Hi from me and Molly, any advice please

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JanetNJ said:
She's going to be fine. it takes a while. She'll get there. You said she seems to be feeling better so that's great!

Tell us about her food schedule. Just making sure, you aren't allowing her to eat at least 2 hours prior to the preshot test, correct?
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No I take the food up when I'm here, but sometimes in the morning there is food left in the bowl, should I stop leaving food out overnight, my worry if I do that is she'll go low and have no food to bring her back up, she eats a little at a time throughout the day, she has never been a big eater and only ever has a few mouthfuls at any one time....
 
Sometimes all you can do is be watchful and ride out the "strange" numbers and hope they settle. Molly does have an interesting response to insulin though - you gave 1u on a BG of 5.1 and 2u on a BG of 10.2 and she doesn't appear to have hypo'd or bounced noticeably. We don't usually recommend shooting on a pre-shot number of around 10 so I'd be wary of dosing at anything around that, and certainly lower than that, in the future. It's hard I know, because if you don't dose and she's rising fast and you're not there to test and shoot late, she could go sky-high without insulin and then you're back at square one.

I'm trying to think who the Caninsulin/Vetsulin experts are here, as well as Janet, just in case we can get another perspective. @JanetNJ do you know???
 
Sue Hammond said:
No I take the food up when I'm here, but sometimes in the morning there is food left in the bowl, should I stop leaving food out overnight, my worry if I do that is she'll go low and have no food to bring her back up, she eats a little at a time throughout the day, she has never been a big eater and only ever has a few mouthfuls at any one time....
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It's probably fine. I was just making sure
 
Diana&Tom said:
Sometimes all you can do is be watchful and ride out the "strange" numbers and hope they settle. Molly does have an interesting response to insulin though - you gave 1u on a BG of 5.1 and 2u on a BG of 10.2 and she doesn't appear to have hypo'd or bounced noticeably. We don't usually recommend shooting on a pre-shot number of around 10 so I'd be wary of dosing at anything around that, and certainly lower than that, in the future. It's hard I know, because if you don't dose and she's rising fast and you're not there to test and shoot late, she could go sky-high without insulin and then you're back at square one.

I'm trying to think who the Caninsulin/Vetsulin experts are here, as well as Janet, just in case we can get another perspective. @JanetNJ do you know???
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Thank you for your help, my Vet didn't say anything about not injecting on a low bg, he just said give 2u if she eats and 1 if she doesn't, he also said there's no need to test at home, but I didn't agree and I have tested regularly from day 1....
 
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I think you're discovering that vets don't actually know that much about FD treatment! I'm not suggesting that you completely disbelieve everything they say, but the fact is that they have very little training in what is actually an increasingly common disease, and rather too often they are not right. Ideally you would listen to what they have to say and ask questions here of people around the world who have collectively many many years of treating diabetic cats and all the nuances that come into play... then you make up your own mind what to do.

Anyway well done for disagreeing on the testing issue - it really is vital and the one single thing you can do to keep Molly safe. I don't want to alarm you but giving insulin on a bg of 5.1 was really quite risky and I would seriously advise against that in the future. Caninsulin is a fast-acting insulin and you really wouldn't want her to be dropping any lower than that early into the cycle.

You are definitely in the right place here to learn all you can about FD and read about others' experiences. FD is far from straightforward to manage but the more you read and understand, the better the chances of getting Molly better. Don't despair - we've all been there and share your frustration. But it can easily take months, not weeks, to get where you want to be. Keep coming back and asking questions. This board is a real encyclopaedia of feline diabetes knowledge and its members are vastly experienced and willing to help.
 
Diana&Tom said:
I think you're discovering that vets don't actually know that much about FD treatment! I'm not suggesting that you completely disbelieve everything they say, but the fact is that they have very little training in what is actually an increasingly common disease, and rather too often they are not right. Ideally you would listen to what they have to say and ask questions here of people around the world who have collectively many many years of treating diabetic cats and all the nuances that come into play... then you make up your own mind what to do.

