Follow up - beginner help

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mabeline

mabeline

Member Since 2023
Hi! I have received awesome help from this group, so thank you! If anyone is available to answer my few questions please.
• How often should I test for curve test? Every hour, or every other?
• How long should I wait to do the curve test after I start her on the 2-3 dry food snacks throughout the day? Just got the Young Again Zero dry food in the mail, starting tomorrow.
• Should I start with just 1 dry food snack at first? Or ok to give her the few that was recommended at +2 & +5 and then possibly a late night snack?
• Should I be using neosporin or vaseline when doing the ear prick? I feel I may have seen that somewhere.
• I am using 100U needles, but she’s only getting 1 unit. Is there a different/recommended needle?

As an additional note -
Mabel used to drink a lot of water and pee a lot… Since I have been giving her the 2 doses & just wet food, I rarely ever see her drinking water…though she does pee regularly. Should I be concerned? I will be starting the dry food soon… and maybe that will make her drink more water.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginner-help-food-insulin-testing.280140/

Thank you thank you!!!
All the help so far has made me feel so much more confident doing this.
 
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When doing a curve you test every 2 hours for 12 hours or every 3 hours for 18 hours. It’s common fur cats not to drink much if at all when on a wet diet. I add a little water to each meal as my raw fed cats rarely drink if at all. You only want to use U100 needles with lantus.

You will follow SLGS so do a curve every 7 days. Also as Bron mentioned get a test before every shot.
 
tiffmaxee said:
When doing a curve you test every 2 hours for 12 hours or every 3 hours for 18 hours. It’s common fur cats not to drink much if at all when on a wet diet. I add a little water to each meal as my raw fed cats rarely drink if at all. You only want to use U100 needles with lantus.

You will follow SLGS so do a curve every 7 days. Also as Bron mentioned get a test before every shot.
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Thank you for the information. Yes I have 2 threads. Neglected cat & Beginner help. Both great information. I wasn’t getting a reply on those, so I figured i’d try this. Thank you for clarification.
 
mowmow said:
Thank you for the information. Yes I have 2 threads. Neglected cat & Beginner help. Both great information. I wasn’t getting a reply on those, so I figured i’d try this. Thank you for clarification.
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It’s ok on this forum to have more than one thread but link them so whoever responds has the full picture.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Did you get the low carb dry food? You can give multiple snacks a day, 3-4 is okay. Maybe 2 during the day and one overnight?
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Yes it came in the mail yesterday! She loves it and is kind of going crazy over it.
Thank you. I’ve got it set up for +3 & + 5.5 as Bron has suggested. She has breakfast & dinner around 7. Maybe I’ll set the night time one around midnight?
 
I think we need to see more consistent data in order to advise on that. I assume you’re still working out how to get the amps test in every day. Are you able to get the evening +2 every day? That would be helpful. If I remember correctly, your work schedule doesn’t allow you to do midday tests? We do dose adjustments here by the nadir and without knowing when her nadir is happening, it would be hard to tell you to increase, but I’m tagging @Bron and Sheba (GA) here for suggestions.
 
I'd encourage you to try to get at least 4 tests per day -- your two pre-shot tests (AMPS and PMPS) and at least one additional test during the AM and PM cycles.

Also, go slow with the Young Again food. Some kitties can have some GI issues with a change in food. It's best to take it slow so their system can adjust to the change in food.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
I think we need to see more consistent data in order to advise on that. I assume you’re still working out how to get the amps test in every day. Are you able to get the evening +2 every day? That would be helpful. If I remember correctly, your work schedule doesn’t allow you to do midday tests? We do dose adjustments here by the nadir and without knowing when her nadir is happening, it would be hard to tell you to increase, but I’m tagging @Bron and Sheba (GA) here for suggestions.
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Yes, now that I have the new food and automatic feeder coming in today - I am going to set up the 1am feeding to hopefully get her to allow me to do the amps test. It’s been difficult.
I can do evening +2, I’ll focus on getting that.
I’m not sure what ‘nidar’ is. Thanks for your info as always.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
I'd encourage you to try to get at least 4 tests per day -- your two pre-shot tests (AMPS and PMPS) and at least one additional test during the AM and PM cycles.

Also, go slow with the Young Again food. Some kitties can have some GI issues with a change in food. It's best to take it slow so their system can adjust to the change in food.
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Hi! Thank you for your information. I leave for work after her breakfast & morning shot, not back until dinner time so I can only get the midday test on the weekend.
I will focus on AMPS & PMPS & evening +2.
On the weekend I will get a midday test.
Thank you!
 
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The nadir is the lowest point in the cycle. With Lantus, dosing is based on that number. Your pre-shot number tells you if it's safe to give insulin. With Lantus, the +2 should be roughly the same as your pre-shot number. For most cats, the nadir with Lantus is somewhere around the middle of the cycle (+6 -- 6 hours after you give an injection). You want to know how well the insulin is working and the nadir tells you how low the dose is taking the numbers.
 
