2/29 Sam is high this morning

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NadjaAndSam

NadjaAndSam

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12 hrs after his am shot last night he was still low to give insulin he ate and after 40 min he was 244. I gave him 0.75 then.
I left some food out last night but as always it's a mystery to know if he ate it or my other cat. :-|

Sam tested high this morning 486 but he is due for his shot in 2 hrs but I think I will go ahead and give his 1u right now, also because it seems like 1u lasted longer than 12 hrs and I don't want to go bed too late.

Even though it's been earlier than 12 hrs is it ok for me to give his shot taking into consideration he is 486 this morning?
 
Can you get one more test just to be sure he is headed up? He most likely is, but it is a good habit to get in to anytime you are thinking of dosing early.
 
We have moved up our shot many times Nadja. With us it’s usually just a half hour but we have done 1 hour very occasionally.

We have never had a problem with it. BUT, Sue is spot on, you MUST test again to make sure they are on their way up.
 
I tested him now, and he is 419. I endep up giving him 1u before I left to class at 6:30am.
I'm honestly tired of poking his ear because he doesn't like me anymore :-| he acts suspicious around me, I feel sad for him :cry:
 
Nadja, are you sure giving him a treat every time you poke? That is the secret to this. They associate the poke with something good. Here is a list of possible low carb treats: Lo carb treats

It is hard. Nobody will argue with that. Especially in the beginning, when you not only are new to giving the shot and poking, but also a little worried about the dose you give. It gets better, honest.
 
I purchased a low carb treat from Halo and he didn't like it and I paid $10 plus shipping. I can't be buying treats and have him not eat it :/
since yesterday he was low when I poked him I gave 2 little squares of temptation treats...
 
Temptations are pretty high carb. Does he like chicken? You can bake a skinless chicken breast (no spices) and cut it up into tiny cubes. Cheap and low carb, easy to freeze and take out when needed.
 
what about plain ordinary canned tuna for a treat?
even the tuna water is well liked, so try out some canned fish, maybe even salmon or some other type.
 
the Halo treat was plain chicken and he didn't like it. Also he is missing most of his teeth so even if it's cut into pieces he has a hard time eating it. I will try a bit of tuna to see if he will like it better especially since it's flaky and different consistency than chicken!

thanks :]
 
VERY WEIRD pm test!
I just tested sam and he is 575, i poked him again and the result was 498, since he was still bleeding quite a bit I used 3 more strips and the results were 529,538 and something else.
What the heck? How can I trust a weird meter like this? :-|
 
Your whole day looks weird. Could it possibly be a fur shot? It really looks like he got no insulin today. I would stick with one unit tonight and call the day a bust, for whatever reason....

Let's see what other people think.
 
hmm maybe this is it Sue. I've noticed lately he jumps when I inject him, I'm probably getting a bad spot but apparently he didn't get his shot this morning ughh. I just gave his shot right now and he also jumped. I wonder if I injected him or not... this is bad :-|
 
how could I know if I actually injected him? I'm trying to find any wet spots but I can't find it. I don't want him to go without insulin tonight but then I'm not sure if I was able to inject him properly so of I try again I don't want to overdose him :oops: what should I do?
 
After you give the shot do you check his fur to see if it is wet? That is a sure sign that it is a fur shot.

I'm sorry if this has already been gone over. How are you giving the shots? Are you tenting the skin and shooting at a 45 degree angle. That help cut down on fur shots.

Where do you shoot?
 
Usually you can smell insulin or feel a wet spot. You can't shoot any more. Everyone gives a fur shot once in a while. Since you can't ever be sure, you can't run the risk of an overdose..

Have you seen this site? It gives some alternate dosing spots. Sometimes that helps.

http://felinediabetes.com/injections.htm

We shot Oliver while his face was deep in his breakfast or dinner. He never seemed to notice.
 
I give the shots on the back of the neck. I just checked the back of the neck and I don't see anything a it wet but I didn't feel the syringe going all the way inside especially because he jumped. Some days I'm able to inject him and he doesn't feel anything but lately this has been the pattern. I just watched a video on youtube to see exactly where I should inject him but my concern is for tonight, should I inject him again? not sure what to do
 
No. You can't shoot again. Better he is high a cycle than overdosed. He is going down into the 100s with one unit. He could go way too low at more than that.

Since you are not smelling or feeling anything, maybe this shot was okay. Let's see where he is in a while.
 
