Insulin raised

[JulieM]

I took Mollie for her curve check today and they raised her insulin to 4 units in the morning and 2.5 at night. I am nervous about this since I have not been able to home test. Haven't been able to get any blood out of her ear for the last couple of months not for lack of trying. I don't get to talk to the vet when I take Mollie in for her checks for whatever reason. The vet assistant gives me the new dosage number. She said her numbers were 560, 488 and 380 today. She said it could be her diet since they are keeping her on a renal diet for her kidneys, they said it may require more insulin. Just nervous about it. I will be starting 12 hour work days Monday so won't be home to watch her.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Julie, how is the vet able to get her tests? Could you ask for help and try it at the vet's office? Maybe they can give you some tips. Watching the vet techs get tests and then having them watch your technique could be helpful.

It is concerning that the dose has been raised on the vet numbers (which, because of stress, the levels can be much higher and then the dose too high, once the kitty gets home). What is the rationale for such different levels am/pm? ProZinc can definitely be dosed in different amounts, but such a big variance is not something I have seen before.

Until you can test at home, I wouldn't change her diet. Yes, it is probably too high carb, but it may balance out the high dose.

 

[JulieM]

She showed which area of the ear to test in but didn't seem concerned about home testing. They get her blood by drawing it from her leg. Some people say switch vets but she's one of the best in our town of 12,000. Not much to chose from.

Julie, how is the vet able to get her tests? Could you ask for help and try it at the vet's office? Maybe they can give you some tips. Watching the vet techs get tests and then having them watch your technique could be helpful.

It is concerning that the dose has been raised on the vet numbers (which, because of stress, the levels can be much higher and then the dose too high, once the kitty gets home). What is the rationale for such different levels am/pm? ProZinc can definitely be dosed in different amounts, but such a big variance is not something I have seen before.

Until you can test at home, I wouldn't change her diet. Yes, it is probably too high carb, but it may balance out the high dose.

yes they showed me the area of her ear but they draw from her leg each time.

 

[Djamila]

Julie- If you've been trying to test for a long while now, you may have already gone through this, but are you using a big lancet? I found that switching to a larger gauge really helped when I was first starting. I used the rice sock to warm his ear (which I read in another post of yours recently you've been doing), but it didn't help until I changed lancets. It also took a lot of persistence. It almost always took a few pokes before I could get a good test (it's better now!). Another thought is maybe if there is someone else who could try it? Sometimes it's hard to do this on your own fur-baby, but someone else who Mollie trusts might be able to do it with you.

I found that at first it was super difficult to hit the right spot and actually get any blood to come out. The more successful tests I got, the easier it got. And not just because I was calmer and more confident (although that was true), but his veins actually got bigger and bled more easily. Now that my kitty is OTJ and I only test once/week, his veins are smaller again and much harder to hit. So the more you test, the easier it will be.

Sometimes at the beginning I would try a couple of times, then he would run off. I would wait five minutes and then try a few more times. Then he would run off again. And I would wait a few minutes and then try again. It wasn't easy at all, especially since my kitty doesn't like being around humans on his best day, and even less when I'm stabbing his ear! At the beginning I didn't worry too much about what time it was -- I just needed to get a test that worked! It was a really frustrating process to figure out how to do it, but it really does get better.

You might consider making an appointment with the vet where you tell them ahead of time that you need them to show you how to test from the ear, and then you need them to coach you through doing one of your own there in the office. The vet may not think it's that important, but if YOU think it's that important they will probably be willing to give you an appointment to learn. But they need you to tell them clearly what you need. If you tell them what you want and they still won't, then you might need to think about changing vets, but I would give them a chance to do what you ask of them first. It's okay to advocate for what you and Mollie need. Since so many people don't want to deal with feline diabetes, they probably just don't understand how important this is to you.

Keep us posted on how it's going!