Howdy I'm Nan and my cat is JJ

JJ is 14 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes in June. He is my son's cat and my son is away at college. I am no stranger to diabetes because JJ's dad (my son) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2006. JJ was doing fine until yesterday. Now I'm nervous about him like I was with my son when his BG was uncontrolled. I am excited to be here for both JJ and I. Looking forward to getting and sharing advice.

 

Welcome! What happened yesterday?

Start by reading and asking questions. What insulin is JJ getting? What dose? We advocate home-testing using a human glucometer - it's cheaper than a pet specific one. Low carb canned food is another strong recommendation.

 

Welcome Nan and JJ. Are you home testing JJ's glucose levels? That will help you get him regulated quicker. You can use any human glucometer ( I got mine at Walmart). What kind and how much insulin is he on? Also, What are you feeding? As Debby said, a low carb, canned food is best. But if you're not already feeding that, make sure you are testing JJ's BG before you switch, because it can lower glucose significantly. Again, welcome, and keep us posted.

 

Yesterday he collapsed on the floor and I did the old scoop and go (to the vet's office) His BG was 29! He stayed the night to get his BG and electrolytes back in balance.
I haven't been home testing; however, I've read some of the posts and I believe I'll start. I have a One touch Ultra Mini left from when my son went off to college. I'm a little confused about what is a good range for a kitty.
He is using ProZinc insulin and was taking 3 units at 7a and 7p. When I picked him up this morning the vet said to give him 1 unit. He is eating canned Royal Canin glucobalance. Do y'all feed your kitties 2 or 3 times a day? I have been extremely careful that he eat and get shots at the same time every day. The vet said he may not need insulin anymore because he has lost weight and of course yesterday's crash. I do feel at the mercy of nature not monitoring him at home. Do you adjust insulin based on pre meal BG and amount of food eaten? I look forward to being more in control of his health.

 

Guess I messed that up . I'll do better in the future

 

It sounds like 3 units was definitely too much. If you have access to your son's meter, you can use it. If not, lots of people use the ReliOn from Walmart as it is the least expensive. Here are some links on hometesting:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Two things that helped us were using large enough lancets (30/31 gauge works for humans;25-27 gauge may work better for your cat). And warming the ear.

We put together a protocol for ProZinc. It's in blue in my signature.

Let us know how we can help.

 

Wow Nan that was scary! Glad JJ's ok. I'm new here, so I'm not going to give any dosing advice, but we always take a reading in the AM before feeding and in the PM before feeding. Then try to get some mid cycle tests to see how low he goes. Since you are using Prozinc(I am too) you can post on the ProZinc forum where there are several members, like Sue, who know a lot about that insulin and how it works(do check out the protocol in her signature) They can give you dosing help. It's great that you are going to start home testing. That is very important!

 

Glad he's OK. Hope you're doing better, too (slow, deep breathing may help!)
Normal for a cat, using a human glucometer is 40-120 mg/dL. For a cat on insulin, we nudge that up by 10 to 50-130 mg/dL, for a bit of a safety buffer.
For new folks, we suggest you not give insulin below a pre-insulin test (pre-shot test) of 200 mg/dL. As you collect test data, that number may be lowered to 150 mg/dL.
You want the lowest glucose between shots to stay above 50 mg/dL, as you know that hypoglycemia is bad. Have on hand some Karo or other syrup, so that if you ever encounter a problem like that again, you can get some quick carbs into him.