Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Sampson!

Status
Not open for further replies.
mccat2

mccat2

Member
Hi Everyone:

I went to a vision specialist this morning. Sampson had sudden blindess on Friday. He is 17 years old. Sampson has detached retinas in both eyes do to hypertension. BP reading was at 245. Vet perscriped a higher dose of bp medication. She is a vision specialist but I really liked her.She says that she thinks that he has a 60 to 70 percent chance of partial retina reattachment. She said she thought his toppling over may very well be do to neuropthy from the diabetes. She said even though he has been in the 200's range for only a month now, probably due to the bude for his IBD that this may be developing. I am really worried about giving the shots of insulin again and need help. However she is only a vision specialist and can't really make these decisions wtih me. With all of his other issues I have chosen not to inject over the last 30 days but now he is losing balance. Maybe neuropathy but I don't know that for sure.
I can take the blood sugar myself but would like to start at a really low dose. Any thoughts on this? My regular vet is concerned about me giving him the injections due to a hypo episode again but I don't want him to lose the use of his legs do to neuropapthy. Any thoughts on this? Will the neuropathy go away if I get the bg under control? I know that I need to call my vet for a new perscription of humalin. Need help with dosing on this. We were at 1 unit twice daily and they upped it to 2 units and within 5 days Sammy went down, his bg dropped to 24. This was back in December of 2010. He bg had been anywhere from 83 to 150 (no injections) over the last 6 months now an increase. I am sure do to the Irritable Bowel treatment of steriods. Also what is the dangerous zone for bg readings?
He turned it around last night and was eating and socializing with me again. He was my old Sampson. I have hope.
Also thank all of you for your assistance and support. Keep it coming. I need help. But now I need to get to work before I don't have a job.


Thanks so much.
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

Vicki,

FIrst off if you can stay away from Humilin I, personally, would. Is there a chance you vet would give you a script for either Lantus, Levermir or PZI? The two Ls especially are very gentle long lasting insulins with excellent track records of remission. Humilin is a very harsh fast acting insulin and not truly great for cats. I have very little dosing experience with Humilin other than with my first sugar cat and she was on a terrible roller coaster ride with it, however, there are a few cats that have done well on it. My two current diabetics are and were on Lantus and I have been very pleased with the results...Maxwell is in remission and Musette may very well be on her way there.

Musette had very bad neuropathy and when her numbers get high she still goes down in the back end some. But as long as her numbers are in the low 100s or double digits she is up on her toes and has a perfect sense of balance, leaps from my bed to my dresser and back again, chases her toys to the point you would never know she is 11 years old.

If you get started on either of the L insulins, personally, as low as his number are already I would start him on .5u but I'm sure you can get a lot of assistance with dosing from the fine folks here that have way more experience than I do.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

Hi mama of Muse:
How old is Musette? And how frequently do you administer Lantus? What is your dosage based on your cats bgs? My Sampson is transient and the steriods get his bg up. His last home reading on Monday night was at 278. I will have to talk to my vet, but personally I don't think they are familiar with Lantus and maybe not good on the dosage. Can I talk with you more if I need to? His bgs were good until the short acting prednisone and maybe the liquid Bude I am using. haven't used it since Monday night. I am going to take his bg tonight if he will let me. Do you know what the low danger zone is for hypo. God I don't want to go through that again.



Thanks,
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

Musette is 11 years old, I adopted her as a diabetic and I have been adjusting her dose myself. Started her at .5, held it for 14 days, it wasn't holding her below the renal threshold of 250 so as of today I upped her dosage, which unless she tells me otherwise then we will hold where we are. My other Diabetic was started at 1u bid and I backed him down to .5u and he has been in remission 8 going on 9 months now. Neither one of them have I used a vet for anything other than to get the insulin script, everything else has come for the folks on this board, including both cats. :-D

I adopted both of them from DCIN as they were scheduled to be Put To Sleep by their former owners. Best decision besides marrying my husband that I ever did, I have two wonderful new furry family members

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

How sweet you are for taking them in. What a good person. I just took Sampson's BG which was really high at 350, but it took me 4 pokes to get there. He was also at the vet this morning so he may be stressed more today. When you said you did .5 units was that once a day? My vet when I was injected had me doing 1/2 unit twice a day, until they doubled it at 224 bg and he went hypo. I am not sure that BID means? I want to call my vet and maybe get some lantus but if I recall it's really expensive but he is so old that I don't want to hurt him again. How much money is it? Do you know? I think that's why I made the decision to go with the humilin.
So you say that the lantus is better for them. He was such a good boy tonight when I was trying to get the reading. He just layed there, only struggled a bit and let me do it.


Thanks,
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

mccat2 said:
When you said you did .5 units was that once a day?
Click to expand...

BID means twice a day. Almost all cats need insulin twice a day.

mccat2 said:
I want to call my vet and maybe get some lantus but if I recall it's really expensive but he is so old that I don't want to hurt him again. How much money is it? Do you know? I think that's why I made the decision to go with the humilin.
Click to expand...

