Hi I'm Cbiscuit and am attempting to adopt a diabetic cat

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Cbiscuit

My main question is there some kind of log I need to post to the group?
I have also found conflicting range numbers from FDMB pages as far as highs and lows.
For example: on 1 page it stated ideal on human Glucometer 50-130 which equals what on alpha track.
And other example was 100-200 as ideal. Please clarify .
And finally where are the numbers for dosing using Lantus insulin ?
TY Janet
 
Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference. Our grid to record your glucose tests helps us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

See my signature link Human Glucometer and Veterinary Lab Reference Numbers and Notes
 
Hi Janet, and welcome.

To answer your main question, folks here use a spreadsheet to log numbers. It's a great tool. Instructions for setting it up can be found HERE

You can link folks to your spreadsheet and include some basic data in a signature (like mine below, you can click on Genghis SS to see her spreadsheet if you like). Instructions for setting up your signature can be found by clicking on your name in the top right corner, then selecting Signature.

There are currently no easy translations of human glucometer to Alpha Track numbers. For reference, the safety number to watch for hypoglycaemia is 50 on a human meter, 68 on the AT. Literal translations from one to the other aren't critical to managing a cat's diabetes. High is high, low is low. Sorry if that sounds simplistic - I have three different human meters and they all read slightly differently. I used to get a bit bent about it but now I don't.

Janet, head over to the Lantus/Levemir section of the site for your dosing question. Many factors come into play - is the cat transitioning food from dry to wet? Is the cat at ideal weight or under/overweight? Has the cat previously been on insulin? The very experienced folks there can help guide you once they understand your cat's unique situation.

As for glucose readings - opinions vary on what is "ideal" - and don't forget that any meter allows for a +/- 20% variance on how it reports Blood Glucose levels so it ain't exactly an exact science, but for your reference, I use this - noting that "regulation" is typically the goal of treating feline diabetes:

Q6.1. What is regulation?

A6.1. There are different definitions of regulation. As hometesting becomes more common, we've been getting a better understanding of what cats and their humans might be capable of.
Janet & Fitzgerald propose the following "regulation continuum":
  • Not treated [blood glucose typically above 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/L), poor clinical signs]
  • Treated but not regulated [often above 300 (16.7) and rarely near 100 (5.6), poor clinical signs]
  • Regulated [generally below 300 (16.7) with glucose nadir near 100 (5.6), good clinical signs, no hypoglycemia]
  • Well regulated [generally below 200-250 (11.1-13.9) and often near 100 (5.6), no hypoglycemia]
  • Tightly regulated [generally below 150 (8.3) and usually in the 60-120 (3.3-6.7) range, no hypoglycemia, still receiving insulin]
  • Normalized [60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin]

When I started, I felt that 100-200 was more than "acceptable". And certainly it's not a bad outcome - a cat with those numbers would certainly be feeling better. After getting a lot of great help and advice here, plus careful testing, diet control, (plus a whole lot of luck!) my cat is now "tightly regulated" and is doing wonderfully.

Each cat and each caregiver is different. ECID as the acronym goes. You will find your stride.

How wonderful that you would take on a diabetic cat. You won't find a better place to help you take care of him or her.

Hope that helps.
 
BJM said:
Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference. Our grid to record your glucose tests helps us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

See my signature link Human Glucometer and Veterinary Lab Reference Numbers and Notes
Click to expand...
Hi and TY but I was not able to download any template and I already have google drive and sheets. :(
 
That is odd. I tried BJM's link and it worked fine on all three spreadsheets. Are you on a PC, Mac or a mobile device? I find sometimes on my iPad or iPhone, Sheets can misbehave badly.
 
Brashworks said:
Hi Janet, and welcome.

To answer your main question, folks here use a spreadsheet to log numbers. It's a great tool. Instructions for setting it up can be found HERE

You can link folks to your spreadsheet and include some basic data in a signature (like mine below, you can click on Genghis SS to see her spreadsheet if you like). Instructions for setting up your signature can be found by clicking on your name in the top right corner, then selecting Signature.

There are currently no easy translations of human glucometer to Alpha Track numbers. For reference, the safety number to watch for hypoglycaemia is 50 on a human meter, 68 on the AT. Literal translations from one to the other aren't critical to managing a cat's diabetes. High is high, low is low. Sorry if that sounds simplistic - I have three different human meters and they all read slightly differently. I used to get a bit bent about it but now I don't.

