New member 12/27/2021

[Jennicat2012]

Hi, my name is Jennifer and my sugar baby is Cairo. He is 8 years old and was diagnosed in late November 2021. I noticed him losing interest in food, distancing himself from me, and acting lethargic which is what made me take him to get checked. He had just been to the vet in October 2021 for full blood work, urinalysis, and ultrasounds because he started urinating out of the litter box, but they said everything was fine medically and suggested it was a behavior issue. He had no ketones in his urine at time of diagnosis.

I switched to Friskies/FF pate after finding the Facebook group. He was started on 1.5u of caninsulin on November 25th and was increased to 2u on December 15th after his curve showed no significant difference. I have an alpatrak and test everyday. We completed another curve today and his numbers are still high. I know caninsulin isn’t good for him and am working on changing it. I currently live in Italy and unfortunately the vet can’t prescribe lantus without documented proof of caninsulin not working for a few weeks. It’s very frustrating and really I don’t want to keep increasing his dose with caninsulin. After reading posts I’m afraid he may have been started with too high a dose. Would it be okay to stop insulin for a few days (while checking for ketones) to start at a lower dose and go up if needed? I want to be sure we didn’t overshoot and miss his perfect dose. Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DmM495eoDnsv8xWaHCaRWq4hd-d_Ps3P16oOUuZzjcE/edit

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Jennifer and Cairo and welcome to the forum.
Great you are hometesting and have the spreadsheet up and running. Very helpful.
Also good you have Cairo on a low carb diet.

Would it be okay to stop insulin for a few days (while checking for ketones) to start at a lower dose and go up if needed? I want to be sure we didn’t overshoot and miss his perfect dose. Thank you!

No, I would not recommend you stop insulin for a few days then start at a lower dose.
This rarely works and you could end up with problems if he starts showing ketones (I know you said you would test for them) and he would most likely also go into higher numbers and then you would be in a worse position than when you started.

What I would do is get some more tests in during all the cycles if you can, not just every so often. The reason I say this is because cats can be high at preshot, drop low during the cycle, then back up high again. Then they bounce. If you test during the time they are bouncing, you will only get high numbers and it looks like it’s not enough insulin. Does that make sense?
Also the pm cycle is just as important as the am cycle so get some tests in there as well. Cats often drop lower at night. Try for a before bed test every night.

Are you feeding Cairo snacks during the first half of all the cycles and well as the preshot meal?
Are you waiting 30 minutes after you test then feed before giving the insulin?
Caninsulin hits hard and fast and you need to make sure he has food aboard.
Your thinking is right in that he would be much better on Lantus. So aim for that.
In the meantime, if you can get those tests in during all the cycles as mentioned above, we can reassess him a few days and see how he’s going and go from there?
How do you feel about doing that?
Bron

 

[Jennicat2012]

Thank you! Cairo eats 4 times a day. I test at 6:30am feed, give insulin at 7:30am. I feed around 12:30pm when i come home for lunch, feed at 5:00pm when i get off test at 7:00pm, feed, and give 2nd dose at 7:30pm. I was trying to test when i came home for lunch, but was running low on strips and mail is slow due to the holidays. Once i get another bottle in I will start testing before i feed when i come home for lunch. I can test after pm shot, but I’m in bed by 10:30pm so only a couple hours after.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Thanks for filling in some information about Cairo. I agree with Bron - additional tests would be helpful to know how low the dose is taking your cat. We recommend getting a test every night before you go to sleep. In all likelihood, you'll sleep better knowing that Cairo is in safe numbers.

One thought -- here in the US, the cost for AlphaTrack strips is quite expensive. Most people here use a human meter for testing their cat's blood glucose. Human meters and strips are also far more available.

I also agree that stopping the insulin isn't a great idea. In the vast majority of cases when someone drops their dose back to the beginning stages, you end up losing time and generally have to get the dose back to where it was. We also increase doses more frequently than your vet has recommended. If the insulin isn't doing a great job at bringing the numbers down, it's likely that more insulin is needed.

This post on helping us to help you has the links that Bron provided along with some additional information on setting up your signature, etc.

Please let us know how we can help.

 

[Jennicat2012]

Thank you!! I will start testing before bed as well and will definitely look into getting a human meter. I made an appointment tomorrow to go over Cairo’s latest curve, talk about dose, and hopefully get some movement on switching to lantus.
I appreciate all of your help!