Overwhelmed Newly Diagnosed

Hello, I'm writing here because I don't think anyone else in my life could really understand what's happening. My 15 year old cat (her 16th birthday is later this month), Peaches, was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday. She had been drinking so much water, in turn peeing a lot, and just making a mess of the litterbox like it wouldn't clump at all. She was and is still eating normally. My dad and I took her to our vet who treated her for pyometra twice and spayed her. He did a glucose test and found her level was at 688. He also did a full blood panel but he said the things that were a little high would likely/hopefully come down when her glucose level fell. Today we went in and were given Vetsulin, and told to give it to her twice a day (morning and night) and to feed her beforehand. each dose we give her is 2 units. Our vet didn't give us one of the meters to test and home (testing at the vet is $20) but I stressed to my dad afterwards that I want to get a meter for her at home. My vet said that if we did an at home glucose test, to check in the middle of the day. He also wasn't super strong on any kind of food recommendation, but that dry food would be ok as she is rather old and does not like most wet food (only the gravy kind we'd give her twice a month). We bought Natural Balance (limited ingredients) dry food because neither my dad and I are working and couldn't afford anything like the prescription brands.. I am desperately trying to find work which is difficult as I do not have a car am still in recovery from major surgery.
I hurt my dads feelings, I cried, I'm so stressed out. I've had this cat since I was 4, I'm 19 now, I desperately want her to be healthy and happy.

 

Awe, I completely understand your fear. My 14 year old cat, Taz, was diagnosed in January. I'm still learning a lot, so can't help too much, but you've come to the right place. The members here are amazing.

Some things I do know... dry food is not a good option as it's loaded in carbs and you want to feed as little of those as possible. Moist food is much lower, and it also has a lot of moisture in it, which is really good for the kidneys. A lot of members here feed Friskies Pate or Fancy Feast Classic.

Vetisulin doesn't seem to be the preferred insulin around here. But members will be able to help you better with that. Home testing is an absolute must to ensure that your kitty stays safe and to get her numbers a lot better. Most members use a human glucose meter and strips that you buy from Walmart.

Anyway, I'll let others go into more detail. Just know that it does get easier with a little time.

 

hi Tony, my name's Kyle -- welcome to the club, you found the best place on the entire internet to get your girl Peaches some help. The people here are amazing and know everything there is to know about how to help a diabetic kitty -- way beyond the few hours of class time any vet gets in vet school!

I am pretty new here as well so just wanted to extend a warm welcome and say stick around, we can be new at this together. One thing I love about this place it is very numbers driven, you'll want to do home blood glucose testing and fill out a google spreadsheet with the test results so that people can help peaches.

 

Hi and welcome Tony and Peaches to the forum.
I’m sure we can help you look after Peaches.
I would strongly recommend you home test the blood glucose (BG). The best and most economical test meter is the ReliOn Premier human glucose meter which you can buy from Walmarts for $9 and 100 test strips for $17.88.
You will also need a box of 26 or 28 gauge lancets to prick the ear. And some cotton rounds to hold behind the ear as you test and to hold on the spot after testing.
HOMETESTING LINKS AND TIPS

Also here is a link to setting up a spreadsheet to enter your data …I can see you have done the signature…great…..and for the hypo kit which is very important you get set up asap.
HELP US HELP YOU

There is no need for you to feed the prescription food. There are plenty of low carb options you can buy at the supermarket and pet stores.
Look for wet /canned food with carbs under 10%.
Here is a link to canned foods. However a word of warning…..do not switch over to a low carb diet until you are hometesting and getting help from us to transition to the low carb food as switching can lower the BG a lot so you much be monitoring closely.
Also always feed the main meal 1/2 hour before giving the dose of insulin.

