Newly Diagnosed. Seeking help. Frustrated.

[Nick&Jax]

Good Morning,

My Name is Nick and my 11 year old bobtail manx has been diagnosed with Diabetes and asthma on may 3rd 2024. I had noticed in the past couple months that Jax's weight was starting to drop, he was drinking a ton of water and urinating more frequent than normal. So I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with numbers over 700. They had told me to start Jax on Lantus/Glargine at 2 units every 12 hours with a glucose check in a week. We started the 2 units on may 14th. He got checked again on the 21st and his numbers were at 425 and was told to up the dose to 3 units every 12 hours. Fast forward to today and of course doing all this research I have found this forum. And I am starting to disagree with the vet and the once a week testing. I have basically been blindly injecting him for two weeks.
I have ordered a human glucose meter that will be here today. This forum has definitely helped me but I am so lost on what to do. The worst thing about this is I am a single man that lives alone and I work roughly 10 hours a day. I have taken off the past few weeks to try and get this figured out but its not going as I had hoped. And to add to that my sweet Jax is the most difficult cat to get any kind successful treatment at home. He is so smart. I have hardly been able to give him his injections due to him being so difficult. He runs from me and hides majority of the time. Lately I have only been able to give him PM shots. First thing he does when I wake up in the morning is hide under the bed. I have blocked off the bed with boxes and pillows but he still will literally fight through the pillows to get under the bed. He does not respond to treats like he used to. He put two and two together. When I get the treats out or mention treats he turns his ears and runs. This has been the hardest and the most mentally draining thing I have had to do with a pet. I love the little guy but this is so draining.
I am just not sure what to do at this point. I absolutely HATE that the thought of rehoming him to someone who is better equipped for this has crossed my mind and it breaks my heart. I cant do that. But it is just me home with him. I have some family but they cant be here every 12 hours. Let alone try to test his blood throughout the day. When I work I am gone 12-14 hours a day.

Enough about me, this is about Jax. Jax is the pickiest eater for a cat I have ever seen. Only eats dry kibble. Ive tried everything from lickable treats, tuna, wet food and so on. All he does is smell it and walk away. The vet had me put him on Purina DM kibble. After doing the research on that food I am not happy with it at all. He has been on that food full time since may 18th. So ten days. At first he had violent Diarrhea and would step in it and track it all over the house. The vet had me sprinkle that probiotic on his food and it seems to be helping. His stool is still very soft. I have order Dr. Elseys clean protein rabbit dry kibble that I plan to switch him onto this Friday when the food gets here. I am sure I am leaving something out so obviously I can answer whatever questions you guys have. I hope I set up my signature and spreadsheet correctly.
I am desperate at this point and really don't know what to do. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this novel. Hopefully I did this correctly. Thank you.

Nick

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Hi, first of all welcome!

This is the best place you could be given the circumstances there are lots of very very experienced people here that can help you. I can totally relate, I'm also a single cat parent that works a full time job, and I won't say it's easy or simple but it can be done you can do it, is caotic at first but eventually you can stablish some schedule that will work for both of you and I promise it gets easier.

You are off to a good start since you are already getting the glucose meter, and switching to a low carb food is esential if you can giving him wet would be even better it may be challenging at first specially with kible adicts Babu-Chiri my diabetic cat chaged imediatedly he didn't even thought about it, but at the same time I changed everyone in the house to the same food,(being out for work all day meant everyone had to be on the same diet to avoid Babu getting non diabetic food ) and one of my civies ( non diabetic) took over 3 months till I finally got her totally switched what I did is I gave her some kibble during breakfast while I was watching and withdraw it before I left for work (had to make sure she ate at least something) and I left the wet food for everyone to free feed during the day , when I arrived home at night I would give her some kibble again and againg withdraw it before going to bed leaving more wet food available during the night, eventually she started eating the wet food and never looked back, but if he still doesn't want the wet food changing it to the low est carb dry will help just maybe don't stop trying the wet since it will help him with his overall health. (sorry if I'm a wet food advocate but I've seen how much better it was for diabetic and non diabetic cats, how much it helped all my cats, I mean even their coats improved )

