I am new to this forum so I hope I am posting on the right forum. My cat Noah has been diabetic since February of last year (2018). He was hard to regulate but I finally got him regulated and then he got pancreatitis in December. Since he has been home he has had very erratic numbers and I have for the first time had to change his dosing per the vet. As you can see by his spreadsheet he drops really low and then goes really high. I feed him every four hours as I thought this would help and that was the schedule he was on before the pancreatitis. He ate fancy feast pate before he got sick but Dr. said it is too hard on his digestion and he should switch to Purina EN or DM and then I top it with limited ingredient turkey as I cannot get the limited ingredient rabbit where I live (that's what vet said to try) so I need to order it. I am making sure his calories are what he needs per vet and I am feeding him the same amounts daily. Frustrated as he ran high all day yesterday on 2 1/2 and now his number was 101 which is good but he drops at this time until his insulin is due again and he has 6 hours to go so that number makes me panicky. I fed him some of his purina dm dry food and checking his bg's but I don't understand why he is going from high to low...I know the hospital he spent 7 days at a couple of weeks ago sent him home on 5 units and that was way to high and then said to cut him 4.5 and I knew that wasn't working either so I dropped him and took him to my local vet and she agreed it was not good dosing. I just don't understand why I can't him regulated. Any advice? Eating twice a day doesn't work and he would have died so I am so glad I didn't do that. He is a hard one to regulate for sure. He is on ProZinc insulin. Any advice would be helpful.
I don't know enough to say much regarding alphatrak metering. Some of those are some scary greens, though. When they dip low, often times kitty's body will react and you'll end up with high numbers. It can last several cycles. Perhaps the dose is too high. I am not going to suggest what you should do in that area, though. I am sure someone with more experience will come along and fill in the blanks. As far as the food goes, I am pretty sure the suggestion will be to ditch the dry and switch to a lower carb wet food. Here is a link to the food chart (it's a PDF) you can browse while waiting for other responses. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
I only fed him diabetic dry because his sugar was dropping quickly and he had went to 39 several times with this trend. I only give him pate. It’s crazy but I will figure it out. He has been through a lot with 7 days in intensive care for pancreatitis and been home a little over 2 weeks now and is doing great other than the crazy numbers. Hoping it doesn’t spike too high tonight and maybe try 2 1/2 tonight although I know it’s best to stay with one dose for a week the lows are scary. Thanks for any advice you can give. I really appreciate it.
Welcome! I'm so glad you've begun keeping a spreadsheet of his BGs. I can see that you've been exhausting yourself testing. I think we can help. It's not unusual for BG levels to get totally scrambled when health issues arise. My cat is very erratic but became especially so in May/June when he was very ill with a possible pancreatitis and/or IBD flare. He settled again as he recovered - well, his version of "settled" anyway ... Here are some questions: what were his BG levels like overall when you got him regulated prior to the December pancreatitis episode? what ProZinc dose was he at when he was regulated? were you able to keep that dose consistently to maintain regulation or were you tweaking it periodically? And comments: As was pointed out above, dry food can wreak havoc with BGs and likely more so when there are other things going on. The DM dry is at least 14% carbs as fed if I remember correctly. Will he eat the wet pate version of DM? It's 6% carbs as fed. Most of us feed several times a day in small meals as you have been doing even though many of us were told to feed only twice a day when our cats were diagnosed. I think the dose has been too high for a while now and it's caused a lot of volatility along with whatever the pancreatitis created. The 3 u dose is too high. That 49 on an AT meter is scary low. I'd try a dose of 2 u both AM and PM for a few days, numbers permitting. You can test less and still get a feel for how he's doing. Aim for one or two tests between +4 and +7 and a before bed test. Make sure to take away all food in the two hours prior to the pre shot tests. That's a start. Let's see what he does with that.
Make sure to check back in. The people here really know their stuff and can help you figure it out. I'm just not comfortable giving some types of dosing advice. This is one of those situations. Somebody will come along, though. I understand. The carbs in the dry are not as readily available as say - the gravy in a higher carb wet food, though. And will some of those super low numbers, you want something their body can access easily. A few of those look like Karo syrup moments.
