First Day of Home Testing

[Mary O]

Hi, my name is Mary and today is the first day I have tried home testing my cat who was diagnosed with diabetes 2 days ago. Last night when the vet tested her, her number was in the low 300's. They gave her one unit and told me to give her a half unit this morning, which I did. I have performed numerous tests today and the last one was 62, which makes me nervous. The highest I have seen all day was 112. Also, I have noticed the preferred method is the ear vein, but what about one of the paw pads? Please advise.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Hi Mary and welcome to FDMB. So happy to hear you are home testing.

The reading of 62 is safe on a human meter but low on a pet meter and it depends on when that reading occurred since the shot and you may need to test to make sure your kitty doesn't go too low. If you can answer a few questions, we'll be able to guide you.

What kind of insulin are you giving?
How many hours before the reading of 62 did you give the 0.5u?
What kind of meter are you using?
Did you take a reading before giving the shot today? If so, was that reading the 112?
Can you provide a summary of the readings you have taken and when in relation to the shot? We don't use times here because we are in all different time zones so we refer to our readings as +1, (one hour after the shot), or +5 (five hours after the shot).

Cats often have very elevated BG at the vet's office due to stress, often 100 points or more and some as much as 200 so that at least in part explains why your readings are so much different today.

You can use the centre paw pad for testing as well. If you are using the ear, you don't want to use the vein as it may bleed quite a bit. You want to poke along the edge of the ear between the vein and the edge. There are some great testing tips HERE.

 

[Alexi]

I test exclusively using the rear middle paw pads , my kitty just won't tolerate her ears being messed with. If you need help on how to do it please tag me. I haven't got around to putting instructions in my signature yet but it is on my 'to do' list!

 

[Christina & TJ]

Hi Mary,

I'm new to home testing too. I tried to use a paw pad (the one that doesn't touch the ground) and did not have any success. I could get her to bleed with the lancet, but the meter kept giving me an error message because it was not enough blood. I am finally comfortable testing my kitty's ear now and find she is much more comfortable with that area. I think the paw pad prick hurt her much more than the ear prick does as well. Sorry I don't have more to contribute, good luck <3

 

[Mary O]

Thanks so much to those who responded. I guess the good news is I was testing correctly and the new Alpha Trak2 meter that came in the mail today was working properly. About 20 minutes after I got the 62 reading I took another and it was 50. I called my vet and they said to bring her in. They gave her a tablespoon of Kero syrup and then did another reading which was at 41, so they thought my prior reading before I got there of 50 was correct. I fed her about an hour ago and took another reading, which was 123. The vet said to test again first thing in the morning and if she isn't over 400 not to give anymore insulin. I was not able to test her first thing this morning because my meter did not arrive in the mail until 1 p.m. That means I gave 1/2 unit of insulin this morning at 6:30 a.m. and she was at 50 less than 12 hours later. This really scared me because they didn't tell me at the vet that I should give her Kero syrup if she got down less than 70. I would not have known there was a problem since I am new at this if it had not been for this board. The insulin the vet prescribed is Prozinc. Again, thanks for your responses. This is going to take some getting used to, but I feel confident I can do this and my kitty will be hopefully regulated in the near future.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Thanks so much for the update. I was concerned. I am so glad you took another reading, got her to the vet and she is safe. Your home testing kept her safe. That reading of 123 this evening is very encouraging because often the BG can be quite elevated after going that low. She may have gone very low sometime during the night after the 1u shot at the vet's and that could have made her more sensitive to the 0.5u of insulin you gave her this morning.

Make sure you withhold food for at least 2 hours prior to testing to see what her BG is before each shot. You want a reading that is not food influenced to determine whether it is safe to give insulin or not. The routine should be test, feed, then shoot.

It would be helpful if you would set up a Signature (that light gray text at the bottom of most of folks messages) with a bit of information so that if you have questions or need assistance in the future, some basic information will be readily available to those responding and keep you from having to repeat the same info over and over. You can include info like your name, your cat's name, date of diagnosis, current diet, any other health concerns, type of meter, type of insulin and your location (helps folks give you relevant info). To set this up, go up to the upper right of the screen and hover over your user name. This brings down a menu from which you select "Signature". Clicking Signature opens a text box where you can enter this information and when you are done, scroll down and click on Save Changes. The Signature space in limited to three lines so we often separate pieces of information with a slash or "|" to save space.

