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Thread: Anyone have a diabetic Cat or Dog?

  1. #16
    Registered Member Keith Perkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone have a diabetic Cat or Dog?

    So Al, what's a good blood sugar range for a cat? Just curious being type one diabetic for about 50 years now.

    Sorry if you said somewhere and I've forgotten.

  2. #17
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone have a diabetic Cat or Dog?

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Perkins View Post
    So Al, what's a good blood sugar range for a cat? Just curious being type one diabetic for about 50 years now.

    Sorry if you said somewhere and I've forgotten.
    Keith,
    I have seen cats normal values listed as 64-170 , 70-150, 80-120 depending on what reference. For our cat he was in 500 -550 range when we tested him.. If we measure him in the low 100's we are happy. that takes 3 units of insulin ( prozinc..a human insulin).. 4 units was too much and pushed him in the high 60's so our vet settled on the 3 units twice a day which has been working. With cats theres sometimes a chance they will stop needing it, which I would really wish happens but at least he is stable. Its pretty easy to test him to, You use the vein at the ears margin.

    al
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  3. #18
    Administrator brewmaster15's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone have a diabetic Cat or Dog?

    Quote Originally Posted by Disgirl View Post
    He is a handsome cat Al, glad to hear he is doing so well now.
    Barb
    Thanks Barb! He is a good cat, my daughter would have been devastated if we lost him. BTW..Thanks for the fancy feast tip.

    al
    AquaticSuppliers.com Freeze Dried BlackWorms and other foods your Discus will Love!!!


    >>>>>I am a science guy.. show me the science minus the BS

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    I take Pics.. click here for my Flickr images

  4. #19
    Registered Member smsimcik's Avatar
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    Default Re: Anyone have a diabetic Cat or Dog?

    Quote Originally Posted by brewmaster15 View Post
    Steve,
    I wanted to thank you here for your help. We finally got Matt stable though we almost lost him in August while we were away for 2 weeks. We hada vet tech dosing him 2x daily and had purchased an automatic feeder for a mid day meal....

    Up until the trip he had been doing well ...gaining weight again and actively playing. ..during the trip he went down hill. stress may have been part of the problem. His ketones shot up. The honest fact is He may have been doing better but not enough. Our vet kind of dropped the ball and even admitted it to us . I came home to a lethargic cat that could not even stand let alone eat. We were faced with the animal hospital which probably would have killed him in his poor state,euthanize ,or take him home and nurse him best we could. We took him home. I stayed up with him all night for 2 days and gave him water by syringe and dm soft food ... It was pretty bleak. We said our goodbyes and the next morning were going to take him to the vet to be euthanized. That night.he got up, shaky and sat up. It was a slow road that took almost 2 weeks....but he finally recovered.


    Matt gets dm now 4 times a day.1/4 can each feeding. Morning and night with his insulin (3 unit x 2 times), mid day and mid night. Being a food junky that worked best.. twice a day and he crashed. He gets a few treats when he needs it to get him by. Freeze dried turkey and salmon works great. We have to feed him and his non diabetic sister in separate rooms. Its a royal hassel, but thats partly why he crashed before we separated them at feeding...he would eat his then muscle her out of the way and eat hers!

    The Dm has worked wonders. Its costly but with Matt its best. Fancy feast classics is a close but his levels are still a tad high though many feed it. We feed fancy feast to his sister though just incase he sneaks in and eats some. Dm is expensive, and man so is the insulin and syringes. I feel for anybody thats got diabetes.

    My biggest take home is I think vets should out right say that if your cat is diabetic you have to have a monitor.Ours didnt. He said we could get one if we needed...thats where he dropped the ball. They had meant to check Matt regularly and see if 2 units worked... we were guessing and goind by behavior. Being new to a diabetic cat we didnt know better. Theres absolutely no way I can see dealing with a diabetic cat without using a glucose meter ...taking them to vet to do it is just not enough. I wish my vet had stressed that. I think they worried about us not wanting to keep the cat alive if we had to test its sugar levels with a meter.

    When he crashed this last.time I bought a meter and we check regularly and if we see him looking off. We have even got him to the point where we can go away for a few days and not worry .

    Thanks to you and your advice it helped get him back on track and helped us figure out how to deal with him. I appreciate you taking the time to post in this thread and offer help.

    Al

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    Hey Al,
    I'm glad to hear you've got Matt stable again after your August vacation.

    You sound like you're going the whole nine yards with your diabetes therapy now. Not many clients are willing to feed DM 4 times/day, including the middle of the night. Not many client are willing to separate the cats at feeding time. Not many clients are willing to learn how to get blood samples and monitor blood glucose daily as you are doing. Some are not even willing to learn how to give insulin injections and simple elect euthanasia. You sound like you are doing about everything you can do at home to keep him stable.

    It's disappointing that he got so stressed when you were away, but that's not unusual for an older cat. The are very sensitive to changes in their daily routine. He probably wasn't eating or drinking like he normally would and that screwed up his insulin and glucose metabolism. Too bad the vet tech checking on him wasn't able to tell he was getting worse.

    Your vet probably misunderstood your level of commitment towards Matt's treatment. That's why they didn't pursue the glucose home monitor initially. Like I said before, very few clients are willing or able to take blood samples and monitor glucose levels through the day.

    Keep doing what you are doing and try to minimize changes in his daily routine that will stress him. Hopefully he will remain stable for a while without any major changes to his treatment.

    The set back you experienced in Aug. is actually pretty common with old diabetic cats. Diabetic cats are the toughest to get regulated on insulin, harder than dogs, horses, ferrets or humans. It's not too surprising a diabetic cat left for 2 weeks would have a set back like that.

    And as far as him maybe getting off insulin completely someday, I wouldn't count on it. You may be able to reduce the dose but it's unlikely he will ever be off insulin completely.
    Good luck and keep us posted.

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