Newbie member Alice (& kitty Evie)

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AliceL said:
I've fed her nothing now.
She ate at + 3 like she usually does....at night that particular feed is about preventing her vomiting during the night from no food....in the daytime cycle the +3 feed doesn't increase her BG from starting point but I think perhaps she started out at an unusually low point 205 this evening.
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I’m just suggesting that since she started out with a lower than recent preshot test, and you were concerned about staying awake, you might want to test and feed snacks at +2 and +3 (where you normally would feed her anyway, as you said.) If you find that she is dropping too much, then bump up the carb percentage in the snacks. You have many options. Anything 10 percent and under is considered low carb. But sometimes giving 8-10 percent carbs will help bring up BG. Then there is medium carb food that is 11-19 percent carbs. 20 percent and over is high carb food, and we usually reserve that for when the BG is 50 or below (along with the karo syrup.) I realize that you are still sorting out your food options and don’t have exact information on carb percentages. I know you were starting to track her BG in response to certain foods, too, which is a great thing to do. If you have limited food options, you can always add a drop or two of karo syrup (corn syrup) or honey to her regular food to increase carbs. This would just be if you needed high carb food because you really need to get her BG up quickly or if she’s not responding with increased BG to the snacks that you give.
 
She did very well with her evening shot last night. I’m so glad that you have started doing the p.m. shot now. I think it will help her daytime cycle to go better as well. I would let her stabilize on the every 12 hour dosing for a few days before increasing…. Well, I remember now that we were waiting for you to get some U-40 syringes. Any luck? How is Evie feeling recently? How does she seem to you?
 
Suzanne, you've been so great. Thank you so much for taking the time to check in on Evie.

My husband went into Lisbon today to look for those needles at a few major pharmacies, no luck.
We are going to try order them online via Amazon, I have no idea what the rules are here on buying syringes online. I guess we will find out shortly.

So after a poor nights sleep last night I just needed to take a break from it today. My husband usually helps me hold Evie for the blood tests and with him not being here most of the day I just didn't have it in me to fight with her today. It's only been 5 days of the blood tests so I am still figuring out how to do it solo without the claws and the yelps and the squirming. Does it really get easier??? It just seems so difficult right now.

I kept a close eye on her though, ready to test if she seemed a bit odd - and she still had her pre insulin test this morning of course.
He just got back a short while ago so we tested her now at almost +9 and again her result is surprisingly low for this time of day @ 195.
She also just ate a meal so we will test again at PMPS and take it from there.

On the whole I think Evie is feeling a lot better, she sleeps less, her coat seems softer and I noticed she has gained a little weight. I think her mouth has been bothering her lately and that's why she didn't eat as much yesterday morning. But we got a new daily anti inflammatory painkiller yesterday from the vet and she seems to be a little better today.
My main priority is getting her to put on weight while improving her strength, vet has agreed to go ahead with the stomatitis surgery if we can achieve these goals.
I'm sure that will also help to improve her BG.
 
Ok, I think I did a fur shot. The needle definitely went in but it was a little wet afterward so its possible it came out the other side. Human is not having a good day today.
 
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Not sure if you got any testing tips yet so just want to share what I’ve found works best. Always warm up the ear. I use an old sock filled with rice and I nuke it for about 20-30 seconds. I hold that up against the ear until the ear is warm to the touch. Doesn’t take too long. That way when I prick, the blood flow helps get a decent amount of blood out. I like to then scoop up the droplet onto my clean nail. At that point cat is free to do whatever it wants since I’ve got the blood and I’m testing from my nail. I also sing while all of this is happening and I find it helps put my cat at ease. You’re already doing the treat immediately after. Also, always sim for the sweet spot:
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AliceL said:
Ok, I think I did a fur shot. The needle definitely went it but it was a little wet afterward so its possible it came out the other side. Human is not having a good day today.
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:bighug: Everyone does a fur shot once in a while. Did you smell insulin on her fur?
 
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AliceL said:
Suzanne, you've been so great. Thank you so much for taking the time to check in on Evie.

My husband went into Lisbon today to look for those needles at a few major pharmacies, no luck.
We are going to try order them online via Amazon, I have no idea what the rules are here on buying syringes online. I guess we will find out shortly.

So after a poor nights sleep last night I just needed to take a break from it today. My husband usually helps me hold Evie for the blood tests and with him not being here most of the day I just didn't have it in me to fight with her today. It's only been 5 days of the blood tests so I am still figuring out how to do it solo without the claws and the yelps and the squirming. Does it really get easier??? It just seems so difficult right now.

I kept a close eye on her though, ready to test if she seemed a bit odd - and she still had her pre insulin test this morning of course.
He just got back a short while ago so we tested her now at almost +9 and again her result is surprisingly low for this time of day @ 195.
She also just ate a meal so we will test again at PMPS and take it from there.

