has this happened to any of your cats?

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MrsKitty

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Hi,
Mrs. Kitty started her insulin 3 weeks ago this past monday. She is on Pro Zinc- first 2 weeks she had 4 I guess you call them units (the 4th line) twice a day. We went back 2 weeks later to have her checked, her numbers were better but not where they wanted them to be so she was upped to 6 twice a day. So she only eats the wet food twice a day before she gets her shot but in the past 3 weeks she has become huge! She is still not well. She still has accidents and it is still sticky pee not normal cat pee. I am not sure what to do at this point because her 2 favorite spots have become the hardwood floors and the bathroom. I did catch her peeing in the litter box one time and gave her a treat. But my question is have any of your cats started insulin and gained weight like that? She is not getting better she is still peeing on herself when she goes, it is all over her. I am running out of ideas and I feel so bad for her.
 
Hi Yes,

They said she should go back to normal after she is regulated but it seems so weird to me. She has never had any problems until this happened. We go back again to the vet on Monday. She will be going every 2 weeks.
 
I don't have much to offer on the urination, but was your starting dose of Prozinc 4 units? That is a really large starting dose.

I would get the vet to check out the urine and the bloating, as that is not a normal reaction to insulin. It might be something else.
 
I am worried that there is an issue secondary to the diabetes, so I am glad you are getting that checked out.

If you want to see how the insulin is working with Miss Kitty, I'd suggest home testing. We test our cats with human glucometers, just like we would do with our two legged kids. Then we know how the insulin is working and whether it is safe to give the shot. Tests taken at the vet often are higher than tests at home since most cats are stressed at the vet and stress raises bg levels.

I agree with Kim that 4 units is a lot of insulin. Hometesting will help you figure out if the dose is working or needs to be less or more insulin.
 
MrsKitty said:
Hi,
Mrs. Kitty started her insulin 3 weeks ago this past monday. She is on Pro Zinc- first 2 weeks she had 4 I guess you call them units (the 4th line) twice a day. We went back 2 weeks later to have her checked, her numbers were better but not where they wanted them to be so she was upped to 6 twice a day. So she only eats the wet food twice a day before she gets her shot but in the past 3 weeks she has become huge! She is still not well. She still has accidents and it is still sticky pee not normal cat pee. I am not sure what to do at this point because her 2 favorite spots have become the hardwood floors and the bathroom. I did catch her peeing in the litter box one time and gave her a treat. But my question is have any of your cats started insulin and gained weight like that? She is not getting better she is still peeing on herself when she goes, it is all over her. I am running out of ideas and I feel so bad for her.
Click to expand...

I am concerned about such a large dose of insulin. giving 6units twice a day may be too much and causing the urine problems.
Yes, both of my cats gained weight on insulin, quite a bit.
Just curious, what does the vet say about the size change, what was her weight before and what is it now?
Does she have any other health issues at all?

My Shadoe never had any accidents until she was diagnosed with diabetes. It's the reason I took her to the vet, because she was always peeing in odd places and seldom in the box.
I did find that when here BG numbers were very low or very high, she had more accidents.

If you can start home testing, you can see what her numbers are like. It could be that you are giving her way too much insulin or it could be that she needs more insulin.

Go to the pharmacy and pick up a blood glucose meter, if in the US, pick up a Relion meter as it's quite good and the test strips are inexpensive. Also, please pick up a container of KETOSTIX from the pharmacy so that you can test her urine for ketones.
Testing on cat’s ear
just a poke on the tip of her ear to draw a drop of blood is all it takes.

Peeing on herself is worrisome, but once you can see what numbers she is getting, you will be able to adjust the insulin dose.

She may be going too low with that much insulin; you want to watch for any signs of hypo

List of Hypo symptoms
How to treat HYPOS-They can kill! Print this out!
Jojo’s HYPO TOOLKIT

If you have any problems with testing her, just post here and someone will be able to help you.

ETA:
The peeing on herself is a sign of hypo. Please drop that dose to 2units twice a day, at the very most.
Once you are home testing, you will be able to see what are her real numbers.
 
Thank you very much for your suggestions! I will look into the ketostix and glucose meter today.
Yes she was changed to 6 units at our visit a week ago and thats when the weight gain started. He said her glu numbers were still high-she was 235 last week. When she first went she was over 400.
I am not sure why but she began to pee on herself when we first found out she had diabetes and the vet said she would stop once she was regulated, but she hasn't. She will walk past the litter box and sit down in the corner and pee. She has always been a very well behaved cat so I know it is because she is sick and she must not be able to help it.
 
Hi,
first time I comment outside of my Eukanubo posts as I'm still fairly inexperienced when it comes to cat care, just take it with a grain of salt as I'm not a veterinarian and don't want to pretend to be one. So, disclaimer, I am NOT a vet and I'll defer to a trained veterinary professional. With the disclaimer out of the way, here's my take...

I think the large weight gain is because of the large amount of insulin. After all, insulin helps the glucose gets into the cells, and with diabetes there is weight loss because the glucose can't get into the cells without insulin. It seems to me that the initial dose of insulin dose was huge and he may be dropping too much, resulting in a large rebound (Somogyi effect). I would be curious what his numbers would be like midcycle, say around +5-+7 hours after his doses. If they are really low, I would expect the pre-shot numbers to be high due to rebound, and the high numbers could cause the increased urination. However, if he has large numbers all through the day, that's a whole different situation and I would doubt that it's from the insulin.

