new diabetic

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Jen and Buddy

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First of all I am so grateful to have found this forum. I have already gained a lot of knowledge just from reading the posts on here. My cat `Buddy' was dx with diabetes one week ago today. She was in ketoacidosis when first seen by my vet. She was stabilized for 24hrs and sent home on caninsulin 1u twice a day.We were told to bring her back in a month. Home testing not required at this time. Buddy is only 2.5 yrs old. When she was 1.5 yrs old she had blockage from stones. Stones were analysed and found to be 100% cystine....very rare, less then 1% of cats develop this type, recurrence high. She was put on a very reduced protein prescription diet and hated it. I believe she has been deteriating ever since. Still no stones to date. Now, with the diabetes, she needs high protein...direct contrast to the diet she needs to prevent these stones. For the past week she has been on hills md and gaining weight nicely. Her fur looks amazing. I became very worried about not home testing. She seems to sleep all the time and gets some energy an hour or two before her next shot then gets lathargic again. I worried so much that i started giving her real chicken treats during insulin peak times. Today I just had to go purchase a glucose monitor and tested her before meal time and evening insulin. Well just as I thought, she was 4.2mmols.which I believe converts to 75.6 using the states measurements. So I held her insulin and gave her meal. I will test again this evening and perhaps through out the night aswell. Wondering if i should have just gave the shot just incase she gets too high later....wondering if she has been low this whole week...I have not noticed any signs of her being high minus the first day or two after being diagnosed. Wondering if she is not diabetic at all, and the episode had something to do with her other health concerns.. So confused.
 
Welcome Jen and Buddy,

So glad you are testing at home. Yes, 75 is a low number for a preshot. I am assuming it has been 12 hours since your last shot? You do not want to give any insulin at that number. I would wait and test again in the morning (evening? - are you in Europe) at her usual shot time. It may be a little high then, as she will have been 24 hours without insulin. But it would be dangerous for you to shoot the 75. The lethargy you are seeing may be that she has been going low after the shot.
 
thanks for reassuring me that holding the insulin was a good idea. I just checked her again 2hrs after eating and its even lower 3.3mmols. which is 59.4.I live in canada. Here they measure blood glucose in mmols. I just times my number by 18 to convert it to the states measurments. Yes she gets insulin every 12 hours. 8am and 8pm. i dont understand why it would be even lower after eating and not having any insulin. I am a nurse but caution myself not to compare human diabetics with cats. To me 3.3 or 59.4 is dangerously low for humans and im sure the same for cats. I just gave her 3 strips of chicken which she devoured. Its like she cant get the nutrients from what she eats. I have kept her in a separate room so I know forsure that she did not vomit up her supper. She is not showing any signs of being too low either. In fact her eyes are brighter and she is up more compared to when I give the insulin. When she has insulin she hides in my closet and just sleeps. I will ckeck her again in an hour and give her more food if still low i guess. Tomorrow morning I`m calling the vet.
 
Well, the good news is these are "normal" blood glucose range (if NOT injecting insulin) -- so maybe her pancreas will heal with this short course of insulin -- and she can go "off the juice" and just be diet controlled.

illness, infections and stress can cause high blood sugar that calms down when the kitty is feeling better.

An excellent resource for feline nutrition is www.catinfo.org by Dr. Lisa Pierson D.V.M. She does consults and may be able to advise you on what is the best diet for your kitty.
 
Just for comparison purposes, I have tested my non-diabetic cats a few times and they have always been 4.5 (I too am in Canada). I've just done a few random tests to see what 'normal' looks like b/c my diabetic isn't there ...yet.
 
I don't know what others have to say, but I would suggest you keep testing and do NOT give any insulin with such normal BG numbers. If you vet says to give insulin, ask your vet what the non-diabetic good range is for BG numbers. When the vet says a range, tell the vet that Buddy does not have high BG, so you are not giving any insulin.

There are so many things that can cause a raised BG. Sickness, infection, dental problems, are just a few.
Try to stick to a low carb wet food and continue to test Buddy, and you could well have a cat that does not need insulin, being either never diabetic, or now a diet controlled diabetic.

I am so very glad that you are home testing! Can you imagine if you had kept giving insulin and poor Buddy continued to have issues. Congratulations to you and pats for Buddy.
 
Wow, this sounds amazing. It sounds like the change in her diet may have turned things around for her little pancreas. The fact that her bg went down after she ate without insulin is a really good thing... I'm pretty sure that is what is supposed to happen as the body releases its own insulin to convert the food for the body's cells.

Keep testing... you're doing great! I would also keep an eye on her litter box habits to be sure she's not having any issues with blockages and stones with the high protein diet.

Amanda
 
Good Morning and Welcome to the FDMB family.

Sounds like your Buddy is doing great on just a diet switch. Bravo for home testing, that is the single best thing you can do for your girl. To help out a little, I have 10 cats (9 non-diabetics, & 1 diet controlled diabetic). The normal range for felines is between 40-100 in us measurements. All of mine are routinely in the mid 40s to mid 50s. So Buddy is just about where she should be as far as BGs. The fact that his BGs dropped on its own after eating is a GREAT thing, because it may mean that her little pancreas is starting to work on its own.

Mel & Max
 
Good morning all, Buddy did well throughout the night. BS averaging between 3.3 and 3.8mmol or 59.4 and 68.4 US. It has been just over 24 hrs with NO Insulin...yeah! I called the vet who told me not to give anymore insulin and just spot check once in awhile when is see signs of hyperglycemia. If she has signs, i'm to call him with the numbers and he will decide if insulin is needed. Still not sure what caused the whole episode to begin with, but it looks like it may have been caused by something else and she is not diabetic...at this time anyway.The more I read on here, the more I really feel it was diet induced. Like I mentioned before, she seemed to be slowly going down hill ever since being on prescription reduced protein to help reduce the chances of stone development. Most likely full of carbs. The vet wants her to stay on prescription hills MD ( increased protein), but I do question that as she is not diabetic and does not have a high weight issue ( more underweight). I think some of the other high quality diets that I have been reading about are better, like friskies or even considering raw. I do understand that we could be back to issues with the stones due to the higher protein of all these diets, but one thing Buddy has taught me is that its the higher protein that is obviously better for her. I will continue to moniter her litter habits to watch for stones or inability to pee. I have given her water through a syringe over the past year to help flush her bladder so that crystals don`t have time to develop into stones. I will continue to do this and cross my fingers that we don't have a relapse there. The type of stones she developed can only be removed by surgery, and she really had issues with the first one...would hate to put her through that again. She isn't even 3yrs old yet and has had a pretty rough go so far. Thanks for all the info and advice. oh and to answer the last question, I live in Medicine Hat Alberta.
 
Looking she wants to be off insulin. :razz: You don't need to feed the DM. It is expensive and has no better and maybe worse ingredients than the over the counter foods. It is also heavily liver based which most kitties tire of quickly. You can take it back and say she won't eat it - it is always returnable.

Here is our food chart: Janet and Binky’s chart We try to stay under 8-10% carbs with fish only a couple times a week. Also Dr. Lisa Pierson (a FD specialist DVM) has a great website and recipes for raw: http://www.catinfo.org

Agree with testing her over the next 2 weeks, just to make sure she is in double digits most of the day.
 
Jan, I'm in Calgary and we have a former member named Sharon who lives in the 'Hat!

MD is not needed. It has the right 'numbers' in that it is moderately high in protein and low in carbs, but it doesn't get there with quality ingredients.

Jen
 
Adding about 1/3 can of water to a can helps get additional fluid in, if she'll eat it.
 
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