New, very overwhelmed

It was FF wet pate she ate? You can test her any time… wait 15 minutes maybe. It doesn’t matter. Where would she be in her cycle (if she had insulin at what time? 5:30 your time? How many hours past what will be her shot time?

I would have to give her shots at probably 4:30 am and somewhere between 8-9pm. It’s not possible for me to do the 12hrs. Vet said that was fine but I’m doubting it
 
It is pretty important to give the shots 12 hours apart, but you can only do what you can do. Adjustments can be made. Maybe you should consider getting a Libre 3 and keep a phone at home with Zelda where you can get data sent to your phone when you’re at work.
 
Normal Blood Glucose levels for a cat are between about 50 and 120, with most of the time spent in the green numbers (under 100). So if she’s above that, she probably needs some insulin support, but unless she gets out of the blue numbers and climbs higher than that, I would not give the .5 unit dose to start off. I would start slowly and monitor her response to the insulin.
 
It is pretty important to give the shots 12 hours apart, but you can only do what you can do. Adjustments can be made. Maybe you should consider getting a Libre 3 and keep a phone at home with Zelda where you can get data sent to your phone when you’re at work.
I know and I feel terrible that I have no way to make it work better. I don’t have anyone that would be able to help me or I would go that route. I just took her BG and it was 119
 
Normal Blood Glucose levels for a cat are between about 50 and 120, with most of the time spent in the green numbers (under 100). So if she’s above that, she probably needs some insulin support, but unless she gets out of the blue numbers and climbs higher than that, I would not give the .5 unit dose to start off. I would start slowly and monitor her response to the insulin.
Is there an image that shows how much that would be on the U100 syringes? Im scared of giving the wrong amount. If im dosing her .25 at 430am and then again at 8pm is that like double dosing and equal to being half a unit?
 
I know and I feel terrible that I have no way to make it work better. I don’t have anyone that would be able to help me or I would go that route. I just took her BG and it was 119
See. That is almost normal and that’s even after eating food, right? I would just continue to monitor her BG a few more days before starting insulin. If you can check her tonight and tomorrow morning? Do you get a day off soon? This weekend?
 
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Is there an image that shows how much that would be on the U100 syringes? Im scared of giving the wrong amount. If im dosing her .25 at 430am and then again at 8pm is that like double dosing and equal to being half a unit?
A .25 unit dose is between the zero line and the half unit mark on the syringe. You have to eyeball it because there are no quarter unit marks.
 
Is there an image that shows how much that would be on the U100 syringes? Im scared of giving the wrong amount. If im dosing her .25 at 430am and then again at 8pm is that like double dosing and equal to being half a unit?
upload_2025-4-11_0-11-5.jpeg
 

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See. That is almost normal and that’s even after eating food, right? I would just continue to monitor her BG a few more days before starting insulin. If you can check her tonight and tomorrow morning? Do you get a day off soon? This weekend?
I’m off until Monday and will be with her full time until then. She seems like her appetite is picking up a little as she’s went to the FF wet again after I took her last blood sugar. I was planning on getting up at 330, seeing if she’ll eat and checking it at around 430 so it’s on the schedule I’m planning to use.
 
Yes. You definitely don’t want to give Mirataz to a nauseated cat, Maria. You have to first treat the nausea with something like Ondansetron or, at minimum, Cerenia, before giving the appetite stimulant. If you make a nauseated cat hungry you can really create food aversion because they remember feeling sick while eating.
good to know
 
We seem to be doing better this morning! She was instantly wanting to eat the FF wet food this morning and she ate about 1/3 of the can BG an hour later was 120, 3 and a half hours later and we’re at 106 she’s also went back to the wet food for a little bite since then and had a drink of water. She’s being her old lovable self this morning. Back legs are very wobbly. I am confused on what to do here? Is it possible she just needed a diet change and her not eating much this past week has reset her or something? Before she had been a lifelong scarf down our food and vomit eater. I had taken her to vet several times about it and they just said she eats too fast. My vet replied to some of my questions this morning and said that DKA is possible even with good numbers and maybe her kidneys are getting worse since she had what she said was early numbers indicating kidney disease from the bloodwork we did Saturday.
 
We seem to be doing better this morning! She was instantly wanting to eat the FF wet food this morning and she ate about 1/3 of the can BG an hour later was 120, 3 and a half hours later and we’re at 106 she’s also went back to the wet food for a little bite since then and had a drink of water. She’s being her old lovable self this morning. Back legs are very wobbly. I am confused on what to do here? Is it possible she just needed a diet change and her not eating much this past week has reset her or something? Before she had been a lifelong scarf down our food and vomit eater. I had taken her to vet several times about it and they just said she eats too fast. My vet replied to some of my questions this morning and said that DKA is possible even with good numbers and maybe her kidneys are getting worse since she had what she said was early numbers indicating kidney disease from the bloodwork we did Saturday.


