Mcandi
New Member
My fifteen year old cat, Motor, was diagnosed with diabetes about two weeks ago. A quick background...over the past year I had noticed changes in her behaviour but they were so gradual, I chalked it up to her being an older cat until more recently they became more obvious. She was always thirsty and began running into the bathroom whenever I ran a bath to drink water from the tub. If I was in the bathroom and not running water, she would lay down in the tub. Her fur began matting and she developed dandruff. She was losing weight.
Other than those things she seemed her normal self. I had planned to take her to the vet for blood work sometime in the near future but it didn't seem urgent to me. Until one day she was desperate for water. She would not stop drinking. She wouldn't leave her water bowls side and would fall asleep with her head resting on the bowl. If she did walk, she wouldn't walk very far and would slowly lower herself onto the floor as opposed to her normal flopping on her side. Called the vet immediately. She went in the next morning for blood work and the next day was diagnosed with diabetes.
She was started on one unit of Prozinc, twice a day. The first week wasn't the easiest as Motor has never been on scheduled meals times. Only dry food, left out all day and night and she ate when she wanted. She was switched to Moist food and I attempted half a can of friskies, morning and night. She never ate all of it in one sitting but knowing that she would eat the rest within a couple hours after her insulin, I never missed a dose. Also in the beginning I was told to feed her, give her insulin, and then check her BG two hours after, so I don't have much info regarding her levels up until a few days ago when I decided myself that it made more sense to also check her before giving her her shot. (I have attempted to fill out a spreadsheet as best as I could with what info I have so far).
Did a glucose curve last Friday and after seeing her dip to 1.8 at one point and then shooting up to 20.3 throughout the day, I took it upon myself to cut her dose in half. Continued with the 1/2 unit until speaking with the vet on Monday, who recommended changing her dosage to the 1/2 unit as well. So for the past few days I have been checking her BG before food & insulin, feeding her and then giving her the shot. Her numbers have been between 7.0 and 10.3.
This morning though when I checked her BG, it was sitting at 3.1 and she doesn't want to eat much. I tried giving her a handful of treats and while she normally gobbles them down, I had to push her to eat them all. I did not feel comfortable giving her any insulin so she has missed her dose this morning. I will be checking her BG again here shortly. My biggest concern is keeping her on her schedule but if her numbers are high when I check them again, should I give her the shot then or wait until her scheduled evening shot no matter what her numbers are now? She also tested positive for ketones so keeping her with high BG levels for any amount of time is also a big concern for me.
Thoughts?
Other than those things she seemed her normal self. I had planned to take her to the vet for blood work sometime in the near future but it didn't seem urgent to me. Until one day she was desperate for water. She would not stop drinking. She wouldn't leave her water bowls side and would fall asleep with her head resting on the bowl. If she did walk, she wouldn't walk very far and would slowly lower herself onto the floor as opposed to her normal flopping on her side. Called the vet immediately. She went in the next morning for blood work and the next day was diagnosed with diabetes.
She was started on one unit of Prozinc, twice a day. The first week wasn't the easiest as Motor has never been on scheduled meals times. Only dry food, left out all day and night and she ate when she wanted. She was switched to Moist food and I attempted half a can of friskies, morning and night. She never ate all of it in one sitting but knowing that she would eat the rest within a couple hours after her insulin, I never missed a dose. Also in the beginning I was told to feed her, give her insulin, and then check her BG two hours after, so I don't have much info regarding her levels up until a few days ago when I decided myself that it made more sense to also check her before giving her her shot. (I have attempted to fill out a spreadsheet as best as I could with what info I have so far).
Did a glucose curve last Friday and after seeing her dip to 1.8 at one point and then shooting up to 20.3 throughout the day, I took it upon myself to cut her dose in half. Continued with the 1/2 unit until speaking with the vet on Monday, who recommended changing her dosage to the 1/2 unit as well. So for the past few days I have been checking her BG before food & insulin, feeding her and then giving her the shot. Her numbers have been between 7.0 and 10.3.
This morning though when I checked her BG, it was sitting at 3.1 and she doesn't want to eat much. I tried giving her a handful of treats and while she normally gobbles them down, I had to push her to eat them all. I did not feel comfortable giving her any insulin so she has missed her dose this morning. I will be checking her BG again here shortly. My biggest concern is keeping her on her schedule but if her numbers are high when I check them again, should I give her the shot then or wait until her scheduled evening shot no matter what her numbers are now? She also tested positive for ketones so keeping her with high BG levels for any amount of time is also a big concern for me.
Thoughts?
. As for the curve you did that 1.8 is in hypo territory so she "bounced" and that's why numbers went up to 20.3. Glad you reduced the dose and the Vet agreed. The 2 days of data you have are very nice numbers and her staying green today, might be earning her another reduction to 0.25U but only if her numbers permit, and obviously 3.1 does not permit. Also, if her numbers to jump back up (they might bounce again) do not give another shot until scheduled time. Stay on schedule 
. For the ketones: When was the positive result? Did you check test strip in specified time? (They get darker if you let them sit out) Is it above trace? Also, those blues are not high numbers. Just look at my SS lol. I'm sure others will chime in soon. 
