New member. 13 y/o diagnosed 1 month ago

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Cherish Gallagher

Cherish Gallagher

Member Since 2017
About a month ago we noticed our cat Angel was drinking/urinating more frequently. Busy schedules and other financial obstacles ended up getting in the way until I saw her walking weird. I immediately called the vet and made an appointment and shortly after she was diagnosed with diabetes. It's been 1 month now and I haven't seen much of an improvement at all.

- Angel will be 14 in June.

- She was 11.5lbs at her vet appointment but I think she might have gained a little since.

- Her appetite is completely normal. She has always been a good eater.

- Upon diagnosis we put her on a new diet. She eats canned food that is 10% or less carbs. She gets about 6oz a day. Either 1 big can split in 2 meals or 2 small cans split in 2 meals. She also free feeds the prescription food Purina DM. Yes, I know this isn't great. But we have another cat that is healthy and will not eat wet food. We have tried extremely hard to get him switched over to a wet food diet so we could completely remove the dry food but we can't. He has gone on hunger strikes up to 2.5 days more than once. Angel doesn't eat a whole lot of the dry food but because it's acceptable to give a non diabetic cat, we had to compromise.

- Angel is on Vetsulin. This is what the vet started her on. The day she was diagnosed I immediately started doing my research and came across Lantus. Because of the price we decided to try Vetsulin first and see how that goes and if need be, switch to Lantus at a later date.

-Angel definitely has neuropathy in her hind legs. It breaks my heart because I can't ask her if she's in pain even though I know she probably is. So questions:

Has anyone tried Gabapentin to help with this? Or B-12 shots? Or Zobaline? Any good results? The vet said I would have to bring her in for a B-12 injection. What dose should she be started on?

So now the most frustrating of all...

I just bought the 2nd bottle of Vetsulin today and I immediately regretted my decision afterwards. I don't know if this insulin is right for her or is working for her.

- I test her blood glucose at home with a meter that the vet sold me. Tomorrow I'm going to walmart to pick up a human meter because the supplies are so much cheaper. So with the human reader how to I translate it into cat glucose levels?

Here are her readings. Terrible I know. I'm at a loss. (I give her shots at 7:30am and 7:30pm on the dot every day).

1 unit 2x's a day
March 3: 3pm 203

1 unit 2x's a day
March 6: 9pm 453

2 units 2x's a day
March 17th: 4pm 386

3 units 2x's a day
March 20: 4pm 361

3 units 2x's a day
March 22: 2pm 348

4 units 2x's a day
March 25: 3pm 481 & 7pm 532

4 units 2x's a day
March 26: 8pm 447

4 units 2x's a day
March 27: 1:30pm 94 & 5:30pm 522

Am I crazy or does this not seem right? This afternoon we gave her syrup because of such a low number and then several hours later it shot right back up. I want to keep telling myself that this will take time for her body to be regulated but my gut is saying we need to try another approach. Does anyone have any advice for me?

Nice to meet everyone by the way! I'm so glad I found this community.
 
Welcome Cherish and Angel!
Great that you are home testing! We use spreadsheets here to track numbers and they are view-able by other members:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Looks like you already know how to edit a signature but it is helpful to add a little more info:
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
There is a limit of 2 hard returns; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

If the 94 was on the AlphaTrak pet meter, that's actually a great number :)

As for the neuropathy, there have been a lot of people that had / have success with Zobaline because you can just purchase it online from Amazon. Be sure to use the Amazon link above the forum so they get some credit ;). One of the best things to help with neuropathy is getting BG numbers under control. If you decide to try Lantus, there is a big group here and a lot of people in the states buy from Canada, Marks Marine Pharmacy

One thing her numbers could be telling you is that she is on too high of a dose. It looks like she's been increased by a full unit of insulin each time. We recommend increasing by 0.25U or 0.5. Many chances she missed her ideal dose. Sorry for the lengthiness here. Come post on the Main Health Forum to get more eyes!
 
Cherish Gallagher said:
About a month ago we noticed our cat Angel was drinking/urinating more frequently. Busy schedules and other financial obstacles ended up getting in the way until I saw her walking weird. I immediately called the vet and made an appointment and shortly after she was diagnosed with diabetes. It's been 1 month now and I haven't seen much of an improvement at all.

- Angel will be 14 in June.

- She was 11.5lbs at her vet appointment but I think she might have gained a little since.

- Her appetite is completely normal. She has always been a good eater.

- Upon diagnosis we put her on a new diet. She eats canned food that is 10% or less carbs. She gets about 6oz a day. Either 1 big can split in 2 meals or 2 small cans split in 2 meals. She also free feeds the prescription food Purina DM. Yes, I know this isn't great. But we have another cat that is healthy and will not eat wet food. We have tried extremely hard to get him switched over to a wet food diet so we could completely remove the dry food but we can't. He has gone on hunger strikes up to 2.5 days more than once. Angel doesn't eat a whole lot of the dry food but because it's acceptable to give a non diabetic cat, we had to compromise.

- Angel is on Vetsulin. This is what the vet started her on. The day she was diagnosed I immediately started doing my research and came across Lantus. Because of the price we decided to try Vetsulin first and see how that goes and if need be, switch to Lantus at a later date.

-Angel definitely has neuropathy in her hind legs. It breaks my heart because I can't ask her if she's in pain even though I know she probably is. So questions:

Has anyone tried Gabapentin to help with this? Or B-12 shots? Or Zobaline? Any good results? The vet said I would have to bring her in for a B-12 injection. What dose should she be started on?

So now the most frustrating of all...

I just bought the 2nd bottle of Vetsulin today and I immediately regretted my decision afterwards. I don't know if this insulin is right for her or is working for her.

