Hello everyone! First I must say a gigantic THANK YOU! You have already helped us so very much and I'm beyond grateful to all of you here. LJ is my "cat who isn't my cat." Yes, it's confusing! He's been our Guest Cat for over a year, initially hanging out with my 15 year old dog (who loves cats) and I because his mama was traveling. She's back, comes to visit when she gets to our area, but we've never gotten around to sending LJ home. LJ is about 11 years old, weighs 11-12 lbs, and 5 weeks ago was diagnosed FIV and diabetes. Because cats are so good at hiding symptoms, he spiraled from seeming his normal self to being very sick within 48 hours, of course on weekend. Vet appointment Monday identified diabetes, unspecified infection with fever, dehydration, etc. Vet appointment Tuesday brought iv fluids and antibiotics and more testing (identifying the FIV). Vet appointment Wednesday included subcutaneous fluids, oral antibiotics for home as the fever continued, and diabetic supplies if he began eating again. LJ's mama has been involved in all of these decisions through conference calls with our Vet. The next 5 days were iffy at best, and when I wasn't trying to get LJ to drink water/ gruel I was reading here about feline diabetes. (Of course my sweet dog was getting lots of care too). Then he turned that corner and the real fun started! Our Vet has prescribed Vetsulin 1 unit every 12 hours, 30 minutes after eating. LJ will waste away from neglect and starvation if he has to go without eating for 12 hours. He will tell you so, at the top of his lungs, for hours and hours and... Thanks to the cat food information sheet here, we've switched from dry food to Friskies canned, though he is still getting small amounts of the dry food in a dispensing toy. We're working on eliminating that. Again, thanks to all of you, I'm using a Relion glucose meter. Testing is getting easier. The Vet was ok with LJ's numbers at our follow up appointment last week, I'm not. I'll try to create a spreadsheet (I'm doing this on my phone) but until then, his bg is running between mid-100s to 200s, with peaks in the low 300s. I know this is too high and we do not have it under control. Please - thoughts? Suggestions? I'll need to order more vetsulin this week. Any ideas for suppliers? Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help
We all feed our cats more than just twice a day. We feed the bigger meal at AMPS and then smaller meals around @+2 and around @+4 ,some members feed more often. Same thing goes for the PMPS cycle. Smaller meals is like 2 teaspoons of thevwet food you are feeding Also Vetsulin is also called caninsulin because it was made for canines who have a much lower metabolism than cats so your cat is not protected the full 12 hours. In addition, here are theguidelines from the American Animal Hospital Assn for the treatment of diabetes in both dogs and cats. the AAHA no longer recommends Caninsulin/Vetsulin for treating feline diabetes. Vetsulin has a short life in cats (average 8 hours or so) and rarely lasts the full 12 hours in cats. You can stay with Vetsulin to see how it goes, but most of us use Lantus insulin I see you asked where you can order more vetsulin You can order it on the Chewy site Do you have the U-40 syringes with half unit markings? We increase or decrease the dose by 0.25 unit at a time so it's much easier using half unit syringes https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.231587/
First. Feed him multiple small amounts of low carb food during the early portion of the cycle. Feed a snack by at least +2, +4 if you are at home. Since he’s on Vetsulin, which is not an insulin that’s recommended any more for cats, and it kicks in pretty hard and fast, you may even need to give a snack at +1, 2 and 3. All this depends on his spreadsheet numbers. Just feed him small amounts of a teaspoon or two of food up until about +6 is still okay. Just don’t feed him for two hours prior to either the morning or evening preshot test. Before you buy more insulin, is there any chance of getting that vet to prescribe ProZinc or Lantus (glargine) insulin? He would do sooo much better and be more stable on one of those.
