New member help me!

Hi I have found this site after what seems like a million google searches for information. I have a 12 year old cat romeo whom I got from the houston SPCA when he was 4 months old. I noticed approx. 2 months ago the increased drinking/urination and weight loss. The first vet I took him to did nothing for us(no blood work-it's allergies is what he told me!) . The next vet very quickly diagnosed him with diabetes after some blood tests. He was running over 500 at that appt. he gave me Vetsulin and told me to start with 1 unit twice a day. 2 weeks after this initial visit he had a glucose curve test and his numbers were consistently in the 500's so the vet said do 2 units a day at meal time. It is now almost 2 weeks from that appointment and I have since switched him to wet food and am home testing. His number are so high! In the morning I check his glucose level and it's usually in the 400's. I have been coming home at lunch to check and the lowest I have gotten is 376( this was 7 hours after last eating). By the time I get home in the evening and check his levels I almost always get an message that says it is above 600( the target brand doesn't give a number higher than that). Before bedtime I check it again and it is in the 450 range. It has been giving a message that says Ketones at every reading but it does not measure how much. I am supposed to go back Monday for another glucose curve but I do not see the benefit of this. My boy is dying and I feel like I can't help him! Should I insist the vet hospitalize him with fluids and regulate him there? He is so skinny and looks so pitiful I feel helpless.

 

Hi and welcome

I am sorry that things aren't going well. Vetsulin isn't one to the insulins that is generally recommended anymore as it can hit hard and not stay in the body long enough. I would speak to your vet about switching to a long lasting insulin such as lantus, levimer or prozinc as recommended in this article.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-from-aaha-convert-your-vet-if-needed.131187/

With regards the ketones this is a worry and I think it is important to get Romeo the right treatment and the best place for this is usually the vets. In order to ward of ketones a cat must have enough fluid in his body to flush them through, enough food to give him the calories he needs (I would allow your cat to have more than just the two meals a day ) and insulin to get his numbers down.

I do think a vet might be the best call in this situation as dealing with ketones at home can be difficult but once this but is dealt with if a better insulin won't be prescribed you may want to consider another vet .

 

Hello, and welcome to FDMB.

A diagnosis of feline diabetes can seem pretty overwhelming at first. Everyone here understands how you feel.
Take heart, it does get easier.
And you've already done really well by learning to hometest, and by switching your kitty to low carb food.

Regarding ketones: Does your meter actually test for ketones (as well as blood glucose), or is it just giving you an alert message to suggest that you do test for ketones? I suspect it is the latter (if it is not giving you an actual test result)?
You can test your kitty's pee for ketones using Ketodiastix (available from most pharmacies). Crumpling some plastic food wrap in the litter tray is a good way to catch a sample (and you only need a tiny amount).
Anything above a trace level of ketones is a reason for a vet visit ASAP, as Sarah explains above.

I know it is frustrating to see our kitty's blood glucose so high.
And it may be that more insulin is needed. However, high blood glucose levels can also be caused by an insulin dose that is already too high.
If a kitty's blood glucose drops low (or too fast), the body can try to remedy this by releasing stored glucose into the bloodstream. It can also release counter-regulatory hormones, the purpose of which is to try to keep the blood glucose high for a little while. It's a protection mechanism, and we call it 'bouncing'.
When this happens, and the tests that are done show only high blood glucose levels, it is easy to think that more insulin is needed, but that may not be the case. Sometimes, less insulin is needed.
Be aware that your kitty's blood glucose levels (and insulin requirements) may well have dropped as a result of switching him to wet food.

When you say that you give your kitty '2 units a day at mealtime', does that mean that you are only feeding him twice a day?
Vetsulin/Caninsulin can drop the blood glucose quite fast, and most of us who have worked with it have found it helpful to feed a snack/mini-meal an hour or hour and a half after the shot, to try to slow that drop. If you're not home to do that then it may be that a timed feeder would help (or, you could just leave some food available for your kitty to eat as he needs it).
Vetsulin/Caninsulin typically has it's lowest number of the cycle around 4.5 - 5 hours after the shot (but, 'every cat is different').

What is your kitty's name?

Eliz

 

Eliz his name is Romeo. The vet is supposed to call me this morning and I am going to bring him in. I will speak to him about the other insulin types. I really do believe that the Romeo is very dehydrated and that may be throwing a wrench in regulating him. I read the manual for my glucometer and the Ketones warning is something that comes on when such high glucose numbers are recorded so it is a suggestion. I will pick up some of the ketodiastix today. I give him a can of wet food in the morning and leave it because he doesn't eat it all at once and then the same in the evening. Any suggestions for keeping my 2 other cats that think Christmas has has come early with all this wet food around (I switched them too-if there is dry food around Romeo will find it) from eating all of his! I work and honestly would have to stand guard all day to make sure the others don't get his food! Thank for the quick responses, I am not ready to lose Romeo, he is truly the sweetest cat I have ever owned or met!

 

Depending on the wet food, it may not be low carb. Cat Info has a downloadable food list which may be helpful.
I feed all the cats (16!) in my place Friskies Turkey and Giblet Pate.

 

All 3 cats are eating friskies classics (no gravy ones).

 

Welcome to FDMB, I am a recent newbie and want to assure you that this site has a lot of helpful members with oodles of experience. Personally, I feel so much more comfortable having found this valuable forum. Hope Romeo's condition improves soon, he sounds like a wonderful boy.

 

Update:I spoke with the vet and we decided switching Romeo to another medicine was the right choice. This evening before his first dose of Prozinc his blood sugar was 476. He got 2 units. Can anyone shed some light on the most appropriate times to test with this new longer acting insulin? I am recording my data and will be starting a spreadsheet very soon I am just a little overwhelmed looking at y'alls spreadsheets and deciding when is the best time to test. I also purchased the ketone testing strips and will stalk Romeo tomorrow before he goes potty.( I have 2 other cats so I don't know who's pee is who's unless I'm there. Fun stuff!)

 

1) Test before you shoot.
2) Whenever possible, snag a test between +5 to +7 hours post-shot to see how low the glucose is going. That is the number which helps determine dosing. It should remain safely above 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer, and above 68 mg/dL on a pet meter. (Divide by 18 if you use mmol/L).

 

Welcome Dbird,
Hope Romeo does better on ProZinc. If you go the ProZinc/PZI forum, there are 'stickies' with lots of useful info. On weekdays, I test Mitz before each shot and before I go to bed, and on weekends, I try to get at least one test in the daytime +4-7 range.
Joan