wayleng
Member
Hi - My name is Charlene and my cat, Casper, was diagnosed back in February. She had gotten really sick (ketones in her urine) and spent 4 days in the hospital. She did great when we brought her home. We were prescribed 1u of Lantus 2x/day and we switched her food over to Purina DM dry (she wouldn't touch the wet). It took us about 2 weeks to get our monitor, but have essentially been testing her glucose levels twice a day since. The readings we got were wonderful - usually around 120, but sometimes lower. It was so nice to have our Casper back to her normal self.
Fast forward to the beginning of May, we noticed that she started going after our other cat's wet food, with a resulting mild elevation in her glucose levels. Although knowing what I know now, her levels were still okay (never over 150). Since she now seemed to want wet food, we decided to switch both cats over to Purina DM wet. Both cats took to the food at first, and Casper's level dropped back down to the 120/130 ranged - until a couple of weeks ago. All of the sudden, her glucose levels started elevating into the 200s and then the 300s. The first thing we did was go out and get a new bottle of Lantus, thinking that maybe we had lost the stability on the old bottle. And although she was reacting to it, her levels were not coming back down.
We scheduled an appointment with the vet on the 7th and took her in. She completely freaked out in the car on the way - hyperventilating. I thought the poor girl was going to have a heart attack. Anyways, the vet checked her out and ran blood and urine tests, which both came back fine. No sign of ketones, which I was most worried about. The vet prescribed that we up her dose to 3-4 units 2x/day and said that her elevated levels could be weight related (she does seem more solid than she was back in February). And that is where we have been sitting for the past week. I should add that through this time period of elevated levels, Casper has been her normal self - no signs of distress.
After a few days of still not seeing any decline in her glucose numbers, I hopped on these boards and started reading up. I noticed that a lot of people were using Fancy Feast, and did not recommend the Purina DM wet. So I decided to make the switch. I started with 1/2 can for each cat twice a day along with allowing them to continue having their Purina DM dry to graze on. Both cats took wonderfully to new food - both sitting there for a good 10 minutes chowing down. I don't think I've ever seen either cat sit and eat for that long. That was Thursday/Friday. Yesterday, I decided to cut them off the dry cold turkey and increased their feeding to a full can each 2 times per day. It is probably too early to make any conclusions, but in just one day, Casper's levels are dropping (30 points every 12 hours). And she seems so spunky this morning - even a little less bulky and her coat seems softer.
I now have to wonder if this whole episode is all because of the Purina DM wet. We were doing fine until we introduced that into the mix. And now that it is back out of the mix, things look like they are heading back to the right track. So, I just want to thank everyone for the information.
Fast forward to the beginning of May, we noticed that she started going after our other cat's wet food, with a resulting mild elevation in her glucose levels. Although knowing what I know now, her levels were still okay (never over 150). Since she now seemed to want wet food, we decided to switch both cats over to Purina DM wet. Both cats took to the food at first, and Casper's level dropped back down to the 120/130 ranged - until a couple of weeks ago. All of the sudden, her glucose levels started elevating into the 200s and then the 300s. The first thing we did was go out and get a new bottle of Lantus, thinking that maybe we had lost the stability on the old bottle. And although she was reacting to it, her levels were not coming back down.
We scheduled an appointment with the vet on the 7th and took her in. She completely freaked out in the car on the way - hyperventilating. I thought the poor girl was going to have a heart attack. Anyways, the vet checked her out and ran blood and urine tests, which both came back fine. No sign of ketones, which I was most worried about. The vet prescribed that we up her dose to 3-4 units 2x/day and said that her elevated levels could be weight related (she does seem more solid than she was back in February). And that is where we have been sitting for the past week. I should add that through this time period of elevated levels, Casper has been her normal self - no signs of distress.
After a few days of still not seeing any decline in her glucose numbers, I hopped on these boards and started reading up. I noticed that a lot of people were using Fancy Feast, and did not recommend the Purina DM wet. So I decided to make the switch. I started with 1/2 can for each cat twice a day along with allowing them to continue having their Purina DM dry to graze on. Both cats took wonderfully to new food - both sitting there for a good 10 minutes chowing down. I don't think I've ever seen either cat sit and eat for that long. That was Thursday/Friday. Yesterday, I decided to cut them off the dry cold turkey and increased their feeding to a full can each 2 times per day. It is probably too early to make any conclusions, but in just one day, Casper's levels are dropping (30 points every 12 hours). And she seems so spunky this morning - even a little less bulky and her coat seems softer.
I now have to wonder if this whole episode is all because of the Purina DM wet. We were doing fine until we introduced that into the mix. And now that it is back out of the mix, things look like they are heading back to the right track. So, I just want to thank everyone for the information.
