Mama Cat

Hi, all. I'm new to the board, though I've been reading for a while. Thanks to the organizers and those who continue to give advice. This can be a very scary and uncertain time.

Mama Cat is approximately 10 years old and has been on Vetsulin since May 2018. We took her in initially for the usual reasons ... drinking and peeing a lot ... just generally not looking well. We started low, but are now up to 3ml twice a day. Each time we have taken her to the vet for testing throughout this time, the numbers have come back "normal." I'll find the paperwork and load the numbers later. She was last tested by them in October 2018, when we took her in for a Cushings test. I suspected Cushings (playing web doc of course), because she is ALWAYS hungry and the hair on the places where they shaved her for blood tests has never grown back. The Cushings test came back negative.

I am posting to this board because she really doesn't seem well at all ... she eats fine (more on that next), but she won't gain weight and some days she just looks more ragged than others (I'm sure you know what I mean). And there's the hair thing mentioned above. She doesn't tolerate going to the vet well at all, so we have made the decision to start testing her ourselves, something we sort of started before, but without the spreadsheet and really tracking.

As with most of newly diagnosed cats/pet owners ... the vet immediately started us on the DM food, wet and dry. She was okay with that for a while, lost tons of weight (she was very obviously overweight), but now she won't eat it at all, even with the probiotics sprinkled on. After much research, reading of the boards, and deliberation, we've taken her back to Friskies pate. She loves it and eats well ... still no weight gain, which after reading your boards, means she's probably not regulated.

I'm wondering now if we're not doing something right with the shots - giving them in her scruff ... but I think we'll wait on making any adjustments to food and methods until we have a few days of measurements as a baseline.

I have linked to the spreadsheet in my signature - hopefully I've done it correctly. We're just on the first day and only done 2 tests this morning so far ... before feeding and insulin, and +1. We'll do another test at +3 and throughout the day to try to find the peak. I assume we'll need to do it tomorrow too.

Thanks for any guidance you can give.

 

Welcome to you Sandjules and Mama Cat. I am so very glad you have found the board and are testing! It's the best tool you have to keep kitty safe, be sure it's safe to inject insulin and track the insulin effects.
If you would, please enter some additional information in the signature so that advising members can have a better view of Mama Kitty's data.
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 time zone matters)
Is it 3 Units of vetsulin each injection? Your spreadsheet is great, I'm glad you got that set up, but please enter the insulin dose in the U column between the AMPS and the +1 columns.
I'm glad you decided to stop feeding the DM food, and are feeding the Friskies. I hope that's just the pate and not the varieties with sauces or gravies. A couple of cans of the gravy varieties can be tucked into your Hypo tool box if you still have any around, for just in case. Are you still feeding any dry food at all?
Please visit the Vetsulin forum, read through the Beginner's Guide to Caninsulin (Vetsulin) and post there so that the experienced Vetsulin users can lend a hand. You are accumulating testing data now and that is going to tell them if that dose Mama Cat is getting is too much/too little insulin, and make recommendations so that Mama Cat feels better.
Best wishes going forward, I will be crossing paws for you and Mama Cat as you get answers.

 

Hi, Lou.

Thanks so much for the quick response. I love that this forum is so active.

I've updated my signature.

Yes it's "units" not ml ... sorry about that ... not thinking. LOL I did put the 3 in the spreadsheet too. Loving that as a tool. Since is the first day for doing a "curve," I'm thinking of testing her may 2 or 3 times more ... at +6 for a mid-day reading, just before we feed again and maybe 1 hour after the evening shot. Is that too extreme? Will I get what I need to know with just the pre-feeding/shot in the evening?

Yep, it's just the pate ... not the one with gravys. The only dry I have out is the DM dry that I leave out for grazing. She has always been one of those always hungry cats that'll come into the kitchen any time you're there, so we will give her more pate from time to time on the weekends. I don't guess her appetite habits are that far off from pre-diagnosis, but it does bother us that she doesn't gain weight and the fur won't grow back. She'll come if you call her ... but there is no play interest at all anymore.

Thanks so much for the tips ... I'll post over on the Vetsulin forum too.

 

Julie, a full curve is testing every 2 hours, but that's not always possible. I have read that if you can't, then try the next day to test at the other times you didn't get before..fill in the puzzle. Also, testing at night, if possible, at least a before bedtime, and later if you can as cats can go lower at night for some catlike reason. The DM dry is very high in carbs though, and not a good food for her. It would be like giving cookies to a human diabetic.
Would you consider a timed feeder for her? Some members use the PetSafe5 or the PetSafe 2 meal feeder, we bought a CatMate 2 dish feeder from Amazon. It has a little ice pack that you fit under the feeder dishes and keeps the food cool enough to be safe until the lid opens. Then Idjit had his nighttime snacks. Getting the high carb wet and dry foods out of his diet, with a very short period of insulin therapy, he is now diet controlled, no insulin. Remission is the ultimate hope, regulation is the goal right now for dear Mama Kitty and getting her "mojo" and sleek fur coat back.

 

Hi, I forgot to pickup the dry so I guess the testing is off for today. I will pick it up and get a pre-food/insulin test tonight, and maybe another later before bed. What do you feed your baby? And the same for snacks? I would like to find a quality dry for grazing.

 

You can still test, I think you should, just note in the spreadsheet what food Mama Cat is eating. All data is good data! If she's not eating the dry food you may see some reduced BG levels, which you want to see. I feed Idjit a raw diet with a supplement now. He gets chunks of raw muscle meat, raw gizzards and hearts to help keep teeth cleaner, and occasionally cooked chicken breast pieces for treats. Good protein and lots of moisture. I want to prevent any urinary troubles.
There are a few low carb dry foods out there, Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein, Epigen 90 and Young Again Zero. I have read that many cats have gastric upsets with the Young Again though.
Please read this thread: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/
and you may want to visit Dr. Lisa's website at www.catinfo.org for more feline nutrition information. I have learned so much about how a proper diet is so important for feline health.
We need to get you posting in the Main Health forum, more eyes and input on the questions, concerns and issues. I didn't get much hands on experience because Idjit went into remission so quickly, but other members have been dealing with FD 24/7, 365 for years. You will benefit from their experience and knowledge.

 

Hi, I finally got some testing in today. She had a really low number pre-pm feeding ... 105. Should I not give her her shot - or test her again before I decide. I know I may not get a response by the time I need to decide ... but thought I'd ask anyway.

 

Julie, please post your dosing questions in the Vetsulin forum so the experienced users can advise. If you don't get a response fast enough, you can post in the Main Health forum also, in hopes that someone who knows about this can respond.

 

Thanks, Idjit's mom ... I actually thought of that after I posted here. So did and someone did respond. Thanks so much for checking in.

 

I have provided some information on your other thread concerning dosing going forward.