Newbie Here - Jakes momma

[breayle and jake]

Hello everyone, I'm pretty new to this message board. My 16 year old kitty was diagnosed with diabetes 2/27 and I freaked out a bit. Then I found you guys and relaxed!

I wanted to get some recipes and advice from seasoned veterans. Are there any cat food recipes you can suggest? The one I'm using at the moment is this one:

http://www.catnutrition.org/recipes.php

He loves this so far but I would love to toss some variety into it. Also for those of you who have made this recipe before how many servings is this supposed to yield? Also, is there any recommendations for appeasing his insatiable hunger? I know at this time his hunger is going to be out of control, but I'd like to keep him under control... it's really hard to say no to him since he's so skinny.

At the moment Jake is one one unit of Lantus 2x a day. His vet actually told me to give him just one unit a day but when I checked this site and everyone's suggestions of Lantus being a twice daily insulin, I started giving him one unit twice daily. Here are his numbers so far.

2/27/10 - 2:22pm @ 515 1unit Lantus
2/28/10 - 6:37pm @ 429 1unit
3/1/10 - 6:27am @ 444 1unit (*this is when I started him on one unit twice a day)
3/1/10 - 6:35pm @334 1unit
3/2/10 - 6:25am @475 1unit (*Jake got into the dry food last night) @-)
3/2/10 - 6:35pm @417 1unit
3/3/10 - 6:12am @251 1unit (*finally something under 400! All high protein raw meats fed for 24 hours)
3/3/10 - 6:47pm @ 446 1unit
3/4/10 - 6:10am @ 335 1unit
3/4/10 - 7:10pm @ 314 1unit

He's eating raw and Merrick's 100% chicken/turkey/quail

Suggestions? Hints?

Anything is appreciated! And thank you!


-Breayle

 

[Ronnie & Luna]

Hi there
welcome to the Lantus forum

Jake's first thread from Health March 1st
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7837&p=78081#p78081

can u tell us what your schedule is like? ur shooting lantus on a 12/12 schedule, so would that be 6:30am and 6:30pm?
you will want to keep on the 12/12 schedule as much as possible..any late shots will need to be made up on the following shot time in increments.

looks like you will need a spreadsheet, here is a link, when u have some time, set one for Jake, others will be able to advise more efficiently if you have a spreadsheet.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=16

Does your work or school schedule allow you to get spotchecks in each cycle? Or in the evenings, weekends?

Lantus dosing is not based on preshot numbers, but rather the "nadir" , please have a look at this info stickie from up top (all threads with the "star" icon)
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=157

We do ask for at least a couple of spotchecks - when time allows, for each cycle, this will help a lot to give you feedback on your dose.
Are you testing for ketones?

Hope to see you posting daily, in the meantime, read what you can in the info stickies up above, ask questions and hang in there!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome Breayle.

Sorry you have to be here but you have found a wonderful place to get help and support for Jake.

I feed my 2 kitties a primarily raw diet. You might want to take a look at the site devoted to feline nutrition by Lisa Pierson, DVM. She does have a recipe for raw food on her site. I buy a pre-mix from Feline Future (Instincts). It's a powder that contains all of the required nutrients for a balanced diet and is mixed with water and added to the ground food.

Congrats on home testing! And congrats for realizing something that your vet didn't -- cats metabolize Lantus more quickly than humans and it is a twice a day (BID) administered insulin in felines. It looks like you are getting blood glucose tests prior to giving Jake his shot. That's great and it is the best way to make sure that Jake is safe before giving insulin. However, Lantus dosing is based on the lowest point in the cycle, the nadir. This is why Ronnie was suggesting that it's important for you to continue to collect data and to start getting spot checks when you can. (Do not scare yourself by looking at Luna and Gabby's spreadsheets -- Ronnie and I are testaholics.) While I do test a great deal, I also have a great deal of data about how Gabby responds to Lantus. As you move further along in this process of managing Jake's diabetes, that data will become increasingly important.

If you've not already seen it, you may want to take a look at the dosing protocol that we use. You will also notice that the basis for dose changes is on the nadir in the cycle.

Be sure to take a look at the permanent notes -- the announcements marked with a star at the top of the board. There's a great deal of information there -- information about how to handle Lantus, data gathering, Lantus Land slang, posting conventions, etc. Please open a condo (it's what we call a thread) for Jake on a dailiy basis, visit other condos, read our spreadsheets, and, most importantly, ask questions. We love questions!!

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

hello and welcome to the group breayle and jake!
looks like you're off to a good start. when you get a chance, read through the stickies (starred topics) towards the top of the forum. congrats on learning to test jake's bood sugar at home. since lantus dosing is based on nadirs, getting some mid-cycle spot checks would be a good idea. then you'll know how low this dose is taking jake.

hope to see you posting often!

 

[Sara & Magnolia]

Welcome Breayle and Jake! You've got lots of good info so far and you are definitely in the right place! The stickies are super helpful and always feel free to ask questions, lots of questions, any questions.