New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Toronto

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April

Member Since 2013
Hello Everyone,

I've been doing a lot of research and reading, and most of the good information I've found has come from users on this website and forum. So a big thanks already for teaching me so much. It has been a long day / series of days with regards to him being diagnosed, asking tons of questions to my vet, and just getting his supplies. I apologize in advance if I'm all over the place. I'm kind of overwhelmed at the moment with scheduling his insulin, type of insulin, how many times to feed him, food, etc.

April, my 11 year old orange and white tabby, has just been diagnosed. It seems early on because it's only been a few weeks where I was kind of seeing more and more clumps in the litter box. He is a big boy, clocking in at 20 pounds (he is longer than most cats in his defense). His sugar came in at 22mmol/L or 396 mg/dL. Even when the vet saw him for the first time as a kitten, he had told me that April would be a big boy. He has been on Performatrin weight management since 1 years old. Now I realize what a horrible food that is, and I feel like a horrible owner to have been the one to put him in this situation. I feel even more horrible that I bought the Hill's w/d garbage. I can't get him to eat wet food nor can I find EVO or Young Again here.

I realize I must switch to wet food. However he is a big refuser of that. I will get him onto it eventually. I am in the process of ordering Young Again Zero Carb because of success stories such as this (viewtopic.php?f=28&t=90113&p=1003577#p1003541). Unfortunately, being in Canada, I have to add 25$ per 8lb bag to get it up here, but it's well worth it if he's eating less, feeling more full, and having much less carbs.

This is how I am currently feeding him. This is all going to change when my Young Again comes in, as that is a much more calorie dense food.

6am - 1/4 cup food
2pm - 1/8 cup food
6pm - 1/4 cup food
2am - 1/8 cup food

This is roughly about 210 calories per day.

I've spent 500+$ in vet bills and supplies already, but I am getting the feeling my vet is either not well versed or just not taking what I'm thinking seriously enough, so I turn to you guys. I am looking to get another vet however. I don't feel that the office I go to has my cat's best interests at heart. My vet currently doesn't even really subscribe to the possible remission theory with proper food and insulin management.

I am to give April 3 units of Caninsulin bid. This makes me feel even more horrible as I read threads on here now. I hear people are having great success with Lantus. I've also been reading around, and even from the manufacturer, that it's not recommended that he start that high, so I am going to start with 2 units bid. I will be home monitoring as well. I cannot afford to have him go to the vet many more times soon just to have his sugar checked at 30 bucks a pop just for the check. Not that I'm being negligent, but I think I can monitor his sugar as I am a paramedic, and the process is not much different than that in humans.

My question after all that is, should I give Caninsulin the try, and switch to Lantus later depending on how well April responds? How is Caninsulin after all that FDA advisory and such? I can't seem to find anything that shows that they improved Caninsulin or anything of the sort. I had a tab open that I must have closed regarding Lantus, and how the onset, and duration were different. I realize this changes depending on the cat, but should I expect better regulation throughout the day with Lantus than Caninsulin?

Sorry I am just going on and on now. Just overwhelmed as it seems everything I've done from buying new food to insulin has been the wrong decision. Throw in glucose curves and Caninsulin throwing in a huge bg drop 2-4 hours after injection, and not lasting the entire 12 is making my head spin.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.
-april

PS. I will be monitoring with a One Touch Ultra 2. Wondering if anyone has had experience with the True Control TrueResult (http://www.amazon.com/TRUEResult-Blood- ... hpc_text_y). Test strips are about half as much with that glucometer.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

Hello to you and to April, and welcome to FDMB!

First off, take a deep breath...and another one.... You don't need to do everything all at once. Just take it in baby steps....

A diagnosis of feline diabetes can be pretty overwhelming at first, but everyone here has been where you are now, and understands how you feel.

As to having fed April dry food, well please don't beat yourself up about that. A lot of us here did the same as you thinking we were doing the right thing for our cats. I fed my cats Science Diet for years until Bertie became diabetic.... :roll:

Yes, the experience of folks here is that low carb wet food works best for diabetic cats. Some cats transition from dry to wet really easily. Some cats take quite while to transition and a fair bit of persuading: And there seems to be a minority of cats who will not eat wet food at all despite their owners best efforts. But switching to wet is definitely something that's worth persisting with, and you will find lots of tips here to help you do that.

If there is any possiblity of switching April to wet food prior to her going onto insulin that would certainly make your life easier. Once a cat is on insulin the transition from dry to wet should only be done with careful home- monitoring of blood glucose levels, because the switch can bring about quite a reduction in blood glucose levels in some cats, which means that a reduced insulin dose is needed.

As to the insulin itself, well yes, Caninsulin is considered one of the harder ones to work with. And, as you've read, it can tend to give steep drops and have a short duration. It didn’t work well for my cat, but I do know of cats that have gone into remission with Caninsulin. But insulins like Lantus, Levemir and the PZI insulins generally have much longer durations than Caninsulin and a gentler drop. If you are able to have choice of insulin then a gentle longer-lasting insulin is more likely to work better for your cat.

As a starting dose you may find that the 2 units is still too high. The general suggestion here is to start with one unit and then work that dose up if necessary. If you start testing April’s blood glucose before she goes onto insulin and find that her BG levels aren’t actually that high then you may want to consider starting with even less than one full unit.

Re meters, I also use the One Touch Ultra 2 as my main meter, and find that test strips are very much cheaper on Ebay (but maybe that’s a UK thing…?). I haven’t used the other meter you’re asking about, but someone may be able to help with that soon.

Eliz
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

Welcome! You are doing lots of things right already and you are right up there with the rest of us being overwhelmed.

I'll let Lantus users answer your insulin questions - it's not my insulin. Have you already gotten the Canninsulin?

Some people have had trouble with meters with "true" in the name so they are generally not recommended. Can you buy on EBay? It is a good source for name brand strips; just be sure to check the seller's reputation and the expiration date of the strips.

If you have been looking on this site, you can probably seen this website by a vet: http://www.catinfo.org. She has great ideas about transitioning from dry to wet.

If you want, you can include in your subject line your city and province and ask if anyone knows a FD friendly vet near you.

