insulin issues

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Jamie N Gizmo

Jamie N Gizmo

Member Since 2014
I'm having a hard time with insulin. When my cat was diagnosed around October, he was started on vetsulin. As time went on..it wasn't bringing his sugar down anymore. He was switched to prozinc last month and it seemed to be working well. I ran out of test strips for a week..and was giving him 1 1\2 units twice a day and his numbers were like 135 with a spike in the morning in the low 200s. Now..his sugars are over 400 again..and he had over 4 units yesterday..first test was 8am..and it was 346. Gave him 1 1\2 units..by 2 pm..it was 410. Gave him 2 units and it was 325 around 6pm. Is this insulin no longer working either? Any suggestions? He's on purrfect bistro for food that was no wheat and is all natural..and call of the wild dry which also has no wheat and is all natural.
 
I think I've heard that Call Of The Wild isn't very good for diabetics because doesn't it have potatoes and fruits and vegetables or something like that in it? Is this what you are feeding? A long time ago, when J.D. was first diagnosed, I thought it sounded like a good food to feed J.D., but was advised against it from this board. Maybe it has changed in the years since.
 
The Merrick Purrfect Bistro canned foods may not have corn, wheat or soy in them, but they are loaded with other high carb ingredients like peas and potato starch and other veggies.

The Call of the Wild (Taste of the Wild) dry food is heavy on peas, sweet potatoes and potato protein, all carb ingredients.

You may find that switching to a low carb food like Fancy Feast pates, Friskies pates, or Wellness grain free canned food makes all the difference in the BG numbers. It certainly did for my Wink.

We have found that feeding our diabetic cats a low carb food, < 10% carbs is one of the keys to getting them regulated. This food chart, by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson, lists most of the canned foods available in the US. Look in the 3rd column of numbers, for foods with < 10% carbs.

Even the AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats recommends feeding your cat "Provide the lowest amount of carbohydrate levels in the diet that the cat will eat."
 
Here's the purrfect bistro ingredients:
Deboned beef, beef broth, chicken liver,deboned chicken,dried egg product,natural flavor,cranberries calcium carbonate,organic alfalfa, salt,potassium chloride,carrageenan,guar gum,sodium phosphate,salmon oil,zinc amino acid complex,iron amino acid complex,manganese amino acid complex,copper amino acid complex,potassium iodide,cobalt gluvohetonate,sodium selenite,vitamin e supplement, vitamin b12 supplement,d calcium phantothenate,vitamin a supplement, niacin,vitamin d3 supplement, riboflavin supplement,pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid,biotin,thiamine mononitrate,taurine,choline chloride,yucca schidigera extract.

Crude protein 10%, crude fat 3%, crude fiber 1%, moisture max 78%, ash 2.1%, taurine .08%
168 kcal per can

I don't have a computer..so I'll see what kind of spreadsheet I can come up with. I only have an android tablet
 
The Android Tablet should have no problem using Google Drive, which has the online spreadsheet we use. For the Purrfect Bistro, there was a recent discussion on the new values and some of them are too high in carbs now as well as phosphorus (not good for renal health).
 
Thanks. The template links have a 404 error not found. I was looking at one..and I didn't quite understand it. Had the BG range at the top..but the numbers were all over the chart..not under the BG ranges. I guess purrfect bistros is off my list. It was working good for several weeks..maybe they were old cans?
 
Here's some of the numberrs ..I looked on the meter.
Today...these are going backwards from most recent.
1-30-2014
17:05 bg-405
Gave 2 units

1-30-2014
12:15 BG 404
Gave 2 units

1-30-2014
8:03 BG 403
Gave 2 units

1-29-2014
17:41 BG 222
Gave 1 unit

1-29-2014
12:19 BG 311
Gave 2 units

1-29-2014
8:44 BG 410
Gave 2 units

1-28-2014
21:44 BG 343
Gave 2 units

1-28-2014
14:17 BG 401
Gave 2 units

Obviously he's getting way too much insulin and it's not really doing anything..when before 1 1\2 units was too much per 24 hours..he gets one can wet food per day..usually half in the morning and half at night. He's not acting sick..but I'm trying to do all I can for him. BG was taken with alphatrak 2 with alphatrak test strips
 
Understanding the spreadsheet:

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 +5 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.
 
Thanks for their explanation. My cat tonight is pulling out his hair intentionally while cleaning himself..could this be the high numbers?
 
It could be from a food allergy (more likely than high BGs, at least). What are you feeding him currently and for how long?
 
In a separate window, opened the link that explains how to create the spreadsheet.
Then you clicked on the "THIS TEMPLATE" link.
Clicked on the 'Use this template" at the top.
Then you signed into your google account?

I just did it with no error at all. Maybe try again?

Or walk through the steps and tell us specifically which step is giving you the error?
 
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