Welcome, Theresa and Simon.
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.
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
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