Numbers too high on Sugarcat

[Sarah & O'Malley(GA)]

Hello, I was just wondering I am dosing O'Malley correctly. He was at 152 this morning when I dosed him, but I only gave him 1U. His normal dose is 3U. At +10 he was 547 . Do I shoot Levemir on what nadir will be or do I shoot based on initial pre-shot numbers? He was just hospitalized for possible DKA, but seems to be doing much better now, but I just can't seem to get it under control!!!

 

[MommaOfMuse]

Well the first thing that jumps out at me looking at his spreadsheet is that you are adjusting his dose with just about every shot. Levemir likes consistancy so you want a dose that you can shoot the same am and pm. Plus you need to hold the dose for at least a week to let them settle on it, some cats will need longer to settle.

But as far as adjusting goes, Levemir is based off the nadir not the preshot values once they have a chance to settle.

I'm going to leave it to others to explain further since I've already lost power twice tonight so want to get this posted before it goes again (In the middle of a Blizzard)

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang

 

[Sarah & O'Malley(GA)]

Thank you so much, this helps a lot. Stay warm!

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Hi Sarah. Can you update his spreadsheet? It would be helpful to see how you got to 3u and what his numbers have been on that dose because it looks like he was doing well on .25u in September. Also, when that the poss DKA episode and what was the result of his treatment? Did they ever diagnose DKA?

How is he now? Are you testing for ketones at home? That is easy to do with Ketostiks from any pharmacy.

It's hard to say why he went from 152 to 547 today without more data - like did he go low overnight on the 3u (assuming you shot 3u last night) and rebounded high. If he is eating a low carb diet a 500 is probably from rebound. I found with Jeddie that he would have a low BG at PS and then a high one, alternating back and forth. Reducing the dose a bit on the first low PS and then holding that new dose seems to work to even things out.

I don't want to suggest a dose without more information, but I wonder if holding .5u might bring his number into a lower, flatter curve like what you had throughout Sept.

 

[Sarah & O'Malley(GA)]

I certainly will update his spreadsheet. The possible DKA was last week, he tested +3 for ketones, so they hospitalized him, gave him, a boatload of fluids, and they said he had an infection of some kind and gave me antibiotics to give him. They never said it was full- on DKA, but they said it was definitely ketosis. When they released him, there was no glucose or ketones in his pee, and it seems he is doing better now, but he is still on amoxicillin so his appetite is not as good as before, but he is eating. He is on a prescription diabetic diet.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

I am glad he is doing better. It is important to get them to eat, as you know. I am not fond of the Rx diabetic diet as there are other commercial foods that are better quality and probably cost less - like Wellness for instance. Also, many cats don't like the Rx food that much. I hope that you are feeding the canned version of that food.

Some ideas to get his to eat more: crumble dried chicken treats over it. There are several brands of freeze dried chicken treats like Halo, Beefeaters, Pure Bites, and PetSmart makes one in the dog section called Simply Nourish, but they have been back ordered on it for a while. You can also drizzle tuna water over it - try and get low sodium - crumble tuna flakes over it (big box pet stores should have this cat treat), or sprinkle Parmesan cheese over it. You can also feed meet baby food, just make sure it doesn't have onions in it. Sometimes just slightly warming the food for a few seconds in the micro to make it smell more works - be sure to stir it with you finger to make sure it isn't too hot. I do 10-12 second for a full bowl then it has been in the fridge, so only about 3-5 seconds for right out of the can.

To get more fluids into him, you can add a little water to his wet food. I add about a third of a can of water to their food.

 

[Sarah & O'Malley(GA)]

You're definitely right on about him not caring for the rx diet, Sheila. I am just going to switch him back to the FF Classic, he loves that stuff. He is very alert and playing with his laser light, and no more lazy than usual. His favorite snack is dried seaweed, so I will crumble it up and sprinkle it on his dinner.