Keep reading and asking questions. We'd love to help you and your sweet April.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

The only issue I see with that model is the amount of blood it needs. I chose the Relion Confirm (from Walmart - can buy online I believe also) because it needs only .3 of blood, and on the days when my kitty shakes his head or I don't get a great poke, it's still usually enough... The more you need, the less chance you'll get enough, (the difference isn't large tho, the one you linked needs .5) although if you're a paramedic maybe this wouldn't be so much of an issue for you.. Good luck, and welcome too :)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

Not a Lantus user anymore, my current girl is a Levemir girl but the two insulins work very similar to each other. Yes there is a higher rate of remission for newly diagnoised cats on Lantus as it is a much longer lasting and more gentle insulin than caninsulin which is really designed to be used in dogs not cats.

And being in Canada you have a big advantage over us here in the States, you don't need a prescription for insulin you can just walk into any pharmacy and tell them what you want, so given that advantage I would highly recommend getting either Lantus or Levemir (Not sure if Lev is available in Canada, but I know Lantus is).

I believe at last tally on this board we have about an 80% remission rate with our protocol for Lantus, I know my own ex-lantus cat Maxwell is currently 2+ years off insulin and going strong.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

A quick sidebar before I hop into serious business.

April was a cat I got from the Humane Society. I was told he was a girl, so we gave him a girly name (also having been born in April). First vet visit I was told he was a boy. Too late, stuck with the name! He is commonly mistaken as a female because of this. Even to people who have known him for years!

Thank you all for your comments. I do feel a bit less overwhelmed today. I did give him his first shot this morning and right now we're about +3, and he seems to be doing okay. Normally he's asleep at this time, but he's prowling around for something. I haven't yet done a glucometry, I didn't want to traumatize him with the needle and lancet in such close proximity. But he took the needle without flinching so I'm going to try soon. I may lower him to 1U, and work up, but 2U seems to be recommended with his sugar at that level. Well borderline between 1U or 2U. I'll get a sugar soon as I believe it should be around now for nadir, and see how low his sugar has gone.

That CatInfo site is great. Alongside this site/forum and hers, I have gained such knowledge into FD. Dr. Pierson is really kind and quick on responses if you email her.

I'm going to be persistent to get him onto wet food. At least a 50/50 mix would be acceptable for a while. I know I'll have to be extra careful with his dosage when he goes onto low carb food. I think maybe it would be best to get him on the YA zero carb, watch/adjust his dosage accordingly, then head on to wet food and readjust his dosage if needed. Unfortunately, I was scrambling to get him treated as fast as I could in order to further his chances of remission and avoid DKA, so I hastily bought the Caninsulin. I'll have to do a glucose curve. I'm thinking in about a week after his body starts to recognize and understand the exogenous insulin coming in.

Lantus in Canada, is something I can easily get OTC without a prescription. So availability and pricing isn't an issue. It's 75$ per 1000units in 100u concentration. My vet asked me to phone him a week after I start insulin just to see how things are going, so I'll ask him about Lantus then. But again, I feel like I'm going to have to do glucose curves myself and with the aid of you helpful members here, do the switch myself. I do have a vet in the distant family that I will be asking some advice about as well so I suppose we'll see. What are some signs Caninsulin isn't working? Being hyperglycemic again mid to end cycle? I cannot find the graph I was looking at last night for the life of me. I'm trying to find the Lantus protocol I see being referred to, but I think I'm just being a little hasty because the post is probably right in front of me. If someone could paste me a link to it in here, I would appreciate it!

The only reason I'm looking for an alternate meter is that the strips are expensive for the One Touch Ultra 2. A pharmacist friend told me about that True Control meter, but then shortly after I posted here, I saw a sticky at the top for meters and it was one of the inaccurate ones. Can't get the Relion in Canada, nor get it shipped here. Probably isn't certified for use here. Thanks for the ebay tip, strips do seem to be much cheaper on there. Getting blood out of humans is much easier than on a cat. The lancets we carry in our EMS service generate quite a bit of blood in humans, so there's no problem there. Plus people can expect the pain. I'm just a big softie on my April and don't want to hurt him, but I know he'll get used to it in time. I'll probably just be using the lancets from my meter and manually poking his ear. That way I can control the depth through experience with sharps.

I see some of the spreadsheets in peoples' signatures on this site and see that people are testing many times a day! I thought I'd be testing at most once every few days, and more often if something is abnormal, such as his eating habits, doing a glucose curve, or switching diet. I realize I should be testing more now, but as he stabilizes, do I really need to subject him to multiple tests per day?

Thank you guys SO MUCH. I already feel better having sat on the info for a while and reading your responses. I'm now in a rush to get to work. Oops!

PS. I'm in Toronto, Ontario. Any suggestions for a FD friendly vet are greatly greatly appreciated :)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed

Welcome from another Canadian!

Just a quick suggestion about insulin - if you do go buy the Lantus, you may want to buy a pack of cartridges or pens instead of the 1000 unit vial. While it is a little more expensive upfront, it will likely last you longer because cats use so little insulin that if you are drawing from one big vial it may go bad before you are finished, and you'll waste part of it. If you get the smaller cartridges, which you use just like a tiny vial by drawing out what you need with the syringe, the untouched cartridges will keep a long time and you can use them up one at a time, avoiding any waste.

You'll find lots of great information and very supportive people here, so never hesitate to ask any questions you have!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Oh, and about the meters - I was using the OneTouch Ultra 2 as well, until I sat down and figured out how much I would save in a month of testing if I got hold of a Relion. When I saw the total, I went for a little cross-border shopping trip - I got about four months worth of strips, and paid for the tank of gas it cost me in a month of testing. I also lucked out that even though I was in the US for literally 4 hours, and bought $200 of stuff, they didn't bother to charge me any duty! So if you go to the States to shop once in a while, or have friends that go for a weekend and won't use up their duty-free allowance, it is hugely worth it to get the Relion (strips are $9 for 50, compare that to anything we can get up here!).
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Amy & Papaya said:
Oh, and about the meters - I was using the OneTouch Ultra 2 as well, until I sat down and figured out how much I would save in a month of testing if I got hold of a Relion. When I saw the total, I went for a little cross-border shopping trip - I got about four months worth of strips, and paid for the tank of gas it cost me in a month of testing. I also lucked out that even though I was in the US for literally 4 hours, and bought $200 of stuff, they didn't bother to charge me any duty! So if you go to the States to shop once in a while, or have friends that go for a weekend and won't use up their duty-free allowance, it is hugely worth it to get the Relion (strips are $9 for 50, compare that to anything we can get up here!).
Click to expand...

