Hello from Mindy & Max

Well...this is certainly not a place I thought I'd have to come back to. I was here in 2010 when Max was first diagnosed with diabetes. We had a stressful and crazy 6 weeks on Lantus and he went OTJ. I haven't a clue what profile name or email address I used back then, so here is the new one.

Max is 17yo, and was also diagnosed with chronic kidney failure in 2016. When I took him to the vet last week, a return of the diabetes was not what we expected. He was vomiting and had diarrhea, I expected an infection and possibly that we'd get the news it was time to let him go. Instead, one of his kidney values returned to normal and his sugar was sky-high. The vet was as surprised as I was! So here we are again, trying to get life sorted into a pattern in which we can reliably test and shoot at 12hr intervals. This time the vet has prescribed Novalin-N, and we're starting with 2U's twice a day.

I also have 11yo and 9yo human kids (my youngest was only 6 months when Max was first diagnosed!), and we're moving into soccer season. Life gets a little hectic then since I am also a referee and on the local soccer org's board. I am trying very hard not to coach this season too. My husband is a high school teacher, and is currently rehearsing for a play in the local community theater. Thankfully that performance will be done before soccer starts! I am a museum exhibit designer and project manager, working part to full-time for a small exhibit company about 30 minutes from home.

Ultimately I don't know that I believe we'll get Max's sugar under control. Since starting insulin he seems to be feeling better, though we are still on antibiotics for whatever infection was causing the diarrhea. He has been living in a dog crate with a litter box attached for the last few days to mitigate the mess, though he has spent quite a bit of time out of the crate today. Obviously we're only a few days in, but I'm expecting the vet to increase his dose when I talk to him later this week. We've only managed to get below 300 once so far.

I think that covers the bases for getting started. We're going on vacation in a month, and I have some concerns about how to handle that, but we need to see if we can even get his sugar settled a bit before I get to that.

 

Hi Mindy and Max, and welcome, even though this is not where you want to be. You have the background, and probably just need a refresher course to help Max feel better. I hope he can go back into remission again.
To that end, Novolin is not really a very suitable insulin for cats. There are several other much more suitable ones such as Lantus and Prozinc and you might have better success using one of those to get him OTJ again. You may want to explore the insulin specific forums for more information about those insulins, how they work and the protocols used here.
You have your signature and spreadsheet made, well done! Please post questions and concerns in the Main Health forum so that more members can see and respond.
Best wishes going forward.

 

Thanks for the info! I'm not sure that we really believe we can achieve remission again due to age and kidney issues, but we'll see what happens. I'm due for a call to the vet later this week, so I'll mention the insulin types. We used Lantus before, but at $100/vial it's not a budget-friendly option knowing that remission is probably not happening. I'll ask what the Prozinc runs and maybe we'll switch to that.

 

Remember that ProZinc is a U40 insulin while Lantus is a U100 insulin. Thus, a 10ml vial of ProZinc contains only 400 units while a 10ml vial of Lantus contains 1000 units. You have to compare costs on a per unit cost and if one will use up the whole vial before it loses effectiveness. Even though on a per unit basis the Lantus pens are more expensive than the vials, many here buy the 3ml pens of Lantus (usually sold as 5 3ml pens) since one can usually use up an entire 3ml pen before it loses effectiveness and not a whole 10ml vial.