Feline Diabetes

WARNING!!! I will be discussing OFF LABLE USAGE of a human medical device on these pages. Human Diabetics, please talk to your doctor. Human diabetics using Medtronic's wonderful devices, talk to your local rep.

In January 2009, Pumpkin was diagnosed with feline diabetes.

It caught me off guard at first. I would get him up in the monring to empty his bladder and he would be wet, with overflow urination. With a paralyzed cat, the logical thing to do is to check for a bladder infection, and yes, he had one.

But he smelled funny. His fur looked rough and weird. I caught him at the water bowl drinking extra water. Uh oh....

There is this little 'click' in my brain that happens when enough data comes in and my brain organises it for me.

I checked his urine on a urine test strip that shows us all the basics, blood, ph, ketones, and...glucose (sugar). That little sqare for glucose (sugar) turned dark brown within seconds. Damn! I thought. I knew it!

Pumpkin was diabetic.

Of course we tested his blood sugar, and it was high, ran labs and put him on SQ fluids. We changed him to a very low carb diet in hopes to get him to convert to non-diabetic status... and ordered Lantus/Glargine insulin for him.

Welcome to the nightmare of a paralyzed cat with diabetes, complicated by chronic pancreatitis...

Lol, I immediatly learned to live wihtout sleep. Pumpkin immediatly learned to tolerate frequent blood draws, and ear stick collections of blood for glucose testing.

Not fun...

Now, a little basics about diabetes & some cat biology.

Think of your body as if it is run like a car. Your body is the engine, and blood sugar is the fuel that runs the engine. Insulin is the hormone that functions as the carburator, it burns the fuel so the car can run. Cats work the same way.

Food turns into fuel. Different foods make different fuels that burn at different rates.

Pure sugar is like jet fuel for a race car, or rocket fuel. It burns FAST. But you have a car, so maybe you don't want that.  Starches, or carbohydrates take some time to turn into sugar, so they let sugar as fuel into the engine at a slower rate, but still not very slow. Protiens and fats burn much slower.

Human dabetics make a balance of complex carbs, protiens, fats and fiber with very little sugar so their engine runs the best it can. Funny, this mix is allot like DRY CAT FOOD!

But cats are obligate carnivors. This means they are obligated or have to eat meat. Not rice, corn, blueberries, carrots, peas, wheat or al the other stuff that is in dry cat food. So, first things first, Pumpkin had to give up his beloved dry cat food, and became a wet food boy. This was fine, except what he likes triggers pancreatits, and inflammation of the pancreas, which is the organ that makes insulin.

Which came first? The pancreatitis or the diabetes?  I don't know. If I figure it out I'll tell you. Pancreatitis HURTS,  and pain raises your blood sugar. It also makes you have diarrhea, which dehydrates. Pumpkin's body already was forcing water out to try to force the extra sugar out, so he was getting pretty 'dry'. It also makes you not want to eat, or vomit. If you don't eat, you don't get your insulin shot....

So, this medical nightmare translated into one thing. Pumpkin was all over the place with his blood sugar levels. 

Too high is one thing. It hurts your body, but it will not kill you over one night. Low will kill you. Pumpkin would drop low, below 70 on his glucose meter (90 starts counting as low) and I'd be up all  night feeding him sugar syrup to keep him alive.

I researched. I looked at tons of information. The vet I work with (Dr. Louisa Asseo) threw me an article to read about continuois rate blood glucose sensors and monitors used experimentaly in cats, the "Guardian RT".

Pumpkin switched insulins. We hung in there. I got tired. He got worse. I researched and lookied into the Guardian Rt, and decided it would be the best possible solution for him. I could implant a sensor, hook him up, and a little pager thing would record his blood sugar every 15 minutes....24 hours a day. I coudl push a button and look at it.

How cool is that! No problem, I thought. I contacted the company and got...a price.

Gulp.

No way. Not in this economy, with cut backs at work. 

Let me make this story shot so we can move on to how to use the Guardian, which yes, Pumpkin has now. Through a person I coached about paralyzed pets, I was introduced to a wonderful woman who worked with me and Medtronics to get a Guardian RT DONATED for Pumpkin.

Would you like to read the story of this adventure?

Read Here :) click and scroll down

Wow. Thank you to those who were part of this, and THANK YOU to Medtronics.

NOW, on to the Guardian.