Oliver new foster cat on Prozinc

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AbyResq

AbyResq

Member Since 2016
I picked up a second foster cat, Oliver, with diabetes today. He was diagnosed a few weeks ago and put on a starting dose of 3 units of Prozinc 2x/day. Dose was determined by an in office curve. At the same time he started insulin the owner removed his dry food and started feeding him the classic seafood varieties of Fancy Feast. He was feeding him 1 can with his morning dose and 1 with his evening dose.

I will start home testing tonight. His dose makes me nervous but I'm inclined to keep it the same tonight for the sake of consistency. I also prefer feeding 4 times a day.

Thoughts on what you'd do are welcome. Oliver had a 6 hour car ride today and is now in a new home so it's been a stressful day for him. Luckily, he is seeking attention. We'll see what happens after I start poking his ear :)


(Please note, I'm maintaining 1 spreadsheet with a worksheet per foster cat.)

Kristen
 
Welcome to Oliver :) Thank you for fostering him Kristen :bighug: Glad he's being a good sport about the change in scenery and seeking some attention from you. Hopefully someone with experience will be along shortly to give some input, I am waay to new for that :)
 
Bless you for taking on a new diabetic kitty!

The 3 units make me nervous also, especially if the food has just changed. I know you want to give him time to adjust, but the sooner you can get a number for him, the better.
 
Kristen, so glad you took Oliver in! You're an angel.

I agree, 3 units is a nail biter. It's worrying what could happen on that dose without knowing numbers. Looking forward to seeing some numbers on him soon!

I think feeding 4 times a day is fine...as far as I know. Honestly, I'd do something like that for mine if I was home all day. Since I'm not, they eat twice a day, but I'd rather feed them more often if I could.

We look forward to helping you help Oliver!
 
His PMPS was 192. I gritted my teeth and gave him his regular dose of 3 units. I will test him at +4 before I go to bed.

He's been getting 3 units 2x/day for about 2 weeks and didn't have a crisis. Now I'll add in home testing to see if any adjustments are required. I was surprised by his PMPS given how stressful today must've been for him. He came with his brother, Figaro. Figs is bit off his food tonight.

Oliver is in rough shape so this may have been longstanding before treatment started. Very skinny and his coat is awful. He may be walking on his hocks, still trying to decide on that one.
 
Whoa! That's a low number. Please make sure to closely monitor him tonight...3 units was an awful lot to give for such a low number.

Hopefully with home testing, good insulin adjustments, and some love he'll start feeling better soon.

I know you have Tuck, so you know what to do in case of a hypo, right? Just making sure in case Oliver drops low tonight.
 
Unfortunately, I'm putting my hypo knowledge to the test tonight.

+4 = 26, retested to verify he was 23.

Offered him 2 T high carb dry and 2/3 a can of Fancy Feast classic Salmon. He devoured it all. Will restest in a few minutes.

Welcome to home testing Oliver. We're doing lots of it tonight :(
 
+4........................26, fed him 2 T high carb dry and 2/3 can of FF classic Salmon
+4 and 20 min....26, fed him another T of high carb dry plus Karo
+4 and 40 min....28, been rubbing Karo on his legs and he's grooming it off
+5 and 20............32, feeding another half can of FF

He's been here 12 hours. He started getting super annoyed at testing. Wanted to hide. Decided to ignore testing for a few cycles and focus on leaving him where I could ply him with food.
 
+4........................26, fed him 2 T high carb dry and 2/3 can of FF classic Salmon
+4 and 20 min....26, fed him another T of high carb dry plus Karo
+4 and 40 min....28, been rubbing Karo on his legs and he's grooming it off
+5 and 20 min....32, feeding another half can of FF
+6 and 5 min... .57
 
@Sue and Oliver (GA) @Rachel and anyone else :)

I'm assuming he's going to stay rising. I'm still up and testing.

My question is what would you do for his AM dose? I have no baseline. I just know the previous owner was giving him 3 units 2x/day with no testing. For all I know he could've been going this low every day for the last several.

I'm debating going down to 1/2 unit or 1 unit.
 
+4........................26, fed him 2 T high carb dry and 2/3 can of FF classic Salmon
+4 and 20 min....26, fed him another T of high carb dry plus Karo
+4 and 40 min....28, been rubbing Karo on his legs and he's grooming it off
+5 and 20 min....32, feeding another half can of FF
+6 and 5 min......57
+6 and 25 min....95
 
yay hes stable! that is so crazy that they had him on that high of a dose! Did he ever act funny, or was he fine through it all?
 
