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My eight year old male cat was diagnosed with Diabetes a few days ago. Lorenzo seems to be doing better since starting insulin but, I know we probably have a long way to go to get him regulated. I hope to start home glucose testing after I speak to the vet during his follow up visit. I am hoping that this site can help in lending support and information as we get through this. LISA

 

Hi and welcome.

Can you tell us a little information about Lorenzo? What type of insulin did you start and how many units per shot? What food does he eat and how was he diagnosed, was a urine test and fructosamene blood test?

Great that you are being proactive, that's the best way you can help Lorenzo, he's lucky to have you.

Some vets aren't familiar with hometesting, so don't worry if your vet doesn't want you to do it. My own vet now encourages hometesting, but she didn't before and it took some time for her to trust it. But now many pets in her practice benefit from hometesting.

 

Welcome !

I'm sorry lorenzo developed diabetes. this is the best place to be for help !

I look forward to reading the answers to the questions Jen asked you above. we can offer you a lot more help with that info.

here is a link on tools(videos/pictures/tips &instruction) to help w/ hometesting to get you started:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... sg-1817358

lorenzo is lucky to have you looking out for you.
keep reading and post back. questions welcome ;-)

 

Lorenzo started on 2 units of prozinc twice per day but after 10 days he is on 3 units. He is still running high from in the 400's to just Hi on the acu check which stops at 600. We are following up with the vet after one week of this increased dose. I have started home monitoring but not everyday and not 3 x per day. It seems like a lot of testing when he is still so high. He does seem to be feeling better though. Drinking less water and less lethargic. We are phasing out the old diet of dry food and phasing in canned (Thanks giving feast by Merrick). We are mixing with the old and increasing canned slowly. He is eating well so that it looks like that won't be a problem. I will call the vet on mon if numbers don't start to come down since he is not due back until thursday. It seems like we should be getting better numbers since he is feeling better. He was diagnosed almost 2 weeks ago at 439. I was hoping to find someone familiar with the home testing to come over and lend assistance since he is not the best patient for that. He hates feeling the least bit restraind and does not seem to be adapting. I thought maybe a more experienced person might make a difference but I have not been able to find anyone available. I know the home testing will be necessary to keep him safe and regulated. If anyone lives close in the east hollywood Florida area or knows someone please let me know.

 

I just wanted to say, I felt the same way when Tugger was first diagnosed. Why poke him all the time when you know the number is going to be high? Well, once I finally came here I learned why. I am guessing it's the same with your insulin, but you're poking him all the time because you need to know what his body is doing with that insulin you're shooting into him. By hometesting and getting spot checks during the cycle you can catch it if he's going hypo (really low numbers) and feed him appropriately to gently guide his numbers back up. You'll also know it's time to increase/decrease because the data you collect will show you.

I didn't test Tugger regularly in the beginning and just raised his dose every 7 days when I'd see the numbers were still high since the previous week. I did a weekly curve, then I'd up his dose. No testing till curve day, up his dose. I did that till he was on 4.5u of Lantus (while eating dry food mostly.) Pretty much what happened is that I was basing all of my decisions on one day's worth of data a week, nothing in between. I missed all the clues when we found a dose that would allow him to level out and start healing and I just kept giving him more and more insulin. The clues were hidden in the data I didn't collect.

Tugger spent 3 months feeling like crap while I did it all wrong. Once I came here and figured out just how wrong it all was I changed everything at once so his rapid progress is due to a number of factors but if I had not started testing him at home who knows how many times he could have hypo'd to death on me after we changed his food to low carb or how long he might have had high numbers because I was overdosing him, or would have been if I had kept going along so blindly (high numbers which would probably have led to ketones and expensive treatments if I had even caught it in time to take him to the vet to get treatment) but those things didn't happen because I came here and learned the importance of home testing.

I've also seen several other cats who have been saved from certain death because their owners began home testing.

Many vets disapprove of it but I'm sorry, I've seen the truth. It is not mean, it is not torture, the cats all learn to accept it and many come to let you know when it's time to test. It saves lives and it saves stress on the cat. I've yet to see any actual for real negative to home testing, personally.

 

Hi there and welcome.

We use ProZinc too. You are more than welcome to join us over in the PZI Insulin Support Group:
viewforum.php?f=24

I have not heard of that specific type of canned. Is is a low carb canned [below 9-10% cabs as %Kcal]? If you are not aware yet of Janet & Binky's list it is a great resource:
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html

Once you do change over to a low carb wet only diet you should expect to see your kitty's insulin needs drop [sometimes dramatically]. So monitoring closely during this period is critical. Some recommend dropping back to 1u and re-regulating once the change to wet, low carb only has been made. Do you have a no shoot [a pre-shot or "PS" level that you will not give insulin at] level?