- I test her blood glucose at home with a meter that the vet sold me. Tomorrow I'm going to walmart to pick up a human meter because the supplies are so much cheaper. So with the human reader how to I translate it into cat glucose levels?

Here are her readings. Terrible I know. I'm at a loss. (I give her shots at 7:30am and 7:30pm on the dot every day).

1 unit 2x's a day
March 3: 3pm 203

1 unit 2x's a day
March 6: 9pm 453

2 units 2x's a day
March 17th: 4pm 386

3 units 2x's a day
March 20: 4pm 361

3 units 2x's a day
March 22: 2pm 348

4 units 2x's a day
March 25: 3pm 481 & 7pm 532

4 units 2x's a day
March 26: 8pm 447

4 units 2x's a day
March 27: 1:30pm 94 & 5:30pm 522

Am I crazy or does this not seem right? This afternoon we gave her syrup because of such a low number and then several hours later it shot right back up. I want to keep telling myself that this will take time for her body to be regulated but my gut is saying we need to try another approach. Does anyone have any advice for me?

Nice to meet everyone by the way! I'm so glad I found this community.
Click to expand...


Welcome Cherish! This is the right place for all sorts of help and support. :) I see that Yong has given you some basics. Please post all your questions on the main health forum. It's far too early to rule out Vetsulin as an insulin that will work for Angel. It's definitely more economical than Lantus and worth trying.
 
Way too high a dose raised much too quickly. Those high preshot numbers you are seeing is caused by her body thinking she's going too low even though she's not in hypo numbers. She's used to being high. It will come down but you need to find the best dose. I would start the spreadsheet template we use... It will make it easy to see trends and offer dosing advice (you can see how we have it in our signature ). The template is in the testing forum.

Vetsulin works at least three months when stored in the refrigerator despite what the box says. My cat was on Vetsulin and it took me two months to find her breakthrough dose that finally got her in the right direction.

I sprinkled b12 directly on the food. My cat was limping but never full on neuropathy.
 
JanetNJ said:
Way too high a dose raised much too quickly. Those high preshot numbers you are seeing is caused by her body thinking she's going too low even though she's not in hypo numbers. She's used to being high. It will come down but you need to find the best dose. I would start the spreadsheet template we use... It will make it easy to see trends and offer dosing advice (you can see how we have it in our signature ). The template is in the testing forum.

Vetsulin works at least three months when stored in the refrigerator despite what the box says. My cat was on Vetsulin and it took me two months to find her breakthrough dose that finally got her in the right direction.

I sprinkled b12 directly on the food. My cat was limping but never full on neuropathy.
Click to expand...


Thank you! My gut has been telling me that the increase has been way too much too soon but that's what the vet has told me to do. :( Would starting her back on 2 units twice a day and testing daily be reasonable? Then go from there...
 
Cherish Gallagher said:
Thank you! My gut has been telling me that the increase has been way too much too soon but that's what the vet has told me to do. :( Would starting her back on 2 units twice a day and testing daily be reasonable? Then go from there...
Click to expand...
That's what I would do. Test preshot, and when you can another around 5 hours later. When you are home on the weekend get curves in.... Test every two hours for 12 hours. It provides a more complete picture.

You can't determine if a dose is working with just one or two tests.... You have to find out just how low it goes.


Now about the dry food. There are a few dry food options that are better than the dm food that is somewhere around 18% carb.

Youngagainpetfood.com sells a product called Young Again Zero carb.... It's 1% carb. Great stuff. They will send you a free sample of the Young Again food if you call or email them. I credit this food with being instrumental in getting my cat into remission. It's expensive but because it is nutrient dense and high in calories they eat less of it so a bag lasts a long time.

Another option is Evo Cat and Kitten in the purple bag at 8 %. My cats all seem to like it. I find it on jet.com at a good price.

I believe Orijien also has one that is around 8% but I haven't tried it personally.
 
Definitely want to be testing if you change her food :). Most important tests are AMPS and PMPS. You should start a thread on the Main Health Forum since we're past introductions ;). Feel free to ask any questions!
 
JanetNJ said:
That's what I would do. Test preshot, and when you can another around 5 hours later. When you are home on the weekend get curves in.... Test every two hours for 12 hours. It provides a more complete picture.

You can't determine if a dose is working with just one or two tests.... You have to find out just how low it goes.


Now about the dry food. There are a few dry food options that are better than the dm food that is somewhere around 18% carb.

Youngagainpetfood.com sells a product called Young Again Zero carb.... It's 1% carb. Great stuff. They will send you a free sample of the Young Again food if you call or email them. I credit this food with being instrumental in getting my cat into remission. It's expensive but because it is nutrient dense and high in calories they eat less of it so a bag lasts a long time.

Another option is Evo Cat and Kitten in the purple bag at 8 %. My cats all seem to like it. I find it on jet.com at a good price.

I believe Orijien also has one that is around 8% but I haven't tried it personally.
Click to expand...
I just went to the pet store and the evo carb count on this food was 12%. On the evo website it's saying 8%. I didn't get it. But confused. Is 12% too high?
 

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Cherish Gallagher said:
I just went to the pet store and the evo carb count on this food was 12%. On the evo website it's saying 8%. I didn't get it. But confused. Is 12% too high?
Click to expand...
It's not bad for dry food but I suggest you go ask this on the main health forum. There are more people there to see your question. Someone who knows more about dry food will show up eventually.
 
While we were working on a new food chart, I got the info from Evo and calculated the dry as 6.7 calories from carbs. Some people have had a great response using Evo, others report that it raises their cats BG.
 
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