Anyway well done for disagreeing on the testing issue - it really is vital and the one single thing you can do to keep Molly safe. I don't want to alarm you but giving insulin on a bg of 5.1 was really quite risky and I would seriously advise against that in the future. Caninsulin is a fast-acting insulin and you really wouldn't want her to be dropping any lower than that early into the cycle.

You are definitely in the right place here to learn all you can about FD and read about others' experiences. FD is far from straightforward to manage but the more you read and understand, the better the chances of getting Molly better. Don't despair - we've all been there and share your frustration. But it can easily take months, not weeks, to get where you want to be. Keep coming back and asking questions. This board is a real encyclopaedia of feline diabetes knowledge and its members are vastly experienced and willing to help.
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Thanks for helping me, this thread has helped me understand more than my Vet ever could....Can you tell me please what is the lowest her bg can be before I give insulin, I really had no idea, that I shouldn't have given any at all that morning...I still am feeling pretty rotten about the whole thing tbh, it's still all very overwhelming to me. Her latest bg at +9 was still high at 24.4...its been 23/24 the last couple of days....A couple of weeks ago as you can see on her spreadsheet we were at 10/12, so I thought we had begun to get somewhere, but since then it's been all over the place ☹️
 
Yes I do understand how rotten you feel, we have all been there and know exactly what it's like. We try so hard and when we don't get the results we want it's very disheartening. But it does get better - you just have to be prepared for it to take time.

OK so we normally say no insulin at a scheduled pre-shot number of 10 or lower, on Caninsulin at least, because this insulin is fast acting and can drop blood glucose fast and steep, possibly too fast and steep thereby taking the cat into hypo numbers. Having said that, if you get a pre-shot 10 and don't give insulin, the cat may be rising quite quickly so ideally you would test again an hour later and make a judgement call then... if the bg has risen you might want to give a reduced dose. If you can't test again an hour later and have to go out, you may feel safer skipping the shot altogether - there would be no knowing if she was still dropping so any dose of insulin might not be safe. When in doubt it is always better not to give insulin. It is a powerful substance, and even if 1u doesn't sound much it can be TOO much. Better to be too high for a few hours rather than risk going too low.

As to why numbers are all over the place, other than my earlier suggestions of infection etc which you've discounted, I can only say that this is not unusual in the early days when the cat's system is adjusting to exogenous insulin. It's a matter of monitoring as closely as possible and being aware of anything else that might be affecting blood glucose at a given time. Different food, stress, even the weather can affect sensitive cats.

My best suggestion really is that you hang out on this board as much as possible, read other threads and gain more knowledge. Slowly you will begin to understand how it all works, and gain more confidence.

I'm going to tag fellow UKer @Monica Lewis at this point - she is in a not dissimilar situation to you, frustrated at how things are going with her kitty. Maybe for both of you, knowing you're not alone in feeling like that, will make you both feel a little better while you're waiting for things to improve - which they will!
 
Diana&Tom said:
Yes I do understand how rotten you feel, we have all been there and know exactly what it's like. We try so hard and when we don't get the results we want it's very disheartening. But it does get better - you just have to be prepared for it to take time.

OK so we normally say no insulin at a scheduled pre-shot number of 10 or lower, on Caninsulin at least, because this insulin is fast acting and can drop blood glucose fast and steep, possibly too fast and steep thereby taking the cat into hypo numbers. Having said that, if you get a pre-shot 10 and don't give insulin, the cat may be rising quite quickly so ideally you would test again an hour later and make a judgement call then... if the bg has risen you might want to give a reduced dose. If you can't test again an hour later and have to go out, you may feel safer skipping the shot altogether - there would be no knowing if she was still dropping so any dose of insulin might not be safe. When in doubt it is always better not to give insulin. It is a powerful substance, and even if 1u doesn't sound much it can be TOO much. Better to be too high for a few hours rather than risk going too low.

As to why numbers are all over the place, other than my earlier suggestions of infection etc which you've discounted, I can only say that this is not unusual in the early days when the cat's system is adjusting to exogenous insulin. It's a matter of monitoring as closely as possible and being aware of anything else that might be affecting blood glucose at a given time. Different food, stress, even the weather can affect sensitive cats.

