Newly diagnosed

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jennifer and Katie

Jennifer and Katie

Member
I just found out two days ago that my 12 year old cat has Diabetes Mellitus. Katie (my cat) and I are doing okay with the insulin shots, but I'm a bit nervous about the things I've read, saying she can get seizures and such if her glucose goes too low. Is that something I really need to be overly watchful for? confused_cat
 
Hello Jennifer (and you too Katie!)

The simple answer to your question is yes, really low blood glucose levels are definitely something you would need to be concerned about.
That said, there are many ways to avoid that crisis.
The best and first thing you need to do is consider home testing so that you can check Katie's BG at home. All it takes is a glucometer, some test strips and some lancets. All of these can be found at wal-mart and any pharmacy. Many people here use a brand called Relion (sold only at wal-mart). The two most popular meters are the Micro and the Confirm. Each costs about $9, and you can get 50 strips for about $20. The lancets are about $4 a box of 100 I think.
Once you have those, you can test Katie yourself, something you would need to do at least twice a day before her shots.

Can you answer a few questions that will enable us to better advise you?
What type of insulin did the vet precribe, and what dosage?
What kind of food does Katie eat, and about how much per day?
How much does she weigh?
Were there any other conditions or complications diagnosed when she was found to have diabetes?
Do you know what her BG levels were when the vet checked her?

There are lots of people here who can help you with this. If you can answer these questions, we'll be able to better help.
Diabetes is a managable condition, and Katie isn't doomed.

Welcome to the FDMB!
Carl in SC
 
You're welcome Karen,
I read that other thread and it looks like you've got plenty of help over there.
I can run the "welcome wagon" tonite!

Carl
 
carlinsc said:
You're welcome Karen,
I read that other thread and it looks like you've got plenty of help over there.
I can run the "welcome wagon" tonite!

Carl
Click to expand...

It's really busy tonight. Two new members plus the DKA crisis.
 
It's okay, I understand helping out a cat in crisis comes first. The last thing I'd want to see is that cat die when it shouldn't have to.
Anyway, let's see. The vet put Katie on Prozinc, 1 unit every twelve hours. She also switched her to a new food, which is Royal Canine Feline Diabetic dry food (she has never eaten wet food). Before, she was eating Purina One Vibrant Maturity 7+. She has always eaten whenever she felt like it, but I've had to change that a bit, since I have another adult cat who is NOT diabetic. So, she gets me up several times in the night to munch, and I feed her before each insulin injection. She used to weigh sixteen pounds, which may sound like a lot, but she is a decent sized cat bone structure wise. In the year and a half since her last weighing, she lost almost four ponds. She now weighs twelve and an eighth pounds. But I don't know exactly how much she eats.
I took her in because of the excessive drinking/ urination, and the eating like she was always starved. But the only diagnosis was the diabetes. I take her in for another glucose test on Thursday, so I can get exact numbers then, but her BG was about 512.
 
There are other dry foods out there that are actually lower in carbs than the prescription foods, have better ingredients, and cost less. Innova EVO Cat and Kitten dry food and Welness CORE dry food both have 8% or 11% carbs respectively. In contrast the Royal Cannin diabetic food has 24% carbs. I don't have the specific values for the Vibrant Maturity Purina food, but most of their dry foods are between 30 and 40% carbs. Your goal is to get something at or below 10% if possible. If you have to feed dry food right now, I'd really urge you to try either the EVO or Wellness foods listed above!
 
Hi Jennifer and Katie,

Welcome aboard!!

I understand your fears of Katie going Hypo, but you are in good hands here. As Carl had mention, it is a good idea to get a BG home testing kit. There are factors that effect a cats BG from day to day and even hour by hour. Things such as were Katie is in her insulin cycle (what is often referred as the curve), how much food she ate or didn't eat, how many carbs were in the food that was eaten, and even stress.

If you do decide to start testing her at home, we can help you learn how to do this. In addition, if her BG# start getting uncomfortably low, post it and someone will be there with you. I late night was an off-night, there are usually more people online and able to help. People have stayed with me online late in the evening helping me through my panic attacks, and I have done so for others too.

