1st day of insulin

Hi everyone my 15 yr old cat was just diagnosed with diabetes her name is Molly she's a tortoise shell cat and very cute. The vet told me after giving her insulin to watch if she gets lazy and tired because that means that her blood sugar is to low and if it is give her some maple syrup or something with high sugar. Molly is an indoor cat so she's over weight and she's always has been lazy is there any other tips that could help me to figure this out?

 

Welcome to the best place to help Mollie. You will have to give them more info like how high her BG and what kind of insulin and what she eats . The more info you give the better . Sending tons of healing green light to Mollie. My Trey was on insulin for 2 months and because of these people is off insulin and doing great. So chin up and stay positive and more info and ask lots of questions .They are awesome here Hugsss Kathleen & Trey

 

Welcome Tim and Molly!

My name is Jen and my diabetic kitty is Eddie. We are pretty new here, but we've already gained so much from the generous members of FDMB.

I had your exact same concern with Eddie when we first started with insulin. How do we know if his blood sugar goes too low, and what if he has symptoms while we're away from the house, or while we are asleep. The answer to this is home blood glucose testing. In fact, when we started testing Eddie at home, we very quickly realized that his prescribed dose was too high. Once we learned that by keeping track of his glucose numbers, we were able to reduce his dose by over half in just a couple weeks. If we would have continued to give him the 3u twice a day as prescribed by the vet, he would almost certainly have had a hypoglycemic episode in the middle of the night. :shock:

Home glucose monitoring will give you a much clearer picture of exactly what is going on with her levels, what kinds of food impact her levels, and how effective her dose of insulin is. These links were very helpful in getting us started home testing: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287. We watched a lot of videos, and studied diagrams, and then tried ourselves! It seemed like it would be impossible to do at first, and I think anyone who is new to home testing feels that way at first. I can tell you from first hand experience that you get the hang of it quickly! After just a couple weeks my Eddie comes running when he hears the lid click on his testing box, and he sits in my lap while I test him.

There are so many wonderful, helpful people here that are more than happy to help guide you through the "sugar dance." Welcome and we look forward to learning more about you and Molly!

Jen and Eddie

 

She's being peeing everywhere so the vet thinks she had a bladder infection the vet hasn't been able to get a sample yet. When we first took Molly in her blood sugar level was 28. The insulin we give her is lantus and I am suppose to give her 1 unit twice a day twelve hours apart. A week from now I have to take her back to the vet to see if her blood sugars are low or still high if so give her more/less insulin. The food i use was recommended by the vet called DM dietetic management by purina. She's also been drinking a lot of water lately if there is none you would know quickly she would howl until she gets some. If u need more questions asked I will be happy to answer them.

 

I am getting a tester today to test her levels

 

My spouse doesn't want to use the tester until the vet shows us how but I think other any tips? Thank you everyone for your concern and help

 

You have a good insulin and that is a good starting dose.

The problem with vet testing vs home testing is that most cats are very stressed at the vet (strange smells, strange people and other animals). Stress raises blood glucose levels, so the numbers gotten there are often higher than they would be at home, and dose changes based on those numbers can be too much when the kitty gets home and relaxes. It is also very expensive, compared with home testing.

Purina DM dry? We think diabetic cats do best with wet low carb food. A vet explains why here: http://www.catinfo.org. BUT Don't change the food until you are testing and see how it changes her levels. (Our Oliver went down 100 points overnight when we switched from dry to wet. If we had given our usual amount, he would have hypoed.)

Keep reading the info on this site and ask questions. We'd love to help you help Molly.

 

I totally agree with Sue here. Not only does the vet stress increase numbers, but the time of day you bring Molly in can skew what the numbers look like at the vet's. A test at the vet's is just a single snapshot in time. For example, when we first got diagnosed, we brought Eddie in up to twice a week, because his numbers were going up each time, so the vet kept increasing his dose! You can actually see my first post here asking about that very issue. The problem was, we were taking him to the vet about an hour before his normal shot time, so his numbers were at their peak. We didn't realize until we started testing at home, that his numbers were dropping quite low in the middle of his cycle, and the high numbers we were seeing reflected a "bounce."

With the type of insulin you are using, dosing is actually based on the lowest number of Molly's cycle, rather than the highest number. A single test at the vet, or even an all day curve at the vet, may not give you accurate information as to how low Molly is actually going. Many vets are very supportive of home testing, but unfortunately, there are some that are not. There are also some good links on the forum as to how to talk to your vet about home testing. In my personal opinion, I think a lot of vets just assume their clients are not willing or able to home test and so they don't actively encourage it. Thankfully, our vet tech and our vet are very supportive of home testing, and my tech actually has a link to Eddie's blood glucose spreadsheet that she can access directly online. You can see an example of Eddie's spreadsheet in my signature below. Many people find using this kind of spreadsheet very useful in keeping track of blood glucose, and to see patterns so you can dose the insulin more accurately and effectively.

You will also likely find that getting the infection taken care of, and with a change in diet, Molly's insulin needs may go down dramatically, or she may even stop needing insulin all together. Your insulin has a great track record using what's known as the "Tight Regulation" protocol for getting kitties off insulin all together. I encourage you to learn more about Lantus and the protocols in the specific Lantus area of the board. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9 There are MANY lantus users here who are happy to offer support, guidance, and advice.

Ask as many questions as you can think of! It can be overwhelming at first because there is a TON of information to digest, but it all comes together. :smile:

 

Welcome Tim and sugarkitty Molly. Lots of experience here in the day to day management of feline diabetes.

We have all been where you are now. Scared, a bit apprehensive and wanting to help our kitties as much as we can.

Would you please tell us where you live? From the BG (blood glucose) number you gave us, 28, that sounds like you may be in Canada or international.

We mostly give the numbers in the older US format, which means in mg/dL. The meter you use probably gives you a number in mmol/L. Multiply your number by 18 to get what we are used to. We'll translate for now once you confirm where you live.

What about a cystocentesis? It's the best way to get a clean urine sample.

Or here is a link with some urine catching tips.

The bladder infection/inflammation can elevate the BG numbers. Is Molly on antibiotics?

 

Thanks for all the replying I've read most of the links, it's hard to take it all at once, I definatly think I'm going to wet food because it sounds like it's just the heather choice, I've got two other cats that are young and heathy what kind of wet food should I buy for them? Yes I am from canada. Does any blood tester work with cats because I can get one for free

 

Many of us here feed the Fancy Feast pates, Friskies pate style or Wellness grain free foods. Those 3 commercial cat foods are mostly <10% carbs and some of the lower priced foods available. This chart, by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson, lists many of the wet foods available in the US and Canada. You want to pick something that is <10% carbs. We have found that lower carb level can make a big impact and lower the BG (blood glucose) levels significantly.

If you are already giving insulin, please be home testing first before you change the food. Sometimes, just the diet change can make a 100 point mg/dL difference ( 5.5 mmol/L) in the BG levels. That means, the BG's could drop too low with the amount of insulin you are giving and you may need to drop the insulin dose very quickly. We want to keep your kitty safe and not experience any hypoglycemic episodes.

Yes, any human glucometer will work to test your cat. You want to use one that has the lowest cost in strips. If you are close to the US border, you may want to hop over and go to a Wal-Mart in the US to buy either the Relion Confirm or Relion Micro ($36/100 test strips) or the Relion Prime ($18/100 test strips, but needs bigger blood drop).

I'll PM Wendy and Tiggy so she can give you some suggestions on where to buy a meter or where to shop for food and get the best prices up there in Canada.