My Katie was diagnosed with Diabetes yesterday

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hml0228

Member Since 2014
I got the news yesterday that my 6 year old cat Katie has Diabetes. I took her in becuase she started peeing in areas other than the litter box and her pee is clear with little smell. She has dropped 4 lbs since her last visit, and honestly it is like this all happened in a span of a week.

I have no idea what to do or what I am doing. I have an appointment with the vet this afternoon to discuss what will happen and what to do (FREAKING OUT) so hopefullly it will help some. I have to change her food and start giving her insulin...I need to know the basics...best food (currently dry Purina and from what I am ready dry food is a nono). What to expect...how to feed, what to look for, what in the heck to do! I don't know what her levels were, I find that out this afternoon. Please give me something to go into this meeting with so I am better prepared!
 
Here is a quick and dirty explanation.

1. A slow, long lasting insulin. Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc are popular as they have a slow onset; they are not harsh and they are easiest to use for regulation. Humulin and Canninsulin are less popular because, in most cats, they have a rapid onset and don’t last as long. We like new diabetics to start low and go slow. That is, start at a low dose of .5 or one unit twice daily every 12 hours. And increase slowly, by .25 or .5 units as the numbers indicate. I wouldn't accept another insulin from the vet today before you have a chance to look around and research. If he suggests another, ask how many cats have taken that insulin and gone into remission.

2. A low carb, wet diet. We like to feed under 8-10% carbs. There are several food charts you can use: Dr. Lisa’s food chart
Hobo’s Food Chart Rhiannon’s 8% and under list

We don't like prescription food. The ingredients are no better than OTC foods and it is too expensive, and higher in carbs.

Whatever food you can afford that your cat will eat in that lower range. BUT do not change over to wet until you are hometesting. With our Oliver, the switch meant an overnight change of 100 points downward. If we hadn’t been testing and had given our usual amount., he could have hypoed.

2. And most importantly, hometesting. We think cats tend to be stressed at the vet
and we know stress raises blood glucose levels. So we test our cats at home. You want to know what the number is before you give the shot to be sure the amount you are planning to give is safe. And testing midcycle will show you how the insulin is working. We use human glucometers and test on their ears or paws. Here is a video that shows you how it is done: Video for hometesting

It would be wonderful if the vet would show you how to do it today. We don't suggest the pet meter. It is expensive, as are the strips and not found at your local drug store in an emergency, like human ones. If your vet says you shouldn't hometest, I would do it anyway. (You don't need his/her permission)

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
 
Where do you recommend buying the insulin? My Vet recommended the vial not the pens and walmart has it for 221.68, I had no idea insulin was so expensive! Should I switch to wet food before starting insulin and then go from there?
 
What was your kitty's blood glucose level at the vet? If it was 300 or under, you definitely could try the wet low carb diet for a week to see if her numbers go down.

It sounds like your vet prescribed Lantus? Most people here buy the pens rather than the vial as they last longer. What was your vet's reasoning? (he really shouldn't care). Sometimes you can get a pharmacy to sell you one pen at a time. It would be worth calling around to see.
 
Hi sugar princess Katie and welcome to the message board. Would you give us your first name?

Lot's of good advice from Sue & Oliver.

This article from the DCIN website tells you how to get the lantus less expensively. The pens can be used to the last drop, where most people can't use up a vial before it goes bad, becomes no longer effective. That's why we suggest the pens.

Yes, a switch to low carb food first can be a good first step. My sugardude Wink eats the Fancy Feast classic pate style and some of the Friskies pate style foods. Low cost plus lots of different flavors to choose from for picky cat appetites.

Did the vet test for ketones?
 
Deb & Wink said:
This article from the DCIN website tells you how to get the lantus less expensively. The pens can be used to the last drop, where most people can't use up a vial before it goes bad, becomes no longer effective. That's why we suggest the pens.
Click to expand...

The reason why your vet might not like the pens is because they come with pen tips/needles that only dose in full units so you can't give .25u doses if you use those. HOWEVER, we recommend using a syringe with the pen instead (as if the pen were a vial) which allows you to dose in smaller increments.
 
