New diagnosis..need help!!

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gabriella christie

Member Since 2016
Hi everyone!! I'm so glad I found this thread...any advice would be much appreciated!

My lovely munchkin "kalvin" who is four years old , was diagnosed with diabetes today. He has been peeing on the floor no drinking excessively...I brought in a urine sample to the vet and sugar was present. His blood glucose was 350. Ugh!!!

So now here's my dilemma...the vet prescribed lantus. Which is a long acting insulin. I work overnights as a nurse. I'm afraid to give kalvin his first insulin doses tomorrow as I'm leaving right after I'd be administering the second dose(3 Units Twice daily) ...what should I do? Should I wait until I have two days off( Sunday and Monday) until I start giving insulin?

Also...how long did you have to monitor your kitties for after starting insulin? Should I not leave the house for the first couple of days? I feel like a baby haha. Please help!
 
Hi Gabriella and welcome to the FDMB!!

Lantus is an excellent insulin for cats, but it sounds like your vet doesn't really know much about it. 3 units is a huge starting dose!! Most cats start somewhere between .5 and 1 unit twice a day!!

It also can take 5-7 days before you see the actual effect of the first dose, although some cats do respond much sooner, so I'd plan on waiting until you can monitor to start. High numbers take time to do any damage....it's the low ones that kill quickly

What are you feeding Kalvin?? It's important to feed a low carb canned or raw diet...just like humans, cats need a low carb diet and even the "prescription" diets the vets love to sell are too high in carbs.

Lots of great info on this "Feeding Your Cat..Know the basics of Nutrition" website

It's important for you to learn to home test too. Again, just like humans, you wouldn't give insulin without knowing what the blood glucose is first to make sure it's safe to give any.

Lantus dosing is also based on how low it takes them, with only a little consideration given to the Pre-shot levels. The only way to know how low it's taking them is to either do an occasional curve (test every 2 hours for 12 hours or every 3 hours for 18) or to get random tests in at different points in the cycle.

We do increases in dose in .25 unit increments too, never whole units...one drop too much or too little can be the difference between control and tragedy. Going too fast risks missing what could be a "good dose" for your cat too

There's lots of great people here who can help you learn everything you need to know! It can be really overwhelming, but we'll help you every step of the way!
 
Hi Gabriella, welcome to FDMB! Was Kalvin' BG 350 at the vet's? Sometimes "vet stress" can raise BG levels. Lantus is a great insulin for diabetic cats, but a starting dose of 3U twice a day seems kind of high to me, especially as his BG was 350. We generally recommend starting at 1U and gradually increasing by 0.25U increments until you find the dose that is right for your kitty. Are you home testing Kalvin? Home testing is really vital to keeping your kitty safe.

This is just my opinion but I would definitely not give another 3U in the morning and leave Kalvin alone all day, with no one to watch him or test him. If you are not home testing please get yourself an inexpensive meter (lots of us use the Walmart Relion meters) and learn how to do it, it's not as difficult as it sounds and it is SO important!

Keep asking questions, there is always someone around to lend a hand! :):):)
 
Chris & China said:
Hi Gabriella and welcome to the FDMB!!

Lantus is an excellent insulin for cats, but it sounds like your vet doesn't really know much about it. 3 units is a huge starting dose!! Most cats start somewhere between .5 and 1 unit twice a day!!

It also can take 5-7 days before you see the actual effect of the first dose, although some cats do respond much sooner, so I'd plan on waiting until you can monitor to start. High numbers take time to do any damage....it's the low ones that kill quickly

What are you feeding Kalvin?? It's important to feed a low carb canned or raw diet...just like humans, cats need a low carb diet and even the "prescription" diets the vets love to sell are too high in carbs.

Lots of great info on this "Feeding Your Cat..Know the basics of Nutrition" website

It's important for you to learn to home test too. Again, just like humans, you wouldn't give insulin without knowing what the blood glucose is first to make sure it's safe to give any.

