Should I get a 2nd opinion?

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Suzanne & Darcy said:
What kind of medication does he get at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.?
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Just wanted to add since I just saw this but other than his insulin he gets 1 capsule of 100 mg of gabapentin and I give him 1 Zobaline tablet a day. The typical schedule is 9 am and 9 pm but due to my work irregular work schedule some days the times are adjusted slightly (for example him needing his shot at 10 pm tonight)
 
jayla-n-Drevon said:
Cats have very little feeling in the top 1/3 of the ears and on the outside of the vein
I used to free hand a terumo tiny needle they are so sharp its fast! You can do this :bighug:
You can get the terumo needles with no script at https://www.calvetsupply.com/
They have other supplies too
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Thank you so much for the advice! I have had much better luck being determined getting the readings and luckily my smart boy has picked up pretty quickly that it's not as scary as it seems. You all have given me the confidence to get it done!
 
PaigeE said:
Just wanted to add since I just saw this but other than his insulin he gets 1 capsule of 100 mg of gabapentin and I give him 1 Zobaline tablet a day. The typical schedule is 9 am and 9 pm but due to my work irregular work schedule some days the times are adjusted slightly (for example him needing his shot at 10 pm tonight)
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What is the Gabapentin for?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
What is the Gabapentin for?
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Vet prescribed for his diabetic neuropathy. While I’ve seen improvement the past couple weeks he still walks with plantigrade stance, can’t get super far without a break and missed jumps sometimes. Lately he has held himself up while eating some but still can’t walk on his toes and can see the lack of muscle tone in his hind legs.

Just got his reading of 133! Would very much value your input on how much you you think to give him given his data for the day!
 
PaigeE said:
Vet prescribed for his diabetic neuropathy. While I’ve seen improvement the past couple weeks he still walks with plantigrade stance, can’t get super far without a break and missed jumps sometimes. Lately he has held himself up while eating some but still can’t walk on his toes and can see the lack of muscle tone in his hind legs.

Just got his reading of 133! Would very much value your input on how much you give him give his data for the day!
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Just a moment on the dose…
 
And can you monitor tonight? Will you be able to get a +2 and possibly wake up to get a +5. Today’s low was at +6 but if testing had been done earlier than +6 you could have possibly headed off that lime green with food given beforehand.

I will have to go to bed because l, as I said, I have to take a cat to Atlanta to see a specialist tomorrow. But others will be online tonight if needed.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And can you monitor tonight? Will you be able to get a +2 and possibly wake up to get a +5. Today’s low was at +6 but if testing had been done earlier than +6 you could have possibly headed off that lime green with food given beforehand.

I will have to go to bed because l, as I said, I have to take a cat to Atlanta to see a specialist tomorrow. But others will be online tonight if needed.
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
Wow. That is the lowest recorded BG yet. After today’s lime green, this gives me pause. I’m thinking a small token dose for tonight. With ProZinc you have to be careful. @Bron and Sheba (GA) are you there? What do you think?
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I’ll hold off for a few to get a 2nd input! I’m about to go to bed but I’ll set a couple alarms to get some readings. I do have to be at work early so will have to give him a 2nd shot less than 12 hrs so agree a smaller dose is the way to go. Won’t be able to get any readings after his AM pre shot until we get home from work. Either way, I appreciate your help and thank you for taking time out of your night to help us. Have a good night!
 
If Leo were my cat and I was new with only a small amount of data, I would give one or possibly two units tonight. You gave 2.5 units yesterday, but we don’t have mid-cycle tests yesterday to tell us what happened before he went pink at PMPS. If I was able to monitor carefully, I would give two units. If not, a token dose of 1 unit for tonight would be my choice.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
If Leo were my cat and I was new with only a small amount of data, I would give one or possible two units tonight. You gave 2.5 units yesterday, but we don’t have mid-cycle tests yesterday to tell is what happened before he went pink at PMPS. If I was able to monitor carefully, I would give two units. If not, a token dose of 1 unit for tonight would be my choice.
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That’s what I will go with then and set some alarms get some pm readings and see what he is preshot in the morning. Again appreciate all your help! Feeling so much more hopeful.
 
