New member- to shoot or not to shoot?

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Azaria

Azaria

Member Since 2020
Recently diagnosed(early Feb) sugar cat Thurstan has been on Novolin N for almost 2 months. After a scary hypoglycemic event I joined this group and have been testing ever since to keep an eye on him as the vet had him on WAY too high of a dose. We started him on wet food after diagnosis and got him on the 9Lives pate for the past month. Pretty much since we started wet food he’s had looser stools so I was looking to start pumpkin purée or other things I’ve seen people try to firm it up. The other day however we noticed a tiny hint of blood in his stool. He’s always been a great eater. Clears the plate immediately after feeding. Two days ago he barely touched his food. Then yesterday he was fine. Now today he’s barely eating again. And he did however vomit up a tiny bit this afternoon. He’s acting totally fine otherwise, grooming, laying around his usual places etc. His PMPS was 329 but since he didn’t eat really at all do I still dose him insulin? Or just wait and call the vet in the morning? Thanks ahead for any and all suggestions!
 
First let me welcome you to the best site on the planet to help you help Thurstan. 329 is a high number but I just dont have the expertise to give that a go. I never shot when no food was on board. sigh Hoping my post will bring more eyes as I am largely a greeter. (I havent had a diabetic kitty in many years.)
My gut is telling me to stall and see if you cant get him to eat. He may be a little nauseous.
Hang in there wile I try to summon someone.
jeanne
 
With Novolin N you need to make sure your kitty has a good amount of food aboard before giving insulin so unless he eats I would not shoot.

HOWEVER I am concerned he is not eating and had a small vomit. Is he lethargic? not giving insulin and not eating makes me concerned about ketones. Do you have a bottle of Ketostix? If not I would go out and buy a bottle of Ketostix from a pharmacy or Walmart and test the urine for ketones which can form if there is not enough insulin and not enough food.
If he is not eating and you can’t give insulin you need to get him in to see the vet as soon as you can.

I would also set up a spreadsheet as it is very difficult to help if we can’t see BG data.
Please keep asking questions.
 
So far he’s eaten like 1/4 of a can of food. He isn’t lethargic, cuddling and grooming like usual. Lounging around like he usually does, he’s not a super active cat but when he got diagnosed he wouldn’t even stray far from his food bowl/litter box he stayed in the hallway and slept so that’s all I really have to go on him being lethargic.

I don’t have anything other than insulin and ketostix and testing supplies.
 
I work full time during the week so weekends or evenings are the only times I can test in between. For the past month he has eaten a whole can morning and night and I wait like 45 min then the shot. But before he was ravenously hungry from his sugars being high for so long so I think that had a lot to do with it. I can try whenever he goes he’s just laying on my bed grooming currently.
 
If you can get some tests in each evening and at weekends that will help tell us what is happening during the cycles. At the moment we have no idea how far he is dropping during the cycle and if he needs to have a reduction or not.
In the evenings try and get a +2 and a ‘before bed’ test. That will tell us a lot. If the +2 or the before bed test is lower than the Preshot you may need to test further.

do you offer food during the cycle?
 
I don’t feed during the cycle since he was eating his whole meal each feeding and I’m not home during the week to do it. He’s currently eating the rest of the food though and I mixed it with water to make sure he stays hydrated. If he eats the rest would it be ok to give him the dose or at least a half dose?
 
Well done getting him to eat. If he eats all his food which is due , yes you can give the insulin dose. But you will need to wait before dosing to let the food get into his system. You gave 1.5 this morning so maybe give that dose.
can you get a couple of tests in during the cycle? will giving the dose now throw you off schedule too much for tomorrow morning?
 
He’s almost eaten the whole can so definitely that’s good. I can probably test at + 2 to check before bed. I am 99% sure this insulin doesn’t last the full cycle so I don’t think it will make too huge of a difference in schedule. I’ve been trying to get my vet to see this isn’t the best insulin for him so maybe this will help. With everything going crazy in the world I was just trying to wait it out because at this point I don’t even know if we could order from the Canadian site which was my plan if I can get her to write a script for lantus. Thanks for the advice I think I will give him the dose and check +2 to make sure he’s on the right trend. He’s pretty resilient considering she had me giving him 8 units at one point before I found this site and trusted my gut I honestly don’t know how he made it but he did and has taken to testing decently thankfully.
 
Yes I think swapping to Lantus would be a great idea if you can. I would think the Canadian pharmacy will still be open. They will want the business.
Wait for the food to get into his system before giving the dose.
Yikes! 8 units. I’m glad you found us.
can you post the +2 and before bed test please and let us know how he is tomorrow? Thanks :)
 
He’s a Siamese! We got him my senior year of high school and he was my moms birthday present as she had a fondness of them. I inherited him when I left home after my mom passed away when I was 21 so I’m rather attached to him! I plan on waiting then shooting then I’ll set an alarm to test as I’m currently 31 weeks pregnant and have a full week ahead of me working in the medical field so sleep is needed! I will definitely post updates! Thanks again!
 
Oh dear. You do have a full schedule.
Yes you must get your sleep especially at the moment if you are working in the Medical field. Stay safe.
We recommend feeding during the cycle as well as before the shot. If you left food out would he eat it now or later? A lot of us use timed autofeeders which will open when you set the times.
 
Update: I tested him +3 last night which usually his lowest point is +4 and it was over 100 so that was decent. And overnight he finished the rest of the wet food there was only a few bites left so he must have gotten a snack in the night which is good! This morning his AMPS was 326 which I’m debating if he’s bouncing or if it’s just not lasting. He ate 1/2 his can no problem and I was able to coax him to eat almost all the rest with the cheese trick! I only gave him 1 since I can’t test him while I work to see if it is bouncing from going too low that will help. I left the couple bites out for him to snack on too and my friend will be checking him later to see if he will snack some for her but otherwise he’s acting his normal self so that’s good. I’m wondering if he’s just not going to pig out as he was with his sugars not in the 400-500 range like this is his “new normal”. I’m looking into automatic feeders like which is best though I don’t know if amazon will ship it now anyways. I’m going to try pumpkin for his loose poops to see if that helps too. Hopefully I can get him switched to lantus soon that’s my goal at least! Off to work! Thanks again!
 
Without more testing we can’t tell if he’s bouncing or just the insulin not lasting. Well done getting that +3 test in. All the data you can get is great.

Great also you left food out for him overnight.
If you change your subject line to ask about autofeeders you will get a response. I live in Australia so don’t know the US feeders.
Pumpkin is very good for diarrhoea.
 
PetSafe 5 automated feeder is highly recommended.

Besides Amazon, you might think of local pet stores also, or some of the big name pet store chains like Petco or Petsmart, and ordering online from them.
 
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