NEED ADVICE!!! DIABETIC CAT!

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maryjane

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Hello,
My cat, Maryjane (actually a boy but I didn't know when I named her, now I just refer to her as a girl, she doesn't mind the gender crisis :) ) was diagnosed w Diabetes about 8-months ago when I noticed she was drinking waaay too much water. My vet put her on 3 units of Humulin - N insulin 2 X per day. We went on like that for 5-months and she still drank a lot of water and began peeing all over the place all the time. Then, 3-months ago I noticed her back legs were weak and she was walking on her hocks. We went back to the vet and he increased her insulin...then back again a week later and another increase... Now she is up to 5 units per day. Meanwhile, I began doing research on my own, including here on felinediabetes.com and you message board and I learned about changing her diet to a wet food, home testing, and even about using methyl-b12 to help her hind legs... all of which I am now doing. The problem is, she is not getting better. I do gluclose curves and they are all over the place and I don't know what to do. My vet is a nice man but he doesn't believe in the wet food diet, doesn't reccomend home testing, and doesn't give us much advice other than using more insulin. I think maybe we need a diff type of insulin, not just more of it. I live in the N Orlando area if anyone has any ideas for a vet that can help or if anyone can help give me guidance if I can supply you with the numbers from her glucose curves... I am doing all I can I just don't know where to go from here. She is very happy and doesn't seem to mind any of this, but I want to be sure I do all I possibly can to keep her w me as long as possible.
Thanks,
Amber
 
Hi Amber,
first, breath....
next, are you doing the curves or is the vet?
if you have testing equipement than you need to test every time you shoot and every few days get a mid day test.
if you don't have the equipement you can get a newbie kit by going to my link down below and go to the web store.
it is dangerous to change foods and keep the same dose if you are not testing.
TESTING will be your most important tool in getting your cat regulated.
Food is very very important too.
We can help you put up a spread sheet to track you cat's numbers.
Look at mine, also a link.
if you have swithced foods already and are not testing it could be dangerous...you may want to reduce dose.
also was you cat tested for ketones?
and finally, WELCOME to the family of sugar kitties.
Lori
and tomtom
 
Welcome Amber,

We all understand how you feel-scared and overwhelmed. You are already doing so many things right - the diet change and hometesting is wonderful! IMHO, the insulin is the thing that needs help. As you have probably seen, very few people here use Humulin N. It is a harsher insulin and hard to regulate with. And your vet started with a pretty high dose. It is possible that your kitty is in rebound: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Somogyi_rebound

How about adding your city and state to your subject line? I know we have Florida members. Maybe they can hook you up with a vet who will support an insulin change and will start at a safe low dose.
 
Hi Amber,

Have you discussed different insulins with your vet? If your vet is nice and you like him otherwise, maybe if you give him some articles to read you can switch insulin and educate your vet at the same time.

You can do the same with food and home monitoring - though you don't need his permission to feed what you wish or monitor Maryjane's glucose levels.

I take articles to my vet all the time. She's very open-minded and always does extra research for my cat.

Just a thought to keep you from starting from scratch.

Best,
Pam & Layla
 
I agree, I would discuss changing insulins to one of the longer lasting insulins like Lantus, Levemir or PZI. I also suggest starting back at 1 unit twice a day. There is a condition called Somogyi rebound that happens when the body is receiving too much insulin. In order to protect itself from becoming hypoglycemic, the body produces extra glucose to counteract the extra insulin. However, eventually the body will not be able to do so and will become hypoglycemic.

I also recommend you learn to hometest and change your cat's diet to a low carb canned food. You do not need to feed your cat prescription food. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies. However, a word of caution. Do not change your diet without lowering your insulin dose and hometesting. Because of the high dose you are currently giving your cat, you risk hypoglycemia.

You do not need your vet's permission to hometest. You can use any human glucose meter. Brand name is not important either. Many of us use Walmart Relion brand meters and are very happy with them.

If your vet does change the insulin to either Lantus or Levemir, ask for him to write the script for either the pens or cartridges. The initial cost is higher than the vial, but you will not end up wasting any insulin and it will last 5 times as long. With a vial, the insulin will become ineffective long before you will be able to finish the vial.

I'm in Jacksonville, so unfortunately I can't recommend a vet in Orlando. If you lived closer, I could recommend a couple great vets in my area.
 
I'm in Orlando -- Ocoee, actually. I wish I had a good recommendation for you, but my vet isn't much better.

I'm not sure what insulin my vet would put your cat on, because I'm still using up my old supplies of Vetsulin until they run out (they've stopped making it). My vet is very nice and loves my cat -- even though she's a royal pain when she's there. But my vet is still old-school like yours. He recommended Hill's W/D dry and did not encourage me to hometest. Like you, I did my research here and found a better way, and when I tried to bring him the information I had learned, he pretty much brushed it off -- although he did agree that the low-carb canned food seemed to be helping (I buy WalMart's SprcialKitty brand, because it's inexpensive). But when I started hometesting, he insisted that I have to buy the expensive veterinary glucometer, stating that a human glucometer wasn't as accurate. I don't have the extra $100 for that glucometer, nor do I have the money to pay for the more expensive test strips that I'd have to buy. And following the protocols that other people follow here has worked just fine for me. Like many of us here, I have just had to take things into my own hands -- you really don't need your vet's permission to change food or to hometest (but you do need a vet in order to get a prescription for insulin, of course).

I would suggest maybe calling a few veterinary offices in the area and asking what their usual procedures & protocols are -- when they are working with a diabetic cat. If you like what they say and it feels right to you, then maybe take your cat in....?

I do know that there are two feline only practices in the area -- Cat Hospital of Orlando in Altamonte Springs and Bay Hill Cat Hospital. I have no experience with either of these practices, and I have no idea how much they charge. But since they deal with cats only, one would hope that they would be a little more up-to-date with how to handle Feline Diabetes.

If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know. I won't be in town this weekend, but I'll be back on Monday if you need anything!

Kris
 
Hey Amber,

I'm a few minutes north of Orlando in Casselberry. I love Willow's vet. We go to Winter park Veterinary Clinic and Willow sees Dr. Morford. They also care for other animals and there are other good vets on staff, but I recommend her specifically for diabetes/cats in general. She will offer suggestions, including the recommendation of DM for some cat's, but she is very knowledgable and is always willing to learn more about feline diabetes. She is also super respectful of each owner's right to make the decisions regarding their cat. The practice is a bit more expensive than most places, but worth it. Feel free to PM me if you need more info.
 
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