| Maggie:Feline | |
|---|---|
| Female domestic short hair, calico | |
| http:// | |
| Born | Aug-1998 |
| Dx | Nov-2005 |
| Oral meds | : |
| Regulated | Not-yet |
|
Regulated between 100 and 250 | |
| Remission | Dec-2005 |
| Insulin | PZI Vet |
Maggie, my 7 year old calico cat, was diagnosed on November 16, 2005 after I took her to the vet due to sudden weight loss and not eating. I had noticed that she urinated in greater volumes than her sister but it wasn't significantly greater. At the vet her weight had dropped from 13.95 lbs the previous year to 10.5 lbs. The vet thought it might be diabetes and kept her for the day. He called me and told me that there was sugar in her urine and her blood glucose levels were 411. She also had some liver damage.
I took her home that night after they had given her insulin and brought her back the next day for another shot and a quick lesson on giving the shots. Dose: 2 units of PZI Vet twice a day. My insulin and syringes didn't get delivered to the vet until Friday, November 18 and I gave her the first shot that day, all over her back. If insulin worked like Advantage flea treatment, I would have been fine. I improved my technique somewhat and was initially amazed that she was so cooperative. Then, two weeks later, I was concerned that the shots were painful since she became resistant so I ordered smaller needles which I never ended up using. I never suceeded in hometesting, tried a few times and it made everything worse. I would have persisted if she hadn't gone into remission.
Maggie used to eat Science Diet Hairball Light because she vomited a lot and the vet thought it might be connected to hairballs. Prior to that she had Prescription W/D because she had lip ulcers and trouble digesting fatty foods and she created a toxic smell when her lower GI processed fatty foods. Since her diagnosis, I started feeding Purina DM dry because the vet recommended it but I also started feeding canned Fancy Feast because of the Feline Diabetes Message Boards. I think the lower carb food brought her BG's down.
The first glucose curve was December 1. Maggie's weight was up to 11.13 and her curve was as follows:
+2 241
+4 93.4
+6 112
+8 138
+10 176
The vet decreased her insulin to 1.5 units, twice a day, because of the precipitous drop in a stressful place like a vet's office. I tried to hometest and was unsuccessful, she became more resistant to the shots so I decreased the insulin on my own to 1 unit twice a day. During the week of December 5, 2005, she started eating less so I decreased the insulin even more and stopped it for a day. She appeared to get worse so I resumed the 1 unit twice a day regimen but she stopped eating completely on December 10, 2005 so I stopped the insulin. I got her in to my vet on an emergency basis on December 11, 2005 and all her numbers, including her liver blood glucose were normal despite not having had an insulin shot in the last 24 hours. The vet gave her some Reglan, a shot of B12 for appetite and I took her home. She slowly regained her appetite and has been healthy and happy ever since with a slight setback involving the Purina DM. She was vomiting every time she ate it so I stopped the dry altogether and now feed exclusively canned food with no fish, mostly the wheat-gluten free Fancy Feast with some Wellness Chicken and Merrick Turducken thrown in for variety. She's doing very well except some itching and vomiting that I think are food allergies that will hopefully subside on her current grain-free and fish-free diet.