Intro: Sonni -- need help

Hi, all: My Sonni girl has to be on 10 mg daily prednisolone for IBD (for a year and a
half), and a few months ago converted to steroid induced diabetes. With a
drastic change in diet (all wet, no grain, soy, or gluten) it was reversed in
both blood and urine in a week. I've been watching her like a hawk for any
signs since then, and have had her BG checked regularly -- it's been fine. However, today, she just peed
to the point of flooding the box -- and I mean really. It went through the
liner, soaked all of the litter, was literally standing liquid. Also, my husband and I have thought she seemed more lethargic and kind of acting depressed the last couple of days. I quickly
called the vet and am taking her in at 8 a.m. in the morning. What tests should I ask for? I should fast her, right? For how long?

Also, Sonni has gained a lot of weight since being on pred, and weighs around 18 pounds. I've started her on a diet of 300 calories a day for the last week, and have ordered a scale so I can keep track of whether or not that's helping her to lose weight.

Thanks for any help and support. I feel like the world is crashing around my
feet. I'm terrified of the IBD and I'm terrified of diabetes. If she has diabetes for real this time,
she still has to be on pred. What on earth will I do? Please, pleae help me.

Kat

 

Hi there and welcome!

There is no need to be upset; feline diabetes is very treatable. You can keep her on the steroids if that is what keeps her IBD under control, you just need to treat her diabetes as well. Insulin is your best choice, preferably lantus. See the fdmb faq further up in this forum for more info, and come on back!

 

Kat is this you frpm FAR? Its hillary and sydney. Do you have my phone number from our email exchanges. Give me a call I will be by around 545 and let's talk. And maybe I can return the favor and help you.

 

Hi Kat! This is Kelly and Oscar from FAR also!

I am sorry to hear that Sonni isn't doing well! If she is peeing a lot all of a sudden, then I would definitely suspect diabetes. Full blood work will be in order - but if you can get a glucose meter tonight and test her blood at home you can get a better idea of where she is at without the vet stress that we talked about before.

Both Oscar and Yoda just switched to Lantus, and it is the most popular insulin here on the board.

Remember - BREATHE!!!!!! Everything will be ok! There are beans on this board that have to use pred for diabetic kitties. It isn't the most optimal option, but it is definitely doable!

 

There are other meds beside prednisone that you can try for the IBD. I'd consider starting with budesonide.

 

Just saw the rest of your questions lol. Yes, try to fast her for about 8 hours before the blood work. I know she gets meals every 4 hours for the IBD, so if it has to be a 4 hour fast, then so be it. Good thing is that wet food is processed a little quicker than dry, so that is on your side. The fasting isn't so much for the glucose values as it is for other things in the blood work (cholesterol maybe?).

If you do go out and get a glucose meter tonight, also pick up some ketostixs from the pharmacy. They are cheap and that will see if she has any ketones that you may have to worry about. I would only worry about testing her urine for ketones if her glucose is elevated, but if you are already there you might as well pick them up too since they are pretty cheap.

 

We tried Bude but it didn't keep the IBD symptoms controlled.

I'm a nervous wreck, but I think I'm going to not give her the 4 a.m. snack so she'll have been fasted for a good 8 hours or so.

Thanks so much for the support, I may be leaning pretty hard on all of you.

Kat

 

Hi, Hillary -- yes, this is me. I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to use this board!!! This is so different from yahoo, I'm not sure how to navigate anything.

You need to post an update on Syd on FAR, I've been wondering how she is! I'm sure glad you're here, well, not glad that you have to be here. But, glad that you and Kelly are here to hold my hand if I need it. I'm pretty worried.

Kat

 

I think it depends on what tests are going to be done. I need to fast Shadoe before blood draws because she always shows a positive for lipemia, fat in blood I think, and it can mess up some test results.

 

Hi, Gayle -- so to be on the safe side perhaps I should fast her for 8 hours or so? What do you think?

I'm so clueless as to anything diabetes related.

Kat

 

I'm on my way to work, and will post more there - but I don't think you need to fast her for the vet.

Also, what I know about steroids, they can make someone gain weight, so reducing her food isn't the best thing to do, because the weight gain is from the steroid not the food and she may need more food if she is diabetic, as her body isn't processing things correctly.

I'll post more in a bit and give a syd update (she's doing well, the same) - and if you want to talk, happy to do so as well. sometimes it helps to talk vs write.

 

I've been waiting in anticipation! How did the vet visit go this morning?!?!?

 

It's looking like it may be tomorrow before we get the test results. aarrggghhhhh.........

Kat

 

Re: Sonni's results are in

Sonni's BG is 301, which is a higher than it was a couple of months ago(was 250). We're doing a urine glucose on Tuesday.

Sonni has been on daily 10 mg prednisolone for a year and a half for IBD, and we haven't been able reduce it or use another type of steroid without the symptoms becoming problematic. I feed her only all wet, grain free food.

What do you think about this level? How should I proceed? I'm interested in any thoughts you might have.

Thanks so much,

Kat

 

You know what? You guys have to teach me how to test her BG at home. What if it's high because of stress at the vet? Sonni freaks out when she goes to the vet. I have no earthly idea of how to do this at home!! I'm completely clueless and scared on top of it.

Kat

 

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read your post above this. I wouldn't rely on a urine glucose test. Check out this link from the FD main page:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-test.htm

This YouTube video also details how to home test too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8

It should give you the basics of how to home test and where to poke. The cheapest/best meter and strips are the Walmart Relion brand. The Micro/Confirm meters from Relion take the smallest amount of blood. Many others here use other human meters just as well, but they are more expensive if you don't use a free meter program and the strips are expensive in the stores (most buy online or on ebay). I personally use the Relion Confirm meter with good results!

 

Re: Intro: Sonni -- WE DID IT!!

It took us about 10 minutes and several pricks, but we got a drop of blood into the meter and it was 221, as opposed to the vet's reading of 301 -- big difference. We're going to do it a few times today to get a good idea of what we're dealing with, but I'd say that's pretty good news, and I can't imagine that she wasn't getting a little stressed out since Alan and I turned into Wayne and Garth trying to get it done. The videos we watched show doing it on the rim of the outside of the ear, but her fur is so black and thick that it was impossible to get the blood onto the meter strip. After several failed attempts, I went for the inside rim of the ear, and voila -- success.

So, what do you make of a 221 BG reading?

HIllary, thanks a million for walking us through the steps, yesterday.

Kat

 

One trick is to smear a very time amount of vaseline on the target area for the poke.

Just smear a very little bit on the area...wipe it off. The hair should just look a bit greasy.

This helps the blood drop to bead up instead of soaking into the fur.

 

221 is not too bad a number, but it is still a diabetic number. My guess is you will need to start off with a small dose, like 0.5u of insulin and go from there. Have you talked to your vet yet about insulin options? If you can do a constant 12 hour shot schedule, then Lantus is a great choice. If you need more flexibility in timing, then prozinc is a good choice.

 

Sonni has diabetes, and we're beginning insulin on Friday. We're going with Prozinc, which is made for cats and has a very high success rate. Have any of you used it? My vet thinks that it's the best thing for Sonni with all of her health issues.

Kat

 

Oscar was on ProZinc for 4 months. We just switched to Lantus to see if that will work better for him. There have been many kitties that have gone into remission while using prozinc. The good thing about it is the flexibility it allows you in shot times and dosing. There is a PZI insulin support group that ProZinc falls under. You can post there at any time to get prozinc specific advice. What dose did your vet start Sonni on?