Dealing with diabetes requires a lot of patience, it takes time to get a cat regulated so take a big breath and deal with each issue one step at a time try not to stress too much if something doesn't go exactly as it should be even if you for any reason you skip a dose is not the worst thing, it happens and just keep trying to give them every time and as close to his shooting time as possible, on this matter maybe you could take a look at some other insulin options, there are some that are bit more forgiving with a small change in the shooting schedule like Tresiba, ask in here I'm sure someone could suggest you one

What meds is he getting for his asthma? Is important to know since some asthma meds can influence his blood glucose and is something to consider when advincing on dosing

It would be good if you could set up the spreadsheet so that we all can see what numbers you are getting once you start testing and help you better

Again welcome and keep asking or just telling us what you need or what issues you are having, I'm sure someone here has gone through something similar and can at least have a suggestion

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Nick&Jax

I see you are giving lantus, great, one question on your Spreadsheet I see you have U-100 Pen
Are you using the U-100 syringes with the half unit markings?
If you are injecting with the pen you can only adjust by whole units
That's why we use the syringes with the half unit markings since we adjust the doses by 0.25 units at a time
I see you have a question mark on your spreadsheet where it says SLGS and TR
These are the 2 dosing methods ,pick in to follow and add it to your signature and spreadsheet when you decide
Each one will tell you when an increase or decrease is needed
You can read all about lantus here and the dosing methods .read all the yellow stickys
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

• Full and half-unit syringe scales:

If you have a Walmart by you ,you can get the U-100 syringes with half unit markings , can't order online though
Either of these 2 boxes are the ones you want (with a purple stripe)

Or you can get them from Amazon without a script
https://www.amazon.com/UltiCare-31-Gauge-Veterinary-Insulin-Syringes/dp/B009LTE0DO

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Good Morning,

My Name is Nick and my 11 year old bobtail manx has been diagnosed with Diabetes and asthma on may 3rd 2024. I had noticed in the past couple months that Jax's weight was starting to drop, he was drinking a ton of water and urinating more frequent than normal. So I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with numbers over 700. They had told me to start Jax on Lantus/Glargine at 2 units every 12 hours with a glucose check in a week. We started the 2 units on may 14th. He got checked again on the 21st and his numbers were at 425 and was told to up the dose to 3 units every 12 hours. Fast forward to today and of course doing all this research I have found this forum. And I am starting to disagree with the vet and the once a week testing. I have basically been blindly injecting him for two weeks.
I have ordered a human glucose meter that will be here today. This forum has definitely helped me but I am so lost on what to do. The worst thing about this is I am a single man that lives alone and I work roughly 10 hours a day. I have taken off the past few weeks to try and get this figured out but its not going as I had hoped. And to add to that my sweet Jax is the most difficult cat to get any kind successful treatment at home. He is so smart. I have hardly been able to give him his injections due to him being so difficult. He runs from me and hides majority of the time. Lately I have only been able to give him PM shots. First thing he does when I wake up in the morning is hide under the bed. I have blocked off the bed with boxes and pillows but he still will literally fight through the pillows to get under the bed. He does not respond to treats like he used to. He put two and two together. When I get the treats out or mention treats he turns his ears and runs. This has been the hardest and the most mentally draining thing I have had to do with a pet. I love the little guy but this is so draining.
I am just not sure what to do at this point. I absolutely HATE that the thought of rehoming him to someone who is better equipped for this has crossed my mind and it breaks my heart. I cant do that. But it is just me home with him. I have some family but they cant be here every 12 hours. Let alone try to test his blood throughout the day. When I work I am gone 12-14 hours a day.