On the whole I think Evie is feeling a lot better, she sleeps less, her coat seems softer and I noticed she has gained a little weight. I think her mouth has been bothering her lately and that's why she didn't eat as much yesterday morning. But we got a new daily anti inflammatory painkiller yesterday from the vet and she seems to be a little better today.
My main priority is getting her to put on weight while improving her strength, vet has agreed to go ahead with the stomatitis surgery if we can achieve these goals.
I'm sure that will also help to improve her BG.
Click to expand...
Well, I think in your case the difficulty is that Evie is not that cooperative yet with testing. Keep up the treats before and after if you need to. For the preshots, sometimes I used to go ahead and feed Darcy and test his ear while he was eating. But he let me do it.

You really did need a break today!
 
Not a bad cycle today at all. I’m hoping she was a little lower blue at+6. She’s getting better numbers recently. I’m very hopeful.
 
Tell me about the stomatitis. Didn’t she have a full teeth removal already? I thought I read that. What kind of pain/anti-inflammatory meds have you tried?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Tell me about the stomatitis. Didn’t she have a full teeth removal already? I thought I read that. What kind of pain/anti-inflammatory meds have you tried?
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No, she had one tooth removed last year but the stomatitis only really started after we moved to Portugal. Evie has FHV and stress causes flare ups. This latest episode started in Jan so it is sticking around despite steroids and immune boosting meds.... and now that she developed diabetes the problem will probably not resolve itself without the teeth removal. At the moment it's not terribly bad from what we can see looking in her mouth - basically just an inflamed line along the tooth line - but you never know what is going on in the soft tissue. It's clear she does have pain sometimes. I can tell by the way she breathes fast or holds tension in her face, also shaking her head while she eats. I'm not sure what anti inflammatory she is was on - it was a liquid and lately wasn't lasting the full 24hrs between doses. The new med we started two days ago is called Onsior 6mg, seems to be working much better. We are currently on 22hrs since last dose and she seems relaxed.

I'm not sure what to make of today's numbers. Granted we have only been on the twice-a-day shots for two days and once was a fur shot so I don't have much data but it seems her nadir is now much sooner around the +3 mark. What could this mean if that trend continues?

Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Not sure if you got any testing tips yet so just want to share what I’ve found works best. Always warm up the ear. I use an old sock filled with rice and I nuke it for about 20-30 seconds. I hold that up against the ear until the ear is warm to the touch. Doesn’t take too long. That way when I prick, the blood flow helps get a decent amount of blood out. I like to then scoop up the droplet onto my clean nail. At that point cat is free to do whatever it wants since I’ve got the blood and I’m testing from my nail. I also sing while all of this is happening and I find it helps put my cat at ease. You’re already doing the treat immediately after. Also, always sim for the sweet spot:
Click to expand...
Thanks so much. I did try this way and it worked. Still struggling with getting her to hold still while I prick the ear.
Today did seem a little better, she was more patient with us and we were quicker at it. It's only day 8 of home testing so I'm sure we'll all get it in time.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Did you smell insulin on her fur?
Click to expand...
I didn't realise it had a smell! Will check better next time.
 
Onsior is only labeled for use for a maximum of three days, with doses given once every 24 hours. I would be careful about giving her that every day indefinitely. It can harm her kidneys. If she’s on NSAIDS daily, regardless of the type, you should get regular kidney bloodwork done. She might be better off on low dose Metacam (Meloxicam) although I can hardly believe I am saying that because I hate Metacam and in the is there is a “black box” warning about Metacam causing kidney failure in cats. — but in Europe and Australia I know that it is used in low doses for pain in cats. I ve had cats with severe stomatitis that needed all teeth removed (well actually they left the canines in) and they did much better and didn’t need any meds. I know you are between a “rock and a hard place” with Evie and her mouth problems/pain and that you are trying to do the best for her.

Before you moved to Portugal, where did you live?
 
AliceL said:
No, she had one tooth removed last year but the stomatitis only really started after we moved to Portugal. Evie has FHV and stress causes flare ups. This latest episode started in Jan so it is sticking around despite steroids and immune boosting meds.... and now that she developed diabetes the problem will probably not resolve itself without the teeth removal. At the moment it's not terribly bad from what we can see looking in her mouth - basically just an inflamed line along the tooth line - but you never know what is going on in the soft tissue. It's clear she does have pain sometimes. I can tell by the way she breathes fast or holds tension in her face, also shaking her head while she eats. I'm not sure what anti inflammatory she is was on - it was a liquid and lately wasn't lasting the full 24hrs between doses. The new med we started two days ago is called Onsior 6mg, seems to be working much better. We are currently on 22hrs since last dose and she seems relaxed.

I'm not sure what to make of today's numbers. Granted we have only been on the twice-a-day shots for two days and once was a fur shot so I don't have much data but it seems her nadir is now much sooner around the +3 mark. What could this mean if that trend continues?


Thanks so much. I did try this way and it worked. Still struggling with getting her to hold still while I prick the ear.
Today did seem a little better, she was more patient with us and we were quicker at it. It's only day 8 of home testing so I'm sure we'll all get it in time.


I didn't realise it had a smell! Will check better next time.
Click to expand...
Oh, the insulin definitely has an odor. Once you smell it, you won’t forget it. It’s a good way to tell if there really was a fur shot.
 
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