Advice/help?

[Fuzzbomb]

My 14 year old cat just started insulin yesterday - 2 units twice daily of Vetsulin. At the vet's office yesterday AM her BG was 365. I assume that was on a cat-specific BG meter...

I tested her this am before food & shot, and she was at 160. From what I saw on the chart you guys reference regarding testing with human meters, that seemed high so I gave her the shot (the vet never suggested I test before doing it, or at all - just that I follow the regimen and come back in a week for more testing).

I decided to check her again about 3 hours later, and it read 89. Looked at the chart, seems like that's a good level? I checked again an hour later - and it was 45! So I gave her some sugar water and a few teaspoons of baby food. She seems ok... But it is so hard to tell. She hasn't been the same since she got an ear infection a couple months ago (it recurred, hasn't quite cleared up, and that's why they checked her levels & diagnosed her).

What else do I do? Am I understanding the chart correctly? Or should I not have given her insulin this am?

She's on an all-wet fancy feast diet, if that matters.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello to you and to Coco,

Well done for learning to hometest.

Can I just check that I've understood you correctly:
The pre-shot blood glucose was 160, and you gave 2 units Vetsulin.
+3 (3 hours post shot) blood glucose was 89
+4 (4 hours post shot) blood glucose was 45, and you gave sugar water and a little baby food.
Is this correct?

Are you using Alphatrak or human meter? If Alphatrak then the 45 is a hypoglycemic number.
Are you able to get another test 15 - 20 mins after the previous one to check that the blood glucose is coming up and not dropping further?

Eliz

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hi again,

For folks new to dealing with diabetes we recommend that no insulin is given if the blood glucose level prior to the shot is less than 200. That's to allow some buffer of safety while the caregiver gets comfortable with hometesting and gets an understanding of how the insulin is working in their cat.

That 160 'pre-shot' that you got was only a little above the normal blood glucose range for a cat (approx 45 - 130 on a human meter). Did I read in your other post that you only recently switched to low carb wet food? It may be that the lower carb food has made quite a difference to your cat's blood glucose levels...
.

 

[Fuzzbomb]

I'm using the Target Up & Up meter - so human.

Her BG level is 107 now, and she is eating a bit currently.

 

[Fuzzbomb]

Hi again,

For folks new to dealing with diabetes we recommend that no insulin is given if the blood glucose level prior to the shot is less than 200. That's to allow some buffer of safety while the caregiver gets comfortable with hometesting and gets an understanding of how the insulin is working in their cat.

That 160 'pre-shot' that you got was only a little above the normal blood glucose range for a cat (approx 45 - 130 on a human meter). Did I read in your other post that you only recently switched to low carb wet food? It may be that the lower carb food has made quite a difference to your cat's blood glucose levels...
.

Yes, we switched about a week ago. I thought that would make a difference, but her BG level was actually a little higher at the Vet's yesterday than it was pre-diet (350 10 days ago, 365 yesterday).

 

[Fuzzbomb]

Hello to you and to Fuzzbomb,

Well done for learning to hometest.

Can I just check I've understood you correctly:
The pre-shot blood glucose was 160, and you gave 2 units Vetsulin.
+3 (3 hours post shot) blood glucose was 89
+4 (4 hours post shot) blood glucose was 45, and you gave sugar water and a little baby food.
Is this correct?

Are you using Alphatrak or human meter? If Alphatrak then the 45 is a hypoglycemic number.
Are you able to get another test 15 - 20 mins after the previous one to check that the blood glucose is coming up and not dropping further?

Eliz

And yes, all of this is correct. Sorry - still learning the forum...

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Her BG level is 107 now

Phew! Well done. That's a nice comfortable number.

Vetsulin typically has it's peak action (lowest blood glucose number) about 4.5 to 5 hours after the shot, but your kitty may not be 'typical'.
FYI, Sugar raises the blood glucose fast but also wears off quite quickly. Food takes a little longer to kick in but lasts longer. So it was good that you gave a little of both.
It may be that your kitty's numbers continue to come up now, but do keep a close eye on her over the next couple of hours to make sure her blood glucose continues to rise. In fact, her numbers might 'bounce' up high as a result of having dropped low. Don't let that faze you. It's the body's way of protecting itself against low blood glucose and is temporary.

It seems clear that the 2 units is too high a dose.
I would suggest cutting back to one unit at the moment and only giving a shot if the blood glucose is over 200. But let's see what others on the forum think also.

Again, well done for catching that low number, and for handling it so well.

Eliz

 

[BJM]

Have a read of my signature link Glucometer Notes to learn more about home testing and feline reference ranges.

 

[Fuzzbomb]

Have a read of my signature link Glucometer Notes to learn more about home testing and feline reference ranges.

I did read it, actually, and still managed to confuse and second guess myself.

Her BG level just read at 284. I decided to drop the dose down to 1 unit for now & see how she is in the morning (and probably test again before I go to bed tonight). I am just too afraid of something happening in the middle of the night. Even though it would probably be ok to give her 2 units with that level. Better too high glucose than too low, right?

She has also been vomiting quite a bit over the last couple of days. :-( Kept food down most of today, but this afternoon threw up a rather massive hair ball... What are the chances that's all that's going on? She is a long haired cat & it's getting warmer here. We usually have her shorn by now so it's less of a problem...

I appreciate all the responses. Feeling overwhelmed to say the least, and she has been on what feels like a downward spiral for weeks now. It's all very disheartening.

 

[BJM]

Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

 

[Fuzzbomb]

Can we get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests? It will help us give you better feedback. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.

I'll work on that - I do pretty much everything from my phone though . There's mention of setting it up from a tablet, but does that work on iPhones as well?

 

[BJM]

There is a Google Drive App for most phones, so maybe check Google's documentation.