bekala
Member Since 2014
I've been lurking around and reading everyone's posts but thought I'd share our story in case it helps someone else.
One of our cats (Sid) started having problems about a year ago with jumping up on things. He was a little overweight and older, so we assumed it was just due to age. In August, we noticed he was having litterbox "issues" and took him to the vet. He did a quick glucose check and came back asking to do a fructosamine test. Sid's glucose levels were too high for the meter. The next morning, the fructosamine results came in and confirmed the diabetic diagnosis. I took Sid to the vet to learn how to give the shot and he gave us Hill's w/d and Novolin N (1 unit/2x day). We went back in a week. His numbers were still > 500, so we increased the dose to 2 units/2x day.
This continued until we made it up to 7 units/2x day and there was no sign of improvement. He actually seemed worse. He started walking with flatter back legs and wouldn't even jump up on the couch. By this time, I had discovered this message board, but hadn't really read a lot yet. I had gathered that Novolin probably wasn't the best insulin and that w/d was a poor food. Our vet wasn't sure what to do, so the first week of October, I decided to try another vet. Days before our scheduled appointment, Sid started acting like a drunk sailor, stumbling around with a glazed look in his eyes and twitching. Scared that he was hypo (based on the 7 units) I fed him a mix of Temptations treats and Karo syrup until the new vet opened. I rushed him in and tried my best to explain his history. Instead of being hypo, he was severely dehydrated ... his glucose levels were actually >700, although some of that was definitely from the treats/syrup. The new vet gave him fluids, told us to feed him Hill's m/d and changed us to ProZinc, starting with 4 units/2x day (based on the 7 units of Novolin N). The vet told us that his numbers would probably never get to normal, but we could try to make him as comfortable as possible.
I wasn't happy with that answer and his dehydration really scared me, so I started scouring this message board and other sites for information. After a week on m/d and the new insulin, he was still filling up the litterbox. Not only was he walking flat on his back legs, but now his front legs started bending under, so he was walking on his wrists. I decided to go "all out" and ran to Walmart to buy the ReliOn Prime meter and all the supplies. My husband saw the bag and looked at me like I was crazy. :smile:
The next day, I did my first glucose curve and read about the Somogyi rebound. Given the high number of units and his consistently high numbers, it seemed like a very good possibility that he was crashing hard and rebounding. I decided to start over with the ProZinc and gave him 1 unit/2x day with frequent testing. I spent hours looking at carb levels in foods trying to find the best deal on wet food. (Tanya's Canned Food List is seriously amazing! http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm) I ended up choosing Holistic Select Chicken Pate and Turkey Pate recipes, since I can get 13 oz cans locally for $2.50. One can feeds our 2 cats for one day.
Eventually, we went up to 2 units/2x day, then his numbers started falling. He stopped walking/falling on his wrists and his back legs became straighter. He started jumping up on the couch and the litterbox became almost empty. I began lowering the dose. The number of PS's that were < 200 increased and I started waiting longer to give shots. Then exactly 12 days ago, I gave his last insulin shot. In TWO days he will be OTJ!! He still has numbers in the very low 100's, but I am happy with that. He is more playful than he's been in years and his coat is soft and so shiny!
I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone here who asked questions, answered questions or posted information. It was so helpful to read posts from others who were had the same questions as me and be able to find answers. Equally helpful was reading success stories from others, since I truly thought that he would always be a "sick" cat. As I'm writing this, Sid climbed all the way upstairs, jumped on the bed and started playing with our other cat, Gus. Without this site, that never would have happened!
One of our cats (Sid) started having problems about a year ago with jumping up on things. He was a little overweight and older, so we assumed it was just due to age. In August, we noticed he was having litterbox "issues" and took him to the vet. He did a quick glucose check and came back asking to do a fructosamine test. Sid's glucose levels were too high for the meter. The next morning, the fructosamine results came in and confirmed the diabetic diagnosis. I took Sid to the vet to learn how to give the shot and he gave us Hill's w/d and Novolin N (1 unit/2x day). We went back in a week. His numbers were still > 500, so we increased the dose to 2 units/2x day.
This continued until we made it up to 7 units/2x day and there was no sign of improvement. He actually seemed worse. He started walking with flatter back legs and wouldn't even jump up on the couch. By this time, I had discovered this message board, but hadn't really read a lot yet. I had gathered that Novolin probably wasn't the best insulin and that w/d was a poor food. Our vet wasn't sure what to do, so the first week of October, I decided to try another vet. Days before our scheduled appointment, Sid started acting like a drunk sailor, stumbling around with a glazed look in his eyes and twitching. Scared that he was hypo (based on the 7 units) I fed him a mix of Temptations treats and Karo syrup until the new vet opened. I rushed him in and tried my best to explain his history. Instead of being hypo, he was severely dehydrated ... his glucose levels were actually >700, although some of that was definitely from the treats/syrup. The new vet gave him fluids, told us to feed him Hill's m/d and changed us to ProZinc, starting with 4 units/2x day (based on the 7 units of Novolin N). The vet told us that his numbers would probably never get to normal, but we could try to make him as comfortable as possible.
I wasn't happy with that answer and his dehydration really scared me, so I started scouring this message board and other sites for information. After a week on m/d and the new insulin, he was still filling up the litterbox. Not only was he walking flat on his back legs, but now his front legs started bending under, so he was walking on his wrists. I decided to go "all out" and ran to Walmart to buy the ReliOn Prime meter and all the supplies. My husband saw the bag and looked at me like I was crazy. :smile:
The next day, I did my first glucose curve and read about the Somogyi rebound. Given the high number of units and his consistently high numbers, it seemed like a very good possibility that he was crashing hard and rebounding. I decided to start over with the ProZinc and gave him 1 unit/2x day with frequent testing. I spent hours looking at carb levels in foods trying to find the best deal on wet food. (Tanya's Canned Food List is seriously amazing! http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm) I ended up choosing Holistic Select Chicken Pate and Turkey Pate recipes, since I can get 13 oz cans locally for $2.50. One can feeds our 2 cats for one day.
Eventually, we went up to 2 units/2x day, then his numbers started falling. He stopped walking/falling on his wrists and his back legs became straighter. He started jumping up on the couch and the litterbox became almost empty. I began lowering the dose. The number of PS's that were < 200 increased and I started waiting longer to give shots. Then exactly 12 days ago, I gave his last insulin shot. In TWO days he will be OTJ!! He still has numbers in the very low 100's, but I am happy with that. He is more playful than he's been in years and his coat is soft and so shiny!
I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone here who asked questions, answered questions or posted information. It was so helpful to read posts from others who were had the same questions as me and be able to find answers. Equally helpful was reading success stories from others, since I truly thought that he would always be a "sick" cat. As I'm writing this, Sid climbed all the way upstairs, jumped on the bed and started playing with our other cat, Gus. Without this site, that never would have happened!
