ClaireEnunciate
Member Since 2023
Hello everyone,
This post has been a struggle to write. I naturally have a lot of information to exposit about my situation and am struggling to keep it objective and not incidentally end up with a wall of text in which important information about my darling cat and his situation is lost in a flood of my personal feelings and turmoil. Lol.
Thank you in advance for your patience, I’ll try to keep this organized and concise as possible.
My cat:
His name is Sammi. He wins “best kitty award” literally every day without even trying. He is a neutered male of approximately 14 years of age and I’ve had him since he was maybe 6 weeks old. He was diagnosed diabetic in July of 2020. Nearly all of his teeth have been removed and he has neuropathy.
Insulin:
Lantus Glargine, currently 1.5U twice daily- Likely needs adjustment. His starting dose in 2020 was 3U, and has been as high as 9U under veterinary advisement in the past.
Meter:
Relion Premier, formerly was using an Alphatrak because of course no one told me I had the option to not go broke paying for test strips. It’s literally thanks to FDMB I’ve made the conversion to a human meter, and I would not go back. The Alphatrak was a buggy POS to begin with, and I swear at least half the strips were defective on arrival. I'm still angry about this particular point.. The strips being so expensive definitely made me conservative about testing Sammi as much as I should have been over the years. It really was never impressed upon me how important home testing was and how often I needed to be doing it until I ran into the resources here.
Diet:
Like so many others, I was advised by my veterinarian to go with the dry Purina DM formula. Of course I voiced concerns about this once Sammi had to have so many teeth removed, but I was basically told that so long as he was eating- Even just swallowing kibble whole; This was a good result.This worked fine up until recently.. (details to follow later.) Sammi has always been a devotee of kibble and likes to graze throughout the day rather than eating a few larger meals. He can be a rather picky eater. Frequently turns his nose up at all manner of things I’m pretty sure almost any other cat would inhale. Kibble is left out all day for him to graze on as he sees fit, but I have begun offering him two small meals of wet food at shot times to make sure he’s eating enough to receive insulin. Fancy Feast Grilled (with gravy) was the first thing I could readily find nearby that he would eat.. Although he mostly just eats the gravy. I do want/need advice on better wet foods to try him on; It’s just a matter of finding something he’ll reliably eat when it’s offered. I will keep the kibble on deck regardless.
July 2020 to September 2023...
I relied exclusively upon my veterinarian. He’d tell me when to test, when to do a curve, analyze the numbers and tell me what adjustments to make. He made it so easy and the communication was so expedient that it just never really dawned on me how little I really understood about what was going on. Adding to my false sense of security, Sammi has always just been so easy to deal with.. Best kitty award every day, like I said. He was seemingly always eating adequately, always available with no fuss for his shots.. He had exactly two mild to moderate hypo incidents the entire span of time between July 2020 to September 2023; Both of which were addressed by the veterinarian with home testing analysis and dose alteration immediately. I really had no idea what “shooting blind” was, that I was doing it TWICE A DAY FOR YEARS, and how easily/quickly things could go badly doing so. I’m so disappointed in myself and the state of veterinary medicine for letting me do this. The last time I gave my former vet a curve, we adjusted Sammi’s dose to 5U
Mid September 2023..
Sammi, my second cat Ninja, and I moved from Canada down to Texas USA. Yes, my poor cats were stuck in a car with me for 40 hours. Did they earn “best kitty awards” on that trip despite every reason they were given not to? YES they did. I truly would have liked to have made this move in a way that accommodated them better, but this is just how things had to be.. I set them up with food/water in the backseat of my 4 door car with a litterbox in the floorboard. They surfed around between the backseat, the passenger seat, and my lap for the whole trip.
Early October 2023
Sammi is still on 5U twice daily at this point. It was always part of the plan to get Sammi a new veterinarian pretty soon after we moved. It just wasn’t at the very top of the list because I still had plenty of insulin on hand. Just before I got to that particular bullet point on my priority list, disaster struck. Sammi had the worst hypo event I’ve ever seen. I literally thought I was going to lose him that night. I’m still not even sure if it was a hypo incident, because I was giving him corn syrup and sugar water at 10 minute intervals for nearly 4 hours with no major signs of improvement. He was:
-Obviously disoriented, walking in circles
-Hyperventilating
-Foaming at the mouth
-Occasionally hissing
-Eventually just laying on the floor rapidly breathing.
I had only 4 Alphatrak test strips left, 2 of which may have been defective and 2 more that gave me readings of around 80. I’m still not sure that POS meter ever really worked. I ran to the closest vet office the second they opened. I actually beat the staff there to open the clinic, lol. Of course, by the time I got there, the worst of his symptoms had abated and he just looked exhausted. They did bloodwork, which included a fructosamine test. I unfortunately did not receive a copy of those results, but when the new vet went over them with me, he indicated that nothing from the bloodwork gave any cause for concern. I told him we had just made an extensive move not long ago, and additionally there had been a severe hailstorm earlier that day- Both of which could have potentially affected Sammi’s eating. The vet did not advise me to change anything about Sammi’s diet or dose, so I didn’t. (I was still trusting veterinary expertise exclusively at this stage. Really wish I had woken up and gotten a clue here.)
