Meowmeow and Quinton
Member Since 2015
Hi everyone,
I've been having a few issues with my cat's, Meowmeow, glucose numbers. I don't do any spreadsheet kind of thing, nor do I check his blood glucose with the glucometer regularly. I just check it when I feel like I haven't in a while.
Some background info first, Meowmeow is my first cat, though now I have 2. We got him as a stray and he's been very healthy until this past year. He's approximately 13 years old and currently weighs around 5kg but was weighed in at around 4kg when he was diagnosed with diabetes. At his maximum he was around 7kg (15lbs) and he's a black american short hair. I first noticed Meowmeow was losing weight after he had a bout of fleas in the summer time. His back became really raw and scabby because he kept picking off the scabs and there wasn't much fur left there. The vet ended up giving him this shot that, at the time, I was not made aware could give him diabetes. After he got better and his fur grew back, we started noticing the pee in his litter box was extremely sticky and hard to clean. He also started losing a lot of weight and was constantly hungry and drinking water. After we brought him back to the vet they informed me that it could have been due to the shot they gave him to stop him itching his back. Honestly, I'm pissed off that they didn't tell me about the possibility that he could get diabetes and it would become extremely costly for me. Not to mention the fact that he's the only cat I don't have pet insurance for. I could have put an e-collar and gone with some other method than the shot that would help calm his itching, if only I had known. But all is done and now Meowmeow has diabetes. I can't do anything about the past. Now Meowmeow is on Lantus, with 2 units in the morning and 1 in the night. The vet said we could go up to 2 in the night, but I haven't gotten around to doing that and I wanted to keep him at 2 and 1 until I got used to the whole shebang. I've been giving him Insulin for about 3 months now and he's gotten significantly better since he was diagnosed...until where his health is deteriorating again.
The issue is that I went away a few days ago for 8 days and my mom has been taking care of his insulin doses and feeding in the morning and night. When I returned I realized his weight has decreased noticeably, which could have already been occurring slowly, and he has more excess skin than before. I haven't noticed the extra water drinking or litter box differences yet because I clean it more often than before (ever since he started peeing a lot more). Anyways, the reason I chose Lantus instead of caninsulin is because I did some research and found that I can keep Lantus for as long as it's good for. In the long run it'd save me money and the vet wouldn't pester me to buy a new vile every month. My mom also learned how to give the insulin to my cat correctly, and feed him the proper amount. So I'm not concerned with her being the issue. Meow meow gets his breakfast at 9am, a small midday snack around 3-4pm depending, and his dinner at 9pm.
Because of his physical appearance I checked his glucose rather often these past few days. Although I should really try to check in the morning as well. I'm going to list his numbers that I've taken previously (stored in the memory of the glucometer) so you can see how his numbers used to be when the insulin looked like it was working. I apologize in advance for the erratic readings at the beginning, I was still getting used to using the device:
Just a reminder that he gets 2 units in the morning with his breakfast at 9-10am and 1 in the night with his dinner at 9-10pm, with a mid day snack at 3-4pm. He did go in for a curve a while ago and that's when the vet told me I could go up to 2 units in the night.
DEC 10 11:23pm 16.6 mmol/L
DEC 14 9:09 pm 18.3 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
DEC 26 2:20 pm 11.9 mmol/L after eating breakfast and after insulin, before snack.
DEC 26 9:26 pm 16.8 mmol/L
JAN 1 8:40 am 21.6 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 22 10:03pm 19.8 mmol/L after eating and after insulin
JAN 23 9:42 pm 20.1 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 23 11:31 pm 19.4 mmol/L after eating and after insulin
JAN 24 9:01pm 19.5 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 24 10:58pm 22.4 mmol/L after eating and after OLD insulin (to test it's effectiveness) then I gave him 1 unit of a new vile of Lantus and tested:
JAN 25 12:56am 19.6 mmol/L This was after opening a new vile of Lantus
The part that is confusing me is that his numbers went up after he had his nightly dose on Jan 24.
Shouldn't the number be at least maintained if he has eaten but has gotten insulin?
I took this to mean that the OLD insulin hadn't worked.
But the thing is, his numbers didn't drop much after I gave him 1 unit of the NEW insulin. It's probably because his numbers are too high to begin with to be noticeably affected by merely 1 unit of insulin, right?
I know I don't have any consistent previous numbers to go by but I am really trying to get my act together and will be testing much more frequently (including tomorrow morning). I'm also looking for a more holistic vet clinic that can give me advice on raw food together with diabetes maintenance. Meow meow is currently on Purina DM diabetic wet and Royal Canin Diabetic dry food and I'm hoping raw can help him in some way..
My ultimate dream is that Meowmeow can go into remission, but I've heard it's very unlikely if it's been a few months after beginning treatment. Honestly, I just want him to be a healthy cat again. His having diabetes has brought us closer, but has also made me that much more worried for his health. I know he's an old boy and some people lose their cats at his age, but he was doing so well until recently.. I just want him to be healthy for the last few years he's got.
