New to diabetes and list

Hello,
My cat Chelsea (10 yrs, around 18 pounds) was just diagnosed with feline diabetes. Our vet has been monitoring her blood sugar every morning for the past few days and then giving a dose of insulin. I've started reading material on the site and this list, but my ability to notice the obvious and concentrate are low right now (husband recently died), so I haven't digested it all. Please forgive me if I ask something for which there is an obvious link on this board. Many thanks if you can point me to any such links - at least for now.

One of my points of confusion is that when I have taken Chelsea in to have her blood checked, the vet was not concerned when she last ate. I asked her about this and she said that in the veterinary management of diabetes, one does not control as tightly as for human diabetes. So, when Chelsea went in yesterday she had eaten an hour before (I can't remember why she ate late that morning), and today, she had eaten at her normal time and thus was 2 hours before the blood sugar was checked. Both times the readings were around 360. Yesterday the vet gave her 1 IU of insulin and today 2 IU. The insulin is one of the long lasting ones bust since it is at the vet's office I can't go check. It seems reasonable to me that her blood sugar was probably high enough for insulin, but surely it would be even higher the first few hours after eating. Somehow I think I asked this question wrong. Perhaps there are different critical questions I should ask that would help me go forward with more understanding and less blind trust. I understand the basic physiological defects in diabetes. It's the process of determining treatment in my cat that has me uneasy.

I will look into home monitoring for when I take control of the insulin, which the vet implied could be tomorrow. I'm not keen on pricking her ear, she's a temperamental cat, but better than cake decorating gel and ICU costs.

Thanks for "listening",
Bonnie

 

Hi Bonnie

I'm very sorry that you are not only dealing with this new diagnosis but also the loss of your husband..my condolences.

Why is your cat at the clinic? If she doesn't have a lot of complications, she should be at home with you. The cost of 'regulating' her is not worth it as you need to learn what her insulin needs are at home, under normal conditions.

As for your question about your vet and the importance of food, he's wrong, the timing of food can be important with some insulins. If you are using lantus/glargine it is less important but I woudln't say inconsequential.

Please read the FAQ if you haven't already (just up the list), let us know your approximate location if you'd like local help, and give us more info like how your cat was diagnosed, what food she eats, what insulin type, etc.

Jen

 

I don't understand why your cat is at the vets - you are not going to 'regulate' a cat in a couple days. Your cat should be at home with you.

It does not sound like your vet knows much about feline diabetes because food DOES matter, and regulating IS important. I guess your vet is not aware that there are a great many cats who are diet controlled and do not need insulin?

a couple questions for you:
1. what insulin is your vet giving and how often.
2. what food is/has your cat been eating.
3. what, if any, health issues does your cat have, aside from the diabetes.

You do not need to be wasting your money by having your cat at the vet, in some foreign surroundings being handled by strangers because all that will do is cause stress which will result in higher numbers. Bring your cat home because you can treat on your own at home.

You can pick up a regular human glucose meter at the pharmacy, some test strips and some lancets, then test before each shot, and a few mid cycle tests as well. Seriously, my 2 cats SLEEP through my poking their ear tips for testing.
If you stop and think about it, human diabetics test their BG before giving themselves shots, and why? So they know how much insulin they need. Ask your vet why your cat is less important. Of course you should test because Chelsea is your family, yes?

Food matters a great deal. If you have been feeding dry food and/or treats, if you switch to wet or raw foods, you will see a great improvement.
Carbs are your cat's enemy.
Also, do not feed for the 2hours prior to shots because the food will give you a false BG number.

In order to help more with details, if you could post the type of insulin your vet is giving, people can give you help. Different insulins are given differently.

You can save yourself a great deal of expense and stress, plus help your Chelsea in this tough issue by taking care of her at home but those who she knows and loves.

 

Hi Bonnie,

My condolences on the loss of your husband. It sounds like you have alot on your plate right now. So please remember to go at the pace that you deem is possible and doable for you.

You have come to the right place to help guide you and your precious kitty through this process. I'm a new to this as well and it does seem like alot of information to digest at one time. You on the right track w/getting a proper diagnosis and beginning the treatment. Maybe, if you are up to it, you can ask the vet to show you how to test your cat w/the ear poking technique. Just see what it looks like anyway. However, it sounds like there might be some vets who don't support home testing. Just check w/him. I'm trying to learn how to home test and my vet definitely supports it. In fact, Curry and I are going to visit Dr. Moss this Friday so that he can give me some extra pointers. I'm a total newbie and need all the help I can get. This message board has a "can do" attitude and culture that will support you and precious kitty through this.

Please continue to visit us and ask all your questions. Folks on this message board are truly wonderful and knowledgeable.

 

Jan and Gayle,

I'm sorry to have given the impression Chelsea is staying at the vet. She is home with me. I took her in yesterday, her blood was tested. We repeated this again this morning - and will again tomorrow morning.

The vet has recommended Purina g/d. Actually she did that some time ago and that is what Chelsea is fed. Dry in the morning when we all get cereal, and wet at night. I would have dearly loved for her to move to a raw, grainless diet, but she is addicted to the carbs. Unlike my first cat from whom we hid all meat - raw and cooked. Chelsea doesn't touch it unless processed into cat food. She won't even drink the juice from a tuna can - salty or salt-free. Over the past 10 years we've had multiple failed attempts to make the switch and I've tried numerous formulations that ultimately ended up as flavor spikes to the dogs' food. Right now, I am trying to restrict Chelsea to the wet g/d, but she is eating it reluctantly and I'm now particularly concerned when she eats less than 1/2 can since she weighs about 18 pounds and she is getting the insulin shot - so if she eats less than 1/3 of a can, I offer her some dry g/d.

I will be able to tell you the kind of insulin when we return from the vet office tomorrow.

So is it the advice of both of you that I NOT feed her tomorrow before we go? That will postpone her normal eating time by about 3 hours.
Also, would you both advise that I play around with the diet at the same time we are "playing" around with the insulin doses? That sounds overwhelming.

Also, as to other health issues. Besides her ongoing obesity (despite small, measured feeding) her BUN levels cling to the right side of the high line on the kidney panel results.

Background: The identification of her diabetes came after this past weekend in ICU. Friday, one day after my return from a trip to my family, she was very vocal and I resolved to call the vet the next morning. That Saturday morning, she was listless, and dangerously dehydrated. I am guessing she urinated massively in the shower because the litter boxes were empty. Moreover, I weighed her on my home scale at 18 pounds on Friday morning and at the vet 24 hours later she was at 16 pounds. She spent the weekend on IV fluids. Her glucose was over 400, no measurable ketones, high kidney values, liver not so bad, electrolytes low to normal, serum cloudy with fat (and that serum was obtained with considerable difficulty since she was so dehydrated). She required one shot of insulin at 1 IU and everything returned to normal level by the time I picked her up on Monday, although she was still acting sluggish and there was no litter box use. ( I had a lot of cleanup and mop-up.) Then on Tuesday, yesterday, she started perking up - but her glucose was about 350 one hour after her breakfast. Today she looked and acted great when I went in - glucose at 379 two hours after her breakfast. Tonight she's more subdued. She ate but didn't come running. Babysteps.

Bonnie

PS Tena, Thanks for understanding how overwhelming life is right now.