First Hypoglycemic episode happening now

My cat had been eating less and less over the last couple of weeks when I decided to make the switch to low carb wet food. She was barely eating any dry food at all the last couple of days and I made the switch. The last three feedings she has not eaten on her own and I've had to feed her some with the syringe. This convinces her to eat a little on her own for about thirty seconds. Then she's back to snubbing the food. I have switched flavors each time hoping to find one she goes for. Also tried adding some warm water. So far the purina one turkey pate has had the best results-but i still have to sit with her and feed.

After giving her insulin(vestulin) tonight she dipped VERY low on BG-down to 50 and I have just given her a little smear of Karo on her mouth. I have been syringe feeding/coaxing her to eat a 3 oz can off and on since 7p (it's 1035). She finally finished it about forty minutes ago. Obviously 4 units is way too much insulin for a wet food diet. I am continuing to monitor BG until at least 11:15. It seems her peak low is about 4 hours post shot.

Her next feeding is supposed to be at 6:30 tomorrow morning. How much Insulin do you think I should give if I cannot be there to monitor her? I will have to leave for work at 7:40 and wont return until 1130 or noon.

arienette386

Update: I saw the post on how to handle low BG levels and am doing continual testing and feeding as needed. Any replies, support, advice, etc is much appreciated. This could be a long night...

 

Claudia's BG levels for 8-4-14

6:55a Pre-food 369
7:30a Post food and 4 units insulin 385
12:15p 94
7:15p pre food 174
7:20 Given food and 4 units
9:19 Post some food-syringe feeding 103
9:45 Syringe feeding slowly eaten almost 3oz 59
9:55 55 sent husband to get karo
10:18 post karo and some higher carb wet syringe feed 56
10:42 54 gave some more higher carb wet food
11:00p BG 55
11:18 BG 52 Fed 1 syringe HC food
11:41 BG 48 Fed 1 syringe and small karo dose
12a BG 50 Fed syringe
12:23 BG 53 She threw up a LOT of what I've fed her tonight. Skipped this feeding so her stomach can settle. Will be feeding less food and more Karo if she drops again

Post Vomit

12:43 BG 53 Plus 1/4 Tbl HC. No Karo
1:03 BG 48 Plus a little less than 1/2 Tbl.
1:28 BG 49 1/4 Tbs HC
1:50 a BG 45 little less than 1/2 Tbs HC-tested 2x to be sure
2:14a BG 45 Gave 1 Tbsp of milk/2 drops syrup mixture-still refusing to eat-sniffs then turns up nose. =(
2:34 BG 53 Gave 3/4 Tbsp milk/syrup mix Thank goodness she went up!!
2:54 BG 52 with 1/2 milk mix and 1/2 Tbsp 8% food-looking around the house for some longer lasting higher carb food
3:14 BG 52 Gave an undisclosed small amount of potatoes, milk, little cheese. Going to add more cheese to see if second try is more enticing for her. Probably got about 1/4 Tbsp of food altogether.
3:34 BG 62!!!!!! Given 1/2 Tbsp potato mixture...thank heavens another uptick. . .
3:52 BG 76!!! Given a little less than 1/2 Tbsp potato mixture
4:13 BG 88 No food given
4:33 BG 109
5:11 BG 157

 

You're doing perfect!!

Keep testing and every time you get a number under 50, give a little more HC ....Once you're into at least the 60's, stop the food but keep testing for at least until you get 2 climbing numbers without having to feed

Contacted one of the night people to come keep an eye on you but won't leave until I see her here

 

Setback listed in my other comment. She threw up big time... =( I listed my plan, hope it's right. I want to cry right now. Thank you SO much for the reply.

It would be so much easier if she just ate on her own.

 

You've been doing a great job. You want to be sure you don't get her too full or make her vomit from too much karo but she needs to be up a bit more. The karo usually wears off in a couple hours and the vetsulin should be waning, too.

The numbers she has been at are normal numbers and not hypoglycemic. They are scary but she's brrn at safe. Numbers and you've done a fine job. Being sure she has some low carb food on board now will help her if the karo wears off before the vetsulin.

I've never dosed vetsulin and it is done differently than Lantus or levemir which are depot insulins. If a kitty went below 50 on one if the L insulins, it would be cause for a dose reduction but I don't know if it's the same with vetsulin. You would be dosing on the preshot instead of the lower number, I believe.

Let me check around and I'll be right back.

