? Difficulty stabilizing blood suga

[Kyria10520]

Hi! My name is Maria. My cat Lilah is 9 years old. She developed kda in late July & was hospitalized for 6 days. She recovered very well but I’m having trouble getting her blood sugar under control. She’s on glargine. We started with two units (2x daily) and were down to one unit (2x daily), but her blood sugar is all over the place. Her numbers could go into the 50’s or over 400. She wears a freestyle libre glucose monitor & her numbers have been reading almost consistently “HI” for the last few days. I bumped her insulin up to 1.5 units over the last couple of days, but her numbers don’t move that much. Today she went down to 365 and back up to “HI”. Her diet is consistent. She’s very happy, playful and she’s got a great appetite. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. I’m terrified of her getting kda again. I’m grateful for any advice or suggestions.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi! My name is Maria. My cat Lilah is 9 years old. She developed kda in late July & was hospitalized for 6 days. She recovered very well but I’m having trouble getting her blood sugar under control. She’s on glargine. We started with two units (2x daily) and were down to one unit (2x daily), but her blood sugar is all over the place. Her numbers could go into the 50’s or over 400. She wears a freestyle libre glucose monitor & her numbers have been reading almost consistently “HI” for the last few days. I bumped her insulin up to 1.5 units over the last couple of days, but her numbers don’t move that much. Today she went down to 365 and back up to “HI”. Her diet is consistent. She’s very happy, playful and she’s got a great appetite. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. I’m terrified of her getting kda again. I’m grateful for any advice or suggestions.

@Wendy&Neko
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Bandit's Mom

 

[CORKY]

Hi! My name is Maria. My cat Lilah is 9 years old. She developed kda in late July & was hospitalized for 6 days. She recovered very well but I’m having trouble getting her blood sugar under control. She’s on glargine. We started with two units (2x daily) and were down to one unit (2x daily), but her blood sugar is all over the place. Her numbers could go into the 50’s or over 400. She wears a freestyle libre glucose monitor & her numbers have been reading almost consistently “HI” for the last few days. I bumped her insulin up to 1.5 units over the last couple of days, but her numbers don’t move that much. Today she went down to 365 and back up to “HI”. Her diet is consistent. She’s very happy, playful and she’s got a great appetite. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. I’m terrified of her getting kda again. I’m grateful for any advice or suggestions.

Hi Maria and welcome, we need to know a bit more about Lyla, what food are you feeding her, diabetic cats need foods that have between 0-10% carbs, dry food have approximately between 2-10% carbs, this could be a reason of the numbers going all over the place, also the FreeStyle libre monitor and sensors are not reliable, the sensor is to last 14 days, however a lot of times it stops working even after 4-5 days and the monitor dos not read high numbers and especially the low numbers do not register correctly, it might read 50 when actually is 90-100, most of us member use the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips, inexpensive(unlike the sensors) and very reliable and it will read any number Lyla has. below there a couple of links, from the food list you have many brand choices, the third column of each food has the % of carbs, is good to feed at least 4 meals a day 2 main meals and 2 snacks, I will also tag one of the experts to help you with the insulin and dosing you are using, we are here to help you no concern in ever small
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Kyria10520
Information we need about Lilah
This is where you can set up what we call your signature, it's at the end of everyone's post in gray letters. Just tap on your name up top then tap on signature and add this information. You will link it to your spreadsheet

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Thank you!

If you can set up our spreadsheet where we track our kitties BG that would be helpful, the link will also explain how to use it, it's very easy
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You can read all about glargine here, read all the yellow stickys
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Hi! My name is Maria. My cat Lilah is 9 years old. She developed kda in late July & was hospitalized for 6 days. She recovered very well but I’m having trouble getting her blood sugar under control. She’s on glargine. We started with two units (2x daily) and were down to one unit (2x daily), but her blood sugar is all over the place. Her numbers could go into the 50’s or over 400. She wears a freestyle libre glucose monitor & her numbers have been reading almost consistently “HI” for the last few days. I bumped her insulin up to 1.5 units over the last couple of days, but her numbers don’t move that much. Today she went down to 365 and back up to “HI”. Her diet is consistent. She’s very happy, playful and she’s got a great appetite. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. I’m terrified of her getting kda again. I’m grateful for any advice or suggestions.

