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Dora the Explorer

Dora the Explorer

Member Since 2020
Hello,

I hope I am in the right place to post this! So much information with this unexpected diagnosis. I have had many cats and they've had many ailments - mostly hyperthyroidism - but when my five year old cat peed inappropriately at the start of the pandemic, and I took her in to check for stress UTI because we had just cat sat two cats for two weeks and she was still angry with us, I never expected to be told she was diabetic! But here we are.

Trying to learn as much as I can. She is just about exactly five years old, my son got her on the streets when he was in college (3 1/2 years ago) and she has come to be our cat. Two years ago she had a bout of pancreatitis that lasted a week or two and last year she went through something similar, always in April, but she recovered. Her blood glucose was fine last April. Now it is 450. Her urine tests very high as well (3+ on their scale, I had a tester strip that showed her around 500-1000 depending on what side of the 30 second wait I read the strip on). No other abnormal test results, kidneys, liver, thyroid, CBC, all normal.

She has been put on Lantis, 0.1cc twice a day. I don't have to test her until later this week. I'm so anxious! She has been ok with taking the shot but I worry about dosing, how do I know she isn't getting too much, and one of the worst things for me is that I have to feed her only twice per day. I have other cats so they will all have to follow this schedule. Dora isn't overweight, she weighs about ten pounds. She has a little paunch (she has a delicate figure ;-)) but she's a normal sized cat.

I'll be lurking and reading as much as I can here and hoping for the easiest road for Dora. I've ordered the tester strips for both urine and blood and am hoping to be able to monitor at home. She needs sedation for blood work at the vet and she also has a hole in her heart!

Thanks for reading -
Jane
 
Hi! Welcome! SO glad you have found us! Lantus is a good insulin and you are planning to home test, so you are off to the right start. 1 unit twice a day is a good recommended starting dose. What are you feeding? You don't need to feed just twice a day, but you do want to pick up the food at least two hours before the preshot test. Most of us feed several smaller meals a day rather then just two big ones. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. We are here for you.
 
Welcome to FDMB!

You may want to take a look at this post to help you get oriented to the Board. It covers some safety issues (i.e., having a "hypo" toolkit) as well as getting your signature and spreadsheet set up.

I'd encourage you to start home testing as soon as possible. You can get a human glucometer, which is what many of us use, since the strips for a pet glucometer are very pricey. Many people use the Walmart, Relion, meter but any human meter is fine.

Just an FYI, insulin doses are in units, not cc. I suspect your cat is getting 1.0u. I also hope you are using syringes and not injecting directly from a Lantus pen. The pens will only allow you to adjust the dose in 1.0u increments. You will want to make dose adjustments in much smaller amounts to avoid an overdose (i.e., 0.25u amounts -- and your vet is likely to tell you that you can't measure that small of a dose -- and we do it all the time!).

What are you feeding your cat? We strongly encourage a low carbohydrate, canned food diet. There is a wonderful website on feline nutrition that also has a chart with lots of alternatives for low carb (i.e., under 10% carb -- although most people here feed about have of that amount of carbs) foods.

Please let us know what questions you have. We're here to help.
 
Thank you both!

Janet, are you in NJ? We are as well. Today I’m mostly worrying about if I’m doing harm, doing the injections wrong, is it too much for her? She has a very medicinal/hospitaly smell today - is that usual? Did I get the insulin on her? It definitely went in... It’s hard to be patient when cats are supposed to sleep a lot and she’s sleeping! (She’s cleaning herself now so that’s good!)

My cats have had access to dry food all day - usually Halo or Instinct or Tiki Cat, depending on what Chewy is out of. Twice a day they get a small amount of wet food, they like Weruva BFF Oh My Gravy. The vet has said she will change the diet but not yet.