Thank you! He's a silly guy, and like a small human, much more adorable when he's asleep! I have attempted 2 different days to test LJ every 2 hours to get an idea of his BG curve. It's time to try again (and put the advice of "50 test strips in reserve" in place because that was an unnecessary oops). I will ask the vet to change him to Lantus. She assured me vetsulin was long-lasting and was fine for 12 hour intervals. Yes, I am skeptical. Feeding: To avoid LJ's occasional habit of eating too fast and throwing it all up (which was bad enough when it was dry food) I've started feeding him a partial amount of wet food, then another smaller amount about 20-30 minutes later. Translates to enough time to feed and walk the dog. Some days LJ's more demanding so every 2-3 hours he gets ~1 tbsp of plain shredded chicken breast and broth (completely unsalted and no seasonings) or a spoonful of plain low-fat yogurt, wet food or a very small amount of pureed pumpkin instead of the dry food we're trying to eliminate. Thanks again!
@Auntie22 I assume you are home testing If so can you add the name of the meter you are using, most of us use human meters since that's what our numbers are based Also can you add the wet and dry food you are feeding right now ? Once you eliminate the dry food you can go to your signature and remove it . Do you have the U-40 syringes with the half unit markings? If you ever switch to Lantus (glargine )we can give you suggestions where to buy it ( very affordable )and what syringes to buy Your vet is wrong when she said I will ask the vet to change him to Lantus. She assured me vetsulin was long-lasting and was fine for 12 hour intervals.
Food: Friskies Prime filets chicken or turkey in gravy, and Purina turkey sensitive skin and stomach (because someone gave us a bag and he really liked it) Yes, we are home testing. I'm using a Relion Premier Classic meter. According to the level one control solution it's running in the upper range. Currently using U40 29 gauge, whole unit markings only.
T Those small snacks are essential to stabilize blood glucose and prevent steep drops in some cases. Keep it up. No food two hours prior to the preshot tests is all.
You can get them here https://www.amazon.com/UltiCare-Insulin-Syringes-12-7mm-Markings/dp/B08HX9BPH7 We use these because we adjust the doses by 0.25 units at a time and these make it easier to do that @Auntie22 You might want to take a look at our food chart, You will see the Friskies Prime Filets and the Turkey in Gravy listed. They are not considered low carb food, they are 14 % carbs , considered Med carbs. Most feed their cat 6% carbs and under Here is the new link:http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf If you ever need to bring LJ's BG numbers up have your hypo kit ready If you ever need to bring LJ up to safe numbers we suggest feeding med or high carb wet food, also have some honey on hand Med and High Carb food Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs Good idea to mark the cans with magic marker how many carbs Or any on the food chart. Doesn't have to be Fancy Feast just an example about the med and high carb foods You can look at the Friskies Wet Food since you are feeding Friskies https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food- 10% and under is low carb 11% -15 is medium carbs. 16- 24 is high carb. @Auntie22
Thank you so much! I hadn't thought about the time window prior to testing, feeding, shot and then I test again 30-60 minutes post shot. These syringes will be more accurate and easier for me to see, too. I will try to get started on the spreadsheet asap. My frig is decorated with notes tracking my meds, the dog's meds, now the cat's food and meds!
Yes with Vetsulin you test first thing in the AM , feed , then wait 30 minutes to give Vetsulin, sanpme goes for the PM cycle. The only time you withhold food is 2 hours before testing first test in the AM and first test in the PM ,you don't want the BG number to be influenced by food. If you are not sure of anything just post for help Something like ? Help with Dose or whatever you need help with
@Diane Tyler's Mom @Suzanne and Darcy Thank you both for your time today, pointing me to the pages/info I've needed - y'all are the best! Weeks ago I'd looked at the old food chart, and didn't focus enough on carb%. I probably bought 20 different types of wet food to tempt him (this was when he was so sick, down 5 lbs and barely eating). Definitely a learning curve! Beef is not an option, seafood too often isn't either (I'll spare us the details) Now he's back to his normal weight and I can change/add new foods. Thanks for the updated chart - that was a lot of work!
