Shorty and his parents

[Shorty]

Dan and Kelly, parents of a newly diagnosed 7 year old neutered male.

Taken to the vet because of noticed weight loss. His Blood glucose was 358, his urine glucose was high, and had ketones present.

After discussion with the vet, we allowed Shorty to be kept overnight for a few days. His "sister" was already going to be in, because we took her in to have her spayed. The vets even kenneled them next to each other for the night. This was Wed.

Dropped by Thursday to pick up NuNu, and checked on Shorty. After a 1 unit PZI dose Wed. PM, and another 1 unit PZI dose Thu. AM, Shorty's blood glucose had actually risen. They were keeping the dry Purina DM ready for him, and supplementing with the wet. So on Thu they decided to go ahead and do a curve every 2 hours. After his 1 unit AM, he appeared to nadir at around 250 a few hours later. Friday morning, he tested at 442, and then at 458 before his scheduled AM dose. No ketones present Thu or Fri. They upped his dose to 2 units for Fri AM, and he had dropped back into the 325's noon Friday. The vet was willing to let us take him home at that point, but we were not prepared, expecting from the initial discussion to bring him home Sunday, and we were both on our way to work. So, I am picking him up in about 6 hours to bring home a day earlier than expected.

My family has a history of diabetes, so I'm going to tackle this head on, and take it all as a learning experience. I am not for sure what the vets office is sending me home with tomorrow. I know for sure the food that they've been feeding him, I'm assuming the insulin they've been using on him, I figure I paid for the vial with the deposit. But... at that point, I'm at a loss. I know that I saw the information at one point, but, well, I've kind of been in a daze.

We have 3 cats. Urine testing is going to be tricky at best. They each just use whichever litter box. Same as food, we had just been leaving 3 bowls of food out, and refilling as necessary.

My wife Kelly, thankfully, has worked as a plebotomist before, and as such it at least familiar with needles and their use. I've never touched one. I guess before I leave the vet tomorrow I'm gonna get a crash course.

I'm assuming that he's got a fairly serious problem, because for the last 2 weeks, we had already been supplementing his dry food with wet food because of his weight loss, which he at with much gusto. (I had been worried it was a tooth problem that had been causing his weight loss, the dry food just being too hard).

Question though. My wife and I both work varying schedules. There may be some times where our availability would mean that instead of 12 hours, it's 10 hours, or 14 hours, between checking his sugar and giving him insulin. As long as we are smart about it, is that an issue that we should be concerned about? And I plan on tracking daily his levels.

I'm sorry for such a long post. We'll get a pic of Shorty up here pretty quick I'm sure. Almost perfect Tuxedo markings, with a splash of white between his eyes, and the tiniest pencil thin white mustache.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Question though. My wife and I both work varying schedules. There may be some times where our availability would mean that instead of 12 hours, it's 10 hours, or 14 hours, between checking his sugar and giving him insulin. As long as we are smart about it, is that an issue that we should be concerned about? And I plan on tracking daily his levels.

Welcome.
Although a 12/12 hour schedule is desired, a 10/14 schedule is acceptable especially for PZI insulin. A couple of years ago I was on an 8/16 hour schedule on the weeks ends and some of my cats used Lantus which is less amenable to unequal periods than PZI.

Most of us here test our cat's blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. Testing is more inportent with unequal schedule. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. If you switch to a all low-carb canned then the insulin needs will likely decrease so the the current dose may be too much. Also, vet stress can artificially raise BGby 100 or more points (USA) so the does arrived at with the vet curve may be too high.
Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarhttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

[Ruby&Baco]

Hi Dan, Kelly and Shorty. What a cute name! Welcome. I'm glad you found this forum, you get the best advice and tips for Shorty if needed. Is Shorty getting ProZinc?

Like Larry just mentioned, home testing is something we all do because it's best to know what you fur baby's numbers are doing.

The food, it's recommended to switch to a low carb wet food. Cats don't need the amount of carbs that are in all those dry foods.