That's a really good idea. I may be doing a cross border trip in this case too. I only got the one touch ultra 2 because my dad was already using one. I thought maybe I'd bum a few strips off him, but then after doing research, I found out I'd be doing a lot more testing. This seems like a cost saving idea. Thanks!

You didn't have any problems bringing the meter and strips back across the border? I'm really unsure as to how the CBSA views medical products that aren't available in the country. I mean it is just a glucometer, so I don't really forsee any problems.

Oh also found the Lantus protocol. I knew it was right in front of my eyes!

Thanks :D
-april
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

April said:
You didn't have any problems bringing the meter and strips back across the border? I'm really unsure as to how the CBSA views medical products that aren't available in the country. I mean it is just a glucometer, so I don't really forsee any problems.
-april
Click to expand...

Not at all, they couldn't have cared less. Diabetic supplies actually have a specific percentage of duty that applies to them if you're over your duty-free allowance (I forget the amount, but not much more than GST would be) on a list I found online, so it's obviously something that they're accustomed to seeing Canadians pick up.

You can even go on walmart.com and check stock in the specific store that you're planning to visit, which is worthwhile because the city closest to me was totally out when I went down there! The trip was only saved by driving 1/2 hour into an adjoining state to a different Walmart. The website also has a thing where you can order online for pickup in a (US) store of your choosing, but I haven't actually tried that yet so I don't know what the time frame needed would be, or whether it would even accept an order placed with a Canadian credit card.

I just jumped into this whole testing thing, bought the first meter recommended at Shoppers Drug Mart, bought the insulin from the vet, Fancy Feast from whatever store I was in . . . but over a few months as things became more routine I started really looking at ways to save money on this routine, and it makes a big difference. Plus the testing is so important, you don't want to be seeing dollar signs every time you pull out a strip!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Hello from yet another Canadian - who also border hops for strips! Plus I have a friend who goes down there all the time - used to live across the border. The border guards don't blink when you mention diabetic supplies. Lancets are cheaper there too. I also use the Bayer Contour as a backup meter in case I really need strips quickly. It also needs a fairly small drop of blood.

My Neko started out on Caninsulin. I wasn't testing :oops:, vet didn't know how so I had wait for a locum to show me and that was before I found this place. Anyway, I knew Caninsulin wasn't lasting as she was STARVING for several hours before her meal. The same locum vet got me on Lantus. And to answer a question above, Lev is also available in Canada over the counter.

ETA: Another benefit of Lev/Lantus is that the syringes are much smaller gauge so easier for both you and kitty.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Hi there

I live in Oshawa. Here are some tips

Meter
You can get a free bayer contour USB meter and 25 strips if you go to http://www.bayerdiabetes.ca/BDoffer and use code "BDS 11-14" And then if you register the meter when it arrives, you get a free USB wall charger. Its a reliable meter.
This offer was in the flyer comes inside the BD ultra fine 3/10cc syringes you get in Walmart Canada. I used a similar one six months ago and it worked great so bayer seem to run it a lot.
The strips are expensive in stores $75 for 100 in Shoppers for example but you can get them for half that price on eBay. But of course if you get them in shoppers you can get points! I havent found a good meter that has strips cheaper than that - they all seem to be about the same price. It arrives in a few days.

Vet
I like dr Erika Sullivan at foresthill clinic. She is an advocate of home testing and lantus and low carb canned. She knows me and got Tiggy into remission the first time but then moved too far away for me.

Lantus
You can get the pens for $99 for a pack at Costco. I heard $93 at the real Canadian superstore. Pens are 15ml (3*5ml) and are more durable and last longer than the vial because you only open one at a time. But since you have a vial now it should last you up to six months.. Just keep it in the fridge (not the door)

Food
I feed fancy feast pâtés since they are low carb. I hunt for sales at petsmart petvalu and Walmart.. They seem to appear every few weeks I just watch the door flyers and their websites.

Wendy
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Wendy&Tiggy said:
Vet
I like dr Erika Sullivan at foresthill clinic. She is an advocate of home testing and lantus and low carb canned. She knows me and got Tiggy into remission the first time but then moved too far away for me.
Wendy
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Wouldn't you know. Her clinic isn't far away from where I work and live. Thank you so much for the recommendation. I'll try her place when April next needs to go to the vet.

Thanks for the meter suggestion! As long as the strips are around the same price between the Contour and the Ultra 2, I might just stick with the ultra 2. But having a backup meter never hurts! Ebay does seem to help a lot on the price. I may just hop over the border too and pick up a Relion. I feel like I'm starting to hoard meters!

I did not yet pick up any lantus, but I've got a pharmacist friend who can get me some, whether in vial or pen form. It's the same price at her pharmacy as it is at the Superstore (around the low 90s).

Is there a certain fancy feast pates that are low carb, or are they all? How many cans do your cats eat a day? I'm in the midst right now of starting to find out which wet foods are good, what the protein and etc. contents should be, so I'm still really fuzzy on the details. Sorry I'd look this up, but I'm at work having just taken in a diabetic patient who had taken way too much! Can't believe I don't even break a sweat with unconscious diabetics but when I go to test my cat's glucose level, my hands just clam up. Waiting for my partner to finish up on paperwork and saw the ton of replies since I last checked! Plus surfing the web from my phone is a painful experience sometimes.

Thanks for your suggestions. I love this forum and how helpful everyone is. Didn't realize so many Canadians around eh......... :D
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Wendy&Neko said:
Hello from yet another Canadian - who also border hops for strips! Plus I have a friend who goes down there all the time - used to live across the border. The border guards don't blink when you mention diabetic supplies. Lancets are cheaper there too. I also use the Bayer Contour as a backup meter in case I really need strips quickly. It also needs a fairly small drop of blood.

My Neko started out on Caninsulin. I wasn't testing :oops:, vet didn't know how so I had wait for a locum to show me and that was before I found this place. Anyway, I knew Caninsulin wasn't lasting as she was STARVING for several hours before her meal. The same locum vet got me on Lantus. And to answer a question above, Lev is also available in Canada over the counter.

