Lee and Megan- newly diagnosed

Hi! My 7 year old little boy, Lee, just got diagnosed with diabetes after we noticed he was losing weight, but still eating tons! The vet has recommended Lantus 10u twice a day (his first shot was earlier this evening). They plan to do a glucose curve at the vet a week after starting treatment. They haven't discussed doing any home testing yet...I'm wondering why? Also, Lee has 2 cat siblings at home (all from different litters) who are not diabetic. They were all on free feeding of dry food until the diagnosis. Our plan is to change them all to wet food feeding twice a day. The vet has recommended diabetic food for Lee, but I think it is going to be super hard to have them all eating different things. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

Hi Megan and Lee, welcome!! What a cutie Lee is, and it looks like he know it too There are so many knowledgeable people on this board, you'll have all the support you need. Good luck!

 

Welcome Megan and Lee. Did I understand this correctly that your vet wanted you to start out with 10u?

 

Thanks for all the recs. Looking into a home meter now!

 

Yes. The vet said 10 units twice a day.

 

Do you have a meter now so you can test Lee right now?

 

No. The vet just said to start the insulin and bring him back to do the curve at the vet next week. When they checked his BS level at the vet on Friday it was in the 400s. I'm looking on amazon now to get a meter delivered ASAP.

 

I am also concerned with the dose. We usually suggest starting with one unit twice daily. It would be best if you could get a meter tonight and see where his levels are. You can buy one at any drug store. Also get 25-27 gauge lancets

If there is no way to get a meter, Please watch him carefully tonight. If you see any unusual behavior like hiding or yowling, you need to get him to the ER.

 

What is his ideal weight? Or if he is underweight, what does he weigh now? The starting dose of 10u is way, way too high. Are you sure he didn't say 1u?

I'd also recommend you run out to Walmart and get a ReliOn Micro or Contour and a box of 50 strips and test him if you shot 10u. Sue is right...if he comes down fast, you'll need to take him to the ER.

 

Oh geez, that's strange they would tell me that. To clarify (maybe I am stating this wrong)...they gave me a vial of Lantus 100units/ml with the BD 0.3 ml syringe and told me to give him 10 units. So I filled the syringe to the very first line on the syringe (which would be 0.1ml of medicine). I gave him the insulin 3.5 hours ago and he seems to be doing fine. He has been snuggling and acting normal.

 

Thanks Sue for chiming in. Yes Megan, typically, it is best to start with a low dose to see how your cat will react to the insulin like 0.5 or 1.0 units. Do you have a Walmart near you? They have Relion human meters for only $15. Most use the Relion Micro, Relion Confirm or Relion Prime (this one needs a bigger drop of blood). You will also need to get lancets which is about $10 (28 gauge) and strips according which would match your meter. The 10u is excessive so we are worried that it could cause your cat to go hypo. Do you have honey, karo syrup or maple syrup?

 

He is 3.55kg now. Here is a pic of what I was given. I set the plunger to where they told me to (I'm not sure if you can see it clearly). Sorry. I don't know how I would have given him any less.

 

A U-100 syringe is intended to measure an insulin which has 100 units per mL.
The syringe is marked in UNITS, not milliliters (mL).
If you drew up to the 1st line, you measured 1 unit; the 10 line would be 10 units.
Fortunately for your cat!
Please stick with 1 unit, not 10 for now.

My Spitzer got given 10 units instead of 1 by a friend who couldn't read the syringe properly and spent 2+ days on a dextrose IV to keep him alive. It cost over $2000.

 

The very first line on a BD U100, 0.3 cc syringe is 1u. Is that what you shot? Those syringes are marked for 30u so did you just give a tiny bit or 1/3 of the syringe?

 

Phew! Okay. That is the line they told me to draw up to so I guess they meant 1 unit. Not sure why the rx says 10! Sorry to scare everyone. Thanks for showing the love and looking out for us!

 

Full and half-unit syringe scales:

Using the pic above, can you describe how much insulin you're giving?


ETA: Happy to hear you only shot 1 unit!

 

Thank goodness!

 

Just a tiny bit (0.1mL) so I think we are safe. Sorry, I may have reported the measurement incorrectly! Thanks for looking out!

 

Is 3.55 kg underweight for him, just right, or overweight? If his ideal weight, or his current weight if he is underweight, is 3.55 kg, then his starting dose would be 0.88u which you could round down to 0.75u or round up to 1u. I think 1u is just fine.

Looks like you shot the correct dose and someone mislabeled the dose. I agree you should stick with 1u for now and call the vet tomorrow.

 

Oh good...it sounds like all is well again. Sorry for raising the flag but after hearing 10u; well all I could think was YIKES! Thanks to all for helping out. So Megan...good to get that testing equipment asap as you can see. Don't wait for the vet to tell you when to start home testing...it is soooo important.

 

Oh, what a RELIEF to hear that!!!

 

Thanks! Ordered from amazon! Should arrive tomorrow. I'll let you all know how testing goes!

 

We'll be rooting for you on success in home testing! Check out the video/info here: Hometesting Links and Tips

 

Some vets don't even mention home monitoring. Ask them and have them show you how to use it. Also read the topics here on foods, it was an eye opener for me. Good luck.

 

Whew! When I saw that 10 units on a new dx'd cat, I was ready to drive to wherever you are and test test test...then accompany you to the ER when we couldn't drag him out of the mud. I'm SO thankful it was 1.0 unit instead!

Now that I have more gray hairs, I'll say Welcome!

 

Many vets don't support home testing because.....they don't know HOW! That included my vet...but he knows now.

 

I believe that.