veverich222
Member Since 2014
Hello to all!
Long time reader, first time poster here :smile:
I was hoping I could post just to see if anyone else on this board has had a similar experience as us, and perhaps can offer any support or insight.
First, I would like to just mention that our cat is under the care of a small animal internist, who specializes in feline diabetes. We live in a large city, and she came highly recommended as the "guru of feline diabetes" to go to. My point in mentioning this is that we really do trust our vet so that is not an issue.
Our cat Puma was first diagnosed by our family vet in March with diabetes. She was started on Lantus, and despite several dose increases, her readings were not becoming regulated. Because of this, and the suspicion that she had occult pancreatitis, we were referred to the internist that we are seeing now.
An ultrasound confirmed that Puma had what our vet calls "sub-clinical or occult" pancreatitis. Her pancreas was inflamed, but thank goodness she shows no clinical signs of the disease - no abdominal pain, no vomiting, no lethargy, no loss of appetite. The only signs that she does show are those of the insulin resistance/ unregulated blood sugar and all of the symptoms that come along with that - she does have a ravenous appetite and increased water intake/frequent urination.
Onto the treatment:
Diet First: Puma is on Purina DM 1/2 and 1 oz of tuna twice a day. To curb her ravenous appetite, we just got the ok from the vet to include up to 2 tablespoons of oat bran with each meal, as well as allow her to lightly snack on broccoli and green beans (per vet these are low glycemic foods that should not spike the sugar).
Puma recently started also getting 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax and 2.5 mg of Ciaspride twice a day to help with mild constipation and hairballs (ok, I lied- this may be one symptom of the pancreatitis). It has helped her to be more "regular" and the quality of her bowel movements are normal- no longer dry and hard. Our vet also recommended 1/4 tab of 10 mg Zyrtec once per day, as Puma has seasonal allergies, and she believes reducing any inflammation (including that caused by allergies) would do good. We also keep our home cool, as we were told hot weather will flare up the pancreatitis as well.
She was switched to Levemir a couple of months ago, aka "the big guns" as our vet called it. I won't list the entire dosing guide, but generally, she is up to 6 units for anything between 250-299, 7 units for 300-374, and 8 units for 375-449. Of course, these doses are a result of a very slow increase over time. We home check Puma's sugar twice a day prior to feeding and injecting her insulin based on her BG reading. We report the readings once a week to the vet, and Puma is seen every 2-4 weeks usually for a re-check.
If you are still reading, THANK YOU!!!! Because here is my actual question/concern:
Has anyone had a similar experience and still no real regulation of BG readings?
Puma's are anywhere from 200-500 with spikes and drops that seem to have no rhyme or reason (per vet, pancreatitis waxes and wanes throughout day and this is what makes it so hard to regulate)
I know we can (and probably still will) go higher with the insulin dosing. We had done one blood sugar curve in the past on the Lantus, which showed the insulin was not really ever bringing the BG level down. According to the vet we see now, it is not worth it to do another until Puma's readings are more regulated. It is troubling to both us and the vet that despite the increased Levemir dosing, and the actual average of Puma's BG readings decreasing, her fructosamine levels keep increasing. About a month ago it was 432, now it is over 600
Are we missing anything? Does anyone have any tips on anything we could be trying differently? Again, we really trust and respect our vet, but are just putting it out there, as I know there are hundreds of stories and experiences on this board that could offer some new insight. I am aware there is also a feline pancreatitis board and support group that may be more appropriate, but after reading posts on both those boards and this one, this one just seemed the better fit.
Thanks again for taking the time to read this and hoping our story can also offer others new info/tips as well!
Long time reader, first time poster here :smile:
I was hoping I could post just to see if anyone else on this board has had a similar experience as us, and perhaps can offer any support or insight.
First, I would like to just mention that our cat is under the care of a small animal internist, who specializes in feline diabetes. We live in a large city, and she came highly recommended as the "guru of feline diabetes" to go to. My point in mentioning this is that we really do trust our vet so that is not an issue.
Our cat Puma was first diagnosed by our family vet in March with diabetes. She was started on Lantus, and despite several dose increases, her readings were not becoming regulated. Because of this, and the suspicion that she had occult pancreatitis, we were referred to the internist that we are seeing now.
An ultrasound confirmed that Puma had what our vet calls "sub-clinical or occult" pancreatitis. Her pancreas was inflamed, but thank goodness she shows no clinical signs of the disease - no abdominal pain, no vomiting, no lethargy, no loss of appetite. The only signs that she does show are those of the insulin resistance/ unregulated blood sugar and all of the symptoms that come along with that - she does have a ravenous appetite and increased water intake/frequent urination.
Onto the treatment:
Diet First: Puma is on Purina DM 1/2 and 1 oz of tuna twice a day. To curb her ravenous appetite, we just got the ok from the vet to include up to 2 tablespoons of oat bran with each meal, as well as allow her to lightly snack on broccoli and green beans (per vet these are low glycemic foods that should not spike the sugar).
Puma recently started also getting 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax and 2.5 mg of Ciaspride twice a day to help with mild constipation and hairballs (ok, I lied- this may be one symptom of the pancreatitis). It has helped her to be more "regular" and the quality of her bowel movements are normal- no longer dry and hard. Our vet also recommended 1/4 tab of 10 mg Zyrtec once per day, as Puma has seasonal allergies, and she believes reducing any inflammation (including that caused by allergies) would do good. We also keep our home cool, as we were told hot weather will flare up the pancreatitis as well.
She was switched to Levemir a couple of months ago, aka "the big guns" as our vet called it. I won't list the entire dosing guide, but generally, she is up to 6 units for anything between 250-299, 7 units for 300-374, and 8 units for 375-449. Of course, these doses are a result of a very slow increase over time. We home check Puma's sugar twice a day prior to feeding and injecting her insulin based on her BG reading. We report the readings once a week to the vet, and Puma is seen every 2-4 weeks usually for a re-check.
If you are still reading, THANK YOU!!!! Because here is my actual question/concern:
Has anyone had a similar experience and still no real regulation of BG readings?
Puma's are anywhere from 200-500 with spikes and drops that seem to have no rhyme or reason (per vet, pancreatitis waxes and wanes throughout day and this is what makes it so hard to regulate)
I know we can (and probably still will) go higher with the insulin dosing. We had done one blood sugar curve in the past on the Lantus, which showed the insulin was not really ever bringing the BG level down. According to the vet we see now, it is not worth it to do another until Puma's readings are more regulated. It is troubling to both us and the vet that despite the increased Levemir dosing, and the actual average of Puma's BG readings decreasing, her fructosamine levels keep increasing. About a month ago it was 432, now it is over 600
Are we missing anything? Does anyone have any tips on anything we could be trying differently? Again, we really trust and respect our vet, but are just putting it out there, as I know there are hundreds of stories and experiences on this board that could offer some new insight. I am aware there is also a feline pancreatitis board and support group that may be more appropriate, but after reading posts on both those boards and this one, this one just seemed the better fit.
Thanks again for taking the time to read this and hoping our story can also offer others new info/tips as well!
