Newly Diagnosed - Thoughts?

[Genopher]

My 12 year old cat was diagnosed a week ago.

He was drinking a ton and peeing a ton. Litter box was like clay from urine. And he was jumping less (although he has ALWAYS been a terrible jumper).

Took him to vet and his glucose was 530. I was shown how to do the insulin shot once. Sent home with Vetsulin and told to give him 2 units / twice a day. He has been a free eating dry food cat for 12 years. So needless to say...feeding twice a day wet food did NOT work. This has been like trying to bring a horse to water...you can't make it drink. And I can't get my cat to eat on cue. So vet said to just leave his regular dry food out as usual and still give him 2 shots a day. This has been stressing me out so I am giving him half a can of wet food in the am and dry food left out since he will not eat in pm. He is not a big fan of wet food at all. I've tried chunky with gravy, pate and even tuna juice to entice him to eat it. I am trying to add a few extra kibbles of a new high protein/low carb dry food into his regular food.

This morning he didn't eat the wet food and has only nibbled on his dry food. So I gave him 2 units this morning and am skipping insulin tonight. I feel like he is sleepier than usual (although this could be my imagination). I have never tracked his sleeping patterns before...he's always been a lazy indoor cat. But he seems happy & loving as ever.

After only two insulin shots, his drinking/peeing and jumping went completely back to normal. From everything I've read online, this should have taken weeks to revert to normal?!?

So vet told me she wondered if his recent cortisone shot sent him into a diabetic state so I brought him back in at 4pm a few days later (he had had his morning shot) and his glucose was at 370.

Giving the shots is extremely traumatizing to him and me. It obviously does NOT feel good and I feel terrible. I can not envision at home glucose testing and the vet did not even recommend it. The shots twice daily has been traumatic enough! She did mention doing the curve testing after a couple of weeks of the 2 units twice a day. If he would just eat, this would be so much easier.

So that is the whole backstory and how it's been going so far. Of course it is the weekend and now he isn't really eating at all so I am skipping his shot altogether tonight because he hasn't eaten! And vet is closed. Everything I've read says its better to be high than too low. Am I doing the right thing by skipping his insulin?!?

This has been so stressful.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to you and your kitty.
We understand it is very stressful in the beginning but it does get easier as both you and your kitty learn the routine.

First of all I think 2 units of Vetsulin is too much to start with, especially when you are not testing the blood glucose levels.
I would go back to 1 unit twice a day.
Here is a beginners guide to Vetsulin
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.186099/
I am going to tag @MrWorfMen's Mom as she is familiar with Vetsulin.

As far as the food is concerned, a wet low carb diet is best but if you are having trouble getting your kitty to eat it, then start off with a low carb dry food.
Make sure he eats well before you give the insulin, wait 1/2 an hour after the food, then give the insulin. It is a good idea to leave food down during the day for him to graze on. If he won't eat before the evening shot, I would not give the insulin as Vetsulin is a fast acting insulin and you need to make sure that food is aboard before giving the shot.

Another thing about food. If you are giving a high carb diet at the moment, I would not swap over to a low carb diet without testing first. This is because a low carb diet can reduce the blood glucose levels up to 100 points and drop the kitty's levels too low. By testing you can see this happening and reduce the dose of insulin accordingly.

Do you know if the vet mentioned ketones at all at diagnosis?

I know you are reluctant to try blood glucose testing but it is really the best thing you can do for your kitty to ensure he is safe.
We all thought we could not possibly test in the beginning, but we all learnt quite quickly and our kitties still love us. It does not hurt them and the information you gain from doing it is absolutely invaluable.
We always recommend testing before every shot to see it is safe to give the insulin. Then again during the cycle to see how low the insulin is taking kitty.
We would be very happy to help you with learning to test.
Here is the link for you to have a look at...no pressure at all ......just information for you to have a look at
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

If you are feeling anxious, your kitty with feel this, so can I suggest you hum as you give the insulin. I would also give him something to eat as you ar giving it.
Is there anything he really likes to eat.?
Here is a list of food links that may help
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/

Make sure you have some honey or Karo in the cupboard in case of a hypo. And some high carb food as well. If you suspect a hypo and he will not eat, rub some honey on his gums.
Here is a link to how to treat a hypo
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

If you could tell us yours and kitty's name that would be great please.
Keep asking us lots of questions. We are a very supportive group of cat lovers here
Hoping to hear back from you soon.
Bron

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Hi and welcome to FDMB.

Bron has given you a lot of great info. As mentioned, this all gets much easier as you and your kitty get into a new routine. Getting there though can be overwhelming at first.

