First time BG Curve at home - 58 mg/dl just now

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OrangeTrioMom

OrangeTrioMom

Member Since 2016
Hi guys-
I'm sorry if I don't have any of the information right here or if I'm saying something wrong. I'm new to all of this and did first BG curve at home today after raising insulin to 4U BID (Lantus). We were to measure before first shot and then 6 hours later, then in another 6 hours just before getting PM shot.

The entire story is that I gave him his pure bites (dehydrated chicken) treats before I remembered we needed to take the curve. Just after getting treats, BG was 270 this AM before meal & AM shot (4U). Just now, 6 hours later, BG is 58. Gave him 1/8 cup dry food and some Fancy Feast broth that I had on hand. Should I check again soon and how do I know to give him/not to give him his PM shot when it's time?

He was initially on 3U Lantus BID but upon doing his first curve his levels were still too high. Please advise, thank you!!!
-Kristen

P.s. Going to test again in a couple minutes
 
I was reading in another thread that <50 mg/dl is the alarm but 58 still seems really low for him. During his first BG curve, his lowest was only about 270, which was his high today.
 
What meter are you using?
Was the 3 units a start dose?

Can you post the numbers for your curve and the times, also what he had to eat and when.

Can you check his reading in 20 minutes and post the number.
 
sounds like 4 u is much too high. Can you show his readings from the last few days? a full unit jump from 3 to 4 is really large!!! I'll let the lantus people comment but most would have advised going from 3 to 3.25 and holding that for several cycles before deciding if another increase was needed.

are you using a human or pet meter?
 
We have the Abbott AlphaTrak. 3U was his starting dose after being diagnosed.

First BG curve numbers were something along the lines of:
1. Pre-shot AM - HIGH
2. Middle of day - 250
3. Pre-shot PM - 375

Will check him again in 20 minutes. Thank you.
 
JanetNJ said:
sounds like 4 u is much too high. Can you show his readings from the last few days? a full unit jump from 3 to 4 is really large!!! I'll let the lantus people comment but most would have advised going from 3 to 3.25 and holding that for several cycles before deciding if another increase was needed.

are you using a human or pet meter?
Click to expand...

I wish I could give you numbers, but we haven't been tracking religiously at home. He was just diagnosed a month ago and all of this is very new. Vet suggested we do 3U to start and after 1st BG curve numbers were not where she liked. I agree, the jump was a big one. Would have made more sense to start smaller and see how it progressed.
 
JanetNJ said:
sounds like 4 u is much too high. Can you show his readings from the last few days? a full unit jump from 3 to 4 is really large!!! I'll let the lantus people comment but most would have advised going from 3 to 3.25 and holding that for several cycles before deciding if another increase was needed.

are you using a human or pet meter?
Click to expand...

Was diagnosed about a month ago, started on 3U BID and did first BG curve about 2 weeks in.
 
On the alpha track the take action number is 68 so he is a bit low.
Do you have any gravy type food available? The dry will take a while to kick in.

Lantus is a long acting insulin so I will tag some Lantus users to see if they can help.

@Bobbie And Bubba @jayla-n-Drevon are you able to look in?
 
Alexi said:
On the alpha track the take action number is 68 so he is a bit low.
Do you have any gravy type food available? The dry will take a while to kick in.

Lantus is a long acting insulin so I will tag some Lantus users to see if they can help.

@Bobbie And Bubba @jayla-n-Drevon are you able to look in?
Click to expand...

He ate an entire packet of the Fancy Feast mackerel/vegetable gravy & the 1/8 cup of the dry that I had on hand. Will be testing again in about 4 minutes here. Will post results. Going to be getting on a testing schedule here as I'm learning. Didn't have the glucometer until this weekend. Learning as we go. He's been on the 4U BID for about 3 weeks now. Has been acting normally, no problems. Should have known to test early on as it was a large jump. I wonder if that wasn't purposeful as in, go much, much higher and then decrease as needed - but that doesn't seem safe. Sorry to ramble. Am trying to do school work and manage this as well. Plus I hate poking him, feel so bad about it, but try to pet him and make it tolerable.
 
can you take another reading and let us know the number please? We want to make sure it's not still dropping.
 