ETA: Another benefit of Lev/Lantus is that the syringes are much smaller gauge so easier for both you and kitty.
Click to expand...

Seems like diabetic supplies in general are cheaper over there. Actually a lot of things are cheaper over there, but that's another conversation for another day!

When you say your Neko was starving, was it because you were also reducing food intake? Before April's diagnosis, I'd already started reducing his intake on vet recommendation. My cat is always hungry maybe an hour or two before his auto feeder pops open. I know he can wait, that he isn't literally starving. I'm always afraid I'm underfeeding him, but he doesn't seem to be waiting too long. As long as I sit with him and don't go near the kitchen, he doesn't even seem to remember that he is hungry. Which kind of leads me to believe that he just eats sometimes just because. But all these changes were all made within the last week and I *just* started Caninsulin so I'm not quite sure how to take it yet. What other clues did you have that Caninsulin wasn't working? Did you end up getting glucose curves too or just on Neko's behaviour alone?
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Amy & Papaya said:
I just jumped into this whole testing thing, bought the first meter recommended at Shoppers Drug Mart, bought the insulin from the vet, Fancy Feast from whatever store I was in . . . but over a few months as things became more routine I started really looking at ways to save money on this routine, and it makes a big difference. Plus the testing is so important, you don't want to be seeing dollar signs every time you pull out a strip!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! Seems like I should be alright cross border hopping to get some stuff.

As soon as I heard his diagnosis, I just jumped into everything. I just said, okay, get everything from the vet, then start him on insulin ASAP, go from there. Needles, Caninsulin, HIll's garbage w/d food came from the vet. I can't even remember if it was this morning or last night when I made the initial post, and I just had a mini-episode where everything was wrong.

But now, thanks to all of you, I'm much more informed about everything. I can't wait until his YA zero carb arrives, some wet food, being able to do glucose curves, then maybe deciding to switch over to Lantus.

Did not know you could pre-order on walmart like that! I do have an American credit card, and I have relatives in the US so I can always use their information to create and account so I can order stuff. That would definitely save me time from wandering around looking for stuff. The Walmart US site is so much better than the Canadian one. Great bit of advice there.

Thank you all, every single one of you for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy there is so much support and knowledge. I feel tons better. He doesn't even flinch when being given the Caninsulin, and now all the family members know how to do it. There's a schedule on the fridge, so nobody accidentally overdoses him, plus he has an autofeeder. Just awaiting a glucose curve sometime next week, new food, and hopefully new health, and a skinner kitty. April has always been a big guy, but it's really time he slimmed up.

Also, noticed he has been more energetic. He's nosing around a lot more, and coming upstairs like he used to, to do his rounds and make sure everyone knew he was upstairs and demand petting.

Thanks again! Back to work I go!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

When you say your Neko was starving, was it because you were also reducing food intake? Before April's diagnosis, I'd already started reducing his intake on vet recommendation. My cat is always hungry maybe an hour or two before his auto feeder pops open. I know he can wait, that he isn't literally starving. I'm always afraid I'm underfeeding him, but he doesn't seem to be waiting too long. As long as I sit with him and don't go near the kitchen, he doesn't even seem to remember that he is hungry. Which kind of leads me to believe that he just eats sometimes just because. But all these changes were all made within the last week and I *just* started Caninsulin so I'm not quite sure how to take it yet. What other clues did you have that Caninsulin wasn't working? Did you end up getting glucose curves too or just on Neko's behaviour alone?
Click to expand...

One of the symptoms of diabetes in polyphagia, which is extreme hunger. Uncontrolled diabetics are starving, they aren't able to get all the energy they need, and often lose weight. Neko was getting the same food as before diagnosis, but when her numbers are high she feels really hungry and starts yelling for food. We did have a curve done at the vet when she was on Caninsulin, and her nadir was about 5 hours after the shot and insulin was mostly worn off a couple hours before the next one. Every cat is different, and doing a curve yourself will tell you how well it works in April.

If you do decide to buy online at Walmart, there are shopping buttons on the top of this page. If you start your shopping there, this site gets a percentage which helps it to keep running.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

If you do the online ordering at Walmart using their Site-to-store feature. Be careful. I've done that several times, had the order go through just fine and then ended up receiving emails that cancelled at least half the order. Cancelled because the specific store you indicated you were going to pick the items up at were out of stock.

A frustrating feature, ordering sufficient supplies only to have most of the order cancelled on you. I do believe they hold the site-to-store orders for 2 weeks.

If you are home testing, it's so easy to do the glucose curves yourself. Saves a lot of money since you only have the cost of 6 strips, usually only a couple of dollars.

A great food reference: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

For food, most of us use Dr. Pierson's food list from catinfo.org and search for foods under 10% carbs (the lower, the better). I also created my own sorted version of Dr. Lisa's list that has the lowest carb options starting at the top and multiple tabs for Mikey's food allergies and sensitivities (red meats, poultry only, foods containing seafood, etc....). This makes it so I only have to print out a couple of pages instead of the entire document to take with me shopping. :-D

To expand a little on what Wendy&Neko said regarding polyphagia, I would also suggest reading this thread about feeding newly diagnosed diabetic felines. Instead of just feeding more dry, I would also perhaps use this extreme hunger to your advantage and leave out the wet food for April to graze on instead of leaving out the dry. It forces him to eat the good stuff if he's really that hungry. :lol:

American Diabetes Wholesale also ships internationally, so for all you Canadians who've bought ReliOn meters over-the-border, you might want to check into purchasing the test strips online and having them shipped to you. (FYI, ReliOn is simply the Arkray meters and supplies re-branded for Walmart.) Maybe someone has already looked into this route and it's more expensive than visiting the US every few months, but I thought it might be worth mentioning. ;-)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I got a lot to read on my weekend off. I will use the link if I order online from Walmart!

I'm pretty tired so I'll have to take all this in later. I just successfully got his first blood sample. Not to boast! Using the lancet device, he didn't even flinch. I did end up trying about 3 times in each ear before i finally got enough blood to test. I have a +7 sugar reading of 252. Now I believe this is when his blood glucose should be going up again right? This isn't too bad considering he was pretty much at 400 when dx'd.

