Concerned_Parent86
Member Since 2022
Hello everyone, my name is Carlos and I have a 17 year old cat named Taz.
Taz was diagnosed with feline diabetes in the summer of 2019 after urinating excessively and losing a bit of weight which was initially welcomed by us ignorant folk. Taz has always been a lazy cat but i believe it was because my parents didnt know if we were going to keep him after giving away 1 previous kitten which hurt us all so we tried not to get too attached. The only time he would receive attention from us was when he wouldnt eat. So i believe this set him up to have a weird relationship to food which has always made me feel inadequate. Eventually in his later years he became obese and I tried to make him become more active over the years by playing with him more. If only I knew how badly kibble was affecting him...he is now a 20lb cat.
When he was diagnosed the vet gave a treatment regiment of 2u of Lantus to be taken every 12h. The syringes that they gave us were the U-40, 1/2ml-20u. They gave us this without telling us about Lantus being a u-100 insulin type!
I don't know how Taz managed to be okay but while the vet was working out the glucose curve he told us to bring it down to 1u in the same syringe. Neither I nor any of my family checked on the vet office recommendations regarding syringes WITHOUT conversion charts because we trusted their judgement. Plus they didn't give much in terms of resources, mainly we were to watch for signs of hypoglycemia and DKA.
Regardless Taz has been given what translates to the equivalent of 2.5 u on a u-100 syringe for almost 2 years every 12h. Since he's always been very lazy we can't comment on whether or not this was just his laziness or because he was just hypoglycemic.
Recently the vet sent us with different syringes (1/2ml, u-100, 50 unit) but since I haven't been home to check any of this, my parents have given him the same dose by "eyeballing it" for about a couple of months.
Last week we noticed that Taz started urinating more often and in larger amounts so we decided to take him to the vet. My parents gave him the 2 units eyeballed to closely resemble the old syringes to give "1u" at 06:30h which was the norm for years. We then took him to the vet at 08:00h He stayed there for the whole day while they worked out what insulin dose he should be on. At the end of it he called me to obtain consent to attach a "Freestyle Librelink" glucometer on his skin so that we can do continuous blood testing at home to which I agreed. For whatever reason he also thought were still giving him 2u despite him being on 1u (2.5 true units on a U-100 syringe) for years. So he decided to up the dosage to 2u once again since his glucose curve was virtually non existent at the vets office. The vet office day was on Monday October 24. We were asked to keep him on this 2u dose for 2-3 days and call the vet to see if we need to tweak his dosing.
At home, my parents gave him the 1u of insulin for the evening as prescribed by the vet. We were to start on 2u on tuesday. My parents proceeded to eyeball the insulin again without my knowledge, and gave him 5 units in the u-100 syringe thinking that that is the recommended 2u that the vet gave in the older syringes in the morning of Tuesday at 06:30h. His BG was 26.2 mmol/L at the time of dosing. His first 12h after the change of dose, he was lethargic, his peak was 25.8 mmol/L and his lowest was 22 mmol/L. At 18:30h his BG was 22.3 at time of dosing (5u). In the following 12h his peak was 23.2 mmol/L and his lowest was 15 mmol/L. On wednesday morning dosing October 26th his BG was 17.1 at 0630h (5u). The next 12h he seemed more active, his highest was 21 and his lowest was 18.3.
I called the vet to give him the numbers and he told me to call back again befire the weekend for more data. We were to keep him on the prescribed 2u.
