5/27 311

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terriy

terriy

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311 at 4:30 am fed 1/2 can of FF then shot 2 units
She was still starving so at about 6 am gave her a little bit of Instinct Raw for a snack
11:00 am - another 1/2 can of FF
????
Usually she only gets 1/2 can FF and no other food for 6 hours however I felt bad about her being so hungry
???
:?:
 
Hi Terri,

I don't think I have seen you post before on ProZinc. Can you give us some background? How long on insulin? What diet? Can we help you get a spreadsheet set up so you can post and we can follow your progress? (I'd be happy to set you up with one. Just pm me.)

Generally we say if a kitty is unregulated, feed them more than you usually would as they are literally starving. If she is in the 300s at preshot, she is not regulated, so I'd say you could give her more. I feed my non diabetic 10 pound kitty 2 cans of FF daily; I fed my 14 pund Maine Coon diabetic 3 cans a day. How much does she weigh and is she overweight or underweight?
 
I have been a member since Dec 2012. I have been away from the site for a while. When I first joined I asked a lot of questions however as time went by I slowly quit using the site. Last week one of my other cats (George) had to be put to sleep and I needed to talk to people who understood how I felt. I remembered what a comfort this site was to me when I first joined and had to learn to do blood test and give shots! I started logging back on to talk about George and poor out my misery to folks who understood. Well as I was struggling with myself I started spending a lot more time with my dog and with my sugar cat (Chicken Little) and I was paying a lot more attention to her and how she looked. Well I did not like what I saw!! I had not taken her blood in about 6 months. I was just feeding and then shooting. She also has cat dander and does nothing all day. Here's what I WAS doing - I get up a 3:30 am and feed her 1/2 can of FF then inject with 2 units of Prozinc. She goes and gets on her pillow and sleeps until 10:00 am when I give another 1/2 can off FF. She goes back to her pillow and sleeps until 3:30 pm when I feed another 1/2 can FF and shoot with 2 units of ProZinc. She goes back to her pillow and sleeps until 9 or 10 pm when I give another 1/2 can FF!!
I knew that I had been doing her a dis-service and that I had to get back in the game for her sake!! So I started taking her blood test before shots and I started trying to get her to play and started trying to get her to exercise. I started brushing her at least 2 times a day. Her coat looks terrible. She waddles when she walks! I started taking her outside for a while each day. I took her to the vet last week for a check up. She got her nails clipped and her shots for the year. They said that she is going to need a teeth cleaning. She weighted 13.7 and that was .7 up from last year. Last check she only weighed 13 lbs.
I am feeding her 6 ounces of FF everyday with a few treats (Wellness Pure Delights) 2 times a day. 2 units of Prozinc
I might as well be a newbie. I dont understand what anybody is saying. I dont know what any of the abbreviations mean. I dont know what Im doing or what I should be striving for. I tried to do the spreadsheet when I first joined and I'm not computer savvy so I gave up on it. Im really just a train wreck!! haha_smiley !! I need help that for sure!! The only thing I did learn a year and a half ago was how to do the blood test, inject and how to do a curve and thats just about it.
I'm going to need a lot of instruction but Im a willing student for anyone who wants to take me on. Hey I may not even be in the right group for all I know! I thought PZI was short for Prozinc??? :shock:
 
I tried to PM you Sue. I at least knew that stood for Private Message!! I dont think it worked. I dont think I even know how to do that correctly! :dizcat
 
So welcome! Yes, everyone here has experience with ProZinc or PZI for short. We are a small group and mostly on in the am and pm. If you ever have a emergency, you should post on Health where there will be more eyes.

Well, you are doing the important things - feeding low carb food and testing at home. We can try to get your numbers in a good place once you get a spreadsheet and we can start looking at the trends and patterns. The goal is regulation - in the mid 200s at preshot and in double digits at midcycle, but not lower than 40, which is hypo territory. If she is in the 300s at preshot, you aren't far away. Any time you can, get a midcycle number 5-7 hours after the shot. That will tell us how low she goes and how well your dose is working.

I sent a PM to you. There should be "1 new message" on the top of the board. Click on that. The trick to sending messages is to choose Submit after you have written it.
 
