Remission??

[DreMeister]

So how do you know if your kitty is in remission from diabetes? Ours has been doing very well for a while now. She gets 3 units of lantus twice a day. She really doesn't eat much and we're afraid to give her shots like that. But when she was a normal kitty she didn't eat much anyway. I was just wondering if maybe she doesn't need as much or any insulin at all anymore or if we just found the right amount of insulin to keep her somewhat healthy. And no she won't sit still for me to test her bs. She hates being held, or crowded in any way.

 

[Djamila]

If you can't test her at home, the only way I can think of to know would be to take her to the vet to have the vet run a fructosamine test, or have the vet do an in-office curve which would require you to leave you cat there for the day. The downside of the fructosamine test is that it gives an average of blood glucose numbers over time, but doesn't tell you if there are large variation between high BG and low BG. The downside of the in-office curve is that the stress of being left at the vet's office might inflate the numbers. That's why we recommend testing at home - it's the most accurate option that I know of.

Maybe someone else will post soon with another idea.

The not eating much is its own concern -- that can be a sign of ketones or a variety of other serious issues.

 

[DreMeister]

She had ketones before and wouldn't eat or drink anything and wound up at the vet asap. Luckily I only live about 3 blocks from there. She does eat, just not much right now, and favors the DM hard food from the vet over the soft DM.