I hope all goes well for you and Katie,

Roberta
and Casey
 
Welcome to Jennifer & sweet Sugar Katie girl,

Hang with this place and you will never find wanting for information, help, hugs and great ppl!

I will chime in on home testing PLEASE...

It took me a while to get the materials to home test, get the courage to try to home test and a few (4-5)times trying it before we got it down...Now my Sugar Bean jumps into the chair to receive her special treat, special love time and it goes very smoothly....She does not mind pokey poke at all!

The only curve she did at the vets after dx (4/21) was 1 week later and her numbers were in the 500~the vet doubled the dose, I did not....I had not got the home testing thing down yet, but I did find this site and read about how important it was to test.

That was the last time Bean went to do a curve...we do this at home and truth be known, she has not had to go back to the vet at all for anything...

I do have 1 girl that WILL NOT EAT WET FOOD! She is not diabetic, but my Bean loves to try to sneak into it, so we just buy the lower carb dry for safty sake on my Sugar girl. Bean's diet was changed to fancy feast basically and she is now in remission!!!! GO BEAN GIRL GO! I am sooo happy for her. :-D

I had a really bad scare with my sugar girl when I was first learning how to test....we got our first reading on a nite 2 hours after her injection....She was only 27! HYPO!! I spent 4+ hours admin. anything and everything to get her numbers back in the low 40's.... But I did not do that alone, It was this place that helped me save my baby girl!!!!!!! I am forever grateful!!
But I did make a huge promise to my Sugar Bean, and that was to never ever shoot insulin before testing her again! I just wanted to share my dreadful story that turned out to be a very happy ending!

I purchased all of my testing materials at walmart for under 35.00. And I found a petco treat that she loves, made by them and it is called Tuna Flake Treats. She loves them!

Anyway, welcome and good luck! HUGS AND PAW KISSES FOR KATIE
 
The foods that are mentioned above, can they be bought at any store or pet store? And is it safe for my non-diabetic cat to eat it as well, or do I need to keep her away from Katie's food?
I can understand the benefits of at home testing; I'm just nervous about having to poke her so much in the same day. Won't her skin start getting rough from scar tissue? And I really don't want her to start hating spending time with me. I've had her since she was four weeks old; while she is rather independent, getting snubbed would hurt!
 
Hi there :)

First, all cats should be on a diet that is low in carbs.. dry food really isn't good for any cat as they are carnivores. If you'd like, read what Dr Lisa has to say at www.catinfo.org

Second, I was the ultimate reluctant hometester! But if you think about it in human terms, human diabetics test several times a day and that is how they stay healthy and alive. We test our cats, sometimes twice a day sometimes more. It makes your life and theirs easier. Some cats remind their humans when its time, it really doesn't hurt, and it usually brings you closer together. I was sure that Squeak would hate me but he purred when I tested!

Its overwhelming, but it really is best. Even the canadian veterinary association recommends it :)
 
Jennifer and Katie said:
The foods that are mentioned above, can they be bought at any store or pet store? And is it safe for my non-diabetic cat to eat it as well, or do I need to keep her away from Katie's food?
I can understand the benefits of at home testing; I'm just nervous about having to poke her so much in the same day. Won't her skin start getting rough from scar tissue? And I really don't want her to start hating spending time with me. I've had her since she was four weeks old; while she is rather independent, getting snubbed would hurt!
Click to expand...

Do you have a Petsmart or Petco near where you live? You'll find most of the foods mentioned above there. If you can get her switched to canned food, your options are drastically increased, because then you could feed her many low-carb varieties that you can find at your local grocery store. If you click on the link in my signature below this post, it will take you to a page that has links to lists for canned foods. I think that there is also a link to dry foods on the same page. Pay attention to the column on the food charts that shows the "Carbs" value. You should be looking for brands and flavors that are less than 10% carbs. Many Friskees pates and Fancy Feast classics are 7% or lower.