PaigeE said:
I’ll hold off for a few to get a 2nd input! I’m about to go to bed but I’ll set a couple alarms to get some readings. I do have to be at work early so will have to give him a 2nd shot less than 12 hrs so agree a smaller dose is the way to go. Won’t be able to get any readings after his AM pre shot until we get home from work. Either way, I appreciate your help and thank you for taking time out of your night to help us. Have a good night!
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If you’re stalling without feeding then you can test again twenty minutes after the first test to see if he’s going up on his own (without food). Sometimes this stalling helps to figure things out. But it can mess up your morning schedule, which already is not exactly 12 hours after tonight’s shot.
 
PaigeE said:
That’s what I will go with then and set some alarms get some pm readings and see what he is preshot in the morning. Again appreciate all your help! Feeling so much more hopeful.
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I would leave some LC food out for him to eat if you think he will. For future you may want to see if a timed feeder will work. Especially for night or when you’re at work. But we can talk about that later.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I would leave some LC food out for him to eat if you think he will. For future you may want to see if a timed feeder will work. Especially for night or when you’re at work. But we can talk about that later.
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I went ahead and gave him 1 U and will test! Also See how his is in the morning. Didn’t consider and automatic feeder but will look into it! And will leave some food out for him just in case. Get to bed, lady! Will keep you posted <3
 
Thanks. We can always increase the dose back up carefully if the numbers warrant it, but we have to keep Leo safe. Soon we won’t be jockeying doses around so much, but will know better how much he needs. Talk to you tomorrow.
 
Oh thank you! I actually had already bought a bottle of Zobaline. Had it almost a month and was about to stop giving it for now bc I wouldn’t say we have his BG regulated yet until I noticed him sitting up to eat instead of lying flat on the ground! But my bottle is almost out so I’ll be getting that instead. All the meds and testing supplies definitely add up.
 
PaigeE said:
Oh thank you! I actually had already bought a bottle of Zobaline. Had it almost a month and was about to stop giving it for now bc I wouldn’t say we have his BG regulated yet until I noticed him sitting up to eat instead of lying flat on the ground! But my bottle is almost out so I’ll be getting that instead. All the meds and testing supplies definitely add up.
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Great :cat:
Tyler had neuropathy when he was first diagnosed and he's back to walking and jumping
Took about less than 2 months, but every couple of weeks I saw improvement
He's been in remission since 1-24-21
 
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Hi Paige, did you get any tests last night before bed? Let’s try to pick a dose and stick with it so we can see what is going on. (except if there’s a really low preshot and we think it might be unsafe, of course.). But we would need to get some mid cycle tests to figure it out. Will you be at home today, or on the weekend?
 
You have gotten a ton of great information! I hope you're feeling more confident with managing Leo's symptoms. One FYI -- there's no way to adjust a pet meter to a human meter. The best we can do is know where the point for a dose reduction falls. Many people here prefer a human meter for 2 reasons. One is due to the cost for strips for the pet meters. The AlphaTrac strips are about $1 per strip. The cost for strips for a Walmart Relion meter is about $0.17. Over time, that's a huge savings. The second reason is that all of our dosing information is based on a human meter. FDMB has been around for quite some time (+25 years) and pet meters are a relatively recent innovation. We're also international and human meters are more widely available.

I'm not sure the gabapentin is going to do a great deal to help the neuropathy. If Leo is in pain, it may offer some relief. The Zobaline will help but it will take some time to be effective and it will be more effective the better regulated Leo's diabetes becomes.

If you've not already done so, you may want to eliminate the dry food from his diet. There are very few dry foods that are low in carbs. In addition, dry food is basically a terrible idea for cats. Cats have a limited thirst drive and there is almost no moisture in dry food. It makes for long term kidney issues and diabetes, all by itself, is hard on the kidneys.

One housekeeping note.... We try to limit threads to 50 posts (otherwise, it's very hard to stay current with the information in the thread). When you're ready to post today, could you start a new thread?
 
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