Just started insulin - Some questions

When I discovered that Spork might possibly be diabetic, I went out and bought a glucometer and started testing. I didn't get much, but it looked like he was usually in the high 200's and low 300's, with the occasional outlier.

He eats 1/2 can of Hills MD before the shot, and free fed dry MD during the day. I leave only 1/4 cup of dry food out after the PMPS test, hoping it will be gone before the AMPS test. Food is removed 2 hours before PMPS test.

The dose we chose to start with is 1U of 40U ProZinc twice a day.

It seems like as soon as we started insulin, he was conisistenly 300+ and even 500+ for the AMPS! Is this normal? I texted my vet and she said to wait it out. His AMPS does seem a bit better, but he is still consistently 300+ during the day. He does drop to high 200's at around +2, but then rises again.

Does he just need more time to get regulated?
I am planning on switching him to better food (FF and Dr. Elseys dry), should I wait a bit or start now?
Should I increase his dose? I feel like I should switch his food first, am I right?

 

It's not unusual for a cat to be erratic when first going on insulin. Having said that, it's possible that he's reacting to the high carb level in the food and/or the 1unit dose is too low (or too high causing bouncing). Fancy Feast and Friskies pates are fine to feed. I know that the Dr. Elsey's is new and is supposed to be low carb. I would recommend a food changeover now - slowly, of course, to reduce GI effects. This will allow you to monitor BG as you go and catch any unforeseen lows. Depending on what happens once the food change is complete you can address dosing.

Congratulations on home testing! You'll be able to keep him safe.

 

Spork is a handsome lad! How did he come by his name?

 

I went out and bought some FF today, also just ordered Dr. Elseys so not sure when it will get here. How much should I expect his BG to drop? Do I still continue with 1U of insulin?

It's not that its erratic, it's actually the fact that it's the opposite. He is higher than before he started insulin, and isn't coming down from it. I've been trying check his BG as much as I can for drops that cause a bounce, but I don't see anything . Could it just be because he isn't used to the insulin? His next dose will be the 11th cycle.


He surprisingly doesn't have a crazy story to go with his name, haha. One day I opened the door to my house and he just walked in and flopped on the couch. This was a daily occurrence for about a week, until my dad finally allowed us to keep him. But what would we name him? I came up with the usual, normal, names like Max or Stripes. Dad denied all of them and sarcastically said, "Why don't we just call him Spork, since he is so dog-like?" and it stuck. Turns out he was actually the neighbors cat, and his name was Linus. Honestly, Linus fits him more, but we had been calling him Spork for so long there was no going back on it.

 

If he's higher on insulin it's possible his dose is too high and is triggering bouncing. It's a protective overreaction to low BG whereby physiologic processes act to dump glucose into the bloodstream from forms in which it's stored in the liver, etc. Complex process but it can overdo the protective response and drive the BG too high. There's no way to know without more data.

You could start the switch to FF now but make sure to test. The +2 test is often a good indicator of where he might be headed.

 

As far as how much it may drop with the food change... "every cat is different", but in my case, switching from high-carb dry to low-carb wet immediately caused about a 200 point difference at certain points in her cycle! She was high enough to begin with though that it didn't put her into hypo or anything, and I just monitored her closely. Not saying your cat will necessarily have the same response, but just wanted to reassure you a little that diet may be a huge factor in higher readings, and diet is changeable.

Edit: It may be worth noting that my cat seems to be especially carb sensitive, so food is a huge huge deal in her personal case.

 

Yep switching the food could cause quite a drop! It's good to do that and then, as you montor and see where he is going, decide on if the dose needs to change.

 

Thank you everyone! I gave him a can of FF at +9 and removed all dry food, to see if it would affect his PMPS test. Test came out at 273 so I gave him another can and his full 1U dose. We will see where he goes!

 

Hope it goes well! I see in your notes that you had trouble getting his ears to bleed. Have you tried a rice sock? Just put a little rice in a sock and zap it in the microwave for a little bit until it's warm, and rub that on the ears until they're warmer to the touch. I was struggling until I read about that here, because it's often chilly where I am. It's helped a ton.

 

I'd never seen that video before but am glad I have now. I was feeling bad about the hair thinning on Freya's ears since the testing. I don't feel so bad now after seeing Peanut has some thinning hair too! Maybe I'm not a horrible ear-ruining monster after all.

 

I did a few times, but I think I've gotten the hang of it now . I saw a few videos of how to do it on here, like Yong's, and it did help a ton. I also bought 26g lancets and that made a big difference as well. The only problem I have now is that he likes to shake his head after and splatter blood everywhere LOL. Only a tiny drop beads up, but I swear when he shakes it just pours out.

 

lol. The video is actually another member's, Siden and her Peanut . A little neosporin before the poke helps the blood bead up better some, and then it's there when you firmly hold the ear to stop bleeding to help healing

 

Oh god, mine did that once. Despite her head being held in my other hand and her body being wrapped up like a burrito, she managed to shake her head just as I poked her, which made the poke bigger than intended. There was a HUGE drop that time, and as I reached for the tissue, I watched it pool... and I was just thinking, please don't shake your head... but I watched in horror, like slow motion, as she did it. I felt it splatter on my chin. There was blood on my glasses. Felt like I was on Forensic Files or something. She didn't even seem to notice, but I think I was scarred for life.

 

That's terrible but I had to laugh just imagining that slow mo vision . I've had it with Maury, blood splatter on my cheek

 

My cat had thinning too from me rubbing it. It's pretty much grown back now that she's only tested a few times per month.