12 year old "Dallas" newly diagnosed

Hi, my name is Evelyn. I have two cats (4 and 12 years old). The older of the two (Dallas) had severe weight loss over the last few weeks. First I thought he might have just not been eating right because we went on vacation for 10 days and he was muffed about it - however, it didn't improve and he seemed sluggish. I finally went to see the vet and he did blood and urine tests. I received the diagnosis yesterday - he is a diabetic. We measured his glucose level again yesterday in the vets office - 405!
He explained that I have to administer insulin 3 units twice a day - change the food to "wet" food only and try to observe water consumption, urination and general behavior.
Wow, I feel absolutely overwhelmed. In the meanwhile I gave him 2 shots, one last night and one this morning - that's not the problem, but I'm working and gone for 10-12 hours a day. How do I observe, measure water consumption with 2 cats ...
At least apparently I'm using a good brand of food - my cats love fancy feast ...

 

Welcome to FDMB, Evelyn.
Take a big breath! it seems overwheling at first, yet you will develop a routine for managing this.
See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for tips on measuring the water consumption and note that it is an indirect way to evaluate the glucose levels.
Using an inexpensive blood glucose meter is more specific and we can help you learn how to do that.

 

Welcome.
What insulin and what dose?
Good insulin are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Hi Evelyn. Welcome to FDMB. So sorry you have found yourself amongst our ranks but so glad you found us. We all understand how overwhelming this is but once you and Dallas get into a routine you'll wonder why you were so worried. It does get easier!

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestion as to how to measure kitty input/output with more than one cat. Maybe others have sorted this out but for me there is usually no telling who did what. Unless you have more than one litter box and each cat has their favourite, or you follow the "suspect" around all day or you separate them, it's pretty hard in a multi cat household. This is something I struggle with too and I'm sure was what delayed me realizing who in my group was leaving a concrete slab in the litter box when I started my journey with Menace. Even now, I often think my crew hold a competition in one of six litter boxes to see who can get the top pee by forming a little pyramid in the litter! Frankly I simply try to keep a close eye on Menace to see how often she is using her box and how often she visits the water bowl. I'm lucky that she does have a favourite water bowl the other two rarely use. I also have the advantage of not being out all day every day.

Have your cats always been eating Fancy Feast Classics or did you just change their diet since the diagnosis? Did your vet suggest home testing? What kind of insulin are you using? The usual starting dose of insulin would be, at most, 1u twice a day so 3u/twice daily is a very large starting dose for a "normal" sized cat and if the diet has been changed since the insulin was prescribed, it too will likely have an impact on the amount of insulin Dallas needs and that 3u is more likely to be too much.

We strongly advocate home testing here and can help you learn how to do it. Most folks here use a human meter and many people in the US use the Relion meters from Walmart (I'm assuming you are in Florida from your handle?) The benefits of home testing are immense. It will help you keep Dallas safe especially when you are at work all day. It keeps vet costs down because you can do curves at home instead of paying the vet, and most importantly, gives you much more accurate readings because the readings taken at the vet are often elevated due to stress. Sometimes readings can be elevated by 100 points or more and that can have a big impact on the amount of insulin required too!

If you could set up a signature with some more details about Dallas such as his breed, weight, any other health concerns, type of insulin, diet and anything else you think would be helpful, we'll be able to help you keep Dallas safe and on the road to regulation. To set up a signature, click on your screen name on the dark bar at the right top of the screen. This will open a menu. Click on "Signature" (2nd option in the left hand column) to open a data entry box. There you can type in whatever details you want to share. When done click on the "Save Changes" button and your done. If you have any problems, just holler.

 

The signature is limited to 2 hard returns. if you separate text with something so folks can see it, you may put quite a few details.
Your and your cat's names, rough location (city, state), insulin being used, food being fed, and any other relevant facts such as ever having diabetic ketoacidosis, pancreatitis, or hepatic lipidosis - basically anything which will help us understand the context of your cat's diabetes.

 

Thank you so much for your replies. Here is some more information about Dallas:
"Dallas" born in 2004 - Diagnosed with diabetes Jan 30 2016
Before his weight loss (which happened over approx. 6 weeks) he weight 18 pounds.
1/30 he weight 12 pounds.
He is a long hair cat - I picked him up from a shelter, don't know if he is any particular breed.
He is an inside cat, he used to eat "Fancy Feast Classic" mostly Seafood once a day, additionally he had Fancy Feast dry food which he loves (I kept this in a self filling bowl - so there was always dry food around).
My vet told me to stop dry food and only go with wet food twice a day.
He gave me "Vetsulin 10ml" to be administered 2x a day 3 units after feeding.
Dallas has really never been ill before.
We live in Orlando, Florida and my boyfriend Howard and I have 2 cats (Dallas and Tarry).
Dallas I scheduled to go to the vet again in 10 days.
I'm seriously thinking about a glucose meter so I'll look through the post here to gather more information.

