6/26/21 Help - Nebula PMPS 86

Nebula's O`hana

Nebula's O`hana

Member Since 2021
Hi we're new here. Nebula's reading is 86. We tested with Freestyle Freedom lite about a hour ago and plan to retest. We are unsure about administering insulin since her BG is low. In reference the dosage prescribed was 1 unit and she wasn't tested prior to her first insulin shot at the vet at 2 pm PST.

We're still figuring out the spread sheet and will be adding it to our signature soon.

Help is greatly appreciated.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/nebula-new-member-newly-diagnosed.249052/
 
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Nebula's O`hana said:
Hi we're new here. Nebula's reading is 86. We tested with Freestyle Freedom lite about a hour ago and plan to retest. We are unsure about administering insulin since her BG is low. In reference the dosage prescribed was 1 unit and she wasn't tested prior to her first insulin shot at the vet at 2 pm PST.

We're still figuring out the spread sheet and will be adding it to our signature soon.

Help is greatly appreciated.
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When is the insulin dose due? Is it 12 hours since the last dose?
If it is now, you can stall, dont feed and test again in 20 minutes to see if the BG is rising.
When did Nebula last eat?

We don’t recommend you give the dose of insulin if the BG is under 150 on the Lantus page until you get some data to see how Nebula reacts to insulin.. As you are very new to this and have only just started to give the insulin, and there is no data, I think not giving the dose if the BG is under 200 would be better.
I will tag @Bandit's Mom as she can help you with the SS if needed.
I will wait to hear the result of the next test.
 
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@Nebula's O`hana have you retested the BG yet?
It’s important that the BG is monitored, especially when it is in the lower numbers such as 86. We need to know that it is rising, not dropping further.
@Bandit's Mom has offered to help you set up the spreadsheet if that would help you..
Please try and keep in contact with us when you are asking for help as we are concerned. :)
 
Hello All. Thanks so much for all the replies so far. I'll try to answer everyone's questions here as we just woke up and checked her BG, and try to build a timeline up to this point.

First shot was on 6/25, 2 PM at the vets office when they were training us on how to administer the shot. They did not check her BG prior to this shot. The only BG we have recorded since then was from her lab on 6/17 where her Glucose results were at 284. A subsequent lab was done on 6/20 for Fructosamine with a result of 529. We received those results 4/23 with the diagnosis from the vet that she was diabetic. We purchased the insulin however, we had no needles or anything because the office didn't allow to see us until 4/25.

Okay, now let me try to sum this up cleanly.

6/25: First shot administered at vets office at 2 PM. Had a meal. No BG. Meter was purchased after and the office did not check BG.
6/26: Our second shot was due at 2 AM. We completed a BG with the result of 86. We did not administer shot, instead, we just fed her as she was wanting to eat.
6/26: Completed BG at 5:30 AM with the result of 136. Still not sure whether to administer the 2nd dose at this point as she is still under 150.

See below for the link of our spreadsheet. Still figuring out how to navigate it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tCICXm7m138Onbeojhtks5g83ASdyr8MnGALqni2Ge8/edit?usp=sharing
 
I would reduce the dose to 0.5 unit (1/2unit) twice a day as I think the 1 unit is too much.
As you have skipped a dose you can change your schedule to a more suitable time if you like such as 7am and 7 pm for example.
But you will need to ensure that the preshot is high enough before shooting. At the moment you are doing the right thing in skipping the dose.
Did the vet mention any ketones at diagnosis. I would buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy to test the urine for ketones as you are skipping doses.
In the U column of the SS can you please put either 0 or skip to indicate no insulin was given please.
 
I didn't see in this thread or your thread on Health what your dose is. I'm hoping the vet started Nebula on a small dose. (Edited to add: And I just saw that Bron answered my question. I agree -- 1.0u is too much.)

At this point, I'd suggest skipping the shot. Your shot times are not optimal for you getting any uninterrupted sleep! How about giving some thought as to what time would be convenient for your schedule . You'll also want to figure in time to monitor if you don't have to give a shot and run out the door.