Early November 2023..
Still on 5U. After the scare in October, I had at least begun to understand that I really needed to try to get on top of Sammi’s care and try to educate myself far more about it. Hunting around for resources, I found FDMB and amidst complete and absolute information overwhelm, found out that I could get a human meter and actually afford strips to test Sammi more often. I went out and got these materials the next day, made myself a little reference sheet of number ranges, and put together a little hypo-kit. Good thing, too.. Not but a few days later, Sammi had another severe hypo incident not unlike the one he had previously. The new Relion meter said 84-89 during the worst of the episode. Although this one didn’t last quite as long, it didn’t scare me any less. Enough is enough, I’m done leaving his health to chance and veterinary expertise at this point; I have to be more involved.
I know I’m not yet doing it all right, but I’m learning more every day. As of the 7th of November, I have started a spread sheet and am testing Sammi before every insulin shot. I know I need to do BG curves to actually hone in on and refine his dose, but starting out I’ve been operating on the following basic principles:
-I must know Sammi has eaten, or he does NOT get a shot.
-Some insulin is probably better than no insulin (assuming numbers aren’t dangerously low)
-I need to get him reliably eating a generally consistent amount of food before I try to do a BG curve- I need to find a dose that I can consistently give him for close to a week before I do a curve and try to make adjustments
Sammi’s eating habits have obviously changed, and I need to make sure I’ve got a handle on that before I can really manage his disease. I’ve made this my fixation presently, because the sooner that’s figured out, the sooner I can start working on the rest. I’d definitely appreciate some recommendations on wet foods to integrate into his diet that can do more for him than the Fancy Feast gravy he’s currently enjoying. He isn’t losing weight or exhibiting true inappetence, I just think he’s eating less than he used to. And.. He is somewhat overweight to begin with, so maybe this is a good thing in the long term. There are more notes about all this on the spreadsheet which I’ve hopefully linked correctly in my signature.
I’m paranoid due to the recent hypo incidents, I’m nervous because this is all a lot to take on and learn suddenly, and just really scared that I’m overthinking the wrong things and missing something obvious that needs my attention. Another set of eyes and some thoughts could make all the difference.
How is Sammi doing right now?
Seemingly? Better than I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s got more energy, he’s extremely cuddly and just adorable as all heck 24/7. Isn’t drinking or using the litterbox excessively.. No obvious causes for concern other than making sure his food intake is steady and getting his dosage correct and consistent.
Thank you so much to anyone who has the time to look all this over and give me some thoughts and advice!
This post has been a struggle to write. I naturally have a lot of information to exposit about my situation and am struggling to keep it objective and not incidentally end up with a wall of text in which important information about my darling cat and his situation is lost in a flood of my personal feelings and turmoil. Lol.
Thank you in advance for your patience, I’ll try to keep this organized and concise as possible.
My cat:
His name is Sammi. He wins “best kitty award” literally every day without even trying. He is a neutered male of approximately 14 years of age and I’ve had him since he was maybe 6 weeks old. He was diagnosed diabetic in July of 2020. Nearly all of his teeth have been removed and he has neuropathy.
Insulin:
Lantus Glargine, currently 1.5U twice daily- Likely needs adjustment. His starting dose in 2020 was 3U, and has been as high as 9U under veterinary advisement in the past.
Meter:
Relion Premier, formerly was using an Alphatrak because of course no one told me I had the option to not go broke paying for test strips. It’s literally thanks to FDMB I’ve made the conversion to a human meter, and I would not go back. The Alphatrak was a buggy POS to begin with, and I swear at least half the strips were defective on arrival. I'm still angry about this particular point.. The strips being so expensive definitely made me conservative about testing Sammi as much as I should have been over the years. It really was never impressed upon me how important home testing was and how often I needed to be doing it until I ran into the resources here.
Diet:
Like so many others, I was advised by my veterinarian to go with the dry Purina DM formula. Of course I voiced concerns about this once Sammi had to have so many teeth removed, but I was basically told that so long as he was eating- Even just swallowing kibble whole; This was a good result.This worked fine up until recently.. (details to follow later.) Sammi has always been a devotee of kibble and likes to graze throughout the day rather than eating a few larger meals. He can be a rather picky eater. Frequently turns his nose up at all manner of things I’m pretty sure almost any other cat would inhale. Kibble is left out all day for him to graze on as he sees fit, but I have begun offering him two small meals of wet food at shot times to make sure he’s eating enough to receive insulin. Fancy Feast Grilled (with gravy) was the first thing I could readily find nearby that he would eat.. Although he mostly just eats the gravy. I do want/need advice on better wet foods to try him on; It’s just a matter of finding something he’ll reliably eat when it’s offered. I will keep the kibble on deck regardless.
July 2020 to September 2023...