Noah was almost always in the mid 200’s when I tested him pre shot before pancreatitis and he was on 4 units. I gave him fancy feast pate chicken is his favorite and a few dry peices of food as treats throughout the day. I was only testing at shot time before and checking midway in and he would be in the 200 to 300 range. He has never dealt well with low numbers even in the 100’s he would bounce but not this much. The really low numbers have terrified me since he has been home. I will try 2.5 tonight as he is 509 now and I know it’s the dry but he was dropping so fast I gave him the dry Purins dm because I was afraid. Will keep in touch and hopefully get him under control. Thank you so much for the help.
The vet said Purina EN or limited ingredient rabbit would be better for digestion but for now he is on Purina DM and limited ingredient turkey until I can order the rabbit and he is doing great other than the bg levels. He loves wet. He is a very good eater. Sorry forgot to explain diet change. I dont know how much higher carb Purina EN is than dm but would rather have him in higher quality food than that anyway. Any thoughts on diet would be helpful too as he has had many times of diarrhea before he got really sick and is doing great with that so far.
We can help you get over the nerves. Sounds like he was flat in the 200s to 300s previously before all the ups and downs in BG began. The goal is to have BG in the low 100s or even high double digits in the middle part of the cycle. It's harder with a bouncy kitty but not impossible. Dry food in the diet will make that harder and the fact that he loves wet food definitely works in your favour. There are many kitties here with various digestive issues and you could post out on the main forum asking for help with that. @Djamila's kitty, Sam, has IBD and she's learned a lot about what feeding routines help him.
hi Ickes. Sounds like Noah has a lot going on these days. The bounciness of his numbers could be connected to the food being so high in carbs. The most carbs a kitty eats, the less predictable their numbers will be. It can also be connected to the health issues he's having. It's not very often we say this around here, but you might actually want to test a little less. YOU need sleep, and staying up all night to get these tests is going to wear you out and make it harder for you to handle the stress of all of this. I would also recommend switching to a human meter. The range on a human meter is more compacted and helps with our sanity in this whole process. It still gives the information you need, but does so in a way that is easier on our hearts. Most of us around here use human meters. As far as the tummy issues. I can't recommend enough that you get Noah on a probiotic every single day. It takes a couple of weeks to build up and really kick in, but it makes a world of difference in their digestion. This is a good one: https://www.chewy.com/animal-essentials-plant-enzyme/dp/49372, or a lot of folks around here us s. boulardii and have good success with it. This website talks about how to use it: http://www.foodfurlife.com/use-probiotics-in-cats.html and also gives a lot of other information about diet and care of cats with sensitive stomachs. It sounds though like he was having pancreatitis, not IBD. So I'm not sure why the vet is concerned about finding an easily digested diet?
I use an AlphaTrak meter. 40s and especially 30s are pretty scary. I'm glad you were on top of it. I'm late to this party, and you have already been given a lot of good advice. I agree that the extra carbs and high dose are probably contributing to the roller coaster. So, hopefully, addressing those things will calm it down.
She did say that she only gave the dry to avoid a hypo. I am just mentioning it because there are better options which work faster and don't hang around as long. I don't know what that particular protocol is, though. We have always given gravy and only in extreme circumstances (happened once) Kayro. I figured someone may be able to advise better than I.
Thank you so much for all the info. I didn’t realize the dry food was bad for hypo. The vet said feed anything and it definitely has messed him up. My vet didn’t want him off the diabetic dry to begin with. I had to fight for it. They think he had ibd because he had numerous issues with diarrhea over this past year and was on antibiotics a lot. I did take him to a holistic vet and got a probiotic and enzymes and he put him on Purina DM. I dong really like the ingredients and he doesn’t like it alone but I mix the limited ingredient wet food with it. I will check out the info on ibd and I am going to test less. The lows just scared me and I am dealing with a son just diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 18. Been a really rough couple of months. Dropping him to 2 1/2 units and hopefully he will reset and I will not have to deal with the roller coaster up and downs as they are not good for him. If he had a low I will give him gravy canned food I am assuming you mean to help instead of dry as I can see that really messes him up for a day or so. Thanks again for all the help. Much better info than the vet can give me.
Here is a link discussing the protocol for handling hypo. It was right up there, but I'm operating on very little sleep so I didn't think to look: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/ For some of those lows, I would have definitely considered Kayro. Do you have corn syrup, honey, pancake syrup or the like around? And if you go too low, start a thread in the main health forum. Select the drop down box beside where you type a title and select 911. It does good to familiarize yourself with what to do, but until you do, people are here to help you through a crisis.
