Introducing Silver and his caregiver Judy

Hi new to the forum and feline diabetes! My 16 year old cat, Silver, was very recently diagnosed. I am trying to take it all in and do what's best for him. Silver was my moms cat until she passed away in 2007. My daughter welcomed him into her home with open arms. It was noted that Silver was drinking a LOT of water and urinating a LOT! A vet appointment was made along with the diagnosis. The vet also stated that he may be in the early stages of renal failure due to his kidney values but because of his high glucose levels he wanted to wait and recheck the kidney values at a later time. Since the diagnosis on 5/4, Silver has been welcomed into my home so I can manage and hopefully get him healthy again. Well that's our story in a nutshell. I am confident that with your support you will walk me through this journey and I thank you in advance for that! Silver has had a wonderful life...he is deaf and very arthritic but still is the most loving cat to all. He appears very healthy thankfully. He is great for his insulin injections and tolerating my attempts at getting blood glucose (which I am not doing well at and have a lot of learning to do). I'm trying to stay positive!

 

Welcome to you and Silver What kind of insulin is he on?

 

He is on Prozinc, 2 units every 12 hours. His initial Glucose was 669 (5/4) and the 2 BG readings I have been able to get were 358 (5/7) and 449(5/8). Both reading were before his dinner. He was still eating some dry food with the 2 most recent readings.

 

Hi, welcome to you and Silver! There is a lot to learn, but there are lots of very knowledgable people here to help you, and in a short time you'll get a good routine going. If you haven't already, go to the ProZinc forum and read the stickies
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
You may also want to post there with any questions about dosing. Any other health question can be asked on the health forum. In the meantime, we'd love to see a pic of Silver!

 

Hello and welcome

 

Since you've started home testing, can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning, pre-shot, test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening, pre-shot, test)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

The nadir is the lowest glucose between shots. There is a general period when it will happen which is specific to the insulin being used and testing then helps make sure your cat doesn't go too low.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

 

I was able to navigate the spreadsheet thanks. I'm at a bit of a standstill here as I was having difficulty getting a BG so I decided to give his ears a rest after checking them with a flashlight and noticed there were several areas of blood that had pooled inside from my failed attempts. I also ordered 28g lancets. I was using what I had on hand which were 30g and although I was able to gather 2 readings I probably attempted to get about 8 total readings I am also scheduled with my previous vet for a consultation about Silver and his diabetes diagnosis, I will review the current vets lab work and treatment plan and then figure out where we go from here including possibly scheduling a glucose curve. I had a conversation with my current vet today after calling to speak to him on Monday and the few questions that I had were really not addressed and I realize that we may not be on the same page.

 

The bigger lancets will definately help, the 30g that came with the meter were no good at first. I went to walmart and bought a box of 100 26g for less then $2 and they really worked well. We are back up to the 30g now without a problem The 30g are even cheaper, a box of 200 for $3 if you want to go back to a smaller size once you can get the hang of it and Silver's ears start getting some capillaries

 

Do your best. The ears develop new capillaries over time and will bleed more freely once they do.
Also, notes about dehydration, GI upsets, and food and water intake and output provide some good context for understanding what is happening.

 

A quick update..... Silver is doing really well and so am I! His BG has been dropping now that he is on a completely Fancy Feast Classic diet. In fact I have only given him 1 unit of Prozinc since 5/15. His BG has been as low as 60 and pretty stable around 159 without dispensing insulin. I just don't feel comfortable giving him insulin when his numbers are in that range. He has come down from an initial BG of 669, to in the 400"s and 300's to a pretty consistent mid 100's. He is drinking about 2/3's less water and the same with significantly reduced urinating. We have gotten very good with the ear testing and he is happy to have a treat afterwards

We also had our appointment with my previous vet (didn't seem to be on the same communication page as the vet he was diagnosed at). She was very pleased with what was going on with his BG and reaffirmed that withholding the insulin was ok if I was not comfortable dispensing it at current BG levels. She didn't feel he needed a glucose curve yesterday since I just did one at home on Saturday. She reviewed all of my records and was confident that we will be able to manage Silver with communicating over the phone unless I had concerns and he needed to be seen. She was also comfortable with me doing another glucose curve in the next week or so at my house so he wouldn't be stressed. All in all it was a great appointment with great communication and that is what I was hoping for.

Here are a few of his current readings:
5/15 pm 60
5/16 am 127
5/16 pm 176
5/17 am 250 1U injected
5/17 pm 159
5/18 am 163

If you have any suggestions on what I could be doing differently please let me know. Thanks for all the input it has really helped me get through this diagnosis.

 

Yay Silver!!!! Hes doing so well