I've been having a few issues with my cat's, Meowmeow, glucose numbers. I don't do any spreadsheet kind of thing, nor do I check his blood glucose with the glucometer regularly. I just check it when I feel like I haven't in a while.
Some background info first, Meowmeow is my first cat, though now I have 2. We got him as a stray and he's been very healthy until this past year. He's approximately 13 years old and currently weighs around 5kg but was weighed in at around 4kg when he was diagnosed with diabetes. At his maximum he was around 7kg (15lbs) and he's a black american short hair. I first noticed Meowmeow was losing weight after he had a bout of fleas in the summer time. His back became really raw and scabby because he kept picking off the scabs and there wasn't much fur left there. The vet ended up giving him this shot that, at the time, I was not made aware could give him diabetes. After he got better and his fur grew back, we started noticing the pee in his litter box was extremely sticky and hard to clean. He also started losing a lot of weight and was constantly hungry and drinking water. After we brought him back to the vet they informed me that it could have been due to the shot they gave him to stop him itching his back. Honestly, I'm pissed off that they didn't tell me about the possibility that he could get diabetes and it would become extremely costly for me. Not to mention the fact that he's the only cat I don't have pet insurance for. I could have put an e-collar and gone with some other method than the shot that would help calm his itching, if only I had known. But all is done and now Meowmeow has diabetes. I can't do anything about the past. Now Meowmeow is on Lantus, with 2 units in the morning and 1 in the night. The vet said we could go up to 2 in the night, but I haven't gotten around to doing that and I wanted to keep him at 2 and 1 until I got used to the whole shebang. I've been giving him Insulin for about 3 months now and he's gotten significantly better since he was diagnosed...until where his health is deteriorating again.
The issue is that I went away a few days ago for 8 days and my mom has been taking care of his insulin doses and feeding in the morning and night. When I returned I realized his weight has decreased noticeably, which could have already been occurring slowly, and he has more excess skin than before. I haven't noticed the extra water drinking or litter box differences yet because I clean it more often than before (ever since he started peeing a lot more). Anyways, the reason I chose Lantus instead of caninsulin is because I did some research and found that I can keep Lantus for as long as it's good for. In the long run it'd save me money and the vet wouldn't pester me to buy a new vile every month. My mom also learned how to give the insulin to my cat correctly, and feed him the proper amount. So I'm not concerned with her being the issue. Meow meow gets his breakfast at 9am, a small midday snack around 3-4pm depending, and his dinner at 9pm.
Because of his physical appearance I checked his glucose rather often these past few days. Although I should really try to check in the morning as well. I'm going to list his numbers that I've taken previously (stored in the memory of the glucometer) so you can see how his numbers used to be when the insulin looked like it was working. I apologize in advance for the erratic readings at the beginning, I was still getting used to using the device:
Just a reminder that he gets 2 units in the morning with his breakfast at 9-10am and 1 in the night with his dinner at 9-10pm, with a mid day snack at 3-4pm. He did go in for a curve a while ago and that's when the vet told me I could go up to 2 units in the night.
DEC 10 11:23pm 16.6 mmol/L
DEC 14 9:09 pm 18.3 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
DEC 26 2:20 pm 11.9 mmol/L after eating breakfast and after insulin, before snack.
DEC 26 9:26 pm 16.8 mmol/L
JAN 1 8:40 am 21.6 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 22 10:03pm 19.8 mmol/L after eating and after insulin
JAN 23 9:42 pm 20.1 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 23 11:31 pm 19.4 mmol/L after eating and after insulin
JAN 24 9:01pm 19.5 mmol/L before eating and before insulin
JAN 24 10:58pm 22.4 mmol/L after eating and after OLD insulin (to test it's effectiveness) then I gave him 1 unit of a new vile of Lantus and tested:
JAN 25 12:56am 19.6 mmol/L This was after opening a new vile of Lantus
The part that is confusing me is that his numbers went up after he had his nightly dose on Jan 24.
Shouldn't the number be at least maintained if he has eaten but has gotten insulin?
I took this to mean that the OLD insulin hadn't worked.
But the thing is, his numbers didn't drop much after I gave him 1 unit of the NEW insulin. It's probably because his numbers are too high to begin with to be noticeably affected by merely 1 unit of insulin, right?
I know I don't have any consistent previous numbers to go by but I am really trying to get my act together and will be testing much more frequently (including tomorrow morning). I'm also looking for a more holistic vet clinic that can give me advice on raw food together with diabetes maintenance. Meow meow is currently on Purina DM diabetic wet and Royal Canin Diabetic dry food and I'm hoping raw can help him in some way..
My ultimate dream is that Meowmeow can go into remission, but I've heard it's very unlikely if it's been a few months after beginning treatment. Honestly, I just want him to be a healthy cat again. His having diabetes has brought us closer, but has also made me that much more worried for his health. I know he's an old boy and some people lose their cats at his age, but he was doing so well until recently.. I just want him to be healthy for the last few years he's got.
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