FurballLover
Active Member
Hello, my name is Jen and my fat cat Charlie was dx with diabetes on 9-10-09. Charlie is a large orange tabby who was always overweight (largest was high end of 18lbs) At the end of last summer we started having issues.
Charlie has always loved cold water and ice, running to take a drink every time I filled the drooler's water dish with fresh h20. (he also licks the condensation off the side of any cold drink he can get his paws on!) But suddenly he became obsessed--he would jump up on the vanity every time I was brushing my teeth and lap up the water from the faucet. This was a bit annoying but I didn't think much of it until the litter box issue. On several occasions, he had large clumps of liter stuck to his back paws and I would have to give him a bath (which I'm sure everyone here knows is one hell of a feat!
One day I picked him up and he was all skin and bones. I had noticed he was losing some weight and was grateful b/c the vet always lectured me on this issue when we had his checkups. But one day, he was just too thin.
We got him to the vet to find out what was wrong. I was a wreck when I saw that he only weighed 9.14lbs (from 17.6 in feb when he had dental cleaning) I felt like the worst mommy in world--how did I let him get this sick? Our vet told me he was probably diabetic and that they would check for any other possible conditions/infections.
She had warned me of this possibility for a few years because he was overweight. The problem we always had with feeding is that his 'big sis' would starve when we decreased their food. Charlie is a piggy with food and Molly is the 'scarf and barf' type. We switched their food to science diet light and a can of 9lives chicken & tuna with dinner several years ago and Charlie still stayed portly.
I spent the entire night after our possible dx scouring the web for everything on the disease and returned to the vet's office the next day feeling overwhelmed and scared. After she showed me the correct injection technique and I practiced a few times, we discussed diet. She recommended hill's d/m and I bought a bag to supplement their new FF low carb canned food.
I had read quite a bit on the fdmb website and talked to her about home bg testing. She said she wasn't sure that it was feasible for cats and said we should do a curve at her office in a few weeks to see how his initial dose was working. I have to admit that the idea of injections was more than I could handle at the time, so I decided not to try bg testing at first. We discussed insulin and agreed to start with vetsulin until I could get a vial of PZI from another pharmacy.
The next couple weeks were full of tears and sleepless nights. The first injections I gave were not welcome by my C, but I persevered and we settled into a routine. After a few weeks there was a significant change. Charlie was playing, purring, and grooming again!! I was so relieved that he hadn't began hating me for poking him, and that he was frisky again!!
The weeks went by without incident. We had a curve done at the vet's 10-20-09 and his numbers were: +2=83, +4=111, +6=128, +8=98. Taking into account he only ate 1/2 his normal daytime food, (the kitties graze on a set amount thru the day) we felt pretty good about his numbers. Our vet told me to be cautious about hypo because the numbers were so low; but that if he normally eats more we should be fine.
Things went right along for a few months, Charlie became his old self and didn't seem to mind the injections (I sneak them in while he's eating). He gained back most of his weight and was doing very well on 3-3.25 u bid. Even my DH learned to do injects as a back-up for times I would be late getting home. (which was sweet bc charlie is a momma's boy and runs from DH anytime he comes near)
Things were great until two saturdays ago--Charlie had a hypo. I had been decreasing his kibble because he was getting fat again (stupid me-didn't decrease his insulin). Thankfully, I was home and noticed the signs. He vomited as soon as I gave him karo and then panted and was completely limp. We rushed to the vet and she saved his life. It was very serious--his heart rate and body temp dropped and he was having seizures. After 45 min of our vet frantically working, he started to come around. A few hours later we were able to take him home where I hovered over him all night. I was instructed to feed him every hour, keep him warm (his temp was still a little low) and not to give him insulin until we came back the next morning to check his bg. CBC confirmed no infections and the next day his bg was high (I think it was in the 300's?) so we resumed 1/2 his insulin that night and slowly brought it back up over the next few days. We resumed the kibble and the highest I am comfortable with giving him now is 2.5u.