Good to know the good news, I will say to you what I say to every newbie, I was told when I first entered this Forum, I was frantic art the point of a breakdown, so many things were going wrong, But I was told b Suzanne the magic words " take a step back, breath in breath out, cats are very sensitive to emotions, the will fell our stress, so we stress, they stress" these were the best words that started me to think clearer, and they still work every time!! I will tag a couple of members to guide you on DKA:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Diane Tyler's Mom GA
 
The wobbly back legs may be diabetic neuropathy. It can be treated with methylcobalamin. LifeLink Zobaline is one brand but pricey. @Diane Tyler's Mom GA posted info on a cheaper alternative here https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-need-help-with-insulin-does.299671/

the Vitacost brand another member told me about
Vitamin B-12 Methylcobalamin -- 5000 mcg - 100 Capsules

Same as Zobaline , but the Zobaline is so expensive as you know
This is the same thing
The only difference is the Zobaline has 200 mcgs of folic acid
So I bought the folic acid at the supermarket and crush it up and added it to the Vitacost brand
If you can't find the 200 mcg get the 400 mcg and cut it in half and crush it up and add it, some members didn't even add the folic acid and the neuropathy improved
The Vitacost brand is a capsule so just open it and pour the powder on the wet food
Has no taste, no need to crush it up, I still give it to Tyler every now and then and he has never tasted it in his food , I always add water to his food and just stir up the methyl B-12 good
I switched to the vitacost brand because the zobaline was too expensive,
Even though the vitacost brand is 5000 mcgs and the zobaline is 3000 mcgs
What they don't need they will pee out because it's water soluble.

The Zobaline is expensive for 60 pills, 30.00 some other places want 33.00
I used to use the Zobaline when I joined, then a member told me about the Vitacost brand .

It took about 2 months for Tyler to get back to walking normal, jumping on to the couch, running around
But every few weeks I did see a slight improvement
Some members didn't even add the folic acid to the vitacost brand and it still helped and the neuropathy was gone

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-b-12-methylcobalamin-5000-mcg-100-capsules-6


14.49 for 100 capsules
 
Good to know the good news, I will say to you what I say to every newbie, I was told when I first entered this Forum, I was frantic art the point of a breakdown, so many things were going wrong, But I was told b Suzanne the magic words " take a step back, breath in breath out, cats are very sensitive to emotions, the will fell our stress, so we stress, they stress" these were the best words that started me to think clearer, and they still work every time!! I will tag a couple of members to guide you on DKA:bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Diane Tyler's Mom GA
I am trying but as an already anxiety ridden person its not easy. I'm trying to be strong for her.
 
Got her to eat about 1/4 of a small can of FF around 2pm, has no interest in the dry food, I wonder if she's relating it to feeling poorly. I tested BG an hour later and were at 91. I've yet to give her any insulin because her numbers are low enough according to what I read in the SLGS protocol. She keeps going back to the FF and is moving around more. I've had the privilege of having her in my bedroom the past two days and able to watch her like a hawk. Is it possible that the diet change alone is and will keep her BG stable? Could it be Stress hyperglycemia perhaps? How long should I wait before taking her to be checked at the vet again? I am trying to go as little as possible because it really causes her stress for days after. My vet has told me 3 times now that I should give her a 1/2 unit of insulin and I don't know how they're going to feel when they learn I haven't given her any yet.
 
For some cats, a diet change is all that may be needed.

If the vet didn't get labs, particularly a fructosamine test, you have no way to know if that initial 427 test result was due to stress hyperglycemia or was just a bad test. It can happen at the vet's office and I've had it happen when I've home tested. A fructosamine is like a hemoglobin A1c in humans -- it tells you where the numbers have been over a period of weeks. Alternatively, the diet change could be a factor.

As far as what the vet has to say about what you're doing, at one point, I mentioned to my vet when she asked about how I knew what to do and why I didn't call the office, I pointed out that she was not available 24/7. I had a group of people here that were available 24/7 and I knew enough about diabetes to know that they weren't screwing up. When I moved from Chicago to Columbus and had to find a new vet, the new vet took one look at my cat's spreadsheet and said, "Let me know if you have questions. Otherwise, I have nothing to add to what you're already doing. Gabby is doing great." Your vet may tell you we're a group of crazy cat ladies. (That may or may not be true!!) You can always suggest she monitor the board and sees whether we're "crazy" or not.
 
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