reading of 39 but no symptoms?

I am new to home testing and so far have gotten very inconsistent results. I have a Bayer Countour device and am now out of test strips. I've wasted a lot of strips due to the blood samples being too small. Dale is on one unit of Lantus twice a day and I was feeding him Iam's. After reading around on how people got their cats OTJ I wanted to home monitor and experiment with another food. When I first tested Dale I mostly got readings in the 200's but even as high as 340. I switched him to Merrick and this +2.5 after shot got a reading of 163 which is the lowest I've ever gotten. After his evening meal and shot I wanted to test again and see if there was less of a food spike, and got a reading of 39. I don't know if this is significant, but I was testing on his ear but this time tried the paw since I was having a hard time. Since it was the last test strip, I can't retest at the moment. I'm wondering if it could be a fluke or if this device may not be accurate. I gave him a snack and he ate up, but he seems fine- energetic and purring. I can go get new test strips in the morning but do I need to worry now? Should I still give him his morning dose?

 

There is no way to know for sure unless you get some strips tonight to test him again. If that isn't possible, then watch him very closely and give him some extra snacks. Get the new strips before you shoot the AM shot. It's never a good idea to shoot blind, I hypoed my kitty Stubby doing that.

Sandy

 

Assuming the new food you feed is low carb... There may be good things in the future for this kitty.

In the morning the BG is likely to be 300-400. However, it will be important to test before shooting.

Many people use Bayer meters, so it should be fine.
Check out ebay and see what test strips run on there. It maybe cheaper to that route, plus you can buy a bunch since you know you will need to test often on this adventure.

Welcome to lantus land.

 

is there a Walgreens around? See of there are 24 hour pharmacies near you.

What did you feed him? no dry, ok?

 

Many cats show no symptoms of hypo with numbers that low. Magnolia was 29 the other night and she was purring and active. For tonight, make sure you feed. A lot. And leave out lots of snacks. Cats tend to feed their lows.

Sandy is right, you have to get more strips before you give any more insulin. When you collect more data, you will be better able to understand how your kitty works. I'm not familiar with that meter, or if there are any issues with it, but a good meter is pretty important.

Here's some accuracy info from http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/typ ... rison.html

One Touch UltraMini 88
Ascensia Contour 78
One Touch Ultra2 74
ReliOn Ultima 70
Accu-Chek Compact Plus 70
One Touch UltraSmart 68
Nova Max 67
FreeStyle Lite 64
Accu-Chek Aviva 55
FreeStyle Freedom 50
Duo-Care Combined 45
Ascensia Breeze 2 45
TrueTrack 44

 

how many hours after giving the shot did you get the reading of 39?

 

ps, welcome to LL! Read the stickies at the top of the main lantus page, they are sooo helpful You will want to get a spreadsheet set up asap so that we will be better able to assist you in the sugar dance. You can find easy to follow directions here

You're doing a good job so far, don't get overwhelmed. You are in the right place.

 

i'm on my way to bed, but i wanted to leave these links for you in case you came back online...

HYPO TOOLBOX
LIST OF HYPO SYMPTOMS
TREATING HYPOGLYCEMIA


continue feeding small amounts of food or the gravy from a high carb canned food every hour until you're at least 6 hours past the time you gave him a shot.

if dale experiences any hypo symptoms, rub some karo or honey or syrup (whatever you have in the house) on his gums and take him to an ER.
bring the karo with you in case you need to give him more on the way there.

please go get some strips first thing in the morning before you shoot any insulin.

if dale's preshot number is less than 180 post for advice before shooting any insulin.

on the other hand, dale's numbers could be very high in the morning. do not increase the dose just because you see high numbers.

reduce the dose to 0.75 unit because 1u is too much insulin.



please update in the morning...




edited to add: if anyone else thinks of anything i'm leaving out, please add it to the list.

 

It was about 1.5 hours.

 

You've got a real good chance of getting your cat off the juice. Please read all the information in the stickies in this forum, set up a spreadsheet and post daily, we'll be more than glad to help you! Your meter is just fine, great catch!

You need to reduce your dose immediately to either .75u or even as low as .5u for the duration until we can get some numbers and see what level of insulin you actually need to be at.. the wet food will greatly decrease his insulin requirements.

 

Thanks everyone. I reduced the dose to somewhere in the .5- .75 range (can't tell exactly as there are no lines below one). Dale seems great and I will continue to monitor. Thanks for all your help and support. I am reading a lot but it's a lot to take in. Hoping to get this boy OTJ!

 

When you have a chance, can you please set up a spreadsheet and link it to your signature? The instructions for how to do this are in the Tech Forum. Likewise, if you could complete a Profile, that will also be helpful. It will give us information on what you are feeding Dale, any relevant health issues, etc.

I also use a Contour meter. I've found that Amazon has good prices for strips -- about half of what you will pay at a pharmacy.

 

Any of these three syringe brands will have 1/2 unit markings, which will become more and more important for you as your dose lowers:


Monoject Ultrafine U-100 Insulin Syr 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Needle ( 1/2 Unit Markings)
Monoject Ultrafine U-100 Insulin Syr 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Needle ( 1/2 Unit Markings)
Code: A740030
Price: $17.49

BD Ultrafine II U-100 Insulin Syringe 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Short Needle--1/2 Unit Markings
BD Ultrafine II U-100 Insulin Syringe 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Short Needle--1/2 Unit Markings
Code: A910291
Price: $27.79

Insulin Syr U-100 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Needle 1/2 Unit Markings (GNP Brand)
Insulin Syr U-100 31 Gauge 3/10cc 5/16 inch Needle 1/2 Unit Markings (GNP Brand)
Code: A982316
Price: $15.49

Buy them at hocks.com using links with the Code as follows:

http://hocks.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc ... de=A740030

 

Thanks for the instructions. I'm working on the spreadsheet!

 

Thanks - I did know know I could get it without a prescription! But these say 5/16 inch and mine are 1/2 inch (12.7 mm). Won't that make the unit measurements different?