I have the pen and very small droppers and I pull just enough to the 0.1, is that one unit? We feed her and half an hour later give her a little dry food and while she eats, the shot. Two down so far. I’m so anxious! I’m worried about getting blood to test her levels; all the cats in the videos are so sedate. She can go feral if she doesn’t like the things that are happening to her.

I keep thinking there must be some mistake - did I overfeed her? Should she not have had the other cat’s c/d? Can we manage by diet? I don’t want her to go hypoglycemic but the vet said we don’t have to check her urine until Thursday! She started the shots last night (Friday). There has been something just slightly off about her lately though - she’s usually much more social and she’s been keeping to herself more. And drinking out of a glass on my sink.

I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions. Thanks for answering me! I’ll definitely check out all the links.

jane
 
Dora the Explorer said:
Thank you both!

Janet, are you in NJ? We are as well. Today I’m mostly worrying about if I’m doing harm, doing the injections wrong, is it too much for her? She has a very medicinal/hospitaly smell today - is that usual? Did I get the insulin on her? It definitely went in... It’s hard to be patient when cats are supposed to sleep a lot and she’s sleeping! (She’s cleaning herself now so that’s good!)

My cats have had access to dry food all day - usually Halo or Instinct or Tiki Cat, depending on what Chewy is out of. Twice a day they get a small amount of wet food, they like Weruva BFF Oh My Gravy. The vet has said she will change the diet but not yet.

I have the pen and very small droppers and I pull just enough to the 0.1, is that one unit? We feed her and half an hour later give her a little dry food and while she eats, the shot. Two down so far. I’m so anxious! I’m worried about getting blood to test her levels; all the cats in the videos are so sedate. She can go feral if she doesn’t like the things that are happening to her.

I keep thinking there must be some mistake - did I overfeed her? Should she not have had the other cat’s c/d? Can we manage by diet? I don’t want her to go hypoglycemic but the vet said we don’t have to check her urine until Thursday! She started the shots last night (Friday). There has been something just slightly off about her lately though - she’s usually much more social and she’s been keeping to herself more. And drinking out of a glass on my sink.

I’m sure I’ll have lots of questions. Thanks for answering me! I’ll definitely check out all the links.

jane
Click to expand...
I AM in NJ... Bergen County... where are you? The only way to know if a dose is too much is through blood testing. I see you have used some urine strips but blood testing will tell you in the moment what her levels are. I test my cat about 4 times a day. Sounds worse then it is. It's a TINY prick to the outside edge of the ear, and then use a glucose meter. I use an Alphatrak meter, which is probably the meter that your vet uses as it is calibrated to feline blood. Many on here use a human meter. the strips for the human meter are cheaper then the pet meter. either way is fine.

The next step for you is to set up a signature so we don't have to ask you the same questions repeatedly. GO up to your name on the top left and click it. Then go to signature. Add your pet's name, age, date diagnosed, type of insulin, which meter you use, and what you are feeding.

Yes going to the .1 should be one unit. The only problem with the pens are that you can't do half units... so you may need to get some syringes too for when you need to up the dose to 1.25 or 1.5 units. People in the Lantus forums can help you with dosing... for now stick with the 1 unit until you are testing and getting readings.

THe BG test is not a big deal. It is nerve wracking at first for sure... but if you watch my video you can see my cat barely even notices. From start to finish it takes less then a minute. Usually it takes longer to FIND her then to test her. and it will relieve a LOT of your anxiety over knowing if she's safe or not or if a dose is enough or too much.

I would skip the dry food. Most dry foods are 35% or higher in carbs... it's like feeding a diabetic person cookies. You want a low carb wet food. Most people on here feed fancy feast classics or friskies pate. I feed weuruva because my cat also has kidney disease so needs lower phospherous too.

THis is a food chart that will show you the carb count for wet foods. The C/D food is 28% carb and she should NOT eat it. CHoose foods under 10 % carb. ( under 7 is even better). https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

Keep a few cans of high carb food on hand in case she's ever low. A food with lots of gravy will work well.

