I've returned with a new diabetic

On Wed I adopted King a cat that was diagnosed some time in Feb. He was started on Vetsulin 2 units BID & was being fed Purina DM dry. The previous owner returned to work in April, could not keep the dosing schedule & was afraid to test. She decided no insulin was better than occasional doses & began trying to find him a hew home. Her roommates wanted him gone & didn't feed him when she had to work nights. Shelters would not take him & she turned to DCIN on Facebook. I emailed her & was told if he wasn't adopted by the end of last week she would euthanize. I met her at her vet's office where he was examined, had his BG, ketones & weight checked. His BG was 537 & he was down 2 lbs since March. The vet prescribed 2 units Lantus BID which I thought was too much but I'm not a vet so I followed instructions. I gave him his first dose at 6p, at +3 he was down to 159 & that concerned me. I contacted a friend who has more years of experience with a diabetic than I do. She suggested I feed him a little dry my others eat & test 1hr later. He went up to 165, more dry & tested 1hr later, he was still 165. 2 hrs later I tested him & he was at 249. The next morning (4 hrs later) he was 328 & I gave him 1 unit. The vet called to check on him, I told her what happened & she said "That's good." When I explained why I didn't think so she told me to decide what dosage he needs. Thankfully she's not my vet! Been testing 5 times a day & am very fortunate he, now Kingston, is so sweet & tolerant of the constant ear pricks. Hoping to get him stable soon. Sorry this was so long.
I need to add that he only received about 1/4c total the 2 times on the first night to stabilize his BG as it had dropped too much after the first dosing. I do NOT feed him dry on a regular basis, wet only. My last diabetic was wet only as well.

 

Kingston is blessed for having you. Thank you for adopting him.

 

no more dry food...only wet food lower than 10% carb,

 

Your spread sheet needs the access granted. I dont know how to do that but most here do...
@Chris & China (GA)

 

Also I think if you could get rid of that dry SLOWLY you may not need insulin at all (according to numbers posted) or at the most, very little insulin.
THOUGHTS anyone?
jeanne

 

I would lower the dose to 1 unit and get rid of the dry. Bless you for taking him... he was clearly neglected before.

 

He only gets wet. The small amount of dry I gave him was because his BG dropped so much after his initial dosage. His previous owner fed him dry. That is in my post.

 

I did lower the dose & he only got a very small amount (1/4c total) of dry twice to stabilize his BG.

 

Once again I only gave him about 1/4c total that 1 night to prevent his BG from going any lower.

 

Still cannot access your spreadsheet. I tagged Chris and China to come help you with it. I believe its just a option that needs to be clicked. My signature has been the same for many many years, so I'm not sure how to find that info.
j

 

It's attached to my signature & I clicked on make public when I did it last night. Don't know what else to do. I didn't use the spreadsheet with my last diabetic.

 

I just deleted & added again. Try it & let me know. I'll check back in 1.5 hrs when I do his +6, need to mow my lawn.

 

Well no it hasnt but it allowed me to, REQUEST ACCESS...so....I did
I'm supposed to receive an email giving permission... or not.
j

 

I am sure there is a special place in heaven for you, this is a wonderful thing you did. If only more people would do the same.

 

spread sheet is now public thank you

 

It’s working for me. . Well done

 

The numbers are looking ok. 159 was a very safe number. No need to panic. But it’s smart to reduce for now and then raise it up slower by no more than 0.25-0.5 units at a time. The numbers in the 500’s, were they food influenced? Or they could have been elevated from stress.

 

The crazy thing is I don't have a new job yet & Mon is the last time I will get the Federal UI ck.

 

I don't know, that was his first test in 4 months. Previous owner wasn't sure if he was being fed the nights she had to work. He inhaled 2 cans of Fancy Feast when we got home so I'm guessing food had something to do with it. Don't think it was stress, he was so chilled at the vet, on the way home & even now. I know 159 was a good # but to see his # drop so much concerned me because my previous diabetic had a hypo episode & didn't want to go thru that again. I felt 2 units was too much to start. When Houston was diagnosed his # was about 475 & a vet experienced with diabetes had me start him at 1 unit BID. We shall see what happens in an hour.

 

Thank you so much for taking Kingston in, that is wonderful.
As long as you are testing, have some high carb wet food at home in case of lower numbers and honey or karo, you will be in control.
You may like to start posting over on the Lantus board where there are lots of Lantus users to help you.
Keep asking questions, we are happy to help

 

You can contact Diabetic cats in need if you need help with supplies for your kitty such as testing strips, insulin, etc. You can contact them on Facebook or Chris and China here. If anyone else knows of a way to contact them would you please post here.

 

Thank you for your advice. My Houston was diagnosed diabetic May 2018 & he did have a hypo episode so unfortunately I've been through it. I have Karo & I also have Purina One dry that the others get for a snack. As soon as Houston was diagnosed the dry came off the floor & I must mention that he went into remission for 6 mos until he got an infection. He went back on insulin but for about 1 month & back in remission. Sadly I lost him to cancer April 2019. With that being said Kingston is my 2nd diabetic & I still have a lot of Houston's supplies, all I needed was insulin.

 

Thank you, I have been in contact with Lisa from DCIN & that is how I found Kingston, he was in an urgent album & the owner was less than 1 hour from me.

 

Oooh look at those nice pm numbers! Even a green!

 

Thank you for finding a place in your home and your heart for Kinston. He's one lucky boy.

You may want to consider posting on the Lantus forum. Many of the experienced Lantus users don't often visit on Health. There is also a great deal of information on Lantus, dosing, etc. in the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board.

 

I just posted "my story" there.