If you've not done so already, you may want to read through the sticky notes at the top of the board. There's good information in the dosing methods sticky and you'll want to think about which approach to dosing you want to use.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I would reduce the dose to 0.5 unit (1/2unit) twice a day as I think the 1 unit is too much.
As you have skipped a dose you can change your schedule to a more suitable time if you like such as 7am and 7 pm for example.
But you will need to ensure that the preshot is high enough before shooting. At the moment you are doing the right thing in skipping the dose.
Did the vet mention any ketones at diagnosis. I would buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy to test the urine for ketones as you are skipping doses.
In the U column of the SS can you please put either 0 or skip to indicate no insulin was given please.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. :)

I think we'll also take advantage of the skipped dosage to align her schedule at a more convenient time. We'll be giving her a 0.5 dosage in an hour or two. We're scheduled to bring her back in to the vet for a BG there for the next 3 days.

Vet did not mention any ketones at diagnosis however, we'll be getting some Ketostix once the pharmacy opens up.

(EDIT: looking back at our notes, he did mention wanting to measure ketones OR doing the fructosamine test after the initial lab results that showed a high glucose count. His instruction were for us to capture the urine and bring it in. We opted instead to have her fast and come in for the blood test to measure fructosamine as we couldn't get her to pee into a litter box without litter. He never explained that there was something out there like Ketostix for us to do at home.)

I updated the U column to your notes. Thanks again.
 
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Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
I didn't see in this thread or your thread on Health what your dose is. I'm hoping the vet started Nebula on a small dose. (Edited to add: And I just saw that Bron answered my question. I agree -- 1.0u is too much.)

At this point, I'd suggest skipping the shot. Your shot times are not optimal for you getting any uninterrupted sleep! How about giving some thought as to what time would be convenient for your schedule . You'll also want to figure in time to monitor if you don't have to give a shot and run out the door.

If you've not done so already, you may want to read through the sticky notes at the top of the board. There's good information in the dosing methods sticky and you'll want to think about which approach to dosing you want to use.
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Thanks much!
 
I see you gave 0.5 units and the BG was 125. That is quite low so please test frequently to see it isn’t dropping too low.
Do you have honey? Or karo ?
If the BG drops too low rub it on the gums amd post and ask for help. Feed frequent snacks
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I have just seen a 47 @+7. Please rub some honey on the gums and feed some higher carb food if you have it. Otherwise feed whatever you have. Test again in 20 minutes. You need to get that BG up higher. It’s too low.
@Nebula's O`hana
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Thanks again - we actually tried to get a reading earlier twice and failed since she doesn't like to stand still. We got the hang of it now.

We fed her some LC and thinking of feeding her a more higher carb or rub some honey? What do you think would give the higher jump in BG?

She hasn't shown symptoms except lethargy, been sleeping a lot but played with her toy, did some jogging, the sort.

I'm still shocked at the dosage the vets office gave us and expected us to give her another dose last night. If we hadn't bought a meter and saw her BG at 67 and gave her a shot with the trust of the vets recommendation, I'm afraid she would have shown some of the scarier symptoms.

Thank you again Bron & Sheba, I think we learned a valuable lesson, shooting at 125 could have been a lot worse, the bright side is that it was at 0.5. We're going to ask for the syringes that will show us more increments, it's hard to gauge if we're actually at 0.5 with these syringes.

Thanks again!
 
Did you test again? Yes you need to give some higher carb food and I would rub a drop of honey on the gums. Please do that now if you haven’t already and let me know when you have done it. And test again please.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Did you test again? Yes you need to give some higher carb food and I would rub a drop of honey on the gums. Please do that now if you haven’t already and let me know when you have done it. And test again please.
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We rubbed some honey and right away she pricked up and got on her wheel, eyes more open. Going to test her shortly once she settles down, she became very playful all of a sudden.

Will update.
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
We tested her and now she’s at 104. That’s 15 minutes after a LC meal + honey on the gums.
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That’s better. How long after the 47 is that?

Don’t be surprised if she shoots up really high now as many cats bounce after dropping to very low numbers.That is normal and bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles.
Bounces happen when the BG drops too fast, too low or lower than the cat is used to and then the cats body can panic and dumps stored regulatory hormones and stored glucose into the system that shoots up the BG.
As she was symptomatic when low (you said her lethargy improved soon after giving her the honey) we need to be careful of her in low numbers and she could be more sensitive to insulin. It is possible she was even lower than the 47 and was in the way back up when you tested.

