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Lori and Atticus

Lori and Atticus

Member Since 2012
Hi everyone! I received news today that my 13 year old female (Atticus) is diabetic. :cry: She has been losing weight over the last couple of months so the vet ran a senior blood panel on her which showed her glucose level was 344. :o

The vet tech showed me today how to do the insulin and although my vet suggested Alphatrak 2 for the glucose meter, I took the advice of many on this forum and bought a ReliOn Confirm. I had a One Touch Ultra (I am Hypoglycemic), but after comparing it to the vet's Alphatrak (same blood sample), it was 94 points lower. I wasn't sure if it was my meter, their meter, or the fact that the vet tech took a couple of different attempts to get the blood sample on the test strip of the One Touch. At this point we are starting with .5 unit of Lantus 2 times a day. Her first dose was around 11 this morning and I just tested her (8 hours later) and she was 186 on the ReliOn. She was 211 (according to the One Touch) before the first insulin dose, but 305 according to the Alphatrak before the first dose. Her next dose will be in about 3 hours.

I also have another cat (Ariel) that was hyperthyroid of which we treated with Methimazole for a year before coming to the conclusion that we couldn't stabilize her with meds. We did the radio-iodine treatment on her which ran us about 1500.00. :o We are trying to keep the cost of Atticus's diabetes down because I am sure hubby is not really enjoying nasty vet bills and meds anymore. He's really not amused! nailbite_smile Both of the kitties were being fed a dry diet of Blue Buffalo, but about two weeks ago (before the diagnosis), I switched them to Wellness Canned Food to help my fatty (the ex hyperthyroid kitty) to lose weight and my skinny minnie (Atticus) to gain some weight. Hopefully I will succeed. ;-)

At this point, I don't really have any questions, I just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you for so much great information about feline diabetes. I panicked when the vet gave me the news this morning and although I am still nervous about it, I do feel better knowing I have some veterans to fall back on for information and comfort. :-D Thank you!
 
One single glucose test isn't enough to diagnose diabetes - stress from just being in the vet's office can rise BG numbers and make even nondiabetics look diabetic. Higher blood glucose could also be infection, bad teeth, maybe even something like hyperthyroid. Weight loss is another sign of hyperthyroid. We recommend fructosamine tests which is an average of the BG over the past 3 or so weeks, or a urine test to look for glucose in the urine, for diagnosing diabetes.

That said your starting plan sounds good if she is in fact diabetic. You will drive yourself crazy if you keep comparing meters so just stick to one. It sounds like it was a testing error with the OTU.
 
Thanks for your response! There was glucose spill over into the urine as well as one other thing the vet mentioned that pointed to diabetes, but everything was a blur today when he was talking to me about it and I can't remember what it was. It wasn't just the BG level that made him diagnose it. Teeth are in good shape, the thyroid results were perfect on the panel, and no signs of infection on the blood panel. I'll talk to the vet tomorrow and find out what the other tests were that pointed to diabetes, however it was a very thorough blood screening the vet did so he had more than just one test that led him to the conclusion. He's been our vet for years and is extremely cautious about doing something that doesn't need to be done. Oh yeah! Liver enzymes were a bit elevated, but everything else was totally fine on the blood panel.
 
Hello!

Just wanted to welcome you and Atticus to the FDMB forum!

There are some very experienced Lantus users here.

Well done for 'grasping the nettle' and starting hometesting right away. And what a stroke of luck that you switched Atticus to canned food before her diabetes diagnosis (that would have needed quite a bit of monitoring once Atticus was on insulin).

If you haven't done so already you may want to read and print out the instructions here about what to do in the event of a hypo (dangerously low BG). This may never happen to your cat, but it is as well to be prepared.
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887
 
Welcome, welcome! The folks here like to track their numbers on a handy spreadsheet with a link to it in their signatures. If you post your numbers/questions/experiences over on the Lantus boards you can get some help, support & encouragement as you progress through the "sugar dance." People are very responsive and there is a huge amount of collective knowledge in the community. C'mon over to Lantus Land!!

Here's the instructions on how to set up the spreadsheet. It automatically updates every time you make a change. Very simple, and very helpful to anyone who might be trying to assist you with dosing advice. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
 
Welcome extra sweet Atticus and MamaBean - don't know what to call you....