Alexi said:
On the alpha track the take action number is 68 so he is a bit low.
Do you have any gravy type food available? The dry will take a while to kick in.

Lantus is a long acting insulin so I will tag some Lantus users to see if they can help.

@Bobbie And Bubba @jayla-n-Drevon are you able to look in?
Click to expand...

Should I offer more gravy type food at this time or just keep watching his numbers? They all eat at 8am and 8pm.
 
ok - test again in another 20 mins as we should start to see the effect of the food, you are around +6? I am in a different time zone so we use the + system to show number of hours since the shot.
 
JanetNJ said:
wow, ok then your cat was pretty low at 58. on alphatrak you don't want the number to drop below 68. You've already given extra food, right? the reading is 60 now, so it's up a tad, but still too low. Yes, give more gravy food and test again in 15 minutes.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks very much for your help.
 
Hi Kristen,

60 on an Alphatrak is still too low. Give a couple of teaspoons of just the gravy straight away and test again in 10 mins.

Keep honey or karo close at hand to be on the safe side.
.
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
OK, thanks very much for your help.
Click to expand...

He ate a packet of the Fancy Feast gravy food, should I get another? I don't have any left here and have to go to the store to get it. I'll go get it and run back home, feed him and test again. Should he get a little maple syrup at this point?
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
He ate a packet of the Fancy Feast gravy food, should I get another? I don't have any left here and have to go to the store to get it. I'll go get it and run back home, feed him and test again. Should he get a little maple syrup at this point?
Click to expand...
don't give him the syrup yet, but have it just in case. Test him again after about 15-20 min after the last time.
 
Critter Mom said:
Hi Kristen,

60 on an Alphatrak is still too low. Give a couple of teaspoons of just the gravy straight away and test again in 10 mins.

Keep honey or karo close at hand to be on the safe side.
.
Click to expand...
oh good... glad you're here. I don't know about lantus, i was hoping someone would stop by for follow up advice on that. Busy day for hypo's today, eh?
 
I wouldn't wait that long to test with him under 68. He's right in the middle of the cycle, too.

If it were my cat I'd give a teaspoonful of wet food with a small drop of syrup and test again in 10-15 minutes. It is important you don't fill him up because he may need more food during the rest of the cycle to steer him up to safe numbers and keep him there.

Don't leave the house. You need to monitor very closely and frequently for the time being.


Mogs
.
 
PS - if you don't have any wet food in the house give him 1 or 2 kibbles dipped in syrup.

Please confirm that you've given the food and then let us know what food you do have in the house (wet/dry, low/high carb).
 
Critter Mom said:
If it were my cat I'd give a teaspoonful of wet food with a small drop of syrup and test again in 10-15 minutes.
Click to expand...
Agreed, at this point don't leave tests longer than 15 minutes, that's because you are borderline hypo and don't want your kitty dropping any lower.

Later into the cycle it'll get easier....

Reassuring hugs to you. You're doing just fine! :bighug:

Eliz
 
Critter Mom said:
PS - if you don't have any wet food in the house give him 1 or 2 kibbles dipped in syrup.

Please confirm that you've given the food and then let us know what food you do have in the house (wet/dry, low/high carb).
Click to expand...

I ran to get some more wet food and had my husband watch him. He gave him another pouch of wet food and we measured again about ten minutes ago. It was 45 mg/dl. Gave him Karo syrup on his gums and getting ready to take him to emergency clinic. He's acting normally otherwise.
 
I'm sorry I didn't respond faster you guys, I'm freaking out and rushing around trying to get you the info. We've been giving him the 4U for about 3 weeks now and he's done fine on it, not acting strangely or anything during the day. Is it possible that he was this low and we didn't know it???
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
I ran to get some more wet food and had my husband watch him. He gave him another pouch of wet food and we measured again about ten minutes ago. It was 45 mg/dl. Gave him Karo syrup on his gums and getting ready to take him to emergency clinic. He's acting normally otherwise.
Click to expand...
good call. I'm glad you got the syrup on him. I was afraid he was going to drop. It's definitly possible that this is not his first hypo. I'm glad you caught it though. When are you taking him to the clinic? You may want to continue giving the syrup on the way there.
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
He gave him another pouch of wet food and we measured again about ten minutes ago. It was 45 mg/dl. Gave him Karo syrup on his gums
Click to expand...
Right move. Keep testing every 10 minutes - even while you're getting ready to leave. If you do go to the emergency centre bring karo with you & apply to gums.

