New and need help for my Zoey

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natalieh

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Hello all,

I'm new to the boards and tried to read all the preliminary info on the boards (which is wonderful! thanks to all of you that take the time to have this on the web). This is overwhelming and I'm really having a hard time grasping the terminlogy and I'm pressed for info. We have been trying to regulate our cat, Zoey, for 4 years on Lantus. We had our ups and downs for a while but our cat finally seemed really good, great weight, eating well, spunky... until a few months ago. We seemed to have her okay (not regulated, but the best so far) on the Lantus up to 2cc's until she went into hypoglycemic shock. That was when our vet had us change to the PZI (this was her 2nd hypo during the 4 years on Lantus). Well our cat is not doing well on the PZI. She is the lowest weight she's ever been (6lbs) and doesn't seem to be gaining any weight since being on this for 1.5 months. Although not doing better, the Vet says Zoey's blood curve is better on the PZI. We have her up to 3.5cc's on the PZI but the vet doesn't want to go any higher. Our vet says that we should get lab work done (Frutosamine?) to test her average levels over a month period. Isn't this something we should have done by now after 4 years of being diabetic? The vet is also recommending an ultrasound because they think she has pancreatitis or something going on with her stomach. She also said I need to pull some of her teeth out as they are infected. The last couple of nights she has not been eating as much (she's only eating wet food now). Tonight I was scared to give her the insulin since she only ate about 1/8 of her food so I gave her a lower dose. Zoey is 10 years old and she's sitting next to me looking so frail and weak and its breaking my heart. Does anyone have any insight or advice on how I should proceed? Anything I should look for that's not mentioned?

Thank you in advance for your help!
 
EDIT: 3.5cc's of PZI?!! I hope you mean 3.5 units of PZI? Insulin is given in measurements of units and not cc's. 3.5 cc's of PZI would be a HUGE dose.

My first recommendation to you is that you need to get started with home testing. If you are doing this then you will not need to have the vet do frutosamine tests or curves at the vet. The PZI Sticky has info on how to achieve home testing. You can also get newbie kits with the necessary starter supplies. Home testing is your avenue to information which is power over this disease.

If you have difficulty testing then we can see if someone may live near you that can stop past and give you a lesson. :smile:

If the teeth really need to go and are infected then I am very hopefully it will not only help with the BG numbers but will also help with the appetite. It may take your kitty about a week to recover - so make sure they send you home with pain meds.

Once you are home testing you can get that precious data into a spreadsheet and share it with us, then we will really be able to make specific recommendations.

Again the Newbie Checklist in the PZI Sticky is your friend :smile: :
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/view ... 14#p340814
I tried to limit the jargon or at least explain the jargon well. :smile:

I'm going to PM a couple people that have switched from Lantus to PZI too and point them to this topic.

I think you should proceed one step at a time. Get the dental [and if you want to be super sure a second opinion of the teeth before you do it]. But I would not delay much about that.

PZI is very flexible and you can give smaller doses and bigger doses each cycle - not like Lantus that works best with fixed dosing. So you can take the initiative like you did when your kitty is not eating much and you are concerned.

The correct diet is also crucial.
 
Thank you so much for your quick response! I haven't been home testing her and now I'm really hating myself for not knowing that I should have been doing it all along. I found a link on this board with pictures of how to do it and I think that I can do it. I currently have Zoey on the W/D Prescriptions food.
 
The W/D is not going to cut it - it is too high in carbs. The Newbie Checklist had links to Janet & Binky's list and an explanation of what foods are best. The Newbie checklist has links to videos and pictures of how to test. You need to be testing before you make the diet change. And you should probably be testing before you do the dental because that can make a huge difference too.

You are going to have your hands full here in the beginning with learning to home test and getting the dental done. Then switching the food. You have a very steep learning curve - but it does get easier. So just make sure to breath :smile: . This is a marathon not a sprint.
 
Hi Natalie and zoey! I'm glad you found us. This board is a sanity saver at the least, and a literal life-saver at the most. I agree with gator about the importance of home testing. It's a bit tricky at first, but now Charlie purrs through the whole thing cuz he knows he's going to get food or freeze-dried chicken treats afterward. He'll do anything for food!! Speaking of food, after you get the testing going, you'll want to switch to low carb wet foods. Charlie eats 9-lives low carb varieties. A 4- pack from the grocery store costs under a dollar. But don't switch till you are testing. Many cats need less insulin on the new diet, some end up needing none. You need to be watching Zoey's numbers during the switch. I primarily use the relion ultima meter (from walmart). The meter cost under $15 I think, and 50 test strips are only $20. I also have a backup meter (freestyle lite) that I love, but 50 strips cost $75!! Yikes! There is no reason to pay the vet big bucks for the fructosamine test or curves when you can get all that info at home, in a low-stress environment (stress raises blood glucose), for a fraction of the cost. Keep asking questions- we're a friendly group and will help in any way we can!
 