You can switch up the schedule a little bit, but it really depends on how your cat reacts and works with the insulin. Because some gets work with it longer than others so if you overlap the doses of insulin when a cat is still dropping and working with the first dose of insulin it's not recommended. So you really need to know if your cat is going up in numbers or still dropping.

 

[Shorty]

Well, Shorty already loves Fancy Feast Classics, so I figured once I ran out the food that we are already getting from the vet, he'll be getting that. We'll leave the regular dry food out for the other cats, but he has already gotten to love his regular wet food treat the past couple of weeks. I had already planned on testing before each shot, and then probably checking between shots regularly. I'm sure I'll over test for a while, but that's just being the worry-wart that I am.

 

[Ruby&Baco]

I'm not from the US but i've been around long enough to know that a lot of people in the US give fancy feast because it's low in carbs so you are doing great already!
I wouldn't give the dry food from the vets anymore, it's higher in carbs than fancy feast.
Isn't shorty eating from the dry kibbles that you leave out for the other cats?

 

[Shorty]

Thanks, Ruby and Baco! That's his nickname. We called him Walker at first, because of his boots (boots are made for walking, right?). But one night a few weeks after we got him, Kelly called him Short Round.... and it just stuck.

 

[Ruby&Baco]

I'm sure I'll over test for a while, but that's just being the worry-wart that I am.

Hihi, I think we all overtested at one point
There's is a saying here that says "rather be save than sorry' this goes for dosing of insulin but also for testing, so you'll always know what your cats numbers are.
Did you already have a home testing kit? And if so, do you have a pet or a human kit?

 

[Shorty]

He hadn't been eating much of the dry food. That was why we had been supplementing the wet already. I had assumed it was a tooth problem, he's got some tartar buildup, and a little bleeding gum issue that has popped up. I had figured that was why he had been losing weight, that it was hurting to eat the dry food.

 

[Ruby&Baco]

Oh okay, well that's lucky for you he's already eating that and loving it. Some cats have a hard time to change from dry to wet food.

 

[Shorty]

No kit yet. I'm not sure if the vet is sending one home with us or not. I thought that I had seen something about it on the estimate, so I didn't want to run out and get one right off the bat. If they don't send one home with us, we'll shoot on the low side the first day until I can get one. Plenty of wal-marts around town.

But I've always been a dry - wet feeder with all my animals. Dry for everyday, and wet food for special occasions or holidays. I guess that has now come in handy.

Got to hit the hey now. Want to be bright eyed, and bushy tailed at the vet tomorrow so I can pay attention to how to actually use a needle. Thanks!

 

[Ruby&Baco]

Okay, most vets don't give a kit to you because most vets don't think it's necessary to home test. But like you said, you can pick one up at your local store if you don't get one from your vet.
If you want dosing advice in the next couple of days (if you are already home testing) then you can go to the Prozinc - PZI part of the forum so people that have experience with those type of insulin can help you.

Oh that's funny, i've also always been a dry-wet feeder! So it wasn't a problem to put Baco on wet food after her diagnose.

well sleep tight and I hope everything will go well for you tomorrow at the vets. If there are some things that the vet told you, and it's not clear to you, please don't hesitate to ask questions here. We all have experience with testing, with food and with giving shots!

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB.

Please see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional assessments you may find helpful in evaluating your cat.
The ones most related to diabetes control are food and water intake and output, dehydration checks, and urine ketone monitoring.

Given that he has already experienced ketonemia (blood ketones), you may wish to invest in a blood ketone meter to monitor these, as ketones show up in the blood before they show up in the urine and an early alert of moderate to high ketones can save you time in getting vet treatment as needed.

 

[Shorty]

Just gave Shorty his first shot at home. When they showed me at the vets office, he was so calm and docile about it, I had great hopes. He even came out of his carrier for the vet to give it, and usually I have to pop the top off the carrier and lift him out. Fed him his wet supplement, grabbed the needle and filled it, and he just stood there on the desk waiting for it. Didn't have to hold him or anything. Of course, first time for me handling a needle, as soon as it was done, and I checked to make sure it wasn't a fur shot, I was the one who was shaking. First time jitters, but at least it wasn't until afterwards. Small step for a cat, giant leap for nervous daddy. lol.