Newly Diabetic Cat

[powerhaus27]

Hi Everyone,
My cat Tiki was diagnosed with diabetes about 6 weeks ago now. He spent 3 days in the hospital after being in ketoacidosis. He was put on lantus and was doing much better. He's on 2 units twice a day now, last vet visit last week his bg was still around 400, no ketones in the urine, and the urine glucose tests strips came back as exactly the levels the vet wanted to see, so she kept him at 2 units and thinks because tiki hates car rides that his numbers were elevated. Since Tiki has been on isulin he pees alot. Not increased frequency but large amounts of pee when he does go. About 4 days ago he all of a sudden stopped peeing a ton, and now today he seems to be just a bit lethargic. He's still eating well but not quite as much as he normally would. The vet has kept a close eye out for a bladder infection with the increased urination but testing last week revealed nothing. I know things can be up and down for a while before cats are regulated, but how can I tell if he is not being well regulated (too high or too low) or if he is developing a bladder infection or UTI? I'm not opposed to home monitoring, my vet also suggested it as something down the road. With the long acting insulins, what are the preferred times to test BG to figure out if he is well regulated (i.e. before breakfast or 4 hrs after meal, etc) Its just frustrating that he seems like everytime he's doing great, then something else pops up and then my pockets get lighter...

 

[Critter Mom]

Since Tiki has been on isulin he pees alot. Not increased frequency but large amounts of pee when he does go.

Hi Powerhaus and Tiki,

My cat, Saoirse, was recently diagnosed with FD, too.

I'm really glad you mentioned the above in your post. Saoirse had really bad PU/PD prior to diagnosis. Thankfully this has now resolved. However, though the frequency of her trips to the litterbox have dramatically decreased, she does seem to void a larger volume, which is a niggling concern to me and I keep forgetting to ask here and at the vet's about it.

Saoirse was on a dry diet before and now she's on low carb wet food. I've also switched my civvie to low carb wet, and her urinary output has also increased so I've been working on the principle that the change in Saoirse's micturition pattern is down to the diet change. I'd very much welcome any comments from board members about whether my surmise is right or not. There's so much to learn.

 

[atajev]

I would strongly recommend home testing. It's tricky at first, but it become easier very quickly. And you can use a human BG monitor, which costs very little to use regularly. I have one that I got online from American Diabetes Wholesale by Arkray that came free with a purchase of 200 testing strips for about $45. So, each test costs me about $.25 and we'll say lancets are about $.02 each. At $.27 for each test, I'm happy to do that 30 times a day if it saves me even one vet visit! You can get the same monitor from Walmart, too, if you have one. They're called ReliOn there. I think most people on these boards use that monitor because it is so inexpensive to use multiple times a day.

It is SUCH a relief to know what's going on with your cat and being able to get a sense of what's happening on a daily basis will be the foundation for getting him regulated and hopefully even into remission at some point.

What food are you feeding Tiki?

 

[atajev]

Also, the testing times for Lantus are before the shot in the morning (referred to around here as AMPS - AM pre-shot), after the evening shot (PMPS), and as close to the middle of the cycle as you can, which is 6 hours after the shot was given (referred to as +6). For Lantus, the insulin acts slowly and the cats tend to have a slow slide downward for the first half, and then back up again for the second. If that's not the case and there are jumps (regularly), that indicates that there is something amiss with either the food or insulin amounts and/or timing and people around here can help you to nail that down.

If you are able to do it, then doing a full curve with testing every 2 hours for one cycle (the 12 hours between shots) is REALLY helpful to getting a good picture of how your cat is responding. I try to do those myself at least once a week on a day when I'm home the whole day.

 

[powerhaus27]

Thanks for the Info, I'll pick one up at walmart. I switched Tiki from a dry food diet to a low carb wet food diet as soon as we got him back from the hospital, which was a bad idea cause he ended up going right back in with mild hypoglycemia, but now he's doing well on it. I've got him on the wellness grain free or core twice a day, and i have some innova evo low carb dry food to satisfy his urge to crunch on something. Is there some sort of sliding scale for units of lantus to give him based on his BG values? The vet had mentioned that she'd like to see him around 200 and would consider that fairly well regulated, is this what BG i should be aiming for?

 

[MollynSkooter]

My vet said the same thing about being happy with numbers in the low 200s....

However I believe (and one of the more experienced members can correct me), under 150 is where the pancreas really has time to heal...

At first, I was happy to go for a low 200 normal, but after joining this forum and reading about kitties who got OTJ and had BG in the normal range, I got greedy and wanted Skooter in that group. Boy, am I glad I did it! With the help of the TR group, Skooter has gone from 5U and dry food to 1.75U and wet food...

All the difference in the world....He is spending a lot more time in the healing numbers and I am seeing such a difference in his personality as well as his overall health.....

Is there some sort of sliding scale for units of lantus to give him based on his BG values?

The TIght Regulation group does have protocols in place for increasing and decreasing insulin based on BG. I am far too new at this myself to try to explain it or give any advice, but you could start posting in the TR group and the very knowledgeable and experienced people there will be able to help with dosing, etc.

Here is a link to the TR protocol

 

[BJM]

The best home monitoring is blood glucose testing with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart ReliOn Confirm, Confirm Micro, or Prime. Pick up one of those, the matching test strips, and 26-28 gauge lancets. Practice testing on an apple or your arm to get a feel for the process.

Then, when you're ready to test your cat, use a dab of Neosporin with pain relief on the outer, upper edge of the ear. Leave it there for a moment or so and wipe it off. Then gently brace the ear with a cotton ball or folded tissue and make a small prick between the vein which runs along the outer edge of the ear and the edge of the ear. Sometimes, you need to make 2 small pricks nest to each other. If necessary, snag the blood drop on a clean fingernail, and test from there.

 

[Mjh516]

My boy, Linus, is also newly diagnosed. He has been on insulin for about 4 weeks. Currently I give him 4 units, twice a day. He also has pancreatitis and is on antibiotics. I started giving him Methyl B-12 for his back leg problems, based on readings here on this message board.
He is a very big fella...20 pounds and is on low carb Friskies canned, which has been his food before diagnosis. He is ravenous and tries to get to the other two cats' food.
I check his numbers at home using a One Touch Ultra ... Nadir has been about 130-150, but it goes up to the mid 200s at other times. It has peaked at near 400.
I am not sure how to feed him...mini.meals? Twice a day? Bites of food with meds? How much total for a day?
I am learning SO from all the posts! Thanx.