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[Shellcat]

Morning! Mr. Moonie and I got our diagnoses on Dec.20th. He is an eight and a half year old neutered male. One of the first signs was weight loss he used to weigh almost 20lbs. at the vet he was at 12.2lbs. His BSG was 555 at our first visit. The doctors instructions were Purina DM quarter cup twice-daily than 2 units of Lantus. She also advised us we would have to do a curve in a couple of weeks. I'm comfortable enough to do the curve at home when that time comes. Even if he's fussy about it, it's better than having to go back to the office. She said I wouldn't have to worry too much about testing before the curve, but could do it for practice. I've done two random tests one in the middle of the day where his sugar was at 402 and last night right before dinner and the shot he was at 427. Mr. Moonie is Very Good Boy. We have found out that giving him his shot while he eats is best, and he doesn't put up a fuss at all. He was getting 3/4 cup of dry Friskies at breakfast and would graze all-day. So he's hungry alot. I feel as though I am just following the Dr's instructions and don't fully understand... what I'm doing. As Mr. is my emotional support animal for my anxiety, um, well, we are both working on that.

 

[Crista & Ming]

Hello Mr. Moonie and Shellcat! I just posted on your Facebook post and wanted to say again, welcome!

I’m just running out the door for work and can’t say too much anymore but some kind souls will be here shortly to welcome you and post some more advice. For now, there are stickies on the Lantus forum that are very helpful to read. The stickies are the first several posts here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Hello and welcome!

First off, congrats to you for getting home testing up and running on your own! It's the most powerful tool in your toolkit for dealing with feline diabetes and keeping Mr. Moonie healthy and safe, so well done getting started on that!

A couple comments on the advice you've gotten from your vet so far:

1) Lantus is an excellent insulin for cats, so well done there.
2) 2U is a bit higher than we would normally recommend for a starting dose, so I'm really glad you are home testing. We would normally start at either 1U or 1.5U (depending on the dosing method chosen, see the stickie on the two dosing methods in the Lantus stickies).
3) I'm not a fan of the twice-daily feedings for a diabetic (frequent small meals seems to work better for most cats). Especially for an underweight diabetic cat, it's OK to feed them a bit more if they are hungry.
4) the dry Purina DM isn't the greatest choice for a diabetic cat, oddly enough (the DM wet food is fine), as it is high in carbs.

We would definitely recommend switching to a low-carb canned diet. Many of us feed Fancy Feast or Friskies pates (much more economical than the "prescription" vet diets!), but there are a lot of other options out there these days. Dr. Pierson's food chart (in the yellow stickies at the top of the forum) is a great resource. You're aiming for under 10% carbs.

VERY IMPORTANT: any food transitions should be done while testing blood glucose regularly-- before each shot, and multiple times a day between shots. Removing carbs from the diet can have a profound effect on blood glucose, in some cases dropping it by hundreds of points. Especially with Mr. Moonie on a relatively high dose, you will need to be testing to keep him safe while switching foods.

I feel as though I am just following the Dr's instructions and don't fully understand... what I'm doing.

Crista has already pointed you to the Lantus forum, there is a ton of information there about Lantus and how to work with it to help your kitty, and I've also laid out a bunch of different topics here. All of this is a lot to take in, for most of us we just get started one small bit at a time.

One thing you can do to help us help you is to provide a bit of about Mr. Moonie (age, weight, other health issues, insulin used, your general location, anything else that might be helpful) in your signature, and also set up a spreadsheet showing the blood glucose data you already have. We are very test- and data-oriented here, you will find! We use a standard template for spreadsheets and put a link to our own cat's in the signature so anyone giving advice can easily assess the situation. FDMB SPREADSHEET INSTRUCTIONS

OK, that's already a whole lot, so I'll end here and just again say welcome to you and Mr. Moonie!

 

[Deb & Wink]

Here is the link to the thread (post) about Editing Your Signature. Just click on the blue highlighted text and it will take you to instructions.

Deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release.....

We know how stressful this can be. We have all had diabetic cats ourselves and have learned many different ways to help them.

What questions do you have?

One question I have for you is what does your vet consider as an ideal weight for Mr. Moonie? Was the 20 lbs too much? Is Mr. Moonie's current weight of 12.2 lbs ok or does your vet think he needs to gain some weight?

p.s. Found you over in the facebook group. Welcome Michelle B.! I'll try to read some of your posts over there. Found several cats named Moonie, but only one unique and special Mr. Moonie.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to the FDMB.

Despite the advice from your vet, we are huge fans of home testing. It is the best and only way to be certain your kitty is safe. I couldn't imagine a pediatrician telling a parent to not test their child's blood glucose (BG) prior to giving an insulin injection. You have no way of knowing if numbers are in the 400s or 40s since infants and cats are equally not great at communicating this information verbally. There is also a journal article about the value of home testing when using Lantus and the guidelines from the American Animal Hospital Assn also support the utility of home testing.

The information on the Lantus board can be a bit overwhelming. It will all become routine but in the meantime, please ask questions. For now, until you are able to transition Mr. Moonie to a low carb, canned food diet, your option regarding a dosing strategy is Start Low Go Slow. Like Nan, I would encourage you to get your cat switched to a diet that is low in carbs. The Purina dry is over 20% carbs. Most people here feed their cats a diet that is in the 5% carb range.

It will also help us if, in addition to setting up a spreadsheet, you create a signature. This will give us some basic information about your cat.

This post, Help Us to Help You, is also a good reference for general information when getting started here.

Please let us know if you have questions. The people here are very generous with their knowledge and time. We're here to help.l