Newly diagnosed cat in south africa

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Lizl Scheepers

Member Since 2014
Hi there! My cat has just been diagnosed this morning although I have suspected it for a while. He had his first injection at 11am and it is now 4pm, he is still walking funny, resting in between walks and sleeping most of the time. His injection was 0.4ml. Is it possible that the first injection was too much insulin? Should I keep an eye and possibly reduce it to 0.3 tonight when his second injection is due? He is on Protaphane, and his name is Hansie and his blood sugar level when tested was 32.8.
 
0.4 ml is a lot of insulin. If it is a human insulin then it is U100 (100 units per ml) and you injected 40 units. That is way way too much. Ieven 4 units would be too high for a starting dose.
I would call the vent.
What insulin are you using? What does the label say?
 
I thought as much. They gave me protaphane which is a human insulin. He has eaten once since then, however I think I shall skip tonights' dosage all-together. He just sleeps and is very very wobbly. Should I call the vet, or should I give him some honey? I am thinking crisis mode here.
 
I would give honey but I would also call the vet. Also, do you know anyone who has a blood glucose meter so yo can test your cat? Most of us here test our cat's BG by pricking the ear.
Do you have a digital camera? If so can you photograph the syringe with the plunger pulled back like it was when you drew up the insulin. If yo injected 40 units I would suspect the cat would be in a coma.
For others:
PROTAPHANE®. Isophane (NPH) insulin suspension injection 100 IU/ml.
 
Thanks so much for the reply! I just took the cat to the vet and they will put it on a drip for the night, they tested the sugar now and it fell from 32.8 to 1.3! No wonder he looks bad. I will keep you posted, hold thumbs that he pulls through!
 
Oh goodness! I certainly am hoping for a good result for your poor kitty. We have had overdosed cats here who recover and go on to live long lives. Hoping that Hansie does well at the vet.

I'd make sure they are monitoring him carefully and giving him IV drips to bring up his levels. You might take an unwashed tee shirt of yours (that smells like you) or a favorite blanket for him to sleep on.
 
Most insulin doses for cats are in the 0.5 to 2 unit range.

Ideally, you use an insulin syringe marked for the concentration of insulin you have - U-100.
A U-100 insulin has 100 units per mL, so 2 units would be 0.02 mL.
 
Update on Hansie. This morning his sugar level increased to about 7. He remains on an intravenous glucose drip, they have given him his second insulin shot as well. They are monitoring him. He might go home late afternoon, depending on his prognosis. Thanks all! Ps, the dosage he receives is indeed 0.4 ml. It is measured on a micro-fine insulin syringe of 0.5ml / 0.5mn.
 
Here is an image of the marking on a 50 unit/1/2 ml insulin syringe. Are you saying you are drawing up the 40 unit/0.4 ml marking?
40 units of NPH insulin is very very high
 

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If your cat is getting 40 units of insulin, you need to find a new vet, now. I think that's probably as much insulin as a human gets. I hope I am wrong. I am sending get better soon vines to your kitty.
 
I hoped you were wrong too, but you were right! The darn vet (a new one) overdosed the poor cat! I went to the vet again this morning to have the sugar levels tested, and I told him that I was sure that the cat is getting way too much insulin, and showed him the amount the other vet told me to use. He almost had a fit! I was giving 40 units instead of 4! I brought down the amount to 25 myself before seeing the vet again. It has now been corrected and hopefully all will go well from here onwards. There is one vet I will not use again, that is for sure! Thanx for all the advice, if I hadn't found this site, I may have lost Hansie!
 
Cats that have had hypos, are usually very sensitive to insulin afterwards. I would probably reduce the dose even further and start home testing if you are not already to make sure he is safe. Best of Luck to you. I hope you post often, so we can help you in whatever way we can.
 
I'm glad you got it straightened out. 4 units is typically high for a starting dose. Can you get a human meter to so you can test Hansie's BG yourself>?
 
Good grief!
Glad you found us.

I too agree that a new vet, with some familiarity in treating Feline Diabetes, is in order and that 4u is a high starting dose - 40u takes my breath away.

