Nico is comming home tomorrow

[rob&nico]

Hi, I'm Rob, Nico's daddy, we are new here,
My little boy has been through a lot. About 2 months ago I took him to the vet because he had a sore on his upper lip, diagnosis, Rodent Ulcer, treatment, steroids and antibiotic.
He began guzzling water and slowly stopped eating, I took him back and he had lost 2 lbs. The vet told me all of this was normal after steroid treatment and would subside, it didn't.
I took him back in and they tested him for diabetes and you guessed it, diabetes, 434 BG.
He is back at the vet and I'm bringing him home tomorrow regardless.
On his first week at the vet they started him on 1 unit first day, 2 on the second and then 3 units a day, then I brought him home.
I took him back yesterday because he wasn't drinking or eating. They kept him and tested him for Feline Lukima and Feline AIDS, both came back neg. They gave him the 3 units and an apatite enhancer (some type of antihistamine) and he ate all his food overnight but his blood tested at 500BG.
The vet gave him another 3 units before I left, an antibiotic shot for a little infection in his urine (a small amount of blood in it) and another apatite enhancer. The vet told me he is going to raise him to 4 units tomorrow. He is on ProZinc.
Enough already, Thank God for Jennifer, Tuckers mom from DCIN, she is going to get me started tomorrow night with the supplies I need, the information she has give me so far is such a blessing, she is Nico's Guardian Angel and his new aunt Jennifer.
Any advice and experiences you've had would be more than welcome.
Thanks,
Rob & Nico

 

[tuckers mom]

I like being an aunt, thank you

I'm glad you posted here, you'll get a lot of great information, more than I can ever explain. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow and getting you started with hometesting. I'm especially looking forward to meeting Nico.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Hi Rob,
I'm glad you were able to get in touch with Jennifer. Before she gets there tomorrow, jot down some questions you want to ask her. What she's going to show you with hometesting is going to be the best thing you could possibly do with respect to treating Nico at home. It's also going to save you a bundle of money! But it will be a lot of information to absorb at once. Keep posting here and asking questions, but come up with some to ask Jennifer now so you don't forget while she's there.

OK. It sounds like Nico has had a few rough days at the vet. Here's a "bright side". As you know, some kitties can suffer from what is called "steroid-induced diabetes", and you probably feel that fits Nico's situation. The bright side is that newly diagnosed diabetic cats who developed diabetes after steroid shots stand a good chance of a short-term dance with diabetes. If you combine insulin, diet change (to a low-carb wet food only diet), and home-testing, Nico might not need to be treated for too long. One thing you'll see often here is "ECID" - every cat is different. What applies to Nico may not apply to other sugarcats, and vice versa. My Bob was diagnosed in May. He's been off insulin for nearly two months. He was not a steroid-induced case, however. He was also treated with PZI. Some kitties are treated for years, and never go into remission. There is every reason to believe though that Nico can.

I'd like to talk for a bit about the dosages your vet has been giving Nico. Bob went up to 4 units twice a day at the highest point in his treatment. However, to get from 1u to 4u took 3 or 4 weeks, not 3 days. When that was taking place, I wasn't a member of this forum, so you have a big advantage in that you're getting here at the beginning, so to speak. Another thing you'll read here is the "start low, go slow" method of dose increases. Your vet started low at 1 unit, which is the "norm". BUT, he sort of missed the "go slow" theory. First off, increasing by whole unit measurements is too fast. Also, you want to keep a cat on a specific dose for a few days at a time so that his body can adjust to it. Then you can determine (with home testing) if an increase makes sense. You can't just keep upping the dose every day. That can cause a bad hypoglycemic episode, which can kill a kitty. And, it can also cause you to "miss the right dose". A cat's "correct dose" might be 1.5 or 2.25 units. If you climb quick and in big steps, you can skip right over the dose that will work best.

My advice, just for the morning, (I'm assuming he's going back to the vet for that 4 unit shot?), is to tell your vet you do not want him shot with that much insulin. Also, insist that they test his BG with a glucometer before giving ANY dose. Nico is YOUR cat, you're the boss. I would suggest you ask the vet to give him one unit max. Tomorrow night you will be able to test him at home, and you can talk to Jennifer about what sort of dose makes sense from that point forward.

I'm going to let other folks chime in. I'm glad you found this site, and that you are going to have the chance for a really experienced FDMB member to show you the "ropes". In a few days, you aren't going feel anywhere remotely close to as overwhelmed as you feel tonight.

Keep us posted, and keep asking questions. That's why we all come here. To ask, to learn, and to help each other.

Carl and Bob in SC

 

[rob&nico]

Thank you so much Carol for your advice and caring. Your right about being overwhelmed, Jennifer has been such a great gift when I thought all was lost.
Nico is still at the vet I am picking him up tomorrow, Jennifer said that even thought he is going to give him 4 units tomorrow we are going to start over. I am trusting in what you all tell me, the knowledge that is on here is so much more than my vet seems to have on feline diabetes.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Rob,
Don't feel alone.... many members say the same thing about what they think of their vet's knowledge of feline diabetes. My vet had some experience with it, and she encouraged home testing, gave us PZI, and the only thing she missed the target on was that she gave us some HIll's M/D wet and dry. I got lucky, found Janet and Binky's food charts (see the link in my sig) and got Bob on some better low carb food.
That said, it is only natural that you would think there is more knowledge here. There is. Thousands of people and thousands of cats have been a part of this place. My vet has been in practice for 30 years, and she's seen maybe a hundred cases of FD. I'm no vet, and certainly no expert, but I've been here only 4 months, and I've "advised" on more cases than my vet! Feline Diabetes seems "common" to us, but again, it's because everyone here is familiar with it. I'd never heard of it before Bob was diagnosed. Vets can't be experts on everything. They have to know so much more about such a wide variety of illnesses, that there's no way they have the time to devote all their efforts to something as relatively uncommon as FD.

Jennifer is right on the mark - tomorrow night, you can start all over. Now you have a whole big "family" of people who want to help you and Nico out. You've found the best place in the world for you and your sugarcat.

Carl and Bob in SC