Girlie's mom: Just diagnosed

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Girlie's mom

Girlie's mom

Member Since 2017
Hi,
My beloved 18 year-old Blue Burmese, Girlie, has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride since she was diagnosed on 21 June 2017. She already has other issues requiring daily medications: Arthritis, Asthma and Idiopathic epilepsy (never a seizure, just odd head nods controlled since 2013 with Phenobarbitone). She's gorgeous about taking all of these meds now.

I took her to the vet because she'd been drinking non-stop & the acupuncture vet said she was quite constipated. Girlie's blood glucose was 30 mmol/L (540 mg/dL U.S.) which was a big increase from Dec 2016, when she was 10 mmol/L (US 180 mg/dL). She was not well. She was two nights in hospital as she had to have an enema to clear the colon out; on antibiotics for week two now as she aspirated post-surgery. Suffice to say it was a rough and terrifying couple of days.

She's home now, and I've learned to give her the insulin injections once a day. She's perkier as each day goes by, but she's driving me INSANE because she's always been a fussy eater and this is really worrying me because I have no idea how much she should truly eat before an insulin injection. I have thrown countless cans of food away as I try to tempt her am and pm.The vet wants me to do a 2 hourly blood glucose curve over the course of 24 hours (if I can) because it looks like she might be a "brittle" diabetic (not sure what that means, exactly) - and I've been reading up on symogyi. I'll be learning how to do the ear test at the vet's tomorrow; by the end of 24 hours will there be anyplace on her ear left to poke, I wonder? I'm dreading this...

And then there's Max, who's currently boarding as I can't handle him and closely monitor Girlie for food and water intake and bathroom habits. I have no idea how I'm going to manage a multi-cat household with the pair of them.

Apologies: being concise isn't my strong suit. Thank you for this forum! Any advice would be so, so appreciated.
Does anyone think it would be better to leave her at the vet's for the 24-hour BG curve tests or should I be brave and do it myself? Yikes!! Again, thanks so much...
 
Welcome to FDMB. It may seem very overwhelming when you first start on the road to treating feline diabetes, but you have taken an important step by wanting to educate yourself and joining this wonderful forum.

One important thing you can do is to start doing regular home testing, before each shot and at least once in between shots so that you can monitor how well your Girlie is responding to the insulin and the dose. Tests done at home are more reliable since many kitties experience vet stress which can affect the glucose readings.

This link gives you some good basic information to begin with:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/fdmb-faq.htm

Once you have questions...and you will have LOTS of questions ;)....you can post over on the Feline Health Forum:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

It is helpful if you list the type of insulin you are using and the food that you are feeding. The Health Forum gets a lot of "traffic" so there will be plenty of people to get your questions sorted out and help you on the treatment path for your kitty.

:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Thank you SO much, Tuxedo mom! Your kitties are also challenging, from the footnote on your response. They are very lucky to have you...

The insulin is 1 unit of Glargine Lantus 100 iu/ml with a 100 unit/ml syringe once a day in the morning. She currently weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs). I've printed out Dr Pierson's food chart and I've tried the Australian equivalent of those she listed for Fancy Feast and Gourmet Delight. Preferable to Girlie are what are probably Australian/NZ brands: Whiskas So Fishy Loaf: https://www.whiskas.com.au/our-products/adult/so-fishy-seafood-servings-in-loaf/ (her favourite) or Ultimates Indulge: http://www.ultimatesindulge.com.au/product-category/gourmet-combinations/

The vet recommended/gave me Hills m/d wet and dry and Purina diatetic management wet and dry. Girlie's not keen on either dry (she prefers the no-longer-allowed Hills Active Longevity), and she wasn't really keen on either of the wet versions, either. From what I've read so far, she's a smart girl.

Should I put this information here, or in another forum, do you think?

I've been reading post after post, but I thought I should join in, especially with the BG monitoring marathon coming up. Have you ever done a 24 hour BG test every two hours? Is that common to do at home, I wonder? I'll do anything for Girlie - I just hope she'll still have ears by the end of it...
 
So sorry about the diagnosis, but you've come to the right place. There are many people here that can help.