Did you mean Diabetic Ketoacidosis? DKA? There are a lot of things to say and we need to get you set up with a spreadsheet so we can see the numbers (you can input them from the Libre.) But because of the history of DKA, it’s very important that you are testing for ketones using either a blood ketone meter (I used the NovaMax Plus purchased from ADW Diabetes Supply) or urine test strips that go into the urine stream. Are you already doing this?

 

[Kyria10520]

Did you mean Diabetic Ketoacidosis? DKA? There are a lot of things to say and we need to get you set up with a spreadsheet so we can see the numbers (you can input them from the Libre.) But because of the history of DKA, it’s very important that you are testing for ketones using either a blood ketone meter (I used the NovaMax Plus purchased from ADW Diabetes Supply) or urine test strips that go into the urine stream. Are you already doing this?

Hi, and thank you so much. Yes, she had DKA and she was very sick. She hasn't had ketone testing for a while. It was last done at my vet's office probably a couple of weeks after she came home from the hospital (early August) and there were no ketones at that time. I'd like to be able to use a regular glucose monitor along with the freestyle for comparison/accuracy, but she's so skittish and very difficult to handle, I don't think I'd be able to keep her still long enough to draw blood. She wont let me pick her up and she runs away if I approach her. I have to lure her with food so I can lock her in a room and corner her to give her insulin. She wont let anyone else in our home near her for an extra pair of (helping) hands. I don't know what I would have done without the freestyle monitor. It's next to impossible to do anything by myself because she's so skittish. She's such a good girl and I love her so much. I'd do anything for her, but I don't know how to get her to cooperate :-(

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Do you think you could get near her when she’s in the litter box to take a test with a urine strip?
Well, we can work with the Libre sensor if need be. It’s okay. You should just know that the Libres tend to read quite low in the lower numbers and may be indicating hypoglycemia when it’s not really hypoglycemia. We usually recommend a handheld meter to check it, but we have to go with whatever is feasible in your situation.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Who will be putting the Libre sensors on her every two weeks?

 

[Kyria10520]

Hi Maria and welcome, we need to know a bit more about Lyla, what food are you feeding her, diabetic cats need foods that have between 0-10% carbs, dry food have approximately between 2-30% carbs, this could be a reason of the numbers going all over the place, also the FreeStyle libre monitor and sensors are not reliable, the sensor is to last 14 days, however a lot of times it stops working even after 4-5 days and the monitor dos not read high numbers and especially the low numbers do not register correctly, it might read 50 when actually is 90-100, most of us member use the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips, inexpensive(unlike the sensors) and very reliable and it will read any number Lyla has. below there a couple of links, from the food list you have many brand choices, the third column of each food has the % of carbs, is good to feed at least 4 meals a day 2 main meals and 2 snacks, I will also tag one of the experts to help you with the insulin and dosing you are using, we are here to help you no concern in ever small
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...r-more-than-just-carbohydrate-content.175004/

Hi , I'm trying to figure out how to fill out the spreadsheet. I don't feed Lilah dry food anymore. She'll sneak some if I don't pick up fast enough after my other cats. She gets 6-8 metabolic treats (2-3 for insulin coaxing/rewarding). She eats 3 cans of fancy feast pate (turkey, beef or chicken variety). I split the cans so she can eat smaller portions spread out from early morning until late evening. I giver tuna in water on some days as a treat. She's a very sweet girl, but she's so skittish and afraid of everything. She won't let me pick her up or handle her. She runs away and hides under the bed. I have to put the vacuum cleaner on to get her out. The freestyle monitor is a lifesaver but I'm in trouble if it comes off or stops working especially over the weekend when the vet's office is closed and her blood sugar being so high. It's not coming down as fast or as much as it normally would after insulin. I gave her 2 units at 6:30 and now she's at 302. That's still so high after insulin (and going from one unit for about a month being enough). I'm a nervous wreck.

