Hi all, Going to try to keep this concise, which isn't my strong suit, lol. There is more information that I've put in Buddy's spreadsheet. My Buddy was diagnosed in July of 2023. We got him up to 6 units by testing at vet's office alone. Then came his dental in March, 2024. Vet advised to continue on 6 units for next 3 weeks post-dental, even though he knew/had instructed that I had withdrawn dry food. Of course you know what happened. 4 days later, I woke at 4:30 a.m., luckily, for no reason, to find him unconscious in vomit, eyes open and body twitching. Used honey and regained consciousness to a degree. Spent next 24 hours at the ER. After that, he had zero diabetes symptoms that I could see. I haven't seen him at the water bowl once since before his dental. I thought he was in remission. But he has not had dry food since then, either, which is probably the difference. In the month after the dental, he's been losing weight and then started not doing well. Been to the vet twice in the last couple of weeks. Found out he is still diabetic (see spreadsheet for lab values). He has pancreatitis (not the first time). He's currently waxing and waning, sometimes seeming pretty good and sometimes seeming lethargic, unwell, and feverish. I have spent as much time as I could since that visit learning here. I realize that this is all on me and I can't count on my vet for accurate info, even though I really like him for most other things. While I'm still keeping the dry food away (no plans to bring it back), I'm fudging a bit on diet by giving some Gerber baby food and a bit of gravy to get enough food in him since his appetite is not good. Started at .5 units a week ago and I'm guessing I need to up it to 1 unit at this point. Could you check his spreadsheet and tell me what you think? I think his readings are going to continue to be erratic while the pancreatitis persists and while I'm giving him more carbs than I'd prefer. This is really stressful and I'm losing tons of sleep. Hoping things even out soon. He currently looks like an 18-year-old cat even though he's 9. Thanks in advance. I'm very grateful for this site, forum, and everyone that chips in to help! Let me know if you have any questions, please. I have multiple cats plus fosters, so feeding time takes a while. I start preparing food at 6:30 (AM and PM), test around 7:00, give meds and put food down, then shoot at around 7:15 or 7:30. I leave food down and they can snack until it's gone, but I make sure there is no food down in the few hours before testing again. Have to go feed 9 feral colonies in industrial parks right now, but will be back in an hour or two. Thank you!
Oh wow. I am so sorry for what happened to your Buddy. That was really bad advice your vet gave you. How fortunate that you woke up and found him before it was too late. I am very glad that you are testing and collecting data on him now. From his spreadsheet and the excellent information on there, I feel certain that we can safely increase Buddy’s dose to .75 units now. If you have a blue preshot or lower then I would decrease the dose — at least until we can gather data on how he does when starting with a lower preshot. This is assuming that you will be able to monitor his cycles in the excellent way that you already have been. I completely understand about nursing a sick cat and how taxing and tiring it is. I have been at the regular vet and specialist vet/ER all week with one of my cats and have been having to syringe feed her because she just wouldn’t eat. She’s turned the corner now (due to my not taking the advice of the vets.) But this isn’t about me. Can you syringe feed Buddy? Will he let you? Do you have any Mirataz to stimulate his appetite? I see he’s already getting Gabapentin and Cerenia. Buprenorphine probably would be better for pancreatitis pain. I take care of feral cat colonies too, and have foster cats/kittens. Feeding time here can take a while as well. Fortunately for me, I have my daughter’s help and my son’s as well. Here is our Primer on Pancreatitis that may also be helpful for you. Stick around this forum and we will do our best to help you and Buddy. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/a-primer-on-pancreatitis.79693/
With SLGS the target BG range we will be looking for (gradually) is between 90-150. Normal BC for a cat is about 50 to 120 (with non-diabetic cats sometimes hanging out in the 40s and generally staying below 120.) When he starts eating again, you will be feeding him a low carb wet food diet, right? I know you said that you have cut out the dry, but I am wondering what his regular diet will be when he starts eating normally again.
