Newbie high glucose/switched to Lantus

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Rachel & Chyna (GA)

Rachel & Chyna (GA)

Member Since 2012
Hi,

I'm a newbie who has been reading on here for a month or so but wanted to say hi, I'm Rachel and am in Canada. My cat Chyna was diagnosed with diabetes and anemia on Dec 1 2012. She was off the charts high glucose (37 mmol/L) so we started on Caninsulin as it was all the vet had in stock. Many tears and weeks of learning to ear poke well...we were up to 4 units twice a day by 5 weeks later, so the vet had me do mini curves and decided to switch to Lantus. We started that on Jan. 11 at 1.5 units as the vet wanted to start slow. She is 10 lbs and needs to put on some weight as she lost quite a bit. So far she is still hovering around 30 mmol/L and today is day 4 (8 injections). I have attached a spreadsheet and profile...but I'm not sure if I did it right :?

Right now we are switched over to half wet/half dry food Purina DM. I'd like to do all wet and add some of the "commercial" wet foods mentioned in forums, but with her hunger right now and being at work all day I'm not sure how to do this, as I don't want to leave wet food out all day and can't make it home for lunch all the time. She is a grazer.

I'm feeling pretty down and worried that the levels are still so high for so long. I read somewhere that it takes 3 days to build up Lantus insulin for it to show results, but then I read somewhere else that if it hasn't gone down from super high levels in 48 hours to up the dose. I've emailed the vet my readings and am waiting to hear back. Does/did anyone else have such high readings and so much trouble getting them down? She does have ear infections that we apparently can't treat until her glucose has gone down/is controlled better. She is still urinating and drinking lots and limping/not jumping although the vet said we will do vitamins for that as well, once the glucose is better. Maybe I need to post in the Lantus forum, sorry I wasn't sure. Any help is much appreciated:)
 
Hi and welcome :)

You're doing great so far, slow down and breathe a bit... great job on learning how to home test, that is really the biggest hurdle.

This forum automatically parses (and unfortunately, breaks) any very long URL's, such as spreadsheet links, if you go back and edit it after initially saving it. You will have to go back to the signature editor and click the "URL" button and paste your spreadsheet link between the tags it generates.

Anyhow, when have you been testing her? Lantus is dosed on the nadir (lowest point of the cycle)... yes 30 (540 ish) is a high number, but not all that abnormal if it is a preshot number for a new diabetic. Have you gotten any tests in the time BETWEEN shots (since I can't see your SS)?

It very well could be the dry food too - dry DM is around 15% carbs... most cats do best on 3-5%. As far as leaving wet food out, you can go ahead and do that - it will stay fresh for around 12 hours. You can add a bit of water to it to stop it from drying out so fast. You can also add a bit of water and freeze it in ice cube trays - just pop a cube or two in the dish before you leave and it will thaw out over the next few hours and provide a fresh snack. If you don't mind spending a bit of $ you can even buy a timed automatic feeder - these work great for wet food as well. ;-)
 
Thanks, I will try muddle through right away so people can see my spreadsheet, I guess it doesn't do any good to ask for help when no one can see it:) I did mini curves the first two days and just a AMPS and +6hr the third day, and a +6hr today. They all hovered around 31, down to 27 on the second day at +6 hr. Today the +6hr was 29.4...
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry you are having issues. It's great that you have come here And you have made a good first few steps..

I do see a few things..

1. Since you are testing you really need to get her off the dry. Here is a list of foods.. You are looking for ones under 10%carbs. Wellness grain free and fancy feast pates (the Canadian equivalent of us classic pâtés) are good economical choices.http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf. Not sure why you don't want to leave wet food out all day? But Ry and Scooter have good suggestions.

2. Also not sure why the vet wants to wait on treating the ear infection, infections can spike blood glucose. Our bailey had an ear infection and was uncontrolled diabetic. We treated it twice daily with ear drops anyway and it cleared up.

3. I can see your SS no problem

Wendy
 
Also i wanted to add, are you testing her urine for ketones? At such high blood glucose levels you might want to start. You can buy a pack of keto-diastix from behind the counter at most pharmacies (no prescription) such as shoppers Walmart pharmaplus,

Tomorrow when I get home from work I will look to see what the ear med we used was. It was drops in the ear. I can understand if they don't want to do steroid injections since that can mess with BG but I don't know why ear drops wouldn't be worth trying.. Something to ask the vet,
 
Me again,,. Sorry,,, I really should go to bed.