I also encourage you to get a human glucometer and test strips asap and test Hansies blood glucose levels before giving him any insulin.

When it comes to your kittys blood glucose ''Better a day too high than an hour too low''

Please continue to post any questions or concerns as well as updates - this is the best place for information and help for treating Feline Diabetes
 
i'm going to join the chorus of *whew* glad Hansie survived that! I had a cat with a special condition requiring larger than typical amounts of insulin (acromegaly) and even he only got 15.5u. some cats need more than that, but no cat starts with that kind of dose.

I hope you will get the human glucometer - we can teach you how to check his blood sugar and learn to manage the insulin dose to keep him safe and well. I agree with Dyana, cats that have had a symptomatic hypo, which is what Hansie has just had, are often extremely sensitive to insulin afterwards. We would have had you start on a very small dose, typically 1-2 units, depending on the circumstances and weight, then work your way up to the correct dose. It is much safer that way.

Keep posting and asking questions!
 
Hi there! I got a human gluco meter and will do home testing. He has been 4 units for a day and a half now, and I can already see a difference. His tail is up, his fur is super soft, and he is almost his old self again. His sugar levels was standing on 11.4 this morning. The vet was satisfied and told me to continue with the 4 units for the rest of the week and bring him in on friday so they can monitor his levels every hour to see when and where it peaks etc. it is a huge relief now that he is on the path to recovery. I am feeding him hills w/d and he seems to like it, he was on hills before anyhow. Thank you everyone for the support! I will keep you updated! God bless.
 
Whew…..So glad the dose got reduced and he is doing better.

Unless you want to take him to the vet, you can start getting numbers at home - before each shot and midcycle - and give them to the vet. It will give him (and you) the same information and be a lot easier on your kitty and your wallet.

Here's a way to get your cat ready for testing: First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him/her lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he/she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!
 
Lizl Scheepers said:
I hoped you were wrong too, but you were right! The darn vet (a new one) overdosed the poor cat! I went to the vet again this morning to have the sugar levels tested, and I told him that I was sure that the cat is getting way too much insulin, and showed him the amount the other vet told me to use. He almost had a fit! I was giving 40 units instead of 4! I brought down the amount to 25 myself before seeing the vet again. It has now been corrected and hopefully all will go well from here onwards. There is one vet I will not use again, that is for sure! Thanx for all the advice, if I hadn't found this site, I may have lost Hansie!
Click to expand...
I would write a letter to the vet (or to the owner of the firm) who prescribed 40 units of insulin for your cat, hoping to get through to him that a cat should get way way way way less insulin, and not to do it again to another cat.
I don't know how you would word it (hopefully some others could chime in with their thoughts), but I don't want him to make that same mistake on the next cat.
 
OMG Lizl, i can relate. i too am in SA and have had a similar experience where i was told to give my cat way too much insulin and if it weren't for the angels on this board he would have died. He CERTAINLY would not be OTJ (Off the Juice) today and be doing as well as he is.
I don't know why the vets can't do just LITTLE research and ensure they are giving the correct advice to owners of FD cats :( It is heartbreaking to think of all the cats who are dying and suffering unnecessarily.

What I learned here which will help you too :
1. try a diet change (low to no carbs - i.e. raw food homemade diet) first UNLESS kitty's BG #'s are too high for too long and he is looking dodgy. Often a diet change can work miracles if the FD is caught quickly enough.
2. Start with 0.05U insulin. The one which i asked for was LANTUS. It is the best available in SA, and one can purchase it in little pens which is far more economical because hopefully your kitty will get OTJ and you won't need it for long. Hopefully.
3. NEVER shoot without taking BG first. NEVER EVER.
4. Ask for advice here, no matter how trivial the question may seem. The people here are incredibly knowledgeable and my cat (and my other kitty) owe their lives to them. Errol because he is now OTJ and 2nd kitty because I now know what to do to try and prevent FD.

I've PM'd you my email and phone number and if i can help in any way please let me know. Sending your kitty lots of cuddles. Be strong, you can beat this.

