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Lillie

Member Since 2017
I just brought my Leo home today from the vet hospital after being there five days to do an initial curve and start his prozinc. He's on 2 units twice a day. He got his injection this morning and will be due soon for the evening dose. He has only peed twice and also had a BM (normal) since he has been home. Before he was diagnosed and started insulin he was drinking gallons of water and peeing every 30 minutes. Is it normal for his water consumption and increased appetite to change this fast after only five days on insulin? Could there be a negative reaction at this point? He seems like his old lazy self already but that seems impossible after such a short time. He is eating but not overly hungry like he was before the insulin.
 
Lillie said:
Is it normal for his water consumption and increased appetite to change this fast after only five days on insulin?
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That's not terribly unusual at all!! Once they're getting insulin, their body can once again use the food it's getting and with the blood glucose lower, they don't drink as much water to dilute the glucose out of the blood.

Are you home testing? It's very important to home test.....tests done at the vets office can be artificially high because of the stress response that cats have while they're there.
 
Welcome, Lillie and Leo!
Are you home testing by chance? What was his diagnosis Blood Glucose (BG) level? Hoping that can help explain the starting dose of 2U. What is his diet like? Sorry for the question bombard, there will more though :)

As for the improvements you have seen in just under a week, I don't think I was that fortunate but luckily there are lots of members here :cat:
 
Thank you! It just seemed unusually fast to have this kind of change. I was expecting to not see any results for weeks for some reason. His diagnosis happened so fast along with his treatment I have not had time to get educated about home testing yet or to get all the stuff needed. I was in a blurred state when I picked him up and handed the insulin, syringes, info, and trial of injecting him myself. I'm still a bit overwhelmed. He is so not wanting anyone to touch his ears right now at all. I think he had enough of the ear pricks this week at the vets. This whole thing is a challenge, although he is really good about the injections, thank goodness.
 
I'm not sure I remember what all his numbers were. The fructosamine test done came out to 572. Since then he has had numbers of 420, 380, 365, 220, and when I picked him up today it was 170. Not sure what all the curve numbers were though. I'm just hoping the change so fast doesn't mean there is something wrong. I worry about him.
 
Welcome Lillie and Leo.
Chris is correct - Leo was drinking a lot of water and will probably drink less now.
Diabetes = high blood sugar, and insulin allows that blood sugar to be absorbed. The extra insulin you give, puts Leo back to normal insulin levels. Pre-insulin, Leo had too much blood sugar. The kidneys filter this out and it gets diluted with ingested water.

Please consider testing at home. The home testing can help you monitor Leo. There are some good FAQ at the start of the subforums.

Also, nice to see that my Leo has a kindred spirit. My Leo is now almost 1.5 years on insulin, and actually my Leo has acromegaly as explained in his thread. Sorry for the ramble. Welcome to the forum.
 
Oh-- They started him on 1 unit and increased it to 2 units. Both vets felt even at first he would most probably need 2 units. Maybe due to how large of a cat he is. ??
 
What a cute little face your Leo has. I just love close up pics of cat faces. I will get started soon on the home testing. As soon as I get over doing the injections. Hope I get it right.
 
Thanks. I found self education to be invaluable. I highly recommend home testing - glad you are pursuing it.

Please read up about Hypos and be prepared in case it ever occurs.
Establish a no-shoot value. Example, for Leo I do not dose if he is at 200 or less. And in those cases, sometimes he just needs some food to come up in value.
 
That's really good advice. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks. I think it may a little while before I'm able to touch his ears. He was very upset when I brought him home today. Even though he is a very sweet boy he doesn't take to too much handling.
 
Yeah, I know. There is an art to testing. If you can tame your little lion to associate testing with a food reward, that is helpful. Also you will get quicker, and that reduces stress. It is very daunting, those first few tests and shots. Over time, you will be making Leo a lot healthier and you'll be an expert care taker.
 
