Unmitigatedgall
Member Since 2021
Hello All! I'm looking for some advice, but first here is the (long) back story:
Nikita (17 years old) was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism 3 years ago. She underwent radiation iodine treatment and has had low T4 since, but our vet of 10 years said not to worry as weight gain would be the only side effect. 2 years ago we started to RV fulltime, so the cats have been seeing different vets for their checkups.
Last year at her check up she was diagnosed with CKD and put on Royal Canin Renal Dry (she would never eat wet food). She didn't love the taste, so we cut it with 25% fancy feast dry for the past year.
7/21- We brought her in for a wellness check because she was experiencing neuropathy in her hind legs and had lost weight. I had anticipated that her CKD was advancing, but she was diagnosed with Diabetes (512mg/dl glucose). She had no ketones in her urine and was put on 1 Unit of Lantus twice daily to start. Because of the CKD the vet recommended half renal/half DM food and to try to switch to wet versions of these. The vet did not recommend home testing and said to schedule a gl curve
We started the Lantus on 7/22 without home testing and planned for a glucose curve 10 days later at our next stop in Wyoming. In the interim I started researching food, realized the prescription foods were terrible and started testing wet high protein/low phosphorus foods on Nikita. After 2 weeks we found Tiki Cat Mousse and Weruva BFF flavors she liked and switched from all dry to 70% wet during this time period. The day of the curve I gave a fur shot (sigh) and we needed to reschedule for the next week.
8/5 was the scheduled day of curve we shot and fed her at 8am and dropped her off as discussed. I received a call about an hour after saying there was a misunderstanding and that the vet required a full check up prior to scheduling a curve and we needed to pick her up and reschedule. Sigh, again. I asked them to check her gl when we picked her up (+2 from shot time) and it was 132mg/dl glucose.
At this point we decided to order our own Alpha Track 2 and do the curve ourselves. We order it...and it is delayed shipping. I was paranoid about the possibility of hypo, so was feeding her every few hours and watching for signs.
8/08 she started to have have diarrhea and vomiting for a couple days. She didn't receive her 8/09 or 8/10 AM shot, but received the PM shots both days.
8/11 she was brought to the vet after receiving her AM shot and eating for solution to the diarrhea. The vet tested her gl at 11am (+4 after shot) and it was 70mg/dl. They kept her for the day for hypo and to hydrate. The vet wanted to reduce her Lantus to 1 unit shot per day. She also prescribed flortifora and started her on Thyrosyn to increase T4 levels (which she said could be negatively impacting kidneys)
8/12-8/19 she was given only one shot per day. No evidence of neuropathy and had switched to 90% wet food diet
8/20 she vomited in the morning, so did not receive her shot. As the Alpha Track 2 was finally arriving the next day we decided to wait until we could test to give her anymore insulin.
8/21-8/23 No insulin given. AM and PM tested pre meal the reading range from 118-168 mg/dl (the 168 reading was the morning I forgot to pick up the dry overnight food 2 hours prior to the AM test)
So...the question is: Is the diet change good enough? If we had never started the Lantus would it even be necessary? Or should we restart Lantus on a very small dose until all numbers are under 100 mg/dl?
Nikita (17 years old) was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism 3 years ago. She underwent radiation iodine treatment and has had low T4 since, but our vet of 10 years said not to worry as weight gain would be the only side effect. 2 years ago we started to RV fulltime, so the cats have been seeing different vets for their checkups.
Last year at her check up she was diagnosed with CKD and put on Royal Canin Renal Dry (she would never eat wet food). She didn't love the taste, so we cut it with 25% fancy feast dry for the past year.
7/21- We brought her in for a wellness check because she was experiencing neuropathy in her hind legs and had lost weight. I had anticipated that her CKD was advancing, but she was diagnosed with Diabetes (512mg/dl glucose). She had no ketones in her urine and was put on 1 Unit of Lantus twice daily to start. Because of the CKD the vet recommended half renal/half DM food and to try to switch to wet versions of these. The vet did not recommend home testing and said to schedule a gl curve
We started the Lantus on 7/22 without home testing and planned for a glucose curve 10 days later at our next stop in Wyoming. In the interim I started researching food, realized the prescription foods were terrible and started testing wet high protein/low phosphorus foods on Nikita. After 2 weeks we found Tiki Cat Mousse and Weruva BFF flavors she liked and switched from all dry to 70% wet during this time period. The day of the curve I gave a fur shot (sigh) and we needed to reschedule for the next week.
8/5 was the scheduled day of curve we shot and fed her at 8am and dropped her off as discussed. I received a call about an hour after saying there was a misunderstanding and that the vet required a full check up prior to scheduling a curve and we needed to pick her up and reschedule. Sigh, again. I asked them to check her gl when we picked her up (+2 from shot time) and it was 132mg/dl glucose.
At this point we decided to order our own Alpha Track 2 and do the curve ourselves. We order it...and it is delayed shipping. I was paranoid about the possibility of hypo, so was feeding her every few hours and watching for signs.
8/08 she started to have have diarrhea and vomiting for a couple days. She didn't receive her 8/09 or 8/10 AM shot, but received the PM shots both days.
8/11 she was brought to the vet after receiving her AM shot and eating for solution to the diarrhea. The vet tested her gl at 11am (+4 after shot) and it was 70mg/dl. They kept her for the day for hypo and to hydrate. The vet wanted to reduce her Lantus to 1 unit shot per day. She also prescribed flortifora and started her on Thyrosyn to increase T4 levels (which she said could be negatively impacting kidneys)
8/12-8/19 she was given only one shot per day. No evidence of neuropathy and had switched to 90% wet food diet
8/20 she vomited in the morning, so did not receive her shot. As the Alpha Track 2 was finally arriving the next day we decided to wait until we could test to give her anymore insulin.
8/21-8/23 No insulin given. AM and PM tested pre meal the reading range from 118-168 mg/dl (the 168 reading was the morning I forgot to pick up the dry overnight food 2 hours prior to the AM test)
So...the question is: Is the diet change good enough? If we had never started the Lantus would it even be necessary? Or should we restart Lantus on a very small dose until all numbers are under 100 mg/dl?