My best suggestion really is that you hang out on this board as much as possible, read other threads and gain more knowledge. Slowly you will begin to understand how it all works, and gain more confidence.

I'm going to tag fellow UKer @Monica Lewis at this point - she is in a not dissimilar situation to you, frustrated at how things are going with her kitty. Maybe for both of you, knowing you're not alone in feeling like that, will make you both feel a little better while you're waiting for things to improve - which they will!
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Thank you so much for your encouraging words, I will definitely be hanging out here, and no doubt posting more questions and query's as time goes on x
 
Hi Sue, (waving from the UK :bighug: )...
It looks to me like the very steep blood glucose drop - and the 2.8 low number from that 2 unit dose - triggered Molly's blood glucose to rise sharply as a defense mechanism (what we call a 'bounce') and she may not have dropped out of that yet. ....If it were my cat I would not raise the dose above 1.5 units at this point. There is a strong likelihood that her blood glucose will drop in the near future....

And, for safety's sake, we strongly recommend that newcomers to diabetes don't give insulin at all if the pre-shot blood glucose is below 11.

Sue, you are doing absolutely brilliantly. In just a short time you've learned to hometest and to keep the test data on a spreasheet. Well done, you!

Eliz
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi Sue, (waving from the UK :bighug: )...
It looks to me like the very steep blood glucose drop - and the 2.8 low number from that 2 unit dose - triggered Molly's blood glucose to rise sharply as a defense mechanism (what we call a 'bounce') and she may not have dropped out of that yet. ....If it were my cat I would not raise the dose above 1.5 units at this point. There is a strong likelihood that her blood glucose will drop in the near future....

And, for safety's sake, we strongly recommend that newcomers to diabetes don't give insulin at all if the pre-shot blood glucose is below 11.

Sue, you are doing absolutely brilliantly. In just a short time you've learned to hometest and to keep the test data on a spreasheet. Well done, you!

Eliz
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi Sue, (waving from the UK :bighug: )...
It looks to me like the very steep blood glucose drop - and the 2.8 low number from that 2 unit dose - triggered Molly's blood glucose to rise sharply as a defense mechanism (what we call a 'bounce') and she may not have dropped out of that yet. ....If it were my cat I would not raise the dose above 1.5 units at this point. There is a strong likelihood that her blood glucose will drop in the near future....

And, for safety's sake, we strongly recommend that newcomers to diabetes don't give insulin at all if the pre-shot blood glucose is below 11.

Sue, you are doing absolutely brilliantly. In just a short time you've learned to hometest and to keep the test data on a spreasheet. Well done, you!

Eliz
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Sue @Sue Hammond , does Molly have any history of ketones or DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis)?
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Sue @Sue Hammond , does Molly have any history of ketones or DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis)?
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Someone on here said to give 2u tomorrow, so that's what I was going to do, but reading your post, you advise me not to, I'm getting so confused with what to give, I'll give 1.5 u then, and see how tomorrow goes, thank you for your help, much appreciated ....She had urine tests done a few days ago, which came back normal
 
Sue Hammond said:
Someone on here said to give 2u tomorrow, so that's what I was going to do, but reading your post, you advise me not to, I'm getting so confused with what to give, I'll give 1.5 u then, and see how tomorrow goes, thank you for your help, much appreciated
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Hi again, Sue,
You need to be comfortable with the insulin dose that you give. And your 'comfort zone' may depend on how much you're able to test, and on your ability to raise low blood glucose numbers if you need to.
So, you have options to think about...
If Molly's numbers are still high in the morning you could stick with the same dose, and see if her numbers drop. Or, you could give 2 units to try to get the numbers down - if you are able to monitor and are able to raise the blood glucose if it looks like dropping a bit low. ...There are very few 'absolutes' in feline diabetes. So, it's really a matter of making a choice that you're comfortable with.... In a nutshell, you're trying to balance the need to get the high numbers down, and at the same time trying to not have Molly's blood glucose drop too low...
I know it probably sounds very complicated at this point. But it does get easier, honestly... :bighug:
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi again, Sue,
You need to be comfortable with the insulin dose that you give. And your 'comfort zone' may depend on how much you're able to test, and on your ability to raise low blood glucose numbers if you need to.
So, you have options to think about...
If Molly's numbers are still high in the morning you could stick with the same dose, and see if her numbers drop. Or, you could give 2 units to try to get the numbers down - if you are able to monitor and are able to raise the blood glucose if it looks like dropping a bit low. ...There are very few 'absolutes' in feline diabetes. So, it's really a matter of making a choice that you're comfortable with.... In a nutshell, you're trying to balance the need to get the high numbers down, and at the same time trying to not have Molly's blood glucose drop too low...
I know it probably sounds very complicated at this point. But it does get easier, honestly... :bighug:
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I'm not comfortable with any of it, I've no clue how to balance anything, when it all seems to be going so wrong...I can't even give injections, it . terrifies me, my daughter does it, and I do the bg tests x
 