Thanks Sue I'm reading that link. Sam would never let me shot his belly, he is too self-conscious about his body lol

what would happen to him in case I didn't inject him? what would happen if he went 24 hrs without it? I felt like an idiot ughh
 
ok thank you Sue. I've watched some videos now, I was just using instructions of my vet and no one said about this tent or the position of the needle :/
 
He would just have higher BG for this cycle. Not a huge deal.

I have a different take on this after looking at his SS.

Yesterday, the AM cycle, you shot 1u. He looks like he had a late nadir, and it was a big drop (75%). He came up a little, but when you did give his shot he was only at 242. You had to wait to shoot too. So you shot a lower dose, which was the right thing to do. OK, I am not convinced his AM cycle was worn off completely, which means that you probably had some overlap last night. You don't really know for sure what went on last night, only that he was up high again this morning, so you shot 1.0 again, which was logical.
OK, here's what I think went on. Yesterday, the 1u may have actually been too much. Steep drop, late nadir, long cycle. Last night, I am guessing that he went low again, which gave you the red AMPS today. I think today was a bounce from both the AM and PM cycles yesterday.

I know it is nearly impossible to not want to shoot the same dose or higher when you see that black PS test. Let's assume it wasn't a fur shot (we have no choice, you CAN'T shoot again tonight. I'm thinking his dose might be too high, which is something you don't read from me everyday. I'm thinking .75 might be better. Let's make sure he's only getting 12 hours out of the shots, and that he drops just a little less, percentage-wise, like 60-65%. Maybe then he won't bounce.....
That's my take.

Carl
 
We find it is best to shoot the insulin while Asher is eating since when there is food in front of him he isn't paying attention to much else :lol:
When he's crouched at his bowl, I find it easy to pinch/tent the thin skin at his shoulder or right behind it. We have had good luck with this spot and we switch sides every so often.
 
Oh, forgot to mention one more thing that occurred to me. You were able to get four tests tonight from one poke, which means he bled very well. Any chance you hit the vein and not the capillaries? Venal blood has been known to give you higher readings (the meters are made to read capillary blood...)

Carl
 
Thank you I will try doing that tomorrow morning when he eats :mrgreen:

Thanks Carl for your opinion. Today I had a busy day and wasn't able to test him once during mid cycle but I'm thinking about testing him tonight before I go to bed in 4 hrs which will be 5 hrs after his shot. If he is still on 400's would it be safe to say I fur shot him tonight? Yesterday 4 hrs after his shot he went down from 440 to 227.

Also this morning I ended up giving his shot quite earlier than 12 hrs, it was 2 hrs earlier because he was on 400's and I thought why not now than later especially since I was barely at the house today.

I gave him 0.75u on the 26th and the 27th and he didn't go low enough so I don't know if 0.75 is enough. I'm too experienced to give an opinion :oops:
 
man I didn't know about vein vs capillaries. good lord. I probably poked him on the big vein since it bled quite a bit :-|
 
thanks for reminding me. Nadja!
I was also going to point out there was only 9 hours in between shots since you had to wait last night and shot earlier this morning. So even though that first shot was only .75, you might also have had some overlap with the shot this morning.

Carl
 
thank you for looking at my ss. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, I learned quite a bit already.
Today I took Sam to the vet and this guy dr. was much more supportive than the lady dr. who told me not to test sam!!
Anyways this vet tech told me her cat got off insulin just by eating royal canin diabetic canned food. She got me thinking for a moment. It's so confusing when you read prescription food isn't good but then I meet someone whose cat has improved.. my head gets more confused than what it usually is :-|
 
I know everyone must sleeping by now but i tested Sam now and he is 321 so I must have given him insulin tonight ,or at least some, instead of fur shoting him as I first thought .
 
carlinsc said:
Well, some of the Royal Canin food is not bad in terms of carbs. If you look on the chart, there are 3 or 4 that would be considered low carb. I don't see one that specifies "diabetic" though.

http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
Click to expand...

Janet & Binky's list id'ed the Royal Canin Urinary (that Paulo is on) as 3 or 4% carb. I used it some in January, and I thought it seemed to really make Grayson's numbers climb. Perhaps it was the gravy in it... but don't get me wrong - he LOVED it! And we were still new enough that I hadn't settled in to the classic chicken and turkey varieties of Fancy Feast that he gets most of the time (and that come in single variety boxes for my convenience!).
 
I don't think I will be giving royal canin a try, because I heard it's pretty expensie. sam eats nature's variety and it is breaking my bank account, I have to find time to make his own food but I first I need to check if he will eat chicken though :/
 
Morning, Nadja. I was waiting for your post this am before I leave for the day. Are you going to try Carl's .75? How did the shot go this am?
 
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