Since I was checking him overnight worried about his sugar levels I ended up passing out and I didn't see my parents giving him his next dose at 18:30h in the evening after the vet had closed. Given the trends they continued with the 5u. They came into my room to give the insulin dose because Taz sleeps in my bed and I woke up zombie like to realize that the syringes are different. I asked if my parents checked his blood glucose before giving him his 5 units which they didn't so I checked myself after the 5u were given and he was at 8.8 mmol/L. I stayed up all night again checking his glucose levels every 30 mins and feeding him trying to keep his BG levels stable. His highest for those 12h was 10mmol/L and his lowest was 5.4. But overall he stayed within range and he stopped urinating large amounts. At 06:30h on Thursday 27, his BG was 4.8 and so we refrained from giving him any insulin for those 12h. His lowest was 3.9 at 07:00h
I called the vet to talk to him about what just happened the night before when they opened. He wasn't available so I gave the BG readings to the front desk staff. He called me in about an hour later. He said not to give any insulin which i told him i skipped a dose and I also asked about the syringes and why these are different. He immediately freaked out and told me to drop the units to 4u saying that I'm gonna kill my cat. He then second guessed himself and told me to drop him down to 3u after he reviewed the BG numbers that were given earlier. So told me to give him his 3u and keep him there over the weekend. He said he caught on about a month back with the syringes being the wrong ones so he ordered for them to give us the correct u-100...but without telling us why or what it means? He asked to keep taz on 3u and to call him after the weekend when we have more info. We gave the 3u at 16:30 when we noticed that Taz BG went through the roof. The glucometer just read as high.
I kept watching him throughout the night for any signs of DKA, but other than him drinking more and peeing more his activity levels haven't really changed. It took until Friday 28th at 00:25h for the glucometer to read 26.6. His BG stayed in the low 20s overnight. At 04:30h on Friday 28th, we continued with his 3u u-100 dose. His highest was 23.9 and his lowest was 22.2 at 16:30h yesterday his BG was 19.9. At this point I was freaking out by how high his numbers have been and for that long that I decided to up the dose to 4u as I don't trust my vet for anything anymore. I also am currently between jobs so taking him to an emergency vet is a last ditch option as I don't know if we'll be able to afford it. His BG has remained in the low 20s ever since. He is only eating 1/2 cup of diabetic Purina kibble. Still drinks and pees a lot. Please help or just tell me if I should go to emergency. I feel overwhelmed and I feel like an idiot and I'm really worried about my kitty. He's always been such a great boy.
Thank you
Summary: Taz has had low 20 mmol/L for a couple of days. The vet doesn't seem too worried and offers little guidance. Please help
Taz was diagnosed with feline diabetes in the summer of 2019 after urinating excessively and losing a bit of weight which was initially welcomed by us ignorant folk. Taz has always been a lazy cat but i believe it was because my parents didnt know if we were going to keep him after giving away 1 previous kitten which hurt us all so we tried not to get too attached. The only time he would receive attention from us was when he wouldnt eat. So i believe this set him up to have a weird relationship to food which has always made me feel inadequate. Eventually in his later years he became obese and I tried to make him become more active over the years by playing with him more. If only I knew how badly kibble was affecting him...he is now a 20lb cat.
When he was diagnosed the vet gave a treatment regiment of 2u of Lantus to be taken every 12h. The syringes that they gave us were the U-40, 1/2ml-20u. They gave us this without telling us about Lantus being a u-100 insulin type!
I don't know how Taz managed to be okay but while the vet was working out the glucose curve he told us to bring it down to 1u in the same syringe. Neither I nor any of my family checked on the vet office recommendations regarding syringes WITHOUT conversion charts because we trusted their judgement. Plus they didn't give much in terms of resources, mainly we were to watch for signs of hypoglycemia and DKA.
Regardless Taz has been given what translates to the equivalent of 2.5 u on a u-100 syringe for almost 2 years every 12h. Since he's always been very lazy we can't comment on whether or not this was just his laziness or because he was just hypoglycemic.
Recently the vet sent us with different syringes (1/2ml, u-100, 50 unit) but since I haven't been home to check any of this, my parents have given him the same dose by "eyeballing it" for about a couple of months.