And I guess he got a crash course in hometesting, saw where you said he wanted to hide, looks like you got him to cooperate a bit :) :bighug:
 
He was grumpy but I've had many new foster cats who act that way. At one point he walked across the room and his gait was not normal. I'm eager to see him a bit more normal in the morning or should I say later this morning!

One more test and as long as it's above 100, I think I'm headed to bed. Hope you're not up late with Cooter!
 
+4........................26, fed him 2 T high carb dry and 2/3 can of FF classic Salmon
+4 and 20 min....26, fed him another T of high carb dry plus Karo
+4 and 40 min....28, been rubbing Karo on his legs and he's grooming it off
+5 and 20 min....32, feeding another half can of FF
+6 and 5 min......57
+6 and 25 min....95
+6 and 45 min....135

Expecting a big number at AMPS.
 
Sarah Smith said:
And I guess he got a crash course in hometesting, saw where you said he wanted to hide, looks like you got him to cooperate a bit :) :bighug:
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Luckily, I went out and got him his own meter this afternoon. I decided to go with the Relion micro instead of the one with the cheaper strips. The micro requires a much smaller drop - boy am I grateful for that tonight! I don't think he has the energy to fight me. He's probably wondering what the heck happened to his old life.

Good night and thanks for checking in @Sarah Smith
 
glad hes going the right way still :) i wouldnt be at all suprised if hes been doing this for days like you said :nailbiting: hope you get some sleep, heading that direction myself! :bighug:

Edit: I really like the micro, its a good little meter... nice size and small sample! Have been using the prime for about a week just due to cost, but the micro is in my hypo kit for long nights of testing. Good job getting him back on track, hes lucky to have you!
 
AMPS 502 and he's walking on his hocks. When I let him out of his carrier BEFORE last night's dose there were times I thought he was walking funny. Looks like he might have neuropathy. This morning is worse though.

I think I'm only giving him 1 unit. Unfortunately, I have family functions until about 2 PM today so I can't be here to observe.
 
Sounds like a whole lot safer dose! You'll get him straightened out I know :) We started Zobaline just over a week ago and it has helped Cooter alot. I wasnt sure how much of his gait issues were the nerve damage and what if any was neuropathy, but he is walking so much better even this soon! Hope you enjoy your family time, look forward to see how hes doing this evening :cat:
 
One unit sounds like a plan. Lots of cats do not have symptoms at hypo numbers (until they just keel over) so he may have been continually hypo and in high numbers at that dose. Or the stress of being in a facility may have kept him in higher safer numbers. Regardless, looks like you may have saved his life taking him home and keeping him in safe ranges. Fantastic!
 
Wow! Wild ride last night. I'm so sorry I wasn't here...I crashed. It's been a tough week with a sick little one at home and a giant blow up at work.

I'm glad you were testing! The reduced dose sounds good...I look forward to seeing what that does!
 
It was a long night. No apologies needed, Rachel. I didn't do a 911 post. I knew eating and testing were the only things I could do. Thankfully, his ear bleeds pretty easily and he tolerates getting tested. He wanted nothing to do with me putting Karo in his mouth but when I smeared it on his leg he groomed it off.

He actually came straight from his former owner to me. No facility. When I picked him up yesterday, I asked how he'd been doing since starting insulin. The owner knew I was concerned with the vet's advice. He said Oliver had been drinking and peeing less. He sort of indicated that Oliver had been very quiet. I'm guessing this cat had been going hypo and managed to escape a life ending event.

Oliver's physical condition is rough. Coat is greasy and matted, he's a shorthaired cat. Lost most of his muscle mass. Walking on his hocks.

I just got his AM +6 reading at 372. (AMPS was 502). I'm assuming I should do three full cycles on 1 before doing any adjustment. Unless he were to go hypo on 1 then I would reduce.
 
Carol & Murphy said:
Wow - what a homecoming - and now bouncing. Poor little guy- do you know what his former owner was feeding him?
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Before diagnosis he'd been getting dry Purina One and Fancy Feast classics. The day he started insulin the owner removed dry food. I tried telling him to keep feeding dry and I would do the dietary changes once I could monitor him. I was so concerned over the vet's initial dose and I stupidly followed it myself last night, duh.
 
AbyResq said:
Before diagnosis he'd been getting dry Purina One and Fancy Feast classics. The day he started insulin the owner removed dry food. I tried telling him to keep feeding dry and I would do the dietary changes once I could monitor him. I was so concerned over the vet's initial dose and I stupidly followed it myself last night, duh.
Click to expand...
And then you stayed up all night and kept him safe. :bighug: No guilt allowed here.
 
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