KAZ Needs Help Desperately

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Welcome to FDMB!

There is a huge amount to absorb when getting started. However, much of managing your cat's diabetes will become routine.

We do not recommend using the pens to dose insulin for several reasons. You have to prime the pen for every shot. This means you are expelling 1u of insulin every time you have to give your cat a shot. Lantus is too expensive to waste 2 units a day! The pens do not allow you to shoot a dose that is in an increment of less than 1.0. As was mentioned above, we change doses in 0.25u amounts. Increasing a dose by 1.0u means you could miss what is an appropriate dose for your cat or end up overdosing your cat and causing a hypoglycemic event. Alternatively, decreasing the dose by too much will cause numbers to go back into a less than ideal range. One of dosing methods we use, the Tight Regulation Protocol, has been published in a leading veterinary journal documenting its success. The Protocol based its dosing on 0.25u increments.

The Blood Sugar Gold product has been brought up a number of time on the FDMB Facebook group. It promises a lot and delivers very little. Personally, I would not wholly accept the manufacturer as being an objective resource -- it's a conflict of interest. (It's like asking the manufacturer of prescription diabetes foods for their opinion on their product -- they will tell you it's wonderful and never mention that the dry food is about 17% carbohydrate and frankly, not appropriate for a diabetic cat.) It's your choice whether to use the supplement. At the very least, I'd ask a holistic vet who is knowledgeable about homeopathic products for an opinion. Even with humans, herbal supplements can be a problem and can interact with prescription medications and I suspect we know more about humans and herbal supplements than we know with respect to cats.
 
I just wanted to assure you that diabetes is not a death sentence and they can live long healthy lives with it. You have him on a good insulin and you are willing to learn. Your cat is very lucky to have you. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi Claire! Welcome to FDMB! :)

I would be happy to set up a spreadsheet for you. It would only take me a minute and it's absolutely no bother. You are not being a pain at all. We have all been where you are and we are happy to as many questions as you have. A diabetes diagnosis can be scary and overwhelming and this is a wonderful support group. I know that I would not have been able to treat Bandit without the help I got here.

You do not need an AT - the strips are pretty expensive. Any human meter is good enough. Most people use the ReliOn from Walmart. Strips are $17.88 for 100.
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Thanks Bandit's Mum
I have already bought the Trak2 meter as I need to understand Kaz's numbers first and with the animal version I don't have to try and convert. Once I get the hang of reading this and most importantly being able to do it then I will circle back round to get a human one and understand how to convert.
I am able to open the spreadsheet which looks like a foreign language at present but I am assuming that once I get the meter these columns will make more sense to me.
Once I get to this point I will ask again because right now it will just go in one ear and out the other.
Claire
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Welcome to FDMB!

There is a huge amount to absorb when getting started. However, much of managing your cat's diabetes will become routine.

We do not recommend using the pens to dose insulin for several reasons. You have to prime the pen for every shot. This means you are expelling 1u of insulin every time you have to give your cat a shot. Lantus is too expensive to waste 2 units a day! The pens do not allow you to shoot a dose that is in an increment of less than 1.0. As was mentioned above, we change doses in 0.25u amounts. Increasing a dose by 1.0u means you could miss what is an appropriate dose for your cat or end up overdosing your cat and causing a hypoglycemic event. Alternatively, decreasing the dose by too much will cause numbers to go back into a less than ideal range. One of dosing methods we use, the Tight Regulation Protocol, has been published in a leading veterinary journal documenting its success. The Protocol based its dosing on 0.25u increments.

The Blood Sugar Gold product has been brought up a number of time on the FDMB Facebook group. It promises a lot and delivers very little. Personally, I would not wholly accept the manufacturer as being an objective resource -- it's a conflict of interest. (It's like asking the manufacturer of prescription diabetes foods for their opinion on their product -- they will tell you it's wonderful and never mention that the dry food is about 17% carbohydrate and frankly, not appropriate for a diabetic cat.) It's your choice whether to use the supplement. At the very least, I'd ask a holistic vet who is knowledgeable about homeopathic products for an opinion. Even with humans, herbal supplements can be a problem and can interact with prescription medications and I suspect we know more about humans and herbal supplements than we know with respect to cats.
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Thanks Sienne and Gabby
I am digesting this but until I meet with the vet again I would not dare change a does anyway. Think it was Diane that said to keep getting the pens but to switch to Semglee and when I was ready I could simply insert the needle into the pen and draw out what I needed.
When I go back to the vet I am planning the following:-

