Rachel Eagles
Member Since 2023
Hi Everyone!
First time poster here. My cat Monty was diagnosed in January 2022 with diabetes after he rapidly lost weight and started becoming ravenous for food (3 years old on diagnosis). Once diagnosed, we started giving insulin (Lantus - 2 units) 2 times a day but we left him on his science diet sensitive skin and stomach food as he was extremely sick when we first got him (January 2020) (loose stool, bloody stool, etc) and this was the only food that stopped those issues. Fast forward 2 weeks later and he went into DKA and we had to bring him to the emergency vet on family day (stat holiday, regular vet was closed) and they said he was 3+ ketones and likely wouldn't make it through the night. The next morning I brought him to my regular vet (ready to put him down) as he couldn't walk straight or stand up very well - for my vet to tell me he was now at +1 ketones and he would probably pull through. This ordeal costed a total of 1800 dollars.
After this ordeal we switched his food to Big County Raw salmon and beef - which has 0 carbs to my understanding. He seemed to do well on this food digestively, with us giving 3 units of insulin when he was above 12 mmol (216 mg/dl) - however it was really random when he was actually getting the 3 units as sometimes he would be as low as 1.8 at the +12 hour mark and we had to give honey on gums - but other times under the same conditions he would continue to be at 25 mmol (450 mg/dl) as if the insulin didn't even work that time. At the time of switching we contacted the rescue that we got him from and the lady who owns it says that she has 3 diabetic cats and said in order to regulate him we needed to give 5 units of insulin morning and night (??) this was a huge dosage compared to what I saw online or what my vet told me so I kept him at 3 units when we was high enough to to give (maybe 1/3 of the time).
Fast forward to December 2022 and Monty is now lost a total of 6 pounds since being diagnosed (15.5 lbs down to 9.1 currently) and he his ravenous for food and very unregulated, and he went into DKA again the day before Christmas eve when all vets were about to be closed for 2 days. I bring him to my vet after being up all night syringe feeding him water and he stays the whole day there (another 900 dollars). Vet gives 2.5 units of insulin when he is at 28.5 mmol (513 mg/dl) and he says the insulin has zero effect (similar to what we experienced). 6 hours later he switches the insulin from Lantus over to Caninsulin and injects directly into his muscle and we see an immediate response down to 7 mmol (126.0 mg/dl). vet sends us home while saying he really should continue to stay hospitalized however they were closing and the emergency vet is 5700 dollars for 3 days of hospitalization (which we can't afford....who could??). I do an extreme tight regulation protocol as per my vets request for the next 3 days while we try to get rid of ketone buildup where I try to keep him between 9mmol (162 mg/dc) and 13 mmol (234 mg/dl) while syringe feeding him water. This was very very hard and we couldn't really do it (he was dropping too low and then bouncing right back up into the high 20's mmols ( >450 mg/dl). Despite this, we were able to pull him through this again somehow. Vet switches us to Caninsulin permanently and says that he is the type of cat that will always need intramuscular injections (which is terrible - he hates it and I have to wrap his head in a blanket while he hisses at me) and he wanted us to switch to the Purina DM wet food (which to my understanding has 6 grams of total carbs as opposed to the 0 carbs from the raw), because the vet was concerned about his low weight and wanted something with more fat content than the raw.
We made the food switch and went to IM injections with the Caninsulin and it seems to be working (I will provide glucose curve numbers once I figure out where to do that on this website) but in summary 2 units directly in the muscle will bring him down into normal range, however only for a few hours. The new food is now making his baseline glucose readings sit above 30 mmol (540 mg/dl) and oftentimes my meter will just say "Hi" which means he is above 34 mmol (612 mg/dl). So essentially every 12 hours he is extremely high, we give him 2 units at the 12 hour mark with food and he drops to normal range at +6 hours, but at +12 hours he is right back up to the high 30's (>590 mg/dl). I have sent my vet a glucose curve today to get his opinion but I am not feeling comfortable with how my vet has been handling this entire situation and want an opinion from others. Is his bouncing back and forth between 30mmol and 5 mmol every 6 hours terrible on his body? Should we switch back to raw food? Will we always have to do intramuscular injections?
I would appreciate any help as this is really affecting not only Monty but my own mental health as well having to deal with the financial impact of this (I'm only 26 and struggle to afford this), having to watch him be so uncomfortable all the time and thinking we would have to put him down twice now (I'm not sure I can handle that again).
Please help us in any way you can!!
eagles7373
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 22 Dec 2022, 9:14
Country: Canada
EDIT: Spreadsheet updated in Signature Box.