You can also start methycobalamin (a form of vitamin b12 pill) right now for the leg problem (neuropathy). There is no reason I can see to wait except that it works better when the blood glucose is under control, it can't do any harm now.

You don't need to get it through your vet, any health food store should have it or you can buy online - zobaline is popular in the US and you may be able to get it here (I haven't tried). Just make sure there is no xylitol in it, and ideally no sugars , sucrose etc either.

Ok bed for me!

Keep us updated
Wendy
 
Thanks, I should go to bed too:) I did figure out the links though, they should work now.

I think the vet mentioned antibiotics for "chronic ear infections" when glucose was controlled but it was the day she was diagnosed and I was in tears at the time. I will ask her again, but I would love to try ear drops if you know what kind you used and have the chance to find out for me. I guess I've always heard that wet cat food was only good for a few hours left out, maybe it's an old wives tale:P The ice cubes thing is a good idea, although I may have a confused kitty for awhile! I'm not even sure how much wet to give her if that is all she is getting, she has been on dry food all her life with wet for treats. At least I have a kitty who likes wet food.

We did test her urine the day of diagnosis and it was fine, I don't know much about ketones but will check with the pharmacy. Is the methycobalamin a shot that I would give or a pill? There is so much to read, and not enough time in the day it seems. I'm so glad to have advice, I don't know anyone who has diabetic cats and I don't want to hinder her progress. Thanks:)
 
Don't panic.. We are here to help

I will let you know about the ear drops tonite.

I leave my wet food out all day and refresh it at night with fresh stuff and its fine. In fact I put the mornings wet to one side for bailey and throw it out if there is any left the next morning (24 hours from can opening) because bailey loves the dried up wet food. My other two turn their noses up and eat the fresh stuff.

Zobaline or methylcobalamin comes as a pill although you probably can get shots, most of us just use a pill in a pill pocket.

You should check for ketones in her pee using the keto- diastix maybe once a week to start, more often if she is high like over 16. Over time if she never shows any then you can test less.
 
Thanks, I am panicking a little, I guess it's normal:) I have so many questions, lol. Everything scented seems to irritate her ears or cause allergies, so I switched cat litters a few weeks ago to unscented and wheat based (swheat scoop) instead of the clay which was turning into a giant lump even though I'm scooping at least once a day. It's working ok. She has a sensitive stomach too sometimes, she was on a hypoallergetic food before this:S I guess I'm doing some shopping after work today! Chyna doesn't like the dried up wet food either, once it's been there a few hours she goes back to the dry (after sniffing the wet dish) so maybe the ice cubes are a good idea to try for her. Have a good day!
 
Welcome to the board.

A tip for cleaning the ears:

Take a cotton ball, saturate with veterinary ear cleaner, place in the ear and massage from the outside of the ear. This gets the cleaner down into the ear and the massage may help loosen any goop.
Remove cotton ball and wipe with dry cotton ball (or two or three, depending on how much goop is in there)

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for tips on urine ketone testing (very important when diabetes is not yet regulated) and some other ways to monitor.
 
Thanks, I will check out your info on the ketones, I bought some strips today which I hope are the right ones. There isn't much goop in her ears, just some dried crusty bumpy stuff but I will see what the vet has for ear cleaner. I also bought "Natural Factor B12 Methylcobalamin" which has no sweeteners and when I looked it up online others mention in reviews they use it on their diabetic cat. It is in 1000mcg tablets, but I am not sure how much to give her of that per dose per day as they didn't mention that, I'll have to do more research:)
 
Hello

The ear drops were "Surolan Ear and Skin" 30ml. (medical name Micronazole nitrate, polymyxin B and prednisolone acetate) . topical antifungal antibacterial and antiflammatory agent for dogs and cats. Squirt a drop into the ear twice a day.

The last item i think is a steroid but since it goes in the ear hopefully it wont impact BG.

Thats the methylcobalamin I used. Here is a good site on use and dosage etc http://www.laurieulrich.com/jasper/#treatment
 
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