? Senior cat just diagnosed - Concerns!

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She has eaten a little, not much, but hopefully enough. I will test again at +5 before going to bed.

In the morning, if her preshot number is back up in the 300s, should I do 1 unit again? I am assuming it's going to be lower though. If there are any guidelines you can give me for when to shoot or how much to shoot, that would be great. I won't be home most of the day tomorrow so I want to be careful. I can drop in during lunch, which I may be able to time to be +5 like her nadir was today.

Is it normal for this to be so complicated in the beginning? I am so stressed out trying to get her stable and I hope I'm not putting her through all this stress for nothing.
 
Unfortunately it is difficult to gauge the dose in the beginning. Not only do you have to work around the fact that her body is adapting to the insulin and therefore changeable, but you are busy gathering the data that will help you from now on. Eventually you'll have data and be able to predict what a given dose might do for a given number, and she will be more predictable. Some day soon you will be posting on a new member's thread and telling them that it gets easier.

You are doing great. You are testing and keeping her safe. Her numbers are good - especially for Humulin.

I'd say in she is in the 200s tomorrow, maybe 0.5 since you won't be around? 300s, maybe one unit minus a few drops?
 
Okay, thanks a lot for all your help!!

If she's below 200, should I skip the dose altogether? That's what we the first few days when her dose was too high.
 
The other option is to stall, if she is near 200 but still below. So wait 20 minutes without feeding and retest. You want to be sure she is rising, not falling, and above 200. If above 200 then, you could shoot, but I would do an even smaller amount - maybe 0.5 minutes a few drops.

All this is good news! She is on a tiny bit of insulin and getting nice numbers.
 
Ok, I will see what happens and post her amps in the morning.

I just tested and got 204! Could this be because I let her eat some higher carb food earlier (k/d)? It's past my bed time bed time now, so I hope this means she'll be safe from dropping too low tonight.
 
Yes I should be able to come home around +5.

She drank some water when I put it in front of her, and then did the same with a few bites of food. I'm going to leave out the k/d dry food, I know it's too high carb, but she doesn't seem to eat the wet food once it's dried out and my other cat keeps trying to go eat all her wet food (even though he already had some!!)
 
Just called the vet. I wish they would just give me the supplies for sub-q fluids. I tried to explain on the phone that I already know how to do it, and I don't need the vet to tell me that Angel is dehydrated. It's pretty easy to tell. But anyways, they are making me bring Angel in again. I have to bring her in after work. I hope doing these fluids will help stabilize her and get her appetite and energy back. I don't know what else to do and this is getting very expensive.

Do you think I should have them run bloodwork today instead of waiting until Saturday? To get the values for her kidneys? I can't afford to do it again so soon if I do it today.
 
Are there ways to get financial help for this stuff? I am a college student and next semester (September), I can't work at all because I will be student teaching and it's full-time. I'm so worried that I'm not going to be able to pay for all of the things that Angel needs.
 
That's a nice amps!

So you learned several things yesterday. She has a later nadir than usual on Humulin (hurray!) Dry food brings up her numbers fairly fast (good to know if you get a low number and need it to rise. It may be that gravy off high carb does the same). One unit is a pretty good dose for the 300s. We'll see today how 0.5 does for the 200s.

I would be blunt with the vet. You are on a limited income; you have to figure out a way to care for her at home with his guidance. You know how to do fluids and would like him to keep you supplied with materials if needed. You are testing at home and have a spreadsheet of levels that you can share with him as often as he likes.

I wonder if it makes more sense to do the bloodwork after you work at getting the numbers stabilized. Lots of kitties have higher kidney values when first diagnosed with diabetes. It's logical since diabetes impacts the kidneys. Angel may have more kidney issues than a usual diabetic cat, but maybe fluids and getting her levels down will help. Maybe ask him what he would do if she does have kidney disease. Can you be doing some of that already, like finding the best possible food for kidney/diabetes. Maybe review Tanya's CRF site and come armed with questions?

Sharon gave up you some possibilities for financial help so try those. Ask your vet if he can save you money in any way.

You are doing great, Bobbi. Things are already improving with Angel. You will be her advocate in this - no one loves her more than you or cares more about her health and quality of life. Just remember - every decision you make for her is the right one because it is made out of love.

Please start a new thread with your next post. This one is getting too long and we get lost. (at least I do - I'm old. :p)
 
I was just making a new thread.

She's been eating mostly only the k/d dry and her blood sugar is very high. I think we need to adjust the dose considering the food? Her number today just came back as "HI" which I looked up for my meter and it means over 600! Again, I will be home today only for lunch and then not until 4:30. It was high last night too, but I thought it might have had to do with the fact we just got back from the vet.

What would be a good dose? Her original prescription when her numbers were this high was 2 units.
 
Do go ahead and make the new thread. I don't give dosing advice, but it sounds like she needs an increase. Maybe try 1.5 for this AM, with a check at lunch, then when @Sue and Oliver (GA) comes by she can give you better advice! Are you offering the wet and she just doesn't like it?
 
She won't eat enough wet food in a day. She seems to like them for a few minutes when I first give them to her, but she never eats much of it at a time, so it gets dried out and then she doesn't like it.
 
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