Fact or fiction?

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Richard Zenk

Richard Zenk

Member Since 2014
My 16 year old male brown tabby (Baxter) was diagnosed with diabetes this Monday in Cincinnati Ohio. He weighs about 12 lbs compared to before he weighed almost 15 lbs before diabetes a year or so ago. About a year ago he was diagnosed with asthma and us on an inhaler. The vet said he showed pathology in his lungs when she did an X-ray. He had stones in his kidneys as well. He was released from the vet after two nights for a bill of $750. His glucose went from 500+ to somewhere between 200-300 according to vet. I am to give Lantus Solopen 1 mark of insulin at 12 hour intervals. Told to bring him back after 2 weeks for them to run blood curve and recheck his liver numbers. He seems to be eating and pooping normally five days later. After the two week check, how often do I need to check his numbers or bring it to the vet to check numbers?

1) Keep solopen refrigrated? The label from the pharmacy says not refrigrate. The vet said to refrigrate. Reading posts here it seems like it you keep it refrigrated it lasts 6 months - which is about long the vet said I could use it if the dosage doesn't change. Also read post that it is better to bring to room temp before admin so it hurts less. Is that true? If so, does it impact longevity of insulin to take it out an hour or more before admin then put it back in? Or should I just fill the syringe and keep that out?

2) Inject in neck or hip? The vet told me to inject in the neck. Posts here say the better place is the thigh or stomach.

3) Five days from diagnosis and treatment he is moving around some but doing a lot of walking then sitting like I saw him do on Sunday the day before I brought him in. Does energy take a while to come back?

4) Did I help cause him to get diabetes? My Catholic guilt is pressing on me wondering if although I knew a wet food only diet was best and I have been feeding dry with auto feeder 3 times a day and wet food twice a day - his weight would have been less if I skipped the dry and done the work with the wet food. With six other cats, I feed him the premium Costco brand dry and Friskes. I ordered Wellness dry per vet's recommendation although she said to feed him enough wet so he doesn't or hardly eats dry. Guess I thought it might be better for the other six cats - five of them have no health issues and one cat has blood cancer well controlled for two years by medication. I ordered the Fancy Feast classics to begin feeding him. Planning on giving him 3 ounces twice a day. I feel very guilt and wonder if the belly flap that shakes on some of the other cats when they run is pure carbs based on the dry food I feed.

5) I told the vet that I read that cats don't have long term organ issues with diabetes. She said that is true because unlike humans were you have to monitor very carefully the dosage cats don't live long enough to show those issues and therefore the dosage doesn't have to be as exact. I know cats don't live past 20 years usually, but her statement depressed me. Is what she said true?

6) My vet said to draw more insulin than is needed then push back to the first line to minimize air bubbles tho she said if present such bubbles won't hurt him. I read here that may push silicone from the needle into the insulin. Am using 100 needles the vet gave me. Is this method OK?

7) I found I could order the diabetes prescription online without a script. That was a change from several years ago when I needed a script to buy the food.

Lastly the vet said Goodrx.com was a site for best online human or pet prescription price comparison shopping. I paid $89 for my one solopen from local CVS.

Suggestions? Thoughts?
 
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welcome to the board.
We call this the best place you never wanted to be but we are a friendly community and will help you with everything you want.
i'll answer your questions first.
1. we all refrigerate, and keep on a shelf ( not the door which shakes things up too much)
do not roll the insulin, you don't need to warm it up, lantus stings a little and it depends on how sensitive your cat is.
Most of us test, feed and shoot at the same time. Many kitties have their head in the bowl and don't notice.
Each cat is different.

2. Inject where you feel most comfortable and where you are most likely to get the juice in the cat. A fur shot is when you miss because the cat moved
or you failed, if that happens we don't re-shoot because you don't know how much might have gotten in.