I can't wait to see what he's like when his new food arrives. I know I'll have to watch his sugar very closely, but I'll have a few days to really get comfortable with the testing routine.

What do you guys think about feeding him 4 times a day? He's refusing his wet food, so I'm still using dry for now, but I haven't given up. Not even close April! He gets 3/4 cup of food, about 210 calories.

6am - 1/4 cup + insulin
2pm - 1/8 cup mini feed
6pm - 1/4 cup + insulin
2am - 1/8 cup mini feed

I mostly feed him those small mini feeds just so he doesn't go super hungry and so he kind of has some amount to eat during the day and in the middle of the night. Of course I haven't done enough testing to really see what those mini feeds do to his sugar, but I'm really happy to see him at 252 +7. Each time I feed him, he will eat most of it however. Also are you guys measuring AMPS before your kitty eats or after?

Hope you have a good night everyone. Thanks for the help :)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Most of us do a routine of test, feed, then shoot. Mini meals are fine, and actually easier on a healing pancreas than two main meals. Some cats are grazers and nibble throughout the day. Mines a hoover so I have an autofeeder to spread it out. Just make sure you don't feed 2 hours before testing as the food can influence the numbers and you don't want to shoot a low number that is artificially raised by food. Actually we say 2 hours for cat getting wet food, because that's about how long it last. Not sure about dry food. Once you've done a curve or two you'll be able to see the effect of the mini meal.

Just to confirm, you are still using Caninsulin correct? You do want to make sure April has a good amount of food in his belly before shooting.

That 252 is great progress. :thumbup

To follow on a previous post, American Diabetes Wholesale does ship internationally, but it's quite expensive. OK if you aren't near the border perhaps and you buy a lot of strips at once.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Also are you guys measuring AMPS before your kitty eats or after?
Click to expand...

AMPS (morning pre-shot BG test) and PMPS (evening pre-shot BG test) are measured before food.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Is there a certain fancy feast pates that are low carb, or are they all? How many cans do your cats eat a day?
Click to expand...

All the pates are fine plus the tender and chunky. See below. Not sure though if you can get all the flavours in Canada. and you have to buy them individually or on pallets of one flavour since thsoe multipacks usually have the high carb ones in too.

How much to feed? Required calories per day = [13.6 X ideal weight in lbs] + 70
Click to expand...
Each can of fancy feast is around 90 calories so you can do the math.


4%- fancy feast chopped grilled feast pate -
2%- fancy feast cod, sole & shrimp feast pate –
4%- fancy feast Ocean Whitefish and tuna pate
1% -fancy feast Savory Salmon feast pate –
5% -fancy feast Tender beef feast pate -
5% -fancy feast Tender beef and chicken feast pate -
5% - fancy feast Tender beef and liver feast pate –
4% -fancy feast Tender liver and chicken feast pate -
3% - fancy feast Turkey & giblets feast pate –
5% -fancy feast salmon and shrimp feast -
4% -fancy feast kitten tender turkey feast -
5% - fancy feast kitten tender ocean whitefish feast -
5% -fancy feast chunky chicken feast -
7% - fancy feast chunky turkey feast -
7% -fancy feast chunky chopped grill feast -
8% - fancy feast Flaked chicken and tuna feast -
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

I just did a +7 and it was 401 :\ On the other hand I did it in about 2 minutes today (including warming his ear)

Not sure what happened there. His eating times hasn't changed. I am thinking I might change his feeding schedule though. Working on a glucose curve today, so i might be increasing his caninsulin dose. May go up by 0.5 units in a few days. I'm using this chart as a guideline (http://www.caninsulin.com/dose-adjustment-cats.asp). April is still on Caninsulin, though I'll see after dose increases and curves to see how well he's doing and keeping his blood glucose in good levels and then I'll have to look into Lantus.

I don't think I gave his injection wrong, but maybe:

6am - 1/4 cup + insulin
10am - 1/8 cup (to help out around nadir)
6pm - 1/4 cup + insulin
10pm - 1/8 cup (nadir again)

Thanks for the fancy feast list! Going to go check it out today. He's getting new foods!

Thanks all for your help. I google my butt off, but it's difficult to sift through the results.

This article (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11716627) has some information about nadir + peak insulin of Caninsulin. I know you guys probably know this, but extra evidence doesn't help. It does say everything returns to normal within 12 hours. I must ask the question, isn't this kind of.. counterproductive? From what I've read, Lantus provides much tighter regulation, so it's a more even curve vs. the the dramatic drops and rises in Caninsulin. This should provide an easier time on your pancreas. Though I'm not quite understanding these authors in saying that Caninsulin is appropriate. Of course it's more appropriate than another insulin they tried which returned to normal after 6 hours.

If anyone has a pubmed subscription, if you wouldn't mind passing on that article to me. I can't access them because I've been out of school for a long while now.

Thanks again :)

Edit: Had a thought in the shower... rebound possibly? hmmm. Will know more after curve
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

It's good you are going to get some data. In some cats, Canninsulin has a gentler curve and does last longer. In most cats, it hits fast and then is back up to the previous preshot level by 8 hours or so. A curve will tell you if April is one of the cats that gets longer duration. If that is the case, you might be able to get him regulated on it. Others have.

But wet food would make any path to regulation easier, if you can find a kind he likes.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

This morning, April's +7 was 401. Then PMPS was 407

2 units of Caninsulin at 6pm. Wanted to test at 8pm, but was stuck out. 9pm, or +3 I have 349.

I'm a little discouraged, as my first test on him 2 days ago at +7 was 252, and I was feeling really optimistic.

Though I'm keeping my hopes up. Maybe he's a slow metabolizer and he hasn't hit nadir yet. Though it doesn't explain why the two +7 results are 401 and 252. He ate the exact same amount. Well I'll keep testing, and we'll see if we need to up him to 2.5 units!

I'm going to add his spreadsheet to my signature :)

Thanks all. You guys rock!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

You did good on the spreadsheet link. I was able to access your ss just fine.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

About to get a +5 on him.

My vet sheet says, no eating 7.5 hours after insulin.

This link (http://felinediabetes.com/start-low-go-slow.htm), says 6.

