my cat's recently diagnosed w/ diabetes, HELP!

My cat has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. In December 2012 she became very ill, one vet told us they didn't know what was wrong with her and that she needed surgery or to be put down. Thankfully we got a second opinion, my phenomenal vet tested her, she was experiencing liver failure and having seizures, She has a lot of tests done, her glucose was fine at that point, but she was able to be nursed back to health and was her regular self again. Everything was fine up until last week, she started acting lethargic, hiding, and wasn't her usual self so we brought her to the vet. She stayed at the vet for a couple days and we found out she has diabetes, and was immeditly started on insulin (3cc's, and they've been increasing them based on her glucose readings). She has been acting like her usual self again and it's great, however when we check her blood glucose, over the past few days it's been in the 400 range, so the vet increased her insulin to 5cc's. Her glucose continues to be in the 400 range, however the vet has us testing her various times through out the day and when I just checked it it was 42 (which I know is really low), but she's acting fine!! She is eating the Purina Dietetic Management food (1/4 cup twice a day of dry, and 1/4 can of the purina wet food twice a day). I'm supposed to call my vet tomorrow to report her sugars, but I'm really concerned with her sugar being 400's range this morning, and 42 this afternoon, that's a really low drop.

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated, like I said in the subject she was recently diagnosed, and It's been a really stressful situation, and I don't really know what i'm doing 100%.

 

Do you have karo syrup or honey?

Which insulin?

How long ago was that 42 BG reading?

How many hours between the morning reading and this low of 42?

Please take another reading right now!!!

What meter are you using?

 

I do have honey, and read that I should put it on her gums, I use Humalin N (not sure if that's the correct spelling). Tested her glucose at 7:45am it was 359, fed her and gave her 5cc's of insulin (like the vet said) and tested it at 12 it was 39 the first time, and 42 the second (because I thought the tester was messed up).

 

the meter is Relion micro

 

42 is on the low side, and it has the possibility of dropping lower dpeending on when you shot. Cats don't always show hypo symptoms at first and suddenly they are having seizures. I am glad you are home testing.

What time is it now? We aren't all in the same time zone. D you have any cat food with gravy at home? If so pleas give 1tsp of it, otherwise give 1tsp of normal wet food with 1drop syrup and test again in 30minutes and let us know.

Thanks

 

it is 12:43 here now, I will give her some food, and test it again in a half hour. This is the first time she's had a low reading since I've been testing her, she usually runs high (400's as I posted before)

 

Remember, just 1 tsp food with 1 drop honey or syrup, we don't want to fill her up because we may need to repeat this if she keeps dropping. I will be here in 30 mins.

She should go up due to the syrup but the syrup will wear off so you will need to get another test after that too. How is our stash of strips?

 

AMPS 359 5U Humulin N
+4.25 39, 42

Relion Micro meter


Please, another test IMMEDIATELY after the honey is given.

Humulin N does sharp and quick drops.

 

She just had a tsp of food, I will test in about 1/2 hour, and repost, thank you everyone for your help! Will keep you all posted.

My vet was going to see how her sugars were over the weekend before possibly changing her insulin. This is very new to me, and I love my cat to death but boy is this expensive! :sad:

 

You put syrup in it right?

 

Do not wait 30 minutes to test. You need to test RIGHT NOW!!

 

She's reading 68 so it's going up

 

It's going up a little bit with the food and syrup you gave her but that can wear off quickly. Please, do not become complacent and think that she will not drop lower again.

Feed another 1 teaspoon of food with a drop of syrup.

Test again in 30 minutes.

We have no idea how much lower your cat will go. Nadir on Humulin N can average anywhere between +2 and +6 hours after the insulin shot.

AMPS 359 5U Humulin N
+4.25 39, 42
+5 68

 

I'm not sure what those numbers mean, but I will continue to test her and keeping an eye on her throughout the day

 

Nadir means lowest point of the cycle. The 68 is due to the syrup. We want to see two readings where she is going up without syrup. Let us know where she is in 30.

I have also some suggestions as to how we can get her better regulated but let's get through this first... If you want?

 

The numbers you are getting are very low. We are trying to prevent a hypoglycemic episode with your cat.

The numbers I have listed are expressed in hours since the shot time. Think of shot time as 0 or pre-shot. One hour after that is +1, 3 hours after that is +3. We list the numbers like this as we are in all different time zones.

Please, stay with us for a while longer. We want to make sure that number continues to rise. I'd like to see two numbers, over 90 at least, without a food influence.