Lantus is more expensive than Humulin, but I also recommend switching to it. If you do, ask your vet for a prescription for the Solstar pens instead of a vial. The initial cost is about twice of a vial, but you get 5 pens. The problem with the vial is that it contains a lot more insulin in it then you will be able to use before it becomes ineffective. You will end up throwing away most of the vial. With the pens, depending on what dose you find works best for him, you probably will be able to use every drop before it becomes ineffective. With a script of 5 pens, that is probably enough insulin to last almost a year. My cat gets 2 units BID and I will be able to use a pen for at least 2 1/2 months before I run out of insulin in it.

If you do get the script for the Solstar pens, look in the Supply Closet. There is a $25 coupon good for your first prescription.
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

Yes, that .5 is b.i.d. and yes Lantus is more expensive, but N hits hard and doesn't last a full 12 hours, so they are constantly going low then high, then low and then high again. I'm not entirely sure what exactly Lantus runs, since Musette is a DCIN cat her Lantus comes from them. And I'm sure the price varies depending on what part of the country you are in as well. But with Lantus while it is more expensive up front if you get a script for the solostar pens rather than a vial you can use up every drop before it goes bad. As you get 5 pens which you open one at a time. I'm sure someone over on the Lantus board or if you start a separate post here, can tell you what it runs at least generally. Also unless it has been taken already someone had several pens in the Supply Closet that they were looking to get rid of after their sugarcat earned his angel wings. For legal reason though it is advisable to have a script for it, before getting it from someone else. But many times you can find someone that has Lantus leftover after either their kitty has passed or in the case of Maxwell, when he went OTJ.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

I agree with the suggestion of switching to Lantus. My GA Boomer had moderate IBD and took bude and was able to go OTJ on Lantus in about 3 months. Bude didn't mess with his BG's. I highly suggest Lantus. AND the Lantus group will guide you every single day. You'll need to do a little more reading - read the stickies - and you'll feel more comfortable. If you test the cat enough and start on a reasonable dose you can avoid a hypo.

Like the other posters said, have the vet give you a script for a Lantus Solostar pen. It's just a smaller amount of insulin. It comes in this thing that's called a pen as opposed to a big vial. The pens are more economical. You draw up the insulin the same way as with a vial.

You may be able to get insulin from someone who's cat has passed or some other situation - a cat that no longer needs it. I donated all my stuff when Boomer left me. It helps the donor feel good to give their cat's meds to another cat in need.

Why don't you look at the Lantus section of the board? The people over there are incredible. Take a look and see how they post their cat's numbers every day. You can also ask them why they like Lantus and get their suggestions too.
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

Thanks. I just posted out on the lantus board. No replies yet. I just wonder what the cost of this is. And I am really, really afraid of another hypo episode. I work a lot. 10 hours a day with drive time and the only one here for him. Fortunately on the one we had I got up in the middle of the night, didn't see him looked for him, had a feeling something was wrong, lifted him up, put him down and went over. Emergency visit and his bg was only 24. Unfortunately my Vet never gave me the pamphlet for corn syrup. I still wouldn't be sure how to adminster but at least I know now that I can use it. I know that I have start the insulin again, but how often do I need to test?
Now he has IBD and high blood pressure. The meds are getting expensive. These pens I really don't understand the difference between the needles and the pens???



Thanks,
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

A pen is just a type of container for the insulin. A vial is another type of container. The pens come in a box of 5. They contain less insulin which is good because the vial will expire before you use it all and you'd end up throwing it out. You get more for your money with the pens. I know it's confusing but just trust us. In time you'll get it.

The stickies are the posts at the top of the pages that give you information on different topics. Once you do a little reading you'll understand more. It takes a little time and you've got a lot on your plate but you can do it. You can't just not give him insulin because you're afraid of a hypo. People with FD cats should always have a hypo kit ready just in case - high carb wet food (ie: food with gravy), plenty of extra test strips, Karo syrup. I'm not the best person to help you because I've been out of practice for a year. You'll get more help and suggestions.
 
Re: Help with Diabetes, Neuropathy, IBD & Blindness for Samp

mccat2 said:
I know that I have start the insulin again, but how often do I need to test?
Now he has IBD and high blood pressure. The meds are getting expensive. These pens I really don't understand the difference between the needles and the pen
Click to expand...

The pens are just a smaller container for the insulin. If you were using the insulin for a person, you would buy needles that designed specifically for the pens because the insulin would be dosed in even units. However, since cats use smaller doses than people, you would use the same syringe as the Humulin and draw it out the same way you would a vial.

You want to test before EVERY shot to make sure it is safe to give insulin. You never want to skip a test. Every cat is different (ECID) and every dose is different. Just because for almost every dose your BG reading is in the safe to shoot range, you could easily get a reading that is too low to shoot. Almost everyone has been caring for a diabetic cat for a significant amount of time has had that happen. You do not want it to happen the one time you decide not to test.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top