Thank you so much. I did .75 tonight, to the best of my ability. I'm using 40UL syringes, so trying to differentiate between .5 and .75 is challenging. If he is going to be settling into less than 1 unit, I'll get the other syringes and do the conversion. With the baby food, I think he is getting enough food in him. I hesitate to syringe feed just because it is a bit stressful, and my experience with pancreatitis over the years has led me to believe that it can be very stress related. I can normally trace pancreatitis bouts back to a stressful moment/time. That's just been my experience with it over the years. Buddy does not do well with Buprenorphine. He had a 3-month stint with FIC where he was on Buprenorphine. He was quite stressed and aggitated, which is the opposite of his personality. That was a very rough 3 months for both of us. I finally figured out that it was a side effect of Buprenorphine. I switched him to Gabapentin and his FIC resolved quickly after that. I'm hesitant with Mirataz as I had a cat that had severe neurological side effects from it. Buddy, like that cat, is not a hearty cat and I feel he is prone to have whatever side effects there are for a medication, so I tread lightly. I'm not ruling it out, however. I'll be feeding as low carb as I can. Buddy would drink his meals if he could, meaning he likes either liquids or a watered-down baby food consistency, if he has his way. I did some research and found Tiki Cats Mousse. He doesn't love it, but I'm hoping he'll take to it more once he feels better. Aside from that, I mostly stick to poultry pate. He'll eat some of the pate, but will always choose something liquid or creamy over pate any day. He can't tolerate any beef or seafood. Sorry to hear about the trouble your girl is having. Glad she is turning a corner, though!
Yes, panc flares can definitely be exacerbated by stress (as with many things in our beloved cats!) Hopefully you have the U-40 syringes with the half unit markings… to eyeball the space between the half unit and the 1 unit.
Oh and the Mirataz— you want to start with a very small amount and use maybe every other day. Start tiny and work up to find what works. I have had cats act very strangely on Mirtazapine.
The syringes came in. SO much better. I think making sure to get the .3cc/ml version is important, too, as I think they are skinnier so the markings are further apart (similar to the difference between the 1ml and .5ml U-40 syringes). The plunger moves more smoothly on this brand (UltiCare) than the others I was getting (Monoject). Oddly, the syringes require an Rx on Chewy, but not on Amazon, so I got them on Amazon so they would arrive quicker. I think Buddy has turned the corner with the pancreatitis. He had put on 5 oz. in one week since starting back on insulin, and I'm pretty sure he's put on at least another 5 oz. I can't feel his spine protruding as much. He's having fewer episodes where he clearly feels bad. It seems like he needs to move up to 1 unit, but I'll also be starting to cut back on the baby food and as his appetite resumes. I may try to eliminate the baby food during the day today, when I can keep an eye on him and it's easier to test more often. I thought I had read that there really aren't a ton of carbs in Gerber meat baby food, though I could be wrong? Any thoughts on his numbers and moving him to 1 unit?
Let me look at his spreadsheet in a bit, but the pure meat baby foods are low in carbs- the ones that only contain meat and a little cornstarch. The chicken is 2 percent carbs.
His numbers definitely show that he needs an increase to 1 unit, but if you want to wait until he is back on all LC cat food and not people food, that is perfectly fine. It’s so encouraging that he’s gaining some weight! Now we can get him into better BG numbers and he will soon be feeling even better and gaining more.
Still gave him some baby food today, but it occurred to me that he's probably getting most of the carbs from the pill pocket(s) I'm using for the Gabapentin and Cerenia. I'm using these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KLILPWC, but trying to use as little as possible. I did move to 1 unit this morning and he finally is barely in the blue. I'll keep testing for at least the next 2 hours, but I don't think it's going to go very low.
But it’s good! A blue is a blue and we will be happy for it, right? I am. He probably will be back up to pink tonight. Just stick with the 1 unit. A lot of cats tend to drop lower at night. We don’t know if that is his pattern yet, but you have plenty of room for that to happen if it will.
Just tested prior to morning shot and he's at 229. About to put food down and don't know what does to do as that's his lowest preshot number so far. Thoughts?
It’s okay. It might have been helpful if you had stalled without feeding and then retested in 30 minutes to see if his numbers were already rising on their own(without the influence of food and as the insulin from the previous shot is waning.). But you did well. Just be sure to start testing by at least +2, okay?
Thanks for getting back to me. I tested right at +2 and it was 310, so should have waited, it seems! Live and learn. I'm trying to not get crazy with testing as he only has one ear to test. The other ear is tipped, but also missing the entire outside edge. Something happened when he was a feral in the industrial park...