3. Yes, they are lethargic in the beginning. It does get better as their numbers get to regulation ( below 200)
I will also bring up diabetic neuropathy here, is you cat walking fine or do his hind legs kind of drag.
Does he still jump on furniture like always or has he stopped doing that? Neuropathy is painful and we give 3-5 mg of methylcobalamin to help with that.
It works for both cats and humans.
Do not confuse it with b-12 cobalamin..... it has to be methylcobalamin. http://www.ilifelink.com/zobaline-for_diabetic_cats-3_mg_x_60_tablets.html
or you can use http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-b-12-methylcobalamin-5000-mcg-60-capsules-3
the vitacost one does have a trace of rice flour.... but I liked that it was a capsule and I could mix it in the food.

4. None of us knew how bad dry food was for our furbabies.
a great read is www.catinfo.org which explains it all .
I even researched the history of pet food, which has only been around 100 plus years.
Just like all the crap out there for people that is causing them to become diabetic.... it is the same with pet products. A lot of garbage all hyped up to get
us to buy it.
dry food for cats is the equivalent of feeding ourselves Cheetos.

5 and 6. dosage.... we microdose here. We want to give the cat's pancreas insulin support for as long as possible. We work our way down the dosage scale
( or up) as needed. The dosage amount varies, it will never be static.
The vet's tend to think of whole unit doses.... We don't.
Cat's are small. And going from 1 unit to 2 unit can quickly become an overdose. We change doses in 1/4 unit increments.
You will want to get syringes with half unit markings. You can use your pen like a vial to draw out insulin.
The pens only do 1 unit variations.
Cats are lucky ( unlike dogs) in that their pancreas can heal. Many cats can go into remission. ( like mine)
They are still diabetic but they are diet controlled diabetics. Remission doesn't last forever. Infections, teeth issues, and other diseases can bring
them out of remission.

7. You can call around and check prices. The smaller pharmacies tend to be more willing to break up a package of pens and sell one.
I got a pen for $50.
Some people have had luck with target depending on the town.



and since this is just an introduction, I will add that we all test ourselves.
You wouldn't give insulin to a child and not monitor. Many vets don't believe most people are willing to learn all it takes.
It is a steep learning curve in the beginning but you have all of us to help you.
There is more collective experience here because we live and deal with FD 24 hours a day. Vets don't.

You should test at every shot, before giving insulin and it's really good to get at least one midcycle test in.
We all have spreadsheets which help others to advise you when to change dose.
Lantus is not dosed on the highest number..... It is dosed on how low ( nadir) they go during the cycle.
Many vets don't have experience with Lantus and advise too high a dose. ( which can lead to a hypo and a very expensive vet stay)

Please ask more questions....
and consider getting your own meter. ( we all have human glucometers) The vet meter is too expensive and not really any better.

Again, Welcome!
 
Check my signature link Glucometer Notes for info on blood glucose readings and some reference ranges.
Read over Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you can make to evaluate your cat's health, especially urine ketone monitoring. Ketones form as a by-product of fat breakdown. Too many ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially fatal complication of diabetes.
 
Flovent is a steroid. The link you gave said
Corticosteroid Medication Detail:fluticasone proprionate (Flovent®, Flixotide®)
Sometimes a steroid like Flovent is enough to push a ca into diabetes.
 
Fluticosone is deposited mainly in the lungs and mainly acts locally, though small systemic effects may happen.
 
There is no point in playing the blame game. If your cat has asthma and needs a steroid inhaler, then he needs the steroid. Many of our cats have other conditions that can raise glucose levels, we just work around that fact, adjust insulin accordingly. And most of us didn't know that dry food could be so bad for our cats. No blame, just move on.
 
Welcome to the FDMB Richard and extra sweet Baxter!

You've already gotten some great information, but I just wanted to add something about where you can get your Lantus

There are a lot of us that have been using a place in Canada and been very happy with them. They are great to work with, ship promptly (takes about a week depending on where you live) and are a lot cheaper than getting it anywhere here in the States.

http://www.rxcanada4less.com/index.html is the link to Marks Marine Pharmacy and they carry the Lantus Solostar pens for $133.99 for a pack of 5 (plus $25 shipping) In most cats, that's enough for at least a year!

They do require a prescription, but it can be faxed or emailed to them. They also have an 800 number and are happy to talk to you

Good luck with Baxter! You're in the right place to get help!
 
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