 

Evelyn, given that you are not home testing yet, I'd suggest you keep the kibble in the mix until you can test. Kibble tends to be very high carb while the canned FF Classics are very low. The lowering of dietary carbs caused by removing the kibble is likely going to result in Dallas needing less than 3u of insulin twice daily. The insulin you are using can cause sudden drops in blood sugar so feeding only two meals a day along with the carb load change could put Dallas in danger of seriously low blood sugar. If you want to decrease the amount of kibble, perhaps a third meal of canned food could be substituted but I still feel, you need to make changes slowly to keep Dallas safe and start home testing ASAP.

 

I have 3 cats and also work full time. How I "observer" water intake and urination. By process of "elimination." Prior to his uncontrolled diagnosis I knew Fern had larger but fewer pee's than his brothers Sunny and Greystone. I know when he was uncontrolled there was a lot, I mean a lot more pee in the litter box daily. As far as water again. Fern has always like it. But when he was uncontrolled I was refilling an empty water bowl daily and I saw him using the secondary water bowls (toilets). Now that same water bowl moves at most about an inch. I have to refill the bowl so they have fresh water. If either of those things change, my first assumption is going to be Fern unless I see a behavior change in the other two.

 

Thank you again guys - I think putting the kibbles back is probably a good idea until I have my own blood testing device to reduce the risk of him dropping to seriously low blood sugar.
God - this is all so scary... I'm glad I found this group here

 

Hello Eve,

I have 3 cats all using same water bowl it's a self waterer .5l with a filter. And the same boxes. The 2 civvies (non diabetic) do not drink much (rarely see them drink). Smokey drinks a ton always had his head in it. Waterer use to empty in 24 hrs or less. As he has become a little more controlled the waterer takes 3-4 days to empty now. I mark it on a calendar each time I fill it. I don't measure amounts. I just go by how fast it empties knowing Smokey consumes most of it. If I see it needs filling more often I know his diabetes is getting out of control.

As they becomes more regulated, the consumption will decrease.

For boxes, the larger clumps are definitely Smokey's because of how much he drinks, and he doesn't cover it. Occasionally he will use a puppy pad which is easy to see how much he goes and it also alerts me to the fact that he isn't feeling well or I haven't scooped well enough. When the clumps are small he is doing okay (he is not regulated yet) but better than he use to be. If there is a lake, he is out of control.

This works for me. You will need to find what works for you.

 

Well guys, I just went to Walmart and bought a ReliOn Confirm with all the supplies necessary. I tested it first on myself ... lol ... as I didn't really know what I was doing. Good news: I don't have any high blood sugar. Bad news: I couldn't get any blood out of Dallas' ear ... I poked him 3 times and he got angry with me ... I guess I need to wait a little to try it again. Watched some videos and read about the "sweet spot" however seems I didn't do it right. I reread to see what I did wrong.
Regarding the water consumption: I just checked how much both drank today .... not much.
He is pretty inactive today ... just laying around mostly ... but he doesn't look sluggish and he doesn't wobble when he walks to the food bowl ... so I hope that's a good sign.
I'll report later if I was able to get some blood and actually get a reading.
Thx again for your support
Eve

 

Eve, warm ears = ears more likely to bleed. There are 3 common ways to warm and ear:

1. blow warm air on the ear in your cupped hand
2. Rice sock (1/4 cup of rice in an old sock) microwaved for 15-20s (longer may cause a rice sock fire)
3. warm water in a pill bottle.

Also what gauge of lancets are you using. I started with 26 gauge for the first 100 with fern. With them the smaller the number the larger the needle.

 

The other trick many of us use here is to put a very thin skim of petroleum jelly (Vaseline) or Polysporin on the sweet spot before poking. This makes the blood bead up nicely instead of spreading out into the fur. The good news is that as you test more, Dallas' ears will "learn" to bleed better and it will get easier to get that drop of blood you need. Fingers crossed your next attempt meets with more success! If not, holler! We're full of ideas!

 

I already prepared the rice sock - I'll try it around 8pm just before his next feed/insulin time! Keep your fingers crossed!
Thx MrWolfMen'sMom and Ferncoc!!!!

 

I did it !!!! I measured 311 - so I gave him his food (fancy feast classic) and another insulin shot 3 units as the doctor subscribed.
Thanks for your tips - the rice sock worked
I deserve some treat - going in the hot tub now with a glass of wine!

 

Don't forget the chocolate! Enjoy your soak! It's well deserved! So proud of you!