Buster's glucose curve

kailie

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We dropped Buster, our old diabetic kitty, off at the vet this morning for his glucose curve, so they can check his blood sugars throughout the day to see if his insulin needs to be increased. He growled at me when I put him in the crate.
It broke my heart because I don't want him to think he's being abandoned again, but I know we need to make sure he is properly regulated. I have a feeling his insulin dose DOES need to be increased, but we'll see I guess. If you could send those vibes, Buster & I would appreciate it.
 

sugarcatmom

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Vibes sent! 


Do you test his blood glucose yourself at home ever? Cause then you wouldn't have to leave him at the vets all day, and you'd probably save a ton of money as well. Plus, the results tend to be more accurate because stress can cause hyperglycemia, and Buster's routine wouldn't be disrupted. 

How long has Buster had diabetes?
 
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kailie

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Vibes sent! 


Do you test his blood glucose yourself at home ever? Cause then you wouldn't have to leave him at the vets all day, and you'd probably save a ton of money as well. Plus, the results tend to be more accurate because stress can cause hyperglycemia, and Buster's routine wouldn't be disrupted. 

How long has Buster had diabetes?
There is no way for us to know how long he's been diabetic as we have only had him a few months. He was abandoned at the shelter when his previous owner was evicted. The shelter kept him and 3 other younger cats he was with for 2 months before they could have legal ownership of them, but the previous owner never came back. I noticed Buster was obviously not well and fading at the shelter so I took him in as a foster, brought him to the vet and had testing done. It was then that we found out he was diabetic. The shelter deemed him unadoptable, so we decided he was here to stay. He's an old man, at least 11 but we think closer to 14 or 15. He is declawed as well and a little arthritic.
I would say he's had diabetes for QUITE some time though and it went untreated because he is VERY thin and his coat is not in good condition. It's better now than it was when he came to us though, and his eyes are brighter.

I don't do testing at home... I'm just not comfortable with it, and as crazy as it sounds I would rather have my vet do it. I love my vet and I trust him and know he knows what's best for Buster, and hopefully once it is well regulated, the trips to the vet will slow down to a check-up every few months

The good thing is Buster is normally a pretty laid back cat and very little stresses him out. I think he just did NOT want to get in the crate, so he growled.
 

nerdrock

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There is no way for us to know how long he's been diabetic as we have only had him a few months. He was abandoned at the shelter when his previous owner was evicted. The shelter kept him and 3 other younger cats he was with for 2 months before they could have legal ownership of them, but the previous owner never came back. I noticed Buster was obviously not well and fading at the shelter so I took him in as a foster, brought him to the vet and had testing done. It was then that we found out he was diabetic. The shelter deemed him unadoptable, so we decided he was here to stay. He's an old man, at least 11 but we think closer to 14 or 15. He is declawed as well and a little arthritic.
I would say he's had diabetes for QUITE some time though and it went untreated because he is VERY thin and his coat is not in good condition. It's better now than it was when he came to us though, and his eyes are brighter.

I don't do testing at home... I'm just not comfortable with it, and as crazy as it sounds I would rather have my vet do it. I love my vet and I trust him and know he knows what's best for Buster, and hopefully once it is well regulated, the trips to the vet will slow down to a check-up every few months

The good thing is Buster is normally a pretty laid back cat and very little stresses him out. I think he just did NOT want to get in the crate, so he growled.
I had an old diabetic cat, we didn't catch it for quite some time and she got to look how you're describing Buster. She bounce back quickly though once her insulin was where it should be. 

I just wanted to touch on the metering at home part. You can talk to your vet about it and they can show you exactly what to do, it doesn't hurt them and it's very quick. It's great to keep a log of his sugar levels, especially right now. Then, if you accidentally give him too much or something happens, you can chart where he is after. The information is great to have.

If you do decide to do it, you can usually get a free meter for the price of the strips (around $80). You can also sign up for coupons with the company you decide to go with, most send out a coupon every couple of months. If you get the supplies at Shoppers, you'll also get Optimum points for it. Get them on 20x days and you'll get a lot of money back in points. If the shelter that you work with has an Optimum card, you can also transfer the points to them online. Most of the strips and meters usually have extra Optimum points as well. 
 
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kailie

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Maybe I'll talk to Dr. Abbate about at home testing and go from there... Buster is amazing with his insulin shots. When it's time her trots right into the kitchen and sits & waits. He doesn't fight or flinch at all, but I'm worried that with the blood testing it may hurt him or he'll start fighting or something, I don't know. I'm probably just paranoid.
I'm not worried about the supplies, I have my sources and can probably get most, if not all, of the supplies for free, but I'm just worried about HIS quality of life I guess. You guys are right though, it would probably help get his levels under control. We'll see how we make out with the curve today.
 