Now is this so you can determine the nadir? I would have thought a mini feed around the nadir would help flatten his glucose curve out and keep it steady. I've settled on 6 feeds a day, 4 hours apart, same amount of food every time.. The 8 hours between the insulin feed and post-insulin mini feed was too much. I feel he was getting too hungry. Mind you, I am still feeding him the same 210 caloric amount.

Edit: Got the +5 at 380

PMPS 407
+3 349
+5 380

I'm expecting +7 to be higher. Think I've passed nadir
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

As you get more data, you can figure out how the food best supports him. Does he need a little around nadir if he tends to dip? Or does he do best with a few snacks during the day to smooth things out? Every cat is different and you need to figure out what works best for him and you. As far as the numbers, you just figure the food into the equation. I'd feed more if he is hungry; unregulated cats are literally starving.

The bad news is that he dropped only a little and very early. We would like to see him go longer on Canninsulin as some cats do. It could be that a small increase will mean a later nadir and lower numbers, but increasing with Canninsulin requires monitoring. So be ready to get those +3/6 numbers if you decide to up the dose by .25 or so.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Since Caninsulin is one of the shorter acting insulins, if you feed after the insulin has 'pooped out', you are going to be raising the BG numbers. So if you find out what the duration is for the Caninsulin in your cat, you should hold off on feeding after that point and probably an hour or so before the insulin stops working.

It wil take some testing to determine the duration of the insulin in your cat.

I learned this strategy from Hope while helping Yo Hon and her cat Rags who was on a very short acting insulin, Novolin N. Her cat was only getting a duration of maybe 6-7 hours so we advised not feeding in the later half of the cycle.

Insulin drops the number, food raises the number. So if the number is already rising, because the insulin has been used up, feeding will simply raise the BG number even more.

Make sense?
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

I've actually upped his food slightly. I was having a debate in my head whether to feed him more for his diabetes, or less for his weight management, and I've settled at a little bit of middle grounds.

I'm using Dr. Pierson's formula: Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70

According to the size of my big guy, he needs 342 calories to maintain. I've upped his food slightly, so he's getting a little closer to about 310 now. I'm going to maintain him on weight and insulin before I do any diet restrictions. It's just easier to figure things out like that first.

I won't change his feeding habits just quite yet. I think he's doing good with the 6 times a day feeding. Though all of what you guys have said makes sense. The important numbers i'm looking for are PMPS, +2, +4 (before his mini feed). If the sugar is down +2 and up +4, then I'm pretty sure I've passed nadir, and I might have to stop with the +4 feeding. I'd like to keep him on Caninsulin and bump his dosage as necessary over time to see what effect it has, before I switch over to Lantus.

All I need is just more data, so quite a bit more testing.


Poor guy, he's got some bruising on his ears too , but reading around, seems like it will go away. Things are slowly settling into a routine, so I hope I've got some solid data soon
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Hi! I'm a couple hours away from Toronto and I buy my cat EVO canned 95% Turkey and Chicken food from "Global Pet Foods". They also carry the dry EVO food there too. I looked it up and there is a few Global Pet Foods in Toronto as well so maybe you should check them out! http://www.globalpetfoodstoronto.ca/

I had my cat on a couple different dry foods recommended by the vet when they diagnosed him. (Hills Prescription W/D and Royal Canin Diabetic). He was on caninsulin as well and his numbers were all over the place and always extremly high when it was time for his next shot. Usually ranging from 20 - 25 (360 - 450) sometimes more.

I switched him gradually from the vet recomended dry food to the 95% EVO and decreased him insulin from 6 units BID to 2 units BID immediately. I was able to decrease his insulin from 2 units down to .5 units over a couple weeks and his sugars actually started dropping too low.

I have not had to give him insulin in 9 days now!! :) Hoping it stays that way! The EVO food is expensive per can (I buy the larger cans at around 2.70 per can and he gets fed about one can per day. But it definitely worth it to have his sugars in the 3 - 6 range rather then the 30 (540) he was at when first diagnosed. (And if he stays off insulin saves a huge cost there too!!)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Hi kittycat88,

I literally was looking at global pet foods just before I looked here and saw you had posted the same thing! One of those stores is really close by. I'm going to check it out first thing tomorrow.

I'm so glad you posted your experience. It's almost the same thing I"m going through. April's sugars are climbing and climbing. He's losing weight and is eating an amount that I wouldn't say is much less than what he normally ate before (and he didn't seem nearly as hungry). But the polyphagia brought on by the high glucose levels may be in part to blame for that as I've now learned, and the rapid metabolism of cats with carbs that are too easily thrown into the bloodstream!

I'm not sure why, but I thought Hill's w/d was only 15% carbs. I found out through some intense reading earlier, it's closer to 37%! what! I'm going first thing to get Evo tomorrow. I think this is why his sugars are so high. But then again, we started low on his Caninsulin. However his glucose is still higher than what was taken at the vet and that bothers me.

April is still thumbing his nose up at the wet food. He sniffs it, and then looks at me and I bet if he could speak, he'd be saying, 'you call this food?' He's become an expert at digging out the dry food I sprinkle on it. Even when I mush it in there. Crafty.

Going to go on EVO dry food for now. (http://www.naturapet.com/products/1441). I know it says kittens, but it's the lowest carb they have. It's more calorie dense, but if I follow the thinking of YAZC, he should feel fuller as it has more protein and digests slower. That way I should be able to feed him less, volume wise. I'll get a tiny bag until my YAZC comes in. In the meantime, I'll be trying again to get other wet foods for the guy.

Hope your cat stays off insulin! Thanks !
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

My cat also lost a lot of weight. I took him to the vet because he was really chewing at himself. They decided he probably had fleas and gave him a steroid shot and flea treatment. Over the next month or so he was drinking and peeing so much and loosing weight. I took him back to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes (which can apparently be caused by the steroid shot). He was around 16 pounds and over the next few months he got down to almost 12 pounds. I'm not sure of his current weight but he definitely feels heavier!

I also had tried my cat on a canned from from the vet and he ate a bit and then wanted nothing to do with it. But with the EVO he loves it! Maybe because it is mostly meat? You could always buy a couple cans and see how your cat reacts to it.