I have spent all my freetime since the hypo on this board. Lurking and learning--what a great community! Cindy is sending a bg tester so I will start as soon as it arrives. Not sure how it will go, but I am determined to make sure Charlie never gets that sick again!! We will figure it out (I have to keep telling myself that
Sorry about the length of this post, but I wanted to introduce myself and give as much background as possible. I have set up a spreadsheet for C and included an extra sheet for his pre-bg testing info. It's listed as 'sheet 6' (can't figure out how to rename it yet--only used excel before yesterday)
My plan is to start testing--I will need a couple weeks to get C into a new routine. In the meantime I want to continue the d/m until I get the hang of testing and get some numbers compiled.
Once I get the hang of testing, it seems there are two options:
1 eliminate the kibble and start over with a small dose to work our way back to a proper number
2 slowly decrease both the kibble and the insulin
I would love any feedback on the issue--is there an option 3 that I haven't thought of?
I also have to figure out a suitable canned food. They don't like the new FF pink label chicken (they loved it before the label/formula was changed). They only eat it when the kibble is gone. I even tried mixing in some warm h20 and C just snubbed it off (too bad-saw someone post this idea and I thought it was a neat trick!) I live in a small town with only store of walmart so our choices are limited. I can stock up whenever I am near petsmart, but need a local backup. Plus the FF gets expensive at 5 cans a day!! Am I calculating that amount (without kibble) right? Charlie is 15lbs (should be 13-14) Molly is 9lbs?
The other big question I have right now is about C's insulin. I thought it was PZI, but was apparently wrong. I am so confused.
On the invoice they list it as:
PROZINC-Protamine Zinc Insulin Susp 100 Units/ml 5ml Inj
The vial says:
Protamine Zinc Insulin
PZI
I called the pharmacy today and they told me it's compounded with Humilin N
What does that mean? Can anyone help explain that?
There is so much I need to learn-thank you to everyone for reading this very long post! I hope with your help I can get Charlie on the right track! This is such a wonderful site!
btw charlie is very healthy otherwise; fat, but good!
Charlie has always loved cold water and ice, running to take a drink every time I filled the drooler's water dish with fresh h20. (he also licks the condensation off the side of any cold drink he can get his paws on!) But suddenly he became obsessed--he would jump up on the vanity every time I was brushing my teeth and lap up the water from the faucet. This was a bit annoying but I didn't think much of it until the litter box issue. On several occasions, he had large clumps of liter stuck to his back paws and I would have to give him a bath (which I'm sure everyone here knows is one hell of a feat!
One day I picked him up and he was all skin and bones. I had noticed he was losing some weight and was grateful b/c the vet always lectured me on this issue when we had his checkups. But one day, he was just too thin. We got him to the vet to find out what was wrong. I was a wreck when I saw that he only weighed 9.14lbs (from 17.6 in feb when he had dental cleaning) I felt like the worst mommy in world--how did I let him get this sick? Our vet told me he was probably diabetic and that they would check for any other possible conditions/infections.
She had warned me of this possibility for a few years because he was overweight. The problem we always had with feeding is that his 'big sis' would starve when we decreased their food. Charlie is a piggy with food and Molly is the 'scarf and barf' type. We switched their food to science diet light and a can of 9lives chicken & tuna with dinner several years ago and Charlie still stayed portly.
I spent the entire night after our possible dx scouring the web for everything on the disease and returned to the vet's office the next day feeling overwhelmed and scared. After she showed me the correct injection technique and I practiced a few times, we discussed diet. She recommended hill's d/m and I bought a bag to supplement their new FF low carb canned food.
I had read quite a bit on the fdmb website and talked to her about home bg testing. She said she wasn't sure that it was feasible for cats and said we should do a curve at her office in a few weeks to see how his initial dose was working. I have to admit that the idea of injections was more than I could handle at the time, so I decided not to try bg testing at first. We discussed insulin and agreed to start with vetsulin until I could get a vial of PZI from another pharmacy.
