4/26 LaurieL's Gracie AMPS 271 +5 273

[LaurieL]

Last Wednesday, Gracie spent the day with the vet who treated her at the animal emergency hospital to get a blood glucose curve. These were her numbers: (I fed Gracie and gave her a shot of 1 unit at 8am before leaving)
8:45am 352; 10:45am 271; 12:45pm 253; 2:45pm 262; 5:30pm 288

The vet didn't increase Gracie's dose based on those numbers. I'm supposed to keep giving her 1 U of Lantus twice a day and in a month she said I could do the curve at home and email her the numbers.

Gracie has been getting her insulin shots at home since she was discharged from the hospital on 4/13. (She had been admitted and diagnosed with diabetes and treated for ketoacidosis.)

Gracie likes her new canned food, is tolerating the shots pretty well but has started to protest against the ear pokes. This morning her AMPS was 271. Yesterday she tested 251 +5 hours after her shot, and right before her 8pm shot the number was 308. I wonder if she needs a bigger dose of Lantus?

Thanks for your patience while I'm learning what to do here.

At 1pm (+5) her number was 273. Since this is higher than her AMPS 271 at 8am does this mean that I didn't give the shot properly this morning?

 

[Laurie and Mr Tinkles]

Hi Laurie, welcome!

First of all, because it's really important, I need to ask you....are you testing for ketones? If not, please pick up some ketostix and start testing right away. With a history of ketoacidosis, you need to keep on top of that. That's extremely important!

Just because her number is about the same at AMPS and +5, that doesn't mean you gave the shot wrong...sometimes Lantus cycles are flat.

Lantus ISG is a very data driven forum. We need data, as much of it as possible, to make suggestions about dose. It's very hard to tell if Gracie needs more insulin on the basis of one curve at a vet, which is likely elevated by stress, and a couple of cycles worth of data. Would you consider setting up a spreadsheet and put her testing data on it? It's a very useful tool for you, and for people here to help you. Here's the link for setting up a spreadsheet. If you are having trouble setting up a spreadsheet, I can try to help you with it, or you can give us some more test data by listing it in a post.

What do you think?

 

[LaurieL]

Hi Laurie, welcome!

First of all, because it's really important, I need to ask you....are you testing for ketones? If not, please pick up some ketostix and start testing right away. With a history of ketoacidosis, you need to keep on top of that. That's extremely important!

?

I talked to the vet about ketones after she did Gracie's blood glucose curve last week. She said that the IV therapy (when Gracie was in the hospital) had cleared the ketones out of her body and I didn't need to worry about that now as long as Gracie isn't acting sick. (She had been vomitting before she was admitted and was dehydrated.) I'm willing to get the ketostix and try testing at home, but does it matter what time of day the testing is done? And how often would I do this?

Earlier today I actually got as far as trying to set up a google account for the spreadsheet. It was confusing enough for me just going through the very long user agreement, but then when I tried to enter my info. I kept typing the "wavy" pretend word that they request but I kept getting a message that it wasn't correct...after three tries I gave up and will just have to wait until my husband can take a look at it with me. I do see the value of having a spreadsheet and I've been looking at some of the other members' spreadsheets to familiarize myself.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

If you're struggling with the SS, post over in the Tech Support forum and someone will lend you a hand. It can be a little confusing!!

As far a testing for ketones, we strongly encourage everyone to test. Ketones can develop quickly and they are dangerous. If not treated, they can be lethal. I don't mean to scare you. Gabby had DKA at the time of her diagnosis and was one sick kitty. Most of us test as a precautionary measure. Catching a reading of "trace" ketones is something you can deal with at home and will save you literally thousands of dollars in vet bills. I'd sooner spend the $15 on a box of ketostix than the cost and danger of DKA.

There is no specific time you need to test for ketones. In fact, it would be impossible to test at a specific time unless your cat will pee on demand! Basically, you place the ketostix in your cat's urine stream or use clean aquarium gravel, lentils, or some other nonabsorbant material in the litter box. I would suggest testing as often as you can stalk your cat to the box, especially if Gracie's numbers are running high.

Some cats are prone to developing ketones. FWIW, the only time Gabby had ketones was at the time she was diagnosed. It's never happened again. I also add water to her food which helps.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

hi Laurie! it is a lot to take in at once, isn't it?! steep learning curve but it gets easier.

for the ear pokes, are you giving gracie a treat every single time you poke her? even if you don't get a reading, she needs a treat. if there's something you're struggling with that we can help you with, just ask.

 

[LaurieL]

.

for the ear pokes, are you giving gracie a treat every single time you poke her? even if you don't get a reading, she needs a treat. if there's something you're struggling with that we can help you with, just ask.

Thanks! Yes, she's getting some freeze-dried chicken treats.
I've watched the "Buddy" video showing how to do the ear poke...very helpful! One problem I'm having is that Gracie's left ear bleeds better than her right one. I use a warm rice sock first but the right ear just doesn't want to bleed like the left one does. I think it would be better if I could alternate ears to make sure she doesn't get too sore but right now I'm only having success with one ear.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

i think that's really common. punkin is the same way and i've heard other people say that too. at first punkin's left ear was much easier, but then it became his right ear. i think it's possible we might've caused some scar tissue in our first efforts - you want to put pressure on it afterwards til it stops bleeding so you don't have bruising.

my understanding is that as you poke their ears they grow more capillaries and the poking gets easier. at first i had to poke the poor guy multiple times but now most every time we poke we get blood the first try. i think it took about 2-3 weeks for that to start happening.

one idea to ease gracie's ear is you can just poke different spots up and down her ear. do you know about neosporin ointment with pain relief? and vaseline? the vaseline makes the blood bead up so you can get it. some people put the neosporin on at the end of the day to help their ears feel better by the next day - i've also heard some people put it on 20 minutes ahead of time to kind of numb the ear. i use it on punkin and it does seem to help the owie.