Introducing Fester

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Flospy

Member Since 2014
Hello everyone,

I'm Tracie. I'm so glad to see this community is still around and thriving. My childhood cat was diagnosed with Diabetes way back in my early 20s. I joined FDMB back then with old Oscar, who died in 1997. At that time, I had little experience of being caregiver, a career in its infancy, and no money to speak of; it was a tremendous struggle for me. Here I find myself once more, nearly 2 decades later, with 14 yo Fester Fatty Cat who was just diagnosed today! The world is such a small place.

I come back a much more centered person, with a stable life, a good career and the ability to give Fester the very best treatment. I guess the biggest change is the patience and serenity that we earn as the years go by. I sure could have used it years ago!

I've been away from diabetes for quite a while so I got a load of tips from the site and made a massive walmart haul (which also included a couple spare cat beds to scatter around the house, a birdfeeder for kitty entertainment....). I'm practicing lancing myself and my house guest; this time I have a glucose meter and I plan to do very vigorous monitoring at home. My vet directed me to get Novolin N insulin, which I've read it not the best for cats. But! I don't want to work at cross purposes and I need to trust him to get me started using a product familiar to him (as opposed to an insulin familiar to neither of us).

So, heading to the vet first thing Monday to drop Fester off and get him stabilized. He'll probably have to spend the night. Following FDMB advice, I plan to go in with all of my new diabetes gadgets and see how my meter compares to theirs (I registered 168 tonight myself, which I attribute to the stress over getting such a big diagnosis, and the medicinal Mai tai I was enjoying). No one on our family (pets included) is safe from being poked and prodded, nor being sent to the store for cat nip, baby food, etc.

I'm pleased to once more become part of the community and I look forward to helping e/o.

Warm Regards,
Tracie &
Fester Fatty Cat: 14 yo
Diagnosed: Sat March 8, 2014
 
Welcome Fester and Tracie. Yo seem to to b going in the right direction. I have to the following two items:
- What are you feeding? A low-carb canned food is best. Commercial food like Fancy Feast and Friskies is fine. A prescription food is not required or desired.
- Unless there are complications, having Fester "stabi;lized' at the vet is unnecessary and is not that good since cats typically have a higher blood glucose at a vet due to stress. The GB at the vet can be elevated bu 100 points or more.
 
Changing the food before going on insulin is desireable as it may drop the glucose by roughly 100 mg/dL. You'll want to change about 25% per day to reduce the chances of diarrhea, vomiting or inappetance.

As Larry noted, vet stress can raise glucose levels 100 to 180 mg/dL. Depending on how high the initial blood glucose was, diet and stress may account for up to 280 mg/dL. Maybe postpone that vet visit for a few days until those have settled into place.

Please read over the AAHA guidelines and print a copy for your vet. Starting with a long acting insulin such as Lantus gives you a better chance at remission to a diet controlled status ... if you even need to do that after diet change and home testing. If you give that to the vet first, he'll have some time to read up on current feline diabetes treatment and both of you can learn together. Also, there is a Tight Regulation protocol based on published veterinary research posted in the Lantus Tight Regulation forum - go take a look.

Novolin (and Humulin) N lasts roughly 6-8 hours in the cat. This can mean that 4-6 hours without insulin happen twice in a day if you shoot only twice a day. Effective control may take shooting every 8 hours with N type insulin.
 
Forgot to mention, changed him to Fancy Feast classics, so we'll see how much of an improvement we can get from the canned diet. The Novolin N seems to be my vet's preference (at least to introduce with new clients) due to its pronounced affordability. I do plan to talk to him about alternatives as I don't mind using whichever insulin works best.
 
You've got 4 good insulin options:

Non-depot insulins, similar in use to N, but lasting 10-12 hours in cats:
PZI - trial vial is possible; get the U-100 concentration. very affordable
ProZinc

Depot insulins, human insulins which have worked well in cats:
Lantus - has really gone up in price due to the patent expiring around 2015; cheaper in Canada
Levemir - also cheaper in Canada.
 
Is Fester named after uncle Fester of the Adams's family
fester.jpg
 
Sorta. He mostly goes by Fat B@stard (he comes running to this name - no offense intended to those who don't like cursing) and during the Holidays, he goes by "Festivus for the Rest of Us."

He's already feeling better on the new diet. His glucose was down by 100 today during a random practice test and he's resumed his favorite activity, annoying his sister. He like to stare at her until she hisses and slaps him.

I was really hoping that his diagnosis was going to be hyperthyroid, so he could get the radioactive iodine treatment and come home with SpideySense and other super-powers. DM was a real bummer!
 
Love the names! :lol:

Flospy said:
He's already feeling better on the new diet. His glucose was down by 100 today during a random practice test and he's resumed his favorite activity, annoying his sister. He like to stare at her until she hisses and slaps him.

