? Dose help tonight

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Brian & Monkey

Brian & Monkey

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Hi there. Monkey is a new diabetic, we also have a newbie thread. She's on ProZinc for 1 month now. I tried 1.5u, then 1.75u, and last night started 2u. This morning, her BG was off the meter high. I am not sure what to do for tonight.

Here are some facts that help with troubleshooting:
  • The ProZinc is 1 month old. It has not been left out; it does not have floaties; it has only been treated gently.
  • I have been giving both my cats Adequan shots for 2 years so I am pretty sure I can tell when the shot goes in or not, and so far I have not missed that I can tell.
  • She does not have access to any other food she could be eating secretly.
  • Her diet has stayed the same. She gets wet food meals and has a small amount of kibble out. Last night, it was gone by 3am. (Her sister eats it too.)
  • There has been no noticeable stressor or change in her behavior.
  • I tested the meter on myself this morning and it worked normally.
Any advice for tonight and going forward? Thank you.
 
Hi Brian and Monkey, and welcome! Thanks for the quick summary of background information, that was helpful!

I'll get to your question first, and then a few other things after that. I would suggest staying at the 2u dose tonight and tomorrow morning. If there is any way it's possible, please get a test in later tonight (sometime around +4 to +6 would be ideal, but even a +3 could at least give us a hint). Cats often run lower during the night, so we need to see where she's going on that dose before recommending the next increase. Sometimes Saturday nights are easiest to wake up and do the test since most folks don't have work tomorrow morning, but of course that may not be true for you, so I understand if it won't work tonight.

Now onto a couple of other things: First, food. If I'm looking at the right one, it's looks like the RC Rabbit is 15% carbs which is too high for our sugar cats. It's recommended to stay under 10%. I'm guessing Monkey has a chicken allergy? Have you tried raw food with her yet? That may be the best way to accommodate the allergy needs and get her onto something that will allow those BG numbers to start to come down.

This might be worth trying: Primal Rabbit

Also, which dry food are you giving her?

I'm focusing on the food because it's the single most important (and most difficult) thing for a diabetic cat. And the window for getting a cat into remission is fairly short, so the quicker a cat gets on an appropriate diet, the better chance they have.

Also, are you giving her a probiotic for the IBD? They work wonders. Most folks around here use s. boulardii. I'd be happy to share more info about that if you aren't already giving her one.

I hope she comes down for you soon. I know those HI readings can be rather disconcerting!
 
Thank you for your reply. Her +3 is 204. Now I wonder if she'll go low overnight :( What should I do in the morning? I gave the 1.75u a good try (though I admit it's hard to measure it precisely) so I don't think that I should go down? But at +3 she's 204. Do I stick to 2u?

Regarding her food, I'm not sure what she and her (biological) sister are allergic to. Some cats with food allergies get very itchy on the neck and face and she and her sister both had this symptom, they constantly had scabby ears and foreheads. Monkey went further and at one point actually really tore up her face, another symptom of cat allergies ("facial excoriation," don't google it). On top of this, they are both extremely picky princesses (won't even eat people food like cheese or meat) so with them eating this food and not tearing their skin up I don't want to rock the boat.

Also complicating things, Monkey's IBD symptom was frequent (daily, sometimes 2-3x day) vomiting after eating. She's held in check on low dose budesonide and the limited diet. Especially now with the diabetes and giving insulin shots, I'm very reluctant to do anything that could cause a flare of vomiting. I've read up on this site and I know everyone feels strongly about the food, but her allergies and vomiting are quite serious. And honestly my nerves are shot over this whole thing.

Thank you again and I appreciate all advice and thoughts on this.
 
Regarding the 1.75u dose, you have pre-shots, but only one mid-cycle number at that dose, so we can't tell if it was effective or not. My hunch is to agree that it wasn't enough, but there's really no way to know. The pre-shot numbers are the last ones to change, it's the mid-cycle numbers that tell you if the dose is too much or too little.

That +3 is still quite high, so I would guess Monkey will be fine tonight, but if you're concerned, you can set an alarm and check. Often times the caregiver can get a sense of things that we just can't from across the internet.

I would keep at this 2u dose and keep getting those tests around +4 to +7 through tomorrow's AM cycle. Then we can see what makes sense for the next steps.

Do you work during the week? Just trying to get a sense of how quickly you can move with dose changes and still keep Monkey safe.
 
Hey Brian! Djamila has given you some good info and advice, so I really am just stopping to say hi! Please ask any questions you have...this is a tough disease and a steep learning curve...we've all been there and we get it!
 
Thank you to everyone who responded. She was very high again this morning — >500. I was able to do a few readings during the day today. I feel like we should stay at 2u—what does everyone else think? Thank you.
 
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