Lantus dosing is also based on how low it takes them, with only a little consideration given to the Pre-shot levels. The only way to know how low it's taking them is to either do an occasional curve (test every 2 hours for 12 hours or every 3 hours for 18) or to get random tests in at different points in the cycle.

We do increases in dose in .25 unit increments too, never whole units...one drop too much or too little can be the difference between control and tragedy. Going too fast risks missing what could be a "good dose" for your cat too

There's lots of great people here who can help you learn everything you need to know! It can be really overwhelming, but we'll help you every step of the way!
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying! The vet said that 3 units was a low dose!! Oh goodness ...I'm going to wait and give the first dose until I'm home for two days. Maybe I will give 1.5 units? I am going to buy the Alpha track Glucometer for cats and dogs tomorrow...test him and then test him Sunday morning and administer the insulin. I am feeding him blue buffalo healthy weight management ...he's been on that for two years. I bought feline w/d yesterday as I'm going to start mixing them until w/d is his diet. Should I do the curve on the first day of insulin ?
 
Squalliesmom said:
Hi Gabriella, welcome to FDMB! Was Kalvin' BG 350 at the vet's? Sometimes "vet stress" can raise BG levels. Lantus is a great insulin for diabetic cats, but a starting dose of 3U twice a day seems kind of high to me, especially as his BG was 350. We generally recommend starting at 1U and gradually increasing by 0.25U increments until you find the dose that is right for your kitty. Are you home testing Kalvin? Home testing is really vital to keeping your kitty safe.

This is just my opinion but I would definitely not give another 3U in the morning and leave Kalvin alone all day, with no one to watch him or test him. If you are not home testing please get yourself an inexpensive meter (lots of us use the Walmart Relion meters) and learn how to do it, it's not as difficult as it sounds and it is SO important!

Keep asking questions, there is always someone around to lend a hand! :):):)
Click to expand...
Hey! Yes kalvin blood glucose was 350 at the vet. And then rose to 380 after blood work was drawn. His urine was a positive 3+ ft sugar two days prior to even bringing him to the vet. So I'm going to wait until Sunday morning( which shouldn't be an issue right?) I feel bad for saying this but I've waited this long what's one more day, even know I know what it means..I just don't want him to be hypoglycemic without me being home. I am going to purchase the alpha track Glucometer and do the readings. I'm scared to start at 3 units now ..I a probably going to start lower and test the blood sugar. With lantus since the onset and peak is 6-8 hours I should be feeding kalvin still in the morning, and then inject ?
 
W/D is one of those "prescription" foods that's too high in carbs! Most of us here feed plain old Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground, but there are other foods that are low carb too. On that website I linked, there's a chart with a breakdown of a lot of foods by protein, fat, carbs, etc...the carb percentage is in column C....You want foods less than 10% carbs

You don't necessarily need to do a full curve on the first day, but you do want to at least get a few tests in. It's important to get at least a mid-cycle test on the AM cycle and at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle

You also don't have to use the AlphaTrak if you don't want to. The strips for it are over $1 each and you'll be using at least 3-4 per day (if not many more...especially when he's running low!)....You also can't get them in an emergency....if you run out at 3am on a Sunday morning, there's no way to get more.

Most of us here use human meters, and all our protocols were written for human meters. The Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart are 2 of the favorite meters around here and the replacement strips are only $35.88/100

You'll also want to get some lancets for "alternate site testing" that are 25-28 gauge until Kalvin's ears "learn to bleed". Some people use the lancet devices, but I just freehand since I can see where I'm aiming better.

My BEST advice for you is to get Kalvin onto a low carb canned diet and start conditioning him to accept testing.....without the stress of being at the vet and a low carb food, his numbers could come down to normal!! We've seen it before!!

Edited to add: W/D is 25% carbs....Way too high (and that's the canned form....the dry kibble is even higher!!