 

Yes, that's fine...you only give a couple of drops of Karo at a time, but keep testing. It wears off quickly.

When you can get some real food into her, keep it to small amounts....like a teaspoon at a time. It sounds like maybe the high carb food was a little too rich for her...or too much too fast

 

Are you in the Central time zone? Trying to establish your timeline...

Did you lower her normal dose when you switched from dry to just canned?

As for reducing dose (regarding what Marje said) -

Anytime a kitty drops that far, that fast, it indicates a reduction is a good idea no matter which type of insulin, IMHO. With a non-depot insulin like vetsulin, or prozinc or any type that doesn't start with the letter "L", it is true that the preshot number matters. But the "low number" between shots is just as important. Dropping from 369 to 94 shows you what 4u can do. Her PM reading was only 174? And the dose was 4u?

 

Probably all of the above. I feel like I've been stuffing her all night and hadn't really seen her use the box. I had "just" made the comment to my sister that I was surprised she hadn't used the bathroom or anything.

 

I am Very new to this and trying to get her regulated on canned now. She was at 4u on dry and I naively left it the same for the switch. I had read that you should try to keep her on the same dose for at least a week between curves-but stupidly did not take into account my food switch. Learning hard this time.

 

Post Vomit

12:43 BG 53 Plus 1/4 Tbl HC. No Karo

 

Glad Carl popped in. He has more experience with the in/out insulins than I do but from what I understand, vetsulin duration can extend to 12 hours and I would think the more the dose might be too high, the longer the duration.

 

It usually takes about 30 mins to see the effects of the food and karo so keep that in mind when testing.

Do you have any fancy feast gravy lovers? It's higher carb and might help keep her BGs up a bit.

 

Have you tried crushing a few pieces of dry food and dusting it on top of the canned to see if she'll eat it on her own?

 

I have not-I'll try that next feeding

 

Also right now the highest carb I have is 8% as opposed to all of the 2 and 3% cans I bought preparing for her switch. Didn't even think to keep the higher stuff around. I am working my way through the 8% can. It's wellness salmon and trout-got carb info off of this link http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

I know fish is not reccomended but it's the highest carb content i have right now. She was fed a whole 3oz can of purina one turkey pate earlier and that's the majority of what she threw up.

 

So with all of this happening tonight what do you recommend I do for her Am feeding? Was going to be at 6:30a. Obvious less insulin-do I just have to wait and list her pre feed numbers? I'm hoping to leave for work around 7:40a...

 

One of our other experienced Lantus/levemir member's kitty was on Caninsulin (vetsulin) before Lantus. She said the info from the vet is if the kitty's BG goes below 54, reduce the dose by half. So I would only shoot a max of 2u tomorrow and check with the vet ASAP tomorrow.

 

You are correct that a reduction is a great idea when you go from dry to wet food.

But beyond that, as long as you are home-testing, the "keep the dose the same for a week" thinking is not a hard and fast rule. If you are getting preshot tests, you can use that number to make a dose decision.

While 4u might have been okay on a 369 preshot this morning, you can see that it dropped over 250 points this morning, right?
Tonight you had a 174 preshot number. So theoretically, if it had fallen 250 points again, her BG would have been less than zero. If you hadn't been testing tonight when you did and caught that number in the 50's, well you could have been making a trip to the ER with a kitty in the middle of a hypoglycemic seizure, or worse. Especially a kitty who is not a big fan of her new diet plan.

Because you are "new to this", you would most likely have been advised to hold off on giving a shot with a preshot reading of less than 200. And even on a 200, we would have suggested a much lower dose, like 1u or 2u at most.
Water under the bridge at this point, but just wanted to explain the "logic" a bit.

 

It's also probably a good idea if you get 100 or under in the morning, don't shoot. Call your vet.

 

Makes sense. In hindsight there were better decisions that could have been made. I appreciate your explanation and have definitely learned from all of this. I was having some trust issues with my vet because he told me not to switch to wet food because it had too high of sugars in it-and everything I've been reading says wet is Waaay better than a dry diet. I think maybe I should have asked more questions of him and asked for more of an explanation. It is always so rushed in his office and I feel like a bother. This forum has been a godsend. I have been doing nothing but reading in my free time-trying to find the right canned food(s) to try and learning more about the disease in general.

 

It's a learning curve for all of us. This board is invaluable for helping you.

How is she doing?