 

[Kyria10520]

Who will be putting the Libre sensors on her every two weeks?

I take her to my vets office to replace the monitors. Getting her into the carrier is a battle. the first monitor was put on at the animal hospital before she was discharged. I've gone through so many of them already. They either conk out or she'll lick and gnaw at the adhesive if it's not placed out of reach. The one she has on now has been on for 10 days. It's on her upper back where she cant reach it. I'll try to get her in as early as possible next week and I can get her glucose and ketones tested then. I'm not sure why my vet hasnt recommended testing ketones when we come in to change the monitor. I didnt even think of that either. Ugh.

 

[Kyria10520]

Do you think you could get near her when she’s in the litter box to take a test with a urine strip?
Well, we can work with the Libre sensor if need be. It’s okay. You should just know that the Libres tend to read quite low in the lower numbers and may be indicating hypoglycemia when it’s not really hypoglycemia. We usually recommend a handheld meter to check it, but we have to go with whatever is feasible in your situation.

If these readings are low, that's really bad because they've been over 400 these past couple of days for the most part. She definitely won't let me near her while in the litter box. She'll jump out and run away if I get too close. I've had difficult cats, but not like this. But she's not rough, she's just so terrified of everything.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Bandit's Mom
Can you help Maria with setting up her signature and her spreadsheet
Thank you

 

[Wendy&Neko]

If she pees at a regular time of day, you an always put her in a room (bathroom) around that time with a box of cleaned lentils, or aquarium gravel, or littler with plastic on it, to collect the urine. You don't have to be there with her. More ideas here: Tips to catch and test a urine sample

 

[CORKY]

I take her to my vets office to replace the monitors. Getting her into the carrier is a battle. the first monitor was put on at the animal hospital before she was discharged. I've gone through so many of them already. They either conk out or she'll lick and gnaw at the adhesive if it's not placed out of reach. The one she has on now has been on for 10 days. It's on her upper back where she cant reach it. I'll try to get her in as early as possible next week and I can get her glucose and ketones tested then. I'm not sure why my vet hasnt recommended testing ketones when we come in to change the monitor. I didn't even think of that either. Ugh.

You do not need to take him to the Vet for replacement of the sensor, you can ask the Dr to give you a PRN PRESCRIPTION, is for a year, the instructions is as easy as taking a wrapper off a lollipop, Walmar pharmacy sells the monitors for appx $ 37.99 and you can pick it up any time needed, if you will continue to use the Libre you should always keep a spare, they tend to fall off taken off or stop working way before the 14 days, and if the fall off you can call the Customer service number on the box, and request a free replacement, they are guaranteed, the only thing is that you cannot say is for your cat or they will not replace the sensor, and it takes 48 hours for you to receive it by request, so it's good to have a replacement at home, you will save yourself a lot of Vet visits, and paying extra for the sensors, or prescriptions, I was liberated from the Libre after I was suggested the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips, Corky left the hospital with one on, I had no idea what cat diabetes was, never mind not knowing that these sensors fell off, which it did the 2nd day home, then they would stop working after the 4-5 8th day after replacing, and the glucose reading would totally kept me in frantic mode, in the middle of the night the low glucose alarm would go off and it read 50-40, and me, stuck with not knowing what to do, and terribly informed by the only Vet that treating both my cats since babies, Corky will be 11 Oct 18, I almost had a nervous breakdown, by the time I got the ReliOn, he still had one last sensor on, I kept it on while I learned how to home test, and I started comparing both glucose numbers, I could not believe my eyes when I started seeing how unreliable the Libre was, when the Libre would say 50 BG it was actually 90-100, and when it was high , it was really in the 200's. My life was a game changer, and I began to regain my sanity with the human monitor and strips.