She has earned a reduction in dose to 0.25 units.
Do you have the 1/2 unit syringes? If so 0.25 units is 1/2 way between the 0 and the 1/2 unit mark.
See how she goes with the rest of the cycle. Keep testing as the honey will wear off in an hour or an hour and a half and the BG could drop again. Feed her some more low carb food if she will eat it.

So moving forward. Dont give the insulin if the BG is under 150.. If it is, stall, don’t feed and test again in 20 minutes to see it is is rising. And post and ask for help.

If you are having trouble getting her to stay still when you test, give her a small snack as you do the test to keep her occupied.
Please keep posting her BGs this cycle.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
That’s better. How long after the 47 is that?

Don’t be surprised if she shoots up really high now as many cats bounce after dropping to very low numbers.That is normal and bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles.
Bounces happen when the BG drops too fast, too low or lower than the cat is used to and then the cats body can panic and dumps stored regulatory hormones and stored glucose into the system that shoots up the BG.
As she was symptomatic when low (you said her lethargy improved soon after giving her the honey) we need to be careful of her in low numbers and she could be more sensitive to insulin. It is possible she was even lower than the 47 and was in the way back up when you tested.

She has earned a reduction in dose to 0.25 units.
Do you have the 1/2 unit syringes? If so 0.25 units is 1/2 way between the 0 and the 1/2 unit mark.
See how she goes with the rest of the cycle. Keep testing as the honey will wear off in an hour or an hour and a half and the BG could drop again. Feed her some more low carb food if she will eat it.

So moving forward. Dont give the insulin if the BG is under 150.. If it is, stall, don’t feed and test again in 20 minutes to see it is is rising. And post and ask for help.

If you are having trouble getting her to stay still when you test, give her a small snack as you do the test to keep her occupied.
Please keep posting her BGs this cycle.
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Thanks so much for your analysis and suggestion, we'll do just that.

I ran my cams back to get exact timing and it was a good amount of time between both readings. 4:36pm BG was 47 - ate LC, then gave honey maybe 10 or so minutes after that, played with Nebula and she calmed down while we ate dinner - 5:52pm BG was 104. That's about 74 minutes between readings, give or take.

We'll start taking more measurements and trying with treat, I think that may do the trick.

The syringes we got are actually whole #s and are marked in increments of 5 with lines indicating other whole #s (small lines 1-2-3-4 = BIG Line 5 w/ Number, 6-7-8...etc).

Going to ask the vet office now for 1/2 unit syringes at the very least.
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
Thanks so much for your analysis and suggestion, we'll do just that.

I ran my cams back to get exact timing and it was a good amount of time between both readings. 4:36pm BG was 47 - ate LC, then gave honey maybe 10 or so minutes after that, played with Nebula and she calmed down while we ate dinner - 5:52pm BG was 104. That's about 74 minutes between readings, give or take.

We'll start taking more measurements and trying with treat, I think that may do the trick.

The syringes we got are actually whole #s and are marked in increments of 5 with lines indicating other whole #s (small lines 1-2-3-4 = BIG Line 5 w/ Number, 6-7-8...etc).

Going to ask the vet office now for 1/2 unit syringes at the very least.
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You can get the U100 3/10ml 30 or 31 gauge 6 or 8 mm insulin syringes with 1/2 unit markings at Walmart or most pharmacies. Not sure your vet will have them.
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
We just got back from the vet, they explained to us that her reading is “normal.” I’ll give more details shortly as her next dose is due in the next few minutes so we’ll be checking her BG now.
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According to your spreadsheet your sugar kitties numbers are nice and low, I'm sorry if you answered this but what was her diagnosis bg?
 
We waited until her actual 12 hr mark to get a reading, I almos
Nebula's O`hana said:
We just got back from the vet, they explained to us that her reading is “normal.” I’ll give more details shortly as her next dose is due in the next few minutes so we’ll be checking her BG now.
Click to expand...

We waited until her actual 12 hr mark to get a reading, I almost measured it sooner. We had a few failed attempts but got it on the 3rd with a reading of 245.