Home testing - Give it very serious consideration. Shooting insulin without knowing what Katie's BG level is just before giving her a shot can be very dangerous. If her BG has fallen without your knowledge, and you give her her normal dose of insulin, you could cause her to go "hypo", which can be life threatening or fatal. Likewise, if her BG is gradually going higher without you knowing it, then her current insulin dose won't be helping enough. Home testing just tells you so much about how Katie is doing during the day, every day. It gives you a measure of control over her well-being that you won't get from bringing her to the vet every week or two. It will also save you a fortune in vet bills. Vet visits cause our kitties a lot of stress. Stress elevates BG levels. There's a good chance that the numbers the vet sees in his office will be inflated by that stress, and he may misinterperate those tests and adjust her insulin dosages based on them. That could result in a dose that is too high once that stress is no longer present.
You don't need to worry about damaging her ears. They will actually adapt to getting poked every day, and will "learn" to bleed easier. The lancets used for poking are so tiny that she (after the first few tests) won't even notice the poke. After every test, you will give her a low-carb treat for being such a cooperative girl! After a week or so, she'll come to you to be tested. Katie is going to associate the test, treats, and shots with feeling better. Eventually, she'll be purring while you're testing her. Hard to believe today, but ask just about anyone here if that happened with them and their sugarkitty.

Carl in SC
 
Okay, so I've decided to go out tomorrow and get the items for home testing, as well as another food that is lower carb. I know y'all have said either EVO or Wellness Core are good brands, but is there a specific one in those brands that I need to get? She's been on dry food her whole life, so I don't think she would like it very much if I switched her to wet, at least not right away. And where in Wal-mart am I going to find the meter/ strips/ lancets? Also, what low-carb treats should I get her? She likes Greenies, Whiska's Indoor Chicken, and Purina Wisker Lickins, but I doubt they are low-carb.
 
I think that it will be obvious when you go down the food isle which foods you want, I don't think there are options but someone could correct me

for diabetic supplies, go to the diabetic supply area or ask your pharmacist if it is behind the counter (likely)

for canned foods, you can just start it as a treat and slowly transition. Dr Lisa has tips on her site

for treats, don't change yet but look for bonito flakes or even just some cooked chicken. I bought Squeak some shrimp when we first started....

This WILL get easier, trust me.
 
In the local wal-mart here, in the pharmacy section there's a whole aisle of diabetic supplies. The meter, test strips and lancets should all be available off the shelf. If you don't see them, the pharmacist will be able to show you. Make sure to look at the box of strips and verify they are for the particular meter you pick out. They aren't compatible across brands usually. (Also the strips have an expiration date on the box, so make sure they aren't close to expiration, or pick the box with the latest date.) The only issue with the strips here is that when I get to the register, the cashier has to bring them over to the service desk to get a box removed from the big plastic container they come in. I guess it's a security thing so they don't walk out of the store.

If there's any kind of pet store in the area, you should be able to get some good quality low-carb treats. Just tell them you are looking for low-carb treats for a diabetic cat. In Petsmart here, they are all together on one shelf. Most cat treats you can find at a grocery store are higer carb and are plain/grain based. You want treats that are meat based. Some people find that buying dog treats (even if you have to cut them up to make them kitty sized) is easier, because many dog treats have protein that is meat rather than grain based.

Carl in SC
 
Jennifer and Katie said:
Okay, so I've decided to go out tomorrow and get the items for home testing, as well as another food that is lower carb. I know y'all have said either EVO or Wellness Core are good brands, but is there a specific one in those brands that I need to get? She's been on dry food her whole life, so I don't think she would like it very much if I switched her to wet, at least not right away. And where in Wal-mart am I going to find the meter/ strips/ lancets? Also, what low-carb treats should I get her? She likes Greenies, Whiska's Indoor Chicken, and Purina Wisker Lickins, but I doubt they are low-carb.
Click to expand...

If you can, switching to wet food is the the best option, because even though the lower-carb dry is better than the prescription, it's still not good for a diabetic cat. A few cats can do ok on it, but many (like my cat Bandit) are very carb sensitive and there isn't any dry food that won't shoot up his blood sugar levels. It might be hard to regulate even on Wellness or EVO. Instead of getting the dry food, I would recommend getting canned food and trying that for your cats, first. Dry food can cause all sorts of other nutrition related illnesses besides diabetes, so you'll really be saving yourself problems for both cats down the road.

You'll want to transition slowly, over the course of a week. Here are some tips for transitioning to wet food in case she doesn't take to it at first: http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_

You may not have a problem, though. Bandit ate only dry the first 6 years of his life, and when I introduced wet he was in heaven.

