Need advice please

Hello, I just joined your site. My 8 year old male cat was diagnosed with diabetes 2 months ago. Its all new to me, I have never had a cat with diabetes before. Luckily, I found this site. Your site has crucial information about caring for a diabetic cat. Our vet didn't give us any information on anything. Our cat was diagnosed at the beginning of October. Our vet put him on Novolin N, 3 units twice daily. I called the vet 2 weeks later and told them that my cat is not getting any better. The vet said to keep giving him the same injections for 3 more weeks and bring him in for a re check. I didn't want to make my cat suffer for 3 more weeks but I did what the vet said. He went back on November 9th and the vet ordered a frutosamine test. The next day the vet said to up the insulin dose to 4 units twice daily. I didn't feel good at all about doing that. I know my cat and the insulin regimine is not working for him. 2 months of this and he is not any better. We have been diligent about injections and feeding times. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hi Judy, the very best thing you can do is learn to home test your kitty’s blood glucose. It’s easy to do and is the only way to tell how well the insulin is working. Here’s some info on that http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/ check it out and ask any questions you have
Also, what are you feeding? A low carb wet food is the best, but if he’s not already on a low carb food, you don’t want to switch until you’re testing as it could lower his glucose significantly. We can help you with that too.
I don’t know much about the insulin you’re using, (my cat was on levemir) but here is some info on Novolin http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-novolin-humulin-nph.186097/
You’ve come to the right place to learn all about feline diabetes. There are many members here with tons of practical experience ready to answer any questions you have. So ask away, we were all newbies once and there are no stupid questions

 

First, what are you feeding? Diabetic cats need to be on a low carb canned or raw food. No kibble (even the "prescription" stuff)

Your instincts were right about not going to 4U.....3U is a HUGE dose for a cat and could be causing his blood glucose to drop too low and then his liver releases stored sugars and hormones to get him back up. (we call it bouncing). We've seen cats here that could go from 400 to 40 and back to 400 again....if you're not home testing and catching those lows, you'd think he needed more insulin when in fact, he needs less!

We usually suggest starting out at 1U and going up in .25 unit increments.

Novolin isn't really a great insulin for most cats. It tends to be too harsh but some cats do OK on it. Better insulins are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc.

Home testing is absolutely the best way to know what's going on with your kitty. It sounds daunting, but we have lots of tips and most cats actually learn to like it! It's all about establishing a routine and giving them a special treat so they associate the testing with good things.

 

Thanks for your reply. We feed all of our cats a different kinds of fancy feast and purina one wet food and purina one healthy metabolism dry food. I definitely want to start home testing asap. I was going to buy the micro reli On meter but I guess it has been discontinued. Can you suggest a

Thanks for your reply. We feed our cats different kinds of fancy feast and purina one wet food and purina one healthy metabolism dry food. I want to start home testing his b/g immed. Can you please recommend one that is affordable. Thank you.

 

Thanks for your reply. We have been feeding our cats a variety of fancy feast and purina wet food along with purina one healthy metabolism dry food. I will start home testing. Can you recommend a good b/g meter? Thank you.

 

While I don’t know the exact numbers, the purina one healthy metabolism dry food is probably way to high in carbs for a diabetic.(the second ingredient is corn, high carb). For a meter, I used the Relion Prime from Walmart. There are others too, just be sure to get one that uses the least amount of blood (.3-.5 micros) and has affordable test strips. Also be sure to pick up a box of lancets (26 gauge). It would be a good idea to get some ketone test strips as well.

 

Get the dry out of his diet as quickly as possible...it's all high carb and will just add fuel to his diabetes fire.

The Fancy Feasts are fine as long as they're the Classic (Pates)….same with most of the Purina canned foods. Friskies pates are also low carb. Check out this FOOD CHART for foods under 10% carbs

What's important in choosing a meter is 1. the size of the sample it requires and 2. the cost of the strips.

One that takes the tiniest sample size and the strips are pretty affordable is the Glucocard01 Sensor from ADW, but you have to make sure you order strips in time for them to be delivered to you so you don't run out.

Others use the Relion Prime or Premier from WalMart….they take a larger sample size but you can't beat the price of the strips and you can get them anytime you need them.

 

The Chunky varieties are also low-carb (4 or 5%)