Last Few Questions

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moof86

moof86

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I'm into the last 24 hours before bringing Morky home. It's going to be a mad couple of days for the poor kitty, pick him up after work (one dose of insulin will be given then) then we go to the vet with him early in the morning to do the morning dose, then after that I should be ready to fly solo.

I've got his glucometer, tins of a quality wet food and all the other normal kitty bits. What's the best way to switch over his food (currently on Hills M/D). Straight away to get the sugars down or more gradually as is the usual advice?

And how do you judge the insulin dose? (Currently on 4 units of Canninsulin, twice a day) I'll be starting up a spreadsheet (any links to a blank one in google docs?) to keep an eye on it and of course coming up here for advice.

Many thanks all the help you all have given me so far!
 
Some cats have no trouble transitioning to wet food. See if he'll eat it. If not interested or if he has digestion problems along the way, then you can transition more slowly.

I'm not familiar with caninsulin, so I can't advise there. Hopefully someone else will.

There should be directions & a template for.the ss in the tech forum.

Good luck & congrats for bringing him.home!
 
Brilliant!!! Much appreciated bookworm! Spreadsheet is all ready to go!

And agreed with the food, other kitties have done fine with a fairly quick switch! He's been getting two cans of wet at the shelter, so I'm hoping he'll take to it easy enough.

Nearly there :)
 
If I were you, I would reduce the insulin. Stress raises bg levels as does dry food. If you change both those things - he comes to a home situation and relaxes, and starts wet food - his numbers could really go down. You don't want to overdose before you get a handle on things.

I would cut the dose in half, test religiously for ketones and test bg often. You can't get the insulin out of the cat once dosed - you can always increase the dose if the numbers warrant it.

Four units is a lot of insulin. It may be that he needs that much, but it may be that once he is out of the vet's office, he'll need a lot less.
 
Oh he's FINALLY coming home! I've been on pins and needles so excited for you. I feel like it's ME getting a new babee! Don't care how big or old they get, they're always my 'babees'....

Hugs,
 
I am excited for you, Margaret :-D

When I saw "Last Few Questions", The first thing I thought was, well I hope she continues to post.. :?

I agree with Sue about Morky's insulin needs may go way down once the food conversion, happens. If you do it all at once, then just be ready to test a lot that day. Let us know how it goes.
 
The "good thing" about Caninsulin (I used it for about a year) is that it does not stay in the cat's body for the full 12 hours. This means that when you change food and see his bg dropping during the day, you can decrease his dose and the effect is immediate - not like the depot-based insulins. Ideally, you still want to maintain an even dose am and pm so that his body knows what to expect - I am not suggesting changing his dose based on every test. You still want to know when his nadir is (maximum effect of the insulin and lowest bg) and how low it is. The more you can test (like every hour) in the first few days, the better. It will give you the data to know if he is becoming relaxed in his new home and if the food transition is decreasing his need for insulin.

Lucky guy - very exciting! Please keep us posted, and more pics!
 
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