New diagnosis and feeling overwhelmed

My cat was diagnosed a few weeks ago and I’ve been very overwhelmed. She is off insulin for now as she is showing some low numbers without it but also can climb high. Early on she OD’d on insulin and I’m terrified of low numbers. She has a great vet team and I trust their guidance. She may already being going into remission (?) though I feel her numbers are all over the place. it could be me trying to control the low numbers with food. It’s so overwhelming. And on top of that I have to go out of town. Thankfully my sitter is a vet tech and is familiar with the continuous glucose monitor and treatment of feline diabetes but I’d be lying if I said I’m not anxious all of the time and constantly inspecting my normal acting cat. Just needed to vent I guess. So glad I found this community.

 

Can you tell us a little bit more information. What insulin is your kitty (name?) on? What insulin dose did she start with? Also, what type of food is she eating now? We believe in giving a good insulin for cats, home testing (CGM counts for that), and a low carb food. Note, if it's the Libre you are using, it can test quite a bit lower than a hand held blood glucose meter in lower numbers. Meaning what looks low on the Libre might not really be too low.

There is a lot to learn in the beginning with feline diabetes but we can help you. This post explains some of the information we need, some of which are in the questions I asked above:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

You might appreciate this post: Dear Mom/Dad (letter from your kitty) I think we can all relate to it.

 

My Corky was diagnosed last June and believe me I know exactly your fear and frustrations and yes, when I would see those low number or green numbers, thank God for this Forum I have and still am managing those fears to realize that the low 2-digit numbers are the best numbers for a cat with diabetes it heals their pancreas, it is still hard to this point to not get panicky, but it's not about me I need to be calm do exactly what I should and breath in breath out. if you see my Corky's Spread Shreet you will see that I test every two hours, again he's glucose at times when it goes down it spirals down, the low green numbers, then I realize that when fed it goes right back up without feeding carbs or anything from the Hypo Kit. Stick by this Forum there amazing long time Members that will help you along the way

 

This letter made me laugh and tear up. That is definitely what Winnie Cooper would say to me, if she could type. I'm relieved about the lower reading from the CGM (it is the lifestyle libre2), and her vet has told me this before. I have trouble letting go and trusting her body will take care of her.
She is day 6 of no insulin! She was on vetsulin. Right now she is eating Sheba pate, less that 3% carb mix. She was on 1 unit x 2 per day, then down to 0.5 unit 1xday.

The low glucose alarms set off by the CGM put me into emergency mode but, in reality, her numbers have not been below low 60s in days and, given that the meter can read a bit low, maybe that means she is in or near target. Any thoughts on this?

I'm so happy to have found this group. I'm a helicopter mom so reading the resources and threads last night really help educate me and make me feel less alone <3

 

lol I do indeed need to calm down and stop stalking her every sound and movement. She is probably so annoyed with me. Thank you for your reply. It's hard to not feel alone in the beginning but this seems like a wonderful group of information and shared experience. Sending good vibes to Corky!

 

If she is not on insulin at this time you don’t need to worry about her going too low. Healthy cats regularly see numbers that as an insulin dependent diabetic we would consider a number we need to take action on (my civvies regularly test in the 30s).

 

How long has she been off on insulin now? She might be one of those cats that just needs a tiny dose, like 0.25 units. But it's hard to say without seeing more data. It's also possible a better insulin for cats like Lantus or Prozinc won't drop her so hard so fast.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
If Winnie is off insulin at the moment and you are unsure if he still needs it or not and it can also climb high…I would recommend you test the urine for ketones to be on the safe side. Ketones can form in a diabetic cat when there is not enough food or not enough insulin.
To test, you will need to buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy, collect a urine sample and dip the test strip into the urine and read the exult exactly 15 seconds afterwards against the colours on the side of the bottle. There should be no ketones.