newbie with diabetic cat

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hawkeyeal

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I have a diabetic cat diagnosed about 3 months ago. He was at over 400 at the vet at that time. Started at 2 ml /mg? whatever the notches are. Next trip to vet was a 393 and upped dosage to 4. Increased about 3 weeks ago to 6. He does not seem to be doing any better. Fed this morning and a half hour later was at 547. Checked 5 hours after that and at 322. We home test at different times and will use the spreadsheet to post some numbers. He is starving all the time and just wolfs his food. We are feeding the fancy feast classic and cooked chicken, no dry food or any carbs for the last 3 months. I di pick up a new vial today so will use the new stuff and hope for better results tomorrow.
 
Hi there and welcome!
So glad to hear that you are home testing... I believe this makes all the difference for the health and care of you kitty.

What kind of insulin are you using? 6 units sounds like quite a bit, and may actually be too much. Too much insulin will cause higher bg's (blood glucose levels)

Also, with high numbers you want to be checking for ketones in the urine. You can find these strips at any pharmacy or drug store in with diabetic supplies. Some recommend filling a litter with some of the little pebbles for fish tanks to collect the urine... with my little guy I have been able to scoot a short small plastic container (like a cream cheese tub) under him when he's getting ready to pee.. but he's not your usually kitty. The stick will read at 15 or 30 seconds depending on the brand.

His bg will always be higher after eating, so it's best to get a reading before food, and then it depends on what type of insulin you are using when you next want to check.

Hang in there... you have found a wonderful place here full of helpful, cat loving, kind folks.
Amanda
 
Should have said that I was using LANTUS. Have read that another was better for cats but could not remember the name when I was at the pharmacy this AM. Pharmacist said to call him with name and if he could get it he would.

Al
 
lantus is a great insulin but you benefit by moving up in dosing in small increments.
go to the lantus forum http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9, and under "TOPICS" look at the stickies provided there. the info in those stickies will help you tremendously. concerned that you've passed the correct dose by jumping up to 6u and are headed for a big crash if you don't start over and move up slowly as recommended.
within the stickies you'll find the Tilly (german diabetic cat forum) protocol for lantus and levemir. it describes how you go up in dose by 0.25u or 0.5u increments depending on the range of blood glucose readings you get at home.
guessing you're already home testing? if so, between that and giving lower carb wet food you've made an excellent start. next thing to do is work on that tilly protocol with your cat.
welcome aboard!
 
Well, I posted the spreadsheet but forgot to copy the information so I could post it. Up to that point I was doing ok.

Al
 
Do you mean you didn't share/publish it? Did you save your copy to your favorites? If so, you can go back to it, go over in the right hand corner, choose Share, Publish to the Web. Then copy the url that comes up in the blue box. Paste it into your signature.

If you need help, I'd be glad to help you.
 
Thanks to Sue & Oliver for the help in getting the spreadsheet on line. Had a nice phone conversation and learn things here every day. Thanks Sue!

Al
 
Hi Al,

Your spreadsheet has a few nice blues. But you are missing pre shots. It is very important to know what his number is before you shoot. You want to be sure it is safe to shoot the dose you are planning on. Once you have the pre shot numbers, that mid cycle number will make more sense. In that blue space on the spreadsheet, you can put the amount of insulin you gave for the am pre shot and the pm.

Does that make sense?

You can open up a few other threads and look at other people's spreadsheets so you can see how they have theirs filled out.
 
For the amps, you would have to know Tuffy as he is not very cooperative. We do have a few and they are on the spreadsheet, a couple when he was at the vet. He is an office cat along with Roofy so we give him the am shot when we come in at 6:30 and pm shot when we leave at 4:30. I posted yesterdays pmps as such where earlier I had been posting as +10. We had backed off from the 6.0 we were giving to 4.0 based on some comments here. We did this so we could increase in small increments to find a more stable amount in his chart. After we get a reading this morning, will probably increase to 4.5 for the next week.

Al
 
Lantus takes a very disciplined approach. Increases in dose are usually .25. You need the mid cycle number to see what is really happening. And shooting less than 12 hours apart can create a problem with the shed. (posting at +10 is accurate and important - don't just post it as a pmps)

It looks like your situation is unusual as he is a office cat. Is there any chance you can take him home at night and be on track for the am/pm test? As for being uncooperative, you can try the burrito. (Wrap him up in a towel with only his head showing) or the clothespin trick: Clothespin trick

I'd suggest you get some advice from the Lantus forum. It may be that Lantus is not the insulin you can use given your situation. PZI is a more flexible insulin as it is not stuck on the 12/12 schedule (no shed).
 
Thanks Sue. I have 4 droolers at home so taking him home does not work. On the spreadsheet, in the blue area I have listed the dosage given and only changed it when we changed dosage. I took your advice and went to the Lantus board and will see what kink of info I get there. Thanks for your help.

Al
 
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