I relied exclusively upon my veterinarian. He’d tell me when to test, when to do a curve, analyze the numbers and tell me what adjustments to make. He made it so easy and the communication was so expedient that it just never really dawned on me how little I really understood about what was going on. Adding to my false sense of security, Sammi has always just been so easy to deal with.. Best kitty award every day, like I said. He was seemingly always eating adequately, always available with no fuss for his shots.. He had exactly two mild to moderate hypo incidents the entire span of time between July 2020 to September 2023; Both of which were addressed by the veterinarian with home testing analysis and dose alteration immediately. I really had no idea what “shooting blind” was, that I was doing it TWICE A DAY FOR YEARS, and how easily/quickly things could go badly doing so. I’m so disappointed in myself and the state of veterinary medicine for letting me do this. The last time I gave my former vet a curve, we adjusted Sammi’s dose to 5U
Mid September 2023..
Sammi, my second cat Ninja, and I moved from Canada down to Texas USA. Yes, my poor cats were stuck in a car with me for 40 hours. Did they earn “best kitty awards” on that trip despite every reason they were given not to? YES they did. I truly would have liked to have made this move in a way that accommodated them better, but this is just how things had to be.. I set them up with food/water in the backseat of my 4 door car with a litterbox in the floorboard. They surfed around between the backseat, the passenger seat, and my lap for the whole trip.
Early October 2023
Sammi is still on 5U twice daily at this point. It was always part of the plan to get Sammi a new veterinarian pretty soon after we moved. It just wasn’t at the very top of the list because I still had plenty of insulin on hand. Just before I got to that particular bullet point on my priority list, disaster struck. Sammi had the worst hypo event I’ve ever seen. I literally thought I was going to lose him that night. I’m still not even sure if it was a hypo incident, because I was giving him corn syrup and sugar water at 10 minute intervals for nearly 4 hours with no major signs of improvement. He was:
-Obviously disoriented, walking in circles
-Hyperventilating
-Foaming at the mouth
-Occasionally hissing
-Eventually just laying on the floor rapidly breathing.
I had only 4 Alphatrak test strips left, 2 of which may have been defective and 2 more that gave me readings of around 80. I’m still not sure that POS meter ever really worked. I ran to the closest vet office the second they opened. I actually beat the staff there to open the clinic, lol. Of course, by the time I got there, the worst of his symptoms had abated and he just looked exhausted. They did bloodwork, which included a fructosamine test. I unfortunately did not receive a copy of those results, but when the new vet went over them with me, he indicated that nothing from the bloodwork gave any cause for concern. I told him we had just made an extensive move not long ago, and additionally there had been a severe hailstorm earlier that day- Both of which could have potentially affected Sammi’s eating. The vet did not advise me to change anything about Sammi’s diet or dose, so I didn’t. (I was still trusting veterinary expertise exclusively at this stage. Really wish I had woken up and gotten a clue here.)
Early November 2023..
Still on 5U. After the scare in October, I had at least begun to understand that I really needed to try to get on top of Sammi’s care and try to educate myself far more about it. Hunting around for resources, I found FDMB and amidst complete and absolute information overwhelm, found out that I could get a human meter and actually afford strips to test Sammi more often. I went out and got these materials the next day, made myself a little reference sheet of number ranges, and put together a little hypo-kit. Good thing, too.. Not but a few days later, Sammi had another severe hypo incident not unlike the one he had previously. The new Relion meter said 84-89 during the worst of the episode. Although this one didn’t last quite as long, it didn’t scare me any less. Enough is enough, I’m done leaving his health to chance and veterinary expertise at this point; I have to be more involved.
I know I’m not yet doing it all right, but I’m learning more every day. As of the 7th of November, I have started a spread sheet and am testing Sammi before every insulin shot. I know I need to do BG curves to actually hone in on and refine his dose, but starting out I’ve been operating on the following basic principles:
-I must know Sammi has eaten, or he does NOT get a shot.
-Some insulin is probably better than no insulin (assuming numbers aren’t dangerously low)
-I need to get him reliably eating a generally consistent amount of food before I try to do a BG curve- I need to find a dose that I can consistently give him for close to a week before I do a curve and try to make adjustments
Sammi’s eating habits have obviously changed, and I need to make sure I’ve got a handle on that before I can really manage his disease. I’ve made this my fixation presently, because the sooner that’s figured out, the sooner I can start working on the rest. I’d definitely appreciate some recommendations on wet foods to integrate into his diet that can do more for him than the Fancy Feast gravy he’s currently enjoying. He isn’t losing weight or exhibiting true inappetence, I just think he’s eating less than he used to. And.. He is somewhat overweight to begin with, so maybe this is a good thing in the long term. There are more notes about all this on the spreadsheet which I’ve hopefully linked correctly in my signature.
I’m paranoid due to the recent hypo incidents, I’m nervous because this is all a lot to take on and learn suddenly, and just really scared that I’m overthinking the wrong things and missing something obvious that needs my attention. Another set of eyes and some thoughts could make all the difference.
How is Sammi doing right now?
Seemingly? Better than I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s got more energy, he’s extremely cuddly and just adorable as all heck 24/7. Isn’t drinking or using the litterbox excessively.. No obvious causes for concern other than making sure his food intake is steady and getting his dosage correct and consistent.
Thank you so much to anyone who has the time to look all this over and give me some thoughts and advice!
I grind up the whole bag at once so it's ready to go.