It's not unusual for kitty to feel "off" when insulin therapy is introduced. Vetsulin starts acting quickly and can cause BG (blood sugar) to drop swiftly in the first few hours post shot and to drop to levels your cat's body has become unaccustomed to. That cause BG to go up and down making kitty feel very tired and it's not unusual for your cat to sleep even more than usual until their BG gets more regulated.

Home testing is an invaluable tool. Right now you are experiencing concern because you don't know what is going on with your cat. Home testing gives you the tool you need to take control of the situation and ensure kitty stays safe. You mentioned trying to switch your cat to a wet diet and a recent cortisone shot. The cortisone shot may have caused the diabetes to surface. The good news is that it also means it's possible that once the effects of that cortisone are totally out of his system, his BG may go back to normal levels but in the meantime he needs some insulin support. Likewise changing diet to low carb wet food can have a significant lowering effect on BG and should not be undertaken without home testing.

Curves at the vet usually result in elevated BG because our kitties get so stressed out at the vet often causing the vet to inappropriately increase insuolin dose. Home testing would allow you to test your cat in his own environment giving you a "real" view of how kitty is doing. It also will save you money. I would strongly suggest you consider home testing to keep stress levels for both you and your kitty to a minimum. You'd be surprised how co-operative our kitties can be when it comes to testing. Many come to get us when it's test time. We can help you learn how to test.

In the meantime, I agree it is not safe to give insulin to your cat unless he has food on board and skipping the shot was the right decision as long as there is no history of ketones. When in doubt, err on the side of caution. Again though, home testing would alleviate some of the guess work.

I also agree the insulin dose is too high to start and recommend you reduce the dose of insulin to 1u twice daily. Giving insulin while kitty has their head buried in their food bowl usually works very well to distract them and makes giving the shots easier.

 

[JanetNJ]

I agree with the others that until you aren’t home testing is back off to 2 units. Dry kibble’s is bot diabetic friendly. Most of them are 35-40% carb. Ideally they need foods under 10% carb. There are only a few dry that meet that criteria. They might be worth trying until you convince him wet is good.

young again zero is very low carb. It can only be purchased online.

Dr. Elsy’s clean protein chicken flavor.

epigen 90 (about 8%) I fed this one to my non diabetic cats in addition to wet food twice a day.
All three companies will send you free samples of the food if you email and ask so you can try them out.

My cats are all grazers. I leave food out all the time for them. It’s best to pick up the food two hours prior to the preshot test so the numbers are not food influenced.
I have a link in my signature showing how I test my cat at home.

 

[Genopher]

Thank you all for your responses. I wish my cat was motivated by food! We skipped his insulin last night but I heard him nibbling on the dry food in the middle of the night. He likes to eat in the early morning before we are all up and the commotion begins. I put out half a can of wet food this morning and he ate half of it so I went ahead and gave him 1 unit of vetsulin. I agree that the 2 units twice a day just seems like too much! He seems much more like himself and less groggy on the lower dosage. But he yelps every time I give him the shot and it is so distressing! I've watched several videos on how to do it and he still gets very tense and knows whats up. Maybe I will look into the home glucose testing in the future but right now I am highly stressed getting him to just eat so I can give the shots! Ugh. My cat gets EXTREMELY stressed at the vet so I am sure his numbers are skewed there. When I originally took him to the vet they tested his blood and urine but didn't say anything about ketones. They also did a full blood panel and everything came back normal with exception of diabetes. Thank you for all of the links. I will be studying up this evening. I need to work on adding my signature with all of my/his information. But I am Jennifer and my cat is Stitchy. Thank you again.

 

[Bella & Liz]

When I first started giving Bella her many pills/shots/tests I also felt stressed out and like I was torturing my cat, however I knew I needed to do it to provide her with the most accurate care as possible. I found that having a routine really helped. I always tested and gave her shots in the same room, the bathroom, so she could feel safe and secure in the rest of the house and not be constantly worried that someone might be coming to mess with her ears. I know alot of people have success giving their cats treats during/after test/shot time, maybe you could find a treat he really enjoys? Bella loved ground turkey and lunch meat. After awhile it became normal for Bella, and less stressful for me. She would jump up on the counter herself and would let me poke her ear and give her her shot. I think she figured out that I truly was trying to help her, and that it did make her feel better. It's just getting over that initial hump, and knowing that you arent torturing your cat, in reality you are going above and beyond what most people feel comfortable doing to ensure that your cat is happy and comfortable. Believe in yourself, you got this!