 

So my next question would be if it's under 200 in the am and I hold off on the shot-she still gets breakfast right? I would only be able to check her within an hour of breakfast and then four hours after that(work). And if she's not eating on her own do I continue to syringe feed? I will def. try to call the vet but the office does not open until 7:30-just before I"m leaving for work

 

12:43 BG 53 Plus 1/4 Tbl HC. No Karo
1:03 BG 48 Plus a little less than 1/2 Tbl.

She's starting to get a little irritable with all of the ear pricking. That and I keep taking her out of her comfy bed.

 

Yes...you must fed her even if you don't shoot. I would try to get food in her in the morning even if you don't shoot.

Did you sprinkle some dry food on her food? Although dry food takes a while to bring up BG, you might give her a few crumbles.

 

Good Morning from the UK.
You're doing a great job there, and have had super duper advice and support.
I'll be around if you need some company.

Eliz

 

I think I'd raise the "bar" on not shooting to 150 myself. And no more than 1u on anything under 200. My 2¢.

Just curious, but what type of dry food was she eating? Many varieties of canned food are high in carbs (the goopy gravy styles for instance)- what your vet meant by "sugars" I assume. But there are only a couple types of dry food that come anywhere close to "low carb", and none are available at the grocery store. Even most of the prescription types are. in general, dry is way higher carb than canned.

One other thought... If she doesn't eat on her own in the morning, I think I'd skip the shot, or just give a token dose like 1u at most.

 

Have you tried testing her in her comfy bed..? Just a thought...

 

1:28 BG 49 1/4 Tbs HC

 

I was trying not to feed her in the bed because we do drip a little here and there-didn't think she'd appreciate a dirty comfy bed

 

She's flat which is good but ideal would be to see her coming up. I know she must be full.

Can you just test her in the bed so she's comfy for the test?

 

Her dry food was Purina Pro plan weight management...I think I chose the "savor" type. I am not 100% on it now because I bought the bag before her diagnosis and use a food container to keep it fresh. So naturally the bag got thrown out. What had lead up to her diagnosis was that I was trying to get her to lose weight by paying close attention to portion recommendations and feeding 3x daily instead of free feeding. Little did I know my room mate thought she was helping and was feeding Claudia whenever she asked for it-which was all the time. When that room mate left-Claudia was diagnosed not long after.

 

I will test her in her bed next time-She may not be full considering she threw up a pretty decent amount earlier...it was the biggest puke mess I've seen from a cat.. =( Once she gets above 50 should I stop the feeding? (I also left some dry kibble out for her pickings while I'm out of the room but I doubt she will touch it).

 

You can try to not feed her and see if her BGs will stay up. She's coming up on about +6.5 hours after her shot.

 

I'm so glad you are looking at this from the big picture, I had forgotten that. Great news!

 

Usually when we have something like this occur, we have the caregiver feed a large amount of high carb food to "abort" the cycle and bring the BG up. I know you've been giving her small amounts of HC but it's not really bringing her up.

When you say HC...you mean the 8% which is really LC food. So we aren't really making any progress. Real HC food is about 15% + and usually gets them up there and is less likely to wear off then karo.

 

1:50a BG 45 Fed little less than 1/2 Tbs (was going for 1/4 but overshot!) I tested twice to be sure...=(

 

Elizabeth is in the UK so it's morning for her. Carl and I both have to get some sleep....he has to work tomorrow and my kitty is also running low so I'll be sleep/testing and need to grab a nap.

You will be in awesome hands with Elizabeth. You're doing a super job. Hang in there.

I'll pop by in the morning to see how it went. I know you are tired....it's very late your time. I hope you get some rest.

Good night to you and your sweet girl.

edited to add: if she goes any lower (30s), I'd consider getting her to the ER. They can give her dextrose and bring her BG up.

 

I suppose mine is still LC then at 8%. Any reccomendations? I can make a late night food run to Walmart or Dillons to grab something that might help speed this along. Anything to speed it up would be great.

 

Do you have any vanilla ice cream? Any high carb treats like Temptations? Maybe put some syrup in milk and let her drink it?

 

Vetsulin/Caninsulin actually has a 'double peak' (one earlier in the cycle and one later).
In cats this isn't usually apparent because in most cats the insulin duration is very short; but in cats who have longer duration with it the 'double peak' may become evident. This might be why your kitty's numbers aren't coming up yet.

