Most confused...

Hello! And help!
I took on a 12 year old diabetic Siamese last May. When I got her she was on 3 units twice a day. My vet wanted to do a complete full blood test when I introduced her to him. He found apart from diabetes all was good. No kidney or thyroid trouble but the tests showed 3 units was too much and he reduced her to two units. Now Izzy can't behave with being fiddled with AT ALL and has to be sedated. So it's very stressful and expensive. She was good on two units, quite energetic, ate well, no excessive drinking etc. After two months I went through the whole sedation thing again and apparently tests showed that was too high as well so she was put onto one unit. I informed my vet I wasn't doing this again as I couldn't afford it and the sedation was quite traumatic for everyone and he agreed. When I say one unit I do mean twice a day. I noticed she was a lot quieter from when I first had her, still ate well though.
Since being on one unit twice a day I have now had two incidents of her being very lethargic, increased drinking, third eye lids across and hanging head over the water bowl. The first time I stuck her back up to two units without discussing it with vet and she was better within three days but after speaking to my vet about it again he said the results had showed before two units was too much but he agreed it looked like one was not enough so try 1.5. We are now experiencing anther incident of the lethargic, third eye lids across etc etc on 1.5 units. Does this sound like she is getting too much insulin or not enough? I'm getting myself so confused with it and frustrated that I'm doing all wrong.

 

And I now realise I have put the above on the wrong page! Apologies everyone. Did say I'm confused!

 

Hi and welcome to you and izzy

What insulin is izzy on and what food?

On the forum we recommend a long acting insulin such as lantus, levimer or prozinc. We also recommend switching to a low carb wet food but not until you are hometesting. We recommend hometesting blood glucose as a way of keeping your kitty safe and reducing the amount of time and stress at the vets. Would consider testing Izzys blood at home?

You might need to repost you questions on the main forum to get more eyes on it but would add in the insulin and food you are using.

 

Tips on hometesting

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Info on dealing with low blood glucose, possible symptoms to watch out for and what to do
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

 

She is on Caninsulin. Food is an issue. She wants everyday cat food (try to keep her on wet food as she suffers from constipation) but vet said a prescription diet would be better. Been on Royal Canin diabetic for last few days. It could be the recent change in diet couldn't it?

 

It could be the change in food or it could be the insulin. I would be wary of increasing the dose above what the vet recommended, especially if they have said that she doesn't need to be on a higher dose, as you don't want to risk a hypo. Has she suffered from pancreatitis before? Is she is pain, feeling sick (walking away from food, lip licking?).

She can have normal food. We recommend a low carb wet food ie a food that has less than 10% of calories from carbohydrates. This can include brands such as Friskies. This website is great for information and has a chart of foods that fit the bill. http://catinfo.org

However we do not recommend that you switch foods until you are hometesting blood glucose as switching to a lower carb food may dramatically reduce the need for insulin. Do you think you could test your cat at home? It really is the best way to keep her safe and that way you would know if she was high or low.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Your vet may be mistaken about the food due to good marketing tactics by the manufacturers. Pop over to Cat Info and see what vet Dr Pierson has to say about feline nutrition.

 

Yes I would home test without hesitation.
She isn't being sick nor acting like she is in pain.
I will speak to my vet about home testing. I am a boarding cattery manageress and am proud to say fantastic with other people's cats problems. Quivering wreck when it comes to my own!
I did think diabetic prescription diets were all the same but now realise they are not as they vary in carbs and how much insulin needed.
Thank you so much for your help and the info on this forum. I have had a few sleepless nights over all this!

 

For constipation, pop over to Feline Constipation to read more about the feline GI tract and what may help when it isn't working correctly.

 

I will have a read, thanks. She has Megacolon, to add to the diabetes and bad eyesight. Is it safe to give a diabetic Lactolose?

 

Some folks find their cats react to it. You may find that small doses of Miralax plus small doses of plain psyllium powder to hold the moisture in the feces and keep them soft may work. Do discuss with the vet, due to the megacolon.

 

I use miralax with good success but as BJM said speak to your vet. It is tasteless and odourless and easily dissolves on food.

Regarding home testing please don't let your vet put you off, the vast majority of people do it here but some vets dont believe we need to bother. Some vets feel you have use the alphatrak as it is pet specific but again most people here just use human meters such as the relion micro or relion confirm. The strips are cheaper and do the job.

Do two dry about feeling lost at the moment, we have al been there. Just ask as many questions are you want. We recommend that you do this mainly on the main forum as more people will see it and answer. Can't emergencies then please start a new thread with the prefix of 911.

Again when you get the chance amend your signature to include what insulin you are using, dosage,etc.

 

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback without having to go look in all your past posts.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.