10/14 Buddy AMPS 425, PMPS 347

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Mad Scientist and Buddy

Member Since 2010
Yesterday

Buddy is still aloof, I guess I would be too if my BG was in the 400 range. He's still eating like a horse. Hope all those high carb aftereffects leave his system today. Had a very serious talk with the other bean in the house about just how important it is for her to be careful about the dry food that we are supplementing the civilian's diet with. I think once Buddy is regulated and starts eating less, this issue will resolve itself as well. She'll have time to come back and finish her meals w/o Buddy slurping them up.

Have a great day!

Tony and Buddy
 
Re: 10/14 Buddy AMPS 425

Hi Tony. Not sure what you meant about "I think once Buddy is regulated and starts eating less, this issue will resolve itself as well." because in my heart, I believe that once a carbo addict, always a carbo addict. I think they will eat dry food no matter if they are stuff from canned ...seriously, they will always have that burning desire. So, it's really not a matter of being full and feeling satisfied....they will force it down if it is available :lol:
Now, I think Buddy's appetite will get back to being more of a normal hungry, but the dry food will always be a temptation. they are totally lacking in self control these kitties.
Glad you had that talk though. Hopefully, he will not have the occasion to be tempted now... :razz:
 
Re: 10/14 Buddy AMPS 425

Pat,

Let me qualify this statement a little "I think once Buddy is regulated and starts eating less, this issue will resolve itself as well" We feed the civilian and Buddy at the same time with wet food, the problem is that my other cat doesn't eat it fast enough. Even when I separate them, Jade in the kitchen, Buddy in the dining room, Jade walks away from her food cause she gets lonely/bored. So we've taken to putting her in the front bedroom with the door closed every now and then - while we get ourselves ready for the day - with dry food. Again after about 10min, she wants out. So, what I'm saying is, that after Buddy's appetite is curbed a little, Jade will be able to come back to her wet food and finish it when she feels like it and the house will be HC Dry free when I don't have to worry about Jade not eating enough (I feed her a 50/50 mix of Iams indoor and dry Purina DM cause that's what we had left in the house and she can eat little but still get a lot of calories for now - worried about hepatic lipidemia with her). The only HC wet we will have will be clearly labeled as such with printer label (so as to avoid mistakes) and kept with the hypo kit. No temptation for HC food for Buddy then.

Tony
 
Re: 10/14 Buddy AMPS 425

Still a high amps number huh buddy? Well hopefully you start coming down and staying down in the lower numbers .. you'll start feeling so much better then! Hang in there guys, I know it's rough!
 
Re: 10/14 Buddy AMPS 425

Tony...I hope Buddy starts to gain some weight for you. Once I started getting insulin into Gracie, she started putting weight back on and was no longer ravenous...I don't have her regulated yet (although we're doing better) but she's eating normal amounts now and maintaining her weight. Because ECID, perhaps Buddy will take a little longer..I think he's been on insulin about the same length of time as Grace. Good luck!!
 
Hey all,

Is it normal to have to stick the ears 20X? It took a lot of warming and 20 lancets in the pen to get just enough (really just the 0.3uL) for a reading. All the while he was tearing away at food. He truly will not sit still enough w/o food in front of him. So ragged. Worst part is I think I got a possible fur shot in. All in all, for the 20 min it took to get blood and injection, he devoured about 13oz of food. So I don't know how much food spike he is getting. More pee in the litter box today. 4 P's, still not interested in playing.

I can't believe I'm actually thinking about adopting him away. I'm so ragged anymore. 2 hour drive in the rain stop and go highway, to get home just in time to test and shoot him. I have no life anymore.
 
Tony...hmmm...20 times seems like a lot but Gracie is pretty good about getting her pokeys. Have you tried to do it manually without the lancet pen? I find the pen to be really cumbersome. Are you using a rice bag and then warming the outside (fur side) of the ear, then the inside, then the outside, etc for about 30 secs? Doing it manually takes some practice, too, but you should be able to get it down pretty quickly. At first, we used the larger gauge lancets (29) but now use the ultra fine (31). You should hold it at a 45 degree angle...don't go straight down with it. The other thing that I found to be extremely helpful is that I hold the round top to a flat contact lens case on the inside of her ear so when I pokey, her ear is up against a hard surface instead of a cotton ball or tissue. 90% of the time, she has no idea I've even done it; my meter takes the tiniest amount of blood. It is rare that get all the way through the ear with a 31 gauge lancet...in fact, not sure that I've ever done that; I try to stay closer to the edge because if you get the large vein by accident...talk about bleeding! Also, after I'm done, I always put a cold, wet baby wash cloth around her ear where I pokeyed to stop any blood droplets and just so it feels good to her. I do not put any ointment or anything on her ear...I found that by doing that, the blood congeals instead of making a nice droplet. I just be sure to use the cloth and make sure if it is bleeding, that it stops quickly. I also do not feed while I'm doing the pokey. If she's not asleep (she's starting to let me do the pokey when she's napping) I just sit with my butt on the floor and legs out in front of me and put her in between my legs without restraining her. She gets to eat once we are done. I do usually inject her while she's eating but I pinch up a good amount of fur/skin and make sure I see a good spot of skin in the tent...I just push the fur aside so I can make sure I get the injection into the tent...having said that...we ALL have done fur shots.