1) Ask for 5 pen refill from CVS of the Semglee (although the Animal Hospital may be cheaper as 100 units of Lantus cost me $57.19 which seem cheaper that the five pens from Good RX which are $303 / 5 = $60.06 and this is a more expensive drug) Have to ask
2) Have them recheck his blood panels while there
3) Have him or a technician walk me through doing the blood taking myself.
4) Discuss 1 unit vs 1/2 dose increase or decrease (1/4 does. etc) Think if he is there with me when I collect the sample I might be able to more understand where his numbers should be and how to achieve that.
5)Also hoping that blood testing is ok to be done once a day as twice a day will be really hard for me Monday- Thursday due to work.
6) Also need to understand weight. I have definately been feeding him more to keep the weight on but he is now 12lbs again and to my horror Sam his brother is now 13.6lbs so now I need to diet him. Hard to feed one cat without giving it to the other.

These steps above are a lot for me to master. It's another 2 hours from now where I hit the end of week 1 for giving him his first shot.

It's raining here but I have to get out for a walk to clear my head. Feel that if I am not at work I am tied to my condo and this computer and I need to step away. Right now I don't see that I can ever plan anything like dinners or even a hike unless I know I will be home by 6pm. Then traveling to the UK to see my family have no idea what I am going to do all too worrying to fathom out right now.

Anyway shouldn't burden anyone with my problems we all have problems to bear.

Thanks again

Claire
 
Please do not think your questions are burdensome. That's why we're here. We are a community and support one another.

Lantus comes in 2 ways -- a vial (10mL) or in a pack of 5 pens (each containing 3 mL or a total of 15 mL). I suspect you are confusing the U100 on the packaging with the number of units. U100 refers to the concentration of the insulin, not the number of units. The pack of pens costs more because you're getting more insulin. There are some pharmacies that will sell an individual pen but in most cases, it's sold as 5 pens. The price of Semglee is more reasonable than Lantus. You are also able to buy insulin from Canada and a significantly cheaper cost than in the US. Many people here order from Mark's Marine Pharmacy in Vancouver.

With dosing, many vets don't think you can dose in small increments. Most don't even know there are syringes with half unit markings. We do it all the time. The dose amount is based on the research. I've attached the article on the Tight Regulation Protocol if you are interested or if you want to share it with your vet.

You need to test more than once or twice a day. It is imperative that you test before you give a shot. If you don't, you have no way to know if it's safe to give insulin. In addition, Lantus dosing is based on the lowest number in the cycle. As such, the minimum number of tests you need to get is 4 -- your two pre-shot tests and one test each cycle. We strongly encourage a test before you go to bed every night. You are welcome to look at Gabby's spreadsheet. However, I was a testaholic. Gabby's numbers could drop from the 400s to the 40s and bounce back to the 400s. If it didn't catch the numbers in the 40s, I would have been increasing her dose when a dose reduction was indicated. That's among the reasons that home testing is important.

A word from a very experienced board member. (I've been here since 2009.) Not all vets are well versed in feline diabetes. In fact, some are rather lacking in knowledge. In part, if you go to a general veterinary practice (vs a feline specialty practice), the vet has the overwhelming job of having to know about dogs, cats, ferrets, snakes... you get the idea. Unlike an MD who is a primary care or family medicine physician who is well versed in only one species, a general practice vet has to be knowledgeable about several species. It makes sense that they can't be experts in everything across every species. The reality of veterinary training is that they may get about an hour of training in diabetes when they are in school. They get less information about diet/nutrition and often rely on the marketing reps from pet food companies to provide them with information.

When I lived in Chicago when my cat was diagnosed, I had a wonderful vet at a feline specialty practice. Gabby was started on Novolin when she was hospitalized at the kitty ICU. My vet and I agree that Lantus was a better choice and we switched her. That's when I found FDMB. I brought a copy of the journal article about Tight Regulation to my vet. She'd never heard about the dosing method -- and she was a specialist. She also gave me a hard time about switching Gabby to something other than prescription diabetes food. We had a "discussion" about carbohydrates. They refunded my $$. (I'm used to dealing with medical professionals and I have access to medical and veterinary libraries.) By the time I came back for another vet appointment months later, my vet had read the article on TR and educated the entire practice on the method. When she saw Gabby's spreadsheet she was a bit taken aback due to my making dose adjustments. My reply to her questions was that she wasn't available 24/7 and unless she was planning on giving me her cell phone #, I was going to follow the dosing method and adjust doses as needed with the guidance of the people here. She grudgingly conceded that I had a point. When I moved to Ohio, I found another feline specialty practice and the vet looked at Gabby's spreadsheet and simply said that if I had any questions, to let her know since I had been managing Gabby's FD better than she would have been able to.

