Please help, idk what to do

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Its ok! I know how you feel wanting to do the right thing.
Hopefully Sue,Rachel or one if the others will respond soon. Im sorry I cant give dosing advice.
Please hang in there, this is the rightright place to be.
Ill try and find someone for you
 
From reading your other post I would tell you that the most important thing you can do is to start home testing. It sounds like the first vial of insulin was losing its effectiveness and when you used the new vial Baby Cat got the full effects of insulin and went into a hypo. If BC got down to a 46 after you giving karo he most likely was much lower before that. The tests done at the vets office can be high for a few reasons. Many kitties will have higher numbers just from the stress..similar to people who get "white coat syndrome" when they have their blood pressure taken at their doctor's office. Also, if a kitty gets down into hypo numbers the body's counter-regulatory hormones and chemicals will cause the glucose numbers to "bounce" up much higher. If your vet did a reading while BC was bouncing it make look like he needs more insulin while the opposite (less insulin) is in fact what is needed.

Ten units of insulin is a crazy dose to be giving any cat unless they have been tested properly and diagnosed with a high dose condition like acro, cushing's or IAA. I don't use Prozinc myself, but the same story holds true for all types of insulins. You said BC was in the emergency for 5 days when first diagnosed. Did he have DKA??
 
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I've been reading your original post. As I understand, he was on 6units up until a couple months ago. Was that 6units twice a day? A couple months ago he started having high numbers and the vet raised his dose over a few weeks from 6 to 15units. He had a hypo episode Saturday and has not had insulin since. Now his BG is 574 and your vet wants you to give 10 units PZI. What are you feeding now? Are you home testing?
 
So, if I got it. He hypoed recently and now, after a cycle or two, is a little high again. If I were you, I'd take a deep breath. Help us here with an update: how long since his last shot? What was his last test number? How long ago?

I do not think you should be giving 10 units, and I am not sure about 6 units. We can help you figure this out, and your testing can keep him safe,
 
Yes, I've tested him twice already. I can test him however many times I need to. We have plenty of testing supplies on hand.
 
Doc never used the term DKA he just kept him and got him where his numbers were dropping. He had lost lots of weight, though, and was in poor condition.
I thought he was just getting old, but decided I needed to take him in just in case. Yes, that was last summer, I think July
 
Our vet isn't overly into testing and treatments he doesn't feel are necessary. He's 79 and pretty intuitive, but he likes to keep his costs as low as he can so that everyone can afford care for their pets.
But no, other than testing his BG, his thyroid, and a couple other things I forget, he hasn't looked for any other diseases.
 
So, he needs insulin. But I would reduce the dose so he doesn't hypo again. What would you think about 3 units, get a before bed test, set an alarm so you can get a test 5-7 hours after the shot. That way he will be safe overnight. If he would drop under 68, do you know what to do? I don' think he should drop too low but we are really working blind here.

Then, tomorrow morning, you should have a good idea of how that dose worked. And we'd have a direction - whether to increase or not.
 
You do need to start testing regularly for ketones as he was DKA. You buy the regular ketone strips that humans use. If he won't let you stick the strip into his urine stream, we have other ideas.
 
Morning! I was fast asleep last night when you posted (I'm the early morning shift around here, so I'm also the early to bed shift!). You already got great info, so I just wanted to reiterate: BREATHE! I know this diagnosis is scary and then what you just went through is scary but you handled it PERFECTLY.

We're here to help. I promise, this becomes routine. Please post here with any questions you have, and also when you just need a friendly ear. :)
 
My, you really have been through a series of scary days. But it will be all right now. We are all anxiously awaiting what your am pre shot reading is - what have you decided to do about the food? take the kibble away? Now that you are home testing, everything will be so much easier.
 
Good morning!
I did get up in the night but BCcwas all the way back under the big bed and when I asked him to come out, he just looked at me. I didn't get too enthusiastic with coaxing him because there is a certain amt of risk involved with night time stirring. If the dog realizes you're up, he creates a ruckus because he thinks it's daytime. Otherwise, he sleeps all night. I don't want him getting in the habit of going out at 4 AM, barking at the darkness.

I've already stuck BC this morning and he's at 322.

I also need to do the SS thing but for now I'm just writing it on paper. Hopefully it is something I can access on mobile.
I do have a laptop but the battery life on it is a joke and when I am using it, I'm usually working. Outlets in our house are fought over, it's an old house.
 