Yes I have kayro syrup and have had to use a couple of times since he has been sick. I will be posting his numbers today on spreadsheet but I dropped him to 2 units now as someone on here suggested and he didn’t go really high or low. Still had 4 hours to go until insulin so we will see. Thinking he may need 2 1/2 but too soon to tell as high yesterday from the low and dry food I fed him. Will do gravy next time if we have a low. Hopefully we don’t. You have all been such a help. So glad I found you.
You'll get there. It's process and there'll be many steps forward and backward. It would be helpful to us if you set up your "signature" (the light grey text you see under our posts). Here's how: click on your name in the upper right corner of this page click on "signature" in the men that drops down type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using /glucose meter you're using/what he eats/any other meds or health issues he has click "save". You have to be very concise. There aren't many characters allowed.
I appreciate everyone helping Kathy and Noah out. One thing I want to be sure is clear is that, while it takes longer to work and lasts longer in the system, dry food can be used to help bring numbers up from the hypoglycemic range. Yes, HC wet food with gravy and syrup/honey are the quickest but some cats have a problem with these digestively. If numbers are really low, if some syrup or honey can be used to get them up immediately, then a cat that can’t tolerate gravy foods can have dry food to help with low numbers. We used to have a member who always used Temptations for low numbers. One or two brought the kitty up nicely. I’m not advocating feeding dry food all the time or even stating it is the best option for low numbers, but it is an option. It is even mentioned in the post that Tina linked. Thanks so much to all for helping Kathy and Noah!
I set up the signature and updated the spreadsheet. I appreciate all the help from everyone. I only 1 low number the entire year he had been diabetic and it was 55. He ate and held off on insulin til the next day then he was in the 300 and 400 range until he changed to all wet and his numbers were good. After his pancreatitis and stay at a very expensive hospital that saved his life they sent him home on 5 units. I will never understand why. Maybe his body did change after infection was gone but that was way too high. This was hard but he is doing great and thanks to all your help on a good dose I think of 2 units. Will keep close tabs but won’t check so obsessively. I can do that for sure.
My cat has chronic pancreatitis, and he does require higher doses when he's in a flare, then drops down when he's feeling better. It is unfortunately common to see vets send cats home on ridiculously high doses, but it's also possible that he just stopped needing that much once he was home, relaxed, and feeling better. Do keep in mind that a good dose is constantly changing, so it's all about finding the balance between testing enough to be responsive, but not so much that you end up sleep deprived, exhausted, and chained to the house. Like so many things in life, it's about moderation.
For my own personal edification, do you think this is indicated in this instance? My assumption was, unless contraindicated, it was preferable to give gravy or Kayro, rather than dry kibble. I want to help, but I want to make sure I am not giving bad advice. If that is the case, I'm not going to get butt hurt if you are direct.
My understanding has always been that gravy/karo hit the blood quicker, but kibble lasts longer since it has carbs, protein, and fat. So if your cat needs to come up quickly because they're really low or dropping fast, gravy or karo would be a first choice (for example, a symptomatic emergency hypo situation). However if they just need some steering, kibble will work just fine. Whichever way you go though, carbs will mess them up for a few cycles afterward, so if it's possible to steer with regular low carb food (for example they are just heading low, or skimming the lime greens, but it's near nadir time anyway), that is the best option. And as Marje said, if it's a cat that can't tolerate gravy, then giving it won't help since the cat will just puke it back up anyway. And as with everything, it's a matter of learning your own cat and what s/he needs and responds to. While there are guidelines, there are few things around here that are always true since cats are notoriously unique (part of why we love them so much).
That is my understanding, as well. So, unless it is contraindicated, kayro and gravy are a better option than dry kibble. Is this correct? Unless there is any other consideration to keep in mind, it is preferable -NOT- to give kibble. Am I correct?
It's not a matter of one being contraindicated or one being preferred over another. Different options can be used in different scenarios depending on the cat. I certainly wouldn't say it's preferable not to give kibble. Personally I would give kibble before karo unless the cat was losing consciousness. We all have our own experiences and preferences though.
What we prefer and what is best for the cat are two different things. I asked, in this situation, is it preferable to try to feed gravy and/or kayro before resulting to giving dry kibble? I, personally, would not give dry kibble, unless the cat would not eat anything else OR if I did not think I would be available to test.
