foster kitty & me are new to diabetes - need advice!

[hollybee]

Hi all, I am new to this and have some questions......

In a nutshell, someone took Alex Olivia to the shelter with her lifelong buddy Donovan because they had 'too many animals' in the house ; (

I work with an adult cat rescue and they agreed to take them in, but while in the shelter they discovered she had diabetes - they were there 2 weeks b/c we were moving to a new group home. During this time she lost weight and one of them was using the litter box a lot. Both went on Clavamox - litter box now looks great. She also came to me with diarrhea which we thought was from Clavamox, but after a day it cleared up......I think she really didn't like the food they had there.

Anyway, we got a full blood panel done at the vet. Her GLU was 485.
We got the test kit and used it that same afternoon: 309
We put her on 0.5U Levemier BID
We have been testing her at 8am and 8pm, and did a curve last saturday (link to spreadsheet should be in signature line)

I am new to all of this, the testing has been difficult, but it's me, not her : ) Giving the Levemier shot is a breeze......

I have three questions (for now).

1) I am currently feeding her up to a can in the morning and up to another can in the afternoon......she loves the canned food....I just got her Sunday Feb 6th from the shelter and she has definitely put some weight back on here (you could feel her spine). Should I keep feeding her as much as she wants? I am currently feeding Wellness CORE but not sure how long my budget can handle that. Any suggestions for a good wet food for her? Should I leave dry food down for her? We have Evo in the house. She doesn't whine for food, but devours all the wet food I put down for her!

2) You'll see on the spreadsheet I have adjusted her dosage, not sure how accurate that is given the extreme difficulty in the markings on the syringes (geez, hasn't BD tried to make a smaller barrel, and thus greater spacing between half units??). I read about reducing the dose using the drop method and I think that might be a better way to go.....

3) I am new to this and learning as I go. Unfortunately my schedule is about to change in a couple of weeks (in addition to my M-F job, we have a side business and do weekend shows) which means long days away from home and some overnight travel. The rescue and I are desperately looking for someone to foster Alex Olivia and her brother - they are both really sweet, and really laid back. They get along with our resident cats just fine. They are 10 years young and really enjoy finding a comfy spot to lay. We are in Baltimore MD, but we are willing to transport them. Of course our goal is to get them into a forever home, so if anyone here has any suggestions for placing diabetic kitties it would be greatly appreciated.

They are both in really good spirits, despite all of the shuffling around. Alex Olivia is amazing when it comes to being tested (she sits in my lap and purrs while I test her ear), and the shot she never even feels! She is very even keel and I don't sense any depression, anxiety etc in her.....she seems very happy to have good food, a room (instead of a metal cage in the shelter) filled with comfy places to sleep, less noise, and her 'husband' Donovan!

I uploaded some video of them to YouTube;

Donovan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKJn-lgxFN0
Alex Olivia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiZdTkiX6JU

Thanks for any insights you all can provide!

holly and alex olivia

 

[pamela and tigger]

Hi and welcome. I read back on all your previous posts and it looks like you have been getting great advice.

Did you bookmark the links you got from Sienne in the lantus group? It is important to have these on hand to refer to. Also, you should read the Levemir Stickies at the top of this forum.

I am not sure why you reduced the dose to .25. It looks like she was doing well on the half unit. Can you get more spot checks in?

Some people free feed. Cats are usually pretty hungry when their diabetes is still unregulated.

Maybe feed three times a day if she is so hungry, right before each shot and mid-cycle. Unless you see a low number then you need to feed to bring her up.

On that note, here is what you should have in your Hypo Tool box:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... sg-1661798

And a list of hypo symptoms. Not trying to scare you, just want you to be prepared in case:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... msg-925783

Were you able to get in touch with Venita who heads up an organization called Diabetic Cats in Need? She is one of the moderators here.

Donovan looks just like Vicky's Gandalf. You will probably hear from Vicky as well when she checks in.

Keep asking questions!

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Hi, Holly. Welcome. Good job so far! I also think that the .5u was working for her. Were you uneasy about the lower 100s? Those are great numbers. They can go pretty low and be OK - with no problems. Both of mine have been in the 30s and been fine. Now I don't "plan" for them to go into the 30s.... I would prefer that 60 be the lowest. Right now you have some wiggle room on .5u if she drops a bit lower. The caveat to that is that she may still be settling on lev and the diet change is probably working in her favor too to bring down her BG.

So continue testing before every shot and getting spot checks when you can. Her numbers may come down more fairly soon. If so, try going to .4u (using the drop method you read about). I wouldn't lower the dose unless she goes below 50. I think the stickies info (Tilly Protocol) says 40, so I am suggesting a little "padding" there since both of you are so new to this game.

