Need help!

I thought I would post here as well as on the main site since Bailey is on Lantus...

Just to update those of you that have been helping me out the last 24 hours. I went to Walmart today and purchased the Relion Confirm. So glad I took your advice on doing the at home testing! It was easy as can be for me!
Here is what I have so far...
Fed and gave 7 units at 10:30am
Went to walmart to purchase the Glucometer
First test at 4+ (62)
2nd test at 6+ (31)
Got really nervous and fed a little nailbite_smile
7+ (36)
8+ (40)
9+ (40)

I am a little concerned with the accuracy since it is a human tester...I tested this same meter on my other cat who is non-diabetic. His number was 59. This almost makes me wonder how low this meter is reading???

Anyway, based on these numbers I am wondering what I should do when it comes to 10:30pm tonight and his numbers are still really low? I don't forsee them jumping 100+ over the next 2 hours. I guess we will see...

 

those numbers are low and require food... wet food that is and with some gravy in it. Do you have anything on hand? Any wet food in the house?

 

oh good, you're here! I just posted in your thread on Health. Here is what I said:

FYI, most of us use human testers.

 

link to Health thread, to help those who are flipping back and forth: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=22161

 

Just fed a 1/2 can of 9 Lives Ocean Whitefish Tuna. Will test again in about 15 minutes.

 

good, we'll be here. You're doing fine, Bailey is not in danger right now, but we do need to bump him up a bit.

 

Ok, good to know what you are feeding.

This flavour is about 5%, considered LC (low carb)

Do you have any flavours with gravy?

 

The only others are 9 Lives-chicken and Tuna or Seafood Platter.

 

Gee, I was just posting on lantus, when I went to health!!
Glad you have started home testing!! Great job!--You have many peeps here to help you--
Libby, Ronnie, Helene, you have very good advice coming...I was wondering how you got the 7.00U dose?
Suppose Vet recommended it-- ohmygod_smile
Well, you are in good hands now--Watching for your update!!

 

Good catch, Ronnie. If that is the only wet food you have, do you have any syrup you can mix with it? Just a couple tsp of food and a dab of syrup.

Is there anyone there with you who can run to the store for some different food?

I'm not trying to worry you, but with Lantus sometimes these low number situations can go on for a while (especially when we don't know if Bailey is over his ideal dose). It's easier to feed small amounts of gravy food, to help bump the numbers and to keep them from throwing up if we have to feed over a number of hours. Better to be prepared and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

Fancy Feast has Gravy Lovers which would be good if you can have someone go to the store....
chicken or turkey would be good....

 

Welcome to Lantus Land!

We're talking about "gravy" and you probably haven't a clue what we're talking about. In several varieties of food, such as Fancy Feast, there are styles of food that have a thicker, liquidy content -- or as we refer to it, gravy. These are generally the Fancy Feast grilled and marinated styles of food. (There's now a "gravy lovers" style, too.) Since the solids in the food are protein, it's the gravy that contains the carbohydrates. You can spoon out the gravy and put it on your cat's regular food or if numbers are running especially low, use more gravy than solids to bring numbers up. The "gravy" works quickly to raise numbers and is out of a cat's system much more quickly than other, high carb choices (e.g., dry food).

If you have any styles of food in the house that have that thick, liquid content, use that. If not, like Libby suggested, you can add a few drops of Karo syrup, honey, maple syrup, or any other similar type of sweetener to Bailey's food.

 

Fancy Feast also has elegant medleys which are med & high carb--the chicken & turkey tuscany flavors have rice in them! work great in the supermarket>.

 

We are at 50!

 

yay! How many hours after the shot is it, about 9.5?

How about feeding another tsp of the wet food, with a few drops of syrup mixed in? Let's get him up a little bit more. Then you can test in 30 minutes.

 

If you only have a little wet food, then you must have dry food around? That will give him longer-lasting carbs than sugar will.

 

Just a note, dry food will take a little longer to get in the system and longer to clear.
It would be ok for example, if kitty refuses wet food.

So far Jen has been doing well with the wet food with a bit of honey.

Keep us posted Jen.

 

sure, but at the moment we need fast more than we need long-lasting. IMHO we have to go on the assumption that this is an overdose and we might need to keep feeding for hours. Dry food might make him full, and we need to be able to keep feeding him small amounts for as long as we have to. Also, it doesn't look like the dry food has brought him up very much in the last 3-4 hours, so it's time to try something more potent and faster acting. Mixing karo into food will give him a tiny bit of sugar, plus some good LC food to help keep him up. A tsp at a time so he doesn't get full and doesn't vomit.

 

wet for now, dry for later? let's face it the kitty may not feel like eatting all nite. i would be a laughing smiley up but not approrpriate at this time. i can't imagine what he's been doing on 7u all this time without testing.
do you all think your gonna have some serious rebound issues to work out for awhile?