This is true as long as the kitty tolerates it and most do. It is preferable to not give kibble. It is especially preferable to not feed kibble at all and CGs with diabetic kibble addicts should slowly try to transition from dry to canned and perhaps eventually to balanced raw. But, if a kitty isn’t feeling well or doesn’t tolerate gravy and will eat only kibble when numbers are low, I’d rub some honey or karo on their gums or put some on the kibble to quickly get numbers up and let them have kibble.
I do do think I need to find balance. I am chained to the house right now with a sick kid but that is going to change as he gets better and Noah is back to running and playing and feeling great! I would just like to know how to keep him out of a bad flare of pancreatitis. Probiotic and enzymes and then food change. I hate the Purina DM but the vet prescribed Putina en or limited edition rabbit canned and the other vet said Purina DM is better for stomach and bg because it is lower in fat than fancy feast. I do mix fancy feast pate with it a little as he loves the taste of it. I would love any advice on diet for ibd and pancreatitis although they say diet doesn’t matter I am not sure of that. The dr’s say that about my son who has crohns and that’s not true! Diet absolutely matters so not sure. Anyway noah is doing great thanks to all your help. Blood sugar is stable. Dose may need to come up a little but highest bg I have seen the last couple days is a little over 300 so that’s better than 400 or 500. Doing a curve after 7 days and will go from there.
My preference for my IBD/panc kitty is homemade raw. I use foodfurlife supplement powder and mix it with a protein (chicken breast, lamb, turkey). It's super easy to make: put the meat, a little water, and the powder in a food processor. Pulse to desired consistency. Freeze into an ice cube tray. Thaw and feed as needed. It takes me less time to make a week's worth of food than it takes to drive to the store and back. I like that I know exactly what he's eating, it's low carb, low fat, and low phosphorous so it also supports kidney health - a frequent issue with cats. I also give him added probiotic daily which really helps keep the IBD in check. And because Sam gets easily bored with foods, I do mix in some commercial foods: my favorite right now is vital essentials mini patties. Of course Sam prefers the rabbit which is insanely expensive, but he'll also eat the turkey. And I keep the Primal freeze dried raw (always make sure to rehydrate it well before feeding) in the mix as well. I like to keep that one in the mix as their "emergency" food in case I run out of something or the freezer were to fail. While feeding him a healthy diet doesn't keep him from having pancreatitis flare-ups, they have seemed to lessen in severity and duration as I got him off of the commercial canned foods. I also give him CBD drops regularly and those seem to have helped a ton as well. And they definitely help in the middle of a flare to help with pain management and to keep him eating.
Re gravy versus corn syrup, etc: Teasel seems to get an upset tummy from gravy so if I need to boost his BG I put about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp maple syrup (Canada!) in a small amount of his mid carb (13%) food. That usually works - sugar plus sustained release from the fat and protein in the food.
Thank you for clarifying. I just wanted to make sure what you said was what I "heard". EDIT: Removed content which detracts from the conversation
I am a kibble before Karo person, too. I really do think that you have to learn your own cat's reactions to different amounts/types of carbs and proceed accordingly. When she was on ProZinc, and we had several occasions of her going too low, I learned quite a bit about steering her numbers with carbs and the after-effects of such. I found the best results were when I gave just a few kibbles. I knew what type of kibbles and about how many to give based on where we were in the cycle and how low she was. (I had low carb and medium carb ones.) Now 'mastering' that took some trial and error, for sure. I think a mistake a lot of us make is over-carbing too quickly when we see a lower number, because we are scared to death. You have to learn when to just give regular low-carb food, versus when to give something with a little more carbs, versus when to pour in the sugar! I tried gravy foods but did not have the same success. (Mia was also a much bigger fan of a few kibbles than of any of the medium-carb foods we tried.) That worked out great for me as well since it was a lot easier to grab a few kibbles from a bag on the occasion that they were needed versus opening a can of food just to give a little of it and end up throwing out the rest. In the cases I did have to resort to Karo, I drizzled it on the few kibbles.
I was wondering if anyone on here can say from your experience should I keep Noah in the 2 units for 7 days as that is what the vet says it takes to regulate on a dose then do a curve? I notice he is higher today at shot time 365 eating the same amount of food. Then should I go up to 2 1/2 and wait a week and do a curve? He is doing much much better. Bright and doesn’t look dehydrated at all. Appetite is great and he is a lot more content throughout the days. Not ravenous. Just wanted to see what your experiences are with finding the right dose.
7 days is probably longer than you have to hold a dose to determine if it is working or if a change is needed. I probably would not want to wait more than 4 days (8 cycles). It looks like you started 2 yesterday morning, 1/3. I would hold the 2 units another two days at least before changing again. Then, if he is still staying too high, I would go up by .25 and hold that a few days, and so on.
I agree with FurBabiesMama about the dose. Some cats do need the dose held a week (usually if they are super bouncy or sensitive to dose changes). At this point though, I would suggest taking a look at your numbers for a couple of days, and then deciding when do increase based on what you are seeing. (we can help you figure that out). You don't want to leave a cat at an insufficient dose for very long. If you get a low number, you need to decrease sooner - definitely don't wait in that case.
Ok that helps... I need to turn in a curve anyway to the vet... he is super bouncy but if he is too high I will go up .25 after a couple more days. Thanks for the help.
Taking Noah to the vet this week followup bloodwork and checking bg.... his bgs are in the 300 to upper 200 range so I know he needs more insulin. He had diarrhea yesterday so I started him on metronidazole again although I hated too. We have fluids at home so we did that too as he seems dehydrated. Gave him cerenia too and he is eating but he doesn’t likd the Purina DM and I was told the fancy feast was too fatty. The ingredients in fancy feast pate seem better than the dm but I am so upset he is having issues again. I had been mixing the fancy feast with the dm and he either still had digestive issues or hates the dm although he eats it. I feel so bad but I don’t know what to do. I have looked into all options of food as my vet says raw isn’t good. I know many say it is. Changing diets can hurt too and he needs his bg regulated. Should I give him fancy feast? I tried limited ingredient turkey but it is higher in carbs and he didn’t seem to like it. Any advice on food for ibd and diabetes I can buy? Don't want to change food but ibd is bad. I feel like I can’t win. He loves chicken so I buy the pure fancy feast chicken treats... only ingredient is chicken and I also make chicken tenderloins for him as treats. He was very sick maybe I am expecting too much but I am upset he had issues again already. I will update his spreadsheet.
Well, sometimes you have to choose the lesser of several evils. Not eating is a huge risk for kitties and getting him to eat trumps everything. If he likes Fancy Feast pates and there are flavours that agree with him IBD-wise, then I'd be feeding that if it was my kitty.
I gave him Weruva paw lickin chicken and he loved it but I fear his blood sugar will be high as it is running higher anyway... I changed him to 2.25 so I will check but he will take a few days to regulate. I just wish I could fix one problem at a time. Weruva is low carb but it does have potato starch.., that’s the happiest he has been in a few days. Fancy feast was regulating him before the pancreatitis but I don’t know if that is what made him sick. It’s just so hard. I see what you mean about the lesser of two evils. I just wish I knew. One time the vet says diet doesn’t matter then the next she had me switch to Purina EN or limited ingredient rabbit and then Purina DM. I am so confused.
Spot did not do well on Fancy Feast pates. We switched to FoodFurLife using raw chicken and it’s been a life saver for him. He’s finally feeling better and has begun putting on weight. Raw is only “bad” if you feed just muscle meat without supplementing to account for missing nutrients. If you use a tried and true recipe or mix-in like FoodFurLife I think you’ll find your kitty will be better off for it. There is a Facebook group called “Raw Feeding for IBD Cats” that you may find interesting. https://www.facebook.com/groups/RawFedIBD/?ref=share
Ok I will look at the Facebook page.., thank you. No I haven’t tried that Weruva... is it lower in carbs. He really enjoyed the paw lickin chicken... his blood sugars are still in the 300’s until I can bump him up to 2 1/2 and I think he may need 3 if I can keep him healthy. I will pick some of that up and try it. He didn’t like the limited edition turkey very well so I switched back to fancy feast and he got diarrhea although it’s hard to tell because he was on the fancy feast with dm when we came home and diarrhea stopped when he went off antibiotic he was on. I appreciate all the help. He is looking and acting better today so I will figure out the diet and the dose with your help.
