New to Vetsulin

Hi,
My 10 year old male cat, Simon was diagnosed with diabetes in Nov. 2020. My vet recently started him on Vetsulin. Simon has been on Vetsulin for almost two weeks. He started with 2.5 units and his insulin numbers were still high. My vet changed his dosage to 3.5 units twice a day. His numbers are still In the 600 range. He's eating Purina prescription DM one can a day. Half in the morning and the other half in the evening. He is constantly hungry. He's even attempted to eat the pup's food. Any suggestions on getting his numbers down.
Thanks,
Theresa

 

Hi Theresa sorry no one has replied back yet.
I can't help you with dosing but I can give you some information

I tagged some members that might be able to help

@Panic

@JanetNJ

@Deb & Wink

Thanks ladies

 

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.231587/

Tap on the link above it will tell you about vetsulin

Are you home testing
What meter are you using. Human or Pet Meter
Most of us feed Fancy Feast Classic Pates I will post the food chart for you
We like to stay under 10% carbs , The Fancy Feast are either 2 or 3 %
There is nothing special about the Purina DM Wet food except the expensive price

Is Simon under weight?
What is his ideal weight
We feed out kitties several times during each 12 hour cycle, not just twice a day
After their morning meal we might feed then a small meal 2-3 hours after their breakfast, then again around 4-6 hours after. Same for the night cycle




Does Simon eat any dry food

 

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

Can you tap on this link, it will explain how to set up your signature.

It will help us to know about Simon
The signature appears at the end of everyone's post in gray
You can look at mine

Also if you are home testing, it would be helpful if you can set up our spreadsheet.
We use this to enter our kitties BG to see how the insulin is working,
Members can look at it and give you advice on what to do
I will give you the link for it, if you have trouble setting it up just ask, we have members who can help you set it up. The link will also explain how the spreadsheet works


https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

 

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

Food chart link

 

The rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of IDEAL weight. SO lets say he is 10 lbs, but should be 12... that would mean he would need at LEAST 240 CALORIES...
12 x 20= 340

 

Welcome, Theresa and Simon.

First up, as Diane notes above, cats who are not yet regulated can't fully utilise the food they eat, hence the voracious hunger, so feeding extra may be needed.

The Purina DM canned food is low carb.

Please keep feeding the 1/2 can morning and evening, 30 minutes before giving the Vetsulin dose (size of meal and timing of the feed are key to safety since Vetsulin hits quite hard and fast shortly after it has been administered). You could then give some smaller mini-feeds between doses. Good times to feed for this insulin would be around +1.5-2 hours after the dose was administered (when Vetsulin has its most powerful effect - see graphic of typical Vetsulin action below) and anywhere in the period before about +7 hours after dose admin (when the dose typically starts wearing off).




If not yet home testing, do not hesitate to give food if you suspect that Simon's blood glucose (BG) levels might be low. More safety info:

How to treat hypos (recommended to print out a copy of this so it will always be available to you)

By way of a little reassurance, reassurance, Simon is very recently diagnosed so while higher numbers are undesirable they are not altogether unexpected. For safety, the starting insulin dose should be low and then gradually adjusted in small increments to the level that Simon needs to regulate his BG levels. As the dose is fine-tuned, numbers should show progressive improvement, but it does take a bit of time. You will often hear at FDMB that diabetes management is a marathon, not a sprint. The important thing is that Simon is getting insulin. Things will get better from here.

All of the above said, 2.5IU Vetsulin (also sold under brand name Caninsulin) is a bit high for a starting dose. The manufacturer's dosing protocol gives a maximum starting dose of 2.0IU every 12 hours. Also, a jump of 1 whole unit is quite a big dose increase in one step. It may be that Simon needs that amount of insulin but there's also the possibility that it might be too high.

The best way of determining the safety and efficacy of an insulin dose is to monitor blood glucose (BG) levels at home. Would I be correct that your note above about Simon still being in the 600s is from readings taken at the vets?

If you're not already home testing, we can help you to learn how. Here are some helpful links to get you going, but be sure to ask about anything you're finding tricky and we can help you further with specifics.

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injection tips

The following is a really good behavioural training video. Its focus is on teaching a cat to be cool with injections but the techniques can be adapted for home testing too:






If you can share Simon's insulin dosing and home BG test results with us we can help you assess how he's responding to his treatment and how safe and effective his dose is. To facilitate this, we ask new members to start recording this info in a shareable spreadsheet so that members replying to your posts will be able to give you input specific to Simon's needs. Here is what you need to get going:

How to create a spreadsheet for your cat

How to use your cat's spreadsheet

If you'd like some assistance with this, just give a shout and we'll find someone to give you a hand.

Since Simon is newly diagnosed and currently running in a high range, as a general safety precaution it's advisable to monitor daily for urine ketones. Further information:

FDMB ketone primer

Tips for collecting and testing urine

Item last (for now! ), here is the FDMB guide to Vetsulin/Caninsulin where you can learn more about Simon's insulin:

FDMB guide to Caninsulin/Vetsulin

Feline diabetes can be a bit of a steep learning curve in the early days but it definitely gets get easier as you start developing your own routine. We'll do all we can to help and support you along the way. Be sure to post with any questions you have.


Mogs
.

 

Thank you so much for the information. I have not tested Simon at home. I do have an Accu Check Meter that was my mother's. At diagnoses in October, Simon weighed 18 pounds, he is now 7.8. pounds. I have started feeding him a smaller meal in between meals because he is eating clothing and bedding. No, he hasn't had any dry food since his diagnoses.

I will start his spreadsheet as soon as I get test strips for the meter that I have.

 

Hi Theresa, poor Simon, that's a lot of weight loss
You can feed him more than one smaller meal in between the morning pre shot and the night per shot.
I googled the price for the Accu Check test strips ,they are expensive

You might want to go to Walmart if there is one by you and pick up The
Relion Prime meter it's 9 dollars
17.88 for 100 test strips you will be going thru a lot of them
Get 26 or 28 gauce lancets
Some cotton rounds to put behind his ear just in case you might prick you finger
Then just hold the cotton round on his ear for about 10-15 seconds to stop the bleeding.

Can you please add what wet food Simon is eating to your signature
Thanks Theresa
Just keep asking questions
We normally increase by 0.25 units at a time, not 1 units
Are you using the U-40 syringes with half unit markings, they make it easier when you need to increase.

 

Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear