Hello from Brooke and Ella!

Hi guys!
To start off, I'm happy/sad to see that there's a thriving community/support group of diabetic cats on life. Finding these forums has already helped calm me down knowing that feline diabetes in manageable.

Ella is about 10 years old and I've had her ever since she was a kitten. She was initially diagnosed with diabetes in October of 2016, but three days after arriving at the vet near DKA, at the end of her stay she seemed to have already been in remission. After this stay, we switched her to a can of wet r/d food a day from the vet for about two months, and then started buying the dry version of r/d. Ella had begun to seem better than ever, and I even fostered another kitten with whom she was cordial and even playful. Over the weekend before New Years, she developed a pretty bad bladder infection and after an emergency vet visit it was discovered her glucose was back over 500, my cat who was overweight in October was now underweight, and she spent another 3 days at the vet plus would need two insulin shots a day along with antibiotics. Since then, we've switched her to FF wet food, about a can/can and a half a day, been giving her 3 units of nph twice a day, and hoping for the best. She still seems insatiably hungry, and after about three weeks of insulin she has decided that she hates the shots. What used to be a pretty easy process now requires a bunch of hissing and growling, and she seems to switch from being cheery to extremely grumpy in a moments notice. Initially I tried testing, and got readings of 251 and 450 days apart, but quit because honestly I just hated having to make her bleed.

Anyways, I'm happy to find a community like this and I find the term sugarkitty to be the silver lining of all of this. I love my little Ella and any tips/directions towards other threads in these forums are extremely welcome as I want her to be around as long as possible.
So here's my introduction and I guess my diabetic kitty's story!
Brooke

 

Welcome to fdmb!

I'm not experienced witghthat insulin so I can't coment on that, although 3 units is a high dose and as the infection resolves itself is likely the numbers will go down. Some in larger doses like that sting when injected... So that may be part of what's going on.

You said she's underweight and hungry and yet you are only feeding a can to a can and a half of ff a day.... That is a great choice (just make sure you are feeding the classic style, no gravy) Those cans are small! I would recommend at least 3 a day! When the diabetes is unregulated they need extra food since they have difficulty utilizing the food properly. As long as you don't feed 2 hours prior to your preshot test. Maybe a can morning, 1/2 a can mid day snack, a can before evening shot, and another 1/2 just before you go to bed.


Which brings me to my next point.... You've got to stay testing more, esp with such a high dose! At minimum you should get a preshot reading and one mid cycle number to make sure she's not dropping too low.


If you have any specific questions please pose on the main health forum.

 

Welcome. NPH/N insulin is not the bet for cats since it only last 8-10 hours.
Also, 3 units twice daily is a high starting dose.
It is good that yoo are home testing.
Most of us here test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

 

Welcome Brooke and Ella. Love the pic of Ella. She's a cutey!

Your description of suddenly having issues with the shots could be due to any number of factors but what concerns me is the dose of 3u may too high and could be causing her to feel worse than she did without the insulin. I firmly believe our kitties know we are trying to help them but they have no way to tell us when what we are doing is making them feel worse so they start acting out and behaving differently.

You indicated testing Ella and getting readings of 251 and 450. Granted these are days apart and you didn't say when in the cycle you tested or if those tests were around the same time in the cycle, but what strikes me is the huge difference in those readings. While this is pure speculation, it suggests to me the insulin may be setting off a roller coaster effect of lows and highs that are making Ella feel miserable. It is also possible that the insulin you are using does not agree with her. Just like in humans, the best insulin is the one that works for your cat. It's not uncommon for some cats to feel generally unwell on some of the faster acting insulins.

Like others have said, Ella needs more food because she cannot process what she takes in properly and home testing before every shot to make sure it is safe to give insulin as well as some tests during each cycle will give you a better idea of what is happening and might explain why Ella has suddenly become an unwilling patient.

Please come join us over on the Health Forum and we will do our best to help you figure out how to help Ella feel better.