Thank you for the responses! New to the forum and my name is Heather :) I went to the vet today so they could teach me how to give the insulin. Her blood glucose when they initially tested was around 450. She has been on a dry Purina indoor cat brand. Of all the forums I have read, everyone says that wet food is the way to go. The vet wants me to put her on the prescription brand MD dry food. When it comes to the insulin, she told me to get the vial of Lantus, she said I would never use enough of the pen before it went bad and I would be wasting money. Now I am not familiar with terms or dosages (so please don't criticize me for not knowing) But we are starting her at the first line on the syringe...1 cc? Twice a day

I am going to tell you what the vet said...please let me know how things went for you guys...

First day I feed her at 630a...pick up her food 20 min later, then give her the 1 cc. After 4 hours I am to take her to the vet so they check her levels, then take her back at 2. The feed at 630P and do again.

Do the same thing Sunday

Then Monday I feed her and don't give her anything and then take her to the vet for the day. Then the next Monday I do the same thing.

The vet said I shouldn't do my own monitoring until after she is regulated.

I am honestly terrified and I am so worried about not getting things right.

All help and advice appreciated
 
Hi Heather,

For the insulin, you are probably giving 1 unit, not 1 cc. 'cc' stands for 'cubic centimeter' which is the older term for mLs or milliliters. The healthcare (and vet!) industry is slowly phasing out the use of the term cc and switching over to mLs. So don't be surprised if you hear someone refer to cc and mL in the same sentence. This change will probably take years to actually happen.

Lantus has 100 units per mL. So, you are giving Katie 1/100th of a mL, with contains 1 unit of Lantus. With such a small amount, you can understand why you had to buy special insulin syringes!

I hope this helps!

Liz

*edited for spelling
 
It is difficult when people you don't know, on the internet, no less, disagree with your vet.

The insulin is a good choice, though as we have said, the pens are a better choice. But the idea that you need to bring her in for tests is an unecessary expense. Most cats are stressed at the vet; stress raises blood glucose levels. So doses determined by those numbers may be too high once the cat gets home and relaxes. You can do the exact same test they will do, for so much less money and with more accuracy. The truth is that cats don't get regulated in 4 days, especially if based on vet numbers. There is no good reason to wait any time before home testing
.
It's entirely up to you. We can support you. We can teach you how to test, over the internet. You can buy food that is much better for your cat and less expensive. We have food lists to share that will give you the carb value of each flavor and brand. If you decide to get a second opinion from another vet, we may have a member who knows a FD vet in your city.

But you will need a vet, to prescribe the insulin. (unless you live in Canada?)
 
hml0228 said:
When it comes to the insulin, she told me to get the vial of Lantus, she said I would never use enough of the pen before it went bad and I would be wasting money.
Click to expand...

The pens do have an expiration date of 28 days after first use, however, just like the vials, as long as it's refrigerated, they can be used past expiration. I've so far used up 4 pens to the very last drop vs. 1 vial where I had to toss half of it after about 5 months because it had lost its potency.
 
I am kinda wanting to lean towards the wet food with Katie. She has been dropping her dry food in her water and eating it that way anyway. What wet food should I go for? I have looked at the spreadsheets and honestly find them confusing because I have not idea what I am looking for and what I am not.

I want to do the best things possible for Katie, if that means testing at home so be it..but I do need advice on what numbers I am aiming for and how often I should test. What meter is best...when to do it....etc...I need my hand held here

Overwhelmed is an understatement at this point.
 
Understanding the spreadsheet:

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
I have decided to go with the wet food. With that being said, how much do I allow her to have? The vet told me with the dry food to keep it down 20 minutes and then pick it up and dont give anymore until 12 later. I am sure my kitties are at home starving right now (1 diabetic, 3 not) I am seeing on here about letting the kitties graze and leaving it out?

My Katie is 8lbs, not sure what to do?
 
Wet food is less calorie dense than dry food, so you will have to feed a larger volume of food to get the same number of calories for Katie.

For wet food, you should feed 0.5 oz - 1 oz per pound of healthy weight. So if Katie is supposed to be 10 lbs (or whatever weight your vet said Katie should achieve) then you should feed Katie around 7-8 oz as this is in the middle of the range. If Katie is losing weight, increase her food by 1 oz. If she is maintaining her weight, excellent! Keep feeding her the same amount. If she is gaining undesired weight, decrease her food by 1 oz. Reweigh Katie weekly and re-evaluate food as needed.

Smaller, more frequent meals are easier on the pancreas, which will (hopefully!) allow it to heal.

