Newly Diagnosed and not sure what to expect

Hi all, I've heard only good things about this forum, so I thought it would be a good idea to join now that we have a newly diagnosed cat.

Nico (aka Bubba) 14yo was losing weight and urinating frequently starting in late Feb, did blood work April 2nd and found FDM with BG of 322. Not bad, but not great. He's 15lb, so started 1u Vetsulin on April 17. It's been three weeks since we started. Sometimes he seems more himself playing and "talking," and other days he just seems tired or out of it, sleeping in odd places like the bathroom floor. Vet is very good and we have a follow up Tuesday to check in on him.
I know each cat is different, but I worry if we're doing enough to help him and what his journey is going to look like.
I appreciate any words of advice or encouragement!

 

Hi there,

Sorry you haven't gotten a reply sooner. This forum usually has less foot traffic, as not as many people use Vetsulin.

Vetsulin can be a harsh insulin, meaning it can drop some cats' BGs very hard and very fast, so it is very important to learn to do home testing. Have you found those resources on the forum? I don't see a link to a spreadsheet in your signature, I'd definitely look to get that populated with what you can.

I'd also make sure you have the hypo toolkit and information printed out if you haven't already.

Do you know about ketones and DKA? If there's no history of DKA, we generally recommend testing for ketones weekly.

 

Hi FrostD,

Thanks for the reply. This is all so new and intimidating to me, I just want to try and do my best for my buddy.

I have read up on hypoglycemia, and have a toolkit on hand in case that happens. I'll be honest, I'm a bit of a research nut so I'm trying to find out which meter would be ideal to use at home with Nico. I read some threads about inaccurate numbers with some meters, so I'm scared to get the wrong one or misjudge his numbers. Once I get one, I'll be able to work on his spreadsheet. Thus far I just have the numbers from his vet.

In talking with his vet, it appears Nico's diabetes although caught early sort of set him into a stage similar to hepatic lipidosis. We have to take things slower than usual to ensure we bring his liver enzymes up. It' causing some clotting issues as well, unfortunately, each time we do bloodwork. Poor guy gets hematomas. Right now, no signs of DKA and ketones are within average levels. I'll take whatever good news I can.

We just recently increased his dosage to 2u as of this week. He still doesn't seem quite himself. Appetite is great, no vomiting, no signs of hypo, sometimes plays, but is still sleeping in weird spots and isn't his usual self. I'm hoping the adjustment to his dosage helps him out more.

 

I understand! We've all been there.

I personally would not do any more dose increases until you're home testing, and we typically recommend increases of 0.25U at a time. Vetsulin can drop BGs hard and fast, and often isn't as predictable as other insulins.

You can't really go "wrong" with meters. The human meters have an allowed variance of 20%, the pet meters 15%. But the tradeoff is cost, of both meter itself and strips. I use the RelionPrime because I test a ton and the strips and dirt cheap compared to others

The numbers themselves aren't as important, moreso the trends. Even in potential hypo territory, you treat a 48 the same as a 40 or 56 (20% variance). As an FYI you mentioned no symptoms of hypo - keep in mind they may not always show symptoms, and when they do it's usually emergency vet time or too late.

One thing to consider though - if you think getting urine samples for ketone testing will be difficult, you might want to look at a combo blood meter like the NovaMax plus.