Carol & Murphy said:
My, you really have been through a series of scary days. But it will be all right now. We are all anxiously awaiting what your am pre shot reading is - what have you decided to do about the food? take the kibble away? Now that you are home testing, everything will be so much easier.
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I haven't yet, but will be. After I burn out my laptop battery this morning, I'm going to cook some ground turkey and start them on a bowl of meat. I have a meat grinder attachment for my mixer, but I doubt it is designed for bones, so for now I'll start transitioning them all by taking away 1/4 of the kibble, replaced with FF and ground meat.

As I transition them, it will buy a little time to find a better grinder.
 
322 is a whole lot better than 500! was that before or after food? When is your time to give the shot(how many minutes from now) or did you already give insulin?

If you are going to make food for them, you need to add supplements. A vet has recipes here: www.catinfo.org

@Marje and Gracie has experience with doing spreadsheets on laptops - I am not sure about mobile devices, but let's see if she can help.
 
Actually, I read up the cat info site yesterday and that's what I'll be going by. Plus, it will be more economical to feed 4 cats on homemade.

The number this morning was between 9-10 hours later. I haven't shot him yet this morning, I'm going to bump it up by 30 mins which will put it at 10, then 30 mins again till he's at a better time that 10:30
 
Yesterday the vet tech said that testing with a human meter can be unreliable. Isn't there a conversion chart for numbers? Like if he gets a 322 at home, would it be different on the vet's monitor?
 
Before shot 309
He's eating FF now ten I'll give him some antibiotics doc gave me yesterday for a tooth infection
 
It's really bugging me that if I had given him ten units last night, we would have probably had another episode on our hands.
 
Hi again, sorry I had to go out and take care of the crew.
52weeks said:
Yesterday the vet tech said that testing with a human meter can be unreliable. Isn't there a conversion chart for numbers? Like if he gets a 322 at home, would it be different on the vet's monitor?
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Yes, pet meters do read higher than human meters, but we know that and take it into account. Most here use human meters because the strips for the pet meters are way too expensive.
Try to get several a tests in today. 2 or 3 hours post shot would be a good start(+2 or +3 on the spreadsheet)
How long ago did you shoot, and how much did you give?
 
52weeks said:
I also need to do the SS thing but for now I'm just writing it on paper. Hopefully it is something I can access on mobile.
Click to expand...

If you need help getting it setup on a android device let me know. I don't have a laptop anymore so I had to get it set up using my phone and tablet. The instructions in the link in my signature were great, if you scroll most of the way down there is a section on doing it on mobile devices.
 
I'd be glad to help you with a SS that you can view from your mobile devices. I also use an iPhone and it works just fine with the SS. I'll send you a private message to get some info. Check your inbox...upper right corner of the page.

I've used the homecooked recipe which was linked but you might also want to consider a new premix called EZ Complete that just came out that includes digestive enzymes and glandulars and it is made in a fashion that still allows the full nutritional benefits if you cook the meat. The alnutrin used in the homecooked recipe is really designed for raw feeding.
 
Hi I'm sorry I missed your name if you have posted it
since we don't really have any information on mid cycle numbers, and your recent hypo scare, with the 185 3.5 hours after the shot, I would test again in about 45 minutes ( 4.5 hrs after the shot) just to be sure he doesn't drop quickly into unsafe territory (note - on occasion my cat would really start dropping about this time in the cycle, and I've always felt it was better to get another test to see what the trajectory of the drop was)
Are you using a human or pet monitor?
 
I'm using a Bayer Contour human monitor.
I'll check him again soon. He did go to the table to look for food, and I sprinkled a little Parmesan on the FF he didn't finish this morning and he ate some.
 
Yep. At some point you might want to share that info with your vet and stress to him how important home testing is.

You are doing a great job - your original thread title is no longer applicable!
 
Regarding the vet - hopefully he/she will let you direct the kitty's treatment, or it might be time to see who else is around where you live
 
Well I told the vet tech last night that I ear stuck him and she said that Doc doesn't like that because it's not real reliable and the numbers don't match. That's why I was hoping there was a chart.

Then she said they have a lady who comes in who ear tests and her cats' ears are always tore up. So I guess he doesn't object to the point where he won't see the animals.
 
I personally use the pet meter (alpha Trak2)
but most people here use the human meters - the pet meters do run higher than the human meters - there's no hard and fast number for that - I think most say it s around 30 points give or take - it would be good to take it in when you visit the vet and do one test on your meter and compare it to what they get
 
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