Enough about me, this is about Jax. Jax is the pickiest eater for a cat I have ever seen. Only eats dry kibble. Ive tried everything from lickable treats, tuna, wet food and so on. All he does is smell it and walk away. The vet had me put him on Purina DM kibble. After doing the research on that food I am not happy with it at all. He has been on that food full time since may 18th. So ten days. At first he had violent Diarrhea and would step in it and track it all over the house. The vet had me sprinkle that probiotic on his food and it seems to be helping. His stool is still very soft. I have order Dr. Elseys clean protein rabbit dry kibble that I plan to switch him onto this Friday when the food gets here. I am sure I am leaving something out so obviously I can answer whatever questions you guys have. I hope I set up my signature and spreadsheet correctly.
I am desperate at this point and really don't know what to do. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this novel. Hopefully I did this correctly. Thank you.

Nick

@Wendy&Neko
@Bandit's Mom
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Angela & Cleo

 

[Nick&Jax]

I see you are giving lantus, great, one question on your Spreadsheet I see you have U-100 Pen
Are you using the U-100 syringes with the half unit markings?
If you are injecting with the pen you can only adjust by whole units
That's why we use the syringes with the half unit markings since we adjust the doses by 0.25 units at a time
I see you have a question mark on your spreadsheet where it says SLGS and TR
These are the 2 dosing methods ,pick in to follow and add it to your signature and spreadsheet when you decide
Each one will tell you when an increase or decrease is needed
You can read all about lantus here and the dosing methods .read all the yellow stickys
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

Unfortunately I only have the pen. I didn’t know any better when he got diagnosed and just ordered that right away and the vet didn’t say other wise. They said either is good. I can order a vial and syringes to switch to that method. I’m stuck on how to go about all of this. Is it safe or dangerous to stop insulin all together from the pen while I get the other ordered and get everything figured out and set up? Yes I put those questions marks there because I didn’t know which option was better for me. I read through both it’s just so much information to retain. I’ve actually printed out both methods to read up on them. It’s just so much to learn while I’m also worried about him not getting insulin or getting the incorrect dose while I’m waiting for the meter to get here as well as learning all of this information.

Edit: I did not know I could get those on Amazon without a script. That is awesome and I will order those. Can I use the insulin in the pen with the syringe? Or is it different from the vial or do I need to buy a vial to go with the syringes?

 

[Nick&Jax]

Hi, first of all welcome!

This is the best place you could be given the circumstances there are lots of very very experienced people here that can help you. I can totally relate, I'm also a single cat parent that works a full time job, and I won't say it's easy or simple but it can be done you can do it, is caotic at first but eventually you can stablish some schedule that will work for both of you and I promise it gets easier.

You are off to a good start since you are already getting the glucose meter, and switching to a low carb food is esential if you can giving him wet would be even better it may be challenging at first specially with kible adicts Babu-Chiri my diabetic cat chaged imediatedly he didn't even thought about it, but at the same time I changed everyone in the house to the same food,(being out for work all day meant everyone had to be on the same diet to avoid Babu getting non diabetic food ) and one of my civies ( non diabetic) took over 3 months till I finally got her totally switched what I did is I gave her some kibble during breakfast while I was watching and withdraw it before I left for work (had to make sure she ate at least something) and I left the wet food for everyone to free feed during the day , when I arrived home at night I would give her some kibble again and againg withdraw it before going to bed leaving more wet food available during the night, eventually she started eating the wet food and never looked back, but if he still doesn't want the wet food changing it to the low est carb dry will help just maybe don't stop trying the wet since it will help him with his overall health. (sorry if I'm a wet food advocate but I've seen how much better it was for diabetic and non diabetic cats, how much it helped all my cats, I mean even their coats improved )

Dealing with diabetes requires a lot of patience, it takes time to get a cat regulated so take a big breath and deal with each issue one step at a time try not to stress too much if something doesn't go exactly as it should be even if you for any reason you skip a dose is not the worst thing, it happens and just keep trying to give them every time and as close to his shooting time as possible, on this matter maybe you could take a look at some other insulin options, there are some that are bit more forgiving with a small change in the shooting schedule like Tresiba, ask in here I'm sure someone could suggest you one