I was really hoping that his diagnosis was going to be hyperthyroid, so he could get the radioactive iodine treatment and come home with SpideySense and other super-powers. DM was a real bummer!
Click to expand...
How is he doing today? Did you get some more tests in? What numbers are you getting? And he might become a diet-controlled kitty and not even need insulin to start with so no treatment besides a diet change necessary. ;-)

I always joke that Mikey has super sugar power! He even comes with an M emblazoned on his forehead for his insignia!
 
Kpassa I started with your spreadsheet and adjusted it to Festies. It's helped immensely! He's mostly in the 300 range now before his evening shot; he's had a few after great readings around 86-109 at peak activity (4-6 hrs post shot) for Novolin N. I can't tell you how many places don't sell plain karo syrup! (I live in the suburbs near DC and there's lots of foo foo stores like whole foods and trader joes). My friend looked at 4 stores before finding it.

He's eating fancy feast classics and gets only 1 unit insulin per day. He's more and more back to being himself. The vet said, and I concur, that his demeanor will be most telling. He did have two days where his glucose was over 500 and they were a bit scary. With a little practice; I learn if and when to give him more based on the readings.

I must also report to my delight, if not that of my nose, his urine is starting to smell normal instead of super-dilute.

Oh, and funny - I use an old country vet (I just moved and this was our first appointment) who is very practical and has seen it all. He said he's never had a client who did blood glucose testing at home. I smiled and said "you've never met me!" I did ask about glargine but he was appalled by the price. Since fester is doing so well, with the lowest dose, if we have bad luck with Novolin, we'll give glargine a try. I think he's hesitant to recommend brands he knows most of his clients cannot afford, and I respect that he wants to give them practical options.

I gotta say one thing I'm doing different this time is letting people help me. Go out for baby food, Caro syrup, fancy feast. Clean up his daily dishes.... I have a house guest visiting and She's jumped right in to help. It's nice to not feel alone.
St Fatty Man.
 
If you're using Novolin N, get some tests around +8 and +10 to see how fast it is wearing off in your cat. In many cats, it is out of the body within 6 to 8 hours after the shot, leaving 4 to 6 hours without insulin coverage, and often high glucose levels. Optimal control can take dosing every 8 hours.
 
Fester is doing great. His attitude, coat and energy are all excellent. He groomed the youngster and annoyed his sister in stellar form. I had a housewarming party last weekend and (unlike the others) let him stay out and meet all of the guests. Meeting people is one of his favorite things, so it was a real treat for him. He has also never had any interest in darting out the door; the patio doors remained wide open with no problems. He knows he has it good and can see no reason any self-respecting cat would want to live outside.

His sugar remains high pre-shot (300-500 range) so we just switched him to one unit twice a day, from one unit once per day. I started a new container of test strips which seem to test rather higher (I used an old one and a new one on myself at the same time with a result 97 points different). Something to go in my notepad.

I had my dog in for an appointment and my new vet was surprised how cooperative my dog was and that Fester wasn't shell shocked by the constant tests. He said "whatever you are doing with your pets, keep doing it" which is high praise to any owner's ears. It makes me feel like I've done my job raising well adjusted "fur citizens." Fester comes running when he hears the meter beep for a blood test! What a compliant (i.e. Food-motivated) cat. He's eating all fancy feast now, but with three cats it would be nice to find a comparable food that comes in larger tins. I'd appreciate any recommendations. I always think I have alternatives memorized and then get overwhelmed at the pet food aisle.

Hope everyone's sugar babies are doing well!
Cheers,
Tracie

Ps I have a coworker who really thought I had a sick Uncle Fester whom I was looking after! Lol
 
Friskies Special Diet comes in the 5.5oz can and are low carb (~5%) and inexpensive. Wellness Pâtés is another low carb option that comes in the 13oz cans. Not sure on price difference, though. Either way, I'm sure your other two cats will be absolutely thrilled with getting in on the wet food. :-D

What meter are you using again?
 
Are you getting mid cycle tests? Many cats go into remission and the only way to tell this Is happening is with mid cycle tests which will show if the current insulin dose is too high. If he drops under 50 then it's too high for sure and time to scale back a little further. Many cats like to drop low at night if at all. Less likely with that insulin though.. Very hard to get remission on that.

The other thing is if he isn't dropping low enough (ie 50-130) then he isn't getting enough insulin.
 
I am using the Relion Confirm meter from walmart.

Thanks for the food recommendations.

He is on Novolin N but I just got him a Lantus pharmacy card in hopes of changing to a more suitable insulin. We'll see how that goes.
Cheers!
 
Remember that the Novolin usually lasts only 6 to 8 hours.

Lantus works very differently from Lantus. Lantus has carry over effects which build up over 5 days on the initial dose, then it takes roughly 3 days for a dose adjustment to stabilize. This means you never increase based on pre-shot tests, although you may decrease. And dose increases are determined by the nadir, the lowest point between shots.

It'll really help us if you start a spreadsheet, our grid for recording the glucose tests, insulin dose given, and any notes we have that may be pertinent to interpreting what is happening. The instructions are here
 
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