It's great to see that you've already got the basics down! GREAT JOB!!!! I just wanted to jump in with another experience with the 'OneTouch' and the ReliOn Confirm meters. My usual meter is the confirm - it's the one I 'trust' most. My backup meter is a OneTouch Ultra when I'm out of strips for my confirm. The OneTouch usually reads about 25-30 points higher than the Confirm with numbers over about 140. Below that, they start agreeing quite closely, sometimes exactly....that's what we want so I don't worry about the higher readings in higher numbers, I just 'remember' they happen.

I second staying with one meter - many of us have given ourselves lots of gray hairs trying to use 2 and compare them. The AlphaTrak DOES read higher but the 'range' we use is higher too - 80 lowest for AlphaTrak users, 50 for human meter users. Awfully hard to figure out huh....

BIG HUG! Welcome to the BEST place you never wanted to be....
 
Thank you everyone! I'm a little frustrated at the moment because when I tested Atticus this morning is was at 64. I called the vet immediately and let her (Not the normal vet) know that I was not giving insulin this morning. My normal vet wasn't against me testing at home, but I insisted on it even when he hadn't mentioned it to me. I guess he wanted me to shoot blindly. Thank goodness I didn't! The normal vet had told me a couple of days ago that Atticus will start eating again when she feels better, but for now I have to force feed her. I have only been able to get her to lick at her food a couple times and then ignore it afterward. I have been force feeding her, but between the force feeds, poking for BG readings, insulin injections, and two medications she is on; the poor cat is terrified when I walk in the room. I'm as gentle and soothing as I can be, but it doesn't seem to help. She is a pretty skittish kitty anyway, but with all of this it's so much worse. I feel so bad for her because I'm the only one she trusts and here I am putting her through all kinds of stuff that is making her uncomfortable. Obviously treats won't cut it right now because she won't eat anything and snuggles won't work because she isn't a cuddle bug unless it's night time and she is sleeping right on top of me. :lol: The vet called in a script for an appetite stimulator and I started her on that just a few minutes ago. I can't express how much I hope she responds to it and wants to eat on her own soon. My poor sweet baby. Any suggestions on how I can make this not so terrible for her until she gets used to it and starts eating on her own?
 
Thank goodness you insisted on hometesting! Giving insulin at that low number could have been deadly.

There are lots of ways to try to get a cat to eat. You will have to experiment to find the one that works with your sweet one.

Baby food may work - be sure to get the kind without any spices or onions
Heating up the wet food until stinky can work, as can putting parmesan cheese or tuna juice on top.
Sometimes, as silly as it sounds, just putting a bit of food on your finger and hand feeding her can get her started again.

If you have no success, be sure to ask for more ideas. Assisted feeding with a syringe or feeding tube might be necessary. It is important she eat.
 
I'm sorry. I should have mentioned what I have tried already. I always heat it and I have tried many different wet foods trying to entice her. I have tried getting her to eat from my hand or off my finger. I've tried a spoon as well. I have been force feeding with a syringe now for 2.5 days. Right after I posted my last response though, I looked down to see her eating (slowly) the Fancy Feast I just bought for her today. I just finished force feeding with a syringe 30 minutes before that so she had to have been pretty full. EEK! I'm so excited about her at least trying the food. She seemed interested for about 3 minutes and then walked off. Well... Better than the two licks then ignore she was doing. :mrgreen: I'm going to test her in about 45 minutes and see what her BG is since it's almost been two hours since meal time. With any luck, it will be low and I won't have to shoot.
 
Ok... So. 2 hours after her meal and BG is 87. The last insulin she had was 18 hours ago. In fact, she has only had two doses of insulin since her diagnosis (high BG level at vet and glucose in the urine) I'll check her again a couple more times tonight, but at this point I am beginning to wonder if she isn't diabetic or if she is, it's entirely diet controlled and it's just a fluke that the wet food lowered her glucose at the exact time of her diagnosis. So far... Only time will tell. I'll definitely keep a VERY close eye on it.
 
normal bg levels not on insulin is 40-120 (give or take). if you continue to get bgs in this range without giving additional insulin - it is possible that the food change was enough to kickstart the pancreas again, so that insulin may not be needed.

if this is the situation, then your cat is in remission, yet the diabetes could return in the future, so understanding what to do, what to look for and how to treat.

and the otu meter is a good meter - requires a larger blood sample than relion, but still a good meter. also a 20% variance between human meters is pretty normal, using relion or otu should be fine.
 
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