Newly diagnosed diabetic cat questions!

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Ariane Arndt

Member Since 2020
Hi everyone!
My cat Callie is a young ripe age of 16 and she had been loosing weight like crazy despite eating a lot, so I suspected something was up. Ran her to the vet Tuesday and found out she was diabetic! The vet told me to give her 1 unit of vetsulin twice a day, which I started doing yesterday. I have been switching her to fancy feast classics upon reading this site, which she absolutely loves! But she's also been having a bit of diarrhea, is this normal? She ate dry food most her life, so perhaps her body is having trouble adjusting.
I also bought a relion glucometer and have been testing her blood sugar (though she definitely hates it). It was 450 at the vet, 492 yesterday morning before I gave her her first insulin shot. About 90min after her first shot I tested her again and she went down to 240! It works!
This morning though her blood sugar was at 415 around 90 minutes after her shot. About how long does it take for the vetsulin to kick in and would it be a bad idea to give her another 1U shot to try to bring her blood glucose down some more?
 
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Welcome, and yes, it would be a very bad idea to give a second shot. Never, ever give a second shot.

Giving a second dose is double dosing. Vetsulin is a harsh insulin for cats. It hits hard and fast. (There are better insulin alternatives.) What you are likely seeing today is a reaction or "bounce" from the 240 yesterday. A bounce happens when cats go down to a number their bodies are not used to. It can take a day or more to clear a bounce. Have patience.
 
Here is some information about transitioning to wet food. Dry food is higher in carbs and not all that suitable for a diabetic cat. However, you want to transition to low carb food gradually and test often (it is so fantastic you are testing – that is how you keep your Callie safe). Switching to low carb food can drop a cat's numbers by up to 100 points.

Some initial readying about vetsulin.
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CANINSULIN/VETSULIN

And some general information about what to do about low numbers and how to set up a signature and a spreadsheet. We are data driven here and a signature and spreadsheet are the first places we look so that we can give the right answer to any questions or respond to situations. If you need help setting stuff up, let us know. There are people who can help.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

You have come to the best place you never thought you would be. We can help you keep Callie safe.
 
WELCOME TO FDMB We are a community of dedicated kitty cat lovers, that are tied together, by this disease called diabetes!
We are so glad you found us!
First off, you are way ahead of the game THANK YOU for learning and PRACTICING home testing. It can literally save Callies life.
You've already received great advice from Red shes one of our best!
You will be asked to set up your signature. That will give our helpers, pertinent information at a glance. Also a spreadsheet. We can all view to give you, the very best advice for Callie.
You can find that info here:
Suggestions, Tech Support & Testing Area

Again WELCOME to the best darn site to help you help Callie!:bighug:
jeanne
 
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Welcome to the best group of people you will ever meet.
One thing if the vet didn't mention after feeding you have to wait at least 20-30 minutes before shooting Vetsulin.
Please read the links Red & Rover gave you about Vetsulin
Never ever give an extra dose of insulin
The Fancy Feast Classics are good
Just in case Callie ever drops too low pick up a few cans of the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers which are higher in carbs in case you need to bring her BG up
So glad you are home testing

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs
 
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UNDERSTANDING 'ONSET', PEAK / NADIR and DURATION'
  • Caninsulin (Vetsulin) can quite often start to have an effect quite quickly after it’s been injected. The point at which the insulin starts to drop the BG is calledonset. After onset, BG will continue to drop for a time, and the process may speed up. Be aware that Caninsulin (Vetsulin) can sometimes drop the BG quite fast.
  • The lowest BG level of the cycle is referred to either as peak (peak insulin activity) or nadir (lowest BG). With Caninsulin (Vetsulin) you may see the peak/nadir of the cycle at around 4 - 4.5 hours after the shot. But it may be earlier or later than this. It may occur as early as 3 hours after the shot, and as late as 7 hours after.
  • The length of time that insulin remains active (lowers BG) in your cat’s system is called the duration. Caninsulin (Vetsulin) typically has a duration of 8 - 12 hours (depending on the individual cat).
  • If you learn to ‘home test’ you should be able to identify when onset, peak /nadir, and duration typically occur on a given dose of insulin. Knowing these patterns can be extremely helpful
 
Hi -welcome:)

I was using vetsulin when Dre was first dx. Like others said it is a hard insulin for a cats system it was made for dogs and cats metabolize it much faster. At +3 Dre would drop like a rock and go too low then bounce from the low and be sky high. I have used all 4 of the main ones-I settled on lev because was a later onset for him.
Also Dre became extremely depressed on this vetsulin insulin. However if its working for you thats all that matters if kitty is happy. If you do switch (lantus and lev help to flatten out the cycle)
After you get more data collected from the tests you will know more about the cycle-like if is a low preshot number you can try to slow it with a little high carb food and test to see if that was helping.
If your not getting the results you want there are some very smart people in these L and L forums:bighug:
 
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