 

Fed a teaspoon of wet food with a small amount of Karo Syrup about 30 minutes ago. He is now at 90.

To answer the questions about why he is at 7units; we did a glucose curve every 2 weeks for about 2 months (last one was about a month ago.) This is the number of units the vet said we should have him at. I have to bring him back in 3 months to check again. My thought is that either something dramatically changed in the last month or the numbers were high when going to the vet because of the stress.

 

90 is good. I would check again in an hour to be sure he's staying there. By the way, I don't think you should shoot tonight. I think we should give him another 12 hours to clear this dose out and see where that leaves us. It looks like 7 units is too high but let's see what the next hour or two look like before deciding how much to reduce.

Either of your scenarios could be correct, either Bailey's insulin needs have changed, or he was higher at the vet due to stress, or both. Great catch, though. :mrgreen:

 

If he's been getting low numbers due to a high dose, his body probably fights that by countering with very high numbers. A big see-saw. But regular testing will help figure that out.

Very glad you're testing!!

 

Jen - so glad that you have signed on here - you and Bailey are in good hands. Congratulations on home testing!

 

Jen do not give a shot until you hear from Libby--Your vet knows VERY little about lantus- Most vets know very little about lantus-7.00 Units is a tremendous amount!!
All our cats here are on it ---some for a long time!
You are now testing yourself, you dont need for him to test your cat every 2 weeks, and you can do your own curves!!
Vets do this a lot, no surprise here--The very best advice in the world is right here!!
Stress can raise the BG to high levels! Glad you found us!!

 

Good job with the food + Karo. Bailey's numbers are in a very safe range.

You've nailed the issue right on the head. Many cat's numbers spike due to stress when at the vet. My cat was just at the vet for a dental. Her numbers were close to 400 at the vet's office. That's not her usual range. Obviously, something could have changed, as well.

 

or like jen said he could have been on a massive see-saw from overdosing rebounding overdosing rebounding....either way, thank god your here now.
it's doubtful that the first time she tests is the first time kitty had near hypo. probably rescued before by his own liver.
likely?

 

major oooops moment.

 

There are any number of scenarios. The numbers that we have now are where we start and go from there.

Jen -- you're doing great with testing. We'll get past the dip tonight and get that big shed reduced by not shooting in the morning. From this point forward, you will have control of Bailey's numbers. Between testing, insulin, and using food to steer numbers you'll be in good shape. It's just hard that it's all a crash course tonight. You're by no means the first person who's been introduced to Lantus Land with their kitty in low numbers. Just take a couple of deep breaths every so often and find some chocolate to munch on. You deserve a treat!

 

Just tested again twice actually...the first one said 59, thought that was odd that it dipped that low so did it again and it was 121. I definitely will not shoot tonight. Will check again in an hour and then I need some sleep! It's been a long day for both Bailey and I. His poor ears :sad:

 

Glad to see numbers steady!
Doing great Jen!

 

see you in an hour. You can feed a few tsp of the low carb food just in case the 59 was real. It probably isn't, but a nibble of food won't hurt. Great job tonight, sorry you had to learn so quickly.

 

Can you update your spreadsheet?

Before you decide to crash for the night, let's see Bailey's numbers. We need to make sure that numbers aren't going to dip down again. Often as the HC wears off, numbers drop again. Where are we in your cycle? if I understand your timetable, we are at or near your +12. (I don't know what timezone you're in.)

 

Just update spreadsheet

 

Hey Jen,

in case I missed somewhere in your threads, and sorry to ask again, but do you know if Bailey has had ketones?
Vet ever test for that/mention it?

 

FWIW, karo, honey, maple syrup, laxatone, kitty treats, dry food and vanilla ice cream,......all good for getting numbers up fairly quick till food kicks in. Even 3 cans of FF might raise the numbers some and keep them at least at 40. Mishka taught me that about a week ago :roll:

 

Last number for the night is 158. I must say, he seems pretty happy and looks like he feels good. He's running around with our the other cat (kitty lou )

I will not shoot tonight and will test around 9am to see where we are at. Good night all and thank you for all of your help and support!

 

good night jen, you did fantastic for your first BIG night. things should only get better from here. sleep well and give bailey a cuddle from me.
lori and tom

 

that's a good number for sleeping.

Please post your AMPS number here before shooting (even better, if you can test an hour before you plan to shoot, that would be great). Someone can help you figure out a dose.

Tomorrow, your assignment is to buy some high carb wet food! I always used Fancy Feast varieties with gravy. Buy several different flavors in case Bailey decides to get picky at an inopportune moment.

Great job tonight!

 

Is 9am about one hour for your normal shot time?
If so, that would be around +23 since last dose this morning.

Good idea to post that number and we'll see where he is at.