new to this

Our 9 year old cat trident was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this week. We had noticed and increase in drinking and urination frequency/volume. When we took her in for her yearly checkup, we mentioned this and had blood tests done. Her glucose was at 343 so the vet id'ed her as diabetic and gave us a prescription for Novalin N insulin and said to give her 4 units twice a day. I did some research and realized that this amount of insulin seemed pretty high, so we only gave her 1 unit. Injected her twice. Then I decided to do some home glucose testing. Bought a human home testing meter. We have been testing her twice a day for the past 3 days and she consistently reads between 130 and 160. We haven't given her any insulin since we began testing - afraid we will put her in hypo state. We did adjust her food from dry to wet (higher protein, low carb).

Should we be giving her insulin? She has a good appetite and energy level - not as thirsty....

 

- Welcome, it is good that you are home testing BG

- Based on those BGs I would not give insulin. WHen were those BG measured with respect to feeding?
- 343 is not that high when measured at the vet since vet stress can raise BG but 100 or more points.
- Mony of use here record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.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. If you are feeding a high-carb food, especially dry, and change to a low-carb food, BG should go down further

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

 

Wow. I would consider a different vet. That is an extremely high starting dose... It honestly could have killed her. You are right not to give insulin at those readings. Great job.

 

I agree with holding off on the insulin when the numbers are in that range. That was a VERY high starting dose for a newly diagnosed kitty.
Thank goodness you are home testing and doing your own research. Since giving 1 unit has brought Trident into much lower numbers than you got at the vets...most likely due to vet stress..... the 4 units could very well have put her into a hypo.

Continue testing and posting. If you set up a spreadsheet you can enter your test data and get a good visual look at how Trident's numbers are doing.

 

We have been testing about 30 minutes prior to feeding. Today she was at 169 prior to feeding which is the highest reading we've had for her so far. We are going to test again about an hour after feeding to see what happens. She hasn't had any insulin since Thursday morning and seems happier for it. We began feeding her canned low-carb Fancy Feast on Wednesday and she has a hearty appetite, but she always has been a good eater.

As a method of testing the accuracy of our home glucose monitor, I also tested one of our other cats who is always healthy as the proverbial horse and very congenial - never stressed out, even at the vet's office. He tested at 51, so I figure the test is probably giving us fairly accurate readings.

Should I be trying to test ketones in her urine, too?

 

Yeah - a different vet would be appealing, but we live in a very rural area and our options are limited. Thank goodness for the internet and concerned pet parents with more experience than I have.

 

My eyebrows went up when I saw that dose as well. For beginners the rule is no shot unless the blood glucose is over 200 and start low, easier to increase the dose slowly than deal with a hypo, and be patient and not be tempted to increase too quickly. As you are not giving insulin it would be a good idea to test for ketones, anything over a trace needs attention.

Here is a link to some information about Novolin N http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/humulin-n-primer.303/

Once you are ready to restart insulin or if you have any other questions post in the Health forum. You need to be aware that Novolin N is once of the short acting insulins so gets out of the system within 12 hours, the typical mode of action is to drop the glucose quite quickly to a low point (nadir), generally within the first 6 hours. In order to keep your kitty safe you need to identify when that low point is and how low she goes by doing a curve. We can talk you through how to do this so don't worry!

When you have a moment can you add a signature and start up a spreadsheet so if you need any fast advice the information is there.

Welcome to the board!