First time posting! Any help is deeply appreciated

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Carly S

Member Since 2020
Hello everyone,

My 5 year old 16lb male cat named Bagel was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago when we came home from a vacation and he was so ill he could hardly walk and was very jaundiced. We took him to the vet and they ran all kinds of tests on him but all they could really find was that his blood sugar was incredibly high in the 500s and that his liver was very distended and painful.

We left him there all day for a glucose curve and to receive medication for his liver. Our vet started him on 6 units of ProZinc twice a day and a supplement for his liver. We were pretty heartbroken for him but accepted this new life and felt ready to do whatever it took to save his life.

One thing my partner and I both thought was strange was that our vet told us multiple times to continue allowing Bagel to free feed dry food throughout the day even though I was under the impression that would spike his insulin and that weight loss could possibly help him. But I continued to listen to my vet because I had no reason not to trust her.

About two months went by giving 6 units daily very diligently. We brought him in for another curve and our vet told us he was no longer a diabetic and we did not have to continue giving insulin. She believed whatever was wrong with his liver was resolved and we didn’t need it anymore. My partner and I yet again had no reason not to trust her but were both under the impression that diabetes was not something that just “goes away”

About three months later we noticed Bagel acting very lethargic and appearing to not feel well again and we brought him back in. Unsurprisingly his sugar was incredibly high in the 500s and we left him for another curve. Our vet again put him on 6 units twice a day and was concerned there was something more going on.

She mentioned cancer as a possibility as she seemed confused why the diabetes “went away” and came back. We ended up paying for an ultrasound that was luckily clear and only his liver was a little enlarged but no tumors were present.

About 9 months ago I noticed Bagel seemed to revert to being lethargic and peeing a lot. We had been giving him insulin diligently and were confused. Instead of leaving him for another curve we bought our own tester and strips and did the curve at home under the vets guidance. After 24 hours of numbers that never once dropped below 200, the vet said to continue the 6 units.

Since then we have just continued the 6 units under the vets guidance but have finally come to the realization that he is not getting better and that our vet is not helping him the way he needs.

We are running our own curve now and again his numbers are incredibly high. He’s tired all the time and my heart breaks for him. We would do whatever it takes to help him.

I found this forum a year ago but was too afraid to post and felt that we could just trust the vet and everything would be fine. We realize now that is not the case and we really do need your help.

Currently Bagel is on 6 units of ProZinc twice daily and free feeds on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Indoor Grain Free.

We would really appreciate any guidance and realize we need to find a new vet. Thank you for reading this and I’m very hopeful we can get Bagel healthy soon.
 
WELCOME TO FDMB! We are SO glad you decided to post. As you know we strive to help any cat and their humans to navigate this disease.
Pardon my saying so but 6 units to start out on, is a HUGE dose. I dont know if there are underlying issues that require so much insulin. I will leave that to our expert helpers. I applaud you taking control of Bagel's diabetes lets see if we can get that fine tuned. ;)

Are you home testing Bagels blood glucose? We highly recommend it. If so do you keep a log of his numbers?

Is Bagel still eating dry food? That could be helping those numbers stay in the high range.

Would you be interested in keeping a spreadsheet of Bagels numbers? This will help our experts follow how insulin is working for Bagel.
You can find that info here:
Suggestions, Tech Support & Testing Area
You can find the information for your signature in the same place. Your signature will be posted at the bottom of all your posts so our experts can see at a glance all Bagels particulars, like insulin type, food he eats, names. All this info will expedite your concerns.

Again welcome to the best darn site to help you help Bagel! :bighug:

jeanne

PS IF Bagel is still eating dry dont just take it away. The removal of dry food CAN drop numbers to dangerous levels. We can help with this!
 
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I'm going to be honest... your vet has NOOOOOO idea what he/she is doing. seriously none. a dose like 6 units was an extremely high and dangerous amount. only a few cats with certain conditions need that kind of dose (my cat unfortunately being one of them.) The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day and of course switching to a low carb food. at that dose they high carb food was probably the only thing keeping him alive.

one great thing is you have started testing at home which is GREAT, and will be key to helping .

Carly S said:
Blue Buffalo Wilderness Indoor Grain Free.
Click to expand...
This food is somewhere around 30 % carb. That's like a diabetic person eating donuts all day. grain free doesn't mean carb free because they add stuff like peas and potatoes. What you need is a low carb wet food. many here feed fancy feast classic or friskies pate food. I feed weruva. Here's a chart of foods............ https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

DON'T CHANGE FOODS UNLESS YOU LOWER THE DOSE as you would most likely see quite a drop in BG.

