Newly diagnosed and a very rocky few weeks

I've been lurking a lot here and am so grateful you exist since I feel we are rather on our own in figuring out how to best deal with all this (we have gotten some pretty dodgy advice from the vet who up to this point I felt was excellent). Our 15-year-old cat Nippers went from "boring" numbers at his last appointment -- great news since he is managing several conditions -- to a month later losing his appetite and ultimately getting the diabetes diagnosis. We've had a very dramatic few weeks due in some part to terrible advice (like telling us to take him home after his blood sugar got too low with the instructions to give no insulin for 5 days). He ended up in the hospital for 3 days and I feel lucky he survived. I now feel really stupid for following instructions that ridiculous but we're such newbies I hadn't yet realized to what extent vet advice on diabetes can be seriously off the mark. They also told us taking our own readings was optional but I realize from reading here that was also bad advice. We're now at a point where his readings are consistently good (last few: 130, 134 -- it's been too crazy to do a chart but we will get to that) and he's on a pretty small dose, just 1/2 unit of lantus once a day.

The big problem now is that he'll eat well (or at least well given the new diagnosis) for a couple days and then get dehydrated and lose his appetite and stop pooping. He has always had a constipation issue and was on miralax and cisapride but we've never had the dehydration issue. Once he gets fluid therapy he feels much better, starts eating and pooping again, but then two days later he's dehydrated again. My theories are that he's just not eating nearly as much as he used to (he was a big eater, and a healthy, not overweight, almost-12 pounds...now he's down to 8.4 pounds and eats about 1/3 as much as he used to). Is he simply getting too little water because of this dramatic decrease in food intake? Or should we be giving a smaller dose of lantus every 12 hours? Is there a problem with only getting it once a day? Other than those theories I'm at a loss as to why he so quickly gets dehydrated. He drinks water willingly and we only give him wet food. We're taking him in for fluid therapy later today because after having a good appetite post fluids yesterday he's back to no appetite. Sorry for the very long intro; just thought someone might have gone through something similar. Thank you for being here -- you've been a wealth of info through three terrible weeks of constant stress and worry.

 

Welcome to FDMB. So sorry but also very glad you found us. Your story is unfortunately not unfamiliar but stop kicking yourself. How could you possibly know what was good vs. bad advice from your vet? That said, don't lose faith in your vet either. Most vets don't see that many diabetic cats. It sounds like your vet does keep up to date to some extent (prescribed Lantus instead of one of the shorter acting insulins) but if you are only dosing once daily, that doesn't work well with Lantus.

Since this is the just the welcome mat so to speak, I'm going to ask you to repost over here in Health. We prefer to keep advice peer reviewed on the Health and specific insulin boards because there isn't as much traffic or support here. You can just copy and paste your post but we're going to need a few more details to be able to advice you properly.

Please confirm if you are only giving one shot daily?
Did the vet say anything about ketones or DKA when Nippers was recently hospitalized for 3 days?
Any other health issues other than constipation in Nippers' history?
What diet is Nippers eating? (His name brings back fond memories of my Aunt's cat when I was a kid!)
Are you now testing BG at home and if so, with what glucometer.....human or pet type?
If you are testing, are you doing pre-shot tests as well as mid cycle tests?
A list of the tests you've done and roughly how long after insulin was administered each reading was taken would be helpful too until you get a Spreadsheet set up.

Last but not least, if you need some assistance setting up the spreadsheet, just holler. There are folks here who can set it up for you.

 

Welcome Karen and Nippers. I am so glad you found FDMB and I know you will find the information, support and advice you need right here. Please do post in the Health forum, so that more members can read about Nippers and your concerns, and be able to respond. Very many of us have had the unfortunate experience of advice from the vet that wasn't all entirely beneficial for our sugar cats. But now you will be able to have access to the information here as well as support from very knowledgeable and experienced members. Relax for a moment, breathe and know that you are in the right place to learn and help Nippers.

 

Thanks so much for the responses. I will repost in health with all the info you asked for -- created a signature that includes some of it. And thank you too for offering help with the spreadsheet -- I'm sure we will need some! I didn't know there had been another Nippers out there Was he a tuxedo?

 

No... my Aunt's Nipper (no "s") was a black kitty that I was always told not to pet because he was supposedly aptly named and might bite. I didn't listen well (animal lover from birth I guess) but I NEVER got nipped. Apparently I was an anomaly amongst their friends and family!

 

Funny - people (especially vet techs) always ask if Nippers "nips" but he is actually named after a character in a book and is the most gentle cat. Nipper probably sensed you were a cat person and treated you accordingly