New Member - When will Gus start to look/feel better?

[ChristinaK]

Hello everyone! I am beyond happy I found this board. Thank you in advance for sharing your information publicly. I have been pouring through page after page after video trying to figure this all out. I’m not gonna lie - I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed! I am gonna try… I can do this… right?

My kitty is Gus. He is 15 years old. He has always been a BIG boy! Most would say ‘fat’ - I always said ‘big boned’ Last year I took him to the vet because he was drinking INSANE amounts of water and loading up his litter box. At the time, they diagnosed early signs of kidney disease but no treatment. Recently, he still is drinking tons but also ravenously hungry ALL the time, losing weight, his skin is flaking like crazy and his is pulling patches of fur out. This vet visit, they diagnosed him with diabetes. The vet spewed out a ton of information and I left feeling confused and not really sure what I was supposed to do next. They even forgot to mention that my prescription was to be filled at a HUMAN pharmacy. Maybe that is obviously to most people, but my head was spinning.

We started him on Semglee insulin - 2 units 12 hours apart. (My pharmacist was amazing! She owns a farm and was quick to find the cheaper inulin. She even offered to show me how to do the injections and glucose testing. I have to find out her hours so I can take her up on that offer) Prior to diagnosis, he was eating FF Gravy Lovers and Purina One Dry (mostly because I can’t seem to feed enough!) I’ve switched him to FF Pate and Tiki Cat Luau. So far, he will literally eat anything. I’ve been reading about home glucose monitoring but haven’t gotten that far yet.

So my beginner questions are:

—When will I see signs of improvement? We’re about 5 days in… and I was hoping to see Gus feeling a little better. But he just sleeps or cries for food constantly. I feel horrible for him. I’m trying to help but I feel like I’m just making him feel worse.

—How long will it take to get Gus regulated?

—Is the goal to start on 2 units… then start testing and increase/decrease as needed? I’m over simplifying. I have a ton more reading to do regarding home testing. All of those numbers feels like reading a foreign language to me! I’m just trying to understand the goal.

—I read yesterday something about having extra insulin in case something happens to the one I have. I thought ‘That is ridiculous! I’m never doing that’ and then my husband broke the vial just this morning! Ugggghhhhh I can’t do this. We managed to prefill a few syringes to get us through today and tomorrow so I can reorder from pharmacy. I’m not even sure that is okay to do, but we panicked and figured it was our best course of action.

Ummmm what else? I’m sure I’m missing something. I’ve got too much stuffed in the brain and the dog still needs her morning walk.

Thank you in advance for absolutely ANY guidance on next steps. I’m still feeling queasy from that first shot. I really can’t believe I’m doing this.

Christina

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

First of all, Welcome to the FDMB!

When will I see signs of improvement? We’re about 5 days in… and I was hoping to see Gus feeling a little better. But he just sleeps or cries for food constantly. I feel horrible for him. I’m trying to help but I feel like I’m just making him feel worse.

—How long will it take to get Gus regulated?

Answer to both of these is pretty much the same....it depends on the cat and how they respond to treatment. Some cats regulate very quickly, some do it slowly and some never really do it at all. The sooner you start home testing, the better! Without testing, you have no way to know how he's responding or when you might need to raise or lower the dose.

Is the goal to start on 2 units… then start testing and increase/decrease as needed?

2U is actually a fairly high starting dose. Most cats should start at .5 to 1U twice a day but if he's "big boned" enough, it's possible the 2U dose is needed. Without testing, we can't know.

You can get a meter and strips at a local WalMart. The Relion Prime is $9 and the strips are $17.88/100. A box of lancets is $2-12 depending on brand (you want lancets that are 25-28 gauge at first)

I thought ‘That is ridiculous! I’m never doing that’ and then my husband broke the vial just this morning!

Instead of buying a vial, look into buying the pens. They come in a box of 5 and each one holds 300 units. You still use regular insulin syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen (there's a rubber stopper just like on a vial under the cap). Not only does that solve the problem of dropping/breaking, it also means you won't have to throw a lot of insulin away when it starts to lose efficacy. A 10ml vial holds 1000 units. Most cats can't use that much before it starts to lose it's punch so you end up throwing a bunch away. With the pens, you can use every drop.

Please start testing ASAP. If this were a child that was just diagnosed as diabetic and their doctor didn't stress the importance of testing before every shot, they'd be guilty of malpractice! We feel our furbabies deserve the same treatment! Also, dosing with Semglee is based on how low it takes him, not how high he is at shot time so it's important to know how he's responding.

We have a special spreadsheet we all use to record our test results that is a very important tool in your diabetes toolbox. Here are the instructions on getting the FDMB spreadsheet but if you need help, just holler! Several of us can set them up for you!

 

[ChristinaK]

@Chris & China (GA)

I'm so very sorry I never thanked you for responding to me. Your information was invaluable. I went out right after and purchased the testing tools. We are slowly learning to test and trying desperately to navigate poor Gussy's condition. I'm not gonna lie - it has been an intense learning curve, but we are trying. Again thank you for taking the time to educate me and share your knowledge.

Here is my latest post from yesterday:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...inally-need-help-with-what-to-do-next.252218/