Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin
Member Since 2009
I have been hesitant to post his poorer than usual BGs. Unfortunately Gandalf is a long term diabetic with multiple health issues and I cannot always give shots on a regular schedule, so it is a challenge to make Levemir work at its optimum for him. I don't want others to think Levemir is a poor insulin because of that. It is probably the best insulin available for a cat like Gandalf.
Suffice it to say, after 4 days riding in the upper 300s, I decided it was a good time to get a health check on him. His blood panels actually came back very good today, his BUN and creatinine (kidney values) were steady and he did not show signs of infection, although his Amylase was elevated from his last check in January for his surgery (he had 2 benign lumps removed), so he may be experiencing chronic pancreatitis symptoms that sometimes cause him to not eat well.
That matches with what I've seen his BGs doing over the past few weeks. I would get very low numbers, which caused me to lower the dose, then these high numbers, which I can't get down unless I raise the dose. Multiply that with having a wonky work schedule which causes me to have to give late shots, then shots 2 hours early, and it's a real mess.
All that equals too many changes and 300s result.
One of the things I do which isn't standard diabetic cat care treatment is give sub-Q fluids to him, not always daily, but mainly based on his BG. If he's over 300 I usually give him 50ml once a day. I was advised about doing this by a Univ. of IL vet school vet when I presented Gandalf there in 2008 for possible hyperthyroid and he was very dehydrated with higher than normal kidney values. Long story short, I've been giving him fluids occasionally ever since and his kidney values have maintained. So as high as he was yesterday, 370s both AM & PMPS's, I gave him 75ml fluids each time.
It's been observed by others who treat for CRF and diabetes that fluids can lower BG. So I wasn't very surprised to get a 121 reading this AMPS. I raised his dose very slightly last night, from 1.2U to 1.25U, very close to his best dose of 1.3U. He was in the 240s after his acupuncture when we did the blood draw today, but then he came down nicely by +5 he was 117 and +8 he was 125. I have also been giving him Pepcid AC for nausea and have been advised to continue doing that daily to combat his possible gastric issues and help him feel like eating.
His BG results today could simply be the insulin finally sorting out all the changes from last week - schedule changes as well as dose and full moon changes! So I guess I shouldn't be as pessimistic as I was becoming about his current status. Wanted to share so others who are newer either to Levemir or FD itself know even long term caregivers struggle sometimes.
Suffice it to say, after 4 days riding in the upper 300s, I decided it was a good time to get a health check on him. His blood panels actually came back very good today, his BUN and creatinine (kidney values) were steady and he did not show signs of infection, although his Amylase was elevated from his last check in January for his surgery (he had 2 benign lumps removed), so he may be experiencing chronic pancreatitis symptoms that sometimes cause him to not eat well.
That matches with what I've seen his BGs doing over the past few weeks. I would get very low numbers, which caused me to lower the dose, then these high numbers, which I can't get down unless I raise the dose. Multiply that with having a wonky work schedule which causes me to have to give late shots, then shots 2 hours early, and it's a real mess.
All that equals too many changes and 300s result.
One of the things I do which isn't standard diabetic cat care treatment is give sub-Q fluids to him, not always daily, but mainly based on his BG. If he's over 300 I usually give him 50ml once a day. I was advised about doing this by a Univ. of IL vet school vet when I presented Gandalf there in 2008 for possible hyperthyroid and he was very dehydrated with higher than normal kidney values. Long story short, I've been giving him fluids occasionally ever since and his kidney values have maintained. So as high as he was yesterday, 370s both AM & PMPS's, I gave him 75ml fluids each time.
It's been observed by others who treat for CRF and diabetes that fluids can lower BG. So I wasn't very surprised to get a 121 reading this AMPS. I raised his dose very slightly last night, from 1.2U to 1.25U, very close to his best dose of 1.3U. He was in the 240s after his acupuncture when we did the blood draw today, but then he came down nicely by +5 he was 117 and +8 he was 125. I have also been giving him Pepcid AC for nausea and have been advised to continue doing that daily to combat his possible gastric issues and help him feel like eating.
His BG results today could simply be the insulin finally sorting out all the changes from last week - schedule changes as well as dose and full moon changes! So I guess I shouldn't be as pessimistic as I was becoming about his current status. Wanted to share so others who are newer either to Levemir or FD itself know even long term caregivers struggle sometimes.
