New to FDMB

Hello to all,
I'm new to the forums but not to FD. Ever since we've had our cat, Apocalypse (Paco), he has had diabetes, possibly even before. His previous owner had a baby girl that he's taking care of, and at the time he couldn't commit to giving Paco the attention he needed. Paco was in very terrible condition, rail thin, no appetite, drinking large amounts of water, urinating everywhere, and extremely lethargic. Upon receiving him, we immediately took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. That year was the worst year Paco had experienced. There was more than 1 occasion in which we thought he didn't have much time to live. So at that time, we did a little research and came across http://www.felinediabetes.com with loads of information that practically saved Paco's life.
Many things have changed since he was become part of our family. First and foremost, of course, are the insulin shots, weight gain, change in diet, other kitty friends, loving environment where he gets all the attention he needs.
The change in diet was extremely beneficial; went from dry food to wet food only. That alone managed to get him into remission. He's been on insulin for about a year and half, and in remission for a year and a half and now he's insulin dependent again. We do not do home testing, so gauging his stability can be hard some times. There have been a couple of occasions where he would go into a mild hypoglycemic attack, but a little bit of honey would make him feel much better. However, this last time, today, he had a really bad attack. He went temporarily blind for a couple hours and wouldn't react at all to honey. So, now we figure its time to learn how to test BG at home. We've already ordered a newbie kit since we're a little financially constrained and hope to hear and research plenty of advice.

 

Hi and welcome
I am glad you will start to hometest. So far you have been lucky as the blindness could certainly have been permanant.
I hope you have lowered the dose considferably from what you were giving. You should also tell the good people here which insulin you are giving and how much, how many times a day. I assume the canned you are feeding is low carb no gravy no sauce types
Very best of luck and again welcome Keep us posted

 

Hi Jorge, it's so good to see you and apocolypse here.
We need to know what insulin you are using
how much your shooting
I'd like to know what syringes your using U40 or U100?
Diet change may be the culprit of your hypo's if your still shooting the same amount as you were on dry.
Also what were his #'s last visit to the vet.
And with that I'l say good night.
I'll look for you in the morning, pacific time...a little later for you but please let us know what your doing.
Board is a little slow tonight, it will pick up
Lori

 

Welcome. Yep, hometesting. First best thing you can do to protect Paco.

Here's the page on hometesting, including links to videos to show you how. Many of us are self-taught, so I am sure you will pick it up quickly.

 

After his episode yesterday, we skipped his PM shot because we weren't sure what to do. Ever since we had him we've been feeding him canned food. He eats both Wellness and Fancy Feast. Since Wellness is more expensive, we feed him Wellness in the morning and Fancy Feast at night. He gets insulin shots 2x daily at 2.5 units. Needles are u100 as well as the insulin, which is Novolin N.

 

I'm so glad you are going to learn to hometest! That will really be a literal lifesaver. I'm curious, what symptoms got you to take him in and learn he needed insulin again?

 

You may not be aware that there are longer acting insulins now which do not reduce blood glucose rapidly as N does, Lantus or Levemir. Their incidence of severe hypo is very low. They are best used with hometesting, so once you get that under your belts, please speak with your vet about an insulin change. The rate of remission on Lantus or Levemir is much higher and since he's gone in to remission before, either one may help him do so again.

 

Last year, we made a major move between states and i think that took a major toll on Paco. He was already nervous when he saw us packing up stuff for the move, and the actual move made it worse. By the time we got to our destination, he didn't want to eat, was drinking lots of water and urinating a lot. Paco just looked awful. So we took him to the vet. Of course, with every new vet, even with providing information on his condition, they want to do a slew of tests before re-diagnosing him with diabetes. A fructosamine test was finally done and we started giving him insulin again.

I wasn't previously aware of the different insulin types until just recently. Paco's insulin vial is getting low, so we'll be considering our options for a more suitable insulin. Lantus and Levemir seem to get plenty of accolades, so we'll be leaning more towards that.

Thanks very much for comments and reccomendations.

 

I know you sound seasoned users of insulin.

Just thought re reading this sticky might highlight stuff for you.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=303
Remember Humulin N and Novolin are the same insulin, just made by different manufacturers.

