Hello from Beth, Dexter, and Gabe - and a few questions

Hi all,

Dexter, my 15 year old DLH tabby got diagnosed last week. He's at the vet's today being monitored to get a base dosage established. His diabetes is a consequence of his chronic pancreatitis, which I've been managing fairly well for just over two years. But this is a definite turn for the worse and the vet believes the diabetes will be a complicating factor to treating the pancreatitis (which will eventually cause multiple organs to shut down).

Dexter's meds include:
* Hepatic support crushed in his food 2x/day (he's REAL picky y'all)
* 1/4 pancreatrophin pill 1x/day
* .2 Prednilisone (oral steroid) every other day
*.25 B-12 shot every 5 days
And now ... glucose testing and insulin.

Gabe, my 12ish year old DLH black cat, has always ben a fat boy. I know it's a matter of time before he gets diagnosed with diabetes despite my efforts to slim him down. He has an eye condition and gets an oral pill 1x/day (it's huge, y'all, but he won't eat it cracked open and sprinkled on his food, so hooray for pill guns).

It's been a rough few years and a very rough few weeks as he's not been doing well this summer (hence the additional testing and discovery of diabetes).

Anyway. Mostly I've just been real emotional right now and trying to figure out how to balance my weird work schedule and testing him as frequently as he needs. I had a cat who passed about a decade ago from diabetes - went into shock one day, we were able to get him to recover, then went into shock again when I wasn't around and he had to be put down. I felt like I could done better by him, so I'm doing what I can for my Dexy-doo. But I know this is beginning of the end for my sweet boy, and I'm just so upset and angry about it all right now.

SO ...QUESTIONS:

1. How often does everyone test?

2. My vet is going to have me use Lantus, and all the Good Rx coupons do NOT apply to pets, nor evidently does the Lantus prescription card I downloaded last night. Any leads on coupons or cheaper places/ways to get LANTUS?

Thanks, and I'm glad I found this community!
Beth

 

Welcome! I am glad you found this site. You will get lots of good advice and support here. You will probably want to post your questions on the Main Health Forum where they will get more attention. There is also a forum specific to Lantus.

I test before each shot and at various points mid-cycle. Just how much and when is based on what is going on. Mia is not regulated yet, and I am beginning to adjust her dosing, so I am testing a lot these days. She is on Prozinc, so I cannot offer any thing on your second item.

 

What do you mean by ".2"? 0.2 of what?
If ml of a liquid what is the concentration (mg/ml) of the prednisolone suspension

Most of us test before each shot and and periodically between shots.
Giving prednisolone every other day will likely complicate getting consistent BGs since the prednisolone tends to raise BG and its effect is less than a day.

 

It's .2 ml suspended in a fish oil (10 mg/ml). He used to be on .4, so I suspect the issue you're pointing out has something to do with the lowered dosage. He was at the vet all yesterday, overnight, and today and we've got a plan. And I tested him myself tonight and dosed based on Vet's specs. I'm cautiously optimistic. My vet evidently has a kind of "diabetes specialist" who answered a LOT of my questions today. We're doing 2x/day testing initially and another glucose curve (every 2 hours) in about a week if things go well initially. And I'm working to transition both cats to fully wet food diets. Luckily Dexter ate mostly wet food already. Gabe will probably be a bit irritable for a bit though.

Thank you both for chiming in and welcoming me. I will check out the Lantus thread for sure!

 

Welcome Beth, Dexter, and Gabe!

 

Welcome. How are things going now?

 

Thanks for checking in Janet! They're going OK. They are not liking twice/day feedings, but the testing has gone fairly well and I think they're adjusting.