I also assumed that because the vet put my cat on those foods they would be lower carbs. Then I looked into it and realized the hills was 37% and the Royal Canin was about 24%. That is when I started doing my own research and home testing rather then taking him to the vet! lol
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

April hasn't lost a ton of weight. He was 20 pounds at the vet, and now he's about 19.5. I'm feeding him more because that's too fast in just over a week. Though unlike your case, my cat didn't get diabetes from a steroid shot, it's a combination of what I was giving him and being overweight.

Definitely going to get some more canned stuff tomorrow. I'm looking around and seeing which ones are best and I'll head out tomorrow with a shopping list.

Just did a +2 and got 20 (360), down from a 25.5 (459)PMPS. We'll see what +4 looks like. This is on 2.5 units Caninsulin. But I think if I switch him to EVO, i'm going to drop down to 2 due to lower carbs and monitor close. He has no problems with dry foods. I can switch them right away and he has no problems eating it.

I don't need to take him to the vet anymore other than regular checkups. My vets seem to believe home testing is a no-no. Judging by the quality of the food they insisted I give him, you can see why I don't want to go back to them. I received a vet suggestion early on in this thread for a vet in Toronto that is versed in FD and home testing and I'll probably be bring April there in the future. I'm pretty upset right now that I'm almost 100% positive that the food the vet told me to get is causing him BG levels HIGHER than initial diagnosis.

With the help of everyone here, and the vast information people collate and post, I'm confident with home testing, diet changes, that I can manage this myself.

Will keep you guys posted about he reacts to new wet food.

Thanks :). Have a good night everyone.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

You may want to go even lower then 2 units. I dropped from 6 units down to 2units and his numbers starting going to low too quickly so I dropped even lower. I think I have read that the EVO dry is around 8% carbs. The diet change can drastically lower their bloodsugar levels. Probably better to start low and increase if needed. Let us know how April does with the new foods!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

When you do switch April to a lower carb food, be sure to get a few more tests. You will also want to have your hypo kit ready just in case, including some of the Fancy Feast gravy lovers foods to help raise the BG's quickly.

The switch from high carb to low carb food can drop the BG quickly, over 100 points. One day your cat is giving you high numbers, the next they are in hypo territory. I did a switch from the Hill's w/d dry to Friskies/Fancy Feast pates over a two week period, feeding less and less of the high carb (Yup 37%) :shock: W/d to the low carb canned. I was dropping the insulin dosage, but not fast enough and got to have fun with hypos. :o

Judging by the quality of the food they insisted I give him, you can see why I don't want to go back to them.
Click to expand...
Yes, we expect to get better nutrition information from our vets than we do, but I think the pet food reps convince the vets that those prescription foods are the best.

My vets seem to believe home testing is a no-no.
Click to expand...
This is not unusual. Vets that are supportive of home testing are not yet common. I think some vets believe that owners will find it too difficult to test or panic over the numbers or get too anxious over the results. We on the other hand like to know we are keeping our cats safe and feel a measure of confidence building as we learn to test and feel a sense of helping our cats more by home testing. Personally, I'm a bit of a control freak so I love seeing those numbers to analyze what is going on.

Poor guy, he's got some bruising on his ears too , but reading around, seems like it will go away. Things are slowly settling into a routine, so I hope I've got some solid data soon
Click to expand...
Be sure to put a little pressure on the poke area after testing, about 20 seconds. That helps to stop the bruising. You are getting some solid data already. Keep it up!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Just wanted a few quick opinions on wet food.

Fancy feast on a dry matter analysis, let's say the chunky is 50% protein, 18% fat, 5% carbohydrates
Evo 95% is 43% protein, 42% fat, 6% carbs.

From Dr. Piersons' catinfo.org; a weight loss regime should:
-High in protein (over 40% of calories)
-Moderate in fat (under 50% of calories)
-Low in carbohydrates (under 10% of calories)

Now both those foods meet those obligations. From this PDF (http://dels-old.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs ... _final.pdf), cats need roughly twice the amount of protein to fat. For a healthy 9 pound cat, they should be getting 12.5g protein, 4g fat.

I don't know the caloric content of EVO until I check it out tomorrow. But for a 90 calorie can of Fancy Feast at 85g per can:
42.5 grams protein
15.3 grams fat
4.25 grams carbohydrates

Merck vet manual says healthy adult cats need ~5 g of protein of high biologic value per kg body wt/day.
For my April, that's about 44g of protein per day, so roughly one can of Fancy Feast.

I'm sure I'm missing something glaringly obvious here, but if I need to feed April about 3 of those cans a day to sustain him.. that's a lot of protein and fat. Correct? I believe EVO will contain even more since there is more fat in it. Now I can't assume all the protein will go to the right places and be digested completely, so let's assume 2 cans will give him enough protein and fat by grams per day, but what about the third can? Dangerous to push him over? I saw some information about high protein, but it seemed to be favouring that it was okay. Not sure about fat though.

Does my math sound right?

Thanks
-april :D

Edit: Noticed some replies while I was writing this. You guys are completely awesome. I've got my hypo kit ready. Even lower than 2 eh. Hmm. Okay. I'll definitely keep an eye out on him for sure and maybe go down to 1 unit when he switches over. I can never thank you guys enough. Everytime I look here, wow, awesome information to help me make my decisions!
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Oops. I didn't read far enough.

Merck:
This translates to 8-9 calories from protein per pound body weight per day. From the same document, one can infer that AAFCO recommends that at least 7 calories per pound body weight should come from fat.

90 calorie can of fancy feast
45 calories from protein
16 calories from fat

April should get roughly 152-171g protein, 133g fat per day
3 cans will give me about 135g protein, 48gfat.

Now he is on a weight loss regime sort of, but safe to deviate from those numbers like that? Not sure. I'm going loopy from all these numbers and reading up on cat food. So going to take a little break :)
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Where did you get those grams of protein, carbs, fat for the Fancy Feast? The numbers in the chart are percentages, not grams. What calculation did you use to convert to grams? Remember to account for the water........?

Yes, the Fancy Feast classic pates are at that recommended 40% plus protein on a dry matter basis.

Yes, the EVO is really high in calories so you have to be stricter on the portion control.

