New here, 2 months with diabetic ozzy

Hey

I've had my cat ozzy for 3 years (he's 4 years old) and got the diagnosis about 2 months ago.

He's drinking and urinating lots as are his symptoms. Since last week he's been on 2 units every 12 hours.

He is so skinny and lethargic, I'm seriously worried that this isn't working. I've rung the vet again and she says it's just him not quite where he should be yet with the dosage.

Today I noticed he's having trouble drinking. He's slurping the water but ever now and then he ends up snorting the water and making himself sneeze.

It upsets me not being able to do very much to help him. Am I doing enough? What if I can't help him? I'm not giving up on him but I feel like I'm failing.

 

Breath. You've come to the right place. We can help and are here to support you!!!
2 units is a rather high starting dose. You may want to bring that down to 1 until you start home testing. If you want to really take control, worry less, and find the ideal dose, home testing is the best way. We can help with that.
OK a few questions
1. What has his bg numbers been at the vet
2. Any infection or ketones present
3. What food is he eating and how much
4. Which insulin are you using

 

Thanks. i was on 1 unit but i was instructed by the vet to put it up as it didn't seem to be having any effect. i have a bg test kit and am in the process of taking a curve today. I did one a few weeks ago which showed him dropping to 11mmol but then coming back up to 20+.

1. What has his bg numbers been at the vet
last week when they took an overall of the month it was at 32mmol (I think). i'm told it should be 10-15.

2. Any infection or ketones present
not sure if there are, they didn't say so from the results.

3. What food is he eating and how much
90g per day of purina diabetic cat biscuits. i could try him on some diabetic wet food, but he gets too excited with wet food and gobbles it down, bringing it back up soon after.

4. Which insulin are you using
prozinc

thanks again

 

That could have been a fructosamine test and it's of limited value because it only gives an average. You can't tell if he was high all the time or if his BG was spiking and plummeting over and over.

You could call and ask them to review those results with you over the phone. Ask specifically whether he was tested for ketones. They might not have done that.

Dry food, even types made for diabetic cats, are far too high in carbs and the food might be a large part of why his BG is high.

Many people here have to feed several small meals a day to their diabetic kitty for this very reason. They use automatic feeders if they aren't at home through the day. If your vet has told you to feed only twice a day, that's not necessary. Most diabetic cats do better with several small meals a day.

This is a very good insulin for many cats. The starting dose is 1 unit twice a day. It's fairly slow in onset so your kitty doesn't need to have a full meal on board before getting his dose. A tablespoon (of low carb wet food) or so is enough.

We can certainly help you to help your kitty. I've given you some starting information here but this is the welcome forum. Please go post your questions/concerns on the main health forum and/or the specific ProZinc forum to get more detailed input.

 

Are you in the UK? I ask because UK folks tend to call dry food biscuits. . The purina dry food is about 16% carb. It's better then most dry foods, but is still higher in carb then diabetic cats should have. You really want to keep the food under 10% carb... Which wet pate foods are.

Tell us where you are and we can suggest foods for you. Perscription food is expensive and not necessary.

ProZinc is good... Lots of experienced ProZinc folks on here that can help you.


So glad you are testing at home.

At minimum you need to test at each shot time to make sure the numbers are high enough to shoot. No food at least 2 hours prior to the preshot test. Test, feed, then shoot. Then try to get 1 or more mid cycle numbers. ProZinc tends to hit its lowest point (called nadir) about 6-7 hours past shot time.

It's not advisable to raise doses by whole units as the optimum dose could get skipped and too much insulin can look like not enough. We recommend raising by 0.25-0.5 units at a time.


Back to the food topic. You said he's skinny and Lethargic.... Diabetic cats need to eat more then non diabetic cats because their bodies can't utilize the nutrients properly so they are literally starving. Other than the no food prior to the preshot test, feed wet food as often as he wants it. Don't worry about it raising his bg. It's more important that he eat.

For the lack of energy and to stave off neuropathy (leg weakness common with diabetic cats) giving a vitamin b 12 methylcobalamin supplement in his food could be helpful.

 

Welcome Ozzy and his Mum or Dad!
We'd love to help you with Ozzy so feel free to post some more questions on the Main Health forum or insulin specific/dosing questions on Prozinc . I've linked both forums for you in the blue text