My Susie cat

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   Hi there. My Susie kitty has been on insulin for two months. She's pretty hungry most of the time; starting at around 5 am. She has a sensitive stomach, so it's a balancing game of feeding enough at a time and ensuring that she doesn't vomit her food. It takes her an hour to eat a whole can (156g) of food. Currently she is on 5 units twice a day which makes me uncomfortable because I'm terrified of her having a hypoglycaemic episode while I'm at work. She only eats wet food - she decided before her diabetic diagnosis that she only wanted to eat wet food, so that's a relief. She is on Lantus from the start and through reading the boards that it takes a bit for it to kick in, but I really really want her glucose nadir to go down. I'm in the process of her getting her a Alpha Trak meter, but what an expense! I love my baby, but she's draining my reserves. I won't be putting her down unless there is no hope since she is only nine years old. Is there anything else I can do to get her numbers down? BTW, I have two other non-diabetic cats.
   
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Welcome Serena and Susie from a fellow Canadian.

It sounds like you have not been home testing up till now, Home testing will make getting Susie regulated much easier and give you peace of mind. BG readings taken at the vet are usually elevated due to stress. There are not many cats who don't get stressed out at the vet and that stress can elevate their BG by 5.5 mmol (100 points US) and even more in some cases. This can lead to the vet prescribing too much insulin and too much insulin can look just like too little.

The Alpha Trak2 meter is great but it is indeed expensive to use and not necessary. Most members here use a human glucometer and all the reference numbers provided in documentation on this forum are based on the use of a human meter unless specified otherwise.

5 units of Lantus twice daily is a large dose and most cats don't require doses that high. It would be helpful to know just how quickly the dose has been raised to that level. What dose did you start at? How often have increases been made and by how much?

I encourage you to come join us over on the Health Forum with any and all questions you have. It would be helpful if you would include answers to the questions above and expand your signature. The signature is a way to keep pertinent information about you and your cat available to anyone responding to your posts so we don't keep asking you the same questions over and over again and offer you information specific to your situation. You can include information such as your cat's name, age, weight, any other health issues particularly if kitty has ever had ketones or DKA, current diet, type of insulin and dose, and your general location. To edit your signature, hover your mouse over your screen name up in the upper right screen and select Signature from the menu that drops down. Type the info you wish to share in the text box and then scroll down and click on the "Save Changes" button.

Treating diabetes is a marathon not a sprint so please don't despair. Some cats get regulated fairly quickly and others take a bit longer. This is a wonderful supportive community and we can help you help Susie.

 

Hi there. Susie started off at 2 units twice a day. She's been on insulin since November 30. After a couple of weeks, it was increased to 3 units twice a day as her curve showed her nadir was at 16, I think and the vet said she's She goes in for a test once a week at the moment, and at the last one showed she was at 23? If that makes sense. Shoulda written it down, my bad. I would like to get a human glucometer, but there are too many to choose from, to make the right decision. I work at Walmart, and I get a discount, so it would be nice if I could get one there, she is my baby, so I will bear the cost to do this right. She eats like a horse. I try hard to keep her shots consistently 12 hours apart. Since I work at 7am, I'm up early even on my days off to keep her on schedule. I know this will take some time to get her regulated, I just want not go about this blindly. She looks a lot better than she did when this started. She was tested for ketones -negative and a fructosamine test and a bunch of other things that I can't recall right now. The vet is running some cultures to see why she is still so high, so I will have the results in a day or two.

 

Great job getting your signature updated.

As far as glucometers are concerned, there are usually some brands offering a free meter when you buy the test strips. You could check with the pharmacist in Walmart as they should know what is available. You could also check out the websites for Abbott, Bayer, One Touch to see if they have a coupon for a free meter. You want a meter that requires a small sample of blood and I'd pay attention to the cost of the strips as that will be your biggest expense. I use the Freestyle Lite meter which requires the smallest blood sample. The strips for this meter load from either side which I find easier than end loading strips but that is a personal preference.

I would strongly recommend you come join us over on the Health Forum. I think it's quite possible that Susie's dose of insulin is too high and that is why you are still seeing high numbers. It may explain why Susie's BG seemed to increase following an increase in her insulin dose. You may have skipped over the ideal dose for Susie due to the 1u increases prescribed by the vet. We recommend starting the dose low and slowly increasing the dose preferably by 0.25u and definitely no more than 0.5u at a time.

By home testing and tracking Susie's BG readings at home in a stress free environment, you will get a much more accurate picture of how the insulin is working for Susie.

 

Thanks. I'm getting her meter tomorrow. She's been bugging me for food constantly this afternoon since I got home. Consequently I'm always a little worried that too much food will give her blood sugar too much of a boost and damaging her organs, etc. She'll polish a whole 156 gram can in the time it takes her to be satisfied. Then on the flip side, too much insulin resulting in hypo.( I have some honey for that, just in case and I have two other 'normal' kitties, food is always at my fingertips ). I know the vet is just trying to get her glucose levels down and that's probably why the units were upped as they were.

 

Unregulated cats cannot properly utilize the food they eat so they are always hungry. While working towards regulating Susie, it's Ok to feed her more food than you normally would. Most of us split the daily food allowance into two main meals given at shot time as well as two or more smaller snacks. Feeding several times a day also keeps a continuous supply of food available for the insulin to work with. Giving her more food will not cause any organ damage and in fact can actually protect against it because if the cat is not getting enough nourishment they can develop other complications of diabetes.

 

Thanks for that!