First Post. Newly Diagnosed

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Dillan420

Dillan420

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Hello Everyone,
First of all I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all of their information and input that they have all compiled. This site has been my one source for a quick education on feline diabetes since Dillan was diagnosed with diabetes on Friday. When the vet checked the BG it had a reading of 29 and the vet asked for us to leave Dillan there over night. In the morning when we came back, we were told Dillan's reading before his morning insulin was 23. Since then we have been giving dillan 2 units of Lantus twice a day and have switched him from Hill's C/D (because he had crystals form 2 years ago) over to Hill's M/D. After reading the information on here I think I might be talking to the vet on wednesday, when we bring dillan in for his follow up, about a good wet food to switch over to. We have not been successful in getting a new BG reading level since the vet on Saturday morning but we are going to try again tomorrow night, so hopefully we will have some more success. Right now though Dillan seems like he is doing alot better; not drinking/pissing as much, more alert, no hypoglycemia signs. The only problem is getting him adjusted to eating twice a day instead of free feeding him, which is also when we give him the insulin. Once again I'd like to thank everyone for all of the information.
 
Sounds like your off to a good start. Keep trying on the testing, it can be frustrating but it does get easier. Check out all of the info here there are some good tips to make it easier and videos to show you how.

I assume your BG numbers are Canadian/European which is in mmol/L, in the US (which most on this board are from) they still use the mg/dl measurement, so they get confused by the metric, to convert your values to mg/dl just multiply by 18, so your 29 mmol/L x18=522 mg/dl. Definatly a diabetic number!

Lantus is a super insulin and with a change in diet which you can read here which brands are recommended I think Dillan has an excellent chance at not needing insulin injections forever! He could become a diet-controlled diabetic (what we call OTJ-off the juice) :-D Just keep reading and asking questions. Check out the Lantus insulin groups forum here and introduce yourself there, lots of kitties on Lantus here and lots of experience and support there. Welcome to the sugar dance!
 
Newly Diagnosed-LANTUS 2u

Hi and welcome to FDMB.

Great insulin :mrgreen:

As far as I'm aware, Dillon having crystals shoulldn't mean he has to be ona prescription food diet (might be an idea to strat a new thread asking that question)

Although Dillons reading was high we have a start low go slow approach here. This means we start cats on 1u and increase doses in .25u increments (means getting 1/2 unit measure syringes and then halfing with you r eye again when on a .25 or .75 number)

Before switching to an even lower carb food (commercial, much cheaper and regarded as more nutritious than Hills) I would advise to cut his insulin dose.
Carbs are the biggest effect on bg readings.If your cat is on a higher dose and eating higher carb food that could stop him from dropping too low.

We recommend hometesting here, before a shot and then getting whatever spotchecks in that you can. With Lantus nadir (lowest bg number in the cycle)is usually around +6 hrs after shot. This is the number you base your dose on, not preshot reading (which usually is higher because insulin effects have worn off)

There is no reason you can't continue to free feed Dillon. All you have to ensure is that he hasn't eaten within 2 hours of a preshot (or you are shooting an elevated artificial bg number).
Lucky was a free feeder and I didn't change that, just had to be mindful how much I left down through the night to ensure she hadn't eaten 2 hours earlier in the morning.
I'm at work so don't have my links with me, but if you scroll down this forum you will see other threads where hometesting tips have been given. Just takes time, patience and pereverence.


I would also suggest you click on Lantus ISG and read the various stickies they have there about using and handling Lantus. Alot to get your head round, but you pick it up fast.
Good luck
 
Just popping in to say that Sebastian had crystals and a complete urinary blockage a couple of years ago (before he was diagnosed with diabetes, even.) He was on prescription food for that, but it was DRY and I swear that's what caused his diabetes.

Since he's been on an all canned diet, though, he hasn't had any more problems. The canned food gets so much water into the system that it seems to help prevent crystals from forming, at least from what I've read.
 
Some tips for getting that blood from the ear:

Do you sure warm the ear up with a rice sack? Take a thinnish sack and fill with uncooked rice. Warm in microwave until very warm but not hot. Keep it on the ear for at least 10 - 15 seconds to get the blood moving around.

