Newly Diagnosed

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Amélie

Amélie

Member Since 2018
Hello,

My cat (Tewksbury) was just diagnosed with diabetes. He's thirteen next month..indoor kitty. My vet told me to start him on 3U's twice a day. Tewks weighs 10 lbs (never obese) and his insulin is Glargine (vet prescription- in Canada)

First day yesterday- gave him 2U's because he didn't eat much this morning. Blood levels every two hours;

8am- 21.0 before eating- gave him his food and insulin
10am- 16.0
12pm- 8.7
2pm- 8.1
4pm- 5.7
6pm- 4.6 ( getting anxious cause of the drastic drop so I gave him 3 Treats and dried salmon)
8pm- 6.1

I opted not to give him insulin last night because his sugar levels were still pretty low. My nerves were high.. Blood testing my boy every two hours.. His ears must be sensitive( putting pure Aloe Vera on his ears after the shots to help with any sensitivity).

I'm on the fence on whether I made the right choice but because of his results- I don't need Tewks going into a hypoglycaemic crisis.

Day 2- Tewks was back up to 21 this morning.

Gave him one unit this morning instead of 2 and he's currently sitting at 8.8.. If it's anything like yesterday he'll go lower before coming up. I know we are supposed to give insulin twice daily but if his levels remain where they are or lower (at 12 hrs since his last dose)I really don't want to give him anymore.

He's not drinking a lot anymore and only peed once today and he's back to grooming himself.

I work full time and want to know whether it's ok to leave a bit of kibble out while I'm gone to work. He's on wet food (low carb-weruva) but obviously not leaving that out for him.

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it.

Am & Tewks
 
Tewksbury has been at 7.0 since 2:30 ish. If his BG doesn't go up- should I not give him any dose of insulin? His supper is around 8ish.
 
The advice would vary depending on how long you've been treating him and which dosing method would be best for you, TR (Tight Regulation) or SLGS (Start Low Go Slow).

This is from the SLGS guide:

How to handle a lower than normal preshot number:

In the beginning we suggest following the guidelines in the FDMB's FAQ Q4.4:
Q4.4. My cat's pre-shot level was way below the usual value. Should I give the injection?
A4.4. There's no hard and fast rule, but if you don't have data on how your cat responds to insulin, here are some general guidelines.
  • Below 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), don't give insulin.
  • Between 150 and 200 (8.3-11.1 mmol/L), you have three options: a.) give nothing; b.) give a token dose (10-25% of the usual dose); c.) feed as usual, test in a couple of hours, and make a decision based on that value.
  • Above 200 (11.1 mmol/L) but below the cat's normal pre-shot value, a reduced dose might be wise.
  • In all cases, if you are reducing or eliminating insulin, it's wise to check for ketones in the urine.
  • Above the normal pre-shot value, give the usual dose, but if the pre-shot value is consistently elevated, it's a good idea to schedule a full glucose curve to see whether a change in dose or insulin is appropriate. In most cases, the target "peak" value should not be below 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L), and for some cats it might be higher.
 
I appreciate your expertise/knowledge. I can't believe my vet told me to start at 3units! He's only 10 lbs for crying out loud. Lots of learning and reading to do. I'm going to lower his dose further and touch base with my vet tomorrow. Tear a strip off him maybe eh! Grrr..good thing I trusted my instincts.

I've already read quite a bit but when starting shots and monitoring BG levels for the first time-I really focused on technique and process (I was nervous about hurting my bb boy) never thought his BG wouldn't go back up throughout the day. Ugh..sorry about the rant-I'm just frustrated. Thanks again, really
 
Welcome, Amelie. You've found the best place you never wanted to be!

One initial chore that will help us and you is if you could begin a spreadsheet for Tewksbury. You'll notice that all of us have our kitty's spreadsheet linked in our signature. This is a convenient means for you to keep track of your cat's progress and it allows us to see what's going on and offer input based on your data. There is also a "world" version of the spreadsheet that will automatically convert from mmol/L (Canadian) to mg/dL (US). Here's the link to the information for setting up a spreadsheet.

Just to help you get oriented, there is a huge volume of information in the sticky notes at the top of the board. It may actually cause you to be a bit overwhelmed vs oriented but the information you will need is there. And, of course, we're all here to do our best to answer any questions you may have -- and don't be shy about asking questions.

As Kris alluded to, we use two different methods for dosing. She provided a bit of information about the Start Low Go Slow approach. With SLGS, the starting dose of Lantus is 0.5u. With Tight Regulation, the starting dose is based on your cat's weight: initial dose = 0.25 x ideal weight in kilograms. So, for Tewksbury, the starting dose would be about 1.0u. As long as you're feeding your cat a low carb, canned food diet, you can use either dosing method -- although I'd suggest ditching the Greenies in favor of freeze dried chicken treats or even cooked chicken as a treat. The Greenies are high in carbs. There are other differences in the approaches (e.g., when a dose reduction is indicated). With either method, you need to get a test prior to giving a shot of insulin and at least one other time during both the AM and PM cycles.

As for your shot this evening, how many hours are you past your morning shot? Since we're all in different time zones, we gauge time based on +hours. A +6 is six hour after you give Tewksbury a shot.

Ranting is perfectly acceptable. We've all done it both about our own cats or about someone else's!


 
It's been twelve hours and I just checked his blood again. He's at 6.2. I'm downloading the spreadsheet. Ended yesterday on 6.1.. There just doesn't seem to be any spike. Only overnight. I cannot give him one unit tomorrow. Did it today and this is the result. 2units yesterday and it made me nevous and his numbers were too low.

Checking his blood in the am..anticipate it being high. (Eastern standard time)

As for the greenies- I know they aren't on the list but I freaked out yesterday when he was at 4.6 and opted to give him a few. I have the freeze dried treats though and will give him that going forward.
 
Amélie said:
It's been twelve hours and I just checked his blood again. He's at 6.2. I'm downloading the spreadsheet. Ended yesterday on 6.1.. There just doesn't seem to be any spike. Only overnight. I cannot give him one unit tomorrow. Did it today and this is the result. 2units yesterday and it made me nevous and his numbers were too low.

Checking his blood in the am..anticipate it being high. (Eastern standard time)

As for the greenies- I know they aren't on the list but I freaked out yesterday when he was at 4.6 and opted to give him a few. I have the freeze dried treats though and will give him that going forward.
Click to expand...
No shot for him tonight! :) You could try 0.5 u tomorrow AM.
 
Hello and welcome from another Canadian (west coast). I didn't keep track of the number of times this forum saved my cat and my sanity.
 
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