New-ish Member

[Jamie & Clover]

Hello,
I first posted about a couple years ago when my cat Clover was dx with diabetes.
A couple of your members generously came forward to help, but the next day I found someone local who was experienced with your site and protocol to help me get started so I never followed up with you.

I have been using a glucose monitor with Clover twice daily and then based of his readings giving him Glargine. I do tweak the dose sometimes ever so slightly and have successfully been keeping him in a tight range of mostly 80-120.
He eats only low carb wet food.

I’ve not really found a vet I’ve liked or who seems very knowledgeable about FD.

I took him in recently to a new vet because he was scratching and overgrooming and losing his fur. I could find no signs of any fleas. And I’m very experienced with fleas and flea infestations. Vet still says there are fleas.

I’ve also noticed that he’s been drinking more water lately. When I switched to wet food only he pretty much stopped drinking water. He has also been peeing more, but neither the drinking or peeing are like before dx.
I’ve also had a harder time keeping him in the tight range, although the upper range is usually only 130’s, 140’s, and very rarely 150’s or above.
Lately I’ve been giving him 1.5u in the morning and 1.5-2u in the evenings. There have been periods where I’ve kept him in range with .5-1u am and 1-1.5u pm,
I’ve been wondering if the higher readings and challenge to keep him in tight range is indicative of the Somogyi Effect. I’m not sure how to use a curve to figure this out.

Clover is 13. He’s indoor only and became overweight and diabetic during a period when he had to live with my dad. He’s a big cat. When I brought him home he was 19lbs. Several months ago I was finally able to find a way to reduce his food intake (I live in a small cottage and have another cat that is normal weight and smaller and he’d end up eating her food too). He’s now down to 16.8lbs which seems right for him. It seemed to me that he lost the weight gradually and has now settled at this weight. There’s been no more weight loss.

This new vet did some tests. I don’t have a copy of the tests.

She checked him for:
hyperthyroid (she says he’s high end of normal).

Kidney funcx- says his kidneys are struggling.

She also said that on his last few urine tests he has had NO GLUCOSE in his urine and that that is not normal for a well regulated diabetic cat.

Dx high b/p. Currently using compounded Amlodipine pen 0.625 mg in his ear once daily. He has to go back in for a re-check.
I have no idea how they get an accurate reading or adjust based on a freaked out cat reading. Some concern about that and wonder if I should get a feline b/p cuff.

She’s also concerned about his weight loss.
Even though I’ve told her he’s eating less.
She also believes he could be in remission. She wants me to use the Libre Sensor to monitor his glucose.
Clover was dx with diabetes about 6 yrs ago while staying with my dad. Despite good intentions I know he was not well-regulated. I did give him a list of low carb foods. At some point my dad decided, on his own, that Clover was in remission and took him off insulin and low carb food and added dry food. When I got him back he weighed 19lbs. I took him off dry food.
It wasn’t until he got a UTI that they discovered his glucose level was in the 400’s! This is when I started learning about how to help him.
I know it’s rare for a cat to go into remission after being diabetic for over a year so I’m not sure about that. It would certainly be great.

Anyone have any thoughts about all of this and what might be going on? Any opinion about if the vet seems to be on the right track? Happy to provide more info and get labs.

Wondering specifically what it means that there is no glucose in his urine and why his kidney’s are struggling since he’s been well regulated for awhile.

Apologies for such a long post. Just wanted to give as much info as possible for a clear picture.

 

[CORKY]

Hello,
I first posted about a couple years ago when my cat Clover was dx with diabetes.
A couple of your members generously came forward to help, but the next day I found someone local who was experienced with your site and protocol to help me get started so I never followed up with you.

I have been using a glucose monitor with Clover twice daily and then based of his readings giving him Glargine. I do tweak the dose sometimes ever so slightly and have successfully been keeping him in a tight range of mostly 80-120.
He eats only low carb wet food.

I’ve not really found a vet I’ve liked or who seems very knowledgeable about FD.

I took him in recently to a new vet because he was scratching and overgrooming and losing his fur. I could find no signs of any fleas. And I’m very experienced with fleas and flea infestations. Vet still says there are fleas.

I’ve also noticed that he’s been drinking more water lately. When I switched to wet food only he pretty much stopped drinking water. He has also been peeing more, but neither the drinking or peeing are like before dx.
I’ve also had a harder time keeping him in the tight range, although the upper range is usually only 130’s, 140’s, and very rarely 150’s or above.
Lately I’ve been giving him 1.5u in the morning and 1.5-2u in the evenings. There have been periods where I’ve kept him in range with .5-1u am and 1-1.5u pm,
I’ve been wondering if the higher readings and challenge to keep him in tight range is indicative of the Somogyi Effect. I’m not sure how to use a curve to figure this out.

Clover is 13. He’s indoor only and became overweight and diabetic during a period when he had to live with my dad. He’s a big cat. When I brought him home he was 19lbs. Several months ago I was finally able to find a way to reduce his food intake (I live in a small cottage and have another cat that is normal weight and smaller and he’d end up eating her food too). He’s now down to 16.8lbs which seems right for him. It seemed to me that he lost the weight gradually and has now settled at this weight. There’s been no more weight loss.

This new vet did some tests. I don’t have a copy of the tests.

She checked him for:
hyperthyroid (she says he’s high end of normal).

