4/23 Tippy PMPS 287 +3 277 Blood Ketone Test at 1.4

[dwildha]

Hello,

We are trying to dial in her dose while also trying to find out how much to feed. She was released from NC State Vet School on 30 March 2021 from a 9 day hospitalization for DKA. The doctor told us to give her 6 units twice daily. We immediately consulted here and have been trying so hard to get everything together for our sweet tippy. We have switched to LC wet food and have been getting used to home testing. Tippy is not a fan of the ear pricks. We hope that it will get easier with time. Please let us know where we can improve. We know that we should probably start by testing more frequently. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[dwildha]

I would also like to ask about feline subcutaneous injection sites. How often are we supposed to change injection sites? Should we alternate between two different sites everyday?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

We know that we should probably start by testing more frequently.

Yep, you got that right!....LOL

One really important test though is at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle since most cats do go lower at night. If you can get a +2 (or +3 for some cats) it can almost predict what's going to happen later in the cycle.

If the +2 is about the same as the PS, it's usually going to be a pretty typical cycle....gradually down to nadir and then gradually back up.

If the +2 is higher than the PS, that usually means there's a bounce starting and you can probably take a break in testing later on.

If the +2 is lower than the PS, that's your "early warning" that Tippy may be going lower later in the cycle and it's important to plan on getting more tests in (yes, welcome to the wonderful world of sleep deprivation otherwise known as feline diabetes).

In some cats, the +3 is a better predicter but until we have more data, we don't know which test would be better for Tippy.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

How often are we supposed to change injection sites? Should we alternate between two different sites everyday?

Most of us shoot into the scruff twice a day, every day and just rotate around the area (trying not to shoot in the exact same place) but there are other places you can shoot. It's mostly a matter of personal preference.

There are some studies that indicate that absorption is better in other places (other than the scruff) but the only way to know how Tippy responds to shots in different areas are to do it enough times and compare them.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Make sure you are feeding Tippy plenty of food.
Are you feeding snacks during the cycle as well as the preshot meals?
Food is like a medicine when cats are recovering from DKA.

 

[dwildha]

Ok, sounds good. We will start by testing more and gathering more data. Based on

Make sure you are feeding Tippy plenty of food.
Are you feeding snacks during the cycle as well as the preshot meals?
Food is like a medicine when cats are recovering from DKA.

Yes, thank you again. We are feeding LC wet food as snacks. Sometimes sardines in water, basically we add water to her am and pm meals as we are wanting to continue to flush ketones due to the readings we have on the blood Ketone tests. We also want to be sure she’s getting plenty of water as she doesn’t really drink a lot. We can start to add water to her snacks as well. She urinates once or twice daily and bowel movements seem to be once a day. Behavior has returned to more of what she was like before diagnosis. We can only hope that means we’re headed in the right direction.

 

[Liz & Minnie]

Just stopping in to say hi and wish you luck. Minnie has had a few DKAs and I sympathize with you, it's so much extra stress on top of "just" the diabetes. NINE DAYS! That must have felt like a lifetime...not to mention the bill.

If she is eating regularly and you add water to her food, that's great. I always mix water in the food now - I never see her drinking water now her numbers are not always in the 400s. Sometimes I do urine ketone tests as well (the Walmart Relion strips are very cheap). Not sure what blood meter you are using (I'm using Novamax) but I think 1.4 will show up as negative on the urine test. It's so easy to get obsessed with the numbers on the meter, I like occasionally comparing with the strip for a different perspective. Obviously the cat is the same regardless but I was getting in my head too much.

Not sure if you've got the 0.5 marked syringes yet - I think the cheapest are from Walmart but I found the needle too short. I really like these ones Monoject Ultra Comfort 29G Syringes

Good luck!

 

[dwildha]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. It is a lot. We are doing our best to learn and grow. Tippy is doing well and we hope she continues to. Getting dosing right is a pain.

Just stopping in to say hi and wish you luck. Minnie has had a few DKAs and I sympathize with you, it's so much extra stress on top of "just" the diabetes. NINE DAYS! That must have felt like a lifetime...not to mention the bill.

If she is eating regularly and you add water to her food, that's great. I always mix water in the food now - I never see her drinking water now her numbers are not always in the 400s. Sometimes I do urine ketone tests as well (the Walmart Relion strips are very cheap). Not sure what blood meter you are using (I'm using Novamax) but I think 1.4 will show up as negative on the urine test. It's so easy to get obsessed with the numbers on the meter, I like occasionally comparing with the strip for a different perspective. Obviously the cat is the same regardless but I was getting in my head too much.

Not sure if you've got the 0.5 marked syringes yet - I think the cheapest are from Walmart but I found the needle too short. I really like these ones Monoject Ultra Comfort 29G Syringes

Good luck!