Clarence & family
Member
Hi, my 13 year old Siamese Clarence got the diagnosis FD last week on 7/24/2024, and we’ve started insulin (proZinc) the next day. We’re in the Netherlands, so we use the other kind of measurements. I’ve tried to do my best to quickly make a spreadsheet for the last couple days which is posted in my signature, I hope I did it right and it makes things easier.
When at the vet his BG was 29.32, fructosamine was around 600. I took him to the vet because I noticed him peeing more, drinking more and he was a bit hungrier than usual (he’s normally a VERY picky eater). He lost a bit of weight too, but not huge amounts. He was also less active and what was the most obvious was that his third eyelids were suddenly nearly constantly up.
They did more bloodwork except the BG and fructosamine, but the vet said they saw nothing really concerning otherwise, even though there were other measurements that were out of range. They said this is most likely because of mild dehydration or a minor infection. T4 was also tested and was 15 (normal 10-60 nmol/L. The other measurements that were out of range were:
ALT (GTP) 162 (normal 12-130 U/L)
MCHC 372 (normal 281-358 g/L)
RDW 31 (normal 15 - 27%)
we have no idea yet what caused his diabetes, he’s never been obese and hasn’t been given steroids.
We’ve started with 1.5U of prozinc twice daily and I’ve switched him to low carb food. He was already on mostly wet food, though it was slightly higher in carbs than recommended here (12%). He sometimes ate dry food that did have a lot of carbs though, but in general he’s not a huge fan of dry food. Or most wet foods…
Before getting insulin he would eat nearly any kind of wet food (but refused dry food completely) as he was pretty hungry. Now after starting insulin he’s back to being extremely picky even though his BG is still mostly high. He seemed to be feeling better immediately after starting prozinc at first, but he’s going up and down with how he’s feeling in the past couple days, and today he’s not feeling well.
I’ve got a BG meter (human, freedom lite) and after some struggles he lets me check his BG now. Poking his ear is a very clear NO, as is any freehand poking. He lets me use the pen on the beans of his hind feet like a trooper though. The second day(Saturday) we got 11.0 at +5 after the morning insulin, and the third day the AMPS was 14.5. But he got very lethargic during the day, and when I tested at +6 he was at 3.1 and not feeling well. I tested every hour and kept offering him (low carb) food. He did become more active but BG rose only slowly before dipping down again. +6 was 3.1, +7 was 3.5, +8 was 3.8, and then +9 down to 2.8. I then gave him high carb food which at +10 brought his BG up to 6.1. At PMPS it was 10.8. I was advised on a Dutch forum (and I’m sooo grateful for their help because I wouldn’t have known what to do as the vet wasn’t very concerned) to not give him insulin in the evening, and to give him 0.5U the next morning (sunday, yesterday) and for the next 3 cycles.
BG was 22.5 after skipping the insulin, and I gave him the 0.5. Tested BG at +6 again and that gave us 16.7.
He was very active that day, wanted food in the morning and played a lot during the day. He also snuggled up against our other cat again, which he did a lot less often lately. In the evening he didn’t really want to eat, I’ve had to give him 3 options of wet food before the would finally eat. He did want treats though, so he’s not feeling too bad to eat but not hungry either. I gave him 0.5U again last night. This morning AMPS was 20.5, but he again did not want to eat anything except treats. He’ll beg when I open the fridge, but any cat food is immediately ‘burried’. He finally ate half a can when our other cat tried to eat his food. So I gave him 0.5U again. He’s also very quiet and wants to sleep, except when I get his leash to go for a walk in de garden. Then he’s very active and trots around, but inside it’s back to sleep on the floor. I must say the weather’s very warm atm here.
I just did BG again and it’s now 20.4 at +4, so really no change since the AMPS.
He also REALLY hates the insulin shots, distracting him does not work, and holding him is very hard (he won’t use his nails or bite, but struggles a lot). As soon as he feels the needle go through his skin he tries to get away, at first he tried to crawl away, then to run, and now he launches himself which is only causing more pain… he even bends the needles. I now turn him into a burrito using a towel, but that’s not helping his willingness to accepts the shots. Unfortunately I have to do this alone most of the time as I don’t always have help available, and most are scared to hold him anyway which doesn’t help.