 

[Kyria10520]

thank uou

You do not need to take him to the Vet for replacement of the senspr, you can ask the Dr to give you a PRN PRESCRIPTION, I

You do not need to take him to the Vet for replacement of the senspr, you can ask the Dr to give you a PRN PRESCRIPTION, I

Hi, what is PRN?

 

[Kyria10520]

thank uou


Hi, what is PRN?

thank uou


Hi, what is PRN?

I think I should take her to the animal hospital today to do a glucose and ketone test and replace her monitor. It's still working, but it's lifting off. Her glucose is still reading "HI" and I gave her insulin at 7:00 am. Suddenly the insulin isnt working the way it has been & I'm so worried about her getting KDA again. IDk if my vets office will be able to squeeze her in tomorrow. I wont know until I can reach them tomo morning.
endy&Neko, post: 3208270, member: 5773"]If she pees at a regular time of day, you an always put her in a room (bathroom) around that time with a box of cleaned lentils, or aquarium gravel, or littler with plastic on it, to collect the urine. You don't have to be there with her. More ideas here: Tips to catch and test a urine sample[/QUOTE]

 

[CORKY]

thank uou


Hi, what is PRN?

PRN is a 1 year prescription given to you by your Vet you take to the pharmacy and you can pick up the sensor as many times within that year, without having to constantly go to the Vet for a prescription or placing the sensor, which for Vets is not convenient, but it is for you, you ask, he cannot refuse

 

[Kyria10520]

PRN is a 1 year prescription given to you by your Vet you take to the pharmacy and you can pick up the sensor as many times within that year, without having to constantly go to the Vet for a prescription or placing the sensor, which for Vets is not convenient, but it is for you, you ask, he cannot refuse

Hi, yes, I have unlimited Rx's at 2 different pharmacies in case one doesnt have it. My vets office has them too (as a back up), but he charges more for them. I always make sure to have at least one on hand. The last two she was able to work them off because they placed them on her sides where she could get to them. They recommended a tshirt but there's no way I would be able to get it on her. I just showed my husband a video on how to to a prick test and he agrees that it would be impossible to do it myself and she'll freak out if two of us corner her and try to hold her down and then she'll be even more afraid of me coming near her for any reason. I'm so frustrated that I cant do this on my own and I'm very worried about her, and tomorrow is back to work and I cant keep an eye on her during the day.

 

[CORKY]

Hi, yes, I have unlimited Rx's at 2 different pharmacies in case one doesnt have it. My vets office has them too (as a back up), but he charges more for them. I always make sure to have at least one on hand. The last two she was able to work them off because they placed them on her sides where she could get to them. They recommended a tshirt but there's no way I would be able to get it on her. I just showed my husband a video on how to to a prick test and he agrees that it would be impossible to do it myself and she'll freak out if two of us corner her and try to hold her down and then she'll be even more afraid of me coming near her for any reason. I'm so frustrated that I cant do this on my own and I'm very worried about her, and tomorrow is back to work and I cant keep an eye on her during the day.

When I first became a member in this Forum, not only I did not have a Vet but all my savings went to his 8 days hospitalization, I’m not kidding you, not only I’m OCD and Bipolar, so I was really almost to a point of a breakdown, you can read my first post starting August 2023, the first thing I was told was to take a step back breath in and breath out, our cats sense our frustration and anxiety quite easily and hard, and yes, Corky felt the same, it wasn’t till I began to relax, that I started to really understand what to do and how, I absorbed every bit of information in this Forum read many other members posts, and since I took Corky out of the hospital and one appointment to his Vet,,when he decided he was not going to see Corky any longer, because of this Forum, Corky has not stepped paw in another Vets office, if you see his spreadsheet you will see his progress, and thanks, only thanks to these amazing member’s guidance, many Vets are not familiar with cats with diabetes, so, should I say, but hey bang it? They are mostly experienced in dog diabetes and treat the cats the same. You will be ok, just like all us have. And still I get a bit nervous at times, but my concerns goes here in this Forum, I trust blindly on increase/ decreasing doses what they tell me to do I do it, and so far my Corky has flourished to almost perfection, you’ll get it, soon, do not get discouraged, I have another ca, a female Coco, they are my everything. I needed to be still, to get it right, now when Corky sees me grab the monitor he just positions himself for me he trust that I love him and take care of him, your kitty needs time to adjust just like you, give him a few treats before and after he will familiarize the treats with testing/shooting, the sensor should go below the spine in the middle where he can’t reach it, try not to use glue, it irritates their skin,

