Rocky's update

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R

Rocky's Mom

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Hi All,

Ok I took him to the vet, 7 units was way too high especially since he was OTJ since Nov. I have learnt a LOT these last couple of days. He's BG was 22 (444) at the vets office, but his vet said it could be stress related. I am to give him a dose of 0.15 starting tonight, every 12 hours, testing before each shot. Then from Monday at 07h00 I am to test him every 2 hours to establish a curve. He does not want me to take Rocky of the MD under ANY circumstances. It feels as if he's avoiding the whole soft food issue. He just answers evasively. He's gained 200g, and he does not have a UTI. He said the neuropothy will get better as his BG stabilises.

What do you think I should do? Keep him in the MD as per his vets instructions? I bought the fancy feast and friskies foodies that are low in carbs. He loves that. I thought I will feed him this before each shot, and then keep the MD around if he want to nibble. He is used to free food, and does not cope well with only 2 meals a day. He becomes very whiny and then at the next meal time he will eat until he vomits. So I do want to avoid that scenario.

Please advise.

PS. Thank you so much for all the help and support last night. I really appreciate it. And always know that I will never just go to bed and leave my cat unattended when he's hypo. Promise. I've had him for 15 yrs, I am acutely attuned to his moods and health and know immediately when something is just a little off.

Except for last nights huge bloody hurdle, which I know is entirely my own fault, I do look after him responsibly.

ETA: Forgot to add he has no ketones in his urine.
 
Hi Ellize,

So glad things are looking better this morning. I think your vet's advice is very good (except the food issue). The only thing I would add is that you need a no shoot number. Usually with newbies that is 200. Under that number, you wait 30 minutes and test again. You can come on and ask for advice.

As far as the food, the vet isn't feeding your kitty. You get to decide. Our experience has been that cats on wet lo carb need much less insulin and are healthier all around. If you switch, you will need to be testing regularly. When we switched Oliver from dry to wet, his numbers went down 100 points overnight.

You can free feed wet. Some freeze it and let it out to thaw during the day and night. We use an automatic feeder that you can set to feed whenever you want.
 
Thanks Sue,

I will not shoot if his levels are under 200. I will from now on always test before I shoot come hell of high water.
 
Ellize,
Welcome to the board. I saw that you and Rocky survived a hypo. My Steve and I survived on last week.

In regards to the Prescription dry food: Steve was eating this food for 18 months. He did okay, but not great. His dose of insulin steadily increased over time and I was starting to get concerned that he would max out the allowable dose of insulin for the type we are on (Prozinc). Anway, I started researching in Dec and took him off the dry prescription MD food. Put him on Fancy Feast varietes that were grain free, gluten free, and fruit and veggie free.

I'm new to this board and can't provide a lot of advice, but I can tell you that Steve's reaction has been a miracle. Steve has been plagued his whole life with feline acne, dandruff, watery eyes, gross nasal and ear discharges, etc. Within a week the watery eyes and the nasal discharges stopped. His dandruff has now been greatly reduced as well as his feline acne. He still has gross ears, but we are working on that. Also, his demeanor is so much better. AND we went from 4 units of Prozinc, twice a day to 2 currently two units twice a day.

Gluten is a big allergen in people and I'm guessing it is the same for cats. I know a couple of humans that removed gluten from their own diets and it all but cured their asthma. I'm not saying this will happen with Rocky, but wouldn't it be something if for you and him if it did? I'd say for a number of reasons a complete change is worth a shot.

Good Luck,
Allie and Steve
 
One other suggestion, Elize. We have a forum just for Lantus users; they have all used it and are used to its unique dosing. viewforum.php?f=9
They can help with any dosing questions.

If you would like to post over there also, they do ask for a spreadsheet that will give them a good picture of Rocky's history and doses. It is also a wonderful tool for you because it is color coded and makes it easy to see what is happening. Here are the directions: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207. If you pick the World version, it will change your numbers between World and US. If you need help setting it up, just ask.
 
So glad to see that Rocky made it through the hypo last night, I was watching the thread but since you were in capable hands I didn't post to add to the confusion.

I'm going to address the food issue. I have 10 cats, only one is a diabetic. However, my current diabetic Max is my second FD cat. When I first came to this board with my first sugarcat Muse, these wise folks had me just switch all my cats over to canned wet food. SInce they all loved Friskies we went with that. Now not only is Max OTJ and in remission. It is my civies (non-diabetics) that have convinced me that there will never be another bag of dry food in this house. I truly wish there was someway over the internet I could let you feel them. They are just so sleek and soft now. They look like they were professionally groomed for a cat show. My one guy with extreme food allegies have had his allergies completely disappear. And my two babies that never have had a bite a dry food shine like someone oiled and polished them.

The overweight fur kids are lossing weight and my skinny minis are gaining weight. I truly believe that I now have 10 of the healthiest cats that I have ever owned in 30 years of owning cats.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
When my cat got first got diagnosed, I got the dry prescription food like everyone. I tead the ingredients and that did it. I confess I lied to my vet about using it and feed it to my neighbor's dog. Luckly Nomad is a very easy to please kitty and would eat just about anything I gave him. When I switched to wet food only for Nomad, his BG went down an average of fifty points. Far as restricting his food, as I understand from your post, your cat is underweight. I wouldn't try to restrict him too much, the poor little guy has enough to deal with now.

I also have ten cats like the mother of Muse. (Must be something about the number ten). All of my cats have made the switch from dry to wet except my oldest cat. I reached a compromise with her and she gets a small amount of dry as dessert if she eats some of the canned. Even though she is twenty years old she can put up quite a hissy fit. She howls and growls at me if she doesn't get what she wants. I just laugh at her but she will also terrorize my other cats.

One and a half units at least sounds like a reasonable dose. Most pepole in the lantus group recommend starting at one unit twice a day.

I am glad things worked out yesterday. You would be surprized how many people first come here on huge insulin doses prescribed by their vet. At least you took the initiative to do your own. Research which probably saved your cat's life.
 
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