Diabetic being picky about dinner

Ashleigh & Ares

Ashleigh & Ares

Very Active Member
Hello all. Im new. My cat is Ares. He has been on vetsulin for about 4.5 weeks now. He is up to 4U for over a week and has been doing very well on it. Except he has constipation here and there. He expelled 3 2" poos yesterday, but today has not gone. I put one tiny drop in his food and he took one lick and refused to eat any more. He is hungry, but being extremely picky (he wants my human food but i refuse to give him any.)
He ate a tiny amount of his food(about a quarter of what he normally eats) but im not sure if thats enuf to give him his 4U dosage of insulin. Now it is almost 2 hrs after his normal injection time.
Question is: do i just skip his insulin tonight? Is he going to go haywire without it?

We just got to a comfortable spot. Sorry that I have not yet filled out the excel sheet, i will soon.
Thanks so much for any help everyone!
 
So, i just took his BG and its 509, which is higher than its been for about 10 days. So im going ahead and giving his dose a bit late. He is now eating too. ...
Make me want to have a heart attack, the worry involved with this whole diabetic thing :(((
 
Hi and welcome!

I see you mentioned the excel sheet, theres a handful of things we ask people to get set up in order for us to best help you.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/

Once you get your signature set up can you let me know? It will save me a lot of questions - what he's eating, relevant health history, etc

First and foremost - seeing some of those numbers on your spreadsheet lead to me to believe the dose is possibly too high, especially for Vetsulin. How was he diagnosed and how did you work up to the 4U?

For future reference, this forum is pretty slow as there aren't a lot of Vetsulin users. If you need quick responses, please post on the Feline Health board, lot more eyes over there
 
Couple of housekeeping items as well:
  • Vetsulin should be given 12 hrs apart. So since you shot late tonight, you'll have to shoot a little later in the morning as well. Ideally you can move each shot time back 30 minutes, but in a pinch you can move it an hour as long as preshot is safe to shoot
  • The sequence for Vetsulin is test, then feed, then shoot 20 minutes later. You want food on board for when the Vetsulin kicks in because it can be very harsh
  • Make sure he fasts for 2 hours before the preshot test. We want to make sure it's not influenced by food, as well as be consistent.
  • In addition to the preshots, please try to get at least one other test each cycle, they do not have to be fasting. Ideally, these would vary from +1 to +6, but Vetsulin usually onsets around +1, nadir around +4 (but can vary between cats and days).
  • When starting out, 200 mg/dL is the recommended cutoff. Above that you'd shoot the full dose. Below that, stall without feeding and ask for help. Caveat: I'm a little concerned your dose is too high. If you get a preshot that is unusually low for him, even if it's in the 200s, please ask for help.
 
Thanks for responding! We got up to 4U by 1 full unit approx every 1.5 as vet advised after taking BG readings at appointments.
His numbers didnt begin looking okay til 4U.

He was diagnosed by vet after full blood workup, losing over half body weight (16lbs to less than 8), excessive urinating and thirst, and ravenous appetite with no weight gain.

I am going to get the excel set up within 2 days God willing, and I have finished signature.
My baby's ears are sensitive, can i poke him in other places? (cant get blood from his hind paw, only tried twice tho)
 
Ashleigh Armstrong said:
Thanks for responding! We got up to 4U by 1 full unit approx every 1.5 as vet advised after taking BG readings at appointments.
His numbers didnt begin looking okay til 4U.

He was diagnosed by vet after full blood workup, losing over half body weight (16lbs to less than 8), excessive urinating and thirst, and ravenous appetite with no weight gain.

I am going to get the excel set up within 2 days God willing, and I have finished signature.
My baby's ears are sensitive, can i poke him in other places? (cant get blood from his hind paw, only tried twice tho)
Click to expand...
Ok thanks.

Those are pretty large dose increases. Were they done based off curves, or a fructosamine tests? And what specific brand and flavor of food is he eating?

Dose is based on nadir, or the lowest BG in a cycle. With Vetsulin, you do not want to see any numbers below 90; if you see a number below 90 you need to reduce the dose by a minimum of 0.25U. So although his preshots are still high, it's nadir that's important.

Ear and paws are the places to do it. Are you sure you're not hitting the vein? That is painful for them. Partway down this post is a picture of the "sweet spot", along with other tips and tricks
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/testing-and-shooting-tips.85113/#post-1377750
 
Oh my gosh. So i did nadir just now and his number is 45! I gave him some honey and lil bit of dry food i had sitting around.
He is not acting funny, he is acting normal. So do i check his blood again now or wait a few and watch him? I actually gave him a tiny bit less than 4U for this morning shoit. Had to dose him b4 i left so he got it at 945 this morning. Going to fill out excel sheet now
 
tested at 245p (45 min after low reading) it is 69. gave him couple crunchy treats ('tiki cat' no grain no potato) These and
I think he will be fine. will keep eye on him.
His normal food is Tiki Cat mousse (for seniors and some not for seniors) i use the salmon w pumpkin, chicken w pumpkin, sensitive stomach chicken with egg mousses. He also gets pate (FF and friskies) but he doesnt normally eat much of it. Also during day (after AM shot) Nulo brand packets that have mostly broth and chicken/duck pieces. When we make turkey or chicken at home, will cut lil bits for him to have as snacks.
Was about to begin the excel sheet when i saw him butt scoot. he had a tiny half hard / half mooshy stool that didnt make it into the litter. so i had to clean carpet and floor and his lil behind:(
Im pretty sure most of his pokes are in the sweet spot. i didnt know about the bevel thing til that post and his last draw just now i aimed the bevel up and did a 45 angle, and he didnt seem to feel it as much. i also switched lancets from 28G to 30G a few days ago. His blood flow has always been very good. Guess I will try and get that homeopathic stuff soon.
I am using my alpha track til the strips run out...and i have a relion meter on deck:)
Oh and his vet upped insulin by 1 U just only off of alphatrack numbers at the vet office checked about 1 every 1.5 weeks. I cannot afford to go back to vet any time soon. have spent so much that I dont have put all of it on creditcard. Also, i have been giving him better care than they come remotely close to. You guys seem WAY more in tune and knowledgeable with the correct way to treat this. My vet tried to say all i have to do is bring him in to get his BG once a week until he has good numbers at 6 hours after shot. well, that is not true at all! I am the one who decided to give him a semi BG bell curve on thursday, but i did every 3 hours because i didnt know anything.
Should I move him down to 3 U tonight since his nadir was so low today?
 
Ah that's what I was afraid of! Dose too high. Yes I would go 3U for a few days and see how he does, again if you get a lower than usual preshot please ask for help on the main board. If he sees green on 3U we'll probably need to reduce further.

You can always switch to human meter to save on cost, I know those alpha track strips get very expensive. Most of us just Walmarts ReliOn brand.

Do you have a hypo kit? https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/jojo-and-bunnys-hypo-tool-box.2354/
You'll want a mix of medium carb (10-15% carbs) and high carb (16-20% carbs) as well as some honey or karo. I even keep a few very high carb (20+% on hand) just in case. You can find carb counts here https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php
 
Feel free to tag me in any posts (use the @ symbol followed by username, exactly as you see here @FrostD ), there aren't a ton of Vetsulin users. I'm EST time zone, but often not on until 8pm and later. I try to check sporadically during the day.
 
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