You can find low carb treats in a PetCo, Petsmart, or pretty much any other independent food store. I get the Beefeaters treats in the treat section at Petsmart. Basically, you want to look in the cat or dog treat section for anything that is ONLY freeze-dried meat. I believe another brand sold at PetCo is Halo bites. Or you can use boiled chicken or beef as a treat if you can't find those in the pet store, or Fancy Feast has a new "appetizer" line that are low carb and work well as a treat.

I saw too that Katie didn't eat--is there anything you can do to encourage her? Does she like any people foods like chicken, turkey or tuna? You definitely want to try and get some food in her.
 
She ate about an hour later, but since it was past the time I normally give her insulin, and I didn't know what would happen if I gave it late, we forwent the insulin this morning.
 
Good! I'm glad she's eating!

Are you still free feeding at all or are you doing feeding times with set amounts of food? One of the first big steps in transitioning to wet is not leaving the dry out anymore. Also, it helps if the cat is hungry at shot time so you know she'll eat when you give the injection.

If you're worried about having to leave food out at night, or when you're away, you can leave wet food out for the cats, too. I freeze portions of wet food and leave them out when I won't be home during a feeding time. Without freezing, it can be left up to 6 hours with some water added to keep it from drying out, and with freezing it can be left out for up to 12 hours.

The reason I'm being a little pushy about the canned food is because it is far easier and safer to do the transition at the beginning of insulin therapy. Most cats drop 100-200 points once the dry food has been removed. So if you've worked up to a high dose of insulin on dry food, changing to canned can be tricky without risking a hypo incident, because it will be likely the dose will have to be lowered dramatically. Most cats do not need much more than 1u of insulin on a wet, low carb diet.
 
Okay, I just went out and bought the things I think she needs. I got the glucometer, test strips, lancets, alcohol wipes, Wellness Core dry food, a few cans of wet food to see if she likes them, and various all-meat treats to try her out on. I've been trying to keep her free feeding, since that's what she's used to, but with the other cats, it isn't working out so well. So, I have her demand feeding several times a day and at night.
 
Great that you have everything you need to start hometesting! One thing about feeding.... you don't want her to eat for a couple hours before you test her for her morning and evening insulin shot. Food raises her blood glucose, so if she eats just before a test and shot, her BG will be "artificially" inflated, which will lead you to believe that she needs more insulin than she really does.

Carl in SC
 
So, Katie and I had our first experience with the glucometer. I opted for hand poking, because I can tell how much pressure is being put on her ear. Anyway, after two attempts, in which she and I both jumped, I managed to get blood. Her BG was at 430, and that was without having insulin this morning. It's still a high number, but at least it's less than the 512 she was diagnosed with. She definitely didn't like the ear poke, but the new treats I got her made her forget the momentary pain. She ate a few bites of dry food, but I wasn't satisfied with that being enough to give her insulin on, so I tried the wet. It was essentially her telling me 'where has this been my whole life?' After she ate half the small cat of wet food, I gave her her insulin injection.
 
Jennifer and Katie said:
She ate a few bites of dry food, but I wasn't satisfied with that being enough to give her insulin on, so I tried the wet. It was essentially her telling me 'where has this been my whole life?' After she ate half the small cat of wet food, I gave her her insulin injection.
Click to expand...
priceless!

It took me more than two pokes on my first test. Great job! I also do the hand-held method, for the same reason. That's how the vet showed me, and I could never figure out how to be "exact" with the lancet device. The only time it ever went bad was after doing the test for a month or more, one day I must have accidently hit right on the vein instead of between it and the edge of his ear. It apparently hurt and Bob twisted his head while I was still holding the lancet. He ended up tearing the edge of his ear. Looked worse than it was I guess because 15 seconds of direct pressure and it was all better. But I did use the other ear exclusively for a couple days afterwards.

You've cleared the first big hurdle, Jennifer, good work!