We also have a spreadsheet we use here to keep track of our BG readings which is a wonderful tool for you and your vet to see your cat's progress and you can put a link to the spreadsheet in your Signature which allows folks here to see it and help you if have any questions. The instructions for setting up the spreadsheet are here.

Glad you joined us!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Her numbers are very encouraging! We suggest new diabetics not get shots under 200. The protocol we put together for ProZinc is in my signature in blue.

Ask if you have any questions. Get Karo syrup and high carb gravy foods for your hypo kit. Please post before you shoot insulin again.

Did she have an infection? Sometimes those will cause higher blood sugar levels and look like diabetes.

 

[Mary O]

Her numbers are very encouraging! We suggest new diabetics not get shots under 200. The protocol we put together for ProZinc is in my signature in blue.

Ask if you have any questions. Get Karo syrup and high carb gravy foods for your hypo kit. Please post before you shoot insulin again.

Did she have an infection? Sometimes those will cause higher blood sugar levels and look like diabetes.

They did blood work the day she was diagnosed and it didn't show signs of infection. I just tested her again 3+ after meal and she was at 470. I called the vet and they told me not to give more insulin and check her again in an hour. If she isn't going back down I will call them back and depending on the number maybe take her in(

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Her number is to be expected. They bounce. In very general terms, it means when they body perceives a level that is lower than it is used to, or in her case, too low, it releases extra sugar. So the next number may be higher than expected. i wouldn't give a larger dose for this higher number because you could end up back in this roller coaster of too low/too high. You might give 0.5 minus a few drops , assuming you can get tests early in the cycle and 5-7 hours after the shot, and that this won't mess your schedule all up as you will need to give insulin 12 hours from now. If it will, I'd skip for now, shoot a little early tonight (assuming her number is high enough - which it is likely to be) and start over at a low dose, monitoring carefully. If you skip today, you can shoot when you want this evening, on a schedule 12/12 that will work for you. (Again a lower dose) Then another shot 12 hours from then.

I would be encouraged. She went low on a tiny dose of insulin so going forward, she might continue with a pattern of nice numbers at low doses. Your job is to monitor her levels, keep her in safe ranges and work on getting her regulated.

We prefer home testing. You are more on top of things and it eliminates vet stress. We know stress raises levels and most cats are stressed at the vet.

Does this make sense?

 

[Mary O]

Her number is to be expected. They bounce. In very general terms, it means when they body perceives a level that is lower than it is used to, or in her case, too low, it releases extra sugar. So the next number may be higher than expected. i wouldn't give a larger dose for this higher number because you could end up back in this roller coaster of too low/too high. You might give 0.5 minus a few drops , assuming you can get tests early in the cycle and 5-7 hours after the shot, and that this won't mess your schedule all up as you will need to give insulin 12 hours from now. If it will, I'd skip for now, shoot a little early tonight (assuming her number is high enough - which it is likely to be) and start over at a low dose, monitoring carefully. If you skip today, you can shoot when you want this evening, on a schedule 12/12 that will work for you. (Again a lower dose) Then another shot 12 hours from then.

I would be encouraged. She went low on a tiny dose of insulin so going forward, she might continue with a pattern of nice numbers at low doses. Your job is to monitor her levels, keep her in safe ranges and work on getting her regulated.

We prefer home testing. You are more on top of things and it eliminates vet stress. We know stress raises levels and most cats are stressed at the vet.

Does this make sense?

Yes, it makes sense. I just worry about her ketones. When I took her in initially they had to keep her overnight because she had ketones. Yesterday when I took her in when she was going too low they tested for ketones again and said she didn't have any. She does get very stressed going to the vet and I would like to avoid it. Being that I am new at this, I get very nervous. I don't want anything to happen to her.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Of course you are nervous. And you have been thrown into this sugar dance - not slowly and predictably, but crashing between high and low numbers. It is absolutely normal to be overwhelmed and scared. I'd just tell you - it gets easier; the more you learn, the more confident you feel. And remember to breathe!

You can get ketone strips and test her for ketones, as often as you want. Some people can stick the strip in the urine stream; some can stick a ladle underneath. Our Oliver would not let anyone watch him pee, so we got some aquarium gravel, put it in a clean litter box and left him in a room with it. He'd have to christen the new box. Then we'd swoop and get a sample, as the gravel doesn't absorb the urine.