Introduction: My Sugar Kitty - Chigga

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Erica & Chigga (ChiggaButt)

Erica & Chigga (ChiggaButt)

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Hi everyone. My name is Erica and my sugar kitty's name is Chigga. She's 9 years old and was just dx yesterday. I already put her on a wet food diet and she will start getting her insulin tonight. My vet is starting her out on 2 units/twice a day on Lantus. Other than the recent dx everything else about her has checked out healthy and she wasn't showing any obvious signs so the vet believes we caught it early. I don't have a testing kit but would like to get one so I can monitor her at home. I've been lurking around this site all day and have found so many helpful stories and great information I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Any advice for a newbie and her kitty?

Thank you everyone in advance, I've already calmed down tremendously since coming to this site.

Erica
 

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hi erica,
do you know what chigga's initial blood glucose numbers were?
 
Welcome Erica &Chigga tothe best place to get help. In no time at all you will have things under control Best of luck to both of you.....Ask lots of questions and reading a lot and give as much info as you can..What food ,name of insulin etc..Put Advice or dose in your subject line to get more eyes on you Hope this helps Kath
 
erica it's super important to lower dose if your changing diet. the bg's will be lower and your cat could have a hypo. 2u's is a high dose to start.
if you can't go out tonight to get a kit i will help you.
you should have some high carb canned food at home, and some syrup. karo is best but any will do.
hope your still on line.......
 
Hi Erica, hi Chigga, and welcome! I have been here barely a month, but I was really stressed out for a couple of weeks when Muffin got dx'd. This place has been a life saver, so I'm glad you're here. Everyone here is extremely helpful. The only words of advice I have at this point: try to stay calm and relax...things do get easier and become routine pretty quickly. Home testing really helped put my mind at ease.

Good luck to you both, and again, welcome!
 
Hi Erica!

Let me first say that Chigga is gorgeous! Second? Take a deep breath and exhale. You have found the best place to help Chigga. :-D

I was in your shoes in May. Our 8.5-year-old cat, Johnny, was diagnosed with a blood sugar of 491. A week later, with just diet change to low carb wet food, he was almost 200 points lower. Adios, Cat Chow! The diet change alone can do SOOO much to help Chigga, so it's important to consider this with dosing. Our vet also recommended starting off at 2 units and I hesitated to go against "orders." We are hometesting, as I think everyone (?) does here, and it was quickly apparent that Johnny didn't need such a high dose. The people here are amazing and help you every step of the way. If you don't already have a meter, you should get one. We use the Relion Micro (Wal-mart brand). The strips are very reasonably priced.

I know you've probably been reading around...let us know if you have any questions. And, please visit the Lantus board...where all the dosing magic happens for that insulin. It's a fun and helpful bunch of people.

Welcome!
Janice
 
Welcome Erica and Chigga! It's great to see you have already started well with the food, as that's a huge part of this picture. There are so many cats that are diet controlled so it is always good to rule out the diet as part of the problem.

The dose is high, maybe too high, especially if you may have caught it early and you are not testing. Please read these links:
List of Hypo symptoms
How to treat HYPOS – They can kill! Print this out!
Jojo’s HYPO TOOLKIT
Because some cats show no symptoms when hypo, it may be a better idea to start with a lower dose, commonly people start at 1unit twice a day, at least until you have a meter and are home testing. How I see it, there is always more insulin you can give, but you can't take away too much insulin.

If you plan to get a meter, what about delaying the start of insulin until you can get meter, say tomorrow? It is up to you, but it would be alot safer to be testing before you give the shot. At any rate, a dose of 1u would be safer if you are not testing.

Be sure to post if you have any concerns or questions, and let us know how the shots are going.
 
Chigga is a real beauty!

Going to back up what others have said - much safer to start at 1.0 units, twice a day, especially if you're changing the diet, too. You can always increase later but the recommendation is to hold the dose for several days to give it time to settle in.

If you've already given 2 units, don't panic, it takes a little time for the Lantus "shed" to build - but you'll want to keep an eye on Chigga for sure.

Read the links others have sent, lots of good stuff there.
 
chigga is absolutely gorgeous! I know there is a lot of information on here, and it can be overwhelming in the beginning, but before you know it, you'll be doing this all in your sleep ...
 
Cigga is beautiful I have Trey dx in may went ont wet foor my vet started him at 3 units but she also gave me the name to this place.. Dropped him back to 2 units and he has been dropping every since .Did what was advised here and now 2 months later Trey is on his 10 days off Lantus. I was a wreck for the first two weeks now I can do anything :lol: :mrgreen: Stick with these guys and read a lot hometest and great things will happen...Glad you found us... :razz: :YMSIGH: ~O)
 
Welcome! I wish I had known about this site when my cat was first dx. It's a great place, very supportive! I'll let the other ppl guide you and give advice, just wanted to say welcome!
dd and savannah
 
Welcome Erica & Chigga!

What a pretty girl, just keep asking questions it gets easier as you go along. Your already off to a good start with the diet change.

Mel & Muse (GA)
 
Hi again everybody!

Yeah, I'm pretty much a wreck. I did give her her first shot at 2 units last night and everything went fine. She was purring and cuddly and is already drinking normal amounts of water and eating normal as well..

The vet has her on 2 units 2 times a day and she's eating Prescription Diet M/D Feline weight loss-low carb diabetic wet food, between 200-250 cals a day. Chigga is 11.9 pounds currently.

I gave her the second shot this morning of 2 units and my boyfriend is going over to the apartment to check on her. After reading some things I am really worried about her going into hypo, since a lot of you said 2 units was too much.

When she went to the vet initially and had blood work done her BG was 340 and then when she was tested with a glucose meter on Tuesday at the vet to get a confirmation it was 477 (she was not happy about going to the vet that day AT ALL). I plan on getting a meter tonight before I head home and testing her blood before I give her a shot. I don't know how this works but should I keep her on 2 units? OR lower it to 1 unit?

I'm so scared of her going into shock, especially when I'm not home and I don't want to be giving her too much. The vet has her coming back in next tuesday to see where her levels are but also said I could home test before then if I wanted to do so but that 2 units would be fine for her since her BG was so high and she had A LOT of sugar in her urine.

Okay, yeah, I'm freaking out. What should I do about the unit dosage tonight? Help Please...I'm worried now I'm going to go home and find her not breathing or something.

Erica (Chigga's Momma)
 
i think starting over at 1 unit and testing and then going over to the lantus board and introducing yourself there. everyone there is on lantus and each insulin works a little differently. it is VERY important to work with your particular insulin.
first look for insulin support groups (right here in FDMB) than pick out the lantus room and go for it. we here can help you with the testing. don't forget to get lancets and strips.
 
So even though I gave her 2 units this morning, I can start giving her 1 unit tonight? That won't mess anything up? She's only had two shots total thus far, I just want her to be okay.
 
yes you are actually safer giving her 1 unit tonight than 2. we'll get the testing going.
it's better to be high for days than too low for a minute.
 
Good for you taking control of your kitty..You are where I was 2 months ago ...Remember to Breath now everything will be ok You are going to learn so much...Chigga is going to be ok now she has you taking care of her Breath stay calm I was where you were scared and panic city .... Good luck with getting her into some nice blue # and onto the green...Trey started out with 468 BG you can check out his SS if you like ...He is now 9 days off insulin with the help I got here Kath
 
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