Switching my cat from Caninsulin to Levimer

Dear Members,

this year has been pretty tough on me with my snowball diagnosed with diabetes and right after my other sweetheart felix diagnosed with cancer who has now passed away RIP while I am still not over with felix sudden death I really cannot afford anything happening to my snowball hence I really need your guidance I am currently based in United Arab Emirates and so far I haven’t been able to find a good vet for diabetes. Snowball was diagnosed in beginning of June and through this group have been getting good guidance I have switched his food to fancy feast pate which he likes and for intermittent eating I am giving Dr Elsey’s chicken dryfood. Snowball is currently on Caninsulin taking 4 units every 12 hours his Blood Glucose numbers at the time of shot are around 300s and after approx 4 hours of insulin go as low as 90-100 but so far things get unstable sometimes last Saturday morning I did his pre shot BG test and his BG was 110 so I decided to skip the dose and at night i checked it was 310 so i went ahead and gave the 3 units shot next morning I checked pre shot BG was 290 so I gave him 3 units again but after 3 hours of eating he vomited which was quite unusual so I rushed him to vet and the vet checked and said snowball has fever which could be because of secondary infection as diabetes makes the immune system weak so gave him antibiotics after which snowball started eating normal but now again back to 4 units as numbers pre shot reach 350 which are higher then before and in between stay in range of 200 so now I am planning to change his insulin to levimer but really confused how to begin if he is taking 4 units of Caninsulin and how much should be his starting for levimer? And what should I expect his reading in the beginning and when should I move with increasing the dose. The vets I have been dealing with are quite discouraging and saying diabetes cats have short lives and so same will happen with snowball and also discouraging me to change insulin but I want to do what is best I can see with Caninsulin he is not as stable as he should be I really don’t want to risk loosing him hence group members please advice.

 

Welcome to our board. You have come to tge right place. I’m so sorry for your loss of Felix. We will help you help him. Levi’s a much better insulin for cats. It’s a depot drug so based upon how low it takes your cat, the nadir. Please read tge yellow stickies at the top of this forum which explains how it works and then ask as many questions as often as you need. As to having a short life, one of my friends here has a 21 year old cat that has been diabetic for 7 years so your vet is wrong and in my opinion dangerous. But that’s okay because we will guide you with diabetes and your vet can take care of any other issues.

You will follow the method SLGS because you are feeding some dry food. If you decide to stop dry food we have a protocol called TR that you could consider.
Since I’m only familiar with the depot drugs I will tag some people to help you with a starting dose. @Marje and Gracie @sienne @Sue and Luci

 

Hello there and WELCOME to the best place you never wanted to be!

So we'd love to help you but the first thing to do is to help us help you. We need to see your numbers! If you could please set up your spreadsheet and record any blood glucose tests you may have already gotten. Also we need a signature:

The signature is important because it tells us a little about your kitty; name, gender, dx date, type of insulin, food, etc. There's a limit of how much you can write there so look at some of our signatures as an example of the pertinent info.

Here's info on how to do that:

SIGNATURE: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
HOW TO SET UP FDMB SPREADSHEET: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216680/

As soon as you have your SS up, please post and let us know...so we can look and see what dose changes may be in order. Can you do that today?

Thank you!

 

Thanks for the reply and for the motivation. I live in United Arab Emirates and it is night time here I will start working on the spreadsheet starting tomorrow

 

Wonderful! Your snowball cat looks just like a white cat I had many years ago. His name was Rufus McGruder...he was deaf...but a beautiful white Persian. Have a good evening

 

Hi I have started to work on the spreadsheet since morning and also updated the details in signature and profile, although his numbers have been very stable last month but at the beginning of this week his BG was at 110 in morning at shot time so i skipped the shot and at night it had reached 300 so i gave him shot and also in morning but after that snowball vomited so I rushed him to vet and the vet told snowball has fever due to secondary infection and currently on antibiotics till Friday after which I expect his numbers to get lower again. Below is the link for my spreadsheet please see and advice I really want to change his insulin to levimer but don’t know how to start


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mBJkEiGfa1cqPzQBu1KXcWWUjmNgIWvpw68CAApFrk4/edit

 

I think I am using the wrong spreadsheet my bad will change

 

Excellent job!

So today, let's start with a new condo/thread.

Please post like this 8/12 Snowball AMPS 423.

I'll look for today's post

 

I’m moving this thread to the Main Health Forum which is where all new members should start.

I can’t find that you’ve ever posted on this board until this actual post and looks like you just joined yesterday. We you in the Facebook group associated with this board? Just curious.

Do you have any more data that you can add to the SS since you’ve been giving Caninsulin since June? In order to get you to the best dose for Levemir, we need more than just one day’s data since it appears he does come down to normal numbers and then bounces.

 

Thank you so much it is my first time doing the curve normally I do reading only pre shot and sometimes 4 hrs after shot to get his lowest reading. Yes his BG number gets normal and then bounces again which is why vet keeps on saying snowball may have a short life and I really want to prove him wrong I will update my spreadsheet daily starting today. I have updated link to SS in my signature also link below

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BjMgwqX_yI4dPis_Z7Z6woHHpe6FIThX0YE5tj0zOz8/edit

 

T

this is my first post in the forum as it joined it yesterday I have been member of the facebook group since june hence i may be making some mistakes. Apologies in advance

 

WELCOME TO FDMB! First of all Snowball is gorgeous! You have landed in the right place for Snowball. Your vet stating that Snowball will have a short life is well... I dont know. ask him if you can look in his crystal ball. Many cats live a good long life with diabetes (just like humans do!) what a concept!
Everyone here is dedicated to help any and all diabetic cats that grace our pages! We are a HUGE family that treats everyone with respect and love. You are NOW part of this family. You too will learn everything you need to know about this disease.
It takes time and sometimes very frustrating but YOU CAN AND WILL DO THIS!

Again welcome to the best site on this planet to help you help your beautiful Snowball.
jeanne

 

Thanks Your support really means alot to me

 

No apologies necessary. We are glad to have you join us.

Bouncing is very normal and has nothing to do with longevity so don’t worry on that. Also, his SS is linked in your signature (thank you) so it’s not necessary to repost it in your text box each time.

The more BGs you have to add to his SS, the better. Let me know if you need help in adding lines above today’s date on his SS.