I concur with giving a bit more higher carb food.

 

I can do the syrup and milk thing-I also have some old Pounce treats I could try-Might have to give those to her like a pill(cut in half first). Recommendations for amount of milk and syrup mixture? Which do you think would be best? Also have cookie dough ice cream-could use the vanilla around the dough....

 

Ok...my last post and I'm off

If the ice cream is vanilla around the cookie dough, you could try that. If you are worried it's not just vanilla, give her a few drops of syrup in a couple tbsp of milk.

 

Thank you so very very much for all of your support! I appreciate all of the time you spent with me tonight!

 

are there any high carb human foods she likes?
my alex is partial to Cheeze-It Crackers and Cheetos. Both snacks raise her numbers. :mrgreen:

 

2:14a BG 45 Gave 1 Tbsp of (2Tbst) milk/2 drops syrup mixture via syringe-still refusing to eat-sniffs then turns up nose. =(

 

She does like Mcdonalds fries....

 

Arienette,

Can I just check at this point:
How many hours since insulin?
Which glucose meter are you using? (ie Alphatrak or a 'human' meter)

It may be useful to get the number of an ER vet handy just in case you need it. (Chances are that you can manage this at home, but it is as well to be prepared.)

Eliz

 

7.25 hours since insulin

Human Glucometer-relion confirm micro

# for emergency vet handy

 

2:34 BG 53 Gave 3/4 Tbsp milk/syrup mix Thank goodness she went up!!

 

OK, a little rise there. That's good news.
But you may not be out of the woods yet.
As you know, the syrup acts fast but can then leave the system quite fast too.
Ideally, we'd like to see three rising numbers in succession before being sure that Claudia is on the way up.

Well done. I know you must be exhausted...

Eliz

 

2:54 BG 52 with 1/2 milk mix and 1/2 Tbsp 8% food-looking around the house for some longer lasting higher carb food-considering making a quick trip to get some mcdonalds fries

 

...actually I do have some boiled red potatoes-do you think it would be a good idea to mash some up-add a little milk for moisture and give her that?

 

You could try a little of that. Does Claudia like cheese? Just wondering if a little would make it more palatable?

 

Hi Arienette,

Here is Dr. Lisa Pierson's list of foods with the amount of carbs/proteins/phosphorus.
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

The likely reason that Claudia's BG hasn't risen much, nor stayed up since being below 50 is because you have not fed her an HC food after that. The Karo and other sugary foods do not usually keep that blood glucose level elevated for very long. Just like in humans, the sugar in the body is elevated for short time and then comes crashing down.

If you feed Claudia a tiny, tiny bit of an HC "cat" food, her blood glucose level will likely climb, and stay up for a bit longer. My Rocky's BG can stay elevated after eating an HC cat food for two hours.

Fancy Feast SLICED Beef Feast has 23% carbs, and that is pretty high, definitely an HC cat food.

if you look on this list, there are several flavors of Friskies cat food that are also HC. There are so many of them that I'm not going to list them all. I think Walmart probably carries many of these Friskies flavors. You might print out this list and take it the store with you the next time you go shopping. :smile:

 

3:14 BG 52 Gave an undisclosed small amount of potatoes, milk, little cheese. Going to add more cheese to see if second try is more enticing for her. Probably got about 1/4 Tbsp of food altogether.

 

HiyaTina,
Arienette has no high carb cat food at home right now, hence scouring the house for human carb foods.

 

Arienette,
Do you know why Claudia is off her food? (Is it right that she was not even keen on the dry food before switching to wet?)
Does she have any other health issues going on that you know of?

 

I can go pick some up but I would probably take longer than 20 minutes and I'm not sure that's a good gamble right now. Hopefully the potatoes help!

 

Does she have any of the dry kibble that she used to like, left in the house, anywhere? I wouldn't know how much to kibble to suggest, and maybe that has already been suggested?

 

No other issues to my knowledge-she was tested for pancreatitis a few weeks ago and that was negative-no uti -etc...other than that I'm not sure if there are any other health issues. She has had pancreatitis once several years ago and I know that is a precursor warning sign for diabetes.

She slowly just ate less and less of her dry food over the last few weeks. I just got the glucometer on Saturday night and did a curve test sunday with some force feeding of the wet.