 

Lorenzo is starting a canned food called Thanksgiving Day Dinner by Merrick. It has the low glycemic label. One question that I have about the home glucose test is whether to attempt to hit the vein or between the edge and the vein. The space between the vein and the edge is so small that I'm not sure that I can avoid the vein. Different instruction sites seem to do one or the other. On some videos it seems like they are just going in the general area without any concern if they hit the vein. I made another attempt yesterday and it did not go as well. He started hissing and got more and more agitated, pulling away and making it impossible without going into full restraint which I decided not to do. I will try again today. LISA

 

Yea the idea is to get that space between the edge and the little vein, but in reality you probably won't hit exactly where you were aiming anyway. The vien is pretty small so even you tried to hit you would likely miss as well :lol: Just go for the general area as close to the edge as you can, if you do "hit the jackpot" vein you will probably get quite a blood drop. I have done it a few times and you have to hold pressure on the site for a few minutes to really stop the bleeding. One time I had a real gusher and didn't hold it long enough, he ran off and shook his head (I guess the dripping blood tickles) and I had a lovely splatter pattern on a white wall in the kitchen ohmygod_smile Sometimes one ear is easier than the other, some people use anywhere on the outside edge (inside=the edge nearest to the center of the head or facing the other ear, outside edge= the one facing away from the head) anywhere from just below the tip to a few millimeters from the base. I use the lancet pen and wrap the ear over my index finger (with a cosmetic pad on it) holding it flat with the thumb and middle finger of the same hand. I look at the hole in the lancet pen and place it so the edge of the ear is covering about 3/4 of the hole, press the pen firmly against the ear and click.



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I need some help and guidance for Lorenzo. I was able to get a couple of home glucose tests done but, for the most part he is getting "nasty" and making it impossible. At the last trip to the vet he was very hard to handle as well but of course they were able to draw blood. It took 15 min, two of the most experienced techs and the vet. They used a towel and gentle restraint because he just was not cooperating (hissing, growling, pulling away). I am wondering if I will ever be able to test at home do to his extreme reaction to any type of handling or restraint that he perceives as threatening. I am waiting for a reply back from a home visiting vet to see if I might be able to get some professional assistance. It is worth a try if the service is available. My concern is that the more we handle him, the more he seems to be reacting with the insulin injections as well. I will order an illumavein in the hope that it might make a difference. Are there some cats that just won't allow all of the testing? His personality is pleasant and he never acted aggressively although he has never liked to be held unless it is his idea and never liked to feel restricted. I am waiting for the delivery of Purina Glucotest for testing the urine although I know it doesn't replace blood testing. The dosage of insulin has gone up from 2 units to 3 units to 4 units 2x/day which is frightening without getting the daily tests done. He tested at 420 midway between injections at his last visit so the vet said "let's keep him on the 4 units 2x/day and check him in 2 weeks". I would like to get a second opinion from a vet that specializes. Maybe a phone consultation. I am waiting for a reply from a couple of vets that I consulted. He never had a profile done but I am not sure how accurate that would be if he is so agitated the entire time. I just don't know, I want to be aggressive, but at the same time I don't know if Lorenzo is the best patient for that approach. I am watching closely for hypoglycemia but during the night and a few hours a day when I am not home this is not possible. On a positive note, he seems to be feeling better, drinking less water, urinating less, moving around more, grooming himself like before. His food has been converted to 75% canned diabetic, 25% previous dry food. We are working towards 100%. He is eating well, right on schedule. If anyone can offer some insight or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. LISA

 

Wow 4 units is quite high to be at already! Though it is good that his clinical signs are improving. Did you guys start at 1u or start right in at 2u? Also bumping up the dose by 1 unit at a time is quite a large leap and you could be missing the optimal dose for your kitty. Some kitties respond to as little as a 0.2u difference. If you guys missed the optimal dose inadvertently you could be dealing with rebound numbers instead of needs more insulin high numbers. The liver knows when the body goes to low and/or gets too much insulin and tries to protect itself by pumping more glucose into the system.

Have you tried preceding the testing with a good rub down and/or a treat? Maybe over time he will come to associate getting tested with good things. For the first week I had to wrap Oscar in a 'cat burrito' in order to home test him. A flailing cat is hard to control unless you can restrain their legs somehow.

Once you master this, it is very very important to at least test before each shot. I am one of those people that if we listened to our vet and didn't home test - Oscar would certainly have had a severe hypo and possibly even died. There were at least 2 occasions that at our regular +12 shoot time he had a blood glucose level of less than 50.