Do you have data for the last few days to put on your spreadsheet? A few dosing suggestions based on what we've learned about ProZinc here on FDMB: it's best to avoid changing dose in response to the PS number because that can contribute to more volatility dose changes of 0.25 u are recommended because many kitties are very sensitive to changes and 0.5 u or more can be too much. If your syringes have half unit marks eyeballing quarter units is quite easy. The general approach to dosing is to select what seems to be a reasonable dose (based on your data), give it both AM and PM for about 4 cycles and collect key data. That means AM and PMPS of course and also middle cycle. The dose is assessed based on how low it drops BG. The PS test is only to be sure the planned dose is safe to give. It's best not to adjust dose based on PS unless he surprises you with a much lower number. If middle cycle data shows lows in the high 100s or above a dose increase on a quarter unit would be tried AM and PM for another few days. Adjusting the dose very slightly AM and PM is a technique that can *sometimes* help to finesse the dose once you've got kitty pretty well regulated.
I think I've suggested this before, but I'm not positive, so forgive me if I'm being repetitive, but have you started him on a probiotic yet? It really does make a world of difference for IBD cats. This is the one I use and have found it to work well: https://www.chewy.com/animal-essentials-plant-enzyme/dp/49372, or you can get s. boulardii, or I think @Kris & Teasel has one she uses that she could recommend.
This is the one I use: https://naturvet.com/product/digestive-enzymes-powder/. It seems to help Teasel's tummy.
Well, it is 2% carbs rather than 3%, but the reason I mentioned it is that you were concerned about the potato starch in the Paw Lickin Chicken, and the Chicken Frick A Zee does not have that.
Yes he is on a probiotic rx biotics..,. Rx biotics out of new York is the company... it’s a powder and he hates his food and he hates the taste but he has been eating it. He is also on enzymes. It’s been 2 weeks. The potato starch didn’t work sugar was high so will try the other food today. I ordered Paul Newman food that I saw on the food chart from this site as low carb 2 carbs but the fat looks like it is higher than the fancy feast... it is organic grain free chicken pate. It’s on amazon organic chicken pate grain free... says it’s highly digestible. I am not opposed to making food for him but I need to find something now. Between his vet visits and my son just being diagnosed with Crohn’s I am a mess. My son is doing much better with diet so I know what to look for to an extent with Noah and diet matters. Getting my son on treatment and finding Noah’s a good food and getting him regulated is what I need. I knew the Purina DM wasn’t good but the vet said it was best. I fear I messed him up with it. Checked ketones last night and it was light! Is it supposed to look negative because his is usually between negative and trace in color. I really appreciate all the help.
The probiotic I linked above doesn't seem to have any taste. I mix it into a little food and my kitties don't seem to notice it. You do have a lot on your plate these days! Around here we say we're sending someone vines when they are struggling. Apparently a long time ago someone meant to type "sending you good vibes" but made a typo and it stuck. So i'm sending you vines of calm and good health for your son and your kitty and yourself. I hope things settle down for you soon!
I updated Noah's spreadsheet...I think I changed him too fast. I think because he was such a mess and had so many lows when he came home from the hospital on 5 units then 4.5 that I have panicked. I don't want to mess Noah up. He has had another flare up and on metronidazole again and he is doing much better today. He is now eating his purina dm and I can't believe it because he hated it. I am not sure what dose he needs or how long to hold him on the 2.25. He is super bouncy and has always been. I checked for ketones and it was negative so I am just hoping I can get him regulated. I know the 400's I seen were today were because I gave him the werurva with potato starch because he loves it and he wasn't eating well at all. I know he is super sensitive and he can't handle that. I can hold it for a couple more days to see if he regulates. He did go down to 272 on the first day I changed his dose. He goes to the vet for bloodwork tomorrow. They wanted a curve but he isn't ready for a full curve but I have several numbers form today. Any advice on dosing is appreciated. I will keep up with the spreadsheet more...they are written down but I hadn't had a change to update on the computer.
There isn't a dose listed for the PM cycles the last two evenings....? Assuming you gave 2.25 for those cycles as well, I would say go ahead and move to 2.5u, but you may need to stay at that dose a little longer - time and data will tell. Have I put in my 2 cents about using a human meter? I really much prefer them, especially when people are dealing with a bouncy cat and lots of stress. Human meters read lower, and they condense the range, so you will automatically feel better about the numbers you're seeing. It still gives the information we need to adjust dosing and keep a cat safe, but the protocols here are written for human meters, and they just seem to be so much easier on our mama-hearts as we deal with the stress of managing this disease. Plus, they are way way cheaper. Just something to consider.
I completely agree about the positive emotional effect of using a human meter. Teasel is a very bouncy cat too and using a human meter has helped me to stay calmer while still being able to adjust dosing as needed. Also - I started with an AT meter but at $2 a strip here in Canada couldn't afford to keep it up.