Here's the curve from Sun

7:30a BG 419
Given insulin and fed
9:35 BG 272
1130 BG 178
143 BG 208
415 BG 286
556 BG 338
Given insulin and fed some
804 BG 82
11 BG 74

Then the next morning was this morning

 

She has the kibble but is refusing it too. I've made it available to her the last several hours. =(

I think she has an upset tummy by now.

 

3:34 BG 62!!!!!! Given 1/2 Tbsp potato mixture...thank heavens another uptick. . .

 

Re Claudia being off her food:
Are her teeth OK? Any possibility of dental or mouth problems making it hard for her to eat?
Or does the issue seem to be gastric? Does she lick her lips at all (indicative of nausea)?
Is she peeing and pooping OK...? Could she be constipated..?

 

Between the last two checks she pooped something awful stinky. It looked pretty loose to me. I'm not sure about the teeth. She is an older cat and may be having some gum issues. I could have that checked out. I'm wondering if the stools are loose because of the switch or because of something else.

 

We like 62! Yay for potatoes! :smile:
She may continue to come up now.
You're doing a great job.

 

Thanks for the encouragement! The later it gets the more it helps!

 

Changing the diet quickly is a common cause of gastric upset; so that's certainly possible if the switch-over was too fast for her.
But at least we know she's not blocked up...

 

You're welcome. I'd make you some strong coffee if I could. As it is I can only offer you a 'virtual' one: :smile:

 

3:52 BG 76!!! Given a little less than 1/2 Tbsp potato mixture-considering slowing that down if it goes up again.

 

ooh I don't do coffee but I'll take tea! Thanks!!

 

That 76 is a good number.. now you wait to see what happens.

 

It must be hugely reassuring to see those numbers coming up.
Claudia may well continue to rise without further feeding now. Potatoes are much 'slower-release' source of carbs than the syrup is.

How does she seem in herself?
And how long many hours since insulin now?

 

There ya go: (Oops, forgot the saucer...)

 

9 hours since insulin

Perking up some-not a lot of change seen yet-but she's also probably pretty tired.

Also-saucers not required! I'll take that tea any way it's served at this point!!

 

413a BG 88. No food given

 

Now do I continue testing every 20 min or stretch it out longer? I was thinking one more test at 15min and then recheck in an hour? Thoughts?

 

It's been just over 9 hours since insulin, and you've got 3 rising numbers in succession. Great!
If you do get another 20 minute test then that would reassure you that she's still definitely on the way up.

If she’s still rising at the next test then (if you can set an alarm and grab some sleep) you could probably leave it for an hour or so before testing again. And that may be the last test you need to do. The longer interval between tests can actually make it harder; you’ll probably feel like you’ve only just got to sleep before having to get up again…

 

4:33a BG 109! No food given. Plan to wait 40 min for retest-Then if that is good breakfast is at 6:30-will pop in here with numbers at 5:15 and looking for advice at breakfast time 6:30!

Thank you to everyone you have been a tremendous help in getting me through the night! Without your encouragement and advice I may have given up and taken her to a hospital(lofty bill i can't afford!) I am singing this forums praises and will do a little fundraising for this site as well! Once I'm a little better off I'll be donating something too. This has been a long learning experience that I hope never to repeat this way! Calling my vet in the am and will probably take her in and be late for work. Need to get this girl eating again!

See you all in a bit!

 

A significant rise.
It's highly unlikely that she will drop again now.
You've done a phenomenal job. Well done, you! :thumbup

Will check back here a little later...

 

5:10a BG 157. See you at breakfast!

 

6:40 BG 371 Reccomended dose? Showing little interest in getting out of bed. Because she's tired-Perky and alert though! Looked right up as I walked in! I think I surprised her.

 

I do hope you managed to get some sleep.

At that preshot I'm thinking that reducing the dose by half for this shot may be worth trying.
It would be good to 'let the dust' settle a bit after the last cycle and see what happens...

That preshot may be elevated by the carbs Claudia ate, and so may not be a 'true' (un-influenced) preshot number. So I would definitely err on the side of caution for this shot.
But do wait and see/hear what others have to say...

 

Doh!
Forgot to say...
That preshot may also have an element of 'bounce' in it.
Bouncing/rebound happens when the blood glucose drops too low or too fast. "Too low" doesn't necessarily mean 'dangerously low'. It can happen even when the BG drops lower than the kitty has become accustomed to.
The body responds to the 'threat' by releasing glucose into the sytem and also possibly counter-regulatory hormones, the purpose of which is to try to keep the blood glucose high for a wee while.