Are you sure you aiming in the right place? Put a flashlight behind Kitty's ear. Look for the vein running down the side of the ear. You are aiming for the little capilliaries that run off the vein toward the edge of the ear. When you find the right spot, put a drop of vaseline there. It also helps the blood bead up after poking.

This is my favorite site for hometesting tips: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgtest.htm

Tell us more about what is difficult when you try to test - getting blood, holding kitty still, etc. We all have our tips and hints that helped us.
 
Thank you everyone for your responses. I have started to read the Lantus stickies and it has helped me already. I've been giving Dillan 2 units since friday night therefore he has had 6 doses so far and we have had him switched over to Hill's M/D since then as well. He seems to be acting fine no signs at all of hypoglycemia and I have read that some cats show no signs of this. I will look over the tips on taking blood tests again and I will be trying exceptionally hard tonight because of the change in diet and also the high dose of Lantus. We kept him on Hill's C/D in order to avoid the chance of blockage again so we did not mind paying the extra in food in order to avoid the $600 vet bill. Either way if I'm unsuccessful in getting the glucose test tonight we will be going to the vet tomorrow to find out for sure what his readings are. Thank you everyone for their responses and please feel free to give me any more advice.
 
Just realize that you may not get "true" blood glucose readings at the vet. Unless he is super relaxed there and does not react to the strange people or noises or animals, he can be stressed. Stress raises blood glucose levels. Cats are generally higher at the vet than their readings are at home - sometimes quite a bit.
 
Hi everyone I just did a BG test tonight right before Dillan's PM injection it wasn't great, 24.3 mmol/L so 437. I think what might have happened was that we double fed him in the morning so a full 1/2 cup in the morning instead of 1/4 cup. Does anyone know how much of an impact that this would possibly have on his BG levels? I realize that the best time to test is +6 Hours to see what his lowest BG level is on Lantus but I wanted to compare it to the vet's tests which were taken 2-3 days ago. Friday night the vet tested him as a 29.7 mmol/L (534) then on Saturday morning before his second injection it was 23.7 mmol/L (427). But ever since we started giving him insulin injections his increased pissing and drinking stopped therefore I think that the test tonight was alot higher then its been in the last couple days. So I was just wondering if anyone knows or could guess at how much a double feed would affect a BG level? Thanks again everyone for the continued support. The good thing tonight though I guess was that the first home test was completed :-D and I guess that I won't go to the vet tomorrow.
 
Things are looking up! Welcome to the Vampire Club!

I would suggest that you go over the Lantus support group for dosage advice. Lots of people on this board use Lantus, but everyone there is working with dosage and management. It is a good idea to read the posts on that forum; you will see that lots of people are working on the same issues as you are. Now that you are hometesting, they will ask that you post a spreadsheet: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16 It is a great color coded tool that will help you see what is happening with your doses.

You are doing a great job! What a lot you have learned in a short time.
 
Thank you everyone for your support none of my advances could have been made without your support. Looking for a good canned food now to switch to, still have to read up on the changes with the insulin though. Then I'll have to start doing some multiple tests per day. Thanks again everyone you're a cat saver :-D
 
Dillan420 said:
Hello Everyone,
After reading the information on here I think I might be talking to the vet on wednesday, when we bring dillan in for his follow up, about a good wet food to switch over to.
Click to expand...

Here's where I (and I'm afraid most of us) may end up disagreeing with your vet. Listen carefully to the vet but don't buy a wet food just yet.

The problem is that dry food contains too little moisture (especially for a cat on crystals, but also for a diabetic), and also too much carbohydrate (for a diabetic.) Another problem is that there are no currently available prescription diabetic foods (dry or canned) that we've been able to recommend. The best of them, canned Purina D/M, is all liver, which is not a balanced diet and cats stop eating it eventually.

The second problem is that vets receive most of their diet information from pet food companies like Purina, who as you might imagine, won't say this stuff. So your vet may not be the most impartial or reliable source of diabetic diet info. I'd suggest instead you read up on it yourself, using these important links:

http://www.catinfo.org/ (Dr. Lisa also posts to this board and sometimes answers questions)
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/index.html Cat food contents charts (to help you select a locally-available low-carb canned food)

So let us know what the vet suggests feeding, but hold off until you talk to us, is my suggestion.
 
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