I'm not a full month into this yet with my guy Sam, but I wholeheartedly agree about the home testing. It's so important for you to be able to see what's happening through the curve. Those hypos could have potentially been avoided with home testing - I just went through a hypo yesterday and without home testing and the help of this board, who knows what would have happened. As it was, Sam made it through just fine.

The people here are lifesavers. I can't say that enough.
 
Hi and Welcome,

The learning curve is pretty steep in the beginning but after a few weeks it will get much easier and you will find a routine to this that works for you, then you will feel more in control and have a better understanding of what is going on.

If you don't understand something come back and ask. We can help you through all of this.

Home testing is critical before every injection so you will know that it is safe to give insulin. It's great that you've seen the viedo's and pictures. If you need help getting started let us know and we can talk you through it. It can be very nerve racking at first but once you get the hang of it it will be a breeze. You can get a glucose meter at any pharmacy. It's the strips that get expensive. Alot of us here use the Walmart Relion.

In the PZI Newbie Checklist there is a list of supplies you will want to pick up or you can order a free meter, Newbie Kit, from Lori & Tom.

Keep reading and asking questions, that's how we all started.

Welcome to our group!
 
Thank you all for your feedback. After discussions with the vet who had concerns that Zoey had pancreatitis or liver disease that might be affecting her intake of the insulin, I took her in for an ultrasound. Luckily the ultrasound came back pretty clear (YAY!)with the exception of a little bit of inflammatory bowel disease of which we are going to try to remedy with a diet change from W/D to Z/D. I'm also going to try to home test her this weekend to get a better grip on her reads. My vet is supportive and told me she'd show me how to do it. She told me I should do reads every hour at first (yikes!) I work full time and have twin 18 month olds so this is very overwhelming to me and definitely not looking forward to the lack of sleep I'll have this weekend trying to do this curve thing. I hope you don't mind if I come back with some questions once I try to start doing the curve on my own. Thank so much!
 
Every hour? I would think every 2 is enough, but someone wiser than me will probably chime in. Also, I don't think most people here recommend that food, but again, I'm sure someone else with more experience will offer some advice. With twins that age, I can only imagine how tough this is, but hang in there. We're all in this together. :mrgreen:
 
I agree with every 2 hours at least thru a 12 hour (shot-to-shot) cycle (called a "curve"). But you only need to do that every-so-often. Maybe once when you figure out how to test, then once a month or every other week after that. I have a 16 month old and I'm 5 months pregnant. That's hard enough! I can't imagine having twins and also working!! Don't stress yourself out, though. Seriously! If you let it run your life you'll be miserable. If you miss a test, don't worry about it. The critical ones are the tests before you give the insulin injection. A couple throughout the day are good, a veteran here (gator) really advocates the +3 and +6 tests (3 and 6 hours after the injection). Get those tests as frequently as possible, and get the curves when you are able.
 
Every 2 hours is plenty. You are just looking for patterns. It is great that your vet is willing to help you learn how to hometest. If you need any pointers or ways to save on meters/strips, we can help with that.

I know it is hard to hear advice that conflicts with your vet but ZD is 30% carbs! We try to feed between 8 - 10 % carbs. A vet who posts here often does a great job of explaining why dry food is not good for any cat with any digestive issue: http://www.catinfo.org

We love to help. Keep reading and asking questions.
 
Hi and welcome! My daughter has twins who are 11 months old. Forget about testing during the night! A curve of every 2 hours during the day will be sufficient, unless there is some really urgent situation like a hypo. Most people do not test at night. The most important tests are the preshots (AM and PM---known as AMPS and PMPS) because that way you know you are not giving too much insulin. After that, you want to know when the insulin reaches its "peak" or "nadir"---the point at which the BG hits the lowest number of that cycle. And then we do curves to let us see the pattern--but usually only every 2 hours.

It sounds like your cat's weight loss is probably due to some condition other than the diabetes. Pancreatitis, and irritable bowel would definitely be possibilities. It should be discussed with your vet. Good luck!
 
Natalieh . . .

Watching the board this morning to see what kind of #s you got yesterday...

Do you need help with the Spread sheet?
 
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