lauren23.xo@
Member Since 2021
My cat, Junior, was diagnosed with diabetes a little over 6 years ago. He’s been on Lantus insulin twice a day and canned Purina DM cat food since. What caused his diabetes Was an infection in his pancreas that he got when he was living with my mom and he got super skinny and she never brought him to the vet. When I found out, I took him right away. The first vet told me that he had cancer and just to take him home until and make him comfortable until he passes. I brought him to a vet who was a friend of a friend and he determined that he was diabetic and started him on insulin immediately.
He started at 2 units, twice a day and did this for about 5.5 years with no issues. Then about 10 months ago, he started getting allergies and licking his fur off so her started him on allergy meds. And was given a cone. A couple days after he had a seizure and we rushed him to the emergency vet. All their test came back normal so they weren’t sure it was a seizure and thought he had a panic attack from the cone. 2 weeks after he has a second seizure. We brought him to his bet and all tests again came back normal but his glucose was low (2.4) so his vet determined that it was due to low glucose and was certain it had nothing to do with the allergy meds. We reduced his insulin dosage to 1 unit in the morning and 0.5 unit at night and did another curve to make sure everything was good.
Everything seemed fine for 10 months. In those 10 months the allergies weren’t getting much better so we brought him to a dermatologist who put him in a different kind of allergy med (both kinds were safe for diabetic cats) but then a couple days after he had another seizure (Seizure #3) a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if the allergy meds are a coincidence or not. But all vets and emergency clinics have told me they are certain the allergy meds have no relation. Right after this 3rd seizure I checked his glucose and it was at 17.2. His vet suggested we reduced his insulin again to 0.5 units, twice a day and had us testing his glucose every day an hour after he ate twice a day before giving him his insulin. He suggested that we only give him insulin if his glucose is at 15 or higher. We did this for 2 weeks and then he had another seizure (4th seizure). The morning of the 4th seizure, he ate and an hour after eating his glucose was at 19.9 so we have him 1 unit and 1.5 hours after getting his insulin is when the 4th seizure happened.
I assumed that because of his glucose levels the seizure was maybe neurological so we brought him to an emergency hospital that has a neurology. Before having us do any brain scans they wanted to rule out low glucose as the cause of seizures so they put the freestyle Libre on him so we can get a more accurate curve reading and check him every hour.
The vet also suggested to stop giving him insulin altogether and only give him 0.5 unit if his glucose is at 20 or higher right before he eats. After a few days of doing this we sent her the curve results. His readings seemed to always be between 14-19 even after eating (this is completely without insulin). It never dropped lower than 13 and never went higher than 20.6 and this was once, 40 minutes after he had eaten.
We continued to test him every hour for another few days and his glucose numbers were getting even better. Staying between 12 and 14 and when he ate would go to 19 but drop down to 16 quickly after. Our vet is convinced from these results that he is in remission from his diabetes and that we can stop giving him insulin altogether and just check his blood if something seems « off ». After dealing with this for 7 years it seems too good to be true and his blood glucose levels still seem very high to me... but maybe because of his situation and how he became diabetic his glucose numbers could naturally be higher? I’m not sure what to think at this point. Do these results really mean that he is in remission????
He started at 2 units, twice a day and did this for about 5.5 years with no issues. Then about 10 months ago, he started getting allergies and licking his fur off so her started him on allergy meds. And was given a cone. A couple days after he had a seizure and we rushed him to the emergency vet. All their test came back normal so they weren’t sure it was a seizure and thought he had a panic attack from the cone. 2 weeks after he has a second seizure. We brought him to his bet and all tests again came back normal but his glucose was low (2.4) so his vet determined that it was due to low glucose and was certain it had nothing to do with the allergy meds. We reduced his insulin dosage to 1 unit in the morning and 0.5 unit at night and did another curve to make sure everything was good.
Everything seemed fine for 10 months. In those 10 months the allergies weren’t getting much better so we brought him to a dermatologist who put him in a different kind of allergy med (both kinds were safe for diabetic cats) but then a couple days after he had another seizure (Seizure #3) a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if the allergy meds are a coincidence or not. But all vets and emergency clinics have told me they are certain the allergy meds have no relation. Right after this 3rd seizure I checked his glucose and it was at 17.2. His vet suggested we reduced his insulin again to 0.5 units, twice a day and had us testing his glucose every day an hour after he ate twice a day before giving him his insulin. He suggested that we only give him insulin if his glucose is at 15 or higher. We did this for 2 weeks and then he had another seizure (4th seizure). The morning of the 4th seizure, he ate and an hour after eating his glucose was at 19.9 so we have him 1 unit and 1.5 hours after getting his insulin is when the 4th seizure happened.
I assumed that because of his glucose levels the seizure was maybe neurological so we brought him to an emergency hospital that has a neurology. Before having us do any brain scans they wanted to rule out low glucose as the cause of seizures so they put the freestyle Libre on him so we can get a more accurate curve reading and check him every hour.
The vet also suggested to stop giving him insulin altogether and only give him 0.5 unit if his glucose is at 20 or higher right before he eats. After a few days of doing this we sent her the curve results. His readings seemed to always be between 14-19 even after eating (this is completely without insulin). It never dropped lower than 13 and never went higher than 20.6 and this was once, 40 minutes after he had eaten.
We continued to test him every hour for another few days and his glucose numbers were getting even better. Staying between 12 and 14 and when he ate would go to 19 but drop down to 16 quickly after. Our vet is convinced from these results that he is in remission from his diabetes and that we can stop giving him insulin altogether and just check his blood if something seems « off ». After dealing with this for 7 years it seems too good to be true and his blood glucose levels still seem very high to me... but maybe because of his situation and how he became diabetic his glucose numbers could naturally be higher? I’m not sure what to think at this point. Do these results really mean that he is in remission????
