Post for C&C

[Rachel]

@C&C here is your original post! I'll put an answer in the comments below.

The vet did a fructosamine test on chloe and said her levels are lower. Her morning level that day after breakfast was 160. Chloe is on prozinc 1.5 units twice daily. They want us to lower her to 1.0 twice daily for one week and then to .5 units twice daily for 2 weeks then have her re-tested. She is also on heart meds and salix so anyone know the protocol to lower the doses as we are concerned that lowering these so quickly also is not a wise idea. We hope she stays low but we know how cats can be. Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you so much.

 

[Rachel]

Hi! So I do have a few questions.

• How long has Chloe been on insulin?
• Do you home test? That's the best way for you to keep Chloe safe (and it'll be WAY cheaper than having the vet test too!).
• Is the 160 the fructosamine that the vet got or just a regular check with a glucometer?
• Can you tell us more about her heart condition and what the salix is for?

It's hard to say for sure what to do without the info above. Lowering the insulin shouldn't really be that dangerous as long as she isn't in super high numbers. Generally speaking, numbers you get at the vet's office will be higher than what you might get at home because of vet stress. So if that 160 was at the vet, most likely lowering the insulin is a good idea.

 

[C&C]

Hi Rachel,

Yes the 160 was taken with a glucometer at the vet's office about 2 hours after Chloe had her breakfast. Chloe has been on insulin since September 11th 2014. Her weight has dropped and she was never overweight. She is a long hair mix with some Persian facial features. Her weight is now 8.4-8.8 lbs. We don't home test as neither of us want to tackle it. We discussed it many many times and with the vet and felt that at Chloes age of 14.5 or 15.5 since she was a rescue that we wanted to let the vet handle it. Well unfortunately Chloe had a hypo incident in March 2018(on 3 units per day weighing 10.2 lbs) and we thought that was the end. The newer vet we were using saved her and she was put on enalapril and furosemide. We had a cardiogram done and her heart was doing very poorly. She takes 2 E and 1.5 of F per day. It has improved her condition.

 

[Rachel]

Hmmm...well I will say that 160 2 hours after breakfast (and I'm assuming 2 hours after her shot?) is a pretty low number! NOT dangerously low at all...just lower than we often see. 2 hours post breakfast they're usually higher due to a food spike, and being at the vet's office, I'd expect a much higher number. That tells me that at home, her number was probably even lower. Again, NOT in dangerous levels at all..just lower probably. In that case, yes, I'd definitely advise dropping the dose. Why don't you try the 1 unit, then see what the vet says at the next check and let us know? We can give you our ideas on whether dropping to 0.5 is a good idea then, too.

As for home testing, are you at all willing or interested in learning? It's not hard and honestly, most of our kitties are completely fine with it. They'll even come running at test time and "remind" us (mostly because we give them special testing treats...bribes work!). We even have some semi-feral cats who allow home testing with just a bit of grumbling. It really is the best way to keep your kitty safe from further hypos and to get them on a good dose...we can help a lot more with that data! I don't want to push you...I know it's overwhelming and I do understand your reasons...but with that hypo you had, I worry. If you are interested in learning let us know. We can definitely help with that!

If you're still uncomfortable with the idea, I do understand. However, I would really like to urge you to get a glucometer and at least keep it around. That way you'll have it there if you suspect another hypo and can see what's going on. Just a thought.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have! We're happy to help in any way we can.

 

[Djamila]

I second everything Rachel said. I just wanted to chime in so you didn't think I was ignoring your post.