New to diabetes and going nuts over testing

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Kerstin

Member Since 2017
Hi there,

My cat Sam was diagnosed a week ago and is on 1u vetsulin 2x a day. I am having a really hard time testing him, I am doing this on my own, the vet hasn't even talked about it yet.
Sam is very active and I live by myself so to test him I need to basically catch in his sleep, no way at this point to do pre- shot testing.
I got a couple of readings this week and he seems all over the place from 140 - 324, I just managed one reading 75 minutes past shot at 324.
What do I do with these results?
My goal is to get him into remission as fast as possible and get him controlled on food only.
He is on all canned under 4% carbs, but I need to free feed as I have 6 other cats and Sam will not stick to 2 meals a day, he snacks throughout the day.
Any help is very appreciated!
 
good job starting to test. One of the best things you can do to make testing easier is to give a treat after every test. My cat used to try to run away from me too... but after about 2 weeks she came to associate it with getting a treat. (I gave a tiny bit of deli meat). Another helpful thing you can do is desensitize your cat to having his ears stroked. Stroke his ears every time you pet him.

You don't have to stick to two meals a day, as long as it is the low carb food. Most of us feed several small meals a day. It's better for them then just two large meals (old fashioned approach). You do have to feed before shot time, but it's ok to feed in between, just no food 2 hours prior to the preshot test.

This is a link to the spreadsheet you will see in most of our signatures. Get that going and plug in all your numbers and we can help you figure out the best dose for your cat. There are many very experienced and helpful people on here. If your cat is able to get into remission, believe me it will be our mission as well. :) http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
Here's something I wrote up for others that needed help with testing...maybe it'll help you too!

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take him there as many times a day as you can and just give his ears a quick rub and then he gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking him to hurt him...you're testing him to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside his body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure his ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well.

When you're first starting, it's also important to use a lower gauge lancet, like 25-28 gauge. Most of the "lancet devices" come with 33 gauge lancets and they are just too tiny to start with. The bigger lancets (that are lower numbers) make a bigger "hole". As you poke more and more, the ears will grow new capillaries and will be easier and easier to get blood from...we call it "learning to bleed"

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that he really enjoys will help him to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!
 
Quite a few of us are managing our sugar kitty's alone, single parents :p. Hopefully some of Chris's tips can help you desensitize Sam and he'll start associating the testing routine as a positive experience.

Feel free to ask us about anything :bighug:
 
Good job on home testing! That's extremely important. As to trying to regulate and aim for remission.....test test test. It will get easier. As already mentioned rub the ear a bit it will help blood flow. Also as already mentioned, find a low carb treat as a "test" reward. Mine gets freeze dried chicken. I seen you said all your canned food is low carb, is there any dry because most is extremely high carb. Also, if you don't see improvement in numbers you may want to switch insulin. Hidey started on vetsulin, but after reading and numbers not dropping I found out vetsulin is a short running insulin in cats and is hard to regulate cats. After about 2 weeks with no improvement I switched him to prozinc and with testing, diet change , weight loss, and prozinc I was able to get him in remission. Good luck and this forum is a life saver!
 
dirtybirdsoaps said:
Good job on home testing! That's extremely important. As to trying to regulate and aim for remission.....test test test. It will get easier. As already mentioned rub the ear a bit it will help blood flow. Also as already mentioned, find a low carb treat as a "test" reward. Mine gets freeze dried chicken. I seen you said all your canned food is low carb, is there any dry because most is extremely high carb. Also, if you don't see improvement in numbers you may want to switch insulin. Hidey started on vetsulin, but after reading and numbers not dropping I found out vetsulin is a short running insulin in cats and is hard to regulate cats. After about 2 weeks with no improvement I switched him to prozinc and with testing, diet change , weight loss, and prozinc I was able to get him in remission. Good luck and this forum is a life saver!
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Hi there, Sam is not getting any dry food, I just managed a test at 11 AM and he was at 391, he is scheduled for a curve on Tuesday and I am wondering about switching to a different insulin, vetsulin seems to not do anything for him.
 