Sue Hammond said:
I'm not comfortable with any of it, I've no clue how to balance anything, when it all seems to be going so wrong...I can't even give injections, it . terrifies me, my daughter does it, and I do the bg tests x
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Sue, really, it does get easier... it seems tough atm but try to stay calm and focus on what you need to do... read here as much as you can, it will really help, remember knowledge is power!
I don't know any vets in Chertsey but if you're not happy with how your current vet is treating Molly's FD you are always free to look for another more clued-up one... a good few of us have done just that!
 
Diana&Tom said:
Sue, really, it does get easier... it seems tough atm but try to stay calm and focus on what you need to do... read here as much as you can, it will really help, remember knowledge is power!
I don't know any vets in Chertsey but if you're not happy with how your current vet is treating Molly's FD you are always free to look for another more clued-up one... a good few of us have done just that!
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I can't really get to any other Vet, as I don't drive, but have to say he's listening and taking what I have to say n board a lot more now, xx
 
Sue Hammond said:
I can't really get to any other Vet, as I don't drive, but have to say he's listening and taking what I have to say n board a lot more now, xx
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Good! Sounds like a keeper - a good vet should listen to you and be prepared to work WITH you and acknowledge that he/she may not know everything. You'll learn a lot from this board and maybe your vet will be impressed with your knowledge and respect all the queries you have.
 
Hi Sue and Molly,
I'm glad @Diana&Tom tagged me, I can totally relate to your Caninsulin journey with the odd numbers all over the place being unable to work out a pattern. Some days Josie's BG went right down in mid cycle like it's supposed to and somedays did not move at all. Some days got high red preshot readings some days low yellows and she responded pretty much the same to 0.5u and 1u.. Your SS looks awfully familiar and just like you I couldn't make sense of it all..:banghead: So you are definitely not alone!

We just changed from Caninsulin to ProZinc a week ago so still trying to get used to it and work out the dosage ( current 1u not doing much but with an increase hoping to see some better results soon..)
I'm curious to find out why your vet wouldn't want to prescribe ProZinc??

Our first vet was very ignorant and abrupt, just told us to dose Josie blindly with 3u as starting dose without testing at home:mad: Thinking back I am mortified we actually followed his advice ..
Our new vet is great, she listens to my requests and works together with me. If you don't feel you are getting enough support and compassion from your current vet don't be afraid to change.

I'm also in the UK, also using Accu Chek and we also tried out Mac's which was really good choice but settled for Ropocat at the end.
As for feeding Molly you say she's not a big eater so maybe she would benefit from setting up an automatic pet feeder for overnight which you can also set empty to 'take the food away' 2 hours prior testing in the morning so you will know that the preshot numbers are definitely accurate with no overnight food influence.. We have one and it's been brilliant and a real life saver for us. Now I can actually sleep my 7 hours in one go without worry about her food intake.
How is Molly doing otherwise? Is she eating well, happy playful, alert?