To bring you up to speed from our vet visit, they wanted to do a BG for the next 3 days. When we took her, the doctor said that her levels were fine but I asked if I could actually talk to him, to which they explained that he'll give us a call later.

He called and I explained the symptoms we got and what we've done thus far. He recommended we skip this dose so that we can bring her in in the AM to check her once more. I explained the minor symptoms we saw last night when we decided to skip her dosage (BG was 67 then) and how she was good until I gave her a dosage in the AM where we started seeing some more minor symptoms (lethargic, wobbly in 2 instances) and I explained the dosage we gave and our reading then. I asked the doctor what her reading was when they checked her and he said it was good at 243 (keep in mind, it's their machine and reading so it's not comparable, as far as I know).

Now, Nebula is better than I've seen her in the past few days right now but her BG was 245. I'm thinking I should measure her again soon, perhaps a few more times being that she was stressed from the vet visit and the failed attempts.

Vet asked us to skip this dose so that they can get a reading in the AM due to her reaction of her initial and 2nd dose from this AM.
 
Katsallday said:
According to your spreadsheet your sugar kitties numbers are nice and low, I'm sorry if you answered this but what was her diagnosis bg?
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Thanks for asking @Katsallday - on 6/16, we took Nebula in because she wasn't as active as she usually is and lost a good amount of weight. For reference, last time she was at the vet in 9/11/2020, she weighed 12 lbs. When we took her in on 6/16, she weighed 10.7 lbs. When we took her in on 6/25 for additional lab work, she was 9.9 lbs.

Her initial bloodwork from 6/16 shows her glucose at 284, and they recommended we either get a fresh urine sample or bring her in to get a fructosamine blood test. We couldn't get a fresh sample so we brought her in for additional lab work the next morning on 6/20, we didn't her the prior results until 6/19. The results showed her fructosamine levels at 529.

We then got the call on 6/23 from the vet office diagnosing Nebula with diabetes. The same day we picked up the insulin but they couldn't see us then. They finally allowed us to come in for an orientation on how to administer the insulin yesterday, 6/25 at 2 pm. They applied 1u without even doing a BG test prior. That's when we went out and bought our own and came here. So a newbie newbie in these parts of town.
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
We waited until her actual 12 hr mark to get a reading, I almos


We waited until her actual 12 hr mark to get a reading, I almost measured it sooner. We had a few failed attempts but got it on the 3rd with a reading of 245.

To bring you up to speed from our vet visit, they wanted to do a BG for the next 3 days. When we took her, the doctor said that her levels were fine but I asked if I could actually talk to him, to which they explained that he'll give us a call later.

He called and I explained the symptoms we got and what we've done thus far. He recommended we skip this dose so that we can bring her in in the AM to check her once more. I explained the minor symptoms we saw last night when we decided to skip her dosage (BG was 67 then) and how she was good until I gave her a dosage in the AM where we started seeing some more minor symptoms (lethargic, wobbly in 2 instances) and I explained the dosage we gave and our reading then. I asked the doctor what her reading was when they checked her and he said it was good at 243 (keep in mind, it's their machine and reading so it's not comparable, as far as I know).

Now, Nebula is better than I've seen her in the past few days right now but her BG was 245. I'm thinking I should measure her again soon, perhaps a few more times being that she was stressed from the vet visit and the failed attempts.

Vet asked us to skip this dose so that they can get a reading in the AM due to her reaction of her initial and 2nd dose from this AM.
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Preshot of 245 is safe to give the insulin of the new lower dose 0.25 U, as long as you are willing to monitor this cycle closely. That means testing until she has reached the nadir (lowest point and started to go up again.) and as long as you have plenty of test strips and higher carb food and honey if needed……
It is up to you if you give the dose or not. You need to be comfortable with the final decision as she is your cat.
Are you testing for ketones?
But you would be much better just taking the BG in the morning at home and telling the vet the number, because she will most likely have a higher than normal BG if it is taken at the vet because of stress and you will be no further ahead.
By all means take the BG again to confirm the number.
 