First time poster here. My cat Monty was diagnosed in January 2022 with diabetes after he rapidly lost weight and started becoming ravenous for food (3 years old on diagnosis). Once diagnosed, we started giving insulin (Lantus - 2 units) 2 times a day but we left him on his science diet sensitive skin and stomach food as he was extremely sick when we first got him (January 2020) (loose stool, bloody stool, etc) and this was the only food that stopped those issues. Fast forward 2 weeks later and he went into DKA and we had to bring him to the emergency vet on family day (stat holiday, regular vet was closed) and they said he was 3+ ketones and likely wouldn't make it through the night. The next morning I brought him to my regular vet (ready to put him down) as he couldn't walk straight or stand up very well - for my vet to tell me he was now at +1 ketones and he would probably pull through. This ordeal costed a total of 1800 dollars.
After this ordeal we switched his food to Big County Raw salmon and beef - which has 0 carbs to my understanding. He seemed to do well on this food digestively, with us giving 3 units of insulin when he was above 12 mmol (216 mg/dl) - however it was really random when he was actually getting the 3 units as sometimes he would be as low as 1.8 at the +12 hour mark and we had to give honey on gums - but other times under the same conditions he would continue to be at 25 mmol (450 mg/dl) as if the insulin didn't even work that time. At the time of switching we contacted the rescue that we got him from and the lady who owns it says that she has 3 diabetic cats and said in order to regulate him we needed to give 5 units of insulin morning and night (??) this was a huge dosage compared to what I saw online or what my vet told me so I kept him at 3 units when we was high enough to to give (maybe 1/3 of the time).
Fast forward to December 2022 and Monty is now lost a total of 6 pounds since being diagnosed (15.5 lbs down to 9.1 currently) and he his ravenous for food and very unregulated, and he went into DKA again the day before Christmas eve when all vets were about to be closed for 2 days. I bring him to my vet after being up all night syringe feeding him water and he stays the whole day there (another 900 dollars). Vet gives 2.5 units of insulin when he is at 28.5 mmol (513 mg/dl) and he says the insulin has zero effect (similar to what we experienced). 6 hours later he switches the insulin from Lantus over to Caninsulin and injects directly into his muscle and we see an immediate response down to 7 mmol (126.0 mg/dl). vet sends us home while saying he really should continue to stay hospitalized however they were closing and the emergency vet is 5700 dollars for 3 days of hospitalization (which we can't afford....who could??). I do an extreme tight regulation protocol as per my vets request for the next 3 days while we try to get rid of ketone buildup where I try to keep him between 9mmol (162 mg/dc) and 13 mmol (234 mg/dl) while syringe feeding him water. This was very very hard and we couldn't really do it (he was dropping too low and then bouncing right back up into the high 20's mmols ( >450 mg/dl). Despite this, we were able to pull him through this again somehow. Vet switches us to Caninsulin permanently and says that he is the type of cat that will always need intramuscular injections (which is terrible - he hates it and I have to wrap his head in a blanket while he hisses at me) and he wanted us to switch to the Purina DM wet food (which to my understanding has 6 grams of total carbs as opposed to the 0 carbs from the raw), because the vet was concerned about his low weight and wanted something with more fat content than the raw.
We made the food switch and went to IM injections with the Caninsulin and it seems to be working (I will provide glucose curve numbers once I figure out where to do that on this website) but in summary 2 units directly in the muscle will bring him down into normal range, however only for a few hours. The new food is now making his baseline glucose readings sit above 30 mmol (540 mg/dl) and oftentimes my meter will just say "Hi" which means he is above 34 mmol (612 mg/dl). So essentially every 12 hours he is extremely high, we give him 2 units at the 12 hour mark with food and he drops to normal range at +6 hours, but at +12 hours he is right back up to the high 30's (>590 mg/dl). I have sent my vet a glucose curve today to get his opinion but I am not feeling comfortable with how my vet has been handling this entire situation and want an opinion from others. Is his bouncing back and forth between 30mmol and 5 mmol every 6 hours terrible on his body? Should we switch back to raw food? Will we always have to do intramuscular injections?
I would appreciate any help as this is really affecting not only Monty but my own mental health as well having to deal with the financial impact of this (I'm only 26 and struggle to afford this), having to watch him be so uncomfortable all the time and thinking we would have to put him down twice now (I'm not sure I can handle that again).
Please help us in any way you can!!
eagles7373
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 22 Dec 2022, 9:14
Country: Canada
EDIT: Spreadsheet updated in Signature Box.
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