Introducing Stanley :)

Hi Everyone, please meet my beautiful old boy Stanley!

Stanley is a gorgeous gentleman, who is around 19/20 years old, but he still acts like a young lad. We run a small rescue in the UK and have lots of special needs cats and dogs with lots of oldies. Stanley was left along with his siblings by his previous owners were going to 'relocate' them, (dump them many miles away to fend for themselves) of-course we could not let that happen. Stanley has mostly been an outside cat in a very rural area and has had an active life, he started to come into the house more regularly as he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism (well controlled at the moment) and a heart murmur. Since then he is mostly an indoor cat who likes a roam out and about in the morning! the rest of the day is snoozing on the bed, of-course!

He has been going through a lot at the moment but despite everything he is an active, affectionate, playful happy boy and Im just hoping I can get his diabetes back under control as he seems to be everywhere at the moment with his bg tests.

Around last February he became quite ill, lethargic, not eating and a bit wobbly on his back legs, he collapsed in my arms and I rushed him to the vets. He was very yellow (eyes and skin) and his blood tests showed his liver enzymes to be really high, and possibly pancreatitis was suspected, however he was not really coming round with the treatment, IV drip, antibiotics. I asked them to test for diabetes too at the same time as the pancreatitis, which they did but said his glucose was high but not that high. The frusemide test came back as borderline diabetic (hope that makes sense!) he was at the very low level. Anyway seeing as he wasn't responding to any other treatment and getting worse they started him on a very low level of insulin and were not very hopeful, preparing me for the worst. However after a few days he made a full recovery, despite the odds!!

He came home after four days at the vets, and I was armed with insulin (caninsulin), syringes etc. At this point I was not advised at all on diet, it was just to feed him anything he would eat and anytime. I think they were mainly worried about the pancreatitis.

So he made an amazing recovery!!! We increased the insulin to 2 units and then dropped it down to 1.5 after some home testing. He has been really well managed, and just surprised us all how well he has been. He has put on weight and looks really good. Although he has always maintained his weight, I have been struggling with the right food for him. Once his pancreatitis seem to have settled I gradually put him on a diabetic food, however we have a ckd cat here who needs his renal food, and they are used to free grazing. So no doubt this has been messing with his diabetes ,as he will always try and eat the renal food and the ckd cat always wants the diabetic food!!! Despite all this he seems to have been really well managed, with great bg results.

However late August his BG levels seemed to be creeping back up. I called the vet worried, they said he might just of had an infection or been stressed. However the figures kept creeping up, although he was fine in himself, you would not have known there is anything wrong with him. The only thing that gives it away when he is high is that he paws at the water and spills it everywhere, always an alarm bell that something is going on. Also a month before he had full bloods done and frusemide and all was good, only thing is he was going a little low so needed to keep an eye on that.

So the vets gave me antibiotics for him to see if that would help, he had no temperature though. We went through the course of antibiotics and no real improvement. In the end he was getting so high the vets admitted him for tests and put him on a drip. They could not find anything obvious with him and were also getting the same BG results as me.

They did full bloods, ultrasound, blood pressure, checked thyroid levels. Only thing is that it looked like he had mild pancreatitis, so we treated him with a probiotic for that for a few days. He seemed to be coming down and BG tests were going lower, actually they were going so low that we skipped a few days and was worried he was going hypo. We reduced his shots to 0.5 units from 2.5, and things seemed to be slowly getting a little better with careful monitoring. Since last week though he has shot up again to high 30's. Im at a loss, and I feel the vets are too!! I suggested changing insulin a while ago but they wanted to do things slowly as he did seem to be responding to the caninsulin, and didnt want to change too many things as we had altered his dosage a few times and possibly too quickly.

So now I have prozink. Which Im going to start tomorrow morning. He is currently on 1 unit of the caninsulin, but my vet wants to put him on 0.5 to start with. Id appreciate any advice on this, as he is going so high, Im worried it wont be enough and its another change in dose, or is that what is normally recommended when starting a new insulin to start low?

