Update and Advice request

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

rowley978

Member Since 2013
Hello feline diabetes friends.

First off, I'd like to thank this forum and website for helping me and my cat, Maggy, through his diabetes.

Here's the short story, and then I'll get on too my question.

Maggy began showing signs of diabetes in April 2013. He started drinking a TON of water, peeing A LOT, he lost about 20% of his body weight, and he ate like a horse. Maggy is NOT a fan of going to the vet (the last time I brought him, it took 3 people to attempt a simple blood draw, 2 of which had to use fire retardant gloves and towels to subdue him). I now have a vet come to my home when necessary.
I got him on Lantus, and we had a rough beginning, testing 3 - 5 times a day, and giving two shots a day. We fluctuated between 1 and 2 units... and finally, once stabilized, got down to .5 unit. I tested him daily for a few months, but.. since about August 2013, I gave up on testing. He seemed to be doing very well on the .5 units, and he gained some weight back, stopped drinking so much, and went back to peeing normally. I switched him to a wet food, and no longer let him eat anything else besides cooked plain chicken for a treat.

Fast forward almost 2 years, we're still in the same boat! Good thing, in my opinion. There have been a handful of times where I was out for the "shot time" and I either gave it to him an hour late or early... or just skipped one all together. I STILL haven't tested him since the middle of 2013.

Here is my question. Should I just leave well enough alone? Just continue our path? OR, should i test, possibly readjust... and possibly find out that he may NOT even need the insulin? With such a small dosage, maybe he's fine? Or maybe he definitely needs it? Thoughts? Comments? Advice? This isn't a 911 call, so no sense of urgency. Just wanted to share my story (for all of those out there who are going through anything similar), and also to get some different points of view.

Thanks!

Steve
 
By not testing, you are shooting blindly and have no clue whether he needs insulin or how much he needs.

why did you stop testing anyway? Many people have challenging cats, yet they learn to tolerate the testing and it even becomes a bonding session with most humans and cats. There are many tips and tricks on how to test effectively, so as not to stress yourself or the cat out.

Bottom line --- would you get in your car, blindfold yourself and start driving? Of course not, because it's dangerous and you could hurt yourself or someone else. Well that's what you are doing by not testing your cat.

It's very possible that your cat may not need insulin, but it's also possible that he may and you just have no way of knowing unless you test.

You will not find one person on this board who thinks that NOT testing is OK. Because honestly, it's not.
 
I think I would start testing again to see if Maggy really still needs insulin. If you start testing again and find that she doesn't need insulin anymore, it would be a double bonus to not have to give 2 shots a day and then you only spot test after that to be sure the numbers are in non-diabetic ranges.
 
The key to care for any creature that is diabetic...regimentaion. Feed the same time...test blood sugar the same time...administer insulin at the same time. Fluctuations in any or all of these can cause a significant fluxuation in blood suage results. And that always negative finding...stress. Most animals form a sense of time and feeding. When this is changed a lot, their blood sugar can also rise. The rule of thumb is no testing no insulin. I,too, recomend testing your cat periodically. Always choose the side of safety. Good luck from Jane and Stewey
 
I agree, you should start testing. Cats can respond differently to each shot. With two of my diabetic cats, at least once a week, they would give me a preshot number between 50 & 70, the rest of the time they were in the upper 100's - low 200's. This happened enough times that I could see a pattern, but not enough to predict which day it would happen. So had I not been testing, both of these cats could have become hypoglycemic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top