Liz
 
Leaving the food out for grazing allows your diabetic to go eat if she feels low. This may prevent her from going into hypoglycemia.
 
Hi Heather! Thanks for introducing yourself.

Starting dose of lantus for your Katie

8 pounds /2.2 = 3.6 kilos
3.6 kilos * 0.25U per kilo = 0.825 units
Round down number of units to closest quarter unit, for ease of measuring and for safety = 0.75U

So, the starting dose for a smaller kitty such as your Katie should be more like 0.75U.

The very best thing you can do to help you and Katie with all this new information you are learning? Deep breathing exercises, to help calm you down. They really do help.

It will get easier. It just takes a bit of time.
 
So my Katit ate wet food with no issues last night and this morning, yay! I purchased the fancy feast classics as a few people on here say that is what they use. The vet told me to let her feed for 20 minutes, then pick it up and not allow her to eat anymore until she eats 12 hours later....that is a long time! My other kitties eat dry food (I know everything I am reading says that is the worst,but I gotta get over the initial breaking the bank before I swtich them) so is it ok to leave that out for them, and if she needs it, let her have at it? If I leave wetfood out, they will eat it on her.I have had to start feeding her downstairs in another room because the cats try to get in. is the 3 oz enough? Is there a higher volume food for about the same price that yall would recommend? I am a single mom working full time, so I gotta keep expenses down as much as possible.

I start the Lantus tomorrow morning, 1u twice a day. I am getting the glucometer and test strips and all that stuff tonight so I can do testing at home ,I am hoping since I switched her to wet food it her bg will come down a little bit.
Thank you so much for all of your help!!
 
The Friskies pate style foods come in 13 oz cans and can be more economical than the Fancy Feast pates. I pay 98 cents a can for the Friskies at my local Wal-Mart but the tiny Fancy Feast cans cost more like 58 cents a can. Per ounce, that comes to .075 cents for the Friskies and 0.19 cents per ounce for the Fancy Feast.

I stay away from the Country Style Dinner and the Mixed Grill in the Friskies pate flavors as they are a bit higher carb than I want to feed to my sugarkitty Wink.

There is no reason you need to withhold food from you cat for 12 hours. You do want to make sure that she doesn't get into the dry food that the other cats eat, as this can keep her BG (blood glucose) levels high. You could try meal feeding for all your cats. I feed mine 4 times a day. They get 2 breakfasts, an hour or 2 apart. Then, in the evening, they get 2 dinners, a couple of hours apart. This seems to tide them over.

Spreading out the food into smaller mini-meals can help to lessen the load on the pancreas.

The 3 oz each meal (6 oz a day) may not be enough food in the beginning. Is Katie ravenous? You said she weighs 8 pounds so 8 x 15 calories per pound + 70 = 190 calories a day. Unregulated diabetic cats may need more food at first, up to 50% more so you may need to feed her 8-10 ounces of food a day or even a bit more.

Great too hear you vet has prescribed the Lantus insulin. That's a good one for cats. I see we already gave you the link for getting Lantus less expensively. Be sure to pick up 3/10 cc insulin syringes with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel when you go shopping. You'll need those to help you measure the tiny dose that Katie needs.
 
So the first dose of lantus took place today..it was ok besides the whole getting up at 5am part! I bought a Relion glucometer and took it with to the vet when I went this am. Their level was 172....mine was about 40 lower. Is this normal? The vet wasn't thrilled that I didn't get the pet glucometer.

Also I work full time during the week....leave at 715 donr get home til 5....not sure the 4 meal thing would work?
 
Yes, that's normal. The pet meter (if that was what they used) runs 30 points lower than human meters. And if it was another human meter, all meters have a 20% variance so 40 one way or the pther on two meters wouldn't be unusual. We look for patterns and ranges so 40 points is not a concern.

What was your number for preshot this am? 176 is a pretty low number for the vet's office. We suggest new diabetics not shoot under 200.
 
I have not perfected the sticking of the ear so there was no preshot test. This was her very first insulin in jection this am, she is supposed to get 1u 2 times a day. Before when she was diagnosed she was over 450+
 
Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]


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How to use the glucose reference values chart:

When you get a test, look for the number on the chart that either equals, or contains, the test value you have. Read the information. As needed, make a decision and act.

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
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