chronic kidney disease cat, newly diagnosed diabetic

Hello, feeling overwhelmed with this new diagnosis. I have so many questions and concerns, including the best glucose meter to get, as I'd like to run out to Walgreens or Walmart this afternnon and pick one up, along with whatever else I need, test strips...what kind, etc.

Chole had her curve done yesterday with one unit of Lantus Glargine checked every 2 hours..results:
9am-625
11am-593
1pm-549
3pm-531
5pm-462

They sent her home with instructions to give 2 units every 12 hours and repeat curve on 9/8. She weighs 12.15 pounds.

We have a challenge here because Chloe does not eat a lot at once, she has always been a grazer and she is a kibble addict. I have tried to switch her and my 3 other cats over to wet following cat info.org advise and help from many others. I was successful in this transition to Merrick grain free limited ingredient for all cats except Chloe. I have tried forti flora, toppers, raw, and have spent hundreds of dollars I think..lol..buying all kinds of wet and raw food for her to try. So please dont think I am a bad cat mom for feeding her kibble. She is being fed Hills KD right now because that is what she is drawn too. I also have some Orijen kibble which is higher protein and she does eat some of that also. For treats she gets wellness with cranberry crunchies and pure bites dehydrated chicken or turkey. I have tried multiple times to feed her and the others boiled and raw chicken breast organic, no antibiotics that I have prepared...none of them will eat it..no onions, garlic, etc.

She gets subq fluids every other day between 75-100ml. We are very carful with her because she had issues with fluid around her heart when we first started. At this point she seems to do very well with this fluid schedule which she also gets 0.50 Vitamin B12 injectable with her fluids once per week. She takes azodyl and 1/2 pepcid at the same time once per day which also seems to work very well for her. Her creatinine at last blood draw on 8/27 was 2.5, bun 39. this is when her glucose was 605. I took her in because her water intake had increased dramatically.

I work 3-11 shift Monday through Friday and this is a feeding/insulin schedule I came up with for now:
Feed at 8:30 am
Insulin at 9:30 am

Leave food down until around 6 pm(ish)

Feed at 11:15 pm
Insulin 11:45-midnight

Pick up before bedtime so I know she eats some in the morning.

On the weekends I can do 12 hours apart, no problem.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

Welcome, wow you do have a lot on your plate! But you've come to the right place. Many people have problems similar to yours and will be glad to help. I'm new here, and don't know too much yet, but I can tell you what meters many here use, The relion confirm from Walmart. You'll need test strips that go with that meter, and lancets for drawing the blood. Questions on feeding, insulin and the kidney disease will be seen by more eyes on the feline health forum. Again welcome and by the way, Chloe's adorable!

 

Thank you! I just came back from Walgreens and got the One Touch Ultra Mini which was reccommended by someone at one of the Facebook ckd groups.

Is it okay to cross post here? Was wondering about posting this in the health section but wasn't sure if it was allowed to post in both places.

 

Great that you got a meter! Yes, post your story in the health forum. I think there are more people watching that forum and maybe they have info that can help you

 

Lantus is a very gentle insulin so it is OK if she doesn't eat before the shot and there is no need to wait an hour after fresh food is put down to give the insulin. For older, shorter acting insulins, that hour lead time was needed to buffer how hard and fast the insulin dropped the glucose level.

 

Wow, my stress level just dropped way down...thanks so much for this info. I printed the glucose reference numbers info from your profile that everyone here talks about and put it in her log notebook. I'm feeling so much better tonight than last night. Thanks again

 

@Chloe's Mom , if you can stick with 11:30 am and 11:30 pm on the weekends as well, I would recommend that as the schedule during the week as well. Chloe can still graze, you would just need to remove the food about two hours before insulin time. Since you will be at work during the week, a timed feeder could help with this. Just set the last "offering" to turn at about 9:00 pm and leave that section empty.

You mentioned her log notebook. Most of us here us a spreadsheet that we put in our signature line that others can access, in case you need help quickly, others can pull up her spreadsheet without you having to type all her recent numbers.

I have taken the liberty of setting up one for Chloe that I will forward to you, if you send me your email in a private message.