I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot!

[McCallRL66]

Turbo needs someone to help his mother so that she can help him!

Our family has been trying to get our arms wrapped around an insulin regimine. We were so lucky (or clueless) for the first year of therapy. Then Thanksgiving was around the corner and I had a trip planned with my bestie for her 60th birthday. My wonderful hubby kissed me on the cheek and sent us to Florida for 2 weeks. Then...the wheels fell off the bus.

My husband is a wonderful man but I have to think that he did not follow the same schedule that he and I do when I am home. Our kitty, Turbo, ended up in the emergency clinic on Thanksgiving and the trip went to H and back for everyone. Turbo was near death, I was miserable being 1500 miles from home,and my husband was incredulous at the costs that were piling up. Turbo was dx with pancreatitis and a 3 week journey to bring him back from the brink ensued.

Fast forward to now...we have been doing bgt every day at LEAST twice a day and usually up to 6 times. Turbo is a DLH that weighs a bit more than 11 pounds. He is a big boy but is carrying just a little extra weight but not a lot. He is currently getting 3 units of Lantus 2x a day at 7a & 7p. He is still spiking on occaision and then dropping into Hypo land. The vet tries very hard but I need help at every turn...we are just going in circles and I am freaked out because I am once again away from home on business and next week we are supposed to have our nephew taking care of Turbo while we go on vacation...I am sick just thinking about it!!!

I have this pit in my stomach and I really feel that we are giving him TOO MUCH insulin. I feel like he is spiking due to sugar release from his liver and that scares me beyond belief. He has started to pee outside of the box in massive amounts. We took him for labwork and no kidney failure signs were present. Vet asked to send another vial to another lab to test other things but no results yet...

I'm not an idiot but I sure feel like one with this...

I am hoping someone is out there to hold my hand a bit and share some advice...any takers?

 

[MommaOfMuse]

Re: I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot

Okay a couple of quick questions that I know everyone is going to ask...

First what is Turbo's present diet? We recommend an all canned or raw diet that is less than 10% Carbs. A couple popular brands around here is either Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies Pate Style.

Second how did you get to 3u twice a day? Is this the dose that the vet started him on or was he worked up to it slowly? If it was the dose he was started on and he is eating an all canned diet then it could be way to high of a dose.

Also any numbers from your testing that you can share with us will make it much easier for us to figure out what is going on. Since we are international we ask that until you get a spreadsheet up that you post numbers as follows.

AMPS (the number before the morning shot)
+1
+2
+3
etc the + numbers are hour many hours after the shot was given
PMPS (the number before the evening shot)

That way we don't have to try to figure what time zone you are in as opposed to when we are reading your post and what time zone we are in...Make sense?

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang

 

[Blue]

Re: I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot

Turbo needs someone to help his mother so that she can help him!

Our family has been trying to get our arms wrapped around an insulin regimine. We were so lucky (or clueless) for the first year of therapy. Then Thanksgiving was around the corner and I had a trip planned with my bestie for her 60th birthday. My wonderful hubby kissed me on the cheek and sent us to Florida for 2 weeks. Then...the wheels fell off the bus.

My husband is a wonderful man but I have to think that he did not follow the same schedule that he and I do when I am home. Our kitty, Turbo, ended up in the emergency clinic on Thanksgiving and the trip went to H and back for everyone. Turbo was near death, I was miserable being 1500 miles from home,and my husband was incredulous at the costs that were piling up. Turbo was dx with pancreatitis and a 3 week journey to bring him back from the brink ensued.

Fast forward to now...we have been doing bgt every day at LEAST twice a day and usually up to 6 times. Turbo is a DLH that weighs a bit more than 11 pounds. He is a big boy but is carrying just a little extra weight but not a lot. He is currently getting 3 units of Lantus 2x a day at 7a & 7p. He is still spiking on occaision and then dropping into Hypo land. The vet tries very hard but I need help at every turn...we are just going in circles and I am freaked out because I am once again away from home on business and next week we are supposed to have our nephew taking care of Turbo while we go on vacation...I am sick just thinking about it!!!

I have this pit in my stomach and I really feel that we are giving him TOO MUCH insulin. I feel like he is spiking due to sugar release from his liver and that scares me beyond belief. He has started to pee outside of the box in massive amounts. We took him for labwork and no kidney failure signs were present. Vet asked to send another vial to another lab to test other things but no results yet...

I'm not an idiot but I sure feel like one with this...

I am hoping someone is out there to hold my hand a bit and share some advice...any takers?

Well, I think you are in a good place now for help....lots of people here, actually ALL people here were where you are now - to know the road ahead, ask the man coming back.

OK first thing to ask is what food are you feeding? Diet is pretty important - low carb wet food is best for diabetic cats..... many cats turn out to be diet controlled once all the high carb and dry food is switched.
Lots of info for you on catinfo.org site including a list of foods you can feed that are low carb.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food%20Char ... -22-12.pdf
- just look for foods with carbs under 10%

Next, home testing. You mentioned something about testing I think; if you can post some of the numbers you are getting, and others can let you know how you are doing. Most people track their BG test numbers on a google spreadsheet as it's easy for others to access and see how you are doing.
You can get help to set it up if needed.

Pancreatitis is very painful, but you can treat it often yourself ....it seems that some cats are prone to chronic pancreatitis, with frequent flares.... you will recognize the signs in time with your own cat.
Chronic pancreatitis (or does my cat have a pepcid deficiency?)
If you can keep some pepcid AC on hand, cats can have 5mg/day so cutting the 10mg pills into 4, you can give 1/4tab twice a day. I used to give my Shadoe a piece about 30min before her am and pm meals.... it helped to settle her stomach before her 2 main meals.
Pancreatitis is quite painful, so it's a good idea to keep some pain meds on hand..... common is to keep some buprenex on hand, but you can speak to your vet about what's good for your cat.
The third thing that helps is to give subQ fluids. It's quite easy to give and many here give their cats fluids frequently, so ask if you have any questions.

None of us knew alot before we arrived here with our cat, worried about what we could do, what we were able to do. You will be fine and so will your cat.

If you are planning to change your cat's diet, be sure you are testing often before any switch, because a change in food most likely will result in a drop in insulin needs.

 

[BJM]

Re: I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot

Please see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for info on urine ketone testing. Ketones are produced through fat breakdown, when there isn't enough insulin, and usually there is a drop in appetite and a concurrent infection of some sort. High ketones can signal diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This is an expensive to treat, potentially fatal, complication of diabetes. Monitoring ketones also will help guide your dosing.

The other monitoring options give you insight into how your cat is doing - a "Whole Cat Report" and provide some indirect methods of evaluation.

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

Re: I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot

Hi,
I don't see where anyone has asked where are you located?
There might be someone near by.

It does sound like the dose may be too high. Some vets pick a dose and don't adjust it accordingly to the cats needs.
That's why testing is so important.

As we get more information from you, we can help you get Turbo adjusted.

 

[KPassa]

Re: I'm intelligent but this is making me feel like an idiot

Welcome! :YMHUG:

One more link that I don't think anyone has shared with you yet is for the spreadsheet we all use here. It's color-coded so it helps you make sense of all those numbers you've been getting from testing. Please let us know if you need any help with this or have any questions about anything else. We've all been there so you've definitely found the right place to provide you with "help at every turn" and you'll have a lot of someones willing to "hold your hand."

Might I also suggest you have your nephew join this board so he can ask for help/advice while he's taking care of Turbo while you're gone?