I make sure to tent the skin (he has very thin tight skin so I do have to pull a bit), stick quickly and at an angle, and try not to inject to quickly. But even when restrained he jerks his neck back or up into the needle. I also make sure the insulin is mixed and give it some time to get to room temp and roll it between my hands, but he really hates it. So tips about better injection techniques are also very welcome.
When at the vet his BG was 29.32, fructosamine was around 600. I took him to the vet because I noticed him peeing more, drinking more and he was a bit hungrier than usual (he’s normally a VERY picky eater). He lost a bit of weight too, but not huge amounts. He was also less active and what was the most obvious was that his third eyelids were suddenly nearly constantly up.
They did more bloodwork except the BG and fructosamine, but the vet said they saw nothing really concerning otherwise, even though there were other measurements that were out of range. They said this is most likely because of mild dehydration or a minor infection. T4 was also tested and was 15 (normal 10-60 nmol/L. The other measurements that were out of range were:
ALT (GTP) 162 (normal 12-130 U/L)
MCHC 372 (normal 281-358 g/L)
RDW 31 (normal 15 - 27%)
we have no idea yet what caused his diabetes, he’s never been obese and hasn’t been given steroids.
We’ve started with 1.5U of prozinc twice daily and I’ve switched him to low carb food. He was already on mostly wet food, though it was slightly higher in carbs than recommended here (12%). He sometimes ate dry food that did have a lot of carbs though, but in general he’s not a huge fan of dry food. Or most wet foods…
Before getting insulin he would eat nearly any kind of wet food (but refused dry food completely) as he was pretty hungry. Now after starting insulin he’s back to being extremely picky even though his BG is still mostly high. He seemed to be feeling better immediately after starting prozinc at first, but he’s going up and down with how he’s feeling in the past couple days, and today he’s not feeling well.
I’ve got a BG meter (human, freedom lite) and after some struggles he lets me check his BG now. Poking his ear is a very clear NO, as is any freehand poking. He lets me use the pen on the beans of his hind feet like a trooper though. The second day(Saturday) we got 11.0 at +5 after the morning insulin, and the third day the AMPS was 14.5. But he got very lethargic during the day, and when I tested at +6 he was at 3.1 and not feeling well. I tested every hour and kept offering him (low carb) food. He did become more active but BG rose only slowly before dipping down again. +6 was 3.1, +7 was 3.5, +8 was 3.8, and then +9 down to 2.8. I then gave him high carb food which at +10 brought his BG up to 6.1. At PMPS it was 10.8. I was advised on a Dutch forum (and I’m sooo grateful for their help because I wouldn’t have known what to do as the vet wasn’t very concerned) to not give him insulin in the evening, and to give him 0.5U the next morning (sunday, yesterday) and for the next 3 cycles.
BG was 22.5 after skipping the insulin, and I gave him the 0.5. Tested BG at +6 again and that gave us 16.7.
He was very active that day, wanted food in the morning and played a lot during the day. He also snuggled up against our other cat again, which he did a lot less often lately. In the evening he didn’t really want to eat, I’ve had to give him 3 options of wet food before the would finally eat. He did want treats though, so he’s not feeling too bad to eat but not hungry either. I gave him 0.5U again last night. This morning AMPS was 20.5, but he again did not want to eat anything except treats. He’ll beg when I open the fridge, but any cat food is immediately ‘burried’. He finally ate half a can when our other cat tried to eat his food. So I gave him 0.5U again. He’s also very quiet and wants to sleep, except when I get his leash to go for a walk in de garden. Then he’s very active and trots around, but inside it’s back to sleep on the floor. I must say the weather’s very warm atm here.
I just did BG again and it’s now 20.4 at +4, so really no change since the AMPS.
He also REALLY hates the insulin shots, distracting him does not work, and holding him is very hard (he won’t use his nails or bite, but struggles a lot). As soon as he feels the needle go through his skin he tries to get away, at first he tried to crawl away, then to run, and now he launches himself which is only causing more pain… he even bends the needles. I now turn him into a burrito using a towel, but that’s not helping his willingness to accepts the shots. Unfortunately I have to do this alone most of the time as I don’t always have help available, and most are scared to hold him anyway which doesn’t help.
I make sure to tent the skin (he has very thin tight skin so I do have to pull a bit), stick quickly and at an angle, and try not to inject to quickly. But even when restrained he jerks his neck back or up into the needle. I also make sure the insulin is mixed and give it some time to get to room temp and roll it between my hands, but he really hates it. So tips about better injection techniques are also very welcome.
Last edited:
)