HELP! Scared, Confused, Lost, Worried!!

[Irish Pat]

My wife and I are totally new to this as nobody in our family has diabetes and now our baby (Brady, 10 yr old male short hair tabby) has diabetes and we are trying to learn as much as possible by reading and reading and reading. I think the more we read the more confused we get. We are very scared, worried, and lost. He was diagnosed last week (Tuesday). He lost about 2lbs of weight, has pancreatitis, he is on cerenia for that, had ketones in his urine, a trace on the first test, none on the second and had a 495 sugar reading. He was in the ER for a day and then the vets for two days getting fluid. They started him out on 1U of Prozinc, his numbers were pretty steady in the mid to upper 300's from home testing on the ReliOn prime, he dropped down to 218 one day. He went back in for a weekly check up and his sugar was 331 on the alpha trac at the vet and our meter read 291, so about a 40 point difference. So due to the numbers the vet wanted to raise him to 2U of insulin. We waited until the next morning to start the 2U's, I took his sugar before he ate and his shot and it was only 190 and dropped throughout the day to 95. That evening before being fed and his shot it had went back up to 335. So we started the 2U as directed by the vet. This morning, he read 405 and now this afternoon he went up to 415. We have him now on a strict feeding scheduled, 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening with low carb Friskies moist food. I know this takes time but we are so confused, can anyone shed some light on whats happening and why his numbers are all over the place? Is this common, should we be concerned with the numbers all over the place? Any help what so ever will be extremely helpful. I have read quite a few posts, you are all great people and wonderful cat lovers. Thank you

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

First of all Welcome!!

Second take a big breath, feline diabetes can be scary and confusing at first even for people who are diabetic, but it gets easier after a while.

You are off to a very good start since you are already giving him low carb food and home testing Congratulations on that!!

It takes a while (some times a long while ) for a cat to get regulated so you need to be patient especially at first is normal for him to have numbers all over the place What insulin are you using?

Having had some ketones already you need to be super careful in making sure he eats and on not skipping insulin shoots

To be able to help you people here need to know the test results you have been getting, and here we use a spreadsheet that can really help you keep track and everyone here to try and figure out what's going on, here's the link to the instruccions for setting it up http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thre...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/

Part of what you are describing sounds like he went a bit low, or at least lower than he's used to and that triggered a bounce ( this is a cat's body's response to low glucose numbers) which means that after being too low he gets quite a bit high numbers and may stay high for a while (a few cycles ) which doesn't mean he needs more insulin but we could have a better idea of what's going on once you set up the spreasheet

It could help also if you could edit your signature and add some general information so that we don't have to ask every time, this information is for example your cat's name, age, what insulin are you using, if he has any health issues, what food are you giving, what glucose meter you are using, where are you located

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hi Pat, thank you so much for re-posting over here in the Feline Health forum, where more people will see your post.
We do suggest that new members start in this forum first, before they move to the ISG groups (Insulin Support Groups).

Welcome to you and your sugardude Brady.
We can help you and your wife learn a lot about treating a diabetic cat.
We have helped, hundreds, thousands of diabetic cat owners over the years. It takes time to learn what you need to know. We will help you all along the way.

I know you are using Prozinc, since you posted in the Prozinc ISG group first. But putting that information in your signature will "magically" make it appear at the end of all your posts. It takes about 60 seconds to set up your signature.

Worries, feeling scared and overwhelmed are perfectly natural when your furry family member is sick.
Plus with all the craziness with the covid19 virus upending lives, we get even more stressed.

I like to do mindfulness breathing. Deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, clear your mind of all thoughts, concentrate on your breath only, hold, release,..........................

 

[Deb & Wink]

Brady is bouncing. Here is an explanation of that.
"Bouncing - Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles)."

If you could get your spreadsheet up and running, I'd be happy to take a look at it. We have that template to use, so you don't have to "reinvent the wheel" and create your own version. Veronica gave you the link back in post #2.

 

[Irish Pat]

Thanks Deb and thank you for the information you are supplying and all future information I will get from this forum. Brady has been on insulin now for about 8 days, just one of those days has been the 2U of prozinc, today….all the others were 1U. She increased it to 2U because he was averaging mid 300's. So if im understanding correctly because it was upped to 2U he is "bouncing"? Or will this bouncing always happen from time to time? I know one thing, his fur is much better looking, softer in the last few days, his perkiness is back, being a pain in the butt already, lol...But that's why we love him.....He is actually helping me write this right now, hahaha....See I took some of those deep breaths and its working already on me too.....I will take a look at that spreadsheet, on top of all that is going on, we are also remodeling so im working day and night... But I will get that spreadsheet done as soon as possible.

 

[Deb & Wink]

So if im understanding correctly because it was upped to 2U he is "bouncing"?

Not necessarily from the dose increase. From a "percieved" low BG reading. Yes, the increase in dose could have been a factor. But probably not the complete picture.

Bouncing can happen whenever your cat has a "perceived" low BG (blood glucose) level.
That low BG number can be higher than what would cause hypoglycemia, but still cause a cat to "bounce" and dump hormones and sugars into the bloodstream to bring the blood glucose up to what the cat's body is use to. Think of it as a safety mechanism, like the air bags in your car if you get hit by another car.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Hello and welcome!

We have him now on a strict feeding scheduled, 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening with low carb Friskies moist food.

You don't have to feed only two meals a day. Many diabetic cats actually do better with frequent small meals (also the caregiver does better if they don't have a cat following them around all day trying to scrounge food!).

Did you just recently switch to the low-carb food? If so, when? We have found that going from high to low carb food can have a big impact on BG levels and the amount of insulin needed. That might be another explanation for some of the low numbers you have seen recently, as well as the high bouncing numbers after undetected lows.

 

[Deb & Wink]

So is your vet basing the dose increases off the pre-shot test numbers or the nadir?

Could you put those BG readings that you have into perspective for us? We express times in a + hour format, since we have members from all over the world.
AMPS = morning or AM pre-shot test (AM + PS= AMPS)
PMPS = evening or PM pre-shot test (PM + PS= PMPS)
+1 is one hour after the shot of insulin, +2 is 2 hours after the insulin is given, +3 is 3 hours after you have shot, etc.

3/11 1U AM and 1U PM
3/12 1U AM and 1U PM
3/13 1U AM and 1U PM
3/14 1U AM and 1U PM
3/15 1U AM and 1U PM
3/16 1U AM and 1U PM
3/17 1U AM and 1U PM
3/18 2U AM and 2U PM
3/19 2U AM

Have you found and read the Prozinc dosing protocol document we use here? Good idea to print out a copy for yourself. Maybe a second copy for your vet.
Sticky PROZINC DOSING METHODS