 

[Kyria10520]

When I first became a member in this Forum, not only I did not have a Vet but all my savings went to his 8 days hospitalization, I’m not kidding you, not only I’m OCD and Bipolar, so I was really almost to a point of a breakdown, you can read my first post starting August 2023, the first thing I was told was to take a step back breath in and breath out, our cats sense our frustration and anxiety quite easily and hard, and yes, Corky felt the same, it wasn’t till I began to relax, that I started to really understand what to do and how, I absorbed every bit of information in this Forum read many other members posts, and since I took Corky out of the hospital and one appointment to his Vet,,when he decided he was not going to see Corky any longer, because of this Forum, Corky has not stepped paw in another Vets office, if you see his spreadsheet you will see his progress, and thanks, only thanks to these amazing member’s guidance, many Vets are not familiar with cats with diabetes, so, should I say, but hey bang it? They are mostly experienced in dog diabetes and treat the cats the same. You will be ok, just like all us have. And still I get a bit nervous at times, but my concerns goes here in this Forum, I trust blindly on increase/ decreasing doses what they tell me to do I do it, and so far my Corky has flourished to almost perfection, you’ll get it, soon, do not get discouraged, I have another ca, a female Coco, they are my everything. I needed to be still, to get it right, now when Corky sees me grab the monitor he just positions himself for me he trust that I love him and take care of him, your kitty needs time to adjust just like you, give him a few treats before and after he will familiarize the treats with testing/shooting, the sensor should go below the spine in the middle where he can’t reach it, try not to use glue, it irritates their skin,

Your experience sounds just like mine. I was such a mess. It happened seemingly overnight. I couldnt focus on anything. I had to take a week off from work so I could stay at the hospital with Lilah 24/7. She was critically ill. I was told me she had maybe a 50% chance of survival. She had other issues serious health issues too bc of the onset of diabetes and DKA. They did an amazing job. It was super costly, but it was worth every dollar because she's here with me and doing so well. I could try to start doing some myself, but she probably she see the vet for ketones and precise glucose reading so I know what I'm dealing with now so I can take care of it before it gets serious. I'm so stressed and depressed.

 

[CORKY]

Your experience sounds just like mine. I was such a mess. It happened seemingly overnight. I couldnt focus on anything. I had to take a week off from work so I could stay at the hospital with Lilah 24/7. She was critically ill. I was told me she had maybe a 50% chance of survival. She had other issues serious health issues too bc of the onset of diabetes and DKA. They did an amazing job. It was super costly, but it was worth every dollar because she's here with me and doing so well. I could try to start doing some myself, but she probably she see the vet for ketones and precise glucose reading so I know what I'm dealing with now so I can take care of it before it gets serious. I'm so stressed and depressed.

Yes you can! And she’s probably all freaked out and stressed over all she went thru, you’re a good mommie give her and you time to unwind, my suggestion, stay in this Forum like I said no concern is small, you have doubts post worries, post, questions post emergency in you thread title type a !! Or ?? Before the title and we will answer major emergency post as PM conversation, you go on search type the members name a box will open click on conversation and someone will reach out to you, we cannot advise on dosing in this conversation but we can reach out on your last post, it will be alright we are here for you

 

[Kyria10520]

Thank, thank, thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You have no idea how much I needed this. I just ordered the alphatrack and the urine test strips from chewy. I'm so nervous but I'm going going to go for it. I'm going to give it my all. Thank everyone here for your caring and support. It means the world to me. It's so good not to feel alone on this journey.