Good tips from other members. Kudos to you on taking care of your sugar kitteh. We have 2 other cats, and Leo always longfully looks at some of the other bowls of food. He also eats multiple smaller meals per day.

Many are not a fan of vetsulin. I tried 2 other insulins before finalizing with Levemir. It is a good 12 hour insulin with a slower rampup time than vetsulin. Some cats vary though. Leo is an example. He does not have good nadirs (low value at 6 hours). Your kitteh may be similar.
 
Kerstin said:
Hi there, Sam is not getting any dry food, I just managed a test at 11 AM and he was at 391, he is scheduled for a curve on Tuesday and I am wondering about switching to a different insulin, vetsulin seems to not do anything for him.
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I think you just haven't found the right dose yet. Can you put all the readings you have into the spreadsheet?
Might be time to raise to 1.5, but it helps to see data
 
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Also, it hasn't even been 10 days yet. Many of us didn't see improvements until like Month 2. Insulin is a hormone, not a medication that shows results quickly. We say this is a marathon, not a sprint :bighug:. Sam is also on a slightly higher starting dose than recommended here. I know there's a lot going on and you want your boy to feel better but he didn't become diabetic overnight ;). Also considering on the 2.0U you've gotten a random test of 140 somewhere could mean he's dropping lower and then you're catching the "bounce" numbers.
 
Yong said:
Also, it hasn't even been 10 days yet. Many of us didn't see improvements until like Month 2. Insulin is a hormone, not a medication that shows results quickly. We say this is a marathon, not a sprint :bighug:. Sam is also on a slightly higher starting dose than recommended here. I know there's a lot going on and you want your boy to feel better but he didn't become diabetic overnight ;). Also considering on the 2.0U you've gotten a random test of 140 somewhere could mean he's dropping lower and then you're catching the "bounce" numbers.
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He's on 1 unit 2x daily, do you think that's too high of a start dose?
 
Kerstin said:
He's on 1 unit 2x daily, do you think that's too high of a start dose?
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no... that is a good starting dose. If you have any other readings written down anywhere, can you add them to your spreadsheet? I don't see this 140 reading anywhere yet.
 
Hi Kerstin,
I've been here for a little over 2 months and I still feel new to all of this, so it is indeed a process.
Before you go making changes this early in the game I recommend get more info. If you haven't been able to get any Pre-shot tests in then you don't know how well the insulin is or isn't working, because you don't know where he was starting.
If you can get the testing done (clear your schedule on your days off) and devote that time to getting both you and Sam used to this new way of life. Then you don't have to go to the vet for curves. (Curves at the vet are almost useless because of kitty stress of being at the vet makes the glucose numbers much higher than they actually are.) Once you both are good at home testing your curves at home will give you a much better picture of how your insulin is doing.

I use Vetsulin, and in the first month I've been able to get Fabby trained for the glucose test (using the tips above like a testing spot and a treat after the test, and extra love). Fabby stopped losing weight, started grooming again, stopped sitting over the water dish, and dropped from the 500's to the 300's on her glucose testing.

I am also a multicat house, so Fabby has been quarantined so I could make sure she wasn't breaking into stuff with as hungry as she's been being diabetic, and so I didn't have to switch everyone just yet... one thing at a time, lol. It also lets me monitor her urine output and her food consumption.

Any food within 2 hours of your glucose test can impact the numbers. So that means because you are free feeding the numbers you are able to collect may also be higher due to food consumption.

I now all of this is a lot. It is rather overwhelming in the beginning. Hang in there. You're already ahead of the game switching to low carb food and starting testing at home. You're doing good!
 
JanetNJ said:
no... that is a good starting dose. If you have any other readings written down anywhere, can you add them to your spreadsheet? I don't see this 140 reading anywhere yet.
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Janet, the 145 reading was on a human meter so I am hesitant to add that in, I just added the 188 reading from 7/19.
 
