Hello all. Need some help

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Mbrewer51172

Mbrewer51172

Member Since 2017
Need some advise! My 15yr old cat, tutone, was diagnosed in dec last year. She is on novalin, 2.5 units twice daily. Her numbers at 6 hours are great. 168, 182, etc. my concern is, premeal sometimes she is 500, sometimes 200. Usually, 400/500 range. We have been at this for a few months. It appears that it is out of control with the numbers. I have a home tester, and the vet will not take my reading, unless it's low. I tested her in the car yesterday in the vet parking lot and she was 168. 15 mins later, the vet tested her and she was 161.... close enough for me. They tell me she's doing great because her numbers are perfect at 6 hours. It's the 400/500 range I'm concerned about, and they won't let me tell them how high the numbers are because it's not a cat monitor. Change of insulin needed? I'm so frustrated. I keep a strict feeding schedule and feed the same food daily. It doesn't seem she is being regulated at all.... but I'm new to all this. Is this normal? These readings are making me crazy. Any advise would be helpful. Thank you.
 
Welcome! We can help you sort this out. It's great that you're testing. Many people here use a human meter instead of a pet meter because the test strips are much cheaper. It seems that your vet isn't being very helpful. Good news - we can help you work out a good dosing regimen.

You seem to be following a testing routine similar to what we recommend: test AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before these tests) to see if the insulin dose is too high or not; testing at least once near the middle of the cycle to see how low the BG goes; maybe another test before bed because many cats go lower at night.

Mbrewer51172 said:
She is on novalin, 2.5 units twice daily. Her numbers at 6 hours are great. 168, 182, etc. my concern is, premeal sometimes she is 500, sometimes 200.
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This dose might be OK but it's hard to know right now. Novolin can drop BG quite fast and fairly low so you don't want mid cycle numbers that are too low. However, 168 - 182 is still a bit higher than ideal. The volatility you mention - pre meal BG as high as 500 and as low as 200 can be because she's "bouncing" as we call. The cat's body overcompensates for a big drop, bigger than usual drop, or fast drop by putting more glucose into its bloodstream.

The best thing you can do to get us up to speed ASAP is set up the spreadsheet we use here. It's an online document viewable by all members. The instructions for setting it up are here:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Once its set up, enter all the data you have so far. This will help us figure out what's going on. If you need help with the spreadsheet there are people here to do that.
 
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Thank you! Will do. I've kept a log of dosage, feeding times, and glucose readings. I take my Tootsie to the vet almost every Saturday for glucose check. It's a waste of time and money if they won't listen to my numbers and how unpredictable and high they are. Plus, she went from free feeding dry food to twice daily canned food, she isn't used to her new feeding schedule. She loves to eat! Lol!
 
Mbrewer51172 said:
I take my Tootsie to the vet almost every Saturday for glucose check. It's a waste of time and money if they won't listen to my numbers and how unpredictable and high they are.
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Also, the stress level of a cat goes up at the vet which may raise the blood glucose (BG) reading taken there.
 
Mbrewer51172 said:
Thank you! Will do. I've kept a log of dosage, feeding times, and glucose readings. I take my Tootsie to the vet almost every Saturday for glucose check. It's a waste of time and money if they won't listen to my numbers and how unpredictable and high they are. Plus, she went from free feeding dry food to twice daily canned food, she isn't used to her new feeding schedule. She loves to eat! Lol!
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It's great you've removed all dry food. What canned foods are you feeding? Low carb is best and it doesn't have to be expensive. Fancy Feast and Friskies pate types are fine but not the sauce/gravy versions. Those are high in carbs. Many of us add warm water to the wet food for extra hydration. It makes the kitty feel fuller and helps flush the bladder - good for cystitis prone kitties.

You're right about saving money by now paying the vet to check glucose. You can do your own curve periodically at home BG taken every 2 hours starting with first AM test and ending with last test before evening meal. Most days, the measurements I described in my post above are enough.
 
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Welcome! Great job on testing, you are way ahead of the game getting your sweet kitty feeling better!

You mentioned a possible switch in insulin-- is your vet willing to prescribe other insulins? If so, we would recommend one of the "L" insulins (Lantus or Levemir)-- they seem to work much better with feline physiology than does the Novalin you've been using. As Kris says, Novalin hits fast and hard, and a cat's metabolism is so fast, it usually doesn't stay effective for the whole time between shots (that's another reason you may be seeing high numbers pre-shot, the insulin has worn off). Lantus and Levemir are gentler in action, and are also so-called "depot" insulins (saving a portion of each shot for later use), which helps to really smooth out the BG variations. The "L"s are more expensive than Novalin, but if you are in the US, we have suggestions for saving money on Lantus, at least (not sure about Levemir).
 
I'm taking her for an official vet visit in about a month. The vet that diagnosed her is only there a few days a week. He was very common sense and said we can start with novalin and see how it works. So far, not happy with the regulating. I think a switch in insulin would be warranted at this point.
 
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