The next couple weeks were full of tears and sleepless nights. The first injections I gave were not welcome by my C, but I persevered and we settled into a routine. After a few weeks there was a significant change. Charlie was playing, purring, and grooming again!! I was so relieved that he hadn't began hating me for poking him, and that he was frisky again!!
The weeks went by without incident. We had a curve done at the vet's 10-20-09 and his numbers were: +2=83, +4=111, +6=128, +8=98. Taking into account he only ate 1/2 his normal daytime food, (the kitties graze on a set amount thru the day) we felt pretty good about his numbers. Our vet told me to be cautious about hypo because the numbers were so low; but that if he normally eats more we should be fine.
Things went right along for a few months, Charlie became his old self and didn't seem to mind the injections (I sneak them in while he's eating). He gained back most of his weight and was doing very well on 3-3.25 u bid. Even my DH learned to do injects as a back-up for times I would be late getting home. (which was sweet bc charlie is a momma's boy and runs from DH anytime he comes near)
Things were great until two saturdays ago--Charlie had a hypo. I had been decreasing his kibble because he was getting fat again (stupid me-didn't decrease his insulin). Thankfully, I was home and noticed the signs. He vomited as soon as I gave him karo and then panted and was completely limp. We rushed to the vet and she saved his life. It was very serious--his heart rate and body temp dropped and he was having seizures. After 45 min of our vet frantically working, he started to come around. A few hours later we were able to take him home where I hovered over him all night. I was instructed to feed him every hour, keep him warm (his temp was still a little low) and not to give him insulin until we came back the next morning to check his bg. CBC confirmed no infections and the next day his bg was high (I think it was in the 300's?) so we resumed 1/2 his insulin that night and slowly brought it back up over the next few days. We resumed the kibble and the highest I am comfortable with giving him now is 2.5u.
I have spent all my freetime since the hypo on this board. Lurking and learning--what a great community! Cindy is sending a bg tester so I will start as soon as it arrives. Not sure how it will go, but I am determined to make sure Charlie never gets that sick again!! We will figure it out (I have to keep telling myself that
Sorry about the length of this post, but I wanted to introduce myself and give as much background as possible. I have set up a spreadsheet for C and included an extra sheet for his pre-bg testing info. It's listed as 'sheet 6' (can't figure out how to rename it yet--only used excel before yesterday)
My plan is to start testing--I will need a couple weeks to get C into a new routine. In the meantime I want to continue the d/m until I get the hang of testing and get some numbers compiled.
Once I get the hang of testing, it seems there are two options:
1 eliminate the kibble and start over with a small dose to work our way back to a proper number
2 slowly decrease both the kibble and the insulin
I would love any feedback on the issue--is there an option 3 that I haven't thought of?
I also have to figure out a suitable canned food. They don't like the new FF pink label chicken (they loved it before the label/formula was changed). They only eat it when the kibble is gone. I even tried mixing in some warm h20 and C just snubbed it off (too bad-saw someone post this idea and I thought it was a neat trick!) I live in a small town with only store of walmart so our choices are limited. I can stock up whenever I am near petsmart, but need a local backup. Plus the FF gets expensive at 5 cans a day!! Am I calculating that amount (without kibble) right? Charlie is 15lbs (should be 13-14) Molly is 9lbs?
The other big question I have right now is about C's insulin. I thought it was PZI, but was apparently wrong. I am so confused.
On the invoice they list it as:
PROZINC-Protamine Zinc Insulin Susp 100 Units/ml 5ml Inj
The vial says:
Protamine Zinc Insulin
PZI
I called the pharmacy today and they told me it's compounded with Humilin N
What does that mean? Can anyone help explain that?
There is so much I need to learn-thank you to everyone for reading this very long post! I hope with your help I can get Charlie on the right track! This is such a wonderful site!
btw charlie is very healthy otherwise; fat, but good!
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