Carl in SC
 
Great work Jennifer, and Welcome to the Vampire Club. :-D Bet you never thought you would hear that one, or be so happy to be a member of it...lol

I have to agree with Carl, absolutely priceless....it was basically the same reaction I got from my other cats when I adopted Maxwell...Hey Mom! The new guy ain't so bad if he comes with this stuff....YUM! and how come it took you getting a new cat to fork over the good stuff?...lol. But at least you now know you won't have any problems with switching her off the dry to canned. So two big hurdles down, and after those two the rest is pretty easy.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Jennifer and Katie said:
Okay, so I've decided to go out tomorrow and get the items for home testing, as well as another food that is lower carb. I know y'all have said either EVO or Wellness Core are good brands, but is there a specific one in those brands that I need to get? She's been on dry food her whole life, so I don't think she would like it very much if I switched her to wet, at least not right away. And where in Wal-mart am I going to find the meter/ strips/ lancets? Also, what low-carb treats should I get her? She likes Greenies, Whiska's Indoor Chicken, and Purina Wisker Lickins, but I doubt they are low-carb.
Click to expand...

You might be surprised how well she could like wet food! I often hear people consider wet food as a treat for cats and feed it as such, so some cats take to it right away. So glad you tried it!

As for treats, looked for freeze-dried salmon or chicken. many cats like those. Using treats helps the home-testing and shots time go easier.
 
Well, the blood draw didn't go so well this morning. I forgot to warm up her ear, so we had several failed attempts before I got blood. She likes to jump out of my lap, and I worry about shredding the end of her ear. But lots of love and treats later, her BG is at 333. Yay, it's headed in the right direction! Could it be because I changed to a better dry/ wet food?
After the draw, I gave her the other half can of the wet food I fed last night, which she ate with great gusto. She grumbled about the insulin shot, but that's usual.
 
try this -

sit on the floor, ankles crossed about 18" in front of you. put kitty in the space between you and your ankles, facing away from you. now draw your ankles towards kitty till you're just barely touching her. have your meter (assuming you are right handed) on your right side, lancet in your right hand, cotton ball or whatever you use on the underside of her ear in your left hand. push the strip into the meter.
now, raise your knees and bring them together slowly. this should put your calves right about even with her neck and shoulders. exert minimal pressure there, just to let her know they are there and that they can restrain her, but not so much where she feels restrained, if that makes sense? I usually get best results from Bob's left ear, so I then grab the ear, middle finger holding the cotton ball to the underside of his ear, thumb and forefinger on top of his ear with space enough to poke between the two. I free-hand the lancet, but the device would work too. then I do a quick poke, drop the lancet and pick up the meter. sip the blood till you hear the beep. put the meter back down, and pat her little head while squeezing the cotton to stop the bleeding. let your legs relax, so now she's free to go except for the fact that you're holding her ear a little bit. at this point, Bob just sits there purring, and won't even try to move till I let go of his ear. glance down at the meter when it beeps, and you're done.

that works for me. I hope it'll work for you too!

Carl in SC
 
Jennifer,
You might try, like Jen said, to try the device. I've never taken it out of it's plastic bag so I have no idea how easy it makes things.

Jen,
The way I do it is easy, to me anyway. The whole process takes less than 30 seconds, and it took me 10 times that long to narate how to do it. ;-)
The vet tech "trained" me to free-hand so I've always done it that way. Old dog, new tricks. After a couple hundred tests, I could probably do it in my sleep! It did take me a couple weeks to refine the technique and find a way to keep Bob in place while not fumbling for all my supplies though.

Carl
 
Okay, I tried the crossed ankle thing, and that worked well for keeping her in place, but neither ear wanted to bleed tonight. I even tried the lancet machine thing, and it doesn't poke deep enough to draw blood. Anyway, I'm letting her eat some wet food now. Her BG was at 333 this morning and 430 last night. Based on that, should I give her her insulin, or wait until the morning and try testing again?
 
personally? I'd shoot.

what lancet device do you have? Some have various depth settings..the softclix lancet pen works like a breeze, whereas I hated the one that came with my first meter
 
As long as she eats well, you should be good to give her the insulin tonight. Her last test was 333? Just to make sure, you said her normal dose is 1u of insulin, correct? I think it would be okay, and if you're not positive, then you could cut that 1 unit back to maybe 3/4 unit. It isn't the greatest idea in the world to shoot without knowing her BG, but some insulin is better than none. Otherwise, she'd probably be really high in the morning.

