New today

I have been reading the posts about diabetes in cats since my 7 year old (Willow) was diagnosed a month ago and needed help coping with this. My name is Kathy and I live in a gated community in Texas with lots of wonderful retired active people. Most of them have dogs but we love our two kitties. We have a brother and sister team that we adopted from our daughters litter. (Her cat had a litter, my daughter didn't- haha) We love them to pieces. I got a lot of helpful info by reading everyone's posts. We are currently giving our sweet girl insulin twice a day. She is on Lantus and my hubby and I have checked her levels so often that I'm sure she will leak out of her ears. haha Poor baby.

 

Hi Kathy, welcome to FDMB. You are in exactly the right place to learn more about Feline Diabetes and treatment. Please begin by creating your signature that will provide Willow's pertinent information with each of your posts: SIGNATURE
Congratulations on home testing, it truly is the best tool you have to help keep Willow safe and to see how the insulin is working for her. We have a spreadsheet we use to track the BG tests and the insulin injections, and is linked to the signature so that advising members can see the trends and patterns. Here is the area where you can find the instructions and how to understand the grid: SPREADSHEET INFO Please fill in as much data as you have so that we can see Willow's history.
Visit the LANTUS forum and read those yellow tagged info and sticky threads. This is information that is going to help you learn more about Lantus and help you choose which protocol you wish to follow. Post there with your questions and concerns, so that the experienced members can help you with any issues.
Best wishes going forward

 

Hi Kathy, Lou did all the heavy lifting with info to get you started, so I just wanted to send a hello to all four of you. We'd love to see a pic of your lovely duo. Welcome!

 

Welcome!

 

Thank you. It's taking me a while to figure out how to use this.

 

Just read your food chart. Thank you- it is filled with all the information I need! Since completely eliminating all dry food from my cats' diet, Willow has had normal glucose levels and I have not given her insulin in 5 days. Hubby and I have been checking her levels often, done MANY curves (poor thing) and we are all doing great. Plus, brother Rusty has lost a pound since we started all of this. It is a bit more inconvenient to not be able to leave the dry food around so they can "free feed" during the night but....... what strides we have made. Will communicate all of this to the vet on Monday. Thank you for all the help you've given us. When I figure out how to post a picture, I will.

 

Wonderful picture Kathy, two adorable babies! And incredible news about Willow's BG readings. Just so you know, Willow is still a diabetic although a diet controlled diabetic. Idjit was one of the lucky ones also, and boy were we surprised! Be vigilant and keep checking her BG to be sure she doesn't creep up again.
Here is a little info on remission from the Lantus forum Start Low Go Slow protocol:

Remission is reached when kitty can go 14 days without insulin. Most cats will remain in the range of a healthy cat 50 - 80mg/dL (2.7 - 4.4 mmol/L) with only sporadic higher or lower BG numbers.

Occasionally, some will experience infrequent BG numbers higher than the norm. Continue feeding low carb food. Test the cat's BGs once per month. If BG numbers begin to trend upwards, it's time to bring kitty in to see your vet for a check-up. Common reasons for kitty falling out of remission include dental issues, infection, inflammation, pancreatitis, etc. Just about any illness or disease can do it.

I think it's wise to test more often than once a month at first, just to be on the safe side. If her numbers are creeping up, you will want to be aware of that, and take action. She may only need a very small dose of insulin to help her pancreas completely heal and function like it should, and then be able to be OTJ (off the juice) again.
Be sure to create that signature with Willow's information, and create the spreadsheet so that if you need to make some adjustments and need help, that information is available.

 

Thank you. Thank you. Are you saying she shouldn't be above 80? My vet said healthy levels were 75 to 159. Now I'm really confused. When I gave her insulin at 120 she said I should have held it. Her last curve that I haven't sent to the vet yet was 135, 137, 120, 130. Did I stop the insulin too early? These readings are with no insulin

 

Kathy, I would like you to post in the Lantus forum or the Main Health forum so that the experienced members can see your questions and concerns, and explain much better than I can. I'm not saying you have done anything wrong, but the experienced members can provide more detail.
Please complete the signature information so that these members can see Willow's info when you post, ok? And if you would set up that spreadsheet and plug in the data regarding all your testing and the insulin injections that Willow has had, they can look at that and see the patterns. I gave you the links to the signature and the spreadsheet in my previous reply to you.

 

Normal on an Alphatrak pet meter is 68-150. I wouldnt give insulin with the numbers you are getting.

 

Thank you. She continues to be below 150. I talked to my vet and she said to continue spot checking her for a month, continue with current diet of no dry food, send her all of her spot checks. I wish I had known what a difference wet vs dry food can make. I can see both of my beautiful babies losing weight and playing happily.

 

Don't stop spot checking. If she falls out of remission you want to catch it as soon as possible. If check once a week for the first two months and then at least twice a month after that for good. My cat was in remission for a year before falling out.

 

Thank you Janet. Checked her yesterday and she was 88. I will check her once to twice a week. Wonder what makes them fall out of remission if you keep everything the same. We drive back to Minnesota from South Texas in July. She is usually fine with that but it does upset the usual routine. I just ordered another batch of testing strips so I will be diligent about testing her.

 

Often it's an infection such as a bad tooth or illness. Sometimes it's a mystery. In my cats case we blame it on the solar eclipse.