BTW, when you have a chance, make a spreadsheet for Hansie so that the folks here can give you the best advice. It's imperative to know how his BG is looking at just a glance. It also gives you a place to make notes so that you have all the necessary info easily on hand.
 
Dyana said:
Lizl Scheepers said:
I hoped you were wrong too, but you were right! The darn vet (a new one) overdosed the poor cat! I went to the vet again this morning to have the sugar levels tested, and I told him that I was sure that the cat is getting way too much insulin, and showed him the amount the other vet told me to use. He almost had a fit! I was giving 40 units instead of 4! I brought down the amount to 25 myself before seeing the vet again. It has now been corrected and hopefully all will go well from here onwards. There is one vet I will not use again, that is for sure! Thanx for all the advice, if I hadn't found this site, I may have lost Hansie!
Click to expand...
I would write a letter to the vet (or to the owner of the firm) who prescribed 40 units of insulin for your cat, hoping to get through to him that a cat should get way way way way less insulin, and not to do it again to another cat.
I don't know how you would word it (hopefully some others could chime in with their thoughts), but I don't want him to make that same mistake on the next cat.
Click to expand...

Hi Dyana, how are you :smile: remember i had a similar problem with Errol..? Well, i sent the vet a really polite letter explaining why home testing is paramount, that a diet change could have got Errol OTJ, and that 3U of Lantus is WAY too much to start on. Guess what? No reply. Unfortunately lack of knowledge and lack of caring seem to be par for the course and i lose sleep about all the cats who end up suffering and dying because of it :cry:
 
Lizl Scheepers said:
Hi there! My cat has just been diagnosed this morning although I have suspected it for a while. He had his first injection at 11am and it is now 4pm, he is still walking funny, resting in between walks and sleeping most of the time. His injection was 0.4ml. Is it possible that the first injection was too much insulin? Should I keep an eye and possibly reduce it to 0.3 tonight when his second injection is due? He is on Protaphane, and his name is Hansie and his blood sugar level when tested was 32.8.
Click to expand...

Lizl are you referring to SA measurements here? : 32.8mmol/L would be 590mg/dl
 
Wow so scary to think that any vet would look at that tiny animal and say give the same amount of insulin as a person.....so don`t know about diabetic and cats. This is a great place and so glad you found it. 4 years ago my vet wanted to give Trey 3 units 2 x a day and I did for a few day she was the one that gave me the link for FDMB and I started to come here and read and read and then I would not do as much as she said 3 weeks of no did not give him that much. She was not happy with me but after we agreed to disagree ....today she said I leave it up to you and FDMB on how to get Trey back on track.She told me the other day looks like Trey is doing really good keep it up she has a link to his SS and checks on him weekly.

Tons of prayers and healing green light to your (((Baby)))) stick with the angels here and he may even go into remission Trey did 4 years ago today he is back but sure it is for only a short while.....Hugs and best of luck Kath ~O)
 
He didn't become diabetic over night and he won't become controlled overnight, unfortunately.

The difficulty standing and walking may be diabetic neuropathy. This can be corrected, slowly, by appropriate insulin, time, and methylcobalamin, a specific form of Vitamin B-12. It is available over the counter so you may be able to find it in your city or on the internet. Look for a form with no sweeteners. A trace amount of flour is too small to have much effect when given with a lowcarb mean.

The other possible cause is low potassium. A blood test at the vet could determine that. Potassium is one of the minerals the body uses to work properly, along with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and so on. Depending on how much you like to read and how much having information helps you feel more comfortable dealing with physical issues, a college book on physiology may be helpful (I was taking a course when my first diabetic cat happened.)
 
Hi all! Had Hansie at the vet today so they could monitor the glucose curve. First reading was 9, then 11 it was followed by 15 and ended up with 19. Vet was bit concerned and pushed up the dosage to 5 units, we will go back on Tuesday to have a follow up visit. Otherwise he is doing much much better, he picked up a bit of weight, I think the progress is amazing. Will keep you posted! Hope everyone hs a great weekend!
 
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