Question on the lancets.... do you know what gauge they are? If they are the ones that came with the monitor, they are probably 33g, which is really tiny. Most people have problems trying to get blood at the beginning with a lancet that small. I first was successful with a 28g I think, then I got good with 30g, and now I have no trouble with a 33, but it's taken a lot of practice. Boxes are pretty cheap, you can get 100 for 3 bucks or so. I'd recommend the 28s until you get good at it, which really won't be long, trust me.

So far you're doing fantastic! It's always overwhelming and nerve wracking at the start. It DOES get easier for you, and for sweet Katie.

Carl in SC
 
I tried using the lancet pen that came with the meter. Doesn't seem to work so well. Also, the lancets are 33s. The other ones walmart has are 26s, so I'll probably go out and get those tomorrow.
She ate another half a small can of wet food. She looked at me reproachfully earlier when I tried to give her the dry, and she's only had the wet for a couple feedings!
So, I will go give her her insulin now.
 
If you are going to try to use the pen, then I think the lancets are brand-specific, so if all they have is 26s for that model, go with them. You might ask the pharmacist if he's got any 28s in the back room. If you are planning on free-handing, then you can buy any brand lancet, and 28s will work well too, I think.

Funny how she's already getting uppity about wet food!
Carl
 
Well, I got Katie's BG this morning. It's sitting at 340. I have found that her right ear likes to give blood, while the left is resistant. I used the pen today, not for its ability to puncture, because it still isn't working, but it gave me better control on the depth I punctured. So I used a pen, but it was still free-handed. She's still really enjoying the wet food, and my other cat was upset that she wasn't getting any! So once Katie had eaten what she wanted, Sassy came in and ate the rest!
 
Sounds like Sassy wants to be on a wet diet, too! :-D I had another non-diabetic cat, but when Bandit was diagnosed I just got rid of all of the dry because it was too hard policing Bandit with it (Gabby was a grazer and he was a gobbler), and trying to figure out the right combination of wet and dry to feed Gabby was just a pain in the butt. As it turned out, Gabby was soon diagnosed with renal insufficiency so she couldn't have continued to eat dry anyway.

It'll save you problems in the long run with future health issues with both cats--there's a ton of nutrition related illnesses that can develop on a dry diet, or that a dry diet can worsen.
 
Like Julie, I just ditched all the dry food when I adopted Maxwell, and at the time I had 10 other cats. Now I have both Maxwell and Musette that are diabetic, and still have the 10 non-diabetics, so everyone just eats what the sugarcats eat. Easier on mom and all the cats think they struck gold. And ironically it works out cheaper in the long run, what little bit more I'm spending in cat food, I'm not spending in cat litter, since they can use more of what they are eating now, there is less out-put in the litter boxes. And the non-diabetics have greatly improved coats and energy levels, so it is a win-win here.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Okay, went out and got bigger lancets. They had 30s and 26s, so I went with the 26s. I loaded one into the pen tonight, used Katie's right ear since it bleeds more, and got blood on the first try! And she didn't even flinch. (I'm posting all this here, because I can't get the spread sheet to work). Her BG was 319, so it's going down, yay!!
 
Super on all counts!
Eventually, when her ears "learn to bleed" you will be able to switch to smaller lancets if you want, but go with what's working.
I can't help much with the spreadsheet, but I'm sure others can help you get it working once they see this.

Carl in SC
 
So, I seem to have hit a plateau. Yesterday morning, Katie's BG was 342. Last night, it was 332. This morning, it was 350. Is it common to level off like that? Will it lower eventually, or will the dose need to be increased?
 
Assuming that all of those numbers were from the tests you did just before feeding and dosing her,then for now they are just fine. What you will want to do now is test her somewhere in the middle. If you can check her two or three times, like at 4, 6 or 8 hours after her morning dose, then you will get an idea of what the insulin is doing for her. For now you want to hold the same dose for a few days until you can see what her 12 hour curve looks like. After you have that data, you will (with our help at first) be able to determine if a dosage increase or decrease is needed. So far with everything you've done in the past few days, you're doing a great job!
Carl
 
Katie was below 300 this morning!!! I know it's not as low as she needs to be, but it's the lowest she's been yet! I had a scare the other day, when she jumped into the high 400s. I attributed that to the food I fed her, which was Fancy Feast. Even though it was wet food listed as being high in protein, low in carbs, I won't go back to it. I'll keep her on the Merrick brand, because that is lowering her BG.