 

[CORKY]

Thank, thank, thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You have no idea how much I needed this. I just ordered the alphatrack and the urine test strips from chewy. I'm so nervous but I'm going going to go for it. I'm going to give it my all. Thank everyone here for your caring and support. It means the world to me. It's so good not to feel alone on this journey.

Here, you will never be alone!!

 

[CORKY]

If these readings are low, that's really bad because they've been over 400 these past couple of days for the most part. She definitely won't let me near her while in the litter box. She'll jump out and run away if I get too close. I've had difficult cats, but not like this. But she's not rough, she's just so terrified of everything.

No, perhaps you misunderstood, the numbers that read low are the green BG's, and the monitor will read HIGH, with anything over 350

 

[CORKY]

Thank, thank, thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You have no idea how much I needed this. I just ordered the alphatrack and the urine test strips from chewy. I'm so nervous but I'm going going to go for it. I'm going to give it my all. Thank everyone here for your caring and support. It means the world to me. It's so good not to feel alone on this journey.

You could've gone to any pharmacy like Walmart, or Walgreens you did not need a cat/dog monitor, it's expensive$ $74.98 and so are the strips, you are talking about
$ 57.98 for 50 strips, compared to the ReliOn Monitor $19.99 and $9.00 for 50 strips, you should always have about 100m strips on hand, in case you have the need to retest at any point, or if you get a bad strips, like if from one test to the other it reads too low, you want to retest the same blood drop with another strip just to be sure, you do not want to run out, trust me it takes a bit of practice, but it can be done, you can have all the stuff to tes,t close to where you are going to test your baby, let her see all the stuff so she can familiarize with them caress her (a lot) before you prick, you'll miss many times like I did, but you are determined to make her better, so I am certain you will learn quick and she will thank you, a treat after, I do not know if you read this link below, but it will help A Lot
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-shoot-your-cat.290439/

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I agree with Maria Corky's mom about the meter
Get the human meter since that's what our numbers are based on. I would cancel the Alpha Trak
Here is the link for the meter and test strips so you don't have to search for them
Relion Premier Classic Meter at Walmart for 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103

The tests strips are 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197
At least if you need more test strips you can run into Walmart and pick them up or just order them

@Kyria10520

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Can you please fill out your signature and be sure you put DKA in it and if there were any ketones where they ask you and the date of DKA and Ketones
Information we need about Lilah
This is where you can set up what we call your signature, it's at the end of everyone's post in gray letters. Just tap on your name up top then tap on signature and add this information. You will link it to your spreadsheet

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Thank you!

If you can set up our spreadsheet wherewe track our kitties BG that would be helpful, the link will also explain how to use it, it's very easy
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You can read all about glargine here, read all the yellow stickys
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

@Kyria10520

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Suzanne & Darcy
Said about testing for ketones if you can't use the urine strips

But because of the history of DKA, it’s very important that you are testing for ketones using either a blood ketone meter (I used the NovaMax Plus purchased from ADW Diabetes Supply) or urine test strips that go into the urine stream. Are you already doing this?

You can get it on Amazon
here are links for the Nova Max Plus supplies on Amazon.