FOOD CHART

Test before every dose of insulin to see it is safe to give the dose. And I recommend testing after 4 hours to see how low the dose it taking Peaches.
2 units is a big dose to start with. How heavy is Peaches? I am going to tag @FrostD as she is a vetsulin user.
Bron

 

Hi, thank you all for being so kind to me.
@SaraMV in regards to her food, when I asked my vet about wet VS dry after explaining that Peaches has a history of being very picky about the wet food she eats, he said it should be okay to get her on a healthier dry food so long as she is being taken care of by the insulin.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) Peaches is actually a small cat, I assumed the big dose was because of how high her glucose level was when she was tested. I think she could be ~7lbs?

 

Welcome! Bron tagged me earlier I was just waiting for some replies.

We usually start 1U twice a day when they are on high carb food because Vetsulin can be very harsh on cats; we'd only consider starting higher if you had a huge cat (20+ lbs). So - dose is based on nadir, or the lowest BG in the cycle, because that is how you keep them from hypoglycemia. Nadir is usually 2 to 6 hours after a shot for Vetsulin.

It does not matter how high they go, only how low because the low numbers are what is immediately dangerous. The high numbers do wear on them over time and can cause things like neuropathy, higher risk for UTIs, etc but the goal is to get the cat regulated within a few months. It does take time and patience.

Once you get some test data in, it'll be much easier for me to advise on dose.

Do you know if there were any ketones at diagnosis? Would have been in urinalysis

 

Once I get an at home glucose test for her and set up a spreadsheet, I'll definitely give you an update!
There were no ketones as far as I am aware from the testing.

 

@FrostD do you think Tony should reduce the dose down from 2 units twice a day?

 

Yes. I would reduce down to 1U twice a day since no ketones. Just test ketones a few times a week.

 

Hey Tony how are things with Peaches?

 

Things are going well. I haven’t been able to get her to the vet again to do the glucose test comparison with our home monitor, so I have tried that yet. She has adjusted very well to her shots and sits expectantly near where I fill up her syringe. I recently changed syringes because the one my vet gave me kept bending or breaking (very scary). The new ones have a shorter needle but they’ve never bent or broken, but the measurement on the side of the syringe is different. Everything else in dimensions is the same though.

 

Tony are you hometesting now? You don’t need to compare your meter with the vets meter. They will rarely be exactly the same.
Are you testing before every dose?
And feeding 30 minutes before giving any insulin if the BG is high enough?
Are you testing during the cycles to see how low the dose is taking Peaches?
Can we help you with setting up the spreadsheet?
And lastly what dose of vetsulin are you giving now?
Sorry to ask all those questions!

 

Hello again, all those questions are ok!
1. Still haven’t home tested yet, but I have all the supplies that were shown on this website. I wanted to check with my vets glucose meter but you said it isn’t worth it just now
2. ^
3. I feed her and then afterwards give her her insulin, yes.
4. Question 1 answer
5. I think help with setting up a spreadsheet would be amazing, they look very intimidating with fresh eyes.
6. Still giving the 2 units because I didn’t want to do anything like changing dosage without the vet saying it was ok. Her urine still isn’t clumping, drinking a lot, and has a very big appetite.

When it comes to testing, I asked my vet about it and he said to test in the middle of her two doses (9am and 9pm), but some people on the forum say to do it before she gets her dose. I’m not sure what to do.

 

I would start testing now if I were you. Then you will have some data to show the vet.
What type of meter did you get? If there is a difference in the numbers between your meter and vets meter I would not worry.

With vetsulin make sure you feed then wait 1/2 hour before giving the dose.
,

Always test before every dose of insulin to make sure it is safe to give the dose.
Then test during the cycle to see how low the dose is taking Peaches. Around 4 hours after the dose is a good time to test with vetsulin.

I will ask @Bandit's Mom to help you. She will contact you here on the thread.

 

Hello and welcome to FDMB!
I can help you with the spreadsheet. Will send you a PM with the details I need. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.

 

I bought a ReliOn Premier Blu.
What is considered low, healthy, and high for a cat on Vetsulin? And I give her a dose of insulin only if she’s high? What about half doses?