Here's the Food Chart with a lot of foods broken down by nutrients

I'd take that W/D back and get a refund....just tell them he won't eat it....it's got a guarantee ...and use that money to get a glucose meter and strips, lancets, some Neosprorin with pain relief ointment and some low carb treats for testing times
 
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Chris & China said:
W/D is one of those "prescription" foods that's too high in carbs! Most of us here feed plain old Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground, but there are other foods that are low carb too. On that website I linked, there's a chart with a breakdown of a lot of foods by protein, fat, carbs, etc...the carb percentage is in column C....You want foods less than 10% carbs

You don't necessarily need to do a full curve on the first day, but you do want to at least get a few tests in. It's important to get at least a mid-cycle test on the AM cycle and at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle

You also don't have to use the AlphaTrak if you don't want to. The strips for it are over $1 each and you'll be using at least 3-4 per day (if not many more...especially when he's running low!)....You also can't get them in an emergency....if you run out at 3am on a Sunday morning, there's no way to get more.

Most of us here use human meters, and all our protocols were written for human meters. The Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart are 2 of the favorite meters around here and the replacement strips are only $35.88/100

You'll also want to get some lancets for "alternate site testing" that are 25-28 gauge until Kalvin's ears "learn to bleed". Some people use the lancet devices, but I just freehand since I can see where I'm aiming better.

My BEST advice for you is to get Kalvin onto a low carb canned diet and start conditioning him to accept testing.....without the stress of being at the vet and a low carb food, his numbers could come down to normal!! We've seen it before!!

Edited to add: W/D is 25% carbs....Way too high (and that's the canned form....the dry kibble is even higher!!

Here's the Food Chart with a lot of foods broken down by nutrients
Click to expand...
Yikes!! Haha I am so glad that you replied. Can I just say that I feel so overwhelmed right now :( I am taking your advice and going to buy the human Glucometer because your right...if I need more in an emergency I'm screwed. Do the readings stay the same as a reference in humans and cats? i have always fed kalvin and my other two cats dry food, can I use the dry food from one of the references on the website you provided?BTW I really liked the vet , nice guy, personable. But he said that I couldn't use a human glucometer, to start on w/d or royal canin and to start with 6 units daily on lantus....should I be nervous? I want to do what's best for kalvin as I'm sure you all know as cat parents! Also, I'm nervous about leaving him for the first week. I'll be home for two days as I give the insulin but after that I'm going to be at work. What are your thoughts on that?
 
That Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight runs at about 45% carbs

One of the best things you can do for him right now is to remove ALL dry food from his diet and find low carb canned foods he'll eat. Work on learning to test while you're changing the food to see how far down he'll come on a species appropriate diet and without being under the stress of being at the vets office
 
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gabriella christie said:
Yikes!! Haha I am so glad that you replied. Can I just say that I feel so overwhelmed right now :( I am taking your advice and going to buy the human Glucometer because your right...if I need more in an emergency I'm screwed. Do the readings stay the same as a reference in humans and cats? i have always fed kalvin and my other two cats dry food, can I use the dry food from one of the references on the website you provided?BTW I really liked the vet , nice guy, personable. But he said that I couldn't use a human glucometer, to start on w/d or royal canin and to start with 6 units daily on lantus....should I be nervous? I want to do what's best for kalvin as I'm sure you all know as cat parents! Also, I'm nervous about leaving him for the first week. I'll be home for two days as I give the insulin but after that I'm going to be at work. What are your thoughts on that?
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It IS overwhelming at first but there are so many knowledgeable people here. Honestly if I were you I would


1. Get the meter (I personally use the Alphatrak 2 because I like having the same one as my vet... But the strips are expensive. If cost is a concern get the relion. I keep an unopened backup set of strips so I won't run out.) since I test at home my cat doesn't need to go to the vet to have curves done.... I just email my vet the link to my spreadsheet. (See signature with link below)

2. Fancy Feast Classic. NO GRAVY FOODS
No dry unless it's Young Again Zero carb which. You can only buy online (my cat loves dry and this is the only one that has low enough carbs that it doesn't raise her bg AT ALL).