My point here is that you will become confident in your ability to manage our cat's FD. You are welcome to ask your vet about dosing, but I suspect we know a lot more about FD. It's pretty much all we do. Are we vets? No. You need a vet for the bigger picture, for lab tests, and for managing other illnesses or routine care. But if you think about human diabetics, they routinely adjust their insulin dose based on what their test numbers tell them. If this was a human child, your pediatrician would expect you to do the same.
 

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Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Please do not think your questions are burdensome. That's why we're here. We are a community and support one another.

Lantus comes in 2 ways -- a vial (10mL) or in a pack of 5 pens (each containing 3 mL or a total of 15 mL). I suspect you are confusing the U100 on the packaging with the number of units. U100 refers to the concentration of the insulin, not the number of units. The pack of pens costs more because you're getting more insulin. There are some pharmacies that will sell an individual pen but in most cases, it's sold as 5 pens. The price of Semglee is more reasonable than Lantus. You are also able to buy insulin from Canada and a significantly cheaper cost than in the US. Many people here order from Mark's Marine Pharmacy in Vancouver.

With dosing, many vets don't think you can dose in small increments. Most don't even know there are syringes with half unit markings. We do it all the time. The dose amount is based on the research. I've attached the article on the Tight Regulation Protocol if you are interested or if you want to share it with your vet.

You need to test more than once or twice a day. It is imperative that you test before you give a shot. If you don't, you have no way to know if it's safe to give insulin. In addition, Lantus dosing is based on the lowest number in the cycle. As such, the minimum number of tests you need to get is 4 -- your two pre-shot tests and one test each cycle. We strongly encourage a test before you go to bed every night. You are welcome to look at Gabby's spreadsheet. However, I was a testaholic. Gabby's numbers could drop from the 400s to the 40s and bounce back to the 400s. If it didn't catch the numbers in the 40s, I would have been increasing her dose when a dose reduction was indicated. That's among the reasons that home testing is important.

A word from a very experienced board member. (I've been here since 2009.) Not all vets are well versed in feline diabetes. In fact, some are rather lacking in knowledge. In part, if you go to a general veterinary practice (vs a feline specialty practice), the vet has the overwhelming job of having to know about dogs, cats, ferrets, snakes... you get the idea. Unlike an MD who is a primary care or family medicine physician who is well versed in only one species, a general practice vet has to be knowledgeable about several species. It makes sense that they can't be experts in everything across every species. The reality of veterinary training is that they may get about an hour of training in diabetes when they are in school. They get less information about diet/nutrition and often rely on the marketing reps from pet food companies to provide them with information.

When I lived in Chicago when my cat was diagnosed, I had a wonderful vet at a feline specialty practice. Gabby was started on Novolin when she was hospitalized at the kitty ICU. My vet and I agree that Lantus was a better choice and we switched her. That's when I found FDMB. I brought a copy of the journal article about Tight Regulation to my vet. She'd never heard about the dosing method -- and she was a specialist. She also gave me a hard time about switching Gabby to something other than prescription diabetes food. We had a "discussion" about carbohydrates. They refunded my $$. (I'm used to dealing with medical professionals and I have access to medical and veterinary libraries.) By the time I came back for another vet appointment months later, my vet had read the article on TR and educated the entire practice on the method. When she saw Gabby's spreadsheet she was a bit taken aback due to my making dose adjustments. My reply to her questions was that she wasn't available 24/7 and unless she was planning on giving me her cell phone #, I was going to follow the dosing method and adjust doses as needed with the guidance of the people here. She grudgingly conceded that I had a point. When I moved to Ohio, I found another feline specialty practice and the vet looked at Gabby's spreadsheet and simply said that if I had any questions, to let her know since I had been managing Gabby's FD better than she would have been able to.

