Hi I'm new...my cat Sketch has diabetes

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AlyMcF

AlyMcF

Member Since 2014
I couldn't find an Intro thread so I started a new one. My 11.5 yr old neutered male cat, Sketch, was diagnosed with diabetes on Nov 18.

He had been drinking more water and the litterbox contents had just about doubled. That's how I knew something was wrong.

His blood glucose was just under 500 when diagnosed. After 1 week of low carb canned foods (whereas before he'd been eating a mix of low carb canned and 33% carbs dry food) his glucose dropped to 432, but he still needed insulin, so we started that the night of the 25th, 1 unit of Lantus Glargine, and so far so good. Much less pee in the box this morning.

We will be taking him to the vet each Tuesday for weeks so they can get a glucose curve.

I'm in Seattle.

Did I forget anything?
 
Hello and welcome from someone just a little to the north of you. We ask every new person to start their own thread, so that was the right thing to do.

Good job on getting Sketch onto low carb wet food. Can I ask what food you are feeding? Lantus insulin is also a good insulin for cats and he's on a reasonable dose to start. The third thing that can help you manage Sketch's diabetes is doing home blood glucose testing instead of taking him into the vet for curves. It'll save you money and will help you make sure it's safe to give Sketch insulin. Cats have the unique ability to go into diabetic remission so we recommend doing the blood tests your self. There are plenty of video's on Youtube to show you how it's done. You can use human blood glucose meters. A good one with cheap test strips and a small drop of blood is either the Relion Micro or Confirm from Walmart.
 
I agree with Wendy. I had the vet do one curve and it was very expensive - $25 per test and they did several, plus the stay at the hospital for the day.

Doing it yourself is easy to do after a little practice, and the folks here can help with that. You only need to get a meter and strips and bingo, you can do your own curves.

Take a look at any of our spreadsheets - marked as SS in our signatures and you will see the data we have collected ourselves. Home testing is much more reliable as the cat is not stressed out from the vet visit or car drive. My cat gets his treat first as he knows its coming so wont sit still until he's had the treat. Then he patiently sits there on the table while I prick his ear and test. Warming the ear will help a lot in doing this. If your vet is not against it, you can have them show you how to find that sweet spot at the edge of the ear.

Juliet and Silver.
 
Stress at the vets may raise the glucose level 100 - 180 mg/dL; you'll get more accurate results at home and also help keep your cat safe by home testing and comparing the values to reference levels. See my signature link Glucometer Notes to better understand how home testing can help and what the numbers may mean.

Could you please add some details to your signature? It'll help us give you better feedback.

To edit your signature:

Go to the top left of the screen.
Click on User Control Panel.
Click on Profile
Click on Edit Signature
A text box displays.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.

Add any other text, such as
your name, cat's name,
city, state,country
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like food issues, allergies, IBD,

etc.
Then Click on Submit to save it.
 
Ok thanks !

I was able to edit my signature. :)

To answer the food question, he's now eating Wellness brand and BFF. He and his buddy Max (14.5 yr old neutered male) get about 3 cans a day total. Sketch is currently the more enthusiastic eater of the two. I'm keeping a log on the food and insulin.

The vet showed me how to do the blood glucose at home and I've been asking around to see if anyone has an insulin meter they aren't using. The vet said you needed one specific to dogs and cats, because there's a number you have to dial in first so they reading would be accurate (I think it was 36 for dogs and 38 for cats). So if someone is using a human meter, please tell me how you're doing that. And is the human glucose meter a lot cheaper?
 
Actually, you can use a human meter with pet-specific reference numbers which are in my signature link Glucometer Notes.

The test strips are substantially less expensive for human meters - ex $0.36/strip for a ReliOn Confirm vs $1.00/strip for an AlphaTrak. Testing before shots 2/day*30 days per month would be $60 at least for an AlphaTrak, and you need to check mid-cycle to see how low he's going as frequently as possible to keep him safely above 50 mg/dL on a human meter.
 
