Newly Diagnosed

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arozeboom

arozeboom

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Hi there. My name is Amy and my cat is Ruby. Ruby is about 11 years old and just under 14 lbs. She was diagnosed a week ago with a bad bladder infection (with rod bacteria) and diabetes (her blood sugar was at 445 when we got her there). She stayed with her regular vet for a couple of days, then they had us transfer her to the 24 hour clinic due to the holiday weekend. We got to bring her home on Christmas Eve.

Her regular vet decided she needed 1 unit of PZI, twice a day. The 24 hour vet said that she was in the normal range for the time she was there and to hold off on the insulin until we had her rechecked with her regular vet. We took her there on the 27th and her sugar was back at 460. They said to go with the 1 unit, twice a day. She tolerates the shots really well, though its a wrestling match to get the antibiotics in her.

My question is...she is still taking the antibiotics for the bladder infection and she's had 4 doses of the insulin so far. She's still drinking A LOT of water and has increased urination. I think its even more than it was before we took her to the vet in the first place. Is this normal? I know her sugar is still really high. I've tested her at home three times and its been 269, 334 and 303, according to the ReliOn meter. I'm calling the vet to ask them as soon as they open this morning but I thought I'd ask here, too.

I'm completely new at this and I'm convinced I'm doing it all wrong. I just want what's best for her.

Thanks so much!
Amy
 
Welcome and you are not doing it wrong... You are doing a great job!!!

Antibiotics can affect the bg so don't be surprised if Ruby's numbers are all over the place.

Great job on home testing already!!! :-D What food does Ruby eat? If she is currently on dry food we would want you to switch her to an all canned diet with carbs less than 10% - but don't do this until you are consitently testing as a switch will make her numbers go down therefore her insulin needs would drop as well. Here is a link to lists with canned foods ( make sure to choose ones with under 10% carbs altho most people try to stay under 8):

http://binkyspage.tripod.com/foodfaq.html

btw - you will hear a saying here ECID (every cat is different) and some kittys have bgs that go down immediatly with the start of insulin and others can take months to get them regulated. I would say until you are done with the antibiotics just keep everything the same but keep testing!! There is a spreadsheet you can start that will help you track Ruby's numbers. I am not very computer savy so I can't help with the set up but I'm sure someone will be along to help with that. You can look at my cat Harry's in my signature at the bottom of the post. I had very good luck with changing his diet and he was off insulin within a month of that switch. As far was when to test - you should test before every shot and then try to test at +6(6 hours after the shot - usually the lowest point or nadir) but any numbers you can get are helpful.

Keep up the great work!!!
Sharon
 
Thank you! Its reassuring to hear that.

I know it will get betting, its just a bit of a rough start. The vet has her on the dry Purina DM, 1/4 cup twice a day. We tried the wet DM and she refused to eat it. We tried a couple of other canned foods that are on Binky's list but she turned her nose up at those also. She's always been a dry food girl. Maybe I can try mixing some dry into the wet and see if I can coax her into switching. She's scheduled to go in on the 10th for an all day curve.

I will check out the spreadsheet. I spend all day dealing with them, so I should be able to figure it out.

Another question...she used to eat the Purina One Vibrant Maturity. I've read some pretty negative things about that here. While I'm sure she was probably predisposed to develop diabetes with as chunky as she is, but could that have kicked it into high gear? For the day she was home between the time she was released from the 24 hour clinic to the time we had her rechecked at the vet, that is what she ate (that is what the temp vet said to do). She would get really, really quiet after she ate. It was caused by the food, correct?

Thanks again.
Amy
 
I think most vets recommend the hills products but they are not that great of quality. I also started my cat on that per the vet but after joining here changed his diet. Before Harry was dx he was on a mostly dry diet(Natural Balance) with just some canned as snack and I beleive that the food did play a part in his getting fd. He also is overweight but I think the food pushed him over the edge. I have found that my cats don't like the more expensive canned food but prefer the fancy feast and friskies - which is fine with me casue it saves me $$.
Here is another link written by a vet with info about fd and diet - see the section on transitioning dry food addicts for ideas

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes

If you absolutely can't get Ruby to eat canned (keep trying, it really is best..) there are a couple dry foods with lower carbs: Evo and Wellness Core.

If you are able to test Ruby at home there really is no need to bring her to the vet for a curve. You can just do it yourself - all the curve is a test every 2 hours for 12 hours to check how the insulin in reacting. Can you pick a day and do that yourself?? If so most vets are happy to take those numbers. Once you get your spreadsheet set up you could just email it to him - thats what I did. And the added bonuses are Ruby will not be stessed and you save some $$

Are you free feeding or are you on a schedule?

btw - somewhere on the board are the directions to set up the spreadsheet - it is thru google docs
I think this is it:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
 
She's also going in for a urinalysis to make sure the bladder infection is cleared up, not just the curve. From what they say its a pretty ugly infection. They did promise to keep her in an exam room as opposed to a cage in the hopes of keeping her a bit more mellow.

We feed her 1/4 cup of the food in the morning and in the evening. She's always been a bit of a grazer in that she'll eat a little and wander off, then come back off and on until her bowl is empty. The vet said to not give her a shot unless she eats at least half of her food. That makes it a bit tougher.
I'm not concerned about the price of the food. To me she's worth any price.
 
Welcome to the club (that you never wanted to join). This board is a great place to be for support and advice.

Mikey is on Lantus, so no insulin advice, but 4 days at the vet's seems excessive; if she stresses, it's likely to give her higher numbers (though some cats get lower), and that could lead to inaccurate dosing of her insulin.

Some people find that frequent small meals, especially in the first 4-6 hours of a cycle, help with their cats. It definitely helps Mikey. As long as they eat enough for the insulin at preshot time, grazing is ok. You could try a few different foods until you find one she will eat a good bit of right away. I'm lucky in that Mikey is not picky in the least; my biggest challenge is keeping him out of things he shouldn't eat!
 
She was at the vet so long because she was really dehydrated from the bladder infection and not eating. They needed to get her stabilized. She only had 3 doses of insulin the whole time she was there. The regular vet we go to is a cat only practice, which I think is important. They're really wonderful people and they've spent a lot of time dealing me freaking out. I'm less than impressed with the 24 hour clinic people, but I didn't have a choice at that point.

We have another cat as well. I'm having the same trouble keeping them out of each other's food, even if I try to feed them separately. It seems they're convince that what is in the other bowl is way better than what they're getting. We're feeding them both the DM (with the vet's approval). The other one is a tiny thing, but they said the DM won't hurt her, as long as she's eating enough.
 
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