New diagnosis, but maybe not though?

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Orangepants mr.Kitty

Member Since 2021
Hey all, just want to start with a huge thank you for this awesome resource. The amazing detailed guides and all the relatable stories have helped calm me down the last few days. I keep googleing different topics and seem to keep finding myself back on this board.
To try to keep story short, he had a rough few weeks and on friday 3/26 Mr.Kitty (he has a million names) was diagnosed, i went in for my "diabetes training". i rushed to begin his insulin shots that night, Canninsulin, 0.5 units per kg. Hes 5.7kg so was told 3 and 3 units a day. Gave him his friday night shot, and his sat morning and night shots. Unable to figure out how to draw blood on sat but decided to just do as vet ordered. Sunday i finally got reading (human meter) right before the PM shot. He pulled a 4.1mmol/l (75mg/dl). Still wasn't confident to skip a shot i gave him his 3units, and the he pulled a +3 of 2.2 (40) and a +6 of 2.3 (42). I gave him some treats and licked up some honey. He seemed fine all night and awoke this morning (monday) to a am preshot test of 5.2 (94). Skipped shot, regular feeding and got a +5 of 4.9 (88) a +7 of 5.6 (101) and pm preshot of 5.3 (95). He snacked on wet food all day, So so far i skipped his pm shot as well and starting to question if he ever had diabetes in the first place... I know its not enough info to jump to that conclusion but starting to feel real dumb for not getting readings before starting the insulin. I made the change to wet food a week ago to get more hydration and switched to zero carb wet food 3 days ago. Maybe the food change was enough? Should i keep him off insulin till i see higher numbers? Should i keep up with a token dose? No ketone test yet, should i? Lots of changes for us, hope we are doing things right.
 
Hi, welcome! Yes, this board is fantastic. You’ll get good help here.

A food change can have a significant impact on blood glucose and for some cats it has proven to be enough. It can also take up to a week to really see the effects of the food change. Regardless, 3u of insulin is too much for Mr. Kitty. That’s a pretty big starting dose. I don’t give dosing advice but with numbers like you have been getting, I recommend not be giving him any insulin right now and continue to test like you’ve been doing, at least Until someone more experienced comes along who can weigh in with their opinion.

It is not uncommon for vets to start kitties on too high of a dose. For newbies, we recommend stalling before giving insulin, not feeding, and posting here for help if <200.

Always a good idea to test for ketones. Did the vet find any? What happened in the weeks leading up to his diagnosis and what was it based on? Fructosamine? What were/are his symptoms? Was/Is he on any medications?
 
Hi and welcome
Those are normal numbers your kitty is getting at the moment.
I would not give any insulin with numbers in the normal range when his just diagnosed.
I would continue to test before meals and again during the cycles to see what he is up to.
If you can get the SS up and running with the data you have we will have a much better idea of what is happening.
 
so the full story is that Mr.Kitty is a 16 year old male, who up till march 14 acted like a 3 year old cat. Great activity level (as far as cats go) and a CHAMPION water drinker. I like many others thought he would be ok a full dry diet with the amount of water he consumes since he was kitten, i have since had my eyes opened thanks to this board and many others but still that was one of the first signs. It started with general lethargy and then noticed one or 2 days of no eating and drinking and no litterbox activity. mid week we were able to convince him to eat some wet food and drank when I brought it to him but for the most part didnt want to move around at all. Of course when he did move we found him in weird places. after a few BETTER days I decided to hold off on vet but then on the friday of first week he was still eating wet food, but no litterbox activity. So i booked him a appointment for the monday but on the saturday and sunday he started to drunkwalk. Stumble around and always tilt his head down. Like he was squinting or looking over his imaginary glasses. Even when he laid down his face was always planted face down. Was able to get some poops but very hard little round balls. his water intake slowed to nothing no matter how much i put the bowl in front of his face, mainly ever since i started with the wet food he has be disinterested in water. Decent amount of peeing still but such low energy he would often just laydown in the box after he went.
On the monday vet visit we decided to start with a blood panel and no imaging. Dr thought maybe he felt a touch swolen in kidney liver area but decided to see what blood test showed. get a call mid week saying his glucose seems high but he was waiting for one more test to determine if it is in fact Feline Diabetes. i assume the second test was the fructasmine thingy but he called and said yep, feline diabetes. Went in for insulin/diabetes training, he told me then that it his numbers were not too bad, a 20mmol/l (360 mg/dl), but that of course were the bloodwork from earlier in the week and he was pretty grumpy during the visit. i panic shot him up with insulin that night and thats were the first post starts off. I have yet to get any high spikes yet from home testing with my brand new human meter.
Dont think he tested for ketone or whatever unless that was in the blood panel, and he has never had any medication at all his whole life.
 
so yesterday with no insulin he pulled a AMPS: 5.2, +5: 4.9, +7: 5.6, PMPS: 5.3, and a pm +4: 4.8.
He woke today the day after no inulin with a AMPS: 6, and +5: 4.9. and again i skipped the am shot for 3rd skipped in a row.
He is eating a full can or can and a half everyday, energy levels are almost back, head tilt mostly gone, drunkwalk down to a minimal pimpwalk kinda limp. still low water but lots of normal sized pees and still dry but improving stool, daily.
 
Orangepants mr.Kitty said:
Never
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I think it would be worthwhile getting a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and testing his urine for ketones. It’s a simple test.
Probably unlikely with the BG numbers the way they are but as you have stopped the insulin it would be a good thing to cross off as OK.

Did the vet do a full blood panel? I’m just concerned about the head down. That can be a sign of low potassium. Did he mention that?
Did the vet say what the fructosamine test result was.?

It would still be helpful if you could set up a spreadsheet and add all the BGs you have taken into it.
it does look as if he doesn’t need any insulin, but if he is going into remission we need to make sure it is a strong remission, otherwise he will relapse and need insulin again.
So keep testing before meals and again during the cycles and entering the numbers in the SS.
Are you giving snacks during the day and well as the 2 meals?
He will need to stay on a low carb wet diet for the rest of his life.
 
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