I am very interested in using a human meter.. if you can give me the exact info I would love to switch. I just don’t know what to use. He is super bouncy and I have probably panicked when I shouldn’t have.
If you're in the US you could post on the main forum for advice. Djamila is in the US and she can probably help. Walmart had some models of their house brand, ReliOn, but those apparently aren't available any longer. I'm in Canada so I don't have access to some of the brands you do. I use a Freestyle Lite human meter but my understanding is that the strips for it are pricier in the US. All those supplies are pricey here. The main thing is to get a meter that gives a reliable reading (few error messages) with only a very tiny blood drop like the AT. The strips should be affordable and readily available 24/7.
I use this one from ADW Diabetes: https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/8177/agamatrix-presto-blood-glucose-meter-kit-and-strips I like that I can order online, but I can also get the strips at any Kroger grocery store (Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, City Market, Fry's, QFC, and Harris Teeter). At the grocery they are sold under the store brand name, and of course that only works for the stores that include a pharmacy. If you don't have any of those near you, WalMart store brand is called Relion, and any of those are fine as well. They have a few different options, and any of them work. I believe the Micro uses the smallest blood sample, and the Prime is the cheapest (if I'm remembering correctly). These are the meters that are the most popular around here. As Kris said, one of them was recently discontinued, but I'm not sure which one (maybe the Confirm?). If you post out in Main, I'm sure some folks can chime in and let you know what everyone is using now. I believe the AT2 requires a 0.2 or 0.3 microliter sample size. My meter takes a 0.5 microliter sample size. At first that seems like a big difference, but I've never had trouble getting enough blood, and unless Sam is dehydrated or very cold, I easily get more blood than I need. I also used the CVS meter for awhile (from Target), but I moved and wasn't near a Target anymore so I switched to our current meter. So really whatever human meter you get, you'll be fine. What you want to consider is if the test strips are a price point that works for you, and as Kris said, if they are easily available so you can get them in a crunch.
Thanks for the info. I will definitely look into it the human meters. My uncle is diabetic and he got some strips free that he didn't need so I will see if that will work. We also have some meters here we got free as my son is a couponer and he got them for free. I took Noah to the vet this morning for a follow up for bloodwork that was ordered after his hospital stay and all his labs were perfect. Liver, Kidneys, electrolytes and white count all perfect. My vet had me up him to 2.5 units and I will keep him here for at least the 4 cycles or more to regulate. She thinks he may need 3 units but we will see how he does. Numbers are looking better. He is bouncy as I said so I am going to just not stress and test him much but pre shot or if he is acting funny. Sometimes if I am not going to be home and he will be alone I test him. My parents also live with us so they are most of the time here if we arn't and they are really good to help out and watch him or feed him. I told my vet that I was told on this site not to test so often and that is rare for you to tell me. She got a laugh out of it because that is what she told me before too. It is so nice to be able to talk to experienced people on here and makes me feel so much less stress. I will hopefully be able to help others out eventually too. I also bought some bone broth for him but then realized it has squash and carrots cooked in it so I will have to make my own. I definitely want to put some of that on his food to help him enjoy it more and it will help with is ibd. If anyone has experience with that please let me know. I have made some for my son and bought store bought although he isn't real fond of it. I put it in soups to get him to eat it. I think Noah would love it. I am going to order from a local farmer and they sell bones to make broth out of so if I can't buy it for him I will make some. I am hoping for less flare ups for him.
I think the level you are testing now is good - all the pre-shots, and a couple of mid-cycles, Plus it looks like you're sleeping more now which is so important. The mid-cycles let you know if the dose is sufficient, so they are important, but a couple is usually enough - getting a test every hour or two is only necessary when things are going sideways for some reason. It does look like Noah is going to need more insulin, but moving up slowly like this will hopefully keep his numbers from getting too bouncy. My hunch is he's going to be a kitty that throws surprise numbers from time to time, but hopefully the slow steady changes will help. Each meter brand uses their own test strips - they aren't interchangeable (for the most part), so you'll want to look at which meters you have and see how much their proprietary strips cost. Hopefully you'll be able to easily find a match. It's great to hear that Noah's labs are all looking so good! And to hear that you have help at home! That bone broth should be fine as long as it doesn't have onions or garlic. Squash and carrots are both okay for cats. Although homemade is always good too!
