Help to Get Luigi Regulated

[Tom (FL)]

Hi Everyone,

I've been working hard to try to get Luigi regulated, but am still running into a few issues.

Food:
I've been feeding him Soulistic wet food from Petco in the morning (The two flavors I give him have less than 2% carbs), then give him the Young Again Mature ZERO dry food in the evening and overnight. I also sometimes give him some 0 carb Tiki Cat wet food for dinner as well. I've been leaving the YA Zero out for him overnight because he goes crazy if he doesn't have something to munch on overnight.

Is this a good mix of food? I know the recommendation is to only feed wet food, but I'm working with what he'll eat at the moment. I've seen people recommending various flavors of Fancy Feast, but I used to feed him that when he was young, and he developed urinary crystals from the high phosphorus content. I'm hesitant to feed him Fancy Feast, since I'm trying to contain his urinary crystals problem as well.

Home testing:
I have begun home testing, but to be honest, it's not going well. He doesn't like it one bit. I'm trying to implement all the suggestions from the Home Testing section of this site, but I'm not making much progress. He's very stubborn and wiggly. It currently takes at least two people to get a blood sample from him. I got the ReliOn Premier glucose monitor from WalMart. Is the desired range for his glucose level to be in the 90-150 range? I tested him pre-injection yesterday and his value was 274. I then tested him 6 hours later and it was still 250 after giving him 2 units of Lantus.

He's still drinking too much water and is losing more weight. He's at the vet's office today getting a glucose curve. I hope we can find a way to get his levels to normal before he loses any more weight. This may be a stupid question, but if he eats a higher-carb food, does that directly translate into a higher glucose level? I'm so stressed and frustrated that I haven't been able to get his glucose level right. His level needs to be where he can process food and gain weight, while also eating food that won't promote the development of urinary crystals.

I'm so glad this forum is here. Thank you all in advance for any advice you can give.

Tom & Luigi

 

[Margie and Jackson]

Welcome Tom and Luigi! It sounds like you’re taking good care of kitty now. The answers to most of your questions are complicated and not so black and white. Generally, it’s hard to give advice about regulation when we don’t know much about Luigi’s blood glucose. Can you post a spreadsheet with his numbers? The main page with links has a lot of excellent information about feline diabetes.

Good job getting the test. It’s amazing cats don’t all fight like crazy when we poke them, but they will get used to it. My cat requires no restraint to poke, believe it or not. He sees the meter and looks for his freeze dried chicken treat. If you can learn to test it’s easier to regulate your cat and you don’t have to pay for vet curves, which aren’t very accurate anyway.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Tom and Luigi,

With regard to the FOOD
Any low carb food 10% or under is suitable for diabetic cats. Most of us feed foods with carbs around 2 to 6 %. A variety of foods is always good to use.
meduim carb food is 11% to 17%
High carb is 18% and over.
You should always have some of those higher carb foods (cans) in your hypo tool box along with some honey or Karo.

If you feed a higher carb food such as 14%, yes that will raise the BG level. That is why we keep some higher carb food in the toolbox so we can boost the BG level if it drops too low.

If you are looking for low phosphorus foods, have a look at Lisa Pierson food list. It has a phosphorus list in it... phosphorus less than 250mg/ 100kcals is considered low phosphorus
Here is a link to the food chart.
https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

HOME TESTING
The ReliOn Premier meter is a human meter. The normal glucose range is 50-120.
Always test before every insulin shot to make sure it is safe to give the insulin.
Then testing during the cycle will tell you how the insulin is working.
I would highly recommend you set up a spreadsheet for Luigi and document all the blood glucose readings you have done and those moving forward. You ( and us) will get a much better idea of what is going on. And we can't really help you with the insulin dose unless we can see the numbers on the SS.
Here is the link to the SS
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Unregulated diabetic cats are not able to utilise the food properly so they are often always hungry and many will lose weight in the beginning. If he is losing weight, you can feed him more.
When do you feed him?
We all feed before the insulin dose but then most of us feed a couple of more times during the first half of the cycle. Pick times that suit you and Luigi....say at +2 and +4 or +3 and + 5.

With regard to testing....do you let him have something low carb to eat while you test? That will often distract them while you test.
If he's wriggly, try kneeling on the ground when you test.
Put the testing equipment beside you ready to use.
Sit back on your heels and put Luigi inbetween your knees with his tail towards you and his face facing the same way yours is facing. Does that make sense?
Once you put your arms out to test, you should be able to control his movements and he won't feel as if he is being held.

It takes time to get a cat regulated, so don't feel you are failing. You aren't!

If the vet wants to increase the dose, just remember that cats nearly always run higher at the vets than at home because of stress.
We recommend only increasing in 1/4 unit (0.25 unit) increments to ensure it is safe and not to go past the best dose. Most vets like to increase in 1 unit increments which we think is too much.

Would you mind putting the type of meter you are using in your signature please for us to see. Thanks!

 

[Tom (FL)]

Margie and Jackson, Bron and Sheba,

Thank you for your replies. I'm new to all of this so I'm not as organized yet as I should be. I'll begin using the spreadsheet to record Luigi's blood glucose levels so a better picture of his situation can be known. I'm also working diligently on the home testing process to make it as easy and fun for him as I can.

Luigi had a bad reaction at the vet yesterday during his glucose curve. His temperature spiked to 105.5 and he was mouth breathing. When I picked him up, I took him to the emergency hospital to get every test we could think of done. He has a UTI and some inflammation of the pancreas. The emergency vet is attributing his weight loss to the diabetes and not being regulated yet. When we brought him in, his bladder was enlarged and they thought he was blocked. They called me soon after to say he was able to urinate and the blockage was not severe. It was probably just the stress of the day. Even so, before he became diabetic I had him on a wet food in the morning, and Royal Canin Urinary SO in the evening and overnight. For 6 years after his initial blockage he did great. Since I've changed his food, I'm really worried he'll block again. I also have another cat with a history of urinary crystals. I'm going to read everything on Dr. Lisa's site about urinary health and diabetes and work with my vet to get the right food combination. Hopefully that combination will be good for my other 4 cats so they can all eat the same thing.

At Luigi's glucose curve, his numbers were between 415 and 460. I'll attribute some of that to the extreme stress he was feeling. The emergency vet tested him this morning and said he was in the mid-200s.

Thank you again for your incredibly helpful replies. I'll update again when I have his spreadsheet up and running.

Tom & Luigi.

 

[(GA) Gypsy's Parent]

Welcome Tom and Luigi. I've only been here a few weeks, but feel like I have become knowledgeable and my cat is stable and we are making progress. Bron and Sheba's advice is spot on. The experienced people here will know the best way to untangle the knots. Home testing eliminates the vet-stress variable and getting carbs out of his diet is the best way to lower BG. It's not easy to get insulin levels right; read about "bounces". The pancreas can react and adjust BG in undesirable ways when insulin levels are changed. Getting the home testing figured out is critical. I am surprised that my cat now often comes to the bathroom to see if she is going to get her bonito flakes whenever I go in there! She love love loves them and we end every bathroom session with a few. I would not have thought this possible.