My point here is that you will become confident in your ability to manage our cat's FD. You are welcome to ask your vet about dosing, but I suspect we know a lot more about FD. It's pretty much all we do. Are we vets? No. You need a vet for the bigger picture, for lab tests, and for managing other illnesses or routine care. But if you think about human diabetics, they routinely adjust their insulin dose based on what their test numbers tell them. If this was a human child, your pediatrician would expect you to do the same.
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Hi Sienne and Gabby.
Not going to lie I am very sick to my stomach after reading this post as it's simply not feasible for me to be testing 4 times a day. Firstly Kaz would not allow it and secondly I live alone and have a job that requires me to be on site by 6.30am and home by 4pm (can be later). Without this job I could not afford to help Kaz as I would not be able to afford the meds. It's already hard as I am trying to figure out what I can do without. I can not do without my job so this would never work for me.

Again I can't do anything regarding testing until A) I get the kit in the mail B) an expert shows me how to do it. I hate the fact that I am probably going to have to find some sort of cat restraint to be able to do this and Kaz will hate me going forward and never want to cuddle with me or be in the same room as me again.

I also can not just stop giving him insulin so now I feel like I am playing Russian roulette with my cats life as I am not testing.

I don't know what to do at this point I feel like I am taking one step forward and then two steps back.
 
Claire --

I was Gabby's sole caretaker. I also work a full time job and did so the entire time she was diabetic. During most of the time I was caring for her, I worked easily a 9 hour day plus commute. When I moved to Columbus, my days grew longer. (I'm not around as much these days because my days are closer to 11 hours due to an increase in responsibilities and the pandemic.) The good news was I had a short commute and if I needed to schedule a late meeting, I could run home, test, feed, and shoot and go back to the office for another hour or so. Like you, I needed to work to support myself and Gabby. It is possible.

The surprising aspect of testing is that once a caregiver overcomes his/her apprehension and you train your cat by giving treats with each test regardless of your success, an odd thing happens. Your cat begins to realize what you're doing helps him to feel better. Many cats, after the initial "getting used to it" period come running to their testing spot. If Kaz is food/treat motivated, it can help to establish the reinforcement. The bottom line, though, is that what you're doing is helping Kaz and your cat will catch on.

You might find this post reassuring. It discusses how Tight Regulation is possible with a full time job. I'm guessing that the majority of caregivers either are working full-time, are students, or both -- and in some cases, work two jobs.

A burrito wrap helps some cats. Others have benefited from a ThunderShirt. There are "calming collars" that can help or setting up Feliway diffusers may work for Kaz. This is a link to a clip that was developed by a vet that's meant to replicate a kitten being scruffed by his momma. Others here can share their experiences with getting their kitty acclimated to testing. It is truly possible.
 
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I feel for you. I used to have to be at work at 8:00am and maybe (if I was lucky) to be home by 6:00pm. What I did was shoot at 6:00am and 6:00pm, and I would get up at 4:00am (our +10) and test, so that I could compare that number to the +12 (AMPS) and then know whether his BG numbers were going up or down.
When I gave him his insulin at 6:00am, I would know whether to leave LC or MC or even HC down for him to munch on while I was at work.

I know how hard and frustrating it is. My kitty was diagnosed in 2004 and I searched so hard, trying to find a vet that I felt "knew a lot" about feline diabetes, in vain.
I also felt testing was hard to fit into my schedule.
Then he went into DKA and was hospitalized for 8.5 days. I prayed and prayed that he would make it. I started posting to this site more, and made it my mission to learn how to test more.
J.D. was never really well regulated, but he lived for another 9 years because of the advise I got on this forum, and lived very happily to 20 years old.
 
We can only due the best our cat and job allows. For awhile, I was gone weekdays for 4AM to PM and while not optimum my cats dis fine. One summer on the weekends because of work I was on a 6/18 hour schedule for tsting.shooting and my cats did fine. I have only had one cat that was hard to test. That is my current Snuffles. I due test in before each shot since I brink the food in andI can easily catch him for testing. Before that He light bit me many times. He bit me badly even during the day. One he ripped my arm and I went to the ER for stitches. I do not test him between shots.

I usually put my cats in my tap for testing.That way I can control them with my forearms while testing.
 
Just to update I have received test kit yesterday and getting trained by vet on Saturday on how to use the device. Or at least on how to prick his ear safely.

Kaz is a little better otherwise nothing else to report yet.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Claire
 
Yesterday I did a blood poke with the vet and it seemed to go ok. Level was 380 but at the same time of the blood poke I had them do another blood test as I was there and the results for that was 308 which is a 72 point variance which was a bit disturbing. I bought a cat tester not a people one so assumed that the readings would be accurate. Can someone explain why the readings were so different. The poke and blood draw were within minutes of each other. Poke first then blood draw.

