New here, overwhelmed, detoxing off dry food

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LoveSammy

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone. My cat Sammy was dx with FD just over a week ago. We were caught off guard, overwhelmed, and assumed everything the vet told us was right. I had done some research before we went back in and asked about switching from dry to wet, and that I read Lantus was good for insulin, but the vet told us to hold off switching food for now and said Humulin N was better. We followed their instructions until I was able to do some more online research including this and other boards and learned that it is essential to get off the dry food and that Humulin N is generally considered a terrible choice for cats. Wish I knew that before we spent $150 on the bottle.

When I called back to follow up, other vet gave the OK to switch to wet food, any kind we wanted, and acted like the only risk would be him not wanting ot eat it. I read about hypoglycemia and how we should temporarily break from the insulin and closely monitor BG levels when switching food. We are in the process of doing that.

Kitties had their first wet food last night and have been on wet-only today, temporarily withholding insulin to track his levels on the wet food so I can make sure he doesnt become hyperglycemic and make sure he is getting the right amount of insulin. (its possible they found a few old dry pieces, I cant confirm it but it is possible there were a few on the floor which might explain the BG levels). I was hoping for a big drop but unfortunately that has not been the case and levels actually increased.

This is my chart so far:

Thurs August 28th (still on dry food diet)
~8am --- dosed 2.00u Humulin N
+ 8.5 ............. 414 !!
7pm --- dosed 2.00u Humulin N
+ 4.5 ---------- 284

Fri August 29th (detox day/first day of wet food)
midnight -- intruduced wet food for first time as a test to see if they would eat it (FF turkey/giblets, one can split between my 2 cats) and they gobbled it down!
7:25am ....... 358 (+12.5)
7:35 -- set out one can FF/cat. Sammy ate a little over 1/2 can
8am - gave terbutaline 1mg oral meds for asthma (not sure if this affects BG levels)
9:15am ....... set out leftovers from his morning wet food, he ate most of it (Lila ate a little of it too)
9:30am ....... 397
12:30pm ..... 413
1:15pm ..... split one can of FF between the 2 cats. Sammy ate a little under half a can.

I am planning to test again around 4:30pm. I'm just so upset that his levels are still so high, and worried that the Humulin N is the wrong kind of insulin for him to be on. I am willing to do whatever it takes to get him healthy. :(

Any BTDT advice?
 
It is difficult to regulate a cat with Humulin. We have no one here who uses it on a regular basis as the other insulins are so much milder and longer lasting. One of the real disadvantages of Humulin is that it has a rapid onset, so the cat generally drops in the first couple of hours, and then goes right back up. The insulin seldom lasts longer than 8 hours, in most cats.

We do have ways to buy insulin cheaper but you would need a vet prescription unless you really want to do this on your own. )Lantus can be bought in pens, not vials or even bought in Canada) If you want to give us your city and state, we might have someone near you who knows a Feline Diabetes friendly vet who'd be willing to prescribe another insulin. There was some free BCP PZI in the supply closet. It is one of the better insulins, but you'd be going without your vet's okay.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=124165

For now, I would get tests in (congrats on getting that down!) and see when the insulin starts to work (onset) and how long it lasts by testing 1-2 hours and 3-5 hours (possible lowest point) after the shot and then in the 6-8 hour range. (to see if the numbers are back up and the insulin is gone) Once you know that, you may be able to work with the dose, but it is still hard to regulate with, as you seldom get a 12 hour cycle from it.
 
Humulin (and Novolin) N last roughly 6 to 8 hours in the cat. Effective control may require testing and shooting about every 8 hours. The lowest glucose, or nadir, is around +3 to +4 hours after the shot; you need to test then to see how low the cat's glucose goes. The nadir is used to determine insulin dose.

Your vet is old school.
 
Hello, and welcome to you and to Sammy.

Here's a big reassuring hug for you ~ :YMHUG:

First off; you are already doing really well.
Sammy was dx just over a week ago and, despite having to deal with the shock of the dx, you've managed to learn to hometest already! Yay! (Hometesting can be a big hurdle for some folks.)
And you've got online and done some research about diet and insulin too. :smile:

OK, the vet gave you Humulin. As Sue and BJ have explained, that's not the best choice for a cat. But, like many of us here, you trusted that your vet was giving you sound and up to date advice. (And it may indeed be that your vet is a great vet in all other respects.)
I started out with a shorter-acting insulin too, and then switched to a longer-acting one. It's really early days in Sammy's diabetes journey, and you have lots of time ahead of you to make any changes that you want to.

I know it's hard to see our beloved kitties with high blood glucose levels. Sammy's numbers are not at all unusual for a newly dx cat, and we've seen cats with much higher numbers than that. (My own cat's numbers were way higher than Sammy's at dx.)

You may well still see a drop in blood glucose levels with the switch to low carb wet food. So don't be disheartened. For some cats the change happens really quickly, and for others it happens over a few days. (And it may be that any dry food Sammy got hold of is skewing the numbers).

Because Sammy's numbers are quite high it could be prudent to monitor his pee for ketones. You should be able to get Ketostix strips (or Ketodiastix strips (which measure urine glucose as well)) from most pharmacies.
Here's a link to a page of pics and info about urine testing:
http://www.sugarpet.net/urine.html

You are going to do just fine with this. Really. Sammy is blessed in having you as his caregiver. :smile:

Ask any questions you want to. We're here to help.

Eliz
 
Are you able to convince the vet to write a scrip for a different insulin? And since you are looking at Lantus (and I'm a former Lantus user), may I suggest that you look to get Levimer instead of Lantus. I am reading about more cats that change from Lantus to Levimer and are getting better BG numbers as a result of using Levimer.

While both are good insulins, there is something in the formulation of Levimer that seems to work better for many cats.

Since you aren't on either yet, if you can convince the vet (or get a new vet) to write you a scrip, ask for Lev. The principle of how it works is very similar to Lantus, so you don't have to do any new learning for that.

And it's great they are liking the wet food. That was one of my biggest challenges. Now, let's get you on a better insulin and hopefully in a short period of time, you can see good results.

Also, when you have time, please set up a spreadsheet to keep track of your tests and insulin doses and attach to your signature. This will allow us all to more easily see what's going on. Here is a link to how to do that: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
 
Looks like you're on the right track . My Tommy was diagnosed Saturday and I'm freaking out a little. He's hard to handle anyway so giving him shots should prove to be interesting. I am going to take y'all's advise on the insulin, home testing and the spreadsheet. Can you recommend a home tester?
 
Sure Bamm --

You can go to Walmart and purchase the Relion brand meter - micro, confirm or prime - I think most use micro or confirm -- strips are inexpensive, easy to use and requires small blood drop.

If you want a name brand meter - then get a Bayer Contour - also requires small blood drop and easy to use. A bit more pricey, but can get strips online that may be cheaper than the store.
 
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