As for food, you can feed her more if she will eat it. She will be hungry until she gets back on track and gains her weight back (if she was underweight). Both of mine lost a lot of weight and then ate like pigs for several months, but after that they ate like normal cats. I'd say they were eating almost twice the amount they are now.

I feed Friskies low carb flavors and mix it with a little Authority or Wellness. It's probably a 10th high quality food, but I also give them boiled chicken breast meat as treats. I would give more high quality in the ratio, but I am out of work and feeding 5 cats, so... I am doing the best I can.

Mine all get about 8 kibbles of dry a day as treats also. I would not feed any more dry than that to any cat, especially a diabetic one (to answer your question about dry food). Evo is a very good, low carb dry, so a very small amount of it as a treat is OK. If she is eating the canned, stick with that. Some cats just can not be switched to all wet, but it sounds like she likes it.

 

[hollybee]

Hi Pamela and Tigger : )

Thanks for posting......I have been reading my way through the information......where are these 'stickies' you mention? How do I find them? I have just been clicking around on links.....maybe it's the same thing?

I did find the hypo document early on and printed it out, and added the name of two local vets.....and bought honey : )

I can do some more spot checking, but neither of us is home during the day....I'll try and get some more numbers over the weekend (in between our TNR clinic....*sigh*).

Someone else mentioned Venita - I'll try and search for her by her screen name, not sure if that works.

thanks again!! I will definitely add in another feeding.....she scarfs her way through her other two bowls......I read somewhere that some people freeze food and put it out so they can eat during the day/night.

I guess my confusion is if/when to start cutting back on the dose? Sounds like the first step is to get more timepoints in.....someone mentioned it's tricky to wean them off, so maybe I just stick with 0.5 units and post every few days so people can look at it and advise? and get lots more testing in? with more curves? I am in science and my experiments are way easier than this is :cry:

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

The "Stickies" are at the top of the forum page. Here is a link the the Levemir 101 info (you may have read this already):
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=682

I think my other post answers some of your questions about dose reduction, feeding etc.

I free-feed - I leave bowls out and everyone eats when they are hungry, day and night. Freezing a bit works, but will your other cats eat the food too? I give them half their daily food in the morning when I get up, a fourth at my dinner time and the other fourth right before I got to bed.

 

[pamela and tigger]

Hi Pamela and Tigger : )

Thanks for posting......I have been reading my way through the information......where are these 'stickies' you mention? How do I find them? I have just been clicking around on links.....maybe it's the same thing?

The Stickies are at the top of each forum...here in Levemir Insulin Support Groups, as in other forums, it is here on the main face page for each forum:

viewforum.php?f=10

I did find the hypo document early on and printed it out, and added the name of two local vets.....and bought honey : )

Good!

I can do some more spot checking, but neither of us is home during the day....I'll try and get some more numbers over the weekend (in between our TNR clinic....*sigh*).

I know, you sound like you have a very busy life, plus taking in fosters, and now a diabetic too. You are a saint, believe me.

It is just that we can't see how the insulin is working without a spot check here and there. If you could get one before you go to bed at least. You understand that trying to judge how you should proceed with Alex Olivia is hard without more information.

Someone else mentioned Venita - I'll try and search for her by her screen name, not sure if that works.

You just have to click on her name and send her a private message.

thanks again!! I will definitely add in another feeding.....she scarfs her way through her other two bowls......I read somewhere that some people freeze food and put it out so they can eat during the day/night.

I guess my confusion is if/when to start cutting back on the dose? Sounds like the first step is to get more timepoints in.....someone mentioned it's tricky to wean them off, so maybe I just stick with 0.5 units and post every few days so people can look at it and advise? and get lots more testing in? with more curves? I am in science and my experiments are way easier than this is :cry:

Yes, you have the right idea!

Also, earlier Sheila posted right before you at about the same time so I am not sure you saw her post. She is good at giving advice on small doses.

ETA: And again, just before I submitted this post I saw that Sheila and I were posting at the same time so you might want to go back and reread posts. It happens, posts get buried so easily.

 

[hollybee]

THANKS everyone! head is spinning from all of this, not sure how you all keep up with it (!)

I can definitely get her am and pm pre-shot numbers no worry......the days I sneak home a bit early I can also squeeze one in, at the earliest it will be +7 or 8 hours.......on the weekends I will spot check as well, especially over the next two weekends since the first two weekends in March we have shows 10-9 each day - :?

All the advice really helps about the food.....I felt bad b/c she seemed SO hungry when I would give her a can of food....but, I was so afraid to feed her in between and throw off her numbers....she is actually in a 'foster room' and only her buddy Donovan is in there with her so I can free-feed some.

THANKS again everyone! I will sift back through the links and stickies some more, and try to get in touch with Venita as well.....

Hope everyone's kitties have a 'good' day today