Newbie, Lug

First of all THANK YOU everyone for all the great information! We were diagnosed a month+ ago and things are looking better now.

The vet had us coming in for weekly nadir testing, prescribed Hills DM dry, and started us doing .5u injections of Humulin at home. The vet did mention home testing but as noobs we had no idea of the importance and she didn't push it. Within 2 weeks we found this site, thank God, and started home testing immediately. We had the textbook Humulin curve: a rapid drop of hundreds of points, a pretty flat bottom out to +8 hours and then right back up. He was miserable.

Lug was not about to eat DM after a life on dry carby food. He pretty much stopped eating and we had to take a step back and start all over. At this point his numbers were all over the place, 230-596, and we were gradually stepping up the Humulin. THANKS everyone for the Fancy Feast tips, he wouldn't touch Wellness or the other premiums. After a little encouraging he took to it and never looked back, Classic Salmon and Shrimp Feast and Tender Beef Feast with a splash of water are his favorites. We'll try to work in some better quality ones over time.

He's been totally weened from the dry (we also had to switch over our other cat because Lug was still grabbing dry whenever he got the chance) for over a week now and his number are really dropping... Oh, good thing we're home testing otherwise we'd be still at high doses with nadirs below 100 and dropping! We went from 2.5u to 1u and his PSs are 300-400 and nadirs around 100. I feel the high PS are partly because he doesn't eat alot at once so we're still letting him graze at-will hoping he gains some weight back.

I think this is as good as we're going to get with Humulin, it's like making toast with a blow torch. We were going to switch to ProZinc but it's hard to find so we're leaning towards Lantus at this point. Now if I can just find someone that will split a 5-pack with me, or will sell individual cartridges. We're thinking positive here ... he'll go into remission before using up a 5-pack... he'll go into remission before using up a 5-pack... :mrgreen:

Hoping our next post is in LantusLand,
Sharron and Jack

 

A little update. We made the switch to Lantus a few weeks ago and the difference is night and day. We thought we were doing really good with Humulin when the PS was under 400 and the nadir was 120! Lug was miserable. We switched to Lantus and have not seen a number over 190 and he's feeling great!

I cannot urge you enough to get rid of Humulin and try a longer lasting insulin. We went with Lantus but would have tried ProZinc if it was more available. It is expensive to buy 5 Lantus pens at once, so we made at least 10 calls (vets, animal hospitals, pharmacies) until we found someone that would sell us individual pens. Target sold us one pen for $41 ... they price matched Costco's price of $205 for 5!

If you are using Humulin and your cat is not regulated, please switch. If you are having a hard time approaching your vet with such a request, keep emphasizing how your cat is not doing well, that Humulin is not lasting long enough, and that the harsh roller coaster ride is making your cat feel miserable. Then ask to try another insulin. Be persisant, don't give up!.

Humulin is hell

 

Lug has not been above 100 in 7 days!
I don't think this would have been possible on Humulin.

Please, if Humulin is not working very well for you then find a way to switch to something longer lasting.

 

Another update on LUG....

HE DID IT, HE IS OFF INSULIN!
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=53376


Here's what worked for us:
1) Many vets are 'old school' and prescribe Humulin, like ours. Humulin is simply aweful for cats, it is too fast acting and too short lasting. Your cat is in for a roller-coaster ride if you use it. Find a way, any way, to talk to your vet and switch to a longer lasting insulin. We recommend Lantus because it worked so well for us and for sooo many other cats. ;-)

2) Switch to a low-carb food right away. Your cat will begin feelling better very quickly. It will take a week or 2 to completely switch foods so start now. Besides, you (and the vet) won't be able to determine the correct insulin dose until the switch is made. Note: prescription M/D is not a great choice for your diabetic cat, there are many better (and cheaper) alternatives.

Using humulin with a high-carb diet is like trying to keep a small campfire burning at a certain height by using a garden hose and gasoline.

3) Home Test. There is no other way to do it, period. Testing is often quite easy and inexpensive. Even if your vet (like many) discourages home testing do it anyway! Once you do it a few times and see the food, insulin dose, and BG (blood glucose) cycle you will understand ... and be very upset with your vet for not strongly encouraging (insisting) that you do it.

This is very important: If you are new to feline diabetes and reading this post your vet might have you giving 1-2 unit injections of Humulin twice a day to your cat. As you switch to a low carb diet your cat's insulin needs will likely drop dramatically. ONLY home testing will help you reduce the insulin dose in step with your cats needs. ... more anger towards your vet for prescribing a set dose of insulin at the same time as changing his diet... Incredibly dangerous!! You must home test.

4) Relax. You will quickly get into the swing of things, and besides, you have tons of very knowledgeable people on this site ready at a moments notice to give you all the help and advice you'll need. :smile:

Best of luck with your sugar cat!
cat_pet_icon

 

Thanks for all your posts - what great news about Lug coming off insulin.
You probably know that here in the UK it is very hard for us to get prescribed different types of insulin - we are tightly regulated on prescribing here but there is a "cascade" principle which allows vets to prescribe different types of "human" medicine if they think the animal warrants it, but it's a bit of a difficult process.

However, my vets are very interested in Issey and how she is getting on and are receptive to "tweaking" so hopefully we might be able to go the whole hog and try some different insulin other than Caninsulin, which is really the only insulin available to us here.

Hope Lug keeps doing well.

Catherine