 

You all did phenomenal last night. What a stroke of genius to give her potatoes!!!

I think Elizabeth has a great suggestion to give a half dose and see what she does. She has more experience with these types of insulin. Elizabeth, you are my hero today ....thank you for stepping in.

Arienette...I'm sorry...we should have asked if that is your name...I'm sure you are way past exhausted and I hope you both can get some sleep. You did great for your sweet Claudia. Thankfully, you were hometesting!

When you are rested, I would grab some of those higher carb foods and have them handy. I'd definitely get Claudia into the vet to find out why she isn't eating. The numbers last night could be a combination of not eating, too much insulin, and something being wrong with her. If you can also grab some ketostix at Walmart to test urine ketones, that would be a smart thing to keep an eye on. If a cat is not eating/drinking enough and may have some infection, it can set them up for ketones which can progress into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is not good.

I'd also discuss with my vet the possibility of moving Claudia to depot insulin like Lantus. Many cats have done well on Vetsulin but Lantus is a gentler insulin. We can help you with that and we have a very active insulin support group in this forum for Lantus users. Lantus is more expensive than Vetsulin and that is something to consider. But it is unlikely Claudia would need 4u bid. That's a high dose for most Lantus cats.

If you decide to stay with us here in FDMB, it's good to have a spreadsheet where you can record her numbers and we can see what she's doing and help with dosing. If you'd like to do that, if you send me a private message (click on the PM box under my Gracies photo to the right), I will get some info from you and set it all up considering the crazy night you had.

My apologies again for leaving you but I knew Elizabeth would take great care of you two and have a fresher mind than mind last night ;-)

 

What a great job you did, Arienette!

Felt so bad having to leave last night, but was glad to see Marje jump in and I knew she could help as well as knowing who best to contact to help with using your insulin. Thanks to Marje and Elizabeth for helping out!

Who ever thought McDonalds french fries might be a healthy thing?....LOL (At least they inspired you to try potatoes which seemed to work well!)

I agree with the others that it might be a good idea to have her see your vet and find out why she's not eating.

Hope you're getting some well deserved rest today, and Claudia feels better!

 

Thank you everyone for the coaching! After breakfast Claudia and I (Amanda) went to the vet. He is keeping her for some testing today and said he was considering switching her insulin to something that started with a G(I was very sleepy and did'nt catch it). Her temp was normal so that's great. He's testing her blood today to ensure her organs are functioning right and I'm not sure what else. He said he might IV her some fluids after all she went through last night. I am supposed to pick her up this afternoon around five thirty. I've had a few more hours of sleep and will be heading into work (late). Again thank you all for everything. She probably would not be here this morning without you. I plan on asking LOTS of questions and not letting myself feel rushed this afternoon.


Edited: Also she got 1.5 units this morning and ate very little again...vet agreed it was a good idea to lower her dose before talking with him again.

 

He probably said Glargine which is Lantus. It would be a very smart move.

You should ask for a copy of the labs. If you want to post them, we can look at them and help you. Sometimes vets dismiss something that bears watching.

You were doing all the right things, Amanda, even before you posted. She has you to thank for her life. We just kept you company and made a few suggestions but you hung in there, kept testing, working the food.

We will be happy to help you in any way we can. Have a quiet day at work and please let us know what the vet says.

 

Seconding everything Marje said, Amanda. You worked so hard, kept a cool head, and did absolutely brilliantly.
Claudia is blessed in having you as a care-giver. :smile:

(And what's more, your ingenious use of potatoes will probably go down in FDMB history ;-) )

Eliz

 

Great job last night, Amanda!

And thanks to Elizabeth, Marje, and everyone else who hopped in while I was getting my beauty rest :lol:

 

Please don't beat yourself up for making any changes too soon...food or other.
I want to say we all have been there, but can only speak for myself right now.
Murphy was on regular fancy feast dry/can plus c/d dry food for a UTI until he was diagnosed as Diabetic in early June.
We then switched to w/d dry (gastro/glucose management) with a bit of fancy feast dry/can food.
It was just a week later I think that my New vet at The Cat Clinic switched him to dry dm with canned low carb fancy feast.
It all happened so fast that I didn't even think about making a smooth transition with the food!!
The end result was green slime coming from his backside and a very upset cat in the ER.
As I was told by many kind people on the message board and website, its a learning process
so try to be calm for yourself and your cat and breathe.
I keep you all in thought and prayer.
Donna

 

I agree. This is a learning process and we all have made decisions that later turned out not to be the best one to make. That is one reason this board exists and we are here to help you and other new members learn.