I think you mean a test, not a shot.

FWIW, I worked full time when Gabby was diagnosed. I moved her shot time to 5:00 (and I'm not a morning person!). It gave me time to get a test or two before I left for work and it was early enough in the evening that I could get several tests before I went to bed.

The timed feeder is a great idea for the day time as well since you won't be home.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
I think you mean a test, not a shot.

FWIW, I worked full time when Gabby was diagnosed. I moved her shot time to 5:00 (and I'm not a morning person!). It gave me time to get a test or two before I left for work and it was early enough in the evening that I could get several tests before I went to bed.

The timed feeder is a great idea for the day time as well since you won't be home.
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Yes! I mean test, not shot. It’s so much new info all at once, my brain is jumbled at times.

I am out of the house 7:30AM- 6:30 PM
I have been giving her breakfast/dinner as close to 6:45-7 as possible. If I move the morning up any earlier, I would be giving the evening late…
Im thinking this is my best option as of now. What do you think?
Thank you for explaining the nadir. That is great to know. This is a huge adjustment for my lifestyle & im really trying to make everything work. Im only 26 & my life is all over the place at times.
(I’m not sure if you read any of my other info- but I am caring for a cat that had to be rehomed, I pet sat her for 2-3 years. I’ve yet to say i’m keeping her, but it’s looking that way)
Since this is the case, the cat was only partially comfortable with me… She takes her shot like a champ, but the blood test is still an adjustment. I’m definitely trying to make this work :bookworm:
Your help is greatly appreciated.
 
Do your best!! Lantus does best if shots are close to 12 hours apart. I offered my thinking in case no one had made the suggestion.

It is a big adjustment and it's an adjustment no matter if you're in your 20s or your 50s. We all are devoted to our kitties. If we can help with suggestions on testing, etc., please let us know. We've very good at inundating members with information!!
 
You were asking about the curve at the top of the tread. Are you off on the weekends? I think it would be a good idea to try to do a curve on your day off if you can. Do you think she’ll be okay with it?

remember you’re going to have to follow the SLGS method for dosing because of dry food. Here’s the link so you can read up on how the it works: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/

if you have a chance, I think it would be a good idea to read through all the yellow sticky notes on the Lantus forum. Lots of great useful info there!

you’re doing great and we’re here to help in any way we can!
 
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Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
You were asking about the curve at the top of the tread. Are you off on the weekends? I think it would be a good idea to try to do a curve on your day off if you can. Do you think she’ll be okay with it?

remember you’re going to have to follow the SLGS method for dosing because of dry food. Here’s the link so you can read up on how the it works: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/

if you have a chance, I think it would be a good idea to read through all the yellow sticky notes on the Lantus forum. Lots of great useful info there!

you’re doing great and we’re here to help in any way we can!
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Awesome! I will review that. We should be all set to do the curve test next weekend. She will get on her steady feeding schedule this week with the automatic feeder and should be ready by the weekend. And each day she gets more comfortable with the ear prick. She isn’t trying to squirm away as much and i’m having more success actually pricking her ear.
You all are lifesavers:bighug:
 
That’s great news! The numbers you’re getting are not too bad so im sure the 2 shots a day and the additional food is making her feel better and less ravenous. She may not need that much of a dose increase. You even got a blue this week.
Good job :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
That’s great news! The numbers you’re getting are not too bad so im sure the 2 shots a day and the additional food is making her feel better and less ravenous. She may not need that much of a dose increase. You even got a blue this week.
Good job :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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Thank you!! I was excited to get a number under 200… even if just barely.
I just got my new automatic feeder in and am nervous it’s smallest portion is too much. I used my scale to measure the portion and it’s putting out 12 grams of the young again zero dry food. The food is 650 kcals/cup.
She’s eating 1 full can of wet food throughout the day which is 183 kcals/can.
She is 14 pounds but I think needs to lose weight as she is very round and can’t clean herself properly. We calculated that she should strive to have around 240 calories a day at a goal weight of 12 pounds.
I think I am confusing myself with the number conversions and portions. Will the 3 snacks of 12 grams of dry food be too much for her?
Let me know if I can provide any additional information to figure this out. Thank you thank you!!!
 
12 grams total for all 3 snacks? How many calories is that. I’m not sure about the conversion either. I’ll have to look up how many grams per ounce to figure it out. The total daily calorie amount seems good to me though.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
I guess I’m confused now lol. I have a feeder with large slots but I just put the amount I want inside. I don’t ever fill it.
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This is a dry food feeder. You fill the large top compartment completely and you choose how many portions you want the machine to “spit out” at certain times… Does that make sense? lol.
The smallest option for it to serve is the 12 g.
I’ll do some research into other automatic feeders.
 
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