Vivian back on insulin after UTI/increase in BG

[Laura Nels]

Vivian had a one week trial off insulin after she had some very low numbers, including a 69 at 12 hours after insulin. Looking back I can see her numbers were slowly creeping up every day - 82,103,116 and so on - that could have been because of urinary infection or she just isn't ready to come off insulin completely. The vet visit sent her up to 149 and she didn't really come down appreciably after that. So I put her on .1U Wed - in the middle of the day so she only had one dose, and two doses yesterday. This morning she's at 118, under the 120 number at the top of the normal range on a human meter if I am correct. I had 120 in mind for a "no shoot number", but I gave her .1U today and will do so for a couple more days until it's been long enough to do a curve, I guess. She is feeling better since antibiotic, she's up and around, more active and social and eating great! Diarrhea presumably from antibiotic has cleared. I'm still waiting on the Budesonide - got a message from the compounding pharmacy yesterday - so she still needs to be on full dose pred. Transition to low carb diet more or less complete. All in all I guess her BG is pretty good, considering...just disappointed that she had to go back on the insulin. I'm close to the end of a vial, was hoping not to have to get another (that might still be possible), I'll be going back to work in a couple weeks and won't be around to look after her nearly as much, all that jazz. Onward -

 

[granadilla]

Ugh, sorry to hear, Laura. Hopefully the Budesonide will arrive soon so you can transition her off pred. I'm sure that will lower her BG. Good thing the diarrhea has cleared up so quickly! As you know, when IBD kitties get an upset system, it can take a while to clear up so that's a good sign that her IBD is controlled well!

 

[Laura Nels]

Ya, frustrating - It's hard to explain but if you have a cat with intestinal disease you know, the acute diarrhea from the antibiotic has eased, but Vivian still deals daily with consistently inconsistent firmly formed to liquid, often all in the same visit to the box. She's better than she was though.
I found out the vet put in a budesonide prescription at the compounding pharmacy in the form of a suspension as opposed to the capsule I thought we were going with. I had read somewhere and can't remember where that this drug is more effective in pill form than liquid. In the end though, the liquid is a lot less expensive, doses can be adjusted more easily and I would have had to go back and forth between the vet and pharmacy to get the prescription changed. So I just said send me what you've got and we'll see how she does. Vivian hates receiving liquids through a syringe but I just want to get the ball rolling and see if it will address intestinal inflammation and help her BG come down some more - dare I say remission? That's a tall order.
Anyone have better or worse experience with suspension vs capsule budesonide? I know the jury is mixed whether it helps BG #s so that's a crap shoot.

 

[Laura Nels]

BG 97 this morning - which is awesome! - not sure what to do with that but I think I'll stick with .1U for a bit longer. I'm going away for the weekend and her other person can give insulin but can't test BG but I feel pretty safe with this very small dose -
They used in the medical establishment that my mother threw them zebras, always remembered that term.
Vivian throws me zebras - ha

 

[Laura Nels]

New plan, no insulin this a.m, will check her in a few hours before I leave and if she's back up will give her .1U and that'll be all until tomorrow -
I think?

 

[BJM]

You may need to chase the numbers (wait until high enough to shoot), or use an atypical dosing schedule such as every 18 hours, rather than every 12, for her to be high enough to shoot.

 

[granadilla]

Anyone have better or worse experience with suspension vs capsule budesonide? I know the jury is mixed whether it helps BG #s so that's a crap shoot.

My vet called the scrip into the pharmacy and when I went to get it, the pharmacy had made it into a liquid instead of pills. Marshmallow has been on the liquid for 4 weeks and it definitely helped. I used to hear rumbling noises from her gut, but that went away after just 2 days on Budesonide.

I just ordered the capsules from Thriving Pet (way cheaper than my local pharmacy). I'll let you know if I notice a difference.