Newbie with a question

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ebuckley

ebuckley

Member Since 2014
Hi all. I have really, truly appreciated all the information here as I am faced with this for the first time. Not fun! Thank you so much.

Has anyone experienced this? Lately my cat has been pretty agitated and crying to be fed a lot. I am really trying to stick to a set feeding so that I can get a handle on her numbers. This morning was 333 before breakfast and insulin (1 u Lantus) and +2 hours was 270. I have no problem not caving to her demands but I do worry that she is trying to tell me something the numbers can't.

We started insulin about 3 weeks ago. First week was 0.5 u bid. Bumped up to 1.0 bid about 2 weeks ago due to high reading at vet. I only recently got the home testing down to a non traumatic event and have just begun to be more systematic about it. We had one very low reading (41 yikes!) a few days ago and last night before the pm shot (+12) it was 131 so I held off on the insulin and gave her a small dinner. I worry about crashing while I am at work during the day.

Thanks again for any thoughts.
 
A reading of 41 would have immediately earned her a dose reduction. So you would want to roll her dose back to .75u if not clear back to .5u now that you are testing at home. Which meter are you using?

How often are you feeding her throughout the day? There are a couple of reasons she's driving you nuts for food. 1) An unregulated diabetic is literally starving with a full dish of food because they can't properly use the food they're eating. 2) If she's dropping too low or too fast nature has her hard wired to eat to slow down the drop or bring her back to safe numbers again. 3) She's just not being fed enough.

What is she currently eating and how much?

I personally have 3 diabetics all who I adopted as diabetics. Along with 13 nondiabetics & a large drooler..So once you get the hang of things you're going to find this disease isn't nearly as bad as it feels right now.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Hi. I'm a newbie too! This forum and web site have been a lifesaver in helping me with my kitty Max. I think Mel has some great advice to roll the dose back a little to .75u and see how that goes. Your kitty's dose may be in between .5u and 1.u.
 
Agree, kitty earned the reduction.

Do need to know what, how much and when is she eating?

Feeding schedules vary with owners and I personally do not think there is any 'right' one. Some feed a couple times a day, some more meals with set times.

My Lucian eats when he wants. He was a grazer, that ate dry, any time he so desired, for 14 yrs. He does not understand the concept of eating twice a day. So I feed him when he's hungry. Of course, I have that option, I'm home due to disability. If he is running high, he always eats more. As Mel said, they can't utilize the food and it takes a while in good numbers for that to change. It doesn't change as soon as they hit 100. It took a couple months for mine to slow down, but he'll still eat more and drink more if he's numbers are high for a couple days.

If you are away at work, you could leave a snack maybe. A lot of members use electronic, timed feeders, so meals can be had while they are away. Some freeze cat food and leave the frozen pucks to thaw until dinner time. Whatever the issue, we can probably help you figure something out.
 
Thank you all for the thoughts. I also see (now) that I might have posted my question in the wrong forum. Sorry about that. I am happy to move to the other forum.

She is 13 y/o, 7.5 pounds (but underweight for her). Survived a nasty cryptococcous infection about 6 years ago.

Feeding schedule is as follows

Breakfast btwn 7-8 with shot:
* 3 treats (grocery store kind)
* a very small amount of a relatively low carb kibble (Evo) while I get coffee going
* 1/3-1/2 small can of low carb wet food (Soultistic brand)

Lunch at 3 if I am home, otherwise around 5 after work:
* 1/3 large can low carb wet food (Soultistic brand)

Bedtime dinner btwn 7-8 with shot:
* 1/3-1/2 small can of low carb wet food (Soultistic brand)

We have skipped lunch a few days since I wondered if I should only feed her when she was getting a shot. But I started lunch feedings again after the day she was 41 at her lunch time.

I am also giving 3 treats with testing if between meals because it is still pretty awful for her.

This feeding routine has been the same for years other than the recent switch from dry to mostly canned as per the recommendations I read for diabetic cats. We have had to switch proteins a few times over the years due to irritable bowel trouble with her sister.

She doesn't usually eat all the kibble in the am so that stays in the bowl. I can't leave much food out because her sister will vacuum it up instantly (she is another story lol). Keeping them separated would be tough due to litter box.

This cat has never been an over eater or overweight and was pretty active for a 13 y/o indoor cat.

