Really Confused NOW ! New to Group

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Yvonne & Freddie

Member Since 2014
3-18-14 AMPS 195

+ 11 226
HI,
I am new to this group!
Marji, Julie and Chris suggested I come over to this group Thank You.
I have been posting on the Health Board.

I tested Freddie this morning and he is still running under 200 with only a .5 shot last night 2 hours after the scheduled shot we were stalling his numbers were around 100. I am so new to this I was too afraid that he would go to low through the night.

I gave him .75 units of insulin this morning will be doing a lot of testing ...but I really don't know what I really should be doing. I was to afraid to give the 1 u maybe he doesn't need insulin taken off the W/D food..I have not had him off W/D only yesterday.
Wanted to transition slowly.

I had him on W/D dry cat food and changed him off completely yesterday to EVO and Low carb wet food which he just will not eat at times. Yesterday he just would not eat finally got him to eat EVO. He has to eat something.
Marji sent me some material to read so I can get a grasp on all this. TY.

How should I be handling these shots tonight if they are low.I don't want to keep stalling. How long can you wait between shots and be safe? I know Lantus is 12 and 12. this is so confusing and scary. Freddie gets so sick.
I did test for ketones and glucose in the urine and both were neg yesterday. A week ago the ketones neg but the glucose was 2000+ should I be testing that every day too?
Sorry for the ignorance but I am learning,
Yvonne
 
Hi, Yvonne, and welcome to Lantus Land! :-D

We all understand your confusion as we've all been there before, and there are times that the confusion comes back to us, even though most of us have been at this for a long time. :lol: Not to worry... You're in the right place.

Evo is a very good brand of cat food, and I feed it to my diabetic daily (she gets the 95% Chicken & Turkey flavor). I think the W/D is high in carbs, which isn't good for diabetics.

If Freddie isn't eating, try sprinkling some Forti Flora on his meals. It's a natural probiotic, and it will help to get him to eat, and it'll help with diarrhea problems that he may experience with the food transition. Once you have him eating only the Evo, hopefully his #s will improve. You need to make sure that the doses are consistently given every 12 hours, and the doses themselves need to be a consistent amount, as well.

I know that others will drop by shortly to also help you, and advise you on what to do. Be prepared for a LOT of information! :lol: It's all going to be very helpful for you, and overtime, you'll learn what to do, etc.

Hang in there, and again, welcome! :-D
 
Thank you I know I have a lot of reading to do again.
I have been following Emily's help notes and it is so helpful to me.
I will be testing often and posting often on his SS today to see where his number will be going from shooting a lower dose...
Would Young Again be a better dry food to have him on. It has the same amount of fat doesn't it. I know he has to get to wet food but looks like it is going to take time....I found 2 kind of food that he attempted to eat but now refuses. I know I have bought every kind of food on the market refuses!!!!
The reason he is not eating is I have been taking the hard food away from him and he refuses to eat the soft food most of the time . I have tried everything to get him to eat except the oragano or the parm cheese. He is just a kibble boy of almost 13 years.
My vet swears that W/D is the ONLY food for him. He was started on that in Sept 2013 and his BG and triglycerides and fructosmine have been rising since every month until he was diagnosed with Diabetes on Feb, 10th. Now 2 days in to taking him off completely of that food his numbers are coming way down is this possible???? Or could there be something else going on with Freddie.

This is the hardest disease to figure out. I hope I can learn what is safe for Freddie and have some consistence.
Yvonne
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!!

As far as the food question, the canned W/D is 25% carb. The kibble would be even higher in carbs. The question I would pose to your vet is whether he/she would feed his/her diabetic child a 1/2 cup of ice cream at every meal? I suspect the answer would be a resounding, "No, of course not!" So why is it OK to feed your cat something that high in carbs? Diabetics need to eat a low carb diet. Lisa Pierson, DVM has a wonderful site on feline nutrition that your vet should probably read.

There have been a handful of cats here who have used the Young Again Zero Carb food. They've done well. It may be worth trying if Freddie is a dry food junkie. One other suggestion to try is to smash up some of his dry food and sprinkle a little bit on the canned food. That may entice him to eat the canned.

I would get an early test (e.g., a +2) to see where Freddie's numbers are going this morning. Many cats have a dramatically good response once they are on a low carb (LC) diet.
 
Hi Yvonne & Freddie and welcome to Lantus Land,

Is the EVO you are feeding the canned or the dry? I suspect, from your description, that it is the dry. As dry foods go, EVO is one of the lowest in carbs, but it still is not as healthy an option for Freddie as low-carb wet food is. Do check out the food lists on Dr. Lisa Pierson's CatInfo site (link is in the "New to the Group" sticky at the top of the Lantus forum, and Sienne gave you the link in her post). Many of us feed Fancy Feast Classic Paté flavors and most cats like these a lot.

How is Freddie's asthma?

Lots to learn about feline diabetes, so just keep reading the "stickies" (the starred informational notes at the top of the Lantus Forum) and ask any questions you have.

Welcome!

Ella & Rusty
 
3/17 post, 3/16 post, 3/13 post,3/12 post,

Good morning Yvonne, and welcome to Lantus Land!

Glad to see you over here!!

Quick easy answer to several of your questions is YES! Getting the W/D out of the picture can make that big a difference!! When we reduce the carbs, lots of cats need much less (or even NO) insulin and are "diet controlled". That's why we keep harping on getting rid of the higher carb foods!!

