Switching to Basaglar

[Dmitri's mom]

Hi first time poster here. Our rescue cat Dmitri was 6 years old and on Vetsulin when we adopted him. Back then he didn't seem unhealthy at all. Just got his shots twice a day. Four months later he went into remission. Thought we were done with it until late last year almost 5 years after adopting him when he started losing weight and drinking a lot. Diabetes came back so he went back on Vetsulin. Still drinking a lot of water and losing weight. Glucose numbers weren't great dipping down to 120 only one time but mainly 200s and 300s for his curves. Vet upped him to 3 units. Then a couple of weeks ago he refused to eat and had weak back legs. Took him to vet hospital were he spent two nights. Did tons of tests including ultrasound of his belly. Nothing found and was diagnosed as being in diabetic ketosis. Came home and seemed better for awhile but had him at the vet for glucose curve this week and she said it was taking entirely too long for his numbers to go down so we just stated Basaglar today. My question is when would a good time for me to do a glucose curve to see if it's working? I was thinking a week but wasn't sure and want to make sure I get accurate results.

 

[Hercule's mum]

Hi! Welcome to the forum. Very sorry to hear about Dimitri being back to being diabetic. Most people in this forum test regularly every day. At least before shooting twice a day, and most at least some in the middle of the cycle, because the dose should be adjusted to how low a dose takes kitty. some people do curves on the weekend to have a better idea of how the insulin is working. If you are able i would meassure bllod glucose every day, and create a spreadsheet, as the one I have below my message.

 

[Dmitri's mom]

That sounds good. Thank you for the information and the chart. I did just take it and he's at 147 which is so much better than where he was. Plan to test in a couple of hours just to make sure he isn't dipping too low. Vet did a fructosamine test on him and it showed his levels were 690 over the last couple of weeks which is crazy. I work from home so I just squeeze the curves in when I can.

 

[Hercule's mum]

Many cats have higher Bg when stressed, so just going to the vets could explain the higher BG....

yes, if he is at 147, I would keep an eye on him. Another reason why cats can show very high number is because they are bouncing:

"Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles)."

It is hard to distinghish why a cat is running high without testing regularly

 

[tiffmaxee]

We ask that new people start by posting on the main health forum and get set up with a spreadsheet and a signature. Then you come back here. While you are here please read the yellow stickies at the top of this forum. There’s a lot of information so I am sure you will have lots of questions. We love answering them. We use two dosing methods here so please read that sticky first. You don’t need to decide now but it will help you get an idea about when to test and when to raise or reduce the dose. You will hold the dose for a week at the beginning to let the depot build and see how your beginning dose is working. With TR, you reduce if the bg ever falls under 50 or 68 if using a pet meter. With SLGS the reduction is taken under 90.

Are you using a pet or human meter? What are you feeding? Thank you for adopting a diabetic kitty.

 

[Dmitri's mom]

We ask that new people start by posting on the main health forum and get set up with a spreadsheet and a signature. Then you come back here. While you are here please read the yellow stickies at the top of this forum. There’s a lot of information so I am sure you will have lots of questions. We love answering them. We use two dosing methods here so please read that sticky first. You don’t need to decide now but it will help you get an idea about when to test and when to raise or reduce the dose. You will hold the dose for a week at the beginning to let the depot build and see how your beginning dose is working. With TR, you reduce if the bg ever falls under 50 or 68 if using a pet meter. With SLGS the reduction is taken under 90.

Are you using a pet or human meter? What are you feeding? Thank you for adopting a diabetic kitty.

Ok I'll do that. I'm using a pet meter, the Alpha Track. Was just feeding him dry food Purina Pro Plan dietetic Weight management but when he was in the hospital they fed him Hills Science Diet W/D. Now feeding him a mixture of both and slowly adding in wet Hills Science Diet W/D as I have read wet is better for diabetic cats. Want to transition him over to mostly wet.

 

[Christie & Maverick]

I'm glad the vet ran a fructosamine test, that is a good way to get an indication of average blood glucose levels over a 2-3 week period. 690 is considered poor control. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/reference-ranges-for-fructosamine-test.196850/

It also helps to rule out the possibility of stress-hyperglycaemia where a cat's BG levels at time of vet visit and blood draw is higher as a result of stress.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Was just feeding him dry food Purina Pro Plan dietetic Weight management but when he was in the hospital they fed him Hills Science Diet W/D. Now feeding him a mixture of both and slowly adding in wet Hills Science Diet W/D as I have read wet is better for diabetic cats.

Wet is definitely better than dry, but W/D is very high in carbs (so is the Science Diet weight management) The canned W/D is about 25% carbs as well as having some pretty lousy ingredients, including my personal pet peeve ingredient they laughingly call "powdered cellulose". That's a fancy word for sawdust (which is why it's high in fiber).

Your cat will do much better if you get him off all of the "prescription" foods and eating a low carb canned or raw diet. Most of us feed our own cats Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground because they get less than 10% of their calories from carbs. They are also easy to find and affordable.

It is important that when you switch to low carb foods that you test often because lowering the carbs can drastically lower the need for insulin.