Before long, you will probably be responding to posts with encouragement and advice to other new members.

 

Thank you for all the kind words everyone.

Claudia spent the day at the vet and he said she had a good day glucose-wise. She ate on her own(vet provided food) and he ran some blood tests to rule out liver and pancreas dysfunction. Her WBC count was high and he tried doing a urinalysis but she was uncooperative. He said this is indicative of some sort of infection. Hes assuming she has a UTI(I guess sugar in the urine can cultivate the bacteria) and gave her an antibiotic shot for the week. Since she's so newly diagnosed he did not want to change the insulin just yet-but he did reduce her dose to 2 and asked for daily updates if she is not doing better. I was hoping he'd change it myself but we will try to stick with the vestulin a bit longer.

I can call and request copies of the labs in a couple days-but I need some time to recoup myself! I'm mentally exhausted(still). Brought Claudia home and her BG was 455. Gave her 2 U and dinner-she ate a little but not much. I reverted to her dry kibble and a little bit of moist food on top. Hopefully she takes to wet food slowly. We shall see. I'm afraid of her not eating again-but we'll see. I will be using lots of the tips I learned to see if she will take to wet food over time.

I feel like I still have a long road with her as far as regulation is concerned but the vet agreed it would be best to do curve tests at home. I plan on doing one a week since I'm usually off saturday or sunday. . .

Now I think I will wait an hour and test her-and then hopefully call it a night!

Thanks again to everyone! You have all been so wonderful and I am so amazed and thankful this community exists!

 

7:30p BG 341 Did not eat much at all on her own. =/ Hopefully once her antibiotic kicks in she'll be feeling better and eat more heartily...

 

I wonder if he gave her Convenia? Just for future reference, it is effective for 2-3 weeks but stays in the body much longer. It is also not the best a/b for UTIs. But it's easy. Personally, I don't allow my cats to have it and many of us here don't. Once it's in, you can't get it out. if she has a UTI, her BG might come down as it is resolved.

There's absolutely no reason to wait to move her over to Lantus/Glargine. If you want to change her, I'd push it with the vet. We've had cats change insulins after a few days, few weeks, months, etc.

Get some rest and let us know how we can help.

 

Mmmm ... antiobiotics are notorious for causing GI upset (lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea).

Snag some Forti Flora or yogurt with active cultures on Intelliflora or other probiotic and provide some of that about 2 hours after the antibiotic, to return back some good bacteria that are killed off by the antibiotic.

 

Do you know if fortiflora is carried at petstores like petco or petsmart or is it only available online?

Also she did not eat much at breakfast this morning and I only measured out a little of her exsisting dry food for the time being. She is munching on it now(BG 109). It seems like she'll eat if I leave it out but the vet advised against that in the beginning. Do you think this is ok as long as I'm monitoring her BG throughout the day? (I can check it every lunch break so I can guaruntee she will get BG tested every four hours on a work day).

I plan on hitting up the pet store after work today for some HC food for emergencies (Maybe I can find something with potatoes in it =P).

Also I'll push with the vet about switching insulin. It seems like the reviews on Vestulin aren't the greatest anyway.

In other news he charged me $200 freaking dollars just to tell me that her WBC's are high and all her tests are negative. These visits are really taking a toll on the pocket book. However I'm glad he agreed to do the curve tests at home. I'm considering switching vetrinarians to someone more communicative. Then I might feel like I'm getting more value for my money. It seems like he doesn't really have a long term plan for her-that he's just treating her with short term goals. His office is always so busy and I feel like an afterthought there. I'm frustrated and running out of cash!!

 

Also her antibiotic was just a shot-no pills. So should I wait on the fortiflora?

 

I went to Petco's and PetSmart's on-line store and searching for fortiflora returned nothing.
You can likely get it from your vet

 

Yeah the only places you can get Fortiflora are online or at your vets....of course it's going to be more expensive at your vets

The good news is that one box will last you awhile though..you just open one pack at a time and sprinkle a little of the powder on top of food. One pack can last us several days

 

I wouldn't wait on getting it. Forti Flora is based in an animal digest that is very tasty to most cats. That makes it very handy to have around when the cat is uninterested in eating.