Like other Humulin N users and has already been said, I'd support the idea of you swapping to a longer acting insulin such as Lantus/Levemir too.
You did brilliantly to get him into remission on the Novolin, so paws crossed you could do it with one of these insulins.

You will need to learn about how they work, but after using Caninsulin (shorter (intermediate) acting similar to Novolin)and then switching to Levemir-wow! Life was sooo much easier and achieved regulation in no time.

You can read the stickies in the Lantus isg (Almost identical action between the two) and both follow the same protocol.Also research information that has been undertaken in there too (if you need to convince your self/vet)not to mention the number of cats that have gone into remission on these insulins.

Good luck :mrgreen:

 

2 things occur to me...1 is that without the himetesting now...thse hypo's could mean he is in remission NOW or heading there. Maybe you could lower your dose to 1U until your kit arrives.
2. I forget :lol: , maybe that was one and two!
I am so sorry out Post Offices here in Ca. are closed on weekends so it will be Mon. that the kit will be sent out.
Oh I remember..it all the tests, was he checked for ketones? was there any trace? i have keto stix if this may be an issue.
let me know k?
Lori

 

Is novili(?) a U100 insulin???? Peeps?
I thought I'd send some syringes...

 

Novolin is a family of human recombinant insulin made by Novo Nordisk. It is almost identical to the Humilin family of human insulins made by E. I. Lilly. Like all human insulin it is U100 strength. Now the Most common uses Novolin insulin for felines is Novolin N. Also avaialbe is Novolin R and premised comobinations of N and R.

 

Lori

5th post down hun.

Can you get us any numbers Forivadel (that's an unusual login name)

And Lori is right, you need to test for keytones using ketodiastix (should be able to get from any pharmacy)

 

hi kate, i knew he'd said that but i just wanted to clarify...there have been a couple of u40 insulins shot thru u100 syringes...and paco has those couple of hypo's.
i have some fresh keto-stix i can send if there be a need.
yes #'s #'s #'s...we want to see those vet #'s jorge.

 

So I've been re-reading up on current information and it seems like i may not be administrating his insulin properly. I've been giving him his shot at feeding time. I'd hate to break this habit if it's not necessary but if its for the better then i will.

i'll be dropping his dosage to 1u until the kit arrives. never been tested for ketones. the vet has done a glucose curve not too long ago when he was re-diagnosed with diabetes but the results have stayed with her. i'm not in need of needles right now, though thanks for asking.

 

ok i'll send keto stix and please explain...we all give shots while feeding...that's the proper time. where did you see otherwise. once your kit arrives the protocol is TEST_FEED_SHOOT

 

if your vet is open today you have every right to call and ask for the latest round of numbers..we REALLY should know that

 

I give him his shot exactly when he is eating. Paco normally has a monstrous appetite and gets easily distracted when food is around. Very easy to give him his shot at that time. I'll get in contact with the vet and see if i can get the results.

 

If I were you (and I know I am not!) I wouldn't wait for the newbie kit. If Lori can't send it out till Monday, you won't get it until at least Wednesday. Meanwhile you have a kitty that is requiring less insulin and you are shooting blind. Any chance you know a diabetic who might have a spare meter to lend you? Or could you buy the ReliOn from Walmart? It's only $10 or so. I am just concerned that you are in a very unstable time period, when hometesting could turn out to be very necessary.

 

i'll ask around and see what i can do. i'm keeping a close eye on paco and hes doing much better since he's hypo'd. i'll check the local walgreens/walmart and see what they have. if it's that cheap i'll go ahead and do that, but i know i'd also have to get lancets and strips. i'm currently on a tight budget right now because of the vacation we just took recently. eager as i am about this, i also wanted to wait a little bit when until paco is in high spirits because home testing is new to both of us.
for the time being, hes definitely getting less insulin to be on the safe side.

 

if you don't go out to buy anything...don't worry, with the dose decrease you should be at least safer.
it would be kewl if there's a diabetic you know of who you could test off of just 2 times or so.
if you do get a meter...let me know as maybe i can match your strips.