You are doing a brilliant job so far, learned so much already and your spreadsheet looks great! Wish I could test Josie as often as you do!
A little suggestion you might find useful, maybe use the right side of your spreadsheet to make some side notes of anything important or out of the ordinary, any observations you might have. I use it as a little diary and find it useful to refer to when looking back to remind me things and when I'm trying to make sense of it all...
Don't you worry eventually you will get to the bottom of Molly's mystery and get those numbers down. You are at the best place to get brilliant support here from the Feline Diabetes Gurus:cat:
 
Hi
Monica Lewis said:
Hi Sue and Molly,
I'm glad @Diana&Tom tagged me, I can totally relate to your Caninsulin journey with the odd numbers all over the place being unable to work out a pattern. Some days Josie's BG went right down in mid cycle like it's supposed to and somedays did not move at all. Some days got high red preshot readings some days low yellows and she responded pretty much the same to 0.5u and 1u.. Your SS looks awfully familiar and just like you I couldn't make sense of it all..:banghead: So you are definitely not alone!

We just changed from Caninsulin to ProZinc a week ago so still trying to get used to it and work out the dosage ( current 1u not doing much but with an increase hoping to see some better results soon..)
I'm curious to find out why your vet wouldn't want to prescribe ProZinc??

Our first vet was very ignorant and abrupt, just told us to dose Josie blindly with 3u as starting dose without testing at home:mad: Thinking back I am mortified we actually followed his advice ..
Our new vet is great, she listens to my requests and works together with me. If you don't feel you are getting enough support and compassion from your current vet don't be afraid to change.

I'm also in the UK, also using Accu Chek and we also tried out Mac's which was really good choice but settled for Ropocat at the end.
As for feeding Molly you say she's not a big eater so maybe she would benefit from setting up an automatic pet feeder for overnight which you can also set empty to 'take the food away' 2 hours prior testing in the morning so you will know that the preshot numbers are definitely accurate with no overnight food influence.. We have one and it's been brilliant and a real life saver for us. Now I can actually sleep my 7 hours in one go without worry about her food intake.
How is Molly doing otherwise? Is she eating well, happy playful, alert?

You are doing a brilliant job so far, learned so much already and your spreadsheet looks great! Wish I could test Josie as often as you do!
A little suggestion you might find useful, maybe use the right side of your spreadsheet to make some side notes of anything important or out of the ordinary, any observations you might have. I use it as a little diary and find it useful to refer to when looking back to remind me things and when I'm trying to make sense of it all...
Don't you worry eventually you will get to the bottom of Molly's mystery and get those numbers down. You are at the best place to get brilliant support here from the Feline Diabetes Gurus:cat:
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Hi Monica, thanks for your message, I have another cat, thankfully not Diabetic, so could be difficult to have a automatic feeder....I've only been leaving food out in case she drops a bit low overnight and needs to eat.....should I possibly stop that?.... Molly's behaviour, eating pattern, playing etc, hasn't changed at all, she seems very happy just like she's always been....We took her to the Vet because she was beginning to drink a lot and weeing also, and she had dandruff, now the dandruff has gone and she isn't constantly looking for water, so something must be going in the right direction, I hope so anyway x
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi again, Sue,
You need to be comfortable with the insulin dose that you give. And your 'comfort zone' may depend on how much you're able to test, and on your ability to raise low blood glucose numbers if you need to.
So, you have options to think about...
If Molly's numbers are still high in the morning you could stick with the same dose, and see if her numbers drop. Or, you could give 2 units to try to get the numbers down - if you are able to monitor and are able to raise the blood glucose if it looks like dropping a bit low. ...There are very few 'absolutes' in feline diabetes. So, it's really a matter of making a choice that you're comfortable with.... In a nutshell, you're trying to balance the need to get the high numbers down, and at the same time trying to not have Molly's blood glucose drop too low...
I know it probably sounds very complicated at this point. But it does get easier, honestly... :bighug:
Click to expand...
I know how to raise blood sugars f I need to, I have honey on standby just in case...I'm ok doing the blood tests, but i just can't do the injections yet, my daughter does them, no problem, I've been reduced to tears over it. I get it all ready, get Molly in the right position, have the pen primed and ready, but I just can't inject, it's stupid as I know I should be doing it by now, my vet showed us and I did it in front of him when he was teaching us both...I feel like a failure in that respect to be honest x
 