Interesting, cats definitely get a stress response at the vet so the bg is usually higher at the vet. So honestly 284 isn't toooo terrible. My sugar kitty who is in remission after >1 month started at 475 in the vets office. I don't fully understand fructosamine results so I really can't help there. I'd say if your getting hypos this soon the dose is too high but I'm a general newbie here too. I'm trying to learn to keep helping people even though my baby is otj :)
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Preshot of 245 is safe to give the insulin of the new lower dose 0.25 U, as long as you are willing to monitor this cycle closely. That means testing until she has reached the nadir (lowest point and started to go up again.) and as long as you have plenty of test strips and higher carb food and honey if needed……
It is up to you if you give the dose or not. You need to be comfortable with the final decision as she is your cat.
Are you testing for ketones?
But you would be much better just taking the BG in the morning at home and telling the vet the number, because she will most likely have a higher than normal BG if it is taken at the vet because of stress and you will be no further ahead.
By all means take the BG again to confirm the number.
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That's exactly what we're going to do, take the BG at home before we even go there - he's already up in arms that we're using a human glucometer, so I'm fine with coming in and have them test there as well. I assured him I understood his concerns and I made sure to voice mine in how they've handled Nebula's care so far, it's been like pulling teeth to get seen since the diagnosis, I spoke more about it in my first post.

We have the ketostix now and are going to be measuring but we haven't even able to get her to pee outside of her litter boxes (we have 2 other cats mind you). Any tips on using the ketostix?

I'm more comfortable using the 0.25u as well and working from that as you mentioned.
 
Katsallday said:
Interesting, cats definitely get a stress response at the vet so the bg is usually higher at the vet. So honestly 284 isn't toooo terrible. My sugar kitty who is in remission after >1 month started at 475 in the vets office. I don't fully understand fructosamine results so I really can't help there. I'd say if your getting hypos this soon the dose is too high but I'm a general newbie here too. I'm trying to learn to keep helping people even though my baby is otj :)
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Congrats on having your baby off the juice! I'll review your sheets as well. 284 doesn't seem that high, right? I was surprised they diagnosed diabetes without checking the pancreas. The fructosamine is supposed to be a blood test that somehow measures an average in a 3 week span? I know it's an old practice and I'm not quite sure it's effectiveness and weight in the diagnosis process.

On our call earlier today, the vet was almost frowning down on us for even doing home testing. He couldn't believe we gave her some honey to stabilize her and he's hellbent on this prescription diet. It's disheartening but we're trying to be as level headed and neutral as possible and being transparent with him as to what we've done so far even if it feels like we have a weak support system with our doctor. After @Bron and Sheba (GA) suggestion earlier, Nebula literally got on her cat wheel and walked on it and started talking like she would usually do- something she hasn't done in over a week!
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
On our call earlier today, the vet was almost frowning down on us for even doing home testing. He couldn't believe we gave her some honey to stabilize her and he's hellbent on this prescription diet.
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My first 2 vets were the same, told me to stop home testing, told me to only use dry glucosupport, then only use wet DM. Ignored them, got a new vet that loved my home testing spreadsheet. then went onto fancy feast and bam remission. I later got a positive pancreatitis test right when he started going otj so I'm assuming his diabetes was transient from the pancreatitis. Do you have a pancreatitis test in the works? My kitty showed no signs of pancreatitis
 
Nebula's O`hana said:
After @Bron and Sheba (GA) suggestion earlier, Nebula literally got on her cat wheel and walked on it and started talking like she would usually do- something she hasn't done in over a week!
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I am not surprised at all! Bron is a cat genius and was a huge part of my cats diabetic journey. Bron saved me multiple times! We are so lucky to have them as a support system here :bighug: I know it could feel weird to trust random people on the internet over your vets but I wish I listened to them sooner, that was completely me and my fiance's fault. Bron is an actual lifesaver!
 
Using the human meter is quite acceptable with testing cats. It just reads a bit lower than the pet meter, which has only been in existence for a number of years. Up until then, all vets used the human meters to test cats. Now that the pet meter is available they only want clients to use the pet meter. But they are very expensive to run. Also our dosing methods are based on the human meters. Don’t let him talk you into using a pet meter.
What are his concerns?
My concerns are that he gave a dose without testing first and then sent her home to continue that dose each 12 hours, no monitoring or any instructions on what to do in the event of a hypo.