Nova Max Plus (meter)
https://www.amazon.com/Nova-Max-Glucose-Monitoring-System/dp/B01G5OE0QY

Nova Max Plus (ketone test strips)
https://www.amazon.com/Nova-Ketone-Strips-Count-Total/dp/B008P0WMI0

@Kyria10520

@Kyria10520

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I'm so nervous but I'm going going to go for it. I'm going to give it my all

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

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 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with

Try putting a thin layer of Vaseline on the ear so the blood will bead up

@Kyria10520

 

[Kyria10520]

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

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 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with

Try putting a thin layer of Vaseline on the ear so the blood will bead up

@Kyria10520

thank you! this is very helpful! My vision isn't the best and Lilah's ears look like they have almost no veins. I aimed for the edge of her inner ear and I guess I got lucky
I discovered that the accuchek needs a decent sized blood drop to get a reading (not huge, but enough to saturate the end of the test strip). I couldn't get enough blood on the first try Monday morning and she took off before I could a second shot. I don't like the lancing device either. I couldn't tell if I was putting extra force on it when I pressed it against her ear. Her poor ear was bruised the next day. I felt so bad :-( I took her to the vet this morning to get a new freestyle monitor put on. It was a stressful day for her going to the vet and also very loud tree work going on outside all morning. It took a little while to coax her out from under the bed for her dinner and insulin when I got home from work tonight. She's still scared and she runs away if I come anywhere near her, even if I'm just walking by. The alpha track was delivered this afternoon, but I'm going to hold off trying it out until the weekend.

 

[Kyria10520]

@Suzanne & Darcy
Said about testing for ketones if you can't use the urine strips

But because of the history of DKA, it’s very important that you are testing for ketones using either a blood ketone meter (I used the NovaMax Plus purchased from ADW Diabetes Supply) or urine test strips that go into the urine stream. Are you already doing this?

You can get it on Amazon
here are links for the Nova Max Plus supplies on Amazon.

Nova Max Plus (meter)
https://www.amazon.com/Nova-Max-Glucose-Monitoring-System/dp/B01G5OE0QY

Nova Max Plus (ketone test strips)
https://www.amazon.com/Nova-Ketone-Strips-Count-Total/dp/B008P0WMI0

@Kyria10520

@Kyria10520

I'll order the novamax meter tonight. I tried to get an appt for Lilah to get her new freestyle monitor put on and blood work, but my vets office only had time to put the new monitor on. Their office is so busy and I have to book two weeks out to get an early morning weekday appointment or Saturday appointment (and they have no late nights). They're moving into a bigger space and expanding, so hopefully appointments wont be such an issue in the future. If it were one of my other cats, it wouldnt be a problem because my son or husband could take her to the vet around their work schedules, but she wont let them near her. No one else at home can give her insulin either. She just wont let anyone near her. It's very challenging.

 

[Kyria10520]

You could've gone to any pharmacy like Walmart, or Walgreens you did not need a cat/dog monitor, it's expensive$ $74.98 and so are the strips, you are talking about
$ 57.98 for 50 strips, compared to the ReliOn Monitor $19.99 and $9.00 for 50 strips, you should always have about 100m strips on hand, in case you have the need to retest at any point, or if you get a bad strips, like if from one test to the other it reads too low, you want to retest the same blood drop with another strip just to be sure, you do not want to run out, trust me it takes a bit of practice, but it can be done, you can have all the stuff to tes,t close to where you are going to test your baby, let her see all the stuff so she can familiarize with them caress her (a lot) before you prick, you'll miss many times like I did, but you are determined to make her better, so I am certain you will learn quick and she will thank you, a treat after, I do not know if you read this link below, but it will help A Lot
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-shoot-your-cat.290439/

Hi! the alpha track was just delivered today. I could always return it. I bought an accuchek from CVS on Sunday, but it needs a sufficient amount of blood to get a reading. It's not good for Liilah. I need a monitor that can read small amounts of blood because if I miss the first time, she'll make a run for it by the time I try to line it up again

 

[CORKY]

Hi! the alpha track was just delivered today. I could always return it. I bought an accuchek from CVS on Sunday, but it needs a sufficient amount of blood to get a reading. It's not good for Liilah. I need a monitor that can read small amounts of blood because if I miss the first time, she'll make a run for it by the time I try to line it up again

you can return the one you just bought a CVS and purchase at Walmart the ReliON Premier and strips, very little amount of blood needed. I do not know if CVS has them, remember each monitor requires their own strips

