Clementine the diabetic Cat

[Traci]

Kendra, the problem with message boards on the net--it will never take the place of proper veterinary care, nor will it ever take the place of a solid vet-client-patient relationship as it concerns your kitty's treatment. You may be reading "miracle" stories and personal experiences, but what it comes down to is you're hearing this from strangers and you rarely hear about the vet's comments or treatment plans behind the scenes. Every cat is different, every condition is different, and every cat's individual need is different. No one other than your vet can tell you how to properly treat your kitty, no one knows her health history, her physiology, her general health status.

While sharing experiences can be good for some people, whatever you learn over the net should always be discussed with your vet before ever attempting treatment on your own. There are those who will take matters into their own hands based simply on cost, but how this benefits most kitties is beyond me. Without the proper veterinary care behind it, some owners are taking huge risks. Some examples: poor understanding of the disease, overdose or insufficient dose of insulin, improper diet, inaccurate glucometer readings, failure to test for accuracy in-clinic, failure to recognize or get treatment for hypo-hyperglycemia, failure to monitor for other health conditions, etc.

Your vet probably told you home-testing is not necessary because she feels your kitty is under proper insulin regulation at this point. When you hear on the net owners home-testing, preparing their own diets, etc etc, it is most likely because their cats have undergone an uphill battle with insulin regulation, inconsistent glucose curves, and a miriad of other problems. There is also the comfort level to take into consideration, where the owner must be completely comfortable with a glucometer, and being able to properly gauge a reading as it applies to the individual cat. Also, if you don't have a clear understanding of feline diabetes, it would be futile to attempt treatment, curves on your own if you don't truly know what you're monitoring, dealing with, or know what to expect during a hypo or hyperglycemic episode. In-clinic testing also allows for other combined bloodwork to keep abreast of other health problems, if necessary. Diet should be implemented between you and the vet for kitty's individual needs, based on a variety of factors including weight, blood glucose consistency, metabolism, etc.

Some cats are diagnosed with diabetes type II, in which this may be non-insulin requiring, some cases can be managed on diet alone, but these cases are rare and monitored periodically. Other cases diagnosed with initial diabetes mellitus might indeed at some point become non-insulin requiring, and diet may play a role in that, but again, there are various factors that may affect the outcome.

If you want to talk to your vet about home-testing and dietary options, feel free to do so, but don't be surprised if she is not too obliging, she has probably come up against owners who have had such a poor misunderstanding of the disease and has seen many kitties suffer because the owner took things into their own hands. I'm not trying to discourage you, or to say you're not competent, I'm simply saying it is in yours and kitty's best interests to have that solid vet-client-patient relationship during your kitty's treatment. So far, it's obvious she has at this point, successfully managed your kitty directly after diagnosis, I wouldn't want to rock that boat.

[Kendra]

Thanks again Traci!

I havent done any home testing or anything without my vets blessing and I wont due to my vet doesnt promote home testing or managing the diabetes by diet. Clementine is doing well and I will continue to take her to the vet for the curves. I did make the mistake of trusting a pharmacist on the syringes.. but I wont be doing that again! Hard lesson learned.
Thanks for all of your advice! I appreciate it!
Kendra

[Kendra]

The mix up with the syringes has had more of an effect than I had thought. Clem has been in the vet for curves now once a week for the past 3 weeks. She was doing fine on the 1 unit of insulin 2 X per day.. then the wrong syringe incident happened. She was bumped up and then last week bumped up to 3 units in the AM and two in the PM. She is at the vet now and the vet is trying to regulate her. No doubt the insulin dose will be increased again. It is so frustrating as she has been peeing on bath mats, clothes, blankets... I guess this is her way of telling me she needs to go to the vet! Hopefully this time she will be regulated. I did go in and speak to the pharmacy manager and told him they gave me the wrong sryinges. He admitted that the syringes I had were something he had never seen before... when I asked why the other pharm. assured me that the 30cc's were the same instead of telling me she had no clue about diabetic cats he said " we are heath care professionals, we want you to leave with an answer" . I guess it doesnt matter to them if its the RIGHT answer, long as you leave with an answer!

[Traci]

Did I read you correctly, 30 cc's ? Or did you mean to say a 30 UNIT syringe? If the pharmacist gave you a box of 30cc syringes, how utterly dangerous (and stupid) for her to suggest such a thing. Even for human diabetics, the largest syringe is 1 cc (which can deliver up to 100 units of insulin). If you had 30 cc syringes, you would have been looking at these huge syringes that could hold over 2 tablespoons of fluid.

Here is a site that explains insulin syringes and unit measurements, while there are various brands of insulin syringes, it is always best to have your vet advise you on the syringe type and needle size appropriate to the individual pet. For cats, we generally use either a 0.5 cc (50 unit capacity) or a 0.3 cc (30 unit capacity) volume syringe, the black markers on the syringe are marked with UNITS, not cc's. Each marker line represents 1 unit.

As a rule of thumb, when buying syringes at your local pharmacy, check the box label/picture to ensure the syringe has clearly printed at the bottom of the syringe "UNITS". (this is under the black marker lines)

[Kendra]

Sorry again.

The syringes the vet gave me say U-40 1ml. The ones that the pharmacist said were the same are 3/10 cc U-100. I know that I shouldnt change syringes without my vet but it was closed on a Sunday and I was assured by the Pharm. that the 3/10 cc syringe was the same. I questioned her over and over askingher HOW they could be the same and she promised me they were. A unit is a unit she said. Umm.. its not