New and Stressed

My 11yo, 16lb cat cat was diagnosed yesterday with diabetes and I'm very stressed and upset. I noticed he was drinking and urinating more about a month ago and thought this might be the outcome. He's down 2 pounds since his last vet visit a year ago.

His BG was 447 yesterday during the vet visit, during which he was extremely agitated. My vet prescribed 2 units of Vetsulin twice a day 12 hours apart. However, I've haven't had the opportunity to actually administer the shots. Toby's eaten very little since the vet visit yesterday morning and he was extremely stressed while there. He did get an insulin shot while there and seemed fine the rest of the day outside of his appetite. Right now, I'm nervous about giving him insulin when I can tell he isn't eating a normal amount. I called the vet and asked if I should reduce the amount, because of Toby's lack of appetite. He didn't seem to think Toby would be at risk of hypoglycemia because of his size and the small dosage of insulin. However, I'm still too scared to do it until I see that he eats most of his can of food. We're supposed to see the vet again on Tuesday, so hopefully I can begin the treatments sometime this weekend.

I bought a meter and attempted a glucose check this afternoon, but failed at that. I've left both wet and dry food out for him to graze on and he's been taking a few nibbles here and there. I'd like to wean him completely off dry eventually, but right now I'm more concerned that he eats at all. His behavior is otherwise normal... he even played a bit with a toy earlier. I'm hoping that's he's back to his normal self food-wise tomorrow, so I can begin a schedule of insulin shots. My issue is getting him to eat at times where I can administer these shots 12 hours apart. He's always gotten wet food in the morning, which he generally ate most of and dry food at night (which I'll slowly attempt to change).

Should I remove his food between his morning and evening meal times once he's back to normal? Would this be the only way to ensure the insulin is being given with food? Or can cats graze throughout the day and you just administer the shots 12 hours apart regardless?

I've been reading all I can on this site and others seeing as I haven't slept since the diagnosis. Lots of tears and breakdowns. I'm sure I'll feel better and more confident in tackling this once I get a good night's rest. If you've read this far into my rambling, thank you. Most of the information I've learned in the last 24 hours, I've gotten from this forum - thank you!

 

Welcome. I can't give advice about vetsulin, but I can offer support. It does get easier, I promise. I didn't sleep much either, turns out it didn't help much. I know it's upsetting, but you need to breathe, and take care of you, so you can take care of your kitty. There are answers here, and right now it's information overload. Try posting in the Vetsulin forum for specific help. Hang in there.

 

Thank you so much for your kind words! It was just what I needed! I managed to successfully test Toby's BG this morning, so I'm feeling a bit better with that under my belt.

 

2 units is a high starting dose. The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day. I'm glad you are going to try home testin. It's difficult to get readings in the beginning because the capillaries haven't developed yet. Don't give up. what size lancets? If it's the ones that come with the meter they are very thin. Try using 26 or 28 gauge lancets. Try warming or rubbing the ear first. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

I let my cat eat whenever she wants, just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced. My cats are all grazers and only eat a little at a time. As long as your cat has eaten a bit I would shoot, but until you get the hang of home testing lower the dose to 1 unit esp since you are reducing the dry which is high in carbs. Cutting out dry can significantly lower bg.

 

That's great you got a reading today! We have an awesome template for keeping a log of readings. If you look in my signature below you will see CC'S SPREADSHEET. Here's a link to our template. If you have a hard time setting it up let us know and someone can help.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Good job getting a signature set up

 

If you shot the 2 units today try to get a reading mud cycle. Vetsulin tends to peek 4-6 hours after injection. It's important to track how low the number goes. What was the number this morning?

 

Thank you for your help! I truly appreciate it!

I only shot 1 unit this morning. His BG pre-shot was 314 and I'll be testing him again in about an hour, since that will be +4 hours. After I get the results from that, I'll put down a mixture of dry food if he wants to graze. He'll get another can of food tonight after his PMPS. My spreadsheet should be linked on my signature now, but let me know if it's not appearing for some reason.

I'm currently using 30 gauge lancets and had no problem drawing blood this morning after warming his ear with a rice sock. The warming made all the difference. My biggest problem is keeping him still, but I'm doing the BG tests and shots in a small enclosed area. Hopefully, he'll eventually just get used to it. He definitely does not enjoy it at all, but he's much better with me than he is at the vet.

 

Awesome. 314 isn't bad. I would encourage you to skip dry. It tends to be around 35% carb unless it's specifically low carb low like young again zero carb food. You wanna keep the carb count under 10%. There are only about 4 dry foods low enough in carbs for diabetic cats. Better if you just give a snack of wet food.

 

My plan was to mix his old Purina One Selects with the newer higher protein, lower carb dry I got at the vet. It still has too many carbs, but it's better than what he was on before. Once he's used to that newer dry, switch again to Young Again or an equivalent. He's dropped 2 lbs since his last annual of spring 2017, so I was concerned making too drastic a change to his eating habits would cause additional weight loss. I think he's lost most of that weight in the last couple of months. He does need to lose a few pounds, but I don't want him to drop too rapidly and develop fatty liver disease. I know some of that weight-loss is due to the diabetes, though. Perhaps I'm just overly paranoid. I temporarily have my mom's cat in my home while she's in the process of moving, so that complicates things. Both of them tend to eat while I'm sleeping, but I can't tell who is eating what. That situation should change in a few weeks.

His mid-cycle (+4) reading this morning was 134, so I'm thrilled with that. I will at least have some data when we return to the vet on Tuesday. His numbers go through the roof when he's there. Once we both have had about a week to adjust to this new life, I want to do a glucose curve to get a better understanding of how this Vetsulin works in his body.

I'm so glad I found this forum! I feel so much better today! Thank you, again!

 

134 is a nice number. Can you get a +6? I'm glad you only did 1 unit. 2 may have been too much!! Could have been dangerous

 

I'm glad, too! I have honey and high-carb wet food on-hand, but I would rather never have to use it.

My vet is one of the best in town, but his recommendation just didn't sound right after reading everything here. I'd rather play it safe than sorry until I can get a better understanding of how the insulin will affect Toby.

I should be back from the store by +6, so I'll try to get a reading.

 

You may want to start a new thread in the Main forum, now that you are getting started. That way, if you have a question or additional comments, it would get noticed more easily. You are doing so well, helping Toby feel better.

 

As far as dropping weight it's very common for unregulated diabetic cats to lose weight. Their body can not properly utilize the nutrients in the food, so they are literally starving even though they are eating. Now that she's getting insulin it will help.

 

No +6 today. He's under the bed napping, but responsive. I'll try to get a +2 and +6 tomorrow to fill in the gaps.

 

Just jumping in to say welcome!

 

Come on over to the Main forum, start a new thread so others can see how Toby's doing, and how you are doing. He's such a cutie. You have really stepped up and progressed in a few days, wow!!!!!

 

Do I start a regular thread for just him and his progress? I posted something last night about shooting without a pmps and got some advice. I went conservative last night on his shot. I wish his appetite would pick up.

And thank you for the welcome, FurBabiesMama!

 

I was told to start a new thread a day, or for a different issue. There's away to link other threads, it you need to, but I have not figured out how to do that on my Kindle. I would just like more ppl to see what's going on with you and Toby, and help out.