AlphaCat said:
Hi Kerstin,
I've been here for a little over 2 months and I still feel new to all of this, so it is indeed a process.
Before you go making changes this early in the game I recommend get more info. If you haven't been able to get any Pre-shot tests in then you don't know how well the insulin is or isn't working, because you don't know where he was starting.
If you can get the testing done (clear your schedule on your days off) and devote that time to getting both you and Sam used to this new way of life. Then you don't have to go to the vet for curves. (Curves at the vet are almost useless because of kitty stress of being at the vet makes the glucose numbers much higher than they actually are.) Once you both are good at home testing your curves at home will give you a much better picture of how your insulin is doing.

I use Vetsulin, and in the first month I've been able to get Fabby trained for the glucose test (using the tips above like a testing spot and a treat after the test, and extra love). Fabby stopped losing weight, started grooming again, stopped sitting over the water dish, and dropped from the 500's to the 300's on her glucose testing.

I am also a multicat house, so Fabby has been quarantined so I could make sure she wasn't breaking into stuff with as hungry as she's been being diabetic, and so I didn't have to switch everyone just yet... one thing at a time, lol. It also lets me monitor her urine output and her food consumption.

Any food within 2 hours of your glucose test can impact the numbers. So that means because you are free feeding the numbers you are able to collect may also be higher due to food consumption.

I now all of this is a lot. It is rather overwhelming in the beginning. Hang in there. You're already ahead of the game switching to low carb food and starting testing at home. You're doing good!
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Thank you! I the owner of a Pilates studio so my schedule is very tough since I work in a morning and evening shift. My mother, who is also diabetic and Sam's favorite person, will be with me for 6 weeks starting 8/30. I am hoping we have the testing routine somewhat down until then and I can run some curves at home with her help.
Getting up every day at 4.30 AM to get Sam to eat and do the insulin shot at 5 AM has been very draining so far, so I need to get this under control before my busy season starts in October.
 
good job starting testing right away. i didn't start testing until about six weeks after diagnosis. once i started I wished I had been doing it from the beginning. ik now you say he fights you to do the tests... but most cats soon start associating the tests with a snack and warm up to it. Be sure to only poke the sweet spot along the edge and not knick the vein so that it's less painful for him.
 
Kerstin said:
He's on 1 unit 2x daily, do you think that's too high of a start dose?
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Oh my bad, I misread it as 2 units 2x daily :facepalm:. 1.0U is a usual starting dose :smuggrin:. Actually if his +2 numbers in evening are really going to blues he might need a reduction. We'll be able to tell once he gets more used to the testing and you'll be able to get AMPS and PMPS at minimum, with no food eaten 2 hours prior :). We offer complimentary patience pants if you need some extras, Kerstin :bighug:
 
JanetNJ said:
good job starting testing right away. i didn't start testing until about six weeks after diagnosis. once i started I wished I had been doing it from the beginning. ik now you say he fights you to do the tests... but most cats soon start associating the tests with a snack and warm up to it. Be sure to only poke the sweet spot along the edge and not knick the vein so that it's less painful for him.
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Right now I basically try to surprise him in his sleep, I am trying free- hand poking now, but he still gets furious with me and bites and scratches. I give treats before and after but so far, there's little progress, but I am glad to see him so feisty again, the constant sleeping was was made me suspicious in the first place.
 
Kerstin said:
Right now I basically try to surprise him in his sleep, I am trying free- hand poking now, but he still gets furious with me and bites and scratches. I give treats before and after but so far, there's little progress, but I am glad to see him so feisty again, the constant sleeping was was made me suspicious in the first place.
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We want you to be safe too and desensitizing takes time, so you could try the caturrito until he gets more used to it and you'll get faster at it :cat:. Yes some of us do see a feistier side when they are in normal BG ranges :joyful:. Just keep up the positive reinforcement and he'll figure it out :)
 
Kerstin said:
Right now I basically try to surprise him in his sleep, I am trying free- hand poking now, but he still gets furious with me and bites and scratches. I give treats before and after but so far, there's little progress, but I am glad to see him so feisty again, the constant sleeping was was made me suspicious in the first place.
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I always worry when 1 of my feisty ones is subdued!
Your doing great.... be patient with yourself this is a learning process for both of you as it was for each of us.