Apologies for the really long intro!!! I just wanted to give you all the history ;-) Im sure Ive missed something, and I know you cant really advise without seeing his spreadsheet so Ill get on with filling that out now, there are just so many tests to input! Thankfully Stan is very tolerant of me testing him, thank goodness!! Im not sure what I'd do if it was one of my more fiesty cats.

Thanks so much again and for all of your advice on this forum. xx




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Welcome, and thank you for taking in Stan and the other cats.

Please post your story and concerns in the Health Forum where more eyes can see it.
I'm tagging @Kate & Toby and @Georgiana & Perlutz both of whom are in the UK and use Prozinc so they can watch out for your post. Also @Diana&Tom and @Elizabeth and Bertie in the UK.

Here is the link for a signature and the spreadsheet instructions. If you have any problems, let us know. We have people who can set it up quickly and easily.

• Creating a FDMB Profile
• Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

• FDMB Spreadsheet Instructions
• Understanding the Spreadsheet/Grid

Also, these readings may be of interest.

United Kingdom

• Food, Insulin, and Other Supplies
• Article on Pancreatitis for those in the UK

Stanley is a very handsome ginger. I'm glad he has such a supportive home.

 

Hi Tania and Stanley, welcome to FDMB. You are an extraordinary person to care for these wonderful little creatures and run your rescue operation. Thank you!!

Stanely sounds like a very special little guy, and he really is very handsome. I am so very glad you found FDMB and are here to get as much information, advice and support as possible as you navigate the wonderful world of feline diabetes.

You are entirely correct about getting the insulin and testing data entered into the spreadsheet so that the experienced members can review and then advise. I think the first order of business would be to get the insulin and testing data down, link the spreadsheet to the signature (instructions below) and then fill in the lab report information.

Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the country/time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

The sooner we can see the insulin and testing data, the sooner we can get eyes on and input your way.

I also think it might be very helpful if you would copy your message above and go to the Personal Details area (the menu that has the Signature in it) and paste it. That way that info is right there in your profile so that anyone can find it easily and review the history. You can edit it, condense it or just leave it be, whatever you think needs to be there, needs to be there.

We have some wonderful members that live in the UK, and they can also advise about diet, etc..however you can take a look at this link for info too:
United Kingdom

• Food, Insulin, and Other Supplies
• Article on Pancreatitis for those in the UK

Going forward, I would like to have you create a new thread in the Main Health forum HERE. This Introduction forum is only the welcome mat and more members monitor the Health forum so that they can be of assistance.

You have already done so well for Stanley, he is a very lucky fur person to have a caring loving person taking care of him.

When you have a minute..and I know your spare minutes must be at a premium, please visit the Prozinc Insulin Support Group forum HERE, and read about Prozinc, how it works and get information on how best to proceed.

Very best wishes going forward. I will be watching and following Stanley's progress.

When you get your new thread going in the Health forum, we can tag experienced Prozinc users and other UK members for extra support.

 

Oh thank you so much, that is so kind of you!!Im just inputting all his bg tests which is taking a bit of time, but it is really great to see all my results in one place you can get a much better idea of how he has been doing, and I realise he was going really low when he was first diagnosed, I feel like I was a little clueless about everything. Hopefully I can change that now and with all your wonderful advice I hope we can help my special handsome boy. Thank you again for your kind comments, I really just want to do my best for all of them and learn as much as I can, so I am armed with all the tools to give them the best life possible, they deserve it after the bad starts they have had.I used to have a diabetic dog, who was very easy to manage, but I realise from your forum I have SO much to learn. Thanks again and for the links, Ill keep on going with my spread sheet, should be uploaded tomorrow (pending no animal emergencies), and repost this in the health forum. All the Best from Stan x

 

Tania, most of us were definitely clueless when we arrived, so join the club and here's a shirt! Seeing the BG numbers on the color coded grid of the spreadsheet will give you a whole new picture of what's been happening. You are on the right path to helping your "special handsome boy". The tools are here and this is a wonderful community of very supportive and kitty loving members.

 

Hi Tania, just a quick hello from a rather dreary southern England to welcome you to the board - you'll get all the help you need here for your special boy and we look forward to helping you along the journey! Read, read, read, and ask as many questions as you like (no such thing as a "silly" question!)

