New foster cat just diagnosed

Hi - Just introducing ourselves. I've been reading some of the articles and browsing past posts. I have human family members with T1 and T2 diabetes so the concepts and mechanics are not unfamiliar to me. However, the stress of being responsible for making decisions for a cat with diabetes is new to me.

I run a small abyssinian rescue and I've just taken in an aby with diabetes. He was diagnosed after being surrendered and clearly had diabetes for a while. He's lost a a significant amount of muscle mass from his spine. Ravenous, polydipsia and polyuria. His owner surrendered him with a note saying he'd been peeing too much so she was restricting his water intake - horrific!

His blood sugar on his labs was 426. Sugar in the urine too. Negative for thyroid.

He was initially surrendered and sheltered at a vet practice where they started him on 1 unit of Vetsulin BID. They put him on Hill's D/M. Before I left with him his dose had been increased to 2 units of Vetsulin BID.

He was a long distance transport into my group. I continued Vetsulin for a few days until I could get him into my vet for better advice (didn't like the first vet at all). His AMPS on 2 units of vetsulin read "Hi" on my human glucometer.

I switched him to the classic varieties of Fancy Feast Sunday night, luckily this is what I already feed to the rest of my cats. He loves it so that was super easy. I suspect he's so hungry he'd eat almost anything right now.

We went to my vet last night. We switched him to Prozinc. Starting dose of 1 unit BID. My vet said to give it at least 3 cycles before raising it to 2 units. Last night was his first shot of Prozinc. His AMPS this morning was 407.

His teeth are horrible! Multiple FORLS and broken teeth. I know this is complicating my ability to control his blood sugar. He received a shot of convenia last night to help combat some of the infection that is inevitably there. My vet wants to see if we can bring his numbers down a bit before putting him under for the dental. This feels like a chicken and egg dilemma to me.

Through foster cats and my own crew I have experience with many feline diseases. I was hoping I could skip this one but here I am ready to learn. That's my long winded intro!

Kristen and the foster who has yet to be renamed.

 

Welcome.
ProZinc is a good insulin
It is good that you are home testing.
Most of us here test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
I very likely would not jump from 1 to 2 units. that is a 100% increase. Typically we increase by about 1/4 units. With ProZInc, which is a U40 insulin, y can use human U100 syringes marked in 1/2 unit increments. Each 1/2 unit marking on the U100 syringe is 0.2 units of the ProZinc insulin.

For other questions I would post in the Health forum
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

 

Welcome and kudos for you for rescuing.

 

You rock, thank you for looking after this kitty and being so ready to learn about diabetes and how to manage it. You have found the right place to get all the help and support that you will need moving forward.

It is a bit of a chicken egg situation with the teeth, hopefully the Convenia settles his mouth enough for you to get some safer numbers for getting those fixed really soon.

If you're not home testing as yet I suggest you start ASAP so that you catch the drop he may have from both the change in food and the ABs. There is an awesome spreadsheet and instructions on how to set it up in the Tech Forum. You can send the link to the vet and also attach it in your signature here so we can all see his numbers.

Welcome aboard

 

Thanks for the welcomes and support. I am home testing with an Accu Check mini. Right now I'm concentrating on testing before his shots and at +6.

I'm giving him 1 unit twice a day. I'd gone up to 2 but kept noticing wet fur after his shots. Baffled me since I've given lots of fluids and this needle is tiny in comparison. I found a vet's YouTube video that showed what not to do. I realized I must've been putting my thumb on the plunger as I was inserting the needle. I went back to 1 unit in case I'd been doing this all long without realizing it. I gave him his fourth shot with 1 unit this morning. For these last few cycles he's between 320 and 450 before shots. Yesterday afternoon he was at 170 at +6.

I'm filling out the spreadsheet on my PC. I need to upload it and get it linked in my signature. I have an inquiry from a potential adopter who recently lost her diabetic cat. Getting him adopted into a home with feline diabetes experience would be a huge blessing for him. In the meantime he's welcome here.

 

Hi Kristen,

Thank you so much for taking little Yet-To-Be-Named under your wing. Poor little thing not getting enough water. I'm really glad he's got you to care for him now. Fingers and paws crossed that it will be a good match between him and the lady who's interested in adopting him.

Here's a protocol for Prozinc written by @Sue and Oliver (GA) (who is most knowledgeable about Prozinc treatment ). I hope you find it helpful.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/protocol-for-prozinc-pzi.109077/


Mogs
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Hi Kristen, thank you so much for rescuing this poor aby! I can't imagine restricting any animal's access to or consumption of water - what is wrong with some people?!?!? Makes me furious! So glad he's got you, now, to be his advocate. I hope all works out well for him and his potential adopter!

 

Hi - I just updated my signature. Hopefully I did it right and you can see my spreadsheet. His name is now Tuck.

I'm looking for some advice on dosing Tuck properly. I'm more concerned about going too low then I am about the highs. I've had some oops's along the way with fur shots which explain some of the highs. Initially it didn't seem like 1 unit was enough so my vet said try 2, I tried 1 1/2 instead. 1 1/2 seemed like he was getting too low for my comfort midday. I'm now back at 1 unit and it still seems like he's dipping a bit close to hypo at +6. Thoughts?

 

Hiya, Tuck! You're one good-lookin' kitty!!

I can see Tuck's spreadsheet fine. I've not used Prozinc but regardless of insulin type if it was my cat I wouldn't increase the dose with nadirs that low.


Mogs
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Yeah, I almost feel like I should decrease it. I'm just not sure if that's right either. I worry about days when I'm not here or the middle of the night. I'm not sure how even vs a big curve I should be expecting. My vet told me to not worry about really high numbers at the pre-shots. She was hoping to see him settle in around 150 at +6. I'd be OK with that at +6 if his pre-shots weren't really high. Maybe my expectations are wrong but I was hoping for a steadier number.