Last week we noticed that Taz started urinating more often and in larger amounts so we decided to take him to the vet. My parents gave him the 2 units eyeballed to closely resemble the old syringes to give "1u" at 06:30h which was the norm for years. We then took him to the vet at 08:00h He stayed there for the whole day while they worked out what insulin dose he should be on. At the end of it he called me to obtain consent to attach a "Freestyle Librelink" glucometer on his skin so that we can do continuous blood testing at home to which I agreed. For whatever reason he also thought were still giving him 2u despite him being on 1u (2.5 true units on a U-100 syringe) for years. So he decided to up the dosage to 2u once again since his glucose curve was virtually non existent at the vets office. The vet office day was on Monday October 24. We were asked to keep him on this 2u dose for 2-3 days and call the vet to see if we need to tweak his dosing.
At home, my parents gave him the 1u of insulin for the evening as prescribed by the vet. We were to start on 2u on tuesday. My parents proceeded to eyeball the insulin again without my knowledge, and gave him 5 units in the u-100 syringe thinking that that is the recommended 2u that the vet gave in the older syringes in the morning of Tuesday at 06:30h. His BG was 26.2 mmol/L at the time of dosing. His first 12h after the change of dose, he was lethargic, his peak was 25.8 mmol/L and his lowest was 22 mmol/L. At 18:30h his BG was 22.3 at time of dosing (5u). In the following 12h his peak was 23.2 mmol/L and his lowest was 15 mmol/L. On wednesday morning dosing October 26th his BG was 17.1 at 0630h (5u). The next 12h he seemed more active, his highest was 21 and his lowest was 18.3.
I called the vet to give him the numbers and he told me to call back again befire the weekend for more data. We were to keep him on the prescribed 2u.
Since I was checking him overnight worried about his sugar levels I ended up passing out and I didn't see my parents giving him his next dose at 18:30h in the evening after the vet had closed. Given the trends they continued with the 5u. They came into my room to give the insulin dose because Taz sleeps in my bed and I woke up zombie like to realize that the syringes are different. I asked if my parents checked his blood glucose before giving him his 5 units which they didn't so I checked myself after the 5u were given and he was at 8.8 mmol/L. I stayed up all night again checking his glucose levels every 30 mins and feeding him trying to keep his BG levels stable. His highest for those 12h was 10mmol/L and his lowest was 5.4. But overall he stayed within range and he stopped urinating large amounts. At 06:30h on Thursday 27, his BG was 4.8 and so we refrained from giving him any insulin for those 12h. His lowest was 3.9 at 07:00h
I called the vet to talk to him about what just happened the night before when they opened. He wasn't available so I gave the BG readings to the front desk staff. He called me in about an hour later. He said not to give any insulin which i told him i skipped a dose and I also asked about the syringes and why these are different. He immediately freaked out and told me to drop the units to 4u saying that I'm gonna kill my cat. He then second guessed himself and told me to drop him down to 3u after he reviewed the BG numbers that were given earlier. So told me to give him his 3u and keep him there over the weekend. He said he caught on about a month back with the syringes being the wrong ones so he ordered for them to give us the correct u-100...but without telling us why or what it means? He asked to keep taz on 3u and to call him after the weekend when we have more info. We gave the 3u at 16:30 when we noticed that Taz BG went through the roof. The glucometer just read as high.
I kept watching him throughout the night for any signs of DKA, but other than him drinking more and peeing more his activity levels haven't really changed. It took until Friday 28th at 00:25h for the glucometer to read 26.6. His BG stayed in the low 20s overnight. At 04:30h on Friday 28th, we continued with his 3u u-100 dose. His highest was 23.9 and his lowest was 22.2 at 16:30h yesterday his BG was 19.9. At this point I was freaking out by how high his numbers have been and for that long that I decided to up the dose to 4u as I don't trust my vet for anything anymore. I also am currently between jobs so taking him to an emergency vet is a last ditch option as I don't know if we'll be able to afford it. His BG has remained in the low 20s ever since. He is only eating 1/2 cup of diabetic Purina kibble. Still drinks and pees a lot. Please help or just tell me if I should go to emergency. I feel overwhelmed and I feel like an idiot and I'm really worried about my kitty. He's always been such a great boy.
Thank you
Summary: Taz has had low 20 mmol/L for a couple of days. The vet doesn't seem too worried and offers little guidance. Please help
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