The vet told me that a range of 100-250 is what I want. He suggested going from 1 unit to two but I was a bit worried about this because if he is truly 308 then this is close to the 250 mark. So I have started (yesterday) with needles versus the pen so I have actually gone to 1.5 units I made this decision myself as I was worried he might get too much insulin.

Now this evening I tried to do the prick on my own and it did not work. No matter what I did I could not see a vein. I think its because I need more light I saw in Hendrick's video he used a lamp around his head. So I have ordered that which will be here on the 22nd so I will try again then. The cat was actually quite good he did sit their while I tried to get the ear warm so hopefully next time might have luck.

I am also assuming that I could fill a weeks worth of needles today so they are all ready to go. I don't see any issue with this but wanted to check.

Only other worry id that his weight is still decreasing and I am feeding him so much hoping this is temporary and once the insulin is at the right level the weight loss will stop.

Thanks Claire/Kaz
 
Hi Claire I have read that it is not a good idea to fill the needles ahead of time. Not sure why

the headlamp I use is not so I can see a vein, but just to be able to see the lancet and ear as clearly as possible. When I do a poke I don't see any particular capillary I just aim for the "sweet spot" area between the edge of the ear and the marginal vein, it is best to avoid the marginal vein itself as this can cause bruising of the ears.

Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
You can also put a thin layer of vaseline on the ear ,to help the blood bead up

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
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Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.
 
Hendrick's mom and dad said:
Hi Claire I have read that it is not a good idea to fill the needles ahead of time. Not sure why

the headlamp I use is not so I can see a vein, but just to be able to see the lancet and ear as clearly as possible. When I do a poke I don't see any particular capillary I just aim for the "sweet spot" area between the edge of the ear and the marginal vein, it is best to avoid the marginal vein itself as this can cause bruising of the ears.
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Thanks Hendrick. When they showed me in the office how to do it the light definitely helped which is why I have ordered it. It arrives tomorrow so will attempt again at that time. Thanks for the info on not pre filling syringe as I was going to do this to make my life easier.

Claire
 
Claire I just did some reading about the pre-filled syringe issue. Studies were done and the bottom line is the insulin doesn't keep well once it is in the syringe. BD says "BD does not recommend that any of our syringes be prefilled more than a few minutes in advance of the injection."

And other manufacturers agree. It is unfortunate because I would love to pre-fill like a week's worth of syringes, and just have them ready to go so I could grab one at shot time and not go through the process of metering the dose every time I shoot.
 
[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
Hi Diane
I will try again but I am not IT savvy and was getting a bit frustrated. I have started to keep a very simple sheet for myself but again I will try this process again.

Claire
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I'll try to explain it to you
First you put the date in
Then AMPS is the first test you would do in the morning the BG number goes there

Units - how many units you gave

+1 means the BG you would get after one hour that you gave the insulin
+2. two hours after giving insulin
+3
+4. and so on until you get to the PMPS that's the first test you would do at night
Then +1 , +2 same as above
 
I have tried everything and am now reduced to tears I can not do the blood pick. My poor cat sat there while I tried crying the entire time. I wet the fur and parted it found a vein after an awful long try pricked two to three times tried everything to get enough blood just would not happen.
Kaz and I took a break tried again same thing, I have tried three times my poor cats ear is like a pin cushion and nowhere near enough blood. I had to stop as we were both becoming traumatized.
Not sure how this is going to work. No way I am doing it again tonight guessing I must be a moron and I know I have to do it if I am going to be able to get help from you all but I don't see a positive outcome here.
 
[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
I have tried everything and am now reduced to tears I can not do the blood pick. My poor cat sat there while I tried crying the entire time. I wet the fur and parted it found a vein after an awful long try pricked two to three times tried everything to get enough blood just would not happen.
Kaz and I took a break tried again same thing, I have tried three times my poor cats ear is like a pin cushion and nowhere near enough blood. I had to stop as we were both becoming traumatized.
Not sure how this is going to work. No way I am doing it again tonight guessing I must be a moron and I know I have to do it if I am going to be able to get help from you all but I don't see a positive outcome here.
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that sounds pretty much exactly like how it went for me the first time, actually the first few times. It seemed flat out impossible ngl

it is good to try even if you fail, and give a treat, and next time maybe you are successful. Not many people are successful right away it takes some time to get the hang of it.
 
