newbie in need of help ⚠✔

Hello,
I have an 11 1/2 yr old diabetic cat..
Mister was diagnosed 2 yrs ago but was controlled with 3 tbs. Wet food ever 4 hrs. And running.
as of 3/10/2015 he started vomiting and became ill
wouldnt eat but drank obsessively
new test showed 380
vet gave fluids, vitamin b, antibiotic, something for nausea and someting to create hunger.
he came home was acting good for 1 hr and than he didn't even want to drink anymore.
We were syringing water and a1 tbs of wet for at a time.
I had to put a lein out on our car to get money for insulin
insulin started 3/14/2015
8am first dose at vet .. we came home and he seemed very hyper for an hr. Than started laying around with eyes open like he couldnt sleep.
dosing to start is
8am -8pm prozinc 1 unit
Im very lost and frustrated
yesterday first dose 8a
also receive more fluids
at 8:14p bg was 246
at 1:55am he was vomiting bg was 341

he acts so hungry till he gets the insulin than he licks like 10 times and walks away and just lays around or is asleep.
im worried because he doesnt want to eat or drink.
weve had him on friskies special diet "turkey & giblets, and the "beef & chicken"..
Now the only time he will even try to eat is if its "beef & gravy" shreds
which i know he shouldnt have, but if its all he will touch?
Vet says only feed 3 times a day but says when insulin is given give what he will lick right than.
If he is sleeping all day i dont get how he is getting better?

Im so worried.. Im juggling 4 cats, a disabled husband on pain meds and ssd, and an 18yr old daughter still in high school with pregnancy
complications 38 weeks and 1cm dialated now.
im her support in the delivery room and mister not being right yet makes me very stressed. And i had to leave for 1hr for my gmas funeral yesterday and about had a heart attack.. any advice? He is my baby please help ~ Tina

 

Welcome to FDMB.

First step, breathe! You're under a lot of stress.
Treating diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint, and you can do this.

He has to eat, so step one is to have him anything. You can slowly switch the food to better low carb options once he is eating again. When he's stable, pop over to Cat Info for some more feeding info.

For safety, home glucose testing is strongly advocated. All you need is an inexpensive human glucometer, matching test strips, and lancets listed for alternate site testing (26-28 gauge). You might check with your local high school for a junior or senior interested in becoming a vet tech to volunteer to help you do some of these tests, as I can see you have your hands full. The WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro or the Target Up and Up are meters folks have used successfully here.

 

I have a precision xtra bg and ketone monitoring system
i spent half the day yesterday watching youtube videos till i found one with a cat
that wouldnt stay still.. and after 4 tries i finally figured it out.
do i have to just let him starve 8hrs when he didnt eat barely with shot?
he is literally just sleeping

 

I leave the food out for all of my cats for 12 hours at a time..

He has to eat. More than 2 full days without eating means a vet visit due to the risk of fat breakdown overwhelming his liver (hepatic lipidosis), which can be fatal.

 

Ok im going to try that. Hopefully the other dont try and eat it.
I told the vet when he vomited it was yellow like the bottom of stomach.
how much do you put out?
He is 13 lbs and was doing 3 5.5oz cans a day at 14 lbs.

Im throwing away tons

 

I'm feeding 16 cats!
AM and PM, I put out about 3 Friskies pate 5.5 oz cans for the upstairs cats, 1 for the diabetic, 1/3 for the FIV positive cat in a cat condo, 1 for the senior in the kitchen (it gets shared), and 1 plus some Evo dry to the 2 ferals in the basement.

 

Wow, amazing!
only 1 can a day or 1 every 12hrs. ?
and do you only bg test right before insulin shots?
sorry so many questions.
ive been reading so much while juggling everything else that im not soaking all info in or im falling asleep reading

 

As far as amount to feed, it'll depend on his weight, activity level, and if he needs to gain. maintain, or lose weight.
Gracie gets her can, sometimes 1.5 cans, twice a day.
An unregulated diabetic cat may need 50% more food than one which is regulated.

Glucose testing is done pre-shot to make sure it is safe. No shot if below 200 mg/dL on the pre-shot, until you have mid-cycle data to show it would be safe.
Tests are also done in the +5 to +7 hours post-shot, around the expected nadir or lowest glucose level. You want that to stay above 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer. See my signature link Glucometer Notes for more details.

 

Ok Thank you!

 

And Gracie weighs about 8-10 pounds.

 

So if insulin in given at 8a..
Im doing a bg at 8a, 1p, 3p ? Right

 

Always do your 8 am and 8 pm before giving insulin.
When you can, do +5 (1:00 pm) or +6 (2:00pm ) or +7 (3:00 pm)
We write it in terms of how long since the shot or +hours, because the interpretation of the number and the actions to take depend on that.

Plus, we're international and have all different time zones.

 

Mister will only eat the really high carb foods think friskies beef & gravy shreds , chicken & bacon bits etc.
He is turning down all pate which is all he ate for 2 yrs.

I took the advice here and left food down all day and he started nibbling off and all day and is looking much better.
Question is do I do something else while trying to get him regulated?
any ideas at all

also how do I add details about when diagnosed etc.

~Tina

 

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.

 

I added info to my signature yesterday from pc.. the tablet wouldnt let me.
It would only allow very few lines so I had to delete a lot of information
.
I got Mister to eat Fancy Feast classic cans! So Im wondering he used to do 3 5.5 oz cans of friskies special diet . He is 13 lbs now so how many FF should I feed daily?
Also if he has kidney disease and I feed fancy feast would that make his numbers go up? I fed 2 cans so far and suddenly he has had 2 bgs in the 400 range. He loves that food though, he doesnt leave any for later

 

The Fancy Feast are higher in phosphorus than you want to give to a cat with renal impairment.
Feline CRF has a list of foods as well as good info on CRF.
Crossmatch foods from the 2 lists to get low carb and low phosphorus.