The blood sugar problem started while on Taste of the Wild salmon recipe, which I think is fairly low carb for a dry food. She in initially gained a little weight, then started losing it fast. I thought it was bowel issues like her sister was going through and didn't click on the warning signs of the increased urine output. Took her to the vet just to check her out before playing new-food-hopscotch (again!) and her blood sugar was over 400. Switched to Evo and waited a week, blood sugar still high (her sister's bowl issues got better, tho). Started Lantus 0.5 bid for a week. Did not test at home. Recheck still over 400 (am fasting). Vet said to bump to 1.0. Fructosime results were "fair". Then I found you guys :-) and went out and bought a meter (pharmacy chain brand).

Thanks again.
 
When my Max was first diagnosed and I didn't know about this site or home testing, I took him once a week to the vet and he tested over 400 every time, even though we were increasing the dose. We kept increasing the dose based on the high #'s. It was a different insulin, but, at one point, Max was up to 4u twice a day. Yikes! I became very, very discouraged and then I found this site, learned about the importance of the low carb wet food diet and home testing. What a difference that made in the #'s! Max gets very stressed at the vet's and his BG can shoot up 200 points or so. Anyway, the diet change and home testing helped me get Max doing so much better. I really feel like the caring members on this site helped me save Max. On testing, in the beginning, I can't even describe what a stinker Max was to test. I couldn't do it by myself and had to have someone help hold him for me every time. I've shed a tear or two or more over it. I would read about people that said their cats got used to testing and it was no problem, but I was like nu uh you don't know my cat. That's never going to happen. Anyway, miracle of miracles, Max has gotten used to it and I can test him now on my own pretty good most times. He loves treats, so I give him freeze dried chicken or shrimp. Now, I can shake the treat container and he'll come at a trot even knowing there's a test involved. There is also something to be said that it seems like over time the cats ears learn to bleed more easily. I rub quite a bit in a cuddley way to get the circulation going, especially if the ears are cool.
 
I would look at food first. Unless treats are freeze dried or dehydrated meats with no additive then they probably aren't low carb. I am not sure what kind you are getting at the grocery store. Second I am not sure how many carbs are in the soulistic foods. I tried some in the beginning but it sent bg soaring. EVO dry food is somewhat low carb but not a great part of any cats diet for many reasons other than the carb content. It can cause UTIs and irritable bowels. If you can wean both cats off the dry food, you could see improvement in their overall health. Your sugar cat is still skinny because the diabetes is starving her. Weight gain happens when they are regulated. Holly's Max is doing much better after the switch to all canned food. I add lots of water to mine. Mel is really great at looking at numbers and being able to advise on dose changes. She's had lots of practice - not only on her gang but on all our sugarcats. Keep asking questions. There is a lot of experience here. We also get a lot of food information from catinfo.org.

I admire your tenacity in getting your cat in a more systematic attitude about testing and shooting.
 
Holly and Robin have both given you great info.

Let me tell you about the beginnings of testing Lucian. :o He was a terror! He, literally, fought me tooth and nail and I got the worst of it. :shock: Lucian has never been a lapcat, so he wasn't one to sit and let you love on him, much less test him. I found out about using a bath towel and making him a 'Kitty Burrito' so he couldn't fight me. That took care of one problem. :thumbup But I couldn't get blood! Someone told me about a rice sock, heated in the microwave and applied to the ear, because cold ears don't bleed well. Even warm ones don't do that much better until they get accustomed to testing. Took care of that, nice warm ear. :-D Still no blood! Half the time I couldn't even hit the ear! ohmygod_smile I was using a lancing device, actually 2 of them and they were making me crazy! After 10 days of battles and more tears than I care to admit, I threw the lancing device across the room, grabbed a new lancet and poked his ear freehand. Got blood! :thumbup No more problems! Except it took Lucian 6 weeks of being a burrito before he decided not to battle with me and now he never even moves a muscle when he's tested. Been over a year since we started. Between the towel, the rice sock and using the lancet freehand, all the problems were overcome for us.

A lot of members use a lancing device without issues. They also give freeze dried meat treats during shots or testing to keep kitty occupied and make them look forward to the process.

But by far, the most important thing is they must have low carb foods. There is a zero carb and very low carb dry food available online, but it's too pricey for us. Someone could probably give you the name, since I have forgotten, if you're interested. There has been some discussion on the boards about it and about the ingredients.
 
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