I've learned that the sock with the microwaved dry rice used to really get that ear warm causes the blood to really flow in "the sweet spot", and Spike seems to enjoy the warmth and attention. By about day 3 the sweet spot learned to bleed pretty easy, but the key seems to be the warming first and the tiny bit of Vaseline to make the drop "bead up" seems to be key also.

You got this and can be a pro at it soon. Kaz will start learning the ropes of it all also.

YOU GOT THIS!!!
 
[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
I have tried everything and am now reduced to tears I can not do the blood pick. My poor cat sat there while I tried crying the entire time. I wet the fur and parted it found a vein after an awful long try pricked two to three times tried everything to get enough blood just would not happen.
Kaz and I took a break tried again same thing, I have tried three times my poor cats ear is like a pin cushion and nowhere near enough blood. I had to stop as we were both becoming traumatized.
Not sure how this is going to work. No way I am doing it again tonight guessing I must be a moron and I know I have to do it if I am going to be able to get help from you all but I don't see a positive outcome here.
Click to expand...

Hi Claire,
My kitty was diagnosed on 1/3/2022 it took me OVER 2 MONTHS to learn how to test. I finally can test her almost consistently and get enough blood for the meter strips.
I had the Vet put a Freestlye Libre on her while I practiced the ear prick which allowed the wonderful people here to help me and Cleo.

If I may suggest a couple of things that I learned along the way. I am by no means an expert but I feel comfortable in telling you:
1. that its easier if the ear is VERY warm. Cleo's ear prick takes longer to bleed during the day but at night its almost instantaneous. Her ears are 10x warmer at night than during the day. Lesson learned - warm ear=faster blood flow.

2. I also learned that it helped when I looked really close at the lancet and saw that its actually angled - just like the syringe with the insulin. See pic below. I look for the angle and gentle apply pressure with that part into the sweet spot (thanks again @Diane Tyler's Mom ) at about a 45 degree angle, just like the syringe with insulin.

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3. Then, right underneath the poke, I will gentle rub her ear and the blood will (eventually) pool to the surface.

4. I think you said you were using the AlphaTrak2. It took me awhile (longer than I care to admit) that the test strips have what I call a "blood sucker" on the edges. That's what has to make contact with the blood.

5. And another lesson learned was that after its done - successful or not - Cleo got a treat and SO DID I! I prefer ferrero rocher chocolates.

Good Luck! Keep at it! Rome wasn't built in a day.
 

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FIRSTLY - I want to thank everyone for bearing with me I am finding this quite traumatic and not sure I would have got as far as I have without help so thank you.



So I tried again tonight and used a rice sock and Vaseline. Cat not happy with me and this time got too much blood but I got the blood. The vet told me I needed to be between 100-250. How accurate is this thing???

At the vet we did a prick and it was 380 then a blood draw 5 minutes later showed it at 308. This is an error of 72 so does that mean that my cats blood level is now 87 (159 - 72 = 87) and if so is this now too low?

As you can see from the message below the vet told me to go to 2 units I did not do this I went to 1 1/2 units as I thought I should do it gradually.

AND if his level is now to where it should be (EVEN TOO LOW) why is he losing weight still?


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THIS IS TODAY MARCH 23rd
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THIS AT VET ON FRIDAY MARCH 18th Hi Claire, as expected, Kaz’s blood sugar was in the 300’s (308 actually). Dr. Brum is totally fine with this high number, and you’re still good to increase his insulin to 2 units twice a day.
 

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Hi Claire it's me Kyle again.


GREAT JOB GETTING A BLOOD DROP WOOOOOOOHOOO!! I am sooooooooooo proud of you srsly. You @#$% rock.

159 is still high, but a lot better than 300.

A cat needs to be in the lower numbers for a while to start gaining weight, it is not something that can happen overnight. No, you don't need to do math to figure out what the number is, you just use the one on the AlphaTrak.

The experts here always increase in only .25u increments, by the way.
 
Hello
So something is not right with this glucose meter.
Yesterday was a bad day for Kaz. I tried at two different points in the day to get blood but no go. I could tell he was not feeling well.
Now he's acting normal however I did just manage to get blood and the reading is 480??? Does not make sense that it would suddenly jump from 159 to 480.
The cat is acting normal he's bright eyed came running when I called and actually did a running jump onto the bed and earlier he jumped up to a high up bed which he hasn't used since he started to feel unwell.

