Overwhelmed!

[sandy8pants]

My 10-year-old deaf cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes about a week ago. When she was diagnosed, her level was at 512. Twelve hours later, her level dropped to 182. I was ecstatic and hopeful that she was responding well to her insulin injections. But I took her back to the vet on Friday for a glucose monitoring and she was over 300.

The vet prescribed 2 units (now up to 3 units) of insulin and Science Diet M/D (wet and dry). Her bowel movements are fairly normal this week after adjusting to a different diet. She's still having difficulty with her back honches. I'm just not sure if I'm doing everything right. And there's so much information out there that it has become very overwhelming. Now I'm terrified that she will become hypoglycemic and I won't be able to tell.

I spoke with friends this weekend and they recommended this forum. They also told me to be patient as it can take time to find the right insulin level. I guess I'm just looking for some support from others who are going through this. :sad:

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

We love to help, and we will be here to support you. We were all completely overwhelmed at first - it is an incredible learning curve, but once you start understanding things, it is a wonderful sense of control.

The first and best thing you can do is to test your kitty's blood glucose numbers at home. Almost every cat is stressed at the vet and stress raises blood glucose levels so the levels can be much higher than at home. We have taught hundreds of people over the internet and will be happy to teach you. You can test before each shot to be sure it is safe to give the amount of insulin you are planning to give. You also test in the middle of the cycle to see how the insulin is working. If you want to learn how, just ask!

The problem with her walking can be neuropathy. Lowering her blood glucose levels with insulin will help. Also helpful is Methyl b12, available in health food stores.

 

[sandy8pants]

Thanks Sue and Oliver! Is it ok for me to begin testing her on my own? I have to take her back this Friday to check her levels again. I would definitely like to learn how to test her glucose as I know it would make me feel better. It's difficult not knowing and waiting a week before the vet checks her.

I'll also check into the Methyl B12. She definitely has neuropathy but the vet technician said we would see an immediate improvement once her levels are back to normal. Thank you for the kind words and support.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Absolutely it is okay. Some vets are very supportive; some are not. My idea is that the ones who are not so supportive are concerned that it will seem like too much for the owner. But for me, it was a relief, not a concern. I wanted to know what his numbers were. But, the bottom line is, you don't need your vet's consent. It is your kitty. We wouldn't get a prescription for a certain amount of insulin for our 2 legged children and go home and give it for a week without testing. We do the same for our 4 legged children.

Here is how it is done: Video for hometesting Here is a good beginning site: Newbie hometesting site and here is your shopping list:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 25-26 gauge is good. Any brand will work.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

It is not always as easy as the video shows at first. We spent an entire weekend poking poor Oliver before we got a drop of blood. The thing that really made the difference for us was heating the ear with the rice sack. Warm ears bleed better.

Here is the info on the B12: Neuropathy

Keep reading. Keep asking questions. We really want to help you help your kitty. Everyone who replies to your post is paying it forward for help they received in the beginning.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Hi and welcome to FDMB. We all understand how you feel since we all were once where you are now. Let me reassure you that Feline Diabetes is very managable and it will not take long before you develop your routine.

Sue has already given you some great advice on hometesting. I also recommend that you begin testing as soon as possible especially because of your current dose. 3 units is a very high dose for a newly diagnosed cat. Even 2 units was high. It is better to start low and gradually raise the dose over a period of weeks. By starting high, you may miss your optimal dose and also risk your cat becoming hypoglycemic. Unless there are other health issues going on, it is better to start at 1 unit twice a day and gradually increase it over several weeks by 1/2 unit at time to find the dose that works best for your cat. Also, the dose increase was based on readings taken at a vets office. Vet stress can easily increase a cat's glucose levels by more than 100 points. This is another reason to learn to hometest. By testing before every shot and doing your own curves at home, you will get more accurate data. You also eliminate the need to take your cat to the vet just for testing.

Another issue I want to bring to your attention is that diet also affects the glucose levels, especially dry food. Almost all dry food is high in carbs and this affects the BG (blood glucose) levels. Also, you do not need to feed your cat prescription food. Many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies canned food. With that said, until you begin hometesting and also reduce your insulin dose, do not change your diet yet. Right now, the higher carb food may be preventing your cat from becoming hypoglycemic. If you switch to a low carb diet, the BG levels can easily drop by 100 - 200 and your insulin dose is too high.

What insulin are you using? Longer acting insulins work well in cats. These include Lantus, Levemir, PZI and ProZinc.

If you have not started doing so, start reading the information on this site about diet, insulins, hometesting and hypoglycemia. I know that there are lots of questions that you have and please ask us. We are here to help you.