I'm so glad you found this group! We are going to help you!!!
 
First of all welcome!!

I'm sorry you have been having so much trouble, but you have arrived at the best place you never wanted to be, getting diabetes regulated takes time but it can be done.

You are off to a good start since you are starting to test at home, we will need for you to share the results you have been getting with us to get an idea of what is going on ( if you could start using the spreadsheet they mentioned that would be great)

6 units is a big dose and too much insulin can look as too little besides being potentially dangerous ( some cats do need that amount but is not common) does he have any other health issues?
 
HI and Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be!

Excuse my bluntness, but your vet hasn't done you or Bagel any favors. Starting a cat at 6 units is insane and telling you to just continue feeding kibble is just plain wrong.

Just like humans are told to reduce the carbs in their diet, it's the same for our cats. Most of us feed our own cats Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates because they're under 10% carbs, easy to find and affordable.

I'm glad to hear you have your own blood glucose tester now! What type is it? There are "pet" meters but the strips are quite expensive to use or you can use any human meter which usually have cheaper strips.

For now, if Bagel was my cat, I'd spend the next several days weaning him off the kibble and onto a low carb canned food BUT you need to be testing frequently. I'd probably suggest dropping his dose before you even start to maybe 3U.

You'll need to test before every shot....if the test is below 200, stall, DON'T feed and test again in 20-30 minutes. Use that time to post here with a clear subject line like "STALLING..NEED HELP!"

If his Pre-shot is over 200, go ahead and feed and shoot. He does need to eat a pretty "normal" sized meal due to the type of insulin you're using. Caninsulin tends to hit hard and fast so we want food on board first. 30 minutes after feeding, you can shoot.

Test several times throughout the cycle so we can see what's happening. (this is where our spreadsheet is a very valuable tool)

Where do you live? Since you're using Caninsulin, I know it's not the US so I suspect Canada or Europe. Caninsulin is a good insulin for dogs (thus the "canin" prefix) but not very good for cats. We've had some do OK on it though.

Sorry....had read two posts and was deciding which one to start with and got them mixed up....but 6U of Prozinc is still an insane starting dose!

Better insulin's are Lantus, Basaglar, Levemir (all are human insulin's that work very well in cats and would be available at any human pharmacy) or ProZinc which is a "cat only" insulin that's only available at your vet's office or at a veterinary supply website.

Hang in there. You're in the right place to get the best help for your "extra sweet" Bagel now!
 
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Chris & China (GA) said:
HI and Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be!

Excuse my bluntness, but your vet hasn't done you or Bagel any favors. Starting a cat at 6 units is insane and telling you to just continue feeding kibble is just plain wrong.

Just like humans are told to reduce the carbs in their diet, it's the same for our cats. Most of us feed our own cats Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates because they're under 10% carbs, easy to find and affordable.

I'm glad to hear you have your own blood glucose tester now! What type is it? There are "pet" meters but the strips are quite expensive to use or you can use any human meter which usually have cheaper strips.

For now, if Bagel was my cat, I'd spend the next several days weaning him off the kibble and onto a low carb canned food BUT you need to be testing frequently. I'd probably suggest dropping his dose before you even start to maybe 3U.

You'll need to test before every shot....if the test is below 200, stall, DON'T feed and test again in 20-30 minutes. Use that time to post here with a clear subject line like "STALLING..NEED HELP!"

If his Pre-shot is over 200, go ahead and feed. He does need to eat a pretty "normal" sized meal due to the type of insulin you're using. Caninsulin tends to hit hard and fast so we want food on board first. 30 minutes after feeding, you can shoot.

Test several times throughout the cycle so we can see what's happening. (this is where our spreadsheet is a very valuable tool)

Where do you live? Since you're using Caninsulin, I know it's not the US so I suspect Canada or Europe. Caninsulin is a good insulin for dogs (thus the "canin" prefix) but not very good for cats. We've had some do OK on it though.

Better insulin's are Lantus, Basaglar, Levemir (all are human insulin's that work very well in cats and would be available at any human pharmacy) or ProZinc which is a "cat only" insulin that's only available at your vet's office or at a veterinary supply website.

Hang in there. You're in the right place to get the best help for your "extra sweet" Bagel now!
Click to expand...

agreed with everything you said
She said she’s on prozync not caninsulin :cat:
 
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