I caved... :( (I DID IT! Update)

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jerzgrrrl72

jerzgrrrl72

Member Since 2018
Ugh... so I was never able to get another bg sample from Sake last night. After several tries with food and treats, it just wasn't going to happen, so I went to sleep, planning on testing her this morning before breakfast--Emphasis on the word "planning." Anyway, this morning was also a complete failure, and she was extra annoyed by all of it because she was hungry, so after half an hour of trying (even using treats as incentives,) I gave up again, and fed her breakfast, and gave her 2U of Lantus because she hadn't had any since 8:00 pm Tues night, and even with that good 112 reading yesterday, I just didn't want to risk anything going horribly wrong while I'm at work today. I'm going to try to pick up some separate syringes after work so I can dose in smaller amounts, and hopefully, I can get another sample this evening...
 
Of she's getting low readings I would reduce to 1 unit until you get the hang of testing consistently. What size lancet are you using?
 
jerzgrrrl72 said:
I gave up again, and fed her breakfast, and gave her 2U of Lantus because she hadn't had any since 8:00 pm Tues night, and even with that good 112 reading yesterday, I just didn't want to risk anything going horribly wrong while I'm at work today
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Are you able to go home during lunch and test/check on her? As @Nan & Amber explained on your last thread, going too low becomes quickly dangerous, much more so than staying a little high a day or two.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
Are you able to go home during lunch and test/check on her? As @Nan & Amber explained on your last thread, going too low becomes quickly dangerous, much more so than staying a little high a day or two.
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Yeah, I'm going to go home on my lunch, which is in about 2 1/2 hrs and check on her. I may not be able to get a sample from her, but I can at least make sure she's okay (behavior-wise.) I waited until I had to walk out the door before giving it to her, so that was less than 2 hrs ago.
 
Yesterday you said that when you got the test in the evening she hadn't eaten since the morning. If you don't normally leave food out for her, I would do so today-- it'll give a chance for a little extra safety if she starts going low. Without any more BG data than that one reading, we really have no idea how she has normally been reacting to the insulin, fingers crossed she just takes it in stride.

Hang in there on the testing! It definitely can be rough going at first, but it does get easier, promise!
 
Nan & Amber said:
Yesterday you said that when you got the test in the evening she hadn't eaten since the morning. If you don't normally leave food out for her, I would do so today-- it'll give a chance for a little extra safety if she starts going low. Without any more BG data than that one reading, we really have no idea how she has normally been reacting to the insulin, fingers crossed she just takes it in stride.

Hang in there on the testing! It definitely can be rough going at first, but it does get easier, promise!
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Thanks, Nan. I just hope I didn't shock her system too much by giving her the 2U this morning, since it had been 36 hrs since she had her last dose. I thought about trying to do the 1U, but I was afraid the pen wouldn't work correctly, so I stuck with the 2. One good thing though: when I removed the needle, there was a teeny drop of insulin on it, so that means she didn't quite get the full 2U this morning, so that makes me a little less concerned--that, and she hasn't acted even remotely odd all night or this morning (except for being super annoyed with me and my lancets--hahaha)

Is Amber a Calico? She looks very inquisitive.
 
jerzgrrrl72 said:
Is Amber a Calico? She looks very inquisitive.
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Yep. I've been meaning to change this picture forever (terrible lighting, doesn't show how pretty she is in real life), but I've stuck with it because I like that quizzical look on her face. She's enjoying her middle aged/senior cat existence so thoroughly, I figure it's as close as I'll ever come to an "action" shot of her, hah!
 
jerzgrrrl72 said:
Thanks, Nan. I was afraid the pen wouldn't work correctly, so I stuck with the 2. One good thing though: when I removed the needle, there was a teeny drop of insulin on it, so that means she didn't quite get the full 2U this morning,
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Hi keep trying it gets easier is just a matter of the two of you getting used to the testing.