 

[Kyria10520]

you can return the one you just bought a CVS and purchase at Walmart the ReliON Premier and strips, very little amount of blood needed. I do not know if CVS has them, remember each monitor requires their own strips

Thank you. I'll return the acucheck to CVS tomo. One of my other cats is very sick (not diabetes). He was in the hospital for 3 days was discharged last night, so I'm a wreck. I'm having issues drawing insulin from the lantus pen. I thought my vet was gong to prescribe pen needles, but instead prescribed regular syringes. It's not big deal, but I'm having so much have difficulty getting the airbubbles out of the syringe. No matter what I do, there's always one good siized bubble in the syringe. I flick the lantus, I flick the syringe, I draw extra insulin into the syringe and expel it into the air, and I the air redraw - multiple times I do this for every day twice a day. I watched so many videos. I didnt have this problem drawing from a vial. I just dont get it.

 

[CORKY]

Thank you. I'll return the acucheck to CVS tomo. One of my other cats is very sick (not diabetes). He was in the hospital for 3 days was discharged last night, so I'm a wreck. I'm having issues drawing insulin from the lantus pen. I thought my vet was gong to prescribe pen needles, but instead prescribed regular syringes. It's not big deal, but I'm having so much have difficulty getting the airbubbles out of the syringe. No matter what I do, there's always one good siized bubble in the syringe. I flick the lantus, I flick the syringe, I draw extra insulin into the syringe and expel it into the air, and I the air redraw - multiple times I do this for every day twice a day. I watched so many videos. I didnt have this problem drawing from a vial. I just dont get it.

What I do with the syringe is, I pull in the insulin, release back to the bottle then slowly fill to the mark, I can feel your frustration, I have been there many many times, but I learned on lesson here, is to take a step back, breath in and breath out, and start over, cats are very sensitive to emotions, and she will sense your frustration quite quickly, that raises their BG, so you need to be relaxed, it's going to be ok, you are going to be ok, hey! if I was able to be ok, you will too, at the beginning I was at the point of a nervous breakdown, especially with the Libre, it kept falling off, read low Bgs in the middle of the night like 36, in the middle of the night the low BG alarm would go off, they would stop working before the 14 days, and then some, I found out the incorrect readings, when I got the ReliOn meter and strips, Corky's last sensor still had several days left, so I took the advantage to learn how to manually test him, and sure enough, the readings from one to the other were alarming, now I sleep like a baby

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

What I do with the syringe is, I pull in the insulin, release back to the bottle then slowly fill to the mark, [/QUOTE
I thought you should never push any insulin back into a vial or a pen
@CORKY

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Information we need about Lilah
This is where you can set up what we call your signature, it's at the end of everyone's post in gray letters. Just tap on your name up top then tap on signature and add this information. You will link it to your spreadsheet

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Thank you!

If you can set up our spreadsheet where we track our kitties BG that would be helpful, the link will also explain how to use it, it's very easy
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

You can read all about glargine here, read all the yellow stickys
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

I noticed you said kda , it's called DKA

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi! the alpha track was just delivered today. I could always return it. I bought an accuchek from CVS on Sunday, but it needs a sufficient amount of blood to get a reading. It's not good for Liilah. I need a monitor that can read small amounts of blood because if I miss the first time, she'll make a run for it by the time I try to line it up again

This meter Freestyle Freedom Lite ( human meter ) requires the smallest amount of blood 0.3 you can get it at cvs
The test strips at CVS are more expensive than Amazon


https://www.cvs.com/shop/freestyle-...1mSM5YM9ueXzCGbpGcxoCsvUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds




The meter at Amazon
FreeStyle Freedom Lite Blood Glucose Meter https://a.co/d/hGxbvJW


Test strips for it at Amazon
Freestyle lite glucose test strips 50 count https://a.co/d/azKWpot

@Kyria10520
.