I think two important points on the weight loss program that Dr Pierson wrote up, are to portion control and keep weekly weight loss to 1-2%. You'll need an accurate scale to do weekly weight checks. Or you can hop on your scale with kitty in your arms, check the number, let him go and then see the remaining weight. Subtract second weight from first weight to get April's weight. It's a rough approximation depending on the accuracy of your scale.

Personally, for my cat that was on a weight loss program and is now on a weight maintenance program, I didn't get into that amount of detail. Fed him a certain amount of ounces of the wet food, checked weight once a week and adjusted food intake up or down based on the weekly weight. Much simpler.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

I took the numbers from here (http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf), from the dry matter. This should already account for the moisture.

I am just multiplying the percentage of protein or fat by the weight of the food to approximate how much protein. But now after reading your post, I think that weight includes the amount of water, in which case I can't calculate it in grams.

In that case I can only calculate calories based on the dry matter analysis. I think I should start over, I made a big mess of things

I incorrectly wrote grams instead of calories earlier.

So April should get 152-171 calories from protein a day (Not grams as I wrote incorrectly earlier), 133 calories from fat
Fancy Feast chunky is 50% protein, 18% fat, 5% carbohydrates, 90 calorie cans.
Protein = 0.50 x 90calories = 45 calories from proteins in one can
Fat - 0.18 x 90calories = 16.2 calories from fats in one can
3 cans = 135 calories from proteins, 48.6 from fats.

Does that make a little more sense, or am I missing something? I know I sound a bit crazy, but I'm trying to learn everything in detail.

I'm probably going to go your route, Deb&Wink, feed him a certain amount and weigh him. Maybe I'm just driving myself insane going into too much detail. I just want to be sure that I'm not causing malnutrition on top of everything if I'm not giving enough protein/fats. I am currently using my digital bathroom scale with him in my arms. I don't remember exactly what my scale said before I went to the vet 2 weeks ago for his initial dx, but he was definitely 20 something. I think 20.1.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

This sugardance is already hard enough. Make things simplier if you can. No reason to make yourself insane.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

I'll try :)

Tried to get EVO today. Turns out it was recalled.

This was the next best stuff other than wet food. Petcurean Go! Fit.
Here is the analysis for people interested:
http://www.petcurean.com/nutrient-profi ... CTD-CF.pdf

11% carbs but he needed to get off his 37% carbs Hill's W/D.

Still picking at wet food. I'll get there eventually.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

A dramatic drop in the carbohydrate level, even from one dry food to another, can cause an equally dramatic drop in the BG levels. The BG can drop as much as 5.5points (100 points U.S.)

I think you may want to drop the insulin dose down to no more than 1 unit when you do that food switch. Hypos are no fun to deal with. Been there, done that with a similar food change, dropping the carb level down dramatically.

Are you home to test during the day?
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

I'm going to do a curve tonight after he finishes his food. Then one more tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately I'm on nights starting tomorrow. EMS shifts don't lend well to cat testing and other people in the home are having trouble getting it done. But I think with two full curves post food change, I should be able to gauge how much to give him.

Will keep you all posted.

Took at look at some fancy feast today. Turns out the stuff is pretty affordable, thank goodness. Though it seems to be kind of up for debate how much carbs are actually in the various cans. Everywhere I look shows different values. Though from what I gather, all the classics and pates as Deb&Wink suggested are the way to go.

-April
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Fancy feast Pâtés are good. Also in pet value they have BFFF, 95%BG, and nature variety instinct which have low carb flavours. Also wellness grain free.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

How is April doing? Bet you are tired from working those night EMS shifts.

You had mentioned a couple of days ago that you were going to do a couple of curves on 4/28 and 4/29. How did that go, or not go as the case may be. I'm asking because I do not see a curve's worth of numbers on the spreadsheet.

I'm guessing your very full life threw you a curve ball and you had a change of plans.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Haven't forgotten about you guys! Thanks for checking up on us!

April is doing well. He started his new food a few days ago, but someone at home accidentally gave him 2 units instead of 1. But his blood glucose just seemed to drop overall, to better levels. So I kept him at his 2.5 units because I was still seeing high numbers, and he is much more energetic this way. I feel really guilty because I know you guys told me to bump down to 1 unit and move back up but I didn't want to see him be all lethargic when his sugar is in the mid 20s. He's never come close to <10 yet though. He seems to be hitting 15 or 16 around nadir, but still spends a good portion of his day near the 20s and then above the 20s before his next shot.

My work has been throwing curveballs at me. Combination of good weather, motorcycles, partying, university/colleges being out leading to tons and tons of extra calls. I'm just exhausted by the end of the day. It's hot being in that uniform!

I've been having trouble getting his ears to bleed. It's not consistent enough. Sometimes I have to give up and let him go. Nobody else in the household can keep him still to do it. Plus my parents don't really have the dexterity or the vision to do it.

I can't seem to get a full curve in, just due to timing issues as I work for 2 services. Will try again tomorrow.

From what I can infer though from what I've seen, a pattern sort of emerges. His nadir is around the +3 to +4 mark. Then his glucose starts to climb. He also gets fed again at this time just to even out the dip. Pretty much by +8, +9, the Caninsulin seems to have worn off. His sugar is high enough that I think he will have to be upped to 3 units next week.

I'm thinking I might have to switch to Lantus. I don't think Caninsulin is staying in his system long enough to keep him regulated.

April's new food is high in protein, lower in carbs, and he's been regulating himself. He no longer scarfs down his food at every feeding time. In fact, I think I might even be able to feed him less because he still has food left over most of the time when the next feeding schedule hits. This is good news! I'm not starving him. His weight has maintained at the same levels for the last few days, so I am relieved of that as well. He is at 19.2lbs right now.

Drat, realized I just wrote this all in mmol/L. I'll have to change that later. Back out on the road I go.
 
Re: New here, Just diagnosed - FD friendly vet sought in Tor

Sounds like you are making progrss

1. whats the new food? FF?
2. remember to give a treat even when you dont get blood. And keep testing because the ears do "learn" to bleed and it gets easier
3. I would switch to lantus - better to control, and more chance of remission - but start at a lower dose.
4. Nadirs can shift - and can be differnet during the day from night - be good to get a few more tests in over the weekend.


Wendy
 
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