Nebula's O`hana said:
On our call earlier today, the vet was almost frowning down on us for even doing home testing. He couldn't believe we gave her some honey to stabilize her and he's hellbent on this prescription diet. It's disheartening but we're trying to be as level headed and neutral as possible and being transparent with him as to what we've done so far even if it feels like we have a weak support system with our doctor.
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For some reason some vets don’t like home testing……maybe it is taking some of their work and control away from them, but it is definitely keeping the cats safer! Vets who are knowledgeable about FD are usually happy for they clients to hometesting.
There is no need for expensive prescription diets. They are too high carb and are nothing special. The food companies give the vets their dietary education so they are biased. . Giving a drop of honey on the gums is a very acceptable way of bringing up the BG when it is low.
I have been there when a cat has been unconscious from a low BG and putting honey on thei gums was the only thing that saved him. They can’t eat when they are unconscious and if you managed to get to a vet, they put them on a glucose drip, which is the same thing basically. I’m not sure your vet knows a lot about feline diabetes. It is not treated the same way as dog diabetes.

Nebula's O`hana said:
The fructosamine is supposed to be a blood test that somehow measures an average in a 3 week span? I know it's an old practice and I'm not quite sure it's effectiveness and weight in the diagnosis process.
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the fructosamine test is a good way of establishing the diagnosis of FD in cats as it eliminates vet stress and gives an average of the last couple of weeks BGs.
Once the diagnosis is made the fructosamine test is old practice as hometesting gives you a much better up to date view
 
@Bron and Sheba (GA) his concerns are that Nebula hasn't adjusted and eaten their prescribed food yet and he thinks we're wasting our time doing home testing, kept dismissing the BGs I've gotten even though they've so far correlated to my concerns.

I told him that I understand his concerns but that I will not discontinue home testing nor do I believe his chorus of "she will have to eat this prescribed food for the rest of her life."

I voiced how shocked I was that a BG wasn't done before the insulin being applied and he answered simply that feline diabetes is different from humans...I let him talk but told him respectfully, there is no harm in measuring BG before a shot but there is certainly a possibility of harm when shooting without measuring. I tried to explain in measured language that we were basically told do X y and z, see us for 3 days then we'll see each other in 2 weeks for a BG curve...all from a voicemail message that lasted but 3 minutes. No orientation as to what to expect, what to look for, symptoms, nothing.

I've read the same about the fructosamine test, I don't understand how such old data could hold so much weight in the diagnosis.

Do you have any experience using the Ketostix?
 
,
Nebula's O`hana said:
his concerns are that Nebula hasn't adjusted and eaten their prescribed food yet and he thinks we're wasting our time doing home testing, kept dismissing the BGs I've gotten even though they've so far correlated to my concerns
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There is absolutely no need to feed prescription food to a diabetic cat. A diabetic cats needs a carb content of 10%or less. We don’t tell humans diabetics to eat donuts and cake so why get a cat to eat a similar carb load?
To get a BG to rise, we increase the carbs and the BG rises. If we are giving a higher carb food and giving insulin, it is a waste of time and not good for the cats body.
Vets get very little training in nutrition at uni and the training they get is from the big food companies that promote their products.

You are definitely not wasting your time hometesting. I can’t tell you the number of cats we have had arrive here because the vet did not mention hometesting or the dose was too high. Hometesting saves lives. One would never think of giving a child insulin without testing the BG so why leave a cat? That is ‘head in the sand’ stuff which really makes me mad! Everyday we have caregivers stalling and asking for help as to whether to shoot or not because the BG is too low to shoot. And it is no fun to have a cat arrive here having is hypo because the BG wasn’t tested before the shot.
Many of us have spent hours sitting with a caregiver helping them save their cat. Not everyone can afford to take their cat to an after hours ER to get care.
So you are doing exactly what you need to be doing to keep Nebula safe.
OK off my soapbox!


Nebula's O`hana said:
I've read the same about the fructosamine test, I don't understand how such old data could hold so much weight in the diagnosis.
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The fructosamine test is actually good to get a diagnosis as it gives an average of the last 2 weeks BGs that was not stress influenced. Vets like to continue using the fructosamine test after diagnosis to see how the cat is going but hometesting is far superior.