Janet, head over to the Lantus/Levemir section of the site for your dosing question. Many factors come into play - is the cat transitioning food from dry to wet? Is the cat at ideal weight or under/overweight? Has the cat previously been on insulin? The very experienced folks there can help guide you once they understand your cat's unique situation.

As for glucose readings - opinions vary on what is "ideal" - and don't forget that any meter allows for a +/- 20% variance on how it reports Blood Glucose levels so it ain't exactly an exact science, but for your reference, I use this - noting that "regulation" is typically the goal of treating feline diabetes:

Q6.1. What is regulation?

A6.1. There are different definitions of regulation. As hometesting becomes more common, we've been getting a better understanding of what cats and their humans might be capable of.
Janet & Fitzgerald propose the following "regulation continuum":
  • Not treated [blood glucose typically above 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/L), poor clinical signs]
  • Treated but not regulated [often above 300 (16.7) and rarely near 100 (5.6), poor clinical signs]
  • Regulated [generally below 300 (16.7) with glucose nadir near 100 (5.6), good clinical signs, no hypoglycemia]
  • Well regulated [generally below 200-250 (11.1-13.9) and often near 100 (5.6), no hypoglycemia]
  • Tightly regulated [generally below 150 (8.3) and usually in the 60-120 (3.3-6.7) range, no hypoglycemia, still receiving insulin]
  • Normalized [60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin]

When I started, I felt that 100-200 was more than "acceptable". And certainly it's not a bad outcome - a cat with those numbers would certainly be feeling better. After getting a lot of great help and advice here, plus careful testing, diet control, (plus a whole lot of luck!) my cat is now "tightly regulated" and is doing wonderfully.

Each cat and each caregiver is different. ECID as the acronym goes. You will find your stride.

How wonderful that you would take on a diabetic cat. You won't find a better place to help you take care of him or her.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
this!
 
TY, Got spreadsheet to load on laptop but it makes no sense to either myself or Rich my BF we are really frustrated that no one has a simple form to log data.
 
It looks complicated but it really isn't.

AMPS is the morning reading, taken right before the shot. (PS = pre-shot), PMPS is the afternoon reading, taken 12 hours after the AM reading. We use +1 and +2 etc because folks are all over the world here and reading a sheet or understanding what is going on needs to be stated in a consistent manner, irrespective of local time. The "time" is not relevant to readings, only the number of hours that have elapsed since the morning shot and the PM or afternoon shot. Insulin in cats is dosed BID or every 12 hours. Each line represents one day, and the 2 shots (24 hours) for each.
 
Oh, and the U column is the number of units of insulin. Log a day or two and it all falls into place, easy peasy.
 
Brashworks said:
That is odd. I tried BJM's link and it worked fine on all three spreadsheets. Are you on a PC, Mac or a mobile device? I find sometimes on my iPad or iPhone, Sheets can misbehave badly.
Click to expand...
Was on iPad by Rich on iBook now has spreadsheet but makes little sense. wE are very worried.
wHat does the U stand for and I also can't find the dosing levels for Lantus read several stickies.
 
Janet, see my post above. I'll quote it here:

Janet, head over to the Lantus/Levemir section of the site for your dosing question. Many factors come into play - is the cat transitioning food from dry to wet? Is the cat at ideal weight or under/overweight? Has the cat previously been on insulin? The very experienced folks there can help guide you once they understand your cat's unique situation.
​
Diabetes is a condition that isn't rocket science to treat, but every cat is unique and different. There is no "one size fits all" approach to managing it.
 
Brashworks said:
Oh, and the U column is the number of units of insulin. Log a day or two and it all falls into place, easy peasy.
Click to expand...
Ok thnx what are we supposed to,put under the +1 +2 etc columns? What if you test 12 hrs still don't get it . Is there an explanation sheet somewhere?
 
for each day, there are columns marked for:
AM PS = morning pre-shot
PM PS = evening pre-shot
U = units of insulin given
+1 through +11 columns for any tests done at +# of hours since the shot.
The interpretation of the test numbers depends on how long it has been since insulin was given. Typically, the lowest glucose post-shot is around +5 to +7 hours after the insulin was given. This does move around, so tests will show you when it tends to happen for your cat.
 
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