Urine output question from newbie

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MelanieP and Ninja

MelanieP and Ninja

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Does the urine output (and water drinking) go back to normal on kitties once they are on insulin, and if so, about how soon should I expect to be seeing this? Ninja was just started on Lantus this Monday. She got 1 shot of 2 units Monday (vet's insistence to start at that level) and no shot Monday night. I told Vet I did not feel comfortable continuing Ninja at 2 units twice a day (based on input from this forum and reading the Queensland protocols) and wanted to start her lower, so Vet finally agreed I could start again Tuesday, yesterday, with 1 unit (twice a day). Ninja got one good shot yesterday morning (1 unit) and one fur shot (??) last night; and one good shot (1 unit) this morning. She is still drinking and urinating more than normal, so I am wondering if this is typical for kitties just beginning Lantus and when I should expect to see her urine output/drinking start to decrease. Haven't yet home tested her BG, but am trying for that today. Her behavior has improved, more energetic and seems almost back to "normal" behavior but she is still drinking/urinating more than normal.

Also, Vet recommended I use the urine test strips on Ninja. Do most on this board use them too (in conjunction with home testing BG), and if so, do you have recommendations on how best to do this -- creep up behind Ninja while she is peeing (LOL!!) or other methods to collect her urine. Thanks in advance for any info, advice, tips. You have all provided a wealth of info for me in my first week here and I am sincerely grateful!!!
 
Every cat varies on how soon they go back to drinking and peeing normally but it usually goes hand and hand with their BG numbers, the closer they get to normal numbers the less they pee and drink, also depends with drinking on if you are still feeding dry, or canned, or canned mixed with water. And then there are some cats that just love water, I have a civie (non-diabetic) here that is a fiend for water but only when it running in the bathtub. (he's a odd kitty :lol: )

Depends on what urine strips your vet is talking about, we do test urine for ketones using Ketostixs. Some of us use strips that test for both sugar and ketones but usually that is just a secondary method of monitoring if the cat is hard to test blood on. Blood testing gives you a picture of what is happening right now where as pee strips only tell you what has happened between one urination to the next, and will only show glucose in the urine if the cat is over 250 or the renal threshhold. It won't catch the onset of a hypo situation.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
HI Melanie, when your cats blood sugar becomes regulated the drinking and peeing will go back to normal. Lantus is a slower acting insulin that takes a few days to become fully effective - because it builds up a shed or reserve. Thats why its better to start low and go slow - holding the same dosage for 3-6 cycles (shots) before making changes. Jan
 
Sneakers gets alot of her water from her food- I do almost 1/2 n 1/2 of food and water, so she doesn't drink much out of her two bowls anymore but she does PEE alot though :lol: . Instead of bowl sized pee balls hers are more like baseball sized, so it has decreased. She pees for 20-30 seconds at least at each time. But she is currently unregulated and nowhere near regulation right now.

What kind of strips are you using- for BG levels or for ketones? The BG levels you can get more reliably using a meter than a strip but you need to keep an eye on ketones as they can be deadly to have.

I test Sneakers as she is going to the bathroom, just stick the strip end under her and wave it around to get the pee and start counting! It freaked her out the first few times, but like everything else diabetic related she got used to mommy-voyeur being there. Hey- she watches when I go, why not turn around?
 
Got a good laugh from your comment about Sneakers watching you! I needed that. I'm not really up on the ketones and pee strips -- just that my vet said he wanted me to monitor Ninja with them; but didn't give me any more detail (though may have been saving that for my next visit). I will have to read up on what to look for; like when you say ketones can be deadly, I am not really sure what that means. But I am sure there is a wealth of info on this site and I will try to locate and read up. I have been reading so much this week, my eyeballs are sore...LOL!! But all good info and has helped tremendously. This message board is like a free crisis line, allowing me to get expert opinions and info in a matter of minutes. Invaluable!!!!!!!!!!!

hmjohnston said:
Sneakers gets alot of her water from her food- I do almost 1/2 n 1/2 of food and water, so she doesn't drink much out of her two bowls anymore but she does PEE alot though :lol: . Instead of bowl sized pee balls hers are more like baseball sized, so it has decreased. She pees for 20-30 seconds at least at each time. But she is currently unregulated and nowhere near regulation right now.

What kind of strips are you using- for BG levels or for ketones? The BG levels you can get more reliably using a meter than a strip but you need to keep an eye on ketones as they can be deadly to have.

I test Sneakers as she is going to the bathroom, just stick the strip end under her and wave it around to get the pee and start counting! It freaked her out the first few times, but like everything else diabetic related she got used to mommy-voyeur being there. Hey- she watches when I go, why not turn around?
Click to expand...
 
Secondary monitoring tools are explained in my signature link, including urine ketone monitoring.
 
Go to the pharmacy and ask for a container of KETOSTIX so you can test urine for ketones.
You need to know if YOUR cat is prone to getting ketones, so it's usually wise in the start to test urine often.
You can hold the strip under the cat's urine stream if possible or there are other tricks you can try.
My cats faced out, so I could never test other than to lay the strips into the urine puddle when they jumped out.
Testing for ketones is very impotant; they can crop up anytime and it's not just during high BG numbers.
Recipe for ketones is usually Not enough insulin + Not enough food + possible infection.

Some cats are quite prone to ketones, while others never register even a trace.
Better safe than sorry.
 
the recipe for ketones is not enough food + not enough insulin + infection. it doesn't haev to be all of them, but those are the common 3. When your cat is not eating/cannot process food properly the body starts to break down fat for energy instead and a byproduct of breaking down fat is ketone acids in the blood and urine. it turns the blood acidic which severely dehydrates your cat and throws their electrolyte balance off. it can kill very fast so until Ninja is regulated you will want to test her for ketones whenever you can. some cats are more prone to ketones than others. Scooter never tested above negative.

Scooter follows ME into the bathroom... he's not shy so i just lead him in there, wait for him to start peeing, then lift his tail ever so slightly and hold the strip in the stream... he looks at me funny but doesn't mind too much :lol:
 
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