my poor Timber :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
katlady1974

katlady1974

Member Since 2013
his BG has spiked and it hasn't even been the full 12 hours yet. i did the test at 10 hours and the meter said it was "high glucose" with a reading over 33.3- wouldn't actually give a number. :sad:

i called the vet and spoke to a tech who said not to bother doing the last test as it should just go up further. i have to bring the readings in later for the vet to review tonight. poor kitty :sad:

surely i can expect an increase to the insulin!?!
 
Quite possibly a dose increase may be suggested.
There is a protocol for adjusting Lantus dose based on the nadir, the lowest point during the time between shots. It is in a sticky topic of the Lantus Tight Regulation forum, after the first section.

How are you doing with diet adjustments?

There are some Secondary Monitoring Tools linked in my signature. These provide additional clues on how your cat is doing.
 
he's eating fancy feast wet (the low carb varieties) and the DM dry recommended by the vet. i think i'm actually going to do the last test as i'm pretty sure he was eating some dry food right before i tested him last time. just wonder if it would make a difference or not. i was afraid to take him off the dry food up until now as i just got the meter and started testing him today. but it seems it's safe to take the dry away at this point to see if it helps!?!?
 
How much of the dry DM has Timber been eating? More than 1/4 cup? If so, I'd recommend dropping the dose in half for a few days until the dry is gone. A complete changeover to wet food can drop the BG numbers dramatically. Been there, done that. Staying up all day and all night dealing with hypos is not my idea of fun.

I think it's time for Timber to have his very own spreadsheet to track the numbers. Directions here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 Ask for help if you have problems setting this up.
 
Deb beat me to it - definately would like to see a spreadsheet for Timber. Also when you get an odd number like that I would take a second reading. Last night I got a 24 for Bailey and retested again and got a 12.. much more like it!

Love the photo of him btw..
 
i just leave a small dish of the DM dry out for them (both cats eat the same food). they go through it in about 3 days i'd say. and then they get the fancy feast wet twice a day.

as for the insuling dose, i'm not changing it up myself. Vet wants the numbers tonight and will make a decision.

i don't have the ketone strips.
 
Were you planning on eliminating the dry from their diet completely? I thought that was what you were saying.

Do your cats like the Fancy Feast wet food? Do they think of it as a treat and gobble it down or graze on it and ignore the dry food you are also feeding?

Then maybe a switch to entirely wet food would work. They may even be very happy to make the switch.

The Fancy Feast classic pates are low-carb and an appropriate diet for a diabetic kitty. The DM dry is low carb also but the lack of water content in any dry food is not good for a cat.

Cats do not have a natural thirst drive and it is difficult for them to drink enough water to compensate for the dry food. This vet explains it so much better than I can. http://www.catinfo.org/
 
Sneakers BG would rise 200 points on dry. That is when she became an all indoor kitty with supervised visits outside- she was eating the neighborhood cat lady's dry food she left out for the ferals. Once I got rid of the dry she was out of the blacks and only in reds and pinks. Then we worked at her dose from there.

Think of it like this- you are trying to keep a fire at the same level so you throw one cup at a time on it. someone else pours some lighter fluid on it and so it takes more cups of water to get it down again and even more to put it out completely.

Insulin is the water, dry food is the lighter fluid.
 
thanks for the info! i am trying to switch to all wet. he had less dry today and his numbers were better tonight! :-D
 
If you are in the process of transitioning food gradually and the nadir is still above 150, you may want to hold the insulin dose steady so you can ID the impact of the food change. You'll want a good 3 days at the same food & insulin mix levels to determine any dose increases.

Should he go below 50 mg/dl on a human glucometer, you will need to reduce the dose, and possibly treat for a hypo. To be prepared, have you a hypo kit of high carb gravied canned foods, karo or other syrup, oral syringe, and at least 50 spare test strips? Instructions and information an managing hypo symptoms here
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top