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Okohme

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My kitty Tater was previously diagnosed with FD but with diet change and some Humulin N, he went into remission.
He recently relapsed and we started all over. This time I learned how to take BG and got a home meter and have been adjusting his insulin at home but with Vet input.
He was responding a little bit to 1u of Humulin but went hypo with 1.5 u, that combined with the research I have been doing and the feedback form other diabetes parents, I asked my vet for a different insulin. He gave me ProZinc. He was started on 1 u 2X a day. It has been 4 days and I see very little response. His lowest number on the Relion Confirm meter was 302, but has been consistently over 400. Some of the things I have read have said that it can take up to 2 weeks for the body to adjust to the new insulin, but is it really okay for his numbers to be that high for that long...?
 
Hi and Welcome,

I love your kitty's name.

It does sometime take time for them to adjust to the insulin and in the beginning with Prozinc their bg's can be a little erratic. The nadir can move around anywhere from +4 to +8 but it will eventually settle down.

Good for you for home testing. Untill we help you get a spreadsheet set up can you tell us what numbers you are getting? Like this:

AMPS - xx
+4 - xx
+8 - xx
PMPS - xx

It doesn't matter what + numbers they are but this will help us see what kind of patterns are immerging.

What are you feeding Tater?

Again, welcome to you and Tater to our group.

Robin
 
Hi!
Over in Health, did anyone ever mention setting up a spreadsheet for all your BG data? Here is a link to the instructions on how to do that.
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130
It is a great tool in managing diabetes. The best part is that once you have it set up, we can see it too, which will help us with giving advice, or trying to help you figure out what is going on with Tater.

You mentioned diet change. What is Tater currently eating?

You will see better results with prozinc than you saw with Humulin. It may take a few days for that to become evident.

This is a great little group of people here in PZI. Lots of experience specific to your insulin. Glad you made it over here!

Carl
 
Quick note.
I am setting up the spread sheet now, so that I can give and get better info.

Tater is eating 2 flavors of canned cat food from Sophisticat.
They are the wet flavors and, according to my calculations are 10% carbs or less.
I am also working on finding a type of meat that he and the others like so that i can make their food at home.
He had ground turkey last night and chicken breast this afternoon, but had Sophisticat for breakfast.
I tried feeding 2 X a day but everyone gets hungry mid day...


BTW thanks for the link I was trying to recreate in Excell but this will be much faster.
 
Oh, as far as feeding times...
You definitely want Tater to eat just before giving him insulin, but feeding mid day is also a good idea. My cats eat two main meals a day, and then I feed them about half that much mid day and again just before I go to bed. Mine are not diabetic, (well. Bob is, but not getting any insulin since he is now diet-controlled), but for diabetic cats, multiple small meals helps spread out the "food boost" to their blood glucose more evenly over the course of 12 or 24 hours. As long as you can try to control the total caloric intake for the day, several meals works better than just two. And it will keep the "civvies" happy too!

Carl
 
Rob & Harley

Thank you. His name used to be Vader, but when I met my husband and he told me the kitty's name I thought he said "Tater" and he really is more of a potatocat than an evil Sith Lord. :lol: :lol:
 

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Hi and welcome to PZI...
IT will take Tater some time to settle into a dose, looking forward to seeing some
of taters numbers and getting to know the 2 of you better
We are all here for you so ask as many questions as you want..

Denise andShakes
 
Hi and welcome to PZI...
IT will take Tater some time to settle into a dose, looking forward to seeing some
of taters numbers and getting to know the 2 of you better
We are all here for you so ask as many questions as you want..

Denise andShakes
 
And Tater typically eats, or starts eating, as he receives the insulin. Usually, I test him, put food in the bowl and dose him while he's occupied with eating. He dosn't even seem to notice.
 
Great job on the SS!

I can see why you are concerned....those are some "ugly" numbers. But it will get better.

When Tater had the hypo on 1.5u Humulin, do you have any idea what sort of BG numbers were involved?

For now, I would say stick with the 1.5u of Prozinc for a couple more days. Try to test around the +6 point as much as you can (if it's an hour off of that either way, it's still good data to have). On a day off, you could try doing a curve or a mini-curve during one 12 hour cycle (curve is a test every 2 hours, min-curve would be once every 3 hours). That will show you a full cycle and what goes on between shots. With that data, you'll be able to think about a dose adjustment. When you do adjust, you should do so in either .25u or at most .5u increments, and hold that dose for at least 2-3 days and collect data as much as you can.
Carl

oh, and can you tell us your name? We're sort of a "first name basis" sort of crowd :smile:
 
I'm Gloria, BTW.
When Tater was hypo his numbers went from mid 400's down to 26. Then I gave him high carb treats and some karo syrup and ended up over-correcting.
This was when he was on the Humulin N.

I would like to do a curve, and will, but am not sure when. Should I do it after a week on the 1.5 or just a few days?
Part of the problem is that I have to travel soon and will be gone for 2 weeks to help out a relative who broke her hip.
In the mean time, my husband will be Tater's caregiver, which is fine, except that he hasn't yet been able to do the testing by himself, and tends to not allow a lot time in the morning for things like testing BG. I am a little paranoid to give insulin with no test beforehand.

Tater's history has shown a propensity towards higher, some times MUCH higher readings in the morning than in the evening. (Except recently when everything seems to be high).

I know I can't rush this, but at the same time I would really like to get Tater to a good place by the time I have to leave. I've only got 6 days to get there.
I suppose I could always get one of those papooses and take him as my carry-on....
Poor old-man-kitty....
 
You dont have to get a full curve, soemtimes any numbers will help
especially a +4 and/or +6 and/or +8
somehwere in that time is "ususally" the nadir, which knowing that can help determine
the dosage
so whenever you can get a number, go on and get it!
 
Hi Gloria (much better than "Tater's Mom", don't you think?) :smile:

In the mean time, my husband will be Tater's caregiver, which is fine, except that he hasn't yet been able to do the testing by himself, and tends to not allow a lot time in the morning for things like testing BG. I am a little paranoid to give insulin with no test beforehand.
Click to expand...
lol, set his alarm clock forward by 15 minutes so he'll think it's later than it is. When he walks into the kitchen, he'll realize he's got fifteen minutes to spare...plenty of time for a BG test! Definitely be paranoid (well, not really paranoid, just a little). Testing should always be done before a shot. Too often people see really "odd" numbers at shot time, and then thank god they checked before shooting. Right now you are getting really high numbers, but one day a week or a month from now, you're going to hear that meter beep, look at the number, and say "what the meow is THIS?" when you see a yellow or blue number instead of a black or red one.

Having a kitty go from 400's down to a 29 is crazy, and seems to make no sense. But it happened. I would've freaked.

Tater may revert to what you saw in the past....high in the morning and lower at night. If that becomes a pattern again, there are ways to correct that, but let's wait to see if it happens before muddying the water.

Six days is a long time. I was advised, and I like to pass it on, that treating FD gives you a chance to live a lifetime in 12 hour segments. It taught me to live in the moment, and yesterday and tomorrow are not as important to me as "right now" anymore. Even after dancing with Bob, I've been able to keep thinking that way. Maybe that's why I'm big on pictures of the sunrise over the ocean....it's just one moment, but such an incredible moment, you know?
A lot can change in just six days for Tater.

Carl
 
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