Home testing isn't as hard as it seems. I put a video of how I test my cat CC in my signature below. I hope it will help you see is really not painful or scary. When you test you want to aim for the sweet spot. Some vets will say to aim for the vein but that hurts the cat more.
 
Janet, I watched your video several times earlier today and bookmarked it; what a coincidence! It's a great video. Girlie is used to me touching her ears, so I just hope that she'll be as good about this as she is about all of the other meds she has to get every day. I know she'll test better and be happier if I'm doing it at home; by the end of 24 hours I imagine that I'll have figured out what I'm doing!
 
Girlie's mom said:
Janet, I watched your video several times earlier today and bookmarked it; what a coincidence! It's a great video. Girlie is used to me touching her ears, so I just hope that she'll be as good about this as she is about all of the other meds she has to get every day. I know she'll test better and be happier if I'm doing it at home; by the end of 24 hours I imagine that I'll have figured out what I'm doing!
Click to expand...
It really takes about a week or so to find your groove with home testing. Don't get discouraged if it takes several tries at first. I'm glad you found the video helpful.
 
IMG_3612.JPG
this is the area you want to aim for
 
Janet, would you do a test every two hours for 24 hours as a complete beginner? The vet wants her to have that complete curve record, but I'm not feeling very confident about doing a 24-hour marathon as a complete novice.
 
Girlie's mom said:
Janet, would you do a test every two hours for 24 hours as a complete beginner? The vet wants her to have that complete curve record, but I'm not feeling very confident about doing a 24-hour marathon as a complete novice.
Click to expand...
That would be quite the undertaking. The first few days I think try to get a preshot test and maybe a test or two mid cycle. And to answer your other question, is definitely better to test at home then curves at the vet because the numbers there will be higher due to stress!!!

You never mentioned the type of insulin.... Which is it? Why are you only dosing once a day? All insulin is ment to be given twice a day in cats.

Curves are usually every two hours for 12 hours.... But it is a good idea to get a few night readings occasionally just to see how it differs at night (some run higher or lower at night).



So make sure no food two hours before preshot testing. So if you Test in the morning at 6:30, and inject at 7, no food after 4:30. So.... 630 test, then feed, then shoot.
 
If you have any other specific questions you are better off asking in the main health portion of the forum where you will get more eyes on your post.
 
The insulin is 1 unit of Glargine Lantus 100 iu/ml with a 100 unit/ml syringe once a day in the morning. She currently weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs). She was in hospital for two nights and a day after the enema, so they did round the clock testing. (It's a specialist vet hospital that has all the fancy equipment and facilities for animals that need those sorts of things - even an MRI machine). They wanted to start out slowly, I think, with the insulin, and I did urinalysis tests every day before her injection. I'll ask them tomorrow. They sent Girlie home because they thought she would do better with me and hopefully eat more and get back on her feet. She did bounce back quite well initially at home, but when we went back a week later and stayed with them for a few hours, she went from 65 mg/dL (11:30, 3.5 hours after the insulin); 85 after some food at 2:00 pm; 170 by 4:00 pm; and almost 310 by 5:30 pm. They asked me to stop the insulin for three days and then to do a 12-hour test, although what they really are interested in is what happens at night and why her BG was so low and then rose the way it did during the day. I thought that it would be best if I were a super mom and just did the 24-hour thing myself. But perhaps I can "just" do 12 hours... :-)

The vet mentioned the terms "brittle diabetic" and "somogyi". I've been reading up on those. So much to learn!

If only she weren't such a picky eater; she's always been that way, but now with her having to take insulin, it's a concern for me.
 
Thank you so much, Janet. You've been hugely helpful so far! Should I just jump into someone else's posts on a topic like BG testing, or is it okay to start a new thread myself? Bad me: I haven't read the etiquette post yet...
 