After a day at the vet getting his glucose curved up, they said he came in low at first...100, and then went up to the mid-200s by afternoon. So now I've been asked to try 1/2 unit of insulin for the next week. Which I guess is good news? Potentially?
 
Dose decrease is a good thing; it means he may be producing more insulin of his own.

Can we get you started using our grid to record his glucose tests? Just enter the vet ones you've been told so far and make a note what meter was being used. It will help us give you better feedback, especially once you start testing yourself. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
I'm not sure I'm ready for a spreadsheet yet. I only just figured out how to use the blood glucose monitor today and at the moment it is a two person job and I don't always have someone here to help me.

I got an AlphaTrak 2 and when I tested Sketch this evening about an hour after his 1/2 unit of insulin, his blood glucose was 102.

Last Tuesday when the vet tested him at 100 about an hour after his morning shot, she felt that was kind of low and suggested the dose lowering. The vet is not open tomorrow (Monday) so I can't ask until Tuesday about whether I should change his insulin dose. I wonder if maybe I should up the carbs on the food slightly until Tuesday. I have been feeding canned food that is mostly 2% carbs but I do have one that is 5%.
 
Just wanted to add that I think the reason my vet thought 100 was too low for blood glucose is because as the day wore on, his reading went up to 250. I guess that's called a rebound? Not sure. Hmm, well I just saw this http://www.indulgedfurries.com/petdiabetes/somogyi.htm and it seems like his numbers were perfectly normal, hm.

Also wondering if there is a syringe that is more granular...I've got these .3cc BD needles that have half unit markings on the left side (we are at a 1/2 unit currently) but it's so hard to feel like I'm accurate with that. And if I have to go to 1/4 unit at some point I don't know how I'm going to do it.
 
Magnifiers ! Carson Clip and Flip attach to glasses (I love these!); there are visor and stand magnifiers, too. You can go through the SHOP link above, and use your local Amazon to search for them. Any purchases made this way help support the message board.

We eyeball 0.25 and 0.75 increments.

Some folks use calipers to make sure they are consistent (and syringes markings are not always consistent!)

It may be helpful to learn the drop method of dosing:
Practice by filling the syringe to the first non-zero mark using an easily visible liquid, such as coffee. Carefully squeeze out equal sized drops - you may find twisting the plunger helps - and repeat until you can get the same number of equal sized drops each time. Now, when you dose the insulin, you can discharge drops (into the sink) from the dose, based on your cat's response.
 
BJM said:
It may be helpful to learn the drop method of dosing:
Practice by filling the syringe to the first non-zero mark using an easily visible liquid, such as coffee. Carefully squeeze out equal sized drops - you may find twisting the plunger helps - and repeat until you can get the same number of equal sized drops each time. Now, when you dose the insulin, you can discharge drops (into the sink) from the dose, based on your cat's response.
Click to expand...

Ok so for example, if I fill the syringe with a 1/2 unit dose of coffee and learned that it contained, say, 16 drops, then if I wanted to do a 1/4 dose of insulin, I would fill the syringe to the 1/2 unit of insulin, then squeeze out 8 drops(back into the bottle?), then injecting the cat with the remainder, which I could be somewhat confident was now down to 8 drops?
 
True, the viscosity and surface tension will vary with the product. To me, the important piece is getting the hand movements learned so you can then practice on some insulin without wasting too much of it.
 
Well the good news is that his numbers looked good last Tuesday and the vet suggesting taking him off his 1/2 unit of insulin entirely to see how he does. We tested his BG today (four days after quitting insulin) and he was at 79! Woohoo! I think he must be in remission.
 
We define remission as 14 days of no insulin, and numbers between 40 - 130 mg/dL on a human glucometer.
So Sketch is on countdown!
Congratulations!
 
Another kitty in diet controlled remission! Way to go Sketch! Being :otj: is awesome.

Now some tips to help you stay that way.
Here are some tips to stay OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice)

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If your cat does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any. Pancreatitis, hyperthyroid, dental issues are the most common reasons cats fall out of remission.
 
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