New to Diabetes cat mom

[WhimzicalWhizkerz]

Hey Everyone!

I was just wanting some opinions on a few things to do with my 2 year old fur baby Tramp. Well technically he is only half my fur baby since he belongs to my boyfriend, but I love him just the same. Tramp has been diagnosed with diabetes since April 17th and boy that month leading up to his diagnosis was hectic. Late in March Tramp had an incident where he could not control his pee and we took him to the vet immediately since this what not normal. We were given meds for a UTI and we were also told his sugar levels in his urine were high, but it could just be due to him being stressed out. We were suppose to bring another urine sample back later that week, but there was a huge ice storm that knocked the power out for over a week. So since Tramp was feeling better after his medicine we did not think much of it until he started to uncontrollably throw up. This time we ended up taking him to a different vet (we had trouble with our vet and decided to change vets) and come to find out his sugar was 518 :O. Our new vet also told us that stress would not have elevated his sugar levels in his urine so our original vet should have immediately done a blood test to find out if Tramp was diabetic.

After all was said and done Tramp was put on 1 unit of Vetsulin twice a day and his diet was changed to Hill's Prescription Diet W/D for weight and glucose management. After about a week Tramp's spirits had turned around. He was playing a lot more, he stopped drinking a ton of water, and you could just tell he was feeling better.

We do not do the BG home testing because giving him a shot is extremely stressful on him. I know we should, but at the moment it is not worth the fight. We are also extremely prepared and know the signs of a hypo, but so far he has shown no signs.

On April 17th we took Tramp in for a 2 day glucose curve at the vet. The vet, taking in to account stress, said that his glucose seemed to be stabilizing but that their were some spikes. So we have now upped the Vetsulin to 2 units twice a day. Tramp seems to be doing perfectly fine on the 2 units (even though he hates his shots) and he will not go back for his next glucose curve until June 17th.

The vet is very knowledgeable when it comes to diabetic cats. He did originally want us to put Tramp on lantus, but it was way out of our price range so he put us on Vetsulin instead. He also seemed to believe that their is not a big difference between the dry food for diabetic cats vs. the wet foods. I like the fact that our vet wants to take it slow with increasing the dosage and he is always willing to take our phone calls. Another great thing is his vet office is 24/7 at regular vet prices which is wonderful b/c Tramp gets his food and shots at 1am and 1pm and if we go anywhere they will be able to board him and keep him at his regular times.

Anyway now I feel like I am rambling. Thanks for stopping in.

 

[Shelly & Jersey (GA)]

Hi Tramp and Tramp's Mom!

May I ask what your name is? My name is Shelly, and my cat's name is Jersey! Welcome to FDMB! It's great to hear that Tramp is feeling better. It's such a relief when we can tell that they're improving.

I really encourage you to try home testing. Of all of the cats I own (or who own me, I should say), Jersey was the "worst one" who could have gotten diabetes. She is the most "hateful" kitty I have. I never thought I would be able to test her at home, and it was difficult in the beginning. I won't deny that there were some tears on my part and a few growls on her part at first. It really does get easier. The shots will, too! Testing Jersey at home was the only way I could truly keep her safe. Without knowing what her sugar levels were at home, I never would have realized when I was giving her too much insulin. Her need for insulin changed very quickly, and I wouldn't have known that without those home tests. If you do decide you want to test at home, we have tons of tips that can help you. Just ask!

My vet put Jersey on Hill's w/d dry food when she was first diagnosed. I found out later that the food was very high in carbs (e.g., it had just about as many carbs in it as Meow Mix does) and that she needed to be on low-carb food for the best chance of going into remission. However, I would strongly caution you not to change Tramp's food without testing at home. When some kitties are switched to low-carb food, their need for insulin decreases drastically. That's another reason why testing at home can be so important. There have been several cases on FDMB where people changed their kitties from dry food to low-carb canned food, and their kitties almost immediately went into remission.

Some kitties can do well on Vetsulin, although longer-acting insulins are preferred. I know there are several financial resources available if you do decide you want to switch to Lantus. I have no doubt someone will provide you with a link to some of those resources soon.

Anyway.....I don't know if any of this helps you or not. They're just some of immediate thoughts that I had. So...are there questions you have about any of this? Don't hesitate to ask!

Shelly

 

[BJM]

Vetsulin, aka Caninsulin, was developed on dogs which have a slower metabolism than cats. In cats, it may only last 8 to 10 hours, leaving 2 to 4 hours without glucose control. A work around when duration is short is to dose 3 times a day, every 8 hours. When that runs out, discuss using either BCP PZI or ProZinc, which generally last closer to 12 hours in cats and are still reasonably priced.

We consider dose increases of 1 unit to be too large. We use 0.25 unit increments by eyeballing the syringe or using calipers to be consistent.

Use low carb treats - ex plain raw, or cooked., or freeze dried chicken - to reward him every time you give a shot.pretty soon, he may start coming to you for the shots. Yes, really.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional methods to track his health. I'd suggest meauring water and food consumption, and solid and liquid elimination, plus urin ketone and glucose testing with KetoDiaStix (or generic).