? Importance of BG during first week of insulin?

[JaiJai]

Hi Everyone, my "first child" Jai was diagnosed with Diabetes Friday. At her annual check-up we mentioned concerning symptoms to her vet (frequent drinking/urinating and weight loss). Turns out her glucose was "over 500". Jai was put on 2U PZI BID and then scheduled to go back in one week (next friday) for a glucose curve. The Vet hardly gave us any information, hardly even explained how to give an insulin shot, just sent us off with expensive food/meds/tests. Jai's other tests (blood/urine) came back pretty okay except for "some ketones" in her urine (which was totally glossed over). Now that I have spent 48 hours reading the whole internet, I feel both more informed and yet more stressed/anxious about everything. My background involves some working with mice (I do pharmacology research) which I think has helped the insulin injections go very smooth so far and Jai loves the DM Pro plan wet & dry food.

How awful was it that my vet didn't recommend glucose testing? I purchased an AlphaTrak2 online (mostly to be able to compare to vet's numbers), so it'll arrive soon and will start doing frequent readings when it does. My Vet never mentioned I should track glucose at all! Should she have? Is this a sign of negligence or just not expecting people to want to diligently track insulin response? I also worry she did it just to get me in to do glucose curves (we have one scheduled for next week). I have my PhD in pharmacology - so PK is kinda my thing and I might be a bit biased that this wasn't a good thing to omit. Jai has already tapered on her excessive drinking and urinating, so I'm worried she'll dip too low without me having the proper equipment to check on her. I've been waking the poor thing up from her naps about every 15m if she starts sleeping too deeply.

I'll get my signature set up, but for now she's 10.8 lbs, DOB 7/22/2007 (11 yrs old), Glucose at Dx on 3/2/18 +500 (48 hours ago). On 2U PZI BID. Pro Plan DM wet & dry food.

 

[Sharon14]

Hi Rachel, many vets do not recommend testing, some are even against it! I didn’t test the first several months after diagnosis and, like you kept worrying and stalking my poor cat. Testing is easy and will give you peace of mind as well as help you and your vet figure out the best dose for Jai. Another thing I would recommend is that you pick up some ketone test strips and test Jai for ketones. They can come up quickly, can be life threatening and are very expensive to treat. Since she had some at diagnosis, I would be very vigilant on this.

 

[Glassgoblin]

You sound like you are at the same point I am. We got our diagnosis on Saturday 3/3. They told me not to worry about home testing but after reading on Saturday I went out and bought a monitor and supplies on Sunday morning anyway. It helps my anxiety a little after reading about hypo and hyperglycemia. I still need the ketone strips.

I hope your kitty is starting to feel better.

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Many vets do not recommend - or recommend against - home testing. This is even though the AAHA Guidelines (link in my signature) recommend it as the best way to monitor. I find that many vets are ignorant about feline diabetes. I think others just do not think pet parents will do the home testing or think they will become so obsessed with 'the numbers' that they will fail to pay attention to clinical symptoms. Doctors would not recommend blindly giving insulin shots to a human, so I personally find it absurd that anyone would think it is okay with animals. Having been at this 8 months now, I can tell you that blood glucose is a fickle thing. I cannot imagine trying to manage this without home testing.

 

[beggargirl]

My vet was very happy when I told him I would be testing and doing my own curves at home (this is my 2nd diabetic cat). He said he prefers home testing because it is less stressful for the cat, and just asked me to send him the numbers when I get them.

 

[JaiJai]

Thank you everyone for the reassurance, good to know that its a general omission by some vets and not specific to mine. I'll make sure to get Ketone strips and discuss more with my vet what to worry about there too.