3. I would start at a lower dose then your vet prescribed. In the 300's at diagnosis is really not that high and some of its due to stress. After you change her food it will be even lower. Try 1 unit for a while and post results and then experienced Lantus users can advise. You can always increase the dose of she needs it. No harm waiting one more day as long as you get everything set up.

4. Read the sticky about home ear tests. I'm so glad your vet suggested you do test at home.... Most don't push for it.
Use 28 guage lancet and you poke the outer edge of the ear.... No need to hit the vein! It's better if you don't because it hurts them more. There's very few nerve endings on the outer ear... My cat doesn't even flinch, even if I poke all the way through


5. It's so scary and intimidating at first I promise in a few weeks it will really be so much easier.


You've got this and we've got your back.
 
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on the human vs pet meter debate....the only thing that's important is to understand the scale...On a human meter, normal BG runs from 40-120, but if they drop below 50, that's your "time to act"....there's a little cushion in there but not much, so if they drop below 50, we usually want to have some Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers foods in our "hypo kit"...,you pop the top, put it back down and then "squeeze" the gravy part into another bowel and then feed 1-2 teaspoons of just the gravy and then wait 20-30 minutes to re-test

On the pet meter that "Time to act" is when they drop below 68
 
Chris & China said:
on the human vs pet meter debate....the only thing that's important is to understand the scale...On a human meter, normal BG runs from 40-120, but if they drop below 50, that's your "time to act"....there's a little cushion in there but not much, so if they drop below 50, we usually want to have some Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers foods in our "hypo kit"...,you pop the top, put it back down and then "squeeze" the gravy part into another bowel and then feed 1-2 teaspoons of just the gravy and then wait 20-30 minutes to re-test

On the pet meter that "Time to act" is when they drop below 68
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Oh yes! Good suggestion to have just a few high carb gravy foods on hand for an unexpected low moment.
 
Okay I will grab some high carb gravy foods just in case. I'm nervous about switching all of my cats to wet food:( I really appreciate everyone's input thank you so much...so we've come to the conclusion that I'm going to get a Glucometer tomorrow (I might have one hidden in my draw at home) but I'll look in the AM. IM going to start insulin on Sunday at 1 unit instead of 3 twice a day. Make sure kalvin eats in the AM then inject...12 hours later make sure he eats again and then inject ...
 
gabriella christie said:
Okay I will grab some high carb gravy foods just in case. I'm nervous about switching all of my cats to wet food:( I really appreciate everyone's input thank you so much...so we've come to the conclusion that I'm going to get a Glucometer tomorrow (I might have one hidden in my draw at home) but I'll look in the AM. IM going to start insulin on Sunday at 1 unit instead of 3 twice a day. Make sure kalvin eats in the AM then inject...12 hours later make sure he eats again and then inject ...
Click to expand...
If they won't eat the wet, Young Again Zero carb dry food is the best. I credit it with being what pushed my cat into her remission. Youngagainpetfood.com if you email them they will send you a free sample.
 
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Hi,
My smoky was recently diagnosed on Sept 1 but his vet didn't want me to start him on insulin over the holiday weekend. I started his shots on Sept 6, the vet gave me Vetsulin, two units twice a day. Smoky lost a lot of weight before he was diagnosed so it was changed to one unit, twice daily.
I am still a little overwhelmed by it all, the people on this board are helping me out a lot and are so understanding. I got a relion meter and have only done a few spot checks so far. I tested his paw pads though as he has poor circulation and he seems to do better with that than with the ear pricks. Smoky was 11 in April of this year. Hang in there, it is getting easier for me and I know it will for you and your kitty too.
 
As others have mentioned, 350, especially with vet stress and high carb food in the mix, is not that high. As an example, my cat dropped from about 420 at the vet to the low 100's just by taking him off of the dry diabetic food and switching to fancy feast classic pate (and no vet stress). It took 3 days. You could get a glucometer, test before the food change and then 12 and 24 hours later. If his numbers are coming down significantly either test again 12 hrs later or post here for further advice. It's easier to change food before you start insulin. You may want to pick up a pack of ketone test strips while at the pharmacy.
 
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