Sue Hammond said:
I know how to raise blood sugars f I need to, I have honey on standby just in case...I'm ok doing the blood tests, but i just can't do the injections yet, my daughter does them, no problem, I've been reduced to tears over it. I get it all ready, get Molly in the right position, have the pen primed and ready, but I just can't inject, it's stupid as I know I should be doing it by now, my vet showed us and I did it in front of him when he was teaching us both...I feel like a failure in that respect to be honest x
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Maybe practice on an orange! :)
 
Oh that's all wrong! You feel rotten if you back over your cat with the car. What you're feeling Sue is the frustration of not getting a decent education from the vet. We love ours but our neighbor's dog still pees on a strip of paper because her vet is stuck in another century. Pretty soon he'll be jumping into your arms. Don't laugh, I had a miracle cat like that. And don't cry either, somewhere in the middle is good.
:rolleyes:
 
Sue Hammond said:
Hi

Hi Monica, thanks for your message, I have another cat, thankfully not Diabetic, so could be difficult to have a automatic feeder....I've only been leaving food out in case she drops a bit low overnight and needs to eat.....should I possibly stop that?.... Molly's behaviour, eating pattern, playing etc, hasn't changed at all, she seems very happy just like she's always been....We took her to the Vet because she was beginning to drink a lot and weeing also, and she had dandruff, now the dandruff has gone and she isn't constantly looking for water, so something must be going in the right direction, I hope so anyway x
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Oh I see. The only issue with leaving food out overnight that you can't be sure whether it was eaten before or within the 2 hour window when no food should be given..
Glad to hear she's not drinking water so excessively and coat looking better, that means she's responding to the insulin and you must be doing something right.

As for not injecting Molly yourself, guess what? I still can't do it myself either, my husband does it every single time. I can do pretty much everything else. You have to be comfortable with what you are doing ( unless you have no choice or other options, then you gotta do it yourself! )
It's been months and I am getting closer and closer to do it myself step by steep by watching, assisting, practising and waiting to reach that point when I'm just going to get on with it and still stay within my comfort zone.
I used to feel like a failure for being unable to do it but then I always think 'Blimey I have come such a long way, learned and able to do so much more than an ordinary person with a boring healthy cat could! :)
I am proud of my achievements and being able to get on with things as well as I do compared to my overwhelming freaked out early days! With all the online reading and questions I asked here soon I could probably get a degree in Feline Diabetes Nutrition!
So take your time to learn all the ropes and look at all the challenging things you are already able to do and the rest will follow I am sure of.
I'm still learning and my cat is far from remission or even being regulated but she is happy, looking healthy and must be laughing at me every day for giving me such a tricky kitty case to crack!:cat:
 
Monica Lewis said:
Oh I see. The only issue with leaving food out overnight that you can't be sure whether it was eaten before or within the 2 hour window when no food should be given..
Glad to hear she's not drinking water so excessively and coat looking better, that means she's responding to the insulin and you must be doing something right.

As for not injecting Molly yourself, guess what? I still can't do it myself either, my husband does it every single time. I can do pretty much everything else. You have to be comfortable with what you are doing ( unless you have no choice or other options, then you gotta do it yourself! )
It's been months and I am getting closer and closer to do it myself step by steep by watching, assisting, practising and waiting to reach that point when I'm just going to get on with it and still stay within my comfort zone.
I used to feel like a failure for being unable to do it but then I always think 'Blimey I have come such a long way, learned and able to do so much more than an ordinary person with a boring healthy cat could! :)
I am proud of my achievements and being able to get on with things as well as I do compared to my overwhelming freaked out early days! With all the online reading and questions I asked here soon I could probably get a degree in Feline Diabetes Nutrition!
So take your time to learn all the ropes and look at all the challenging things you are already able to do and the rest will follow I am sure of.
I'm still learning and my cat is far from remission or even being regulated but she is happy, looking healthy and must be laughing at me every day for giving me such a tricky kitty case to crack!:cat:
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I really don't know what to do about overnight food, should I leave it out, or not, I have no idea what to do for the best.... Hopefully one day we will both overcome the fear of injecting, I hope so anyway ....These kitties are hard work on us humans, but so worth it x
 
