Diagnosed on Saturday

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Kiki Thor

Kiki Thor

Member Since 2017
My cat was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday and we went back the next day to get insulin and learn how to give it.

He started us with 3 units twice a day with meals. Later after dinner I gave him his first dose. He seemed tired and I let him sleep.

Now this morning I gave him his second dose. Immediately after his injection he seemed tired and depressed so I gave him some treats which he wasn't really interested in and went back to sleep.

Now I've given him his third dose and same thing. I have the flu so I was asleep all day and he was meowing and walking all over me for attention so I gave him his dinner and his injection and he instantly seemed tired again.

What's going on? Is the dose too high? The vet was very quick with me and didn't offer a home test kit. We are suppose to go back in a week.

They also gave us diabetic canned food but his usual is fancy feast. He doesn't eat very much (just licks it instead of biting it) and I've given him a spoonful of dry food with dinner tonight. One positive thing I've noticed today though is he's not dehydrated like usual.
 
Which insulin are you using? 3 units is a high starting dose, it could be dropping his blood sugar too low.
You can go to Walmart and pick up a Relion meter and strips, and lancets and home test his blood sugar.
 
The insulin is Lantus. I'll drag myself to Walmart tomorrow and get that ty.

I was really surprised they didn't keep him at the vet longer. We were in and out both times in about 15 mins. I would have been much happier if the vet gave him his first dose rather than me.

If anyone in this forum is from Vancouver Canada and can recommend a great vet I'd be so happy.
 
Very high starting dose. Most start at 1 unit. I would reduce and start testing... Then you can gradually increase as needed. Look at the yellow stickies at the top of the lantus forum for info on different dosing protocols.
 
Reading the lantus thread is interesting. The vet never said when to give his two shots, he just said two a day with his meals. But this forum says they should be exactly 12 hours apart?

He also said he can only eat the diabetic food (that they sell in their office) and not his regular fancy feast. She handed me the diabetic food and it only came in one flavour!
 
Kiki Thor said:
Reading the lantus thread is interesting. The vet never said when to give his two shots, he just said two a day with his meals. But this forum says they should be exactly 12 hours apart?

He also said he can only eat the diabetic food (that they sell in their office) and not his regular fancy feast. She handed me the diabetic food and it only came in one flavour!
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The perscription food is no better than fancy feast classic. Just a lot more expensive. And if it's the savory selections variety is high in carb and not good for diabetic cats.
 
He eats the pate deli supper variety pack, and the poultry pleaser pack. He loves the giblets one. Is that one ok? I don't think I've ever bought the classic one.
 
You probably won't find "classic" on the fancy feast pate labels in canada. If its fancy feast or friskies and "pate" is on the label its most likely less than 10% carb.
 
also, you won't find the relion meter at a canadian walmart. Most meters are free when purchasing 100 blood glucose strips. I have several meters and use two. one for everyday and uses a very tiny drop of blood, the freestyle lite. and the other uses a larger drop of blood but I use it as it also can test for ketones(those ketone strips are $2.50+/strip), that's the freestyle precision neo.

Its been mentioned that several members found the freestyle lite to give lower HIGH numbers than other meters. I like it and it reviews well for accuracy.
https://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/2013/07/blood-glucose-meter-accuracy-comparison-chart/
 
Your vet sounds a lot like mine unfortunately. I truly believe if I hadn't found this place I would have accidentally killed my cat by now. :( he gave me zero information and for 3 weeks every few days he kept telling me to increase increase increase. We were at 5u and her numbers were still through the roof. Once I started educating myself and asking for advice here my cats numbers started coming down drastically besides the normal bounce once in awhile.

From one new person to the next, trust these people on here and what they say. I know it's hard to go against a liscensed professional but the truth is, a lot of vets are just not very educated when it comes to feline diabetes.

Reduce the dose to .5 or 1u, set up a spreadsheet, and start testing at least 3-4 times a day (with 2 of those being before each shot 12 hours apart). The spreadsheet has become my new best friend. It's so great to be able to easily look back to see how she has responded to certain doses and to see her numbers gradually get better. :).

Welcome and the more experienced people here will take good care of you!
 
Kiki Thor said:
If anyone in this forum is from Vancouver Canada and can recommend a great vet I'd be so happy.
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@Wendy&Neko is from North Vancouver and can give you some information about different things to help you out. I have tagged her so when she comes on she can give you some pointers relevant to Vancouver
 
Ohh thanks! I was wondering why I never saw the classic kind haha. I'm glad there's some Canadians here :)


I'm finding it pretty easy to not trust this vet unfortunately. I've recently moved here from calgary (where I had an amazing vet that I did trust) and I'm surprised at the lack of animal hospitals here. I couldn't even find a 24 hr one near me despite being in such a large city. Also apparently transit has the right to kick me off the bus with my cat here. Not a pet friendly city at all.

I'll start a spreadsheet tomorrow evening hopefully (unless this flu knocks me out again).
 
Kiki Thor said:
Ohh thanks! I was wondering why I never saw the classic kind haha. I'm glad there's some Canadians here :)


I'm finding it pretty easy to not trust this vet unfortunately. I've recently moved here from calgary (where I had an amazing vet that I did trust) and I'm surprised at the lack of animal hospitals here. I couldn't even find a 24 hr one near me despite being in such a large city. Also apparently transit has the right to kick me off the bus with my cat here. Not a pet friendly city at all.

I'll start a spreadsheet tomorrow evening hopefully (unless this flu knocks me out again).
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I'm a Canadian too but in Ottawa. I recommend that you also post on the Lantus/Levemir forum and tell your story. It's a large forum with a lot of very experienced people on it. When you feel better, have a look at the yellow info stickies on that forum. There's a lot there so take it very slowly and ask a lot of questions. Lantus can work very well but it needs a structured dosing regimen.
 
Hello and welcome. What part of Vancouver do you live in? I might know of a good clinic near you. There are a few that are open 24 hours, sadly none in North Vancouver yet though one is being built now.

How much does your kitty weigh? I will echo the others that the starting dose was likely too high. Getting a meter for home testing is a good idea. London Drugs often has buy strips, get free meter deals on. I found that the Safeway Pharmacy, of all places, is the cheapest for diabetic supplies like insulin, test strips, syringes, lancets. Costco or Real Canadian Superstore also have decent prices.
 
Hi, Welcome to the forum

Sadly your story is much like the ones most of have, there isn't much knowledge in the vets regarding FD, if you are lucky you may find a vet like mine that does care and is a great vet for other illness but doesn't really know much of FD, his idea of treatment was a quick action insulin big dose once a day and no testing , in his defense he really believed that testing was too stressful for me and wanted to keep me calmed (obviously not knowing what was going on and thinking I could kill Babu was far more stressing) , eventually he just let me handle things, but let me tell you there are great people with a lot of experience here so you've really arrived at the right place
 
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