New Member - totally overwhelmed & confused!

[Jhandi]

Bexacat didn't work, just switched Jhandi to insulin (glargine-yfgn) yesterday morning. Totally confused -- half a dozen different answers from vet techs & pharmacists as to when do I inject insulin??? Before feeding, in the middle of feeding, after feeding? How many minutes or hours before or after? If in the middle, how many minutes from when she started eating? I'm getting frustrated trying to figure this out.

 

[Shell]

Bexacat didn't work, just switched Jhandi to insulin (glargine-yfgn) yesterday morning. Totally confused -- half a dozen different answers from vet techs & pharmacists as to when do I inject insulin??? Before feeding, in the middle of feeding, after feeding? How many minutes or hours before or after? If in the middle, how many minutes from when she started eating? I'm getting frustrated trying to figure this out.

I use Glargine. I am not as experienced as some other members here. But, I can tell you how we dose in my home. My Vet said I can dose up to 30 minutes after feeding. So I dose around a half hour after he's eaten.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

You should Test/Feed/Shoot....we test to make sure they are high enough to get insulin, Feed to make sure they're at least willing to eat, and Shoot, usually with their head in the bowl.

Glargine doesn't usually start to "kick in" for about 2 hours, so as long as kitty is willing to eat, they don't need to eat a certain amount...as long as they'll eat a decent sized meal in about those 2 hours. It's not necessary to wait as long as you know they will eat.

Also with Glargine, it usually takes 5-7 days to see how well the starting dose is going to work. Glargine is what we call a "depot" insulin. In simple terms, it's kind of like a time-release medication. Some gets into the bloodstream and the rest goes "in the depot" and slowly releases into the bloodstream....but it can take 5-7 days for the depot to be full so it's releasing the correct amount based on the dose.

How much did your vet say to start on? Most cats should start at 0.5 to 1.0 unit, twice a day.

Here is some information on how you can Help us to help you.

 

[Jhandi]

You should Test/Feed/Shoot....we test to make sure they are high enough to get insulin, Feed to make sure they're at least willing to eat, and Shoot, usually with their head in the bowl.

Glargine doesn't usually start to "kick in" for about 2 hours, so as long as kitty is willing to eat, they don't need to eat a certain amount...as long as they'll eat a decent sized meal in about those 2 hours. It's not necessary to wait as long as you know they will eat.

Also with Glargine, it usually takes 5-7 days to see how well the starting dose is going to work. Glargine is what we call a "depot" insulin. In simple terms, it's kind of like a time-release medication. Some gets into the bloodstream and the rest goes "in the depot" and slowly releases into the bloodstream....but it can take 5-7 days for the depot to be full so it's releasing the correct amount based on the dose.

How much did your vet say to start on? Most cats should start at 0.5 to 1.0 unit, twice a day.

Here is some information on how you can Help us to help you.

As long as she's willing to eat? This is not a cat. This is a pig wearing a cat mask. The little piglet is *always* willing to eat & she chows down her food so fast that the food rarely lasts more than 10 minutes.

The vet said to start her on 1.0 unit twice a day.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Can you tell us what you are feeding Jhandi?
It is recommended to feed a low carb wet diet with carbs 10% or under. Here is a FOOD CHART. It is not necessary to feed a prescription diet…just as long as it is low carb.
Have you thought about hometesting the blood glucose?

 

[Jhandi]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Can you tell us what you are feeding Jhandi?
It is recommended to feed a low carb wet diet with carbs 10% or under. Here is a FOOD CHART. It is not necessary to feed a prescription diet…just as long as it is low carb.
Have you thought about hometesting the blood glucose?

Jhandi has a history of bladder stones & urinary crystals from a young age (had bladder stone removal surgery when she was 2), so has always been on a strict prescription diet for urinary health. The last several years she's also been on a strict wet food only diet. Unfortunately, none of the "mainstream" acceptable urinary diets are grain free (so higher carb) & I can't convince my vet to try any of the grain free versions out there.

 

[Jhandi]

I suspect she developed diabetes cuz her pancreas got partially fried when she ate some fingers off a plastic glove that had 409 cleaner on it (yes, Miss Plastic Eater also has Pica!). She was vomiting red & pink for 6 weeks straight. An abdominal ultrasound several years later showed damage in the lower stomach, pancreas, upper small intestine. So 1.5 years after that scan she's come down with diabetes.

Even though her glucose & fructosamine numbers have been fantastic on Bexacat, she's been losing weight, acting like she's starving, drinking the water bowl dry & filling up 4 litter boxes with urine! As my vet said yesterday, your glucose numbers can be good, but you can still have diabetes!

So, no more easy stick a pill in front of her & have her eat it up like it's a treat & no bothering to constantly monitor anything & now having a whole new learning curve using insulin.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

With insulin, you're going to want to add home testing into the mix. This is a link to information on home testing. It's important to know if it's safe to give insulin as well as how well the insulin is working.

We also suggest that members set up their signature so we don't keep asking you for the same information repeatedly. We also strongly encourage members to set up a spreadsheet so you can track your cat's progress and so we can follow along. The information is in this post on helping us to help you.

I don't know if it would be worth a consultation with an internal medicine vet regarding whether a diet change is feasible. The worst case scenario is that your cat remains on insulin if the higher carb food means that remission isn't possible. Many cats do not ever go into remission so it's not a problem. You'll just want to focus on tight regulation. If you want to do some reading about Lantus/glargine, the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board are very informative. Just be prepared for a lot of reading!