My last post, promise! The Cynthia I keep referring to is very real and very brave but from the very beginning I did everything. I think the alleged "pain" she was inflicting turned her off so I did what men do and took over. That was a MISTAKE. I could do Nigel then and Noah now with a cast on my arm and a screaming migraine but I should have gotten Cynthia more involved. It has nothing to do with her not caring, she's as invested as I am. One day our helpers won't be there because of something as simple as a flat tire (tyre) so my advice is to slowly get more involved, less squeamish. Sue, I think I confused your vet and situation with another, sorry if I slagged the wrong person. What about a peach instead of an orange? Goodnight all, Saturday is Haggis night! :rolleyes: :confused:
 
Noah & me said:
My last post, promise! The Cynthia I keep referring to is very real and very brave but from the very beginning I did everything. I think the alleged "pain" she was inflicting turned her off so I did what men do and took over. That was a MISTAKE. I could do Nigel then and Noah now with a cast on my arm and a screaming migraine but I should have gotten Cynthia more involved. It has nothing to do with her not caring, she's as invested as I am. One day our helpers won't be there because of something as simple as a flat tire (tyre) so my advice is to slowly get more involved, less squeamish. Sue, I think I confused your vet and situation with another, sorry if I slagged the wrong person. What about a peach instead of an orange? Goodnight all, Saturday is Haggis night! :rolleyes: :confused:
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I'm not squeamish, it's just I'm afraid of doing it wrong and hurting Molly, that's my fear, not the needle itself, I'm managing to do the blood tests without any problems, ....I've used oranges but there's a big difference between a piece of fruit and a live cat... Hopefully I'll get there eventually .....x
 
Sue Hammond said:
I really don't know what to do about overnight food, should I leave it out, or not, I have no idea what to do for the best.... Hopefully one day we will both overcome the fear of injecting, I hope so anyway ....These kitties are hard work on us humans, but so worth it x
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I don't think it's the food left out overnight that's causing the high preshot numbers as it's been high in the evenings as well.. If you are concerned just leave a small snack out for her before going to bed. Honestly don't worry too much about it.
Also we are all different so people here will probably give you different opinions and views. Take it all in, weigh in all options and try to make a decision based on whatever feels right, safe and sensible to you.
Not that straightforward at times I admit but you will get the hang of it!
 
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Monica Lewis said:
I don't think it's the food left out overnight that's causing the high preshot numbers as it's been high in the evenings as well.. If you are concerned just leave a small snack out for her before going to bed. Honestly don't worry too much about it.
Also we are all different so people here will probably give you different opinions and views, take it all in, weigh in all options and try to make a decision based on on whatever feels right, safe and sensible to you.
Not that straightforward at times but you will get the hang of it!
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It definitely isn't, the trouble is I don't know which cat has eaten the food during the night anyway, during the day I can keep my eye on it, but night time is a different story..x
 
Monica Lewis said:
Oh I see. The only issue with leaving food out overnight that you can't be sure whether it was eaten before or within the 2 hour window when no food should be given..
Glad to hear she's not drinking water so excessively and coat looking better, that means she's responding to the insulin and you must be doing something right.

As for not injecting Molly yourself, guess what? I still can't do it myself either, my husband does it every single time. I can do pretty much everything else. You have to be comfortable with what you are doing ( unless you have no choice or other options, then you gotta do it yourself! )
It's been months and I am getting closer and closer to do it myself step by steep by watching, assisting, practising and waiting to reach that point when I'm just going to get on with it and still stay within my comfort zone.
I used to feel like a failure for being unable to do it but then I always think 'Blimey I have come such a long way, learned and able to do so much more than an ordinary person with a boring healthy cat could! :)
I am proud of my achievements and being able to get on with things as well as I do compared to my overwhelming freaked out early days! With all the online reading and questions I asked here soon I could probably get a degree in Feline Diabetes Nutrition!
So take your time to learn all the ropes and look at all the challenging things you are already able to do and the rest will follow I am sure of.
I'm still learning and my cat is far from remission or even being regulated but she is happy, looking healthy and must be laughing at me every day for giving me such a tricky kitty case to crack!:cat:
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I do all the tests, my partner does all the injections. I think I've done it maybe 5 times. I can do it, I'm not scared to do it.... But it's nice to share the responsibility of the care.
 