Lillie said:
That's really good advice. It makes a lot of sense. Thanks. I think it may a little while before I'm able to touch his ears. He was very upset when I brought him home today. Even though he is a very sweet boy he doesn't take to too much handling.
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Step 1 get him used to having his ears touched. Any time you pet him. Giving a small low carb treat after will give him good associations. If his ears are sore, rub on neosporin gel with pain relief.
 
Good advice from Janet. I also do a small rubdown on his ear with a folded paper towel to remove any blood after the poke. And I use the same folded paper towel behind his ear to buffer the poke, and protect my finger.
 
Thank you for the advice. I can see where it would be really easy to poke through to my finger. I imagine Leo would say "Good, now you know how it feels!"
 
I use a miniature bean bag behind the ear for support. An added advantage is that the beanbag is warm and helps blood flow because warmth dilates the capillaries.
To make a cat sized beanbag I took a chamomile tea bag, cut it open and added some couscous (nice small round grains) then tied it closed and wrapped the entire thing in a nice bit of material. 20 seconds in the microwave for warmth (not too hot) then hold inside ear and stroke ear from base to tip to encourage blood flow.
 
Lillie said:
Thank you for the advice. I can see where it would be really easy to poke through to my finger. I imagine Leo would say "Good, now you know how it feels!"
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I always put a cotton ball in nachos ear and hold it under my hand then poke - then the cotton ball is used to hold on his ear for a few seconds after test to stop bleeding
 
Will see how this goes. He absolutely hates having his ears touched. I've been trying to desensitize him by touching his ears and petting him but he still thinks I'm going to do something horrible to him.
 
Lillie said:
Will see how this goes. He absolutely hates having his ears touched. I've been trying to desensitize him by touching his ears and petting him but he still thinks I'm going to do something horrible to him.
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Good luck! Nacho used to growl at first too... now he is OK with it, still fidgety but hopefully your kitty will get used to it :) good luck!
 
Thank you- I think I will need it! Tomorrow at the vets I will have him show me again where to prick the ear.
 
I use Freestyle Lite test strips in my AlphaTrak2. They work fine. I buy them off ebay. Latest purchase was $125 for 200 strips = 62 cents apiece.
 
JeffJ said:
I use Freestyle Lite test strips in my AlphaTrak2. They work fine. I buy them off ebay. Latest purchase was $125 for 200 strips = 62 cents apiece.
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Really? I had a hard time deciding to buy the AlphaTrak2 because of the high cost of the test strips. Lots of warnings are given to only use AlphaTrak2 strips. Is there any difference? I'd love to buy cheaper.
 
I also use the FS Lite strips in my AT2 meter. HOWEVER anyone wanting to do this should do their own side by side same blood comparisons using the AT2 meter and both types of strips. I did well over 50 side by side same blood drop comparisons before I became comfortable with doing this. Also I keep a small supply of AT2 strips on hand if needed.


ETA I also did tests with the FS Lite strips in the AT2 meter at the same time my kitties were having blood drawn for vet lab machine testing and compared the results, which each time... for me...were very close
 
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I can't recall who, I think it was @Wendy&Neko did a side by side detailed study of the alphatrak and FS lite strips. Now I only use the FS lite. The AT2 strips are just stupidly expensive. I bet they only cost 1/2 cent each to make - on some giant machine.
 
JeffJ said:
I can't recall who, I think it was @Wendy&Neko did a side by side detailed study of the alphatrak and FS lite strips. Now I only use the FS lite. The AT2 strips are just stupidly expensive. I bet they only cost 1/2 cent each to make - on some giant machine.
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No, I never did a side by side between those two meters. I strictly used a human meter because the cost was so much better and our dosing methods and protocols were written with human meters in mind. I started out with the Freestyle Lite meter by Freestyle strips, and at that time it read way lower than other meters in the high number range. Which greatly slowed down the process of regulation for my cat until I discovered the problem and switched meters. The Freestyle strips are now made by a different company, than that which makes the Alphatrak. There is no guarantee they will continue to work in the AT. If someone wanted to take that risk, I would second Mary Ann's recommendation to do periodic comparison tests. For what it's worth, my vet uses a human meter in her office, and finds the OneTouch results very close to the lab results she gets back.
 
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