Some cats go into remission and do well on just food , but your cat is going to need insulin for now. Not all cats go into remission (mine was in remission for a year before coming out of remission because she developed a pituitary gland tumor causing acromegaly). Your best chance for getting her into remission is feeding low carb, and testing regularly. Lantus has two protocols for dosing listed at the top of the Lantus section of the forum. REad the yellow stickies at the top. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/

Now that you have started insulin she will be starting to feel better soon. :)

Feel free to ask any questions you have.
 
Thank you, Janet!

I’m in Monmouth County. I’ll do the signature when I get my shipment and then I’ll know what kit I have. I think the vet is trying to balance Dora’s diabetic health with her spirited personality. There is no way she will sit through testing the way your cat did! I just watched your video and yes it was helpful, but Dora would have been out the door the second I picked up the kit!

This is our first time using this particular vet. Dora can’t go to my regular vet because she hates him (big infection after her spay) and we tried a cat vet but I found her not that friendly. This is a regular vet at the emergency hospital that treated her two episodes of not eating. I haven’t even met her due to quarantine curbside dropoff!

Thank you for the food tips. My other cat eats c/d but she hasn’t had a UTI in a while so I wonder if I can just take her off of it too. I have another cat with kidney disease. she just turned 16 and only takes thyroid meds. She’s pretty sick actually but she is a trooper.

Sigh.

I’ll check the BFF content and also your foods link. And will set up a spreadsheet too when I get the package.

Hope you’re all safe up there in Bergen. These are crazy times. Leave it to Dora to get diabetic during a pandemic!

thanks again - Jane
 
Dora the Explorer said:
Thank you, Janet!

I’m in Monmouth County. I’ll do the signature when I get my shipment and then I’ll know what kit I have. I think the vet is trying to balance Dora’s diabetic health with her spirited personality. There is no way she will sit through testing the way your cat did! I just watched your video and yes it was helpful, but Dora would have been out the door the second I picked up the kit!

This is our first time using this particular vet. Dora can’t go to my regular vet because she hates him (big infection after her spay) and we tried a cat vet but I found her not that friendly. This is a regular vet at the emergency hospital that treated her two episodes of not eating. I haven’t even met her due to quarantine curbside dropoff!

Thank you for the food tips. My other cat eats c/d but she hasn’t had a UTI in a while so I wonder if I can just take her off of it too. I have another cat with kidney disease. she just turned 16 and only takes thyroid meds. She’s pretty sick actually but she is a trooper.

Sigh.

I’ll check the BFF content and also your foods link. And will set up a spreadsheet too when I get the package.

Hope you’re all safe up there in Bergen. These are crazy times. Leave it to Dora to get diabetic during a pandemic!

thanks again - Jane
Click to expand...

hi and welcome!
You’re in great hands these guys here really know what they’re talking about and if they got me through learning how to home test, there’s nothing they can’t walk you through ha!

You mentioned the clinical smell. Insulin has a very strong sortta sweet smell so it’s easy to recognize. If you were using a syringe, I’d tell you to just squeeze a drop onto your finger so you could smell it. It doesn’t sound like you can do that with the pen. My tip is to hold a flash light and aim at the spot you’re shooing at so you can see the needle go in and out do the skin. I hold a portable one in my mouth while shooting but you could have someone hold it for you too. The other thing you can do is touch the spot to feel if it’s humid. This may sound nutty, but sometimes I put my nose right on it and smell it to make sure. I’m sure Minnie thinks I’m nuts :D

Welcome!! :bighug:
 
Dora the Explorer said:
Thank you, Janet!

I’m in Monmouth County. I’ll do the signature when I get my shipment and then I’ll know what kit I have. I think the vet is trying to balance Dora’s diabetic health with her spirited personality. There is no way she will sit through testing the way your cat did! I just watched your video and yes it was helpful, but Dora would have been out the door the second I picked up the kit!