.
 
Wait... This is a brand new glucometer and I'm wondering if it's coded incorrectly. The code upon inserting the test strip says 14. It's supposed to be 08 for a cat. I'm an idiot. Does it change it that much? I need to re-test with the correct code.
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
Wait... This is a brand new glucometer and I'm wondering if it's coded incorrectly. The code upon inserting the test strip says 14. It's supposed to be 08 for a cat. I'm an idiot. Does it change it that much? I need to re-test with the correct code.
Click to expand...
You need to check the cat code with each new batch of strips. Yes recode and check right now.
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
We've been giving him the 4U for about 3 weeks now and he's done fine on it, not acting strangely or anything during the day. Is it possible that he was this low and we didn't know it???
Click to expand...
Impossible to say one way or the other, hence the need for BG testing.


.
 
My experience with an incorrect code is it doesn't make much difference to the numbers, the code should be the same as on the the test strips.
 
OrangeTrioMom said:
Wait... This is a brand new glucometer and I'm wondering if it's coded incorrectly. The code upon inserting the test strip says 14. It's supposed to be 08 for a cat. I'm an idiot. Does it change it that much? I need to re-test with the correct code.
Click to expand...
Is 08 the code on the tub of test strips you're using? If yes then you need to recode the meter to show 08. Not sure how much difference there might be - you'll see when you test. (Never been in this situation with my Alphatrak.)

.
 
Good lord.. After more wet food & Karo on the gums, he's at 71 with the correct code. Should I sit tight and keep checking every few minutes?
 
To recode the meter, insert a test strip and when the code number displays start pressing the C button repeatedly until the correct code number appears.

Take the strip out after coding then reinsert to confirm that the new code number is correct.

.
 
I read in the instruction manual that it needs to be coded for the correct animal. There are about 99 codes apparently and the code for cat is 08 (as it says on the tube). With the correct code, he's at 71 right now. I'll check again in a few minutes.
 
whew. Well I wouldn't say you're out of the woods, but that's certainly better than being in the 40's.
 
you have to look on the side of each new bottle of strips... the code number varies from box to box. I've had 08, 36, 37, 38... you have to look each time.
 
Grab a piece of paper and scribble down brief notes of the test times, BG readings, and what you're feeding as you go along. Nothing fancy, just something to help you keep track.

e.g.

+4.50 - 49 - xxx high carb dry food
+4.75 - 61 - XXX tsps wet food + karo
+5.00 - 71 - no food
+5.25 - 62 - tsp wet low carb food + karo

etc.


.
 
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Critter Mom said:
To recode the meter, insert a test strip and when the code number displays start pressing the C
Click to expand...
Alexi said:
Bear in mind he has had syrup and it wears off quickly so he may well drop again.
Click to expand...

OK. Will check again in a couple of minutes here. I have the glucose reading diary that comes with the kit so I'm tracking it all there but will keep track of the food and syrup given as well. Thank you all so much for your help. This is stressful and it's awesome knowing there are people to go to for help.
 
Critter Mom said:
Grab a piece of paper and scribble down brief notes of the test times, BG readings, and what you're feeding as you go along. Nothing fancy, just something to help you keep track.

e.g.

+4.50 - 49 - xxx food
+4.75 - 61 - XXX tsps wet food + karo
+5.00 - 71 - no food
+5.25 - 62 - tsp wet food + karo

etc.


.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to start keeping a spreadsheet like you all do. How on earth do you test your kitties so frequently??? Do you have someone help you? He hates sitting still for them and I did them on my own the first couple of times - tore both of his ears. :(
 
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