Sue Hammond said:
Just done a 9pm +4 and it's now 12.4, so maybe it was best to stick to 1.5u, just wondering if I should stay up and test in a couple of hours ?
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12.4 is not low, but if you want to get more tests, go for it. The more data the better.
 
Def no insulin! Maybe she is coming out of her bounce. Do what tests you can today, it will be interesting to see if she shoots up or stays in nice numbers. 5.4 is a lovely normal non diabetic number and to get that at pre shot is great - the trick now will be to try to keep her going sky high again!
 
Diana&Tom said:
Def no insulin! Maybe she is coming out of her bounce. Do what tests you can today, it will be interesting to see if she shoots up or stays in nice numbers. 5.4 is a lovely normal non diabetic number and to get that at pre shot is great - the trick now will be to try to keep her going sky high again!
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I'll do random tests throughout the day...Let's hope it stays low....You see, now I queried this with the nurse last week when she had a reading of 5 a while back, and she said to still give her Insulin because when she's fed her BG will start to rise...I'm now going to stand my ground and do what I've learnt from being n this group...x
 
Sue Hammond said:
I'll do random tests throughout the day...Let's hope it stays low....You see, now I queried this with the nurse last week when she had a reading of 5 a while back, and she said to still give her Insulin because when she's fed her BG will start to rise...I'm now going to stand my ground and do what I've learnt from being n this group...x
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Yes her bg will rise after food, but in a non- diabetic it wouldn't go as high as the numbers you've recorded after giving insulin. It's always possible that Molly doesn't need much insulin at all, so you could be giving her more than she needs, but we just don't know until you try the different doses. It's equally possible that you just need to find the exact dose that will keep her glucose under control whilst not causing her to bounce... this is why we suggested getting a syringe yesterday, so you can give different doses if necessary. As we said, 0.5u or 0.25u may not seem much at all but it could make all the difference.
 
Diana&Tom said:
Yes her bg will rise after food, but in a non- diabetic it wouldn't go as high as the numbers you've recorded after giving insulin. It's always possible that Molly doesn't need much insulin at all, so you could be giving her more than she needs, but we just don't know until you try the different doses. It's equally possible that you just need to find the exact dose that will keep her glucose under control whilst not causing her to bounce... this is why we suggested getting a syringe yesterday, so you can give different doses if necessary. As we said, 0.5u or 0.25u may not seem much at all but it could make all the difference.
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Very true. Sometimes too much insulin can look like not enough.
 
Diana&Tom said:
Yes her bg will rise after food, but in a non- diabetic it wouldn't go as high as the numbers you've recorded after giving insulin. It's always possible that Molly doesn't need much insulin at all, so you could be giving her more than she needs, but we just don't know until you try the different doses. It's equally possible that you just need to find the exact dose that will keep her glucose under control whilst not causing her to bounce... this is why we suggested getting a syringe yesterday, so you can give different doses if necessary. As we said, 0.5u or 0.25u may not seem much at all but it could make all the difference.
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When would be the ideal time to test again
 
5.4 preshot number, looks like this kitty does enjoy throwing you yet another curveball!:)
Great call on no shoot Sue, I’m interested to see where these numbers will be going today..
 
Sue Hammond said:
So by giving her too much insulin, more than she actually needs, that could give her high BG results?
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Yes... It's her body's way of keeping her safe. I say get a few tests today (no need to worry about a hypo this morning. The insulin is worn off by now so just test whenever curiosity strikes). and then maybe start all over at 1 unit tonight depending on the preshot.
 
JanetNJ said:
Yes... It's her body's way of keeping her safe. I say hey a few tests today (no need to worry about a hypo this morning. The insulin is worn off by now so just test whenever curiosity strikes). and then maybe start all over at 1 unit tonight depending on the preshot.
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I think the same... start again at 1u.
 
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