What meds is he getting for his asthma? Is important to know since some asthma meds can influence his blood glucose and is something to consider when advincing on dosing

It would be good if you could set up the spreadsheet so that we all can see what numbers you are getting once you start testing and help you better

Again welcome and keep asking or just telling us what you need or what issues you are having, I'm sure someone here has gone through something similar and can at least have a suggestion

Thank you for all of that information and kind words. I tried setting up the spreadsheet the best I could following the directions. I’m not very computer savvy so it’s a little difficult at first.

And currently he isn’t on any medication for his asthma yet. It’s a very minor case and the vet wanted to wait to treat that and focus on the diabetes issue. Every now and then he coughs a little from it but there aren’t many other symptoms from the asthma thankfully.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Your spreasheet looks good I was able to access it with out any issues so thanks for setting it up

For the hidding and runing issues you will probably need to kind of retrain him, stablish a shooting area or place where you will always give him his shoot (and test him) then try picking him up a bit earlier than his shooting time in the morning and carry him to the shooting place, don't do anything to him other than cudle him some scatching maybe, something that he likes and give him some treat, it has to be something he really likes a lot ( for Babu it was a pice of comercial turkey breast of a very specific brand) and let him go, reapeat the same mid day and in the afternoon if you can, you may need to do this for a few days till he starts thinking of the picking up and going to that very specific area as a good thing before you add the shoot to the rutine.

Hope this idea helps

 

[Wendy&Neko]

You don't need to stop using the pen. Most people here get insulin in pens, take the cap off and withdraw the insulin from it with a syringe.

I second Veronica's idea of random treats in a certain place, that don't have poking associated with it. Get that routine established first. Some cats aren't treat motivated, but like being brushed or cuddled. What ever works for your cat.

 

[Nick&Jax]

Your spreasheet looks good I was able to access it with out any issues so thanks for setting it up

For the hidding and runing issues you will probably need to kind of retrain him, stablish a shooting area or place where you will always give him his shoot (and test him) then try picking him up a bit earlier than his shooting time in the morning and carry him to the shooting place, don't do anything to him other than cudle him some scatching maybe, something that he likes and give him some treat, it has to be something he really likes a lot ( for Babu it was a pice of comercial turkey breast of a very specific brand) and let him go, reapeat the same mid day and in the afternoon if you can, you may need to do this for a few days till he starts thinking of the picking up and going to that very specific area as a good thing before you add the shoot to the rutine.

Hope this idea helps

Thank you! I was hoping I followed the instructions correctly.

And that is probably exactly what I need to do. He’s very stubborn and very smart. He used to catch onto me by me just turning out the lights in the morning. Looks at me funny and then takes off if I get close. I’ve decided to hold off on injections till I get the meter and syringes tomorrow.
And that is a great idea. That just reminded me that Jax used to love eating a couple pieces of smoked turkey lunch meat when I would make my sandwiches. I’m going to pick that up tonight. I’m thinking on the couch might be easiest, I’ll carry him over there and set him down and give him pets and pieces of that turkey. Thank you for reminding me and for that idea.
I’ll be crossing my fingers in hopes that will work. Thank you.

 

[Nick&Jax]

You don't need to stop using the pen. Most people here get insulin in pens, take the cap off and withdraw the insulin from it with a syringe.

I second Veronica's idea of random treats in a certain place, that don't have poking associated with it. Get that routine established first. Some cats aren't treat motivated, but like being brushed or cuddled. What ever works for your cat.

That is a relief. I didn’t want to waste the insulin in the pen and or wait for a vial to show up.
And I think that was a good idea as well. I will work on that for a couple days before starting this process all over again. The correct way this time.
Thank you!