I'm new to this...

Hi! My name is Jenny and my 12 year old cat, Lulu, was diagnosed with diabetes in January. After many trips to the vet to get her regulated, we finally settled on 7 units of Vetsulin, twice a day. She's appeared to be fine...until two nights ago. Around midnight, when I was getting ready for bed, I noticed as she was eating, she couldn't hold herself up and kept falling down or into the bowl. When she walked away, she was swaying and having problems staying upright. I immediately picked her up and put maple syrup on her gums, but it didn't seem to do much. I rushed her to the 24hr vet and they kept her overnight. When I brought her in, they said she had a bg of 31. Very low. After I picked her up the next morning, I brought her straight to my normal vet who couldn't really answer why she had low blood sugar. He suggested I reduce her insulin to 5 units and to buy a glucometer. I did and tried to use it today a few times. I have read so many articles and have seen so many videos of people testing their cats and they make it seem so easy! It's not. Maybe it will get better in time, but I am sad and frustrated right now. It makes sense to actually see the numbers before I give her insulin, but I don't know if the readings I get are accurate. I also work during the week and can't test her four times a day. I am feeling overwhelmed and bad for Lulu. I want her to be happy and feel good and I don't know that I am doing enough. Sorry for the long story, but I appreciate the forum! I'm glad I found this site!

 

Welcome Jenny and Lulu! Glad to see you here.

Let's see if I can address a couple of things here first, but I urgently need you to post your issues and questions either on the specific insulin forum - there's one for vetsulin, or for right now the main health forums where more people will see your posts.

You can do this! And we can help with any troubleshooting you need when it comes to home testing.
@JanetNJ has a fabulous informative video showing and explaining home testing, it is worth a watch!

7 units of insulin is waaaay too much, I'm not surprised Lulu hypoed on that, 5 is still far far far too much (yes I typed far 3 times) the usual starting dose is 1 Unit. This gives most kitties a safe dose until you have a baseline to work from.
Please ask for dosing help on the vetsulin or main Heath forums.

Any and all bg levels at the vets will be affected by stress and do not give a true reading. This is why home testing is really important. But you are off to a good start, you have a meter and now you just need to train kitty to accept it. I thought this was the most frustrating thing about the whole diabetes thing, my cat would give me such a hard time. Now she purrs while I test, I didn't ever think that was going to happen! If Tempest (my kitty) can learn and I did, you can do, with a little practice.

Don't worry you can organise a schedule that will work for you, as long as you know amps bg and pmps bg and then do curves at the weekend. I can't go into too much detail right now as Ive to go to work but other people will hop on and please get posting on the main forums I've suggested. All the jargon will be explained.

I really wouldn't give Lulu any more insulin right now until you have some more dose advice from the folk on here.

Sorry if this is so rushed! I have to run. We can get there so please try not to stress.

 

Just a quick hello and welcome to the forum.

As Tempestsmum has already stated 7 units of Vetsulin is FAR FAR too much to start with. The usual starting dose of Vetsulin for kitties is 1 to 2 units twice a day. There is another lady who just started her kitty on Caninsulin which is the name used for Vetsulin in Canada, the UK and some other countries, at 8 units. The members on here informed her that the dose was too high but her vet insisted it was correct. Luckily she took the advice of the experienced people on here who live and breathe feline diabetes 24/7, dropped the dose to 1 unit twice a day and started home testing. Yesterday was her first day home testing and her kitty even dropped low on the 1 unit dosing. An overdose of any type of insulin can put a kitty into a dangerous or even deadly hypo. which if not fatal can be expensive for the treatment. Unfortunately we are seeing far too many kitties being prescribed FAR too high a starting dose recently.

Home testing can seem overwhelming, but it can be done...it just takes some time and practice to get it in place. I remember when my first kitty was diagnosed with FD and I tried home testing. I was crying my eyes out and my kitty was screaming, A little time and patience and the help and suggestions from the wonderful members here and within a week or so it had become part of the daily routine, When my second kitty was diagnosed, it was a bit more of a struggle, since she is more resistant to being tested, but even with her it fell into place quickly.


Home testing is one of the most important things you can do to keep your kitty safe. This link has some great tips on home testing:

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


This link has important information on dealing with a hypo:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/


It is very overwhelming in the beginning when your furbaby is first diagnosed with FD, but this is an amazing community of helpful and knowledgeable people who can offer the wisdom of experience and the moral support as you start this journey.

Please post on the Health forum with ANY questions you have:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

You can also post on the Vetsulin forum to connect with other experienced Vestulin users:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/caninsulin-vetsulin-and-n-nph.19/


For the safety of your kitty please don not even give 5 units of Vetsulin at this point. That is still FAR too high.


@JanetNJ @Yong @Kris & Teasel @Elizabeth and Bertie @Diana&Tom

 

Hai Jenny!
Im the lady whose vet last week prescribed the huge dose of 8IU...I questioned the dose as I read the info provided here by other vets and Vetinsulin, then asked othershere their input, which was of corse DONT GIVE IT TO HIM! We are so ingrained to believe our drs and especially our pets drs. that they ALWAYS know what they are talking about which is def not the case I have found. I even asked another online vet who didnt like to disagree w/ another vets diagnoses but was willing to say said she had NEVER heard of especially newly diagnosed cats to be put on such a high dose! So after much agonising, and learning it is WAY better to start low doses and slowly move up, I started Casey on a much lower dose.
It IS so overwhelming at 1st cos everything is so new to us, we dont know squat and we are afraid of sticking sharp things into our kitties. But I got a meter ,28G lancets and started home testing cos I knew it was the best way for me to know how Casey is doing.Yesterday was a trial by fire for me as casey barfed not long after eating and getting his insulin and his BG dropped alot, but the awesome people here walked me thru it practially minute by minute which kept me from panicing! The good thing about it tho was I am feeling WAY more confident about all of this now and know everything will be ok as long as I know how Casey is doing. I must have poked the poor guys ear about 12 times over the day but he was awesome about it ( I do wrap him in a towel between my knees when I poke his ears,it seems to calm him and inspite of the bit of blood doesnt bother him.He is already getting used to the routine) I then give him his food or a small treat.
Everything will be ok for you and LuLu as you work thru the newness of home testing and so glad this site is here also!Big Hugs

 

Hi... I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC.

I know it's hard to get those first few tests as their ears haven't learned to bleed yet.


What meter do to have? And what size lancets? I am asking because if the lancets are a higher number (making them smaller) then 28 it makes it harder to get a sample. Some meters require more blood then others. You want a meter that requires a tiny 0.3 sample


DON'T GIVE 5 UNITS.... IT'S NOT MUCH BETTER THEN 7!!! WHICH IS A CRAZY NUMBER that only a small number of cats with a disorder called acromegaly will ever need.

I would give no more then 2 units. If it were my cat I would be go back to 1 unit until you have data then raise it be no more than a half unit at a time after testing.

So to get the sample you want to poke the sweet spot.... Rub the ear first, and don't be afraid to poke all the way through.

 

I completely agree with what has been said here - please DO NOT give 5 units of Vetsulin to your kitty. I would give no more than 2 u and get a testing routine underway now.

 

Welcome Jenny and Lulu!
We'll be glad to help you keep Lulu safe! Come on over to Main Health forum and post any questions