I'm at a loss. I am about to feed him in 10 minutes and then give him 1 1/2 units of insulin. I'm wondering if maybe I went to give him a dose and somehow missed and he did not get a shot. Would one missed shot do this to his glucose levels? Really sure this did not happen but the huge change is not explainable in my mind.

Am I doing something wrong?
 
so sorry to bother again but can someone please tell me what is the minimum amount of food in order to give insulin.
Kaz is being a bit stubborn tonight which is unlike him. I had to resort to a handful of dry food and that's really it. I took a chance that it was enough food and injected him but would like to know the rule going forward.

Thanks
 
Claire, I know you have been really anxious about all this and I get that…..but for us to really help you, it would be much easier if you set up your spreadsheet and signature so we don’t have to keep looking back for information about Taz…what insulin he is on, what dose etc. I posted links in post 8 which will give you the information to do this. I will also ask @Bandit's Mom if she can help you set up the SS. We can’t give dosing advice if we don’t have data.


[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
Kaz is being a bit stubborn tonight which is unlike him. I had to resort to a handful of dry food and that's really it. I took a chance that it was enough food and injected him but would like to know the rule going forward.
Click to expand...
I am a bit concerned if he is not eating. Have you tested for ketones in the urine? I think that would be a good idea. You need a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy, collect a urine sample and test according to the instructions on the side of the bottle. There should be no ketones in the urine.
There is no hard and fast rule about eating a full meal before giving Lantus but it is certainly preferable that he does. As long as he is eating something you can go ahead and give Lantus as it is 2 hours before the onset of insulin so you have 2 hours to get him to eat some more. I would also give him snacks during the cycle so he has enough food aboard.
I would also do another test about +3 ( 3 hours after the dose) to see how the BG is going.
 
These blood pricks just don't seem to work for me so I have come to the conclusion that I am a moron and can not do them. I have wasted 11 strips tonight and no result and I had a lot of blood. So either its me or the machine is faulty. I can not keep putting my cat through this with no results and I understand that I am not able to get help from this site unless I fill in the spreadsheet which requires blood which is simply not working. I also can not afford to be buying new test strips at $55 a go when I am only getting 4-5 tests that work out of an entire box.
Going to contact Chewy now to see if I can get this device replaced but after that I am going to have to stop as I can't do this and I am wasting everyone's time which is not my intention.
I was just looking for help.
 
Hi Claire. I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. Is the problem that you aren't getting blood from your pokes or is it some other problem with the meter?

Here's a post written by another member with some useful home testing tips:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

We are here to help. Everything is challenging and overwhelming at first and I promise you it gets better.

The Alphatrak strips are exhorbitantly expensive. Do you want to try a human meter? If you are in the US, a favourite here is the ReliOn Premier which is availabe in Walmart for $9 and the strips are only $18 for 100.
 
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Hi Claire,
It can be very frustrating in the beginning trying to get blood…..we all get that and understand :bighug: You are certainly not a moron!
I think if you got a human meter where the test strips are much cheaper….that would take the pressure off feeling you are just wasting money. …and the human meter is just as good if not better.
You are not wasting anyone time I promise you. That is what we are here for. You are not the first and won’t be the last to feel as you do.
Just take one day at a time and be kind to yourself.
How is the eating going now? Is it any better?
 
[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
Kaz is no longer eating I am waiting for the vet to call me to see what is next.
Click to expand...
Please keep us posted on what the Vet says. Kaz is counting on you and we are here to help any way we can. I am praying for you and for Kaz with all of my heart. You can do this and Kaz is counting on you.

I tell my ol' buddy Spike "daddy hates this as much as you do, buddy, but Daddy took a vow to always take care of you". He looks at me and I can tell that his instinct is telling him to let me help even though he doesn't understand what I'm doing to his ears...lol. Kaz will figure it out too.

We are all here for you and we ALL have had this trouble with blood tests. I'm brand new here too and I'm constantly asking frostD for this and that advice on the wildest of questions, but I soldier onward and these folks are truly in our kitty's corner. Talk away on here because we are here to share. None of us are alone because we have each other.
 
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Bandit's Mom said:
Hi Claire. I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. Is the problem that you aren't getting blood from your pokes or is it some other problem with the meter?

Here's a post written by another member with some useful home testing tips:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-9-bailey-amps-117-5-62.252712/#post-2851043

We are here to help. Everything is challenging and overwhelming at first and I promise you it gets better.

