Newly diagnosed diabetic cat - looking for some insight

[Carolynn2021]

Hello, my 13 yo Siamese cat was just diagnosed as a diabetic with pancreatitis 3 weeks ago. She has always been a very vocal and spunky/ active cat, even in her senior years. Always been at around 7lbs weight. It all started when one night she was laying in bed with me and I felt some wetness. Turned the lights on and she was laying in her urine. Then noticed that she had urinated on an office chair as well. (I should also add that her appetite increased too shortly before all this). She wasn’t acting herself and seemed very irritated to be touched(very odd as she is very affectionate). over the next couple of days she kept to herself for the most part and at one point spent going in and out of her cat box 10x over the course of an hour, and also urinating outside the box. She was brought into the vet where they ran a blood test, urine test, and an x-ray. While waiting for the results they prescribed her some mild antibiotics and pain meds. 2 days later it was confirmed she was diabetic and has pancreatitis. No uti and the x-ray didn’t show any stones. I was instructed to give her 1 unit every 12hrs and fortiflora with her feeding. Ok, no problem. I figured it was going to take sometime before she begins to come around. It’s been 3 weeks now(dosage increased to 2 units every 12 hrs now with fortiflora) and my cat is like a zombie all the time and drools quite a bit whenever she is laying down(never happened before). Last night I gave her her insulin only to discover that I didn’t inject her properly. Didn’t try again in case she actually did receive some of it. She cuddled and slept in my bed for the first time in weeks last night and was a little spunky and interacting with the fam this morning. This is confusing. What is going on with my cat? Is it normal for diabetic cats to drool? I’d like to start checking her blood sugar levels daily, when should I be doing this(I’ve purchase the alphatrak machine)? Is it possible she was misdiagnosed? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated thanks
Carolynn

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Welcome, Carolynn. It is really important that you learn to "home test. I started out with the AlphaTrac 2 and was very happy with it but the test strips are really expensive. You need to set up a spreadsheet so the experts can see how your kitty is doing. I don't know about the drooling but these folks are here to help. I'll try to get one or more on board. @Wendy&Nekom @JaxBenji, @Butters & Lyla. This sweet woman needs your advice.

 

[Carolynn2021]

Welcome, Carolynn. It is really important that you learn to "home test. I started out with the AlphaTrac 2 and was very happy with it but the test strips are really expensive. You need to set up a spreadsheet so the experts can see how your kitty is doing. I don't know about the drooling but these folks are here to help. I'll try to get one or more on board. @Wendy&Nekom @JaxBenji, @Butters & Lyla. This sweet woman needs your advice.

Thank you so much Susie! I picked up a new alphatrak 2 unit recently and I started a log tonight of her glucose levels. I should be checking her glucose before each insulin injection, correct?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome here. You'll notice that most of us have some information in our signature plus a spreadsheet where we log our blood sugar tests. Those blood sugar values in the spreadsheet are very helpful to the rest of us being able to help you figure out the insulin dose. Other information we'd like to know include the type of insulin, what type of food you are feeding, meter type. More information in this post: New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

It's great you've got a meter and are thinking of home testing. It's the best way to keep her safe. If you need any help with testing, we have a lot of tip here: Hometesting Links and Tips

Note, we normally just change the dose by 0.25 or 0.5 units at a time. Cats are sensitive to small changes in dose. Your testing will tell you if the current dose is too much.

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Thank you so much Susie! I picked up a new alphatrak 2 unit recently and I started a log tonight of her glucose levels. I should be checking her glucose before each insulin injection, correct?

Absolutely! The most important test are the ones before the injections just to make sure kitty can handle the insulin. Also advised to test @+3, +6 and +9. Try to get some pm test in as well. I am not very good at doing that so don't refer to my spreadsheet. You need to get your spreadsheet and signature set up so we can monitor your glucose test. Make sure you look at Wendy's link above: New? How You Can Help Us Help You!