Young Again Zero Carb is still about 5% carb, and all dry foods are VERY hard on the urinary tract----especially in male cats like Freddie! We understand how hard it is to look at those eyes, trying to convince us they're being starved to death because we won't give in and give them what they want, but it's really in Freddie's best interest to get him over onto only the wet foods. Maybe you can try a few other types? The Food Chart has pretty much every food available and the carb percentage (Column C). You want to find something he'll eat that's also less than 10% carbs

Here are some Tips on Transitioning written by a vet that's taken a big interest in feline nutrition for our diabetic cats. She's the real authority on this, so don't worry about what your vet is telling you about the W/D. It's really not a good quality food period, even if it was low carb (which it's not)

On the shot this morning...Did you shoot at your normal time? Or did you shoot 2 hours late since you stalled last night? If you shot at your "normal" time, that acts like a dose increase. (But he seems to be doing fine, so don't worry about it now if you did shoot at your normal time) We should have made sure you understood that if you "stall", you have to also change the shot schedule for the next few cycles. You can get back on your "regular" schedule by shooting 15 minutes early per cycle, or take one, 30 minute early shot per day.

Freddie looks like he's finally starting to bounce from the low numbers yesterday, but if he only goes into the 200's, that's really GOOD news! Most bounces go much higher! For example, China, who's been at this a lot longer than Freddie, got down to 67 last night (a really great number I was happy to see!)...today she's at 287 at her last test...she's "bouncing"...even though she's seen those lower numbers quite often. It's all part of it and we just have to learn to live with it.

Let's see how Freddie does today, and how his appetite is. If you will get a +11 today, that will give you a good idea if he's going up at PMPS, dropping, or possibly just doing a double dip. Double dipping with Lantus is quite common, and not the same as a dropping number, but to really know which it is, it will just take time and testing. My personal feeling is that last night at PMPS, Freddie was just having the "double dip" where they drop at the end of the cycle, but not lower than they were at the nadir. It's just one of those quirks of Lantus, not anything wrong.

It's great to hear you're testing for ketones and that they're negative! That's important information to have!

Please check your private messages too. I sent you several last night and didn't hear back from you. You doing fine Yvonne! We all understand it can be overwhelming at first! There's so much to learn! That's also what makes this board so special. There's almost always someone around who's willing to help us when we need it.

Hope Freddie is feeling better today!
 
3-18 AMPS 195 .75 u +3 222
Evo is the dry food...

I have read Dr. Pierson's food list and carry it around and have boughten so many of the foods. He will not even attempt to eat the FF he tried to eat the Cats in the Kitchen so far Funk in The Trunk and Chicken Frick A Zee
and ZiwiPeak rabbit and Lamb but nothing yesterday. No matter what I put on it he just would not eat yesterday. All the time to get him to eat I have to doctor it up most of the time Forti Flora or baby food will help with a couple of licks. I have been trying to get hi over to wet for years .
In Aug. He almost died from pancreatites attack from a wrong medication and Vet put him on that W?D food so I told vet I would try it and now this is where we are.

Fred's asthma is in control now it took 21/2 years he is on Flixotide 2 puffs twice a day and prednisolone 2.5 p.m. I tried to lower it to every other day but his asthma is starting to get bad again so will continue with the 2.5 daily.

He will eat whole cooked rabbit when I can get some.
Tested him at +3 and his numbers are going up. BG + 3 222 I screwed up by not giving him his full 1 unit didn't I.
He is feeling so much better today basking in the sun hasn't done that all winter. He seems to be even walking a little better today...I have him on zobaline and cosequin too.
Thanks for all your help..will keep posting. And will read the sticky topics so much super information TY
Yvonne
 
Chris,
I did shoot at 8:15 am this morning and gave him .75 or as close to that as possible they should make 1/4 units syringes...
I can't think of anything I haven't tried on that boy he is a stubborn one to eat but so easy to do any care too.
You all are so helpful thanks will test often today and thanks for helping with Fred's SS hard for me to do things on it...
Yvonne
 
Everyone,
Now that I stalled Fred 2 hours last night and gave a .5 or less shot and this am gave shot at normal time gave him .75 unit shot still a reduced from his 1 unit I had been giving.

What time would I give Freddie his shot tonight?? Just so I will know a little a head of time and how much should I plan on giving. Should I stay with the.75 for a cycle now?
Thanks
Yvonne
 
You want to give tonites shot as close to 12 hours from the time you shot this morning

Its fine to try the .75 for awhile, get the tests in and see how he does
 
hi Yvonne! glad you and Freddie made it over here!

You want to stay with a dose for at least 6 shots (cycles) unless he goes under 50. With the changes in his doses over the past few shots you might see some wonky numbers for a couple more days. you just keep the same dose.

On that link on Dr. Lisa's site, the catinfo.org, there is a link for transitioning dry food addicts to wet food. it can make a HUGE difference. We just celebrated Scooter going off of insulin (becoming diet-controlled) when Linda figured out he was snitching dry kibbles. He went from 5.5u per shot to zero in one day.

i hope you can keep posting here every day. we'll do our best to help you get Freddie figured out. It confuses everyone at the beginning, but i promise, it gets easier and begins to make more sense before long. :YMHUG:
 
Glad you found us :-D

Besides the bounce, the other thing that is affecting his numbers is a stall and a reduced shot from last night. Just for the future, if we stall, we shoot the full dose the kitty is on as a late shot acts like a reduction.

FD is a marathon, not a sprint and it takes time to see changes in dosing. Hang in there...we will help. :-D
 
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