advice on possible remission

Hello

Hoping for some advice please, Faith never showed any outward signs of diabetes (just her blood tests showed high # of glucose) so I first tried a DM diet and delayed for almost one year before we started her on Vetsulin (11/16). Her dose started low and around 4/30/17 her dose went to 2 units every 12 hours. I did a glucose curve at home on 5/7/17:

6:43am 243

7:03 Insulin

8:37 176

10:38 131

12:31 149

2:34 226

4:23 291

6:29 285

Her Doctor said her numbers were good and to do another recheck when she has a change in appetite, thirst, or urination. Faith did not show any of those signs so I continued the 2 units twice a day. She had her senior wellness with blood test and urine test recently and her doctor advised on Wednesday that there was no glucose in her urine. She thought maybe she could be in remission and wanted a curve done. Wed night her count was 289. I stayed home on Thursday to do a curve.

9/14/17

7:44 am – 180

Faith Ate and gave 2 units of vetsulin

9:47 - 48 and 50 (called Vet and told to give corn syrup on gum and food)

11:44 - 46 (given corn syrup on gum and food)

1:48pm - 75

3:48 - 131

5:45 – 156 (vet said stop curve after getting 2 numbers over 100)

Going forward, vet said if not over 200 do not give insulin, if over 200 give 1 unit

9/15/17 6:59 am 158 and 6:59pm 180 – no insulin given

9/16/17 6:45 am 229 vet said ok to give .50 and recheck BG in 4-5 hrs

So now here am I feeling like such an idiot for not checking her BG more often and wonder how long her numbers could have been low and wonder what kind of harm I caused her body again Faith is not showing any signs of being sick, she is trying to walk on the laptop as I am typing this.

Does everyone check their kitties BG before giving insulin? Does a pancreas get damaged if they are given too much insulin? How and when is a kitty considered to be in remission? Any information anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome! This is a great place for support and advice. Your first curve data shows that the 2 u dose BID was quite good based on the highs and lows. The second curve shows that at that point in time 2 u is too much. Insulin needs change over time and that's why we strongly recommend routine testing at home to track a kitty's progress.

No, many people do no testing at all. However, those of us who come here and decide to follow the FDMB guidelines are definitely advocates of testing. We test to see what a certain dose is doing and to decide if a change in dose is needed. Here's an outline of the testing routine we promote:

Here's how to approach finding the good dose range:

1. test every day AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if the planned dose is safe
2. test at least once near mid cycle or at bedtime daily to see how low the BG goes
3. do extra tests on days off to fill in the response picture
4. if indicated by consistently high numbers on your SS, increase the dose by no more than 0.25 u at a time so you don't accidentally go right past a good dose
5. post here for advice whenever you're confused or unsure of what to do.

I can't give you an expert answer here. Too much insulin can certainly drive the blood glucose into dangerously low levels and that can have whole body effects. There's a bit of anecdotal evidence that a significant hypo event can "kickstart" a kitty's pancreas into making insulin again and putting kitty into remission. That's rare though.

A kitty is in remission (ie., is a diet-controlled diabetic) when a normal range of blood glucose (50 to 120 roughly) is maintained over time without insulin injections. Some kitties stay in remission long term and others go in and out a few times. It's often an infection that brings them out - eg. UTI or dental issue.

How can we help you?

 

Dear Kris
Thank you for the wealth of information and answering all my questions. I will be in touch if I have more questions, thank you again!