Kidney funcx- says his kidneys are struggling.

She also said that on his last few urine tests he has had NO GLUCOSE in his urine and that that is not normal for a well regulated diabetic cat.

Dx high b/p. Currently using compounded Amlodipine pen 0.625 mg in his ear once daily. He has to go back in for a re-check.
I have no idea how they get an accurate reading or adjust based on a freaked out cat reading. Some concern about that and wonder if I should get a feline b/p cuff.

She’s also concerned about his weight loss.
Even though I’ve told her he’s eating less.
She also believes he could be in remission. She wants me to use the Libre Sensor to monitor his glucose.
Clover was dx with diabetes about 6 yrs ago while staying with my dad. Despite good intentions I know he was not well-regulated. I did give him a list of low carb foods. At some point my dad decided, on his own, that Clover was in remission and took him off insulin and low carb food and added dry food. When I got him back he weighed 19lbs. I took him off dry food.
It wasn’t until he got a UTI that they discovered his glucose level was in the 400’s! This is when I started learning about how to help him.
I know it’s rare for a cat to go into remission after being diabetic for over a year so I’m not sure about that. It would certainly be great.

Anyone have any thoughts about all of this and what might be going on? Any opinion about if the vet seems to be on the right track? Happy to provide more info and get labs.

Wondering specifically what it means that there is no glucose in his urine and why his kidney’s are struggling since he’s been well regulated for awhile.

Apologies for such a long post. Just wanted to give as much info as possible for a clear picture.

@Bron and Sheba (GA)

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

She also said that on his last few urine tests he has had NO GLUCOSE in his urine and that that is not normal for a well regulated diabetic cat.

This statement is totally false. A non-diabetic cat does not have glucose in their urine. A well regulated cat that spends most of it's time in normal numbers below renal threshold should also not have glucose in their urine.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I took him in recently to a new vet because he was scratching and overgrooming and losing his fur. I could find no signs of any fleas. And I’m very experienced with fleas and flea infestations. Vet still says there are fleas.

I would consider a food allergy. Just because a cat has eaten the same food most of it's life doesn't mean it can't develop a food allergy to that same food. Allergies can pop up anytime. Usually it's caused by a protein source. Chicken and fish are common allergens. Unfortunately, finding a food without chicken or fish is hard, especially on a budget, but there are limited ingredient and novel protein foods like Rawz and Koha that have 1 protein source with several novel proteins. Rabbit, lamb, duck, bison/buffalo, venison, quail, brushtail, kangaroo, and alligator are just some of the foods that would be considered novel proteins. A novel protein is any protein that your cat has never eaten before.

Lately I’ve been giving him 1.5u in the morning and 1.5-2u in the evenings. There have been periods where I’ve kept him in range with .5-1u am and 1-1.5u pm,
I’ve been wondering if the higher readings and challenge to keep him in tight range is indicative of the Somogyi Effect. I’m not sure how to use a curve to figure this out.

Glargine works best when given at the same dose, both AM and PM. As a depot insulin, every time you give a different dose, you affect the depot which causes it to release wonky amounts.

Do you have one of our spreadsheets that you're keeping track of your test numbers on? We'd really need to see one to be able to give you much in the way of helpful advice. If you don't, you can find directions on setting one up in the Tech Support area HERE

I have no idea how they get an accurate reading or adjust based on a freaked out cat reading.

Your vet should have a room that's away from the chaos where you and your kitty can spend time getting used to and relaxing before they ever try to do a BP and it should be repeated 20-30 minutes later after kitty has had even more time to chill. Unfortunately, BP cuffs for cats for home use are either not very accurate or very expensive.

why his kidney’s are struggling since he’s been well regulated for awhile.

Unfortunately, pretty much every cat over the age of about 10 is going to have some degree of kidney disease, even if they were never diabetic. Keeping their glucose well regulated helps, but it doesn't prevent it. CKD is one of the main causes of cats to pass away, as well as heart disease, cancer and just plain old age.

 

[Jamie & Clover]

Thank you so much for the responses!

This is all very helpful.
I’d wondered about a food allergy. Cats get very higb quality food: Feline naturals, a local brand that’s also made in NZ, Nulo toppers, Tiki Cat After Datk. I’ve beard of those less common meats. I’ll look into that.

I have been very diligent about the timing if his insulin doses, however, I admit that in the last 6 months or so I’ve been a little looser. I’ll tighten that up and take a look at your spreadsheet.
last couple days he’s been getting great numbers and I’ve been usimg less insulin.

I wondered if his kidney numbers were normal aging.

Thanks again, I’m so appreciative of all your help. So glad I reached out!

 

[SmallestSparrow]

For Methos’ BP check he was on gabapentin and we were put right away in one of the most isolated/quiet cat rooms and left there. Then the cuff was put on him quietly and gently. He didn’t get upset—I hope it’s the same for your kitty


I can explain the vet’s comment on glucose in the urine, and I wonder how long ago they trained. Back in the day, before hand held meters, the vet estimated a good dose based on in-clinic curves and pet parents just gave insulin twice a day. We checked urine for glucose and ketones. A “well regulated” cat had no ketones and a trace of glucose. This was because there was no way for the pet parent to know if the cat wasn’t running hypoglycemic if there was NO sugar in the urine. So a “trace” was the goal to keep kitty safe.