Very best of luck!

 

Hi Tania, a warm UK welcome from me too, what a lucky boy Stanley is to have you.

You sound like you are totally on it with home testing and food etc, but do ask away if we can help at all we will.

Toby has been on Prozinc a while, it is a much better insulin than caninsulin, whilst the starting dose might seem too low, try and stick with it and get in as many tests as you can in between shots, Prozinc usually starts to work at +2 to +4 so this is when you want to get in some tests to see how low he goes, we adjust dose on the low number not the pre shot number. It is important to hold each dose for 3 days (6 cycles) to understand it's full effect. Then increases are made in 0.25iu at a time, its important not to jump too much as you could skip over the perfect dose.

Any questions ask away, and stick around, you wont find a better resource on the web for our sugar kitties.

 

I think you’ll find prozinc to be a better insulin. Longer lasting and not quite as harsh.
If the cats will continue to eat from each other’s bowls my best suggestion is to get them both on a food that is both low carb and low phosphorous.

i know you are in the UK so I can’t suggest food that I know, but check the list. My cat is both ckd and diabetic so I fed her a low carb/lower phosphorous food called tiki cat.

 

Thank you from dreary Wales!! Im reading as much as I can, as time permits!! Im sure I will have many questions.... x

 

Hi again everyone, thank you for all your support, I have changed my signature and added in my spread sheet...I hope all is correct please let me know if there is anything I need to change and Ill copy over to the health and pro zinc threads too. As you can see his readings are all over the place but the past week he has been really high. Before that really low, I feel such a bad mum as when he was first diagnosed the vet said as long as he is between 3 - 10 she is happy. No mention of not giving insulin at below 11, that is something that they only just mentioned to me. Although I should have done my own research, and not relied on them. It's hard with so ,any animals here to look after, I have emailed test results and etc and always called them if he got too low. At first they started at 0.5 then I think they changed it to 1, when he was discharged they said give him 2. When he started to go too low, we changed to 1.5 which he had been on for 6 months until he started to go high. My worry is that he has been going so low...I hope this has not done any long term damage and now he is going too high. I know in September they pushed him up one unit which should have been a gradual change so he is bouncing everywhere, poor boy. Yet thankfully all his bloods have been normal and frusemide test in June said it was well managed. Hopefully now I understand things better, I can manage things better and not reply on the vets so much. Thank you again xx

 

I really hope so!! Day one of using it so lets hope it keeps him stable for longer, not sure why this was not the first choice of insulin for him as seems it is more suitable for cats. Thats a great idea, I keep looking at the UK food list and trying different foods (with observation) The vet said Stan is also very low CKD so I think will be good for him too. Will have another look at that list. Thank you xx

 

Ah Thank you, your all so kind!!! Im not sure Im on it, Im yet to sort the food issue out, its really hard. Especially transferring him on wet food all the time, alas Im trying!! Home testing he is an angel, Im so lucky that he is so good, although getting a little irritated recently, I think his ears have had enough ;-)

Ok great thanks for your advice about the pro Zinc, from doing his chart it seems like the caninsulin is not lasting very long with him, so Im praying we see a result from this and there is nothing more sinister going on with him. Ill keep testing him of course, will keep the sheet updated and paws crossed. I was just a little worried about reducing his dose again as he has had too many changes recently and not slow changes either....not surprising it has effected him. I think my vet was unsure if we go in on one unit (as we have been doing the past week with caninsulin) or go back down to .5, she obviously felt it would be safer to start low...) thanks for the reassurance. Really really appreciate it xxxx

 

Thank you for your lovely welcome and your kind words, it means a lot to have your support. Sadly we have several cats with various illness and dogs so it's a full on job looking after them all. But they give you so much back, its worth it!!! Ill try and keep everything up to date as possible but if you don't hear from me straight away Ill be dealing with other animal issues / jobs, but will check in as much as poss. Hopefully I have uploaded my spreadsheet and signature. I need to get some blood test results from my vets (which might take a while) and add a few notes and his current weight, but let me know if there is anything else. Thank you again xxx