? Newly Diagnosed and losing sleep

[Booger's Mom]

My 7 year old domestic long haired, Booger, was recently diagnosed with diabetes on Feb 20, 2018. Though his levels have been higher recently until his glucose curve on Friday 3/9 when the vet upped his insulin dose to 3 units two times a day from 2 units twice a day. I am concerned that he may bottom out or something while I am asleep. I am barely getting 3-4 hours of sleep a day. I am so overwhelmed and worried. For the first time since his diagnosis, I checked his blood sugar about 5 hours after his shot and he was 183 which I know if fairly good compared to his 300 and 400 readings before. The vet said that he never got out of the 300's the whole day when she had him for the glucose curve. I am glad to see that 3 units may be helping him but I am still concerned about him when I sleep.

Also, I saw the post about friskys and fancy feast as well. I read the article about not feeding Purina pro plan dm as it is poor quality and this is the exact food the vet prescribed for him. I have also heard that there are several brands under fire right now because of traces of the euthanasia drug being found in the food. I am concerned about feeding him Fancy Feast now. I am not seeing the carb % on the cans I have here. Am I missing something? How do I know how many carbs are in these foods?

 

[Sharon14]

I lost a lot of sleep at first, and still do on occasion, but it will get better and home testing is a great first step! Many of us feed multiple times a day and that helps even out the blood sugars. To help with that while you’re gone or asleep you can use a timed autofeeder, like THIS.
This is the food chart we use, look for foods under 10 carbs
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
What insulin is Booger on? Does he have any other medical issues? What meter are you using?

 

[Booger's Mom]

Thank you @Sharon14 for your reply. He is on Vetsulin, 3 units twice a day. No other medical issues and I first bought a Freestyle lite meter because I was reading that the strips for it are the same strips that are used with the Alphatrak 2 monitor and made by the same manufacturer. Then I read that people were getting different readings with it than the Alphatrak 2 and that you just need to do some comparison testing to see just how off the two were. I then decided that instead of wasting my time and money at the moment that I should just get the Alphatrak 2 and get the freestyle test strips later to do comparisons. When I just checked him before his insulin shot, the meter just read "HI" which was alarming to me.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Thank you @Sharon14 for your reply. He is on Vetsulin, 3 units twice a day. No other medical issues and I first bought a Freestyle lite meter because I was reading that the strips for it are the same strips that are used with the Alphatrak 2 monitor and made by the same manufacturer. Then I read that people were getting different readings with it than the Alphatrak 2 and that you just need to do some comparison testing to see just how off the two were. I then decided that instead of wasting my time and money at the moment that I should just get the Alphatrak 2 and get the freestyle test strips later to do comparisons. When I just checked him before his insulin shot, the meter just read "HI" which was alarming to me.

If you set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here to log BG data it makes it so much easier for us to give advice. Make sure you use the template for a pet meter if you're sticking with the AT meter.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

 

[Olive & Paula]

Do worry about comparing strips, it will make you crazy. Meters can have a 20% variance. I use Alpha Trac and human meter. My kitty I used AT meter, must say results were spot on with a blood draw that was sent to lab. Eventually I switched to human because cost of strips are more affordable and available in the store, this is what you use most of. You can only order AT strips (unless you use freestyle) so make sure you always have more than 200 strips in house. For daily testing is use human meter(walmart brand relion) micro or confirm which is the same size blood drop as AT. I order 400 at a time and if I should run out I can get them at the store.

The DM food isn't best quality but as long as it's the pate and not the once in sauces the carbs are ok. Fancy Feast pate is fine carb wise also.

It's normal to be nervous, overwhelmed, scared. I just adopted a second kitty and feel as if I forgot everything I learned treating my first kitty. Hang in there, you are helping you kitty to feel better.

 

[Sharon14]

Don’t be too alarmed at a HI reading this early in the treatment. It could be from what we call a bounce which is when their BG drops low and their body responds by releasing glucose and thus the high number. This is why we stress getting a test in during the cycle whenever possible. How is he doing now?