Still, a vet evaluation is in order, as there could be other causes of weight gain, such as fluid retention, congestive heart failure (not sure how common that is in cats), kidney/liver problems, and so on. You are right to be concerned so it would be great if you could do the home testing and see how the glucose behaves during the day.
 
Hi,
you said that last week her number at the vet was 235? And based on that he raised her dose from 4u to 6u twice a day? Wow. 235 is NOT a high number especially at the vet. Certainly doesn't warrant a 50% dose increase to an already high dose! It sounds like your vet doesn't treat many diabetics. Unless your kitty has some sort of additional issues that the vet knew about at diagnosis, the dose is grossly too much.
Peeing outside the box...could be a sign that it hurts to climb in or out of the box. Is she having difficulty moving around? Could also be a UTI, which could also raise BG.
Carl
 
I have a multi-cat household, but one of the early signs of Grayson's diabetes went unchecked for a while, since I mistakenly thought that someone was misbehaving because I wasn't scooping the boxes enough to suit them. Grayson NEVER used the box in front of me, so I wasn't sure who was doing it.

Turns out, because I use tall boxes as a deterrent to the dogs "snacking" - YUCK! - Grayson was having a hard time getting INTO the box, therefore, he went next to it. Not behavioral, it was a physiological problem. The neuropathy in his back legs caused by the diabetes.

I'm happy (or embarrassed) to report that the jumping up, like onto the kitchen counters, is no longer a problem for Grayson after 2 months of insulin. Now it's a discipline problem for me!

The weight gain I can't address. Grayson continued to lose weight after starting insulin, and we're now just starting to climb to a reasonable [low] weight for him (nowhere near his former 21.6 pounds. I agree that that's going to require some professional care. Good luck!
 
Going outside the box is Poopy's way of saying, "Hey, Mom! Something is wrong with me." One time it was a UTI, another it was crystals. For Mia, going outside the box is saying, "Ew. Uh, Mom, did you forget to scoop the box this morning?" ECID (Every cat is different).

Weight gain - Poopy lost quite a bit of weight prior to Dx, and after insulin was started he has gained quite a bit back. If the weight gain is abnormal, I'd ask the vet if he checked kitty's thyroid.

The amount of insulin a kitty takes is totally up to the kitty, and the carbs they ingest. Home testing is the only way to know how kitty is doing on a daily basis. Many vets poo-poo the idea of beans (humans to kitties) testing, and some say human meters aren't accurate for kitties. When we home test, it's not as if we're looking for the perfect reading (which all meters have a variance of 20% - even pet meters), we're looking for trends in numbers. A human meter measures BG close enough for us to know how the insulin is working. :smile:
 
Hi
and welcome to PZI
I am in agreement with Carl, 6 units is ALOT of insulin for a newly diagnosed cat
Glad you are getting a glucometer to home test and look forward to getting to know you both
If it were me I would reduce the dose until you start testing
 
Yes, increasing insulin 2 full units based on a 236 test at the vet seems very strange. I agree with above to reduce dose immediately, I would be worried that even 4u was way too much.

Welcome, you're gonna love it here!

Cathy
 
Hi,

First, I want to thank everyone for their time and suggestions.

I am totally heart broken right now, while I was at work my daughter texted me to tell me that Mrs. Kitty didn't look right. She climbed on my daughters lap and sat with her then began to walk way with great difficulty. My husband was closer so he rushed home, but was too late. Mrs Kitty passed away today at 2:00 this afternoon 10 minutes after sitting with my daughter.
I am so grateful my daughter was home so she was not alone.
I wish with all my heart I had found this site sooner or even a different vet for that matter.
She was the most amazing cat and she was loved very much and will be missed everyday.

Thank you again for all your time and suggestions.
 
I am so sorry for your loss, I hope you take comfort in the fact that you did everything you could. I am glad your daughter was there for her.

Cathy
 
I am so very sorry for your loss. My heart is breaking for you and your family.

Mrs. Kitty will be waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Fly free Mrs. Kitty. wings_cat
 
I am so sorry - I know it's heartbreaking to lose a dear member of the family. I hope you'll find comfort in the memories of times you shared together. God Bless!
 
Hi i am a bit lost for words, i am so sorry, dont blame yourself he took me months b4 i start being pro active and stop listening to my vet in term of insulin dose and start doing it the right way for my cat.
:'-(
 
I am so sorry to hear you have lost your Miss Kitty. I hope to helps to know that she was one of the lucky kitties - living in a warm, safe home where she felt love and ate good food and was well cared for. Some many cats in the world have so much less.

You were doing as much as you could, learning as fast as you could, to try to help her. I hope the many memories of her good life help you and your family.
 
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Fly free home Miss Kitty.
Take comfort in the fact that someone was there with her in her last moments.
You were doing the best you could for her and she had a loving family and nice home.
 
I just saw this and my heart breaks for you and your family .... may you find solace in knowing she is at the bridge waiting, where she has many who are waiting with her. My prayers are with you.
 
I have been out of town and out of the loop, so am just reading this. I am sooo sorry for your loss. While I know you miss Mrs Kitty, I hope you can take comfort in the memories of your time together and knowing you did your very best for her.

Praying God's comfort for you and your family,

Libby
 
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