Have you looked at the pictures that show the sweet spot? Here's a link to Dr. Lisa Pierson's page on diabetes..if you scroll WAY down, she discusses lancets, doing the pokey, and has a picture of the sweet spot:

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes

Wow...he is a hungry boy!!! I hope this helps some....it takes some practice to do quick ear pokeys but it will come. Maybe try it without the pen (you can use the same lancet...just do it manually). Good luck.
 
Hey Tony...

Boy I can relate to dealing w/two kitties w/different appetites and such....separating the two so one gets enough to eat..Sometimes I feel like I'm at a fast food restaurant taking different orders......And the ear poke thing....was a challenge to me at the beginning.....I noticed w/Curry if her ear feels at all cool to the touch I'll get the sock out to warm it.....I also need a good light on her...Curry is "bad"...she moves her head every time I try to poke her....silly girl....so its usually a challenge.....Keep at it....My vet said that it becomes a little inflammed over time which allows it to bleed easier....It sounds horrible, but the Vet said he's never seen an ear damaged by it.....So I just keep poking along.

Your a doing a great job....hang in there.
 
That's really good to hear about the vet never seeing any damage to the ear. I was worried that I got scar tissue and that's why it wouldn't bleed. It's been rare to ever get blood out of the left one. As for ear bleeds in general. I actually started out doing great. First time I tried taking a BG I used 2 strips and 5 lancets . . . on myself. Then when I tried Buddy, one shot, no lancet pen and presto - no problem. One lancet in the hand, one strip, nice drop of blood. That was the norm for the first 2.5 weeks of home testing while he was still free feeding on DM dry. I never quantified how much he was eating, but he was pooing piles 6X a day. After his bought of sickness, he has been on wet only and even though I leave out snacks/pops, he is impossible to control till I put the food down. Also he yelps if I try to stick him by hand, so I kind of have to use the lancet pen. I am thankful that he is so energetic (till after he eats when he has super full belly), but testing him has become a chore I hate. Blood samples have been super small. What I've been doing:
get food ready, 6oz wet
get everything else ready
heat the ear with small bottle filled with hot water 2-3 min
rub ear
heat some more
try to get blood, if none heat more change lancet and repeat
all the while he is inhaling his food - we're talking I gotta go get more to put back in the bowl cause if he isn't currently distracted he pulls away and backs away
It took 20 min today and ~12 oz food just to get him tested, and if I wasn't using the ReliON Micro, wouldn't have had enough blood, really was just enough.
Sorry if it looks like I'm complaining, but I really need to vent and get across that I had had this down before, didn't heat ear before, just rubbed it for a little

Thanks all,
Tony
 
Tony, if you were getting blood before without using the hot water, why don't you try going back to just rubbing his ear? I don't use the rice sock or hot water, it just annoys Mr Tinkles, I just rub his ear.

We all know how hard it is in the beginning, it's overwhelming and it seems to take over your life! It will get better, it will get easier....really! Hang in there...and feel free to vent! :mrgreen:
 
Sounds like you know what you are doing and just need to get back to that point. It is hard...we all have been there. But hang in there because you are doing
great and the biggest thing is you CARE!!! Lucky Buddy!!
 
Actually the more you poke, the easier the ear will bleed. It will take several weeks for that to happen, but it will. Marjorie also provided some great information. Like you, I had a great deal of luck with poking Gabby at first. Then there was a point where it was really a pain for both of us, and then it was fine. Every so often, it will take more than one poke. Using a thicker lancet may help in the beginning.

Much better numbers this evening!!
 
hang in there - it will get better. I didn't think I'd ever get it all down - getting the sample was just hard. After a while thing came together. I am sure it will for you too. If you had a system that was working I'd go back to that. Good luck! We are all rooting for you!
 
I find that using the inside of the ear works better than the outside - and for Sooty, I found out to not go to high up (don't go too near the tip of the ear), that is where it seems to hurt him. About halfway between that kink of skin partway up the outer edge of the ear and the tip, seems to be the prime spot! I also found that a double-poke would help on those occasions when he's a bit reluctant to bleed. Also go back to basics and be sure that as your skill has improved, you aren't now aiming too near the edge and missing the ear flesh altogether - and just poking the lancet through that little fringe of fur!
Also sometimes you may find that try as you might not to, you went right through the ear and a blood drop is actually there - but it's on the other side of the ear from where you are looking for it! Flip over to the other side and check, a bit of a squeeze and you may be able to milk it.
FInally I like to be sure he's lying completely on his side and not on his feet at all, that way he can't back away from you nearly so easily as you hang on to that ear and try and get the meter to grab that drop of blood!
At the end of the day though, of course - ECID and "your mileage may vary" - as they say! But hang in there, take lots of deep breaths - I know how it is with a ravenous cat that only wants more and more food. It IS very difficult and sometimes you just do have to stop, back away, give it all a few minutes to settle down, regroup, and try again...
 
I don't know if this is a popular method here because I am kind of new. If the ears give you trouble the bottom of the feet work also. When my cat was really bad and hospitalized for 3 day a couple years ago, when the diabetes thing surfaced, the Vet staff taught me how to take blood from the paw. It was all I knew so that became my home method, and it worked fine and still does. I've heard of the ear sampling much later. Anyway if the ears give you trouble the paw may be easier for you. HooyerD
 
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