Nebula's O`hana said:
Do you have any experience using the Ketostix?
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Yes.
Collect a urine specimen. Make sure you are in a good light and have a stop watch.
Dip the test strip into the urine and then read the result on the strip exactly 15 seconds later against the colours on the side of the bottle. Any later and the colour will darken and is not a true reading.
Anything above a trace needs vet attention.

What have you decided to do about the PM dose?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
,

There is absolutely no need to feed prescription food to a diabetic cat. A diabetic cats needs a carb content of 10%or less. We don’t tell humans diabetics to eat donuts and cake so why get a cat to eat a similar carb load?
To get a BG to rise, we increase the carbs and the BG rises. If we are giving a higher carb food and giving insulin, it is a waste of time and not good for the cats body.
Vets get very little training in nutrition at uni and the training they get is from the big food companies that promote their products.

You are definitely not wasting your time hometesting. I can’t tell you the number of cats we have had arrive here because the vet did not mention hometesting or the dose was too high. Hometesting saves lives. One would never think of giving a child insulin without testing the BG so why leave a cat? That is ‘head in the sand’ stuff which really makes me mad! Everyday we have caregivers stalling and asking for help as to whether to shoot or not because the BG is too low to shoot. And it is no fun to have a cat arrive here having is hypo because the BG wasn’t tested before the shot.
Many of us have spent hours sitting with a caregiver helping them save their cat. Not everyone can afford to take their cat to an after hours ER to get care.
So you are doing exactly what you need to be doing to keep Nebula safe.
OK off my soapbox!



The fructosamine test is actually good to get a diagnosis as it gives an average of the last 2 weeks BGs that was not stress influenced. Vets like to continue using the fructosamine test after diagnosis to see how the cat is going but hometesting is far superior.



Yes.
Collect a urine specimen. Make sure you are in a good light and have a stop watch.
Dip the test strip into the urine and then read the result on the strip exactly 15 seconds later against the colours on the side of the bottle. Any later and the colour will darken and is not a true reading.
Anything above a trace needs vet attention.

What have you decided to do about the PM dose?
Click to expand...

I was finally able to get a ketone reading and got a negative result at 1:22am pst.

Furthermore, I did skip the dose at 9:15pm pst but she did read at 245 then. I just tested her now at 1:30am pst and got a 325 reading.

Not sure if I want to risk and wait until 8am or just give her a .25 now.

Woke up to give them a midnight snack and got all this to think about. Regretting taking the vet advice and skipping dose.
 
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Nebula's O`hana said:
I was finally able to get a ketone reading and got a negative result at 1:22am pst.

Furthermore, I did skip the dose at 9:15pm pst but she did read at 245 then. I just tested her now at 1:30am pst and got a 325 reading.

Not sure if I want to risk and wait until 8am or just give her a .25 now.

Woke up to give them a midnight snack and got all this to think about. Regretting taking the vet advice and skipping dose.
Click to expand...
At this point I would continue to skip the dose and give it in the morning at the scheduled time, as long as the preshot is high enough
Good the ketone test was negative.
 
Took her BG at 8:35 AM and it was 216. Our vet yesterday asked us to skip the dose last night and we went along with it. @Bron and Sheba (GA) words put us at ease in the middle of the night when we had a small spike in BG, thank you.

We brought her in as the vet asked to get her BG taken after over 24 hrs from the last insulin shot. We requested a second opinion from another doctor here as well as a request to consider a pancreatic lab, just in case. We have not administered any insulin this morning yet.

They just took her in for the BG (9:27am) and hopefully we can hear from the other doctor while we're here, as our primary is off today, and he also said he'll leave a note to have another doctor look over our results this AM.

Nebula has been showing signs of lethargy, not severe, but it's there. She just isn't as active as she usually is, she feels weaker, thin, just isn't as bubbly as we're used to either.

We'll follow up again when we hear from the doctor.

Thanks all.
 
Thanks for the update.
Is she eating plenty of food? And drinking?
The AMPS is a bit higher can normal. She may just need a very small amount of insulin to support her pancreas while it heals.
Will be interesting to here what the vet says.
 
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