 

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My fear was  I'd give to much insulin at home without being able to test him myself... I found with my cat...at times I could give him a slightly lower dose according to what his BG read that day..and my vet charged a huge amount to do a curve ...I would just do it myself and bring it to my vets and she kept it on his records..my personal opinion is its a must to home test...How can u be sure all is well ? Its actually very easy to do...Good Luck to you :)
 

sugarcatmom

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but I'm worried that with the blood testing it may hurt him or he'll start fighting or something,
Doesn't hurt them, I swear! And once you get the hang of it and are confident doing it, most cats don't mind at all. Especially if you follow up the test with a super yum treat that he only gets at test time. My boy would come running and jump on my lap to "assume the position" for his test (now he's too arthritic to do much running and jumping, but he still purrs the whole time).

Some links for you to check out:

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Hometesting

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-test.htm

What does Buster eat these days?
 
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kailie

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Doesn't hurt them, I swear! And once you get the hang of it and are confident doing it, most cats don't mind at all. Especially if you follow up the test with a super yum treat that he only gets at test time. My boy would come running and jump on my lap to "assume the position" for his test (now he's too arthritic to do much running and jumping, but he still purrs the whole time).

Some links for you to check out:

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Hometesting

http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-test.htm

What does Buster eat these days?
Thanks so much hun, I'll check out the links at home this evening. Where we have 11 cats, it is hard to separate what he eats from the rest of the cats who are free fed. (currently a mixture of Eukanuba & Halo Spot's Stew but it varies between other good quality kibble.) That being said though, after his insulin shots, he is fed Fancy Feast wet food away from the others because I have researched online and have seen many people say that is good for diabetic kitties to eat. He does occasionally graze on the dry food but he eats very little of it for a few reasons. 1) He prefers his wet food and 2) he doesn't have a full set of teeth left!
My fear was  I'd give to much insulin at home without being able to test him myself... I found with my cat...at times I could give him a slightly lower dose according to what his BG read that day..and my vet charged a huge amount to do a curve ...I would just do it myself and bring it to my vets and she kept it on his records..my personal opinion is its a must to home test...How can u be sure all is well ? Its actually very easy to do...Good Luck to you :)
My vet is charging $40 for the curve.
 

sugarcatmom

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Really any wet food that's low in carbs is a good choice. Some of the Fancy Feast flavours fit the bill but watch out for the ones with wheat gluten. Wellness is also commonly used for diabetics and has better quality ingredients. Here are a couple charts showing a variety of brands/flavours and their carb percentage:  http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
Wow! My vet used to charge $125
. That was 9 years ago (I only did one curve there when Aztec was first diagnosed). But since test strips are less than $1 each and lancets are less than 20 cents, vets are still making lots-o-money off of in-clinic curves. The best reason to learn to home-test though is the peace of mind in being able to check your kitty's blood glucose at any time, and to know if it's safe to give insulin (particularly important with cats since their insulin needs can change quickly, and they often go into remission).

Good luck! And I also want to say how great I think you are for taking this guy in and looking after his health.
 
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kailie

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Thank you so much for all of the great advice! I would MUCH rather feed him Wellness over Fancy Feast, so that's good to know.

Yes, one of the major reasons I love my vet is he is about the animals as opposed to the money. He is about 20 minutes from where I live, but there there is a vet literally 5 minutes away who I don't bother going to because I like Dr. Abbate so much. He always suggests the lowest cost options to me before diving into more expensive treatments. (We have no problems with higher cost treatments when necessary, but I find they are often suggested when NOT necessary.)

I am hoping that Buster will gain weight once his sugars are better regulated because he really does need to. At least he hasn't LOST any more since he has been with us, but still, I can feel every bone in his back poor guy...
 
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kailie

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GREAT news! Buster is well regulated! Dr. Abbate said it is very rare to get such a good curve the first time around. He said to keep doing what we're doing, no insulin increase needed and he doesn't need to see Buster again for 6 months unless I notice any negative change in him.
He also said now that he is regulated he should start gaining some weight back, so here's hoping.

I'm going in on Saturday for him to show me how to test at home so that I can keep an eye on his levels at home for the next 6 months. Wish me luck!
 

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So...is Buster happy again now that he knows you didn't abandon him?  Poor guy!  Hope from now on when you have to put him in his carrier he'll know it's just a Vet!

Good luck with home testing
  I'm sure you'll do fine! 
 

sugarcatmom

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GREAT news! Buster is well regulated! Dr. Abbate said it is very rare to get such a good curve the first time around. 
Super!!!! Did he give you a copy of the curve results?
I'm going in on Saturday for him to show me how to test at home so that I can keep an eye on his levels at home for the next 6 months. Wish me luck! 
How'd the home-testing demo go?
 
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