Are you using the built in dial in doser with the needles in the pen? I suggest you buy insulin syringes, the ones with half unit markings and use the pen as a mini vial because the dial in doser forces you to change the dose in full units and that is not really going to work well for cat, it is a very good system for people though , but our babies need smaller changes in dose most of the time, 1 unit is a lot of insulin for a cat
 
Veronica & Babu-chiri said:
Hi keep trying it gets easier is just a matter of the two of you getting used to the testing.

Are you using the built in dial in doser with the needles in the pen? I suggest you buy insulin syringes, the ones with half unit markings and use the pen as a mini vial because the dial in doser forces you to change the dose in full units and that is not really going to work well for cat, it is a very good system for people though , but our babies need smaller changes in dose most of the time, 1 unit is a lot of insulin for a cat
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I've been using the built-in dialer, but I'm going to buy some U-100 syringes, as well as larger lancets after work tonight. I get to leave in 15 minutes to go home and check on her, so hopefully, all is well... :nailbiting:
 
Okay, so I got home and she was alert, and happy, and walking around. I expected her to be asleep, but she surprised me. I was able to get another sample from her--YAY! Today's sample was 76. Here are her most recent numbers/doses: Tues,8 pm: 2U + regular dinner
Wed, 7:00 am: Food only; Wed,6:12 pm: BG=112; Wed, 8:00 pm: Food only; Wed, 10-11:00ish pm: Small amt of food only
Thurs, 8:00 am: 2U (because I was nervous & couldn't get the sample) + Breakfast; Thurs, 1:01 pm: BG=76 + small amt of food & higher carb treat

Was planning on getting my new larger lancets and syringes, and testing her again ~6:30-7:00 pm (1 hr before dinner) tonight. Thoughts???
 
jerzgrrrl72 said:
BG=76 + small amt of food & higher carb treat
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That was the perfect thing to do!

76 is a beautiful number for the middle of the cycle. We usually tell time by counting hours after a shot (because we're all in different time zones); that 76 you got was at +5. The insulin still has time to work (lantus usually peaks around 5-7hrs post shot, but it varies cat to cat and day to day), so while she's in safe numbers, it was a very good idea to give her a little snack now.

I think the plan to get a test an hour or so before dinner is a good one.
 
Nan & Amber said:
That was the perfect thing to do!

76 is a beautiful number for the middle of the cycle. We usually tell time by counting hours after a shot (because we're all in different time zones); that 76 you got was at +5. The insulin still has time to work (lantus usually peaks around 5-7hrs post shot, but it varies cat to cat and day to day), so while she's in safe numbers, it was a very good idea to give her a little snack now.

I think the plan to get a test an hour or so before dinner is a good one.
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Thank you, Nan. You're gonna make me cry :bighug: I took all of the things I've been reading on here, and just put them altogether in a hopefully preventative way. I knew I didn't have to go the Karo route or anything that drastic because her # wasn't that low, and she wasn't exhibiting any symptoms. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. It means a LOT.
 
jerzgrrrl72 said:
Okay, so I got home and she was alert, and happy, and walking around. I expected her to be asleep, but she surprised me. I was able to get another sample from her--YAY! Today's sample was 76. Here are her most recent numbers/doses: Tues,8 pm: 2U + regular dinner
Wed, 7:00 am: Food only; Wed,6:12 pm: BG=112; Wed, 8:00 pm: Food only; Wed, 10-11:00ish pm: Small amt of food only
Thurs, 8:00 am: 2U (because I was nervous & couldn't get the sample) + Breakfast; Thurs, 1:01 pm: BG=76 + small amt of food & higher carb treat

Was planning on getting my new larger lancets and syringes, and testing her again ~6:30-7:00 pm (1 hr before dinner) tonight. Thoughts???
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*OKAY, so I just got ANOTHER sample--WOO HOO!:woot: At 7:20 pm +11 (since full meal) & +6 (since the snack I gave her.) That's 2 days in a row w/BGs in the 100s, so it's looking good, right??? I also bought the U-100 syringes for the next time I need to give her a shot, and used the larger lancet this time. THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU for all of your advice & kind words* :cat:

I'm going to feed her in another 30 min, but I will not give her the shot :D
 
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