The Alphatrak strips are exhorbitantly expensive. Do you want to try a human meter? If you are in the US, a favourite here is the ReliOn Premier which is availabe in Walmart for $9 and the strips are only $18 for 100.
Click to expand...

There is no Walmart near me so I went to CVS (I do have an Alpha Trak2 replacement coming) and I bought CVS Glucose meter. I tried it on myself so it works but how do I convert from people to animal?
 
[USER=10387]@Claire[/USER] said:
There is no Walmart near me so I went to CVS (I do have an Alpha Trak2 replacement coming) and I bought CVS Glucose meter. I tried it on myself so it works but how do I convert from people to animal?
Click to expand...
There is no conversion - we just take the number at face value. The human meters do tend to read lower, but that doesn't really matter until he gets into lower numbers (at which point we will help you understand the difference).

A tip so you don't waste strips - aim for a drop of blood the size of a ball on a ballpoint pen (or the head on a pin). That will be a little more than you need, but will save the wasted strips. I use Vaseline in the spot I am going to test so it beads up instead of running down through the fur
 
If he is not eating, pancreatitis is a concern, as are ketones/DKA. If you have ketone test strips I would see if you can get a test while you wait for the vet.

There are two blood tests for pancreatitis, snapfPl which just is normal vs abnormal result, and specfPl which quantifies it. If it is pancreatitis, you will need nausea medication - Cerenia for vomiting, ondansetron for nausea. You may need subQ fluids if he's dehydrated. Pain meds because it IS painful despite what vets think, a lot of us prefer buprenorphine, but a lot of vets prescribe gabapentin. You will also need an appetite stimulant like Mirataz.

A Primer on Pancreatitis

I also suggest getting some of the Gerber Meats 2nd foods baby food and some feeding syringes, or some A/D recovery food. Most cats will at least attempt to take those from a syringe. You want to try to get at least 1/2 his daily calories in him because hepatic lipidosis is a risk when they don't eat.

I use the water from tuna cans to try to entice then to eat and drink, but it must be plain spring water without any of the onions, etc that are toxic to cats
 
I'm praying for you and Kaz to get a good report from the Vet. If there is anything that I can do, please don't hesitate to ask.
 
Kaz is not really doing well. He is awake/conscious.


I managed to get him to eat a small amount of food mainly dry food as he seems to be off the wet. I felt he had eaten enough to have the insulin so at about 6.10pm I gave him insulin.


He then ate a small amount about 20 minutes later then nothing else.


It’s now 10.12pm and he has just thrown up all the food and none of it was digested.


He’s flat out on the floor. He’s knows that I am here but he’s exhausted and I’m not 100% sure what to do.


As his food was not digested does this now mean he’s had insulin on an empty stomach as he ate nothing this morning either.


Not sure if anyone is on at this time of night but I could definitely do with some advice quickly.
 
If you can't get to emergency vet, try to feed him small amounts (1-2 tsp) every 30-60 minutes. At this point let him eat anything he is interested in - human food, high carb, anything non toxic. Just small amounts at a time to not upset his tummy.

Gather whatever high carb food + honey/karo you have as well, you may need it later.

Please get a BG test in, it will be critical to know where he's currently at. But also will need to check again later.

I cannot stay with you, so please tag this with a 911 prefix so people will know to keep an eye out for you (it's under Thread Tools near your post title).

Were you able to check ketones?
 
Thanks I made the decision to bring him to Angel Memorial Hospital about 15 minutes after I posted. He became unsteady on his feet and I could not even try to check his blood sugar as the meter appears to have broken. Appreciate the quick responses now waiting. I called ahead so they took him in immediately I’m guessing they will want to keep him.

Claire
 
FrostD said:
If you can't get to emergency vet, try to feed him small amounts (1-2 tsp) every 30-60 minutes. At this point let him eat anything he is interested in - human food, high carb, anything non toxic. Just small amounts at a time to not upset his tummy.

Gather whatever high carb food + honey/karo you have as well, you may need it later.

Please get a BG test in, it will be critical to know where he's currently at. But also will need to check again later.

I cannot stay with you, so please tag this with a 911 prefix so people will know to keep an eye out for you (it's under Thread Tools near your post title).

Were you able to check ketones?
Click to expand...
Sorry couldn’t figure out how to tag 911 as you asked I tried but really stressed right now
 
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