This is our first time using this particular vet. Dora can’t go to my regular vet because she hates him (big infection after her spay) and we tried a cat vet but I found her not that friendly. This is a regular vet at the emergency hospital that treated her two episodes of not eating. I haven’t even met her due to quarantine curbside dropoff!

Thank you for the food tips. My other cat eats c/d but she hasn’t had a UTI in a while so I wonder if I can just take her off of it too. I have another cat with kidney disease. she just turned 16 and only takes thyroid meds. She’s pretty sick actually but she is a trooper.

Sigh.

I’ll check the BFF content and also your foods link. And will set up a spreadsheet too when I get the package.

Hope you’re all safe up there in Bergen. These are crazy times. Leave it to Dora to get diabetic during a pandemic!

thanks again - Jane
Click to expand...
you could switch them all to low carb/low phospherous food, that way it would be good for both the diabetic cat, and the cat with kidney disease. My cat has all three issues... diabetic, ckd, and hyperthyroidism. I feed her various weruva brand foods under 10 carb, and under 1 phospherous for the kidneys.... and add extra water to it.

This is what I’m currently feeding.

Weruva slide and serve pate foods Family Food (.97 phosphorus and 0 carb). Also Jeopurrdy Chicken (0.97 P 6.1 carb)

Weruva Steak Frites (0.57 phosphorus 7.5 carb although I take out any big pieces of potatoes to try to limit the carbs just a bit)

weruva Fowl Ball chicken and turkey (0.89 phosphorus 0 carb).

Weruva LA isla Bonita - phosphorus 0.77 carb 4.5
Glam and punk 1% carb, 0.93 phosphorous.

Weruva paw lickin chicken 3.3 carb 0.82 p and
Press your lunch 5.9 carb. 0.82 phosphorous
 
Thanks. The kidney disease cat has prescription kidney food. I think I’ll definitely do as you say. Where do you get those foods these days? I can’t find them at chewy. I used to go in to petco for the weruva cans. Maybe I can get them curbside.

my tester kit won’t arrive until Wednesday. Is there one I can pick up at a drugstore? Being in one of the hotspot covid areas I avoid going inside places!
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
hi and welcome!
You’re in great hands these guys here really know what they’re talking about and if they got me through learning how to home test, there’s nothing they can’t walk you through ha!

You mentioned the clinical smell. Insulin has a very strong sortta sweet smell so it’s easy to recognize. If you were using a syringe, I’d tell you to just squeeze a drop onto your finger so you could smell it. It doesn’t sound like you can do that with the pen. My tip is to hold a flash light and aim at the spot you’re shooing at so you can see the needle go in and out do the skin. I hold a portable one in my mouth while shooting but you could have someone hold it for you too. The other thing you can do is touch the spot to feel if it’s humid. This may sound nutty, but sometimes I put my nose right on it and smell it to make sure. I’m sure Minnie thinks I’m nuts :D

Welcome!! :bighug:
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip! My husband has been holding Dora still for the shots so she doesn’t bolt. I can tell it’s gone in, I feel it and she goes “mah” and then I check for wetness. This is just nerve racking not knowing her sugar levels and whether it’s not working or working too well!
 
Dora the Explorer said:
thanks for the tip! My husband has been holding Dora still for the shots so she doesn’t bolt. I can tell it’s gone in, I feel it and she goes “mah” and then I check for wetness. This is just nerve racking not knowing her sugar levels and whether it’s not working or working too well!
Click to expand...
I totally understand. I was out of test strips and couldn’t check Minnies level for one day until the shipment arrived and I was a nervous wreck not knowing.

to answer your question about the meter, yes you can buy Walmart’s ReliOn at Walmart but call first to make sure they have it in stock. You know how it is these days. You can get the strips and lancets there too and in CA they don’t require a prescription but ask about that too to make sure. I just got it all this week as a backup to my Freestyle lite when I had to wait for the strips to arrive
 
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