patience is the key to this step - one stab and wait for the bead of blood. His #'s are very high - 25.8 in the morning to 21.9 in the evening before his second dose. Anyway, will be looking through the board for help and suggestions as I go along on this journey with Jones. Still worried on the diet, was going to check in with the vet. He is on a wet Purina DM diet (which is all he wants to eat at the moment) and a science diet ID prescription diet both the chicken pate, the ID chicken stew and the dry (He stopped eating this about 4 days ago). It is hard to determine what is best for him and to ensure he gets his calorie intake (very picky eater since this all started). The vet hasn't really indicated what to use except I can use all that I have. And she hasn't really guided on the amount as we have been letting him eat as much as he wants during all this. Being in a house of 4 cats has made this a very interesting deal as we have a kidney bean kitty and a fat momma on a diet.

Can anyone guide me on how long does it take for the glargine to "take" affect and how often is a good guide to do the BG checks at home? I am doing before AM/PM injections but as I work through out the day it is hard to do anything else until the weekend.
 
You may want to also post in the Lantus forum and include a link to this thread.
I have the same problem in that I can't test during the work week. I try to do a before bed test if I can, maybe 3 or 4 hours after his pm shot.
 
Hi and welcome from next door in BC. My Neko was diabetic first, then got IBD/lymphoma. She went to an internal medicine vet to try coordinating all her issues (she also had kidney disease and a heart condition). He put her on budesonide, which is a good alternative to prednisilone for diabetic kitties. It doesn't affect blood sugars like prednisilone does. Neko heart also meant she couldn't take pred. Do you have an IM specialty vet near you?

I have a second cat who has IBD/lymphoma. When it rains it pours here. :rolleyes: He's on prednisilone and I'm monitoring his blood glucose, so far so good. Both kitties are/were on Leukeran. A pulse dose given once every two weeks. Leukeran's not really a substitute for the steriod, but rather a complement. Normally you would do a steroid, and add Leukeran if you know the IBD has transitioned to small cell lymphoma.

The best food for diabetics is low carb wet or raw food. You might want to check out http://www.ibdkitties.net/ to find out more about ibd diets and supplements. Howeve, I would not ditch the dry food until you are testing regularly as going to low carb food can greatly reduce the amount of insulin they need.

Lantus (glargine) is a depot insulin, so it takes several days for the depot to build up and for you to show the full effect of a dose. It also means you have to take your time doing any dose increases. As for testing, try testing before each shot to make sure its safe to give insulin, and before bed as many cats go lower then. Then any time off you have such as a weekend can be used for getting spot checks to give you an idea how the insulin dose is working. Some people get an in the door/out the door test during the week if they are gone for less than 12 hours.

Before you post on the Lantus forum, most of us keep track of our blood glucose numbers on a spreadsheet. Those of us with experience have learned to spot patterns and can help you with dosing decision. Here are the instructions to create a spreadsheet. You want the World version - the US isn't using the same metric system as us, so their blood glucose numbers (BG) are in a different numbering scheme (basically multiply by 18).

For testing, it also helps to have warm ears. Either fill an old sock with rice and microwave it to hold agains his ears, rub the ears, or use an old pill bottle or film canister with warm water against the ears. My girl had black ears, so a very tiny smear or vaseline also helped bead the blood and made it visible.
 
Tracey&Jones said:
I am doing before AM/PM injections but as I work through out the day it is hard to do anything else until the weekend.
Click to expand...

You should also read through the sticky "Is TR possible with a full time job" .....even if you end up doing a different dosing method than Tight Regulation ( Start Low, Go Slow is the other method), there are some good ideas in that thread about dealing with testing
 
Do you have an IM specialty vet near you?

Yes, we have a few clinics with IM specialty - which is where my vet came from but is not IM certified.

Leukeran's not really a substitute for the steriod, but rather a complement. Normally you would do a steroid, and add Leukeran if you know the IBD has transitioned to small cell lymphoma.

We have done aspirates for this but nothing was noted, I think she wants to add it into the mix a precaution. We are taking the predison down to 2.5 mg once every 2 days and will be adding in the Leukeran 2 mg every second day, so yes as a complement.

I would not ditch the dry food until you are testing regularly as going to low carb food can greatly reduce the amount of insulin they need.

Still offering but he hasn't eaten eat in days.

Lantus (glargine) is a depot insulin, so it takes several days for the depot to build up and for you to show the full effect of a dose. It also means you have to take your time doing any dose increases. As for testing, try testing before each shot to make sure its safe to give insulin, and before bed as many cats go lower then. Then any time off you have such as a weekend can be used for getting spot checks to give you an idea how the insulin dose is working. Some people get an in the door/out the door test during the week if they are gone for less than 12 hours.

Before you post on the Lantus forum, most of us keep track of our blood glucose numbers on a spreadsheet. Those of us with experience have learned to spot patterns and can help you with dosing decision. Here are the instructions to create a spreadsheet. You want the World version - the US isn't using the same metric system as us, so their blood glucose numbers (BG) are in a different numbering scheme (basically multiply by 18).

I have downloaded this and was looking on filing it in once I figure how to use it. I the meantime I am using an old fashioned notebook to keep track of food, readings, poop texture, pee volume..
 
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