New diabetic kitty... lots of questions

Hi! I'm Holly and my sugarcat is Delilah, she's 11 and is a feral American shorthair I adopted at 8 weeks along with her littermate Sampson. She wasn't having any symptoms except for back leg weakness. Her bathroom, eating and drinking habits remained the same. 6 months prior I had changed them both to a high quality weight control diet of dry food and they split a can of friskies seafood pate at dinner. Sampson has only lost 1.5 lbs (22 lbs start) and Delilah lost 7.5 lbs (20 lbs start now 12.5). She was diagnosed on 12/5/17 and I started her on the Friskies only twice a day and she began 1U of Lantus twice a day 12/14/17. Before starting lantus she was very energetic, playful, and affectionate. She followed me everywhere constantly begging for attention like her brother. After the second day of injections she became lethargic and uninterested in toys or following me. She was still affectionate and eating well. Bathroom habits remained the same. I was concerned so I took her BG after her pm injection.
BG 15 min post injection (1U) 278
+1 BG 238
+3 BG 175
+6 BG 190
AMPS 247
Gave 1U 15 mins later after eating 1/2 food
+2 BG 192
I called the vet and she was pleased with how well Dee responded to lantus but concerned with how fast she dropped (initial BG at diagnosis was 593 12/5) and concerned about the lack of energy. She had me skip the PM dose and test the BG this am (12/17/17) if below 200 I was to skip the AM dose. She was 197 this AM so I skipped the dose and fed her. She's still lacking energy and over the last 3 days her poop has become very loose and smelly. I'm just concerned because she's not near hypoglycemia levels but she's not acting like herself either. All her other labs and urinalysis came back normal except her BG levels. Her heart and lungs are healthy and her gums/teeth are in great shape. Anyone had experience with this or advice? I included a pic of Delilah. You can tell she doesn't feel well though

 

Welcome! What a cute girl your kitty is! Kudos to you for testing her at home. The Lantus dose she's on is getting her BG down but there's room to go lower. However, it's very early days and the process of working out a good dose takes a fair bit of time. Your vet's recommendation to skip a shot if pre test BG is below 200 is a good one for a newly diagnosed kitty.

Re the lethargy, etc.: kitties will respond better to some insulins than others. I'd say it's too soon, though, to know if Lantus doesn't agree with your kitty. She might need time to adjust to exogenous insulin. The loose poo might be related to a food change.

I suggest you post on the Lantus foreum with all your questions.concerns. It's a large forum with many very experienced people to help.

 

Thank you! I'll post on there! My vet is at a loss right now with the lack of energy but I'm taking her brother in tues to have his blood work done and she's going to take another look at Dee as well.

 

What is she taking for the back leg weakness? If not on b12 methylcobalamin, I suggest starting it immediately. Many here use the brand zobaline. This will also help with energy levels.

The big drop from diagnosis is probably from switching from a dry food with over 30% carb to the low carb diet of Friskies. Make sure you only feed the pate style.

 

Thank you! Before starting the insulin she was jumping up on low chairs and ottoman still no problem but the bed she was using her front paws to pull her the rest of the way. Since thurs she hasn't been jumping at all! The leg weakness has only been happening for about 2 weeks so I'll see if the b12 helps. I'm more concerned about her lack of energy though.

 

It may be that she just needs more time to adjust to all the new things in her life. Diabetes can make a kitty feel awful. It can just take time to start feeling better.

She is sure a cute little thing.

 

I'm getting her a probiotic today to hopefully help with the loose stools. I'm hoping that's part of what's making her look like she feels bad.

 

Welcome to the group. You are off to a good start. I'll give some advice here, but you will want to move to the Lantus sub-forum for dosing updates, or the Main Health subforum.

Kudos to you for doing blood testing and injections. It is a lot to learn. You can bring your kitteh back to good health over a pretty short time - gain weight, energetic, and fix the neuropathy (weakness).

I agree with the 200 no dose rule. If is it right on the border, then that's fine. Glucose meters have a 20% variation from test to test. So a reading of 200 could be 160, or could be 240. They are not extremely accurate.

You may want to consider starting a spreadsheet.