I know some people put a thin layer of a salve on the "sweet spot" between the edge and the vein and it lessens the poke for some.
I free hand as well :bighug:
 
So Sam had a curve at the vet done, first 3 values were in the 100's and 200's then he got really pissed at them and went up to the 300's and 400's.
Given that he did fight with me getting the insulin this morning, I was actually surprised.
I talked to the vet afterwards since I was extremely pissed about her misinformed staff, I was told to bring the insulin and food, and neither was given, plus I brought her the spreadsheet with his glucose values taken since the 15th and they never showed it to her.
She wanted to bump him up to 1.5- 2 units but I veto'ed that since I think he is already improving on 1 unit.
She wants a fructosamine test done in 2 weeks, is that something that's recommended if I can't get the home tests under control?
I am just so stressed out since he is now beginning to fight me hard over the insulin, I am talking, hissing, biting and hitting at the syringe....he really is a handful...
 
Kerstin said:
So Sam had a curve at the vet done, first 3 values were in the 100's and 200's then he got really pissed at them and went up to the 300's and 400's.
Given that he did fight with me getting the insulin this morning, I was actually surprised.
I talked to the vet afterwards since I was extremely pissed about her misinformed staff, I was told to bring the insulin and food, and neither was given, plus I brought her the spreadsheet with his glucose values taken since the 15th and they never showed it to her.
She wanted to bump him up to 1.5- 2 units but I veto'ed that since I think he is already improving on 1 unit.
She wants a fructosamine test done in 2 weeks, is that something that's recommended if I can't get the home tests under control?
I am just so stressed out since he is now beginning to fight me hard over the insulin, I am talking, hissing, biting and hitting at the syringe....he really is a handful...
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the fructosamine test is not necessary. All that does is tell you his average BG over the past 2-3 weeks. save yourself the $100 and tell her you are testing home and doing curves on your own.
 
I agree 100% with JanetNJ! Decline the fructosimine as long as you're home testing.
What gauge needle are you using for the insulin?
Fabby has used two different brands of needles, one she hissed or helped, and even tried to bite (but Fabby has no fangs). When I got different syringes she didn't make a peep any more. I just ordered new needles with the half unit mark and she's back to yelping. :( they don't make the half unit in a smaller gauge at the company I went through. I'm going to have to look around some more.
 
Can anyone with more experience with Vetsulin confirm this is a good idea? @JanetNJ or @Yong or @MrWorfMen's Mom
My idea:
With Vetsulin you are supposed to test, feed, Confirm food stays down, shoot. I wonder if you break up the food into two meals, so test, feed half meal, Confirm food stays down, put remaining half down and shoot while eating so he's distracted.
 
Kerstin said:
Right now I basically try to surprise him in his sleep, I am trying free- hand poking now, but he still gets furious with me and bites and scratches. I give treats before and after but so far, there's little progress, but I am glad to see him so feisty again, the constant sleeping was was made me suspicious in the first place.
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Would he accept blood testing on his back foot large paw pad?
 
AlphaCat said:
Can anyone with more experience with Vetsulin confirm this is a good idea? @JanetNJ or @Yong or @MrWorfMen's Mom
My idea:
With Vetsulin you are supposed to test, feed, Confirm food stays down, shoot. I wonder if you break up the food into two meals, so test, feed half meal, Confirm food stays down, put remaining half down and shoot while eating so he's distracted.
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You can do that. Or when cc started feeling better and got fiesty about her shots we just did it while she was in the middle of eating.
 
No problem holding back a small portion of the food so you can shoot while Sam has his face buried in his bowl.

Because the U40 insulin tends to be for veterinary use only, most if not all the u40 needles are 28 or 29 gauge. They really shouldn't cause discomfort although you do have to make sure to do a quick poke rather than a slow one. I would double check the needles for a good sharp point. There have been periodic reports of dull needles (not necessarily U40 though) so it's possible you got a bad box.
 
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