Murphy went to the vet

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

I took Murphy to the vet yesterday - I wanted to discuss changing to Levemir
He looks great (coat is soft and shiny) weight stable
His numbers have been pretty good as well, although I feel like I never really know what number I will get when I test him - but I have gotten pretty good with figuring out a dose given what and how much food he is eating and his pre shot results. His fructosamine level yesterday was normal (308) and blood sugar @ +8 at the vet was 235 - not bad
So my vet doesn't see any reason to switch - I will re-evaluate in the summer
(of course he was doing so great - then woke me at at 3:30 this morning vomiting multiple times - it seemed like the start of another pancreatitis episode, but I gave cerenia/zolfran/pepcid and he was better within 45 minutes. I was going to get a blood sugar reading then but I figured it was +8 and he wouldn't be low - but 4 hrs later his amps was only 247 - so I wonder if he was low then. I once checked him right after vomiting and it was >600 so it seemed like vomiting would raise his sugar.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Everything sounds great for Murphy, except that he is driving his mom crazy. As long as you can maneuver around the numbers he throws, and if he feels good (most of the time), this sounds like a reasonable plan to me. Sending deep breathing vibes to you, Carol.

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

Thanks Sue what I need now is sleep (been up with him since 3:30) It is clear my vet will be very reticent to change insulins She says the Cat Hospital sees a lot of hypos with Levemir and Lantus and she doesn't really see any advantage. I am tending to want to switch but when I won't have any travel issues I was shocked that his fructosamine was completely normal (non diabetic cat range)

 

[BJM]

If he is prone to pancreatitis flares, with variable appetite, and thus variable glucose, I would suggest sticking with the ProZinc where you can adjust the dose on the fly.
Both Lantus and Levemir do best with stable dosing and you could need a supplemental short acting insulin to handle days when he is higher while keeping a depot insulin at a constant dose.

 

[Carol & Murphy (GA)]

thank you so much, BJ That is exactly what I am dealing with What you brought up is something I was worried about and never really got a good answer to -what do I do on days he won't eat, or will eat only high carb kibble? I certainly don't want to deal with a supplemental insulin
I'm very grateful for your perspective