Newly diagnosed - totally overwhelmed

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Ok you are good to sleep. he is bouncing now and may continue to do that for a day or two so just ignore the high numbers - its the bodies way of dealing with the low he had. Plus the dry won't help ;)

Tomorrow 1 unit. Need to get you a spreadsheet too .

nite nite!

Wendy
 
No worries.. I am glad I could help.

Just to clarify, he is now bouncing. Explained below.

Bounces - what are they and is my cat doing them?
When a cat isnt regulated, the blood glucose has probably been high for a while. As the insulin starts to take effect and numbers start to come down, the liver has to learn to adjust to the lower numbers. We call this "liver training school". But before it relearns that low numbers are ok, when the BG drops to a number lower than the liver is accustomed, or if BGs drop low, or if the BG drops suddenly, the liver”panics” and reacts by releasing counterregulatory hormones and glucagon. This drives the BG back up. This is what we call a "bounce". Bounces can take up to 72 hours to clear so we are generally careful about increasing doses during the bounce. Once the bounce clears, then you can see the "real" numbers and determine if the dose needs to go up or down.

Keep us updated and let me know if you need help with that spreadsheet.

Wendy
 
He has just vomited up tiny bit of bile and 15 minutes ago had a huge drink.
Shall I give insulin this am or miss it?
 
What's his glucose level?
Is it shot time?

If he is able to keep down his food, go with the previously suggested 1 unit.
 
Hi BJM, 01h45 18.1; 05h00 18.1 (vomited small amt bile); 08h00 9.6 (missed shot); 10h23 10.3; 11h23 9.2 (+1) Hills w/d +-20gms; 14h50 19.9; 18h46 17.2 (+1 pre food and shot) +-15gms lean minced beef & +-25gms Hills w/d.
1U given 10 minutes after eating to ensure he didn't throw up anything.
Will take his BG in 1 hr.
I'm working on the spreadsheet but will need some help I think. Thanks.
 
Several ways to try to get him to eat the wet:
Warm it up so it is nice and stinky.
Add some warm water and make a gravy. Sometimes it is the texture they object to.
Sprinkle on parmesan cheese, tuna juice, small bites of chicken or tuna or if nothing else works, crumbled pieces of dry.

You are right; he has to eat. If he can't be persuaded yet, start slowly with a tiny bit of the wet you want him to eat and whatever he will eat. Slowly increase the wet and decrease the other. It is better to have him eat and adjust the insulin than not to have him eat at all.

And breathe. This does not all have to be done overnight. He didn't become a diabetic in a week; he won't be fixed in a week. You are doing the important stuff. You're home testing and have him on a good insulin. You are working to get him on a good food. Take some time for yourself and enjoy him.
 
Thanks Sue. I'm getting him to eat the Hills w/d and / or the Royal Canin Feline Diabetic. He just point blank refuses to eat anything wet except some ground beef in very small amounts - even turning his nose up at tuna. I even tried crumbling some of his old food on top - no go. I will persevere with trying to get him off dry and onto wet but will have to take a bit longer than I'd like.
This afternoon he was very quiet and seemed flat. Today 07h00 before eating 18.8mmol/L; 08h28 10.1; 15h32 16.5; 19h06 4.3 (didn't shoot at this low level). However, he started to perk up just before his supper time and is eating. The vet has prescribed Peri Actin to stimulate his appetite. Has this been used by anyone else here and did it make a difference?
 
How are you getting along with the spreadsheet? Have you set up the google docs account? thats the first step.

Also do your syringes have had unit markings? I see you are still needing to skip shots and I am wondering about reducing the dose again to 0.5.

Wendy
 
Just a note:
If the glucose is really high - like over 500 and he isn't eating or is vomiting - check for ketones and it may be OK to give a token. Or decreased dose to knock the edge off the glucose level. Ask folks here.

Rational: we've observed some vets, when they have you fast a diabetic pre surgery, may have you give half of the regular dose. Also, the body will break down fat for calories and can turn fat into glucose for use as needed. It also can break protein apart to create carbohydrate. This is why you normally don't need to give cats carbs - they can make them if needed.
 
Both of those dry cat foods are very high in carbs. Royal Canin DD dry is 38% and Hill's W/d is around 37%.

My foster cat Wink was on the Hill's W/d dry. It took many of these transitioning dry food addicts from dry to wet tips to get him to make the switch. I probably used 90% of those tips and tricks in that transitioning article. It took me about a month of a slow changeover and decreasing the amount of dry available while increasing the wet available. And lots of patience and persistence. But it was worth it, and Wink is still OTJ 9 months later.

At first, Wink did not even recognize the wet food as something edible. ohmygod_smile He turned his nose up at every flavor I tried until I gave him the Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblet flavor. He loved that. Would not eat any other flavors for about a month. I was so afraid he would suddenly decide he hated the T&G and then where would we be. So, I slowly introduced other flavors, mixing in a tiny bit of a new flavor with his favorite T&G. He now eats about 6-7 flavors but still hates all the fishy flavors. :o :shock: :o Go figure. Maybe you have not hit on the right flavor to entice him yet.

For now, your cat needs to eat most importantly. So be sure he will eat something, even if it is the higher carb dry food, and the switch over to a better low carb food may take some time. I thought the month that it took Wink to switch over to the wet food was really fast.
 
Thanks everyone. I've done the SS and hopefully it's gone through to you Sue.
I will persevere with the wet food but it seems I may be putting him off it bearing in mind his current state : "Keep in mind that the best time to implement a diet change is when the cat is healthy. Trying to get an ill
cat to embrace a new type of food can be problematic and a cat that is not feeling well may even develop
a food aversion if they associate the new food with their discomfort. "
So, I'll definitely keep on with it, but will now try and give him bits and pieces when I see he's feeling brighter. I know how easily we humans associate certain foods with periods when we feel unwell so do not want to jeopardise his chances of a quick transition. We'll get there with the food!

Wendy, I'm using BD Micro-Fine Plus Demi syringes, man are they expensive here even at the largest chain pharmacy. I checked online and with the $ conversion rate, even more expensive to order online. I find the 100U insulin syringe far too difficult to get the exact amount (1U) so unfortunately can't use that. Also checked online for Contour TS test strips on e-bay but they are exactly the same price as here. Are there any generic test strips one can use with the Contour TS perhaps?

I am having a huge problem with obtaining ketodiastix or ketostix. You can only get them in huge bulk quantities, their expiry day is very small and this makes them unaffordable at the moment. I'm still looking though. How long after collecting urine can it be used for checking for ketones??
+++++++++++++++++++
UPDATE: 1 3/4hrs post shot: Up to 20.5!!! Looking at his values on 3U and those on lower Units of insulin, to me it looks as if he should be on 3U? Please could someone help I'm really confused!
 
Start a new topic and ask your dose questions (I don't use your insulin). Any time a thread gets 2 pages long, it's time to start a new one.

The ketone are the same kind humans use. Ask at the pharmacy. I can't imagine that human diabetics have to buy in large quantities?

I sent you a private message about the spreadsheet.
 
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