New to the Group

Hi I am Martie and I have a 10 year old Maincoon mixed cat who is a diabetic. I recently changed his diet to almost all moist food with only a few treats, this worked great as we now have his blood sugar level down to 95!! But!! I am still giving him insulin which concerns me greatly! I was wondering if anyone else is also giving insulin with a normal blood sugar level?

 

Welcome
What insulin and dose?
Good insulin are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We 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/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

If you post some BG before shot and between shots we can better help you.
My Patches II get Lantus at such BG. This evening She got 1.2 units with preshot of 66. That is based one experience of how low she will drop between shots. I have reduced the does and her BG get up into the high 100's and 200's.
I use a human meter which tends to read lower (edited, was higher) that BG determined by lab results and pet BG meters.

 

@Larry and Kitties You might want to edit .....human meter reads lower than lab and pet meters.

 

How much insulin? What kind? Where in the cycle was the 95? In general we suggest new diabetics not get shots if their numbers are under 200 at shot time. Instead, stall. Wait 20 minutes without feeding (which can raise the number) and retest. If the number has risen and is over 200, then you could shoot. As you have more data and know what a given dose might do, you can lower the level. Over time.

Larry is talking about a cat he has a lot of data on, and I am sure he didn't mean to suggest that your giving insulin at such a low number would be wise.

 

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

 

Hi Larry and Kitties,
I use Lantus in the 10 ml vile and I am giving my Murphy 4.5 units twice a day. I have asked several times about check Murphy's glucose levels at home but was told it is too hard for me to do and that they would rather I just keep taking him in to have it checked. About three weeks ago we did change his diet to almost moist food, we feed him Fancy feast (this is all he will eat), he does get some treats mainly during the night, he will wake me up to get them. Murphy is fed soft food three times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner and if he acts hungry at night he get tuna fish. My concern about giving him insulin is that his last blood sugar level was 95 yet my vet still wants me to give him 4.5 units of insulin twice a day. How do you test your cats blood sugars at home? Thanks for all the information!!

 

Hi Martie! Your vet's comment makes me laugh...too hard? REALLY? If you test at home, they won't get the money! In their defense, they likely think you can only do it with a vein blood draw. We use ear edges for testing. There's lots of info about how to test in the feline health forum! Check them out! There's even videos. It takes about 30 seconds.

4.5 units is a HUGE dose for someone not testing at home and especially with a depot insulin like Lantus. A 95 at the vet is scary too...stress of travel and just being at the vet usually causes higher glucose levels. Your home numbers would likely be much lower making them TOO low. Testing isn't hard, it's just different - heck, I just tested one of my non-diabetics this morning that's visiting the water bowl too much.

If you can't find them, just post and we'll guide you further...

 

Here is information about home testing.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

We test at home because it is more accurate (most vets are stressed at the vet and their numbers can be 100 points higher than at home. If he was 95 at the vet, as Lyressa says, he might be really low at home.) And of course, much cheaper.

If he were mine, I would go get a ReliOn meter at Walmart (it's the cheapest and the strips are the cheapest) and start testing today. It is possible that he is dropping dangerously low. Just for reference, for a human meter, we consider a cat in remission if they range from 40 -120 OFF INSULIN. We suggest new diabetics not shoot under 200 and if the lowest point in the cycle is 50 or lower, we suggest a dose reduction. Most cats here are on one unit of insulin; 4.5 is a lot of insulin especially for the his low numbers.

 

Thank You Everyone for your help!! I am going to get a glucose monitor and start home testing. I am now worried I am actually hurting my poor Murphy by giving him the insulin. I am going to start recording his numbers, I will let you all know how we make out!! Does anyone think I am over thinking this about giving him his insulin? Thank you all for your help!!