Kathy and Mr. B.E.
Member Since 2017
Hello all. Glad to be here...well not glad, but glad you're here for newbies.
Nearly 16 years ago two tiny kittens showed up at my mom’s house, apparently having been dumped in the park nearby. I ended up keeping them, naming the female “Miss Kitty” (whom I lost last summer to cancer) and the male “Mr. Big Eyes.” His eyes aren’t really that big, they just always look fearful because he never really recovered from being abandoned. I’m surprised he’s allowing me to care for his diabetes, but that’s probably because he’s too worn out to put up a struggle—poor thing.
I feel bad that I didn’t notice signs of diabetes sooner. He’s had CKD for two years, so he drinks extra water; he weighed 20 pounds three years ago and I’d been dieting him, but didn’t realize he’d lost too quickly recently; and even when I took him to the vet a couple months ago about skin sores I didn’t ask about his difficulty walking since I assumed it was old age/arthritis. When I finally googled about his “funny” walking I realized the most likely cause was diabetes.
I also feel bad about what I’m feeding him now. When I was at the vet two months ago she said to feed K/D, so I fed canned K/D for a month, but due to the expense I discovered Hi Tor Neo, a non-prescription food for CKD which happened to be only 4% carbs. I’ve been reading articles and posts on this board for several weeks, so I knew that was a better food. Unfortunately I got scared and decided to get him on insulin quickly while there was still some life left in him, so I left him at the clinic, never got to talk to the vet, and none of the staff would listen to my pleas to feed him the low carb food while he was there. So he is eating K/D canned again now.
I do plan to try to find a vet on board with low carb food as well as home testing and one that’s easier to talk to. In the meantime, I thought I’d be OK feeding the amount of K/D and giving the insulin as prescribed: half a can of food and 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. That only lasted for the first 5 days or so, then he didn’t want to eat as much. I’ve been giving just a little under 2 units of insulin, but I realize that’s not proportionately correct since he’s eating more like 1/3 can instead of ½ can.
I’ve finally managed to do a few BG tests this week, still very nervous, but he’s letting me do it. I tested the past 3 evenings before feeding and giving insulin and the numbers ranged 211-217. Today I’m home sick and tested 6 hours after his insulin this morning. I expected I would see a low number, but it was 284. (I should say about 3 hours after he ate he seemed to want food so I gave a snack, just a couple teaspoons of food. I don’t know if that had much affect on the BG.) I tested again 2 hours later—8 since insulin this morning and it was 253. (These tests are with a human glucometer.)
I’m afraid I’m giving too much insulin and maybe this is “bouncing,” I’m thinking I should back down to 1 or 1 ½ units for safety until I get more comfortable at testing and since I’m normally not home during the day. Does this seem reasonable? Eventually I’d like to switch back to the low carb food, but I don’t want to add too many variables now since I’m on my own until I have time to find another vet. (I know through a friend that my vet doesn’t approve of home testing, although I haven’t talked to the vet since the day I went in when I suspected diabetes. Her staff just phoned about starting insulin and talked to me when I went back to pick him up.)
Sorry to go on and on! I’m so glad I googled into this message board from the catinfo website.
Thanks,
Kathy & Mr. Big Eyes
Nearly 16 years ago two tiny kittens showed up at my mom’s house, apparently having been dumped in the park nearby. I ended up keeping them, naming the female “Miss Kitty” (whom I lost last summer to cancer) and the male “Mr. Big Eyes.” His eyes aren’t really that big, they just always look fearful because he never really recovered from being abandoned. I’m surprised he’s allowing me to care for his diabetes, but that’s probably because he’s too worn out to put up a struggle—poor thing.
I feel bad that I didn’t notice signs of diabetes sooner. He’s had CKD for two years, so he drinks extra water; he weighed 20 pounds three years ago and I’d been dieting him, but didn’t realize he’d lost too quickly recently; and even when I took him to the vet a couple months ago about skin sores I didn’t ask about his difficulty walking since I assumed it was old age/arthritis. When I finally googled about his “funny” walking I realized the most likely cause was diabetes.
I also feel bad about what I’m feeding him now. When I was at the vet two months ago she said to feed K/D, so I fed canned K/D for a month, but due to the expense I discovered Hi Tor Neo, a non-prescription food for CKD which happened to be only 4% carbs. I’ve been reading articles and posts on this board for several weeks, so I knew that was a better food. Unfortunately I got scared and decided to get him on insulin quickly while there was still some life left in him, so I left him at the clinic, never got to talk to the vet, and none of the staff would listen to my pleas to feed him the low carb food while he was there. So he is eating K/D canned again now.
I do plan to try to find a vet on board with low carb food as well as home testing and one that’s easier to talk to. In the meantime, I thought I’d be OK feeding the amount of K/D and giving the insulin as prescribed: half a can of food and 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. That only lasted for the first 5 days or so, then he didn’t want to eat as much. I’ve been giving just a little under 2 units of insulin, but I realize that’s not proportionately correct since he’s eating more like 1/3 can instead of ½ can.
I’ve finally managed to do a few BG tests this week, still very nervous, but he’s letting me do it. I tested the past 3 evenings before feeding and giving insulin and the numbers ranged 211-217. Today I’m home sick and tested 6 hours after his insulin this morning. I expected I would see a low number, but it was 284. (I should say about 3 hours after he ate he seemed to want food so I gave a snack, just a couple teaspoons of food. I don’t know if that had much affect on the BG.) I tested again 2 hours later—8 since insulin this morning and it was 253. (These tests are with a human glucometer.)
I’m afraid I’m giving too much insulin and maybe this is “bouncing,” I’m thinking I should back down to 1 or 1 ½ units for safety until I get more comfortable at testing and since I’m normally not home during the day. Does this seem reasonable? Eventually I’d like to switch back to the low carb food, but I don’t want to add too many variables now since I’m on my own until I have time to find another vet. (I know through a friend that my vet doesn’t approve of home testing, although I haven’t talked to the vet since the day I went in when I suspected diabetes. Her staff just phoned about starting insulin and talked to me when I went back to pick him up.)
Sorry to go on and on! I’m so glad I googled into this message board from the catinfo website.
Thanks,
Kathy & Mr. Big Eyes
. Instead of the Profile information, put some info in your 