EDIT: And then I just took her BG, and it was up by 100 points again. Could it be the fact that I didn't leave food down for her today while I was at work?
 
It is possible that her bg jumped because she didn't have food to graze during the day. If (and this is strictly a theoretical discussion because we have no data to go on) her bg dropped lower than her body has been used to this last while, then her liver would jump into action and cause the bg to raise sharply. This happens when a cat's body becomes used to being high and when the bg is lowered, it feels 'wrong' to the cat at first. If you can maybe freeze some wet food in ice cubes (even mix some extra water into the wet food - like apple sauce) and leave one out for her, she will eat it as it thaws. She has fresh food and a bit of extra water for the day and you don't need to worry.
 
Good job getting the spread sheet up and running. It's only one day of frequent mid-cycle testing, so you won't see a trend yet, but you should be able to see how low she goes, and when, and then how quickly she rises towards the next pre-shot. Exactly what you need to know in order to make any adjustments to her doses.
It's also really good that you have kept her on a steady 1u dose. My guess is that when you show the numbers to the vet, they will recommend a dose increase. If they do, it should be a small increase ( 1/2 unit at the most). If they tell you to bump up to 2u BID, you should ask them if that is too much too soon. Looking forward to seeing her next couple of test numbers!

Carl in SC
 
Just got off the phone with the vet, and she DID recommend going up to 2U twice a day for the next week, to see if that helps. I thought I'd try that dosage, and if it drops Katie too fast, to cut down to 1 1/2 U twice a day. Thoughts?
 
Jennifer,
Please let us know how she acts on the 2.0
Two potential issues with that increase. It is usually best to go up 1/2 unit at a time or less. Even though from 1 to 2 doesn't seem like a huge leap, it's doubling her insulin intake per day. Start low, go slow is how it is put around here.

The other issue when you increase that quick is that you might "miss" a dose that works best for Katie. Too much insulin has the same effect as not enough when looking at a BG level. Too much causes the sugar to go really low, and then her liver "panics" and dumps "sugar" into her system, pushing the BG up again. And it doesn't even have to look like a really low number in your tests. Her body is used to high BG, so anytime it drops quickly below her new "normal", it can cause this to happen.

1 unit might be too much, but 2 might be too much. 1.25 or 1.5 might be correct. If you jump over the "correct" dose, it makes it a little more difficult to figure out what the right one is.
I think she'll be okay on 2, but will check out her SS tomorrow to see what she gave you. Just try to keep in mind the "tiny increments" dose changes if you have to make future increases or decreases. So far both you and Katie are doing great!

Carl in SC
 
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry to hear Katie wasn't feeling well this morning.
I did notice a typo in the last part of what I wrote last night. Should have said "1u might not be enough, 2u might be too much, but I think you probably figured that's what I meant.

Hmmm, I'm thinking the 2u you gave her last night shouldn't have bothered her tummy though. With the AMPS you got today, which is right about where she's been the past few days, I don't think the 2u dose one time really affected her. In order to see what a new dose is going to do, you've got to give that same dose for a few cycles. I am not saying go back to 2u, however. Just that I'm doubtful that is responsible for her not wanting to eat and throwing up this morning.

Hopefully someone else will read this soon and be able to shed some light...

If at all posssible this weekend, it would be great if you could get a few tests in the +4 to +8 range, either in the am or pm cycle. I'd love to see what she does with the insulin once you've dosed her. For now, I'd probably stick with 1u or maybe go to 1.5 in the morning if her appetite seems to be okay at breakfast. Then see if you can catch her nadir at +4 or +6?

Carl
 
Katie's BG jumped this morning. It's now higher than it was when she was diagnosed. I don't understand; I've been giving her insulin, I changed her food, I'm monitoring her blood level, and yet she climbs! I feel like I'm going to lose her to my ignorance. What am I doing wrong??! nailbite_smile
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top