Girlie's mom said:
The insulin is 1 unit of Glargine Lantus 100 iu/ml with a 100 unit/ml syringe once a day in the morning. She currently weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs). She was in hospital for two nights and a day after the enema, so they did round the clock testing. (It's a specialist vet hospital that has all the fancy equipment and facilities for animals that need those sorts of things - even an MRI machine). They wanted to start out slowly, I think, with the insulin, and I did urinalysis tests every day before her injection. I'll ask them tomorrow. They sent Girlie home because they thought she would do better with me and hopefully eat more and get back on her feet. She did bounce back quite well initially at home, but when we went back a week later and stayed with them for a few hours, she went from 65 mg/dL (11:30, 3.5 hours after the insulin); 85 after some food at 2:00 pm; 170 by 4:00 pm; and almost 310 by 5:30 pm. They asked me to stop the insulin for three days and then to do a 12-hour test, although what they really are interested in is what happens at night and why her BG was so low and then rose the way it did during the day. I thought that it would be best if I were a super mom and just did the 24-hour thing myself. But perhaps I can "just" do 12 hours... :)

The vet mentioned the terms "brittle diabetic" and "somogyi". I've been reading up on those. So much to learn!

If only she weren't such a picky eater; she's always been that way, but now with her having to take insulin, it's a concern for me.
Click to expand...
The bg initially could have been high from the constipation and vet stress. Looks like 1 unit (as tiny as it looks) is too much. She may do better on two 0.5 doses 12 hours apart.

Plus you said she's not a big eater so that will cause the levels to drop. What food are you feeding?
 
Girlie's mom said:
Thank you so much, Janet. You've been hugely helpful so far! Should I just jump into someone else's posts on a topic like BG testing, or is it okay to start a new thread myself? Bad me: I haven't read the etiquette post yet...
Click to expand...
Definitely start your own thread.
 
Another thing that would help us help you is to set up a signature. Click on your name at the top right corner and choose signature. Add info such as your pets name, date of diagnosis, insulin type and dose, food you're feeding, and anything else you want to add. That way we don't have to ask the same questions over and over.
 
I will, Janet - thank you for all of that info and the suggestion re: the insulin. I was wondering how to add a signature! Here's the food info and then I'll start my own thread:
I've printed out Dr Pierson's food chart and I've tried the Australian equivalent of those she listed for Fancy Feast and Gourmet Delight. Preferable to Girlie are what are probably Australian/NZ brands:
Whiskas So Fishy Loaf: https://www.whiskas.com.au/our-products/adult/so-fishy-seafood-servings-in-loaf/ (her favourite) or
Ultimates Indulge: http://www.ultimatesindulge.com.au/product-category/gourmet-combinations/

The vet recommended/gave me Hills m/d wet and dry and Purina diatetic management wet and dry. Girlie's not keen on either dry (she prefers the no-longer-allowed Hills Active Longevity), and she wasn't really keen on either of the wet versions, either. From what I've read so far, she's a smart girl.

Again, Janet, thank you so, so much! It is so comforting to have this board to turn to - even from Australia! (Although I grew up in D.C.).
 
Sorry Janet - I just clicked on your C.C.'s Spreadsheet - gorgeous! Just what I was looking for and saw in a YouTube video earlier today. Is it possible to download? Otherwise, I'll create one manually using your template model. Splendid work there!
 
Girlie's mom said:
Sorry Janet - I just clicked on your C.C.'s Spreadsheet - gorgeous! Just what I was looking for and saw in a YouTube video earlier today. Is it possible to download? Otherwise, I'll create one manually using your template model. Splendid work there!
Click to expand...
We have the template for the spreadsheet on here for when you are ready to test. It's an awesome tool!!!!

Let me find the link.... Hang on.
 
Girlie's mom said:
Sorry Janet - I just clicked on your C.C.'s Spreadsheet - gorgeous! Just what I was looking for and saw in a YouTube video earlier today. Is it possible to download? Otherwise, I'll create one manually using your template model. Splendid work there!
Click to expand...
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/


Once I started home testing CC didn't have to go back to the vet for curves... I just emailed her the link to the spreadsheet every other week so she was in the loop.
 
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Girlie's mom said:
Sorry Janet - I just clicked on your C.C.'s Spreadsheet - gorgeous! Just what I was looking for and saw in a YouTube video earlier today. Is it possible to download? Otherwise, I'll create one manually using your template model. Splendid work there!
Click to expand...
I use a different insulin then you.... YouRight doses are determined differently. This is the link to info on lantus dosing.

Read the yellow stickies at the top. They describe the different dosing protocols.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/
 
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