Please feed that 1 teaspoon of food w/ 1 drop syrup and retest in 30 minutes from your last test.

 

I am open to any suggestions to help get her regulated, as I am very new to this and pretty much going on whatever my vet suggests at this point.

 

We can give you some money saving suggestions that might help.

Was your vet going to change to a different type of insulin or was he going to change the dose?

How much does your cat weigh?

What was the date of the diabetes diagnosis?

I see you are feeding the Purina DM dry and canned food. We have lower cost suggestions if you would like.

 

Money saving suggestions are definitely welcome! I work in the human services field and need to save money wherever I can at this point.

My vet was going to see how her sugars were over the weekend, where she's peaking, etc, and possibly change her insulin depending on the results (to what I'm not sure).

Fiona weighs 11.3 lbs according to her vet visit this past friday, she was only diagnosed with diabetes on 6/15/13. The Purina is the food the vet suggested but there is something that's equivalent that is more cost effective that would be nice. I was reading on another post that friskees pate's or fancy feast pate's are options.

 

How about another test to be sure the BG is still rising?

We do suggest the Fancy Feast Classic pates, Friskies pates and Wellness frequently as some of the lower cost options. There are a lot of other foods available also that are low carb and are good for diabetic cats. We use this food chart by vet Dr. Lisa Pierson and look for foods with < 10% carbs.http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

We like the fact that these foods are available in many different flavors for the discerning feline palate. ;-) Sometimes, cats get tired of the DM food once the novelty of the liver flavor wears off.

Does you cat like the canned foods better? or the dry food?

Was your vet going to change to a different type of insulin or was he going to change the dose?

Looks like your name might be Ashley. What is your cats name?

 

My name is Ashley, and my cats name is Fiona..she does like dry food, but loves canned food, she may get sick of the purina that she's on now, but it seems like she's so hungry at her feeding times that she doesn't care what she's eating (she eats usually around 7am and 7pm).
The vet was going to change the type of insulin, because she continues to increase the dosage, but her levels are still high. I was thinking about it and remembered that she is on an antibiotic for a UTI as well, and the infection may be increasing her BG (at least that's how it is in humans, don't know if it's the same for cats).

 

Do you have a recent test number? The syrup may have worn off and we might need Fiona to have more food. Ignore the rest of this post for now and get a test please?


With the Humulin N you are using, it's really important that Fiona eats 30-45 minutes before you give the shot. The NPH insulins have a rapid onset, so we want to make sure she has food in her belly to counteract that insulin.

I see you are feeding her only 2x a day. Was that at your vets suggestion?

I asked for her weight because we should be able to figure out a minimum amount of food she should be eating.
11.3 * 15 calories ) +70 = 240 calories a day. Unregulated diabetic cats can need up to 50% more so 240+ 50% = 360 calories a day.

An average 5.5 ounce of Friskies pate is 170-185 calories. So 2 5.5 ounce cans of Friskies a day.

Half a can of DM wet 95 calories, 1/2 cup of DM dry right now. Could you look on the bag of the dry DM and tell me what the calorie content is per cup?

Vetsulin works great in dogs. Does not have a long enough duration in cats. Humulin N works ok in dogs, does not have enough duration in cats because of their faster metabolism. Best insulins for chance of remission are Lantus, Levimir, PZI and Prozinc.

 

her BG was 391 at 8pm, I do only feed her twice a day, my vet did suggest that and also the amount based on her weight. My vet also said to give her the insulin while she's eating, going to test her one more time before bed. and will keep you updated, thank you for your information and assistance.

 

Sorry, your vet is wrong. With N you need to test first, then feed at least a 1/2 hr. before shooting N insulin. Fast acting, short duration and increasing the dose will not extend the duration but it will lower her down even more but then she'll shoot back up within a few hours. The more you increase that N the higher the risk of a hypo and no way will the duration last any longer than if you gave her less insulin. Talk to your vet about Lantus, Levemir or Prozinc and get her off that N insulin.

 

So just to summarize the suggestions for you and to try and get her into remission - the remission window is quite short but her chances are good the more we can do right now.

- change her food to a low carb canned like fancy feast pates or friskies pates - cheaper!
- switch her insulin to a better one like Lantus, Levemir or Prozinc
- more tests - 4 per day so we can get her dose optimized as fast as possible - we will help you set up a spreadsheet to track everything.

Sound good?

Wendy

 

Hope is one of the most experienced people here that I know of with the NPH insulins. I learned most of what I know about those insulins from her and guiding another member.