At 3:30 I tested her. She was 369. I fed her 1/2 can of FF and then shot with 2 units. I also managed PM you with my email address. I will not feed her anymore until 9 pm but before I do, I will test her again and see what the reading is.
I also checked her litter box and saw that she was peeing big pee's this afternoon. I have not seen her drink any water however I did turn her food into soup by putting a good bit of water into it.
Thanks for all your help - I actually feel like I'm making some headway today! :RAHCAT
 
What a journey, I'm glad you came back. You are now part of this family.

I'm so sorry about your loss of George.

Sue can help you set up your spreadsheet. Then we can help you help kitty.
 
I could not believe it! I was bowled over! I've never seen her that low and Im soooo thankful that I started back testing! I could have made a big mistake! I did not give any shot this am because the vet has always told me if she is under 200 no shot. I'm looking forward to the results at 3:30 pm when I test again. I hope she is still so low!! I'm on cloud nine! :mrgreen:
 
Even if she goes up quite a bit, you want to reduce the dose. She may go up just because of the time since her last shot. But if 2 units took her that low after 12 hours, it's time to shoot less.
 
How much should I reduce her PM shot today if she needs it? If she were to still be under 200 will I shoot at all? I've been programed by the vet to shoot with 2 units as long as she is over 200. I have never tried to adjust the dose. I nailbite_smile
 
It makes sense to adjust the dose down when you get low numbers. If you continue to shoot 2 units and she is in the 90s at preshot, not only could she be going very low midcycle, but you will be inthe continuous cycle of shooting too much, getting a low preshot, skipping and having her shoot up because she is without insulin for a cycle. Better to reduce the dose a little and have two preshot numbers that are shootable every cycle. I would think your vet would agree with a dose reduction. If she were mine, tonight I'd shoot 1.5.


If the number is ever under 200, retest in 20 minutes, without feeding to be sure it is rising and over 200. Ifit is, just a little less than the previous shot.
 
Makes very good sense and thats what Im going to do. Tell you the truth-Id be more inclined to do what someone on this site tells me to do than my vet!! Thanks and I'll post her reading around 3:30-4:00 pm. Thanks bunches!!
 
It'll be interesting to see how she does. Part of the number tonight could also likely be a bounce from her low cycle yesterday. If so, we need to ride that out till her numbers settle.
 
Can you be around to monitor today around +3/6? On 5/27 you gave 2 units on a 369 and ended up with a 97 preshot. If she repeats, you want to be ready. We don't know if she went down low in the middle of the cycle or if she had a really long cycle that night. Today might tell you that.

One of the ways to determine dose is look back at her history and see what a particular dose did on a particular preshot. That helps you figure out what to shoot. It's also true that she could do something completely different today. We'll see.
 
Yes I can do that. I gave injection at 4 am so its almost 3 hours right now. I'll test and give her a few treats for waking her up! lol!
 
Well poo. No problem getting a 7 am reading however no go with a 10 am. I poked 3 times and could not get enough blood for a test. After 3 pokes I quit and gave her a little bit of Raw Instinct. Her little ear is looking ragged! nailbite_smile
 
The nadir - the lowest the glucose gets after the shot - is about +5 to +6 hours after the shot. For safety, that should be above 40 mg/dL in a cat diabetic for more than a year and 50 mg/dL in a cat diabetic for less than a year, using a human glucometer.

If you can get some tests around that time, am, pm or both, it may help guide any dosing decisions that need to be made.
 
I have been using the neosporin with pain relief. I warm the ear then apply the neo before I poke. That beads the blood. Should I apply more after the poke? I have always used the right ear. I dont know why I find it so hard to do the left ear. I have tried without success. I'll have to work on that so that I can switch back and forth and not use one ear so much. I will test again at 3:30 and try to use the left ear. 3:30 will be 12 hours since injection. I'll test again at 9 pm. Thats 5 hours after injection. I have to get up so early that I have a hard time staying awake past 9.
Thanks for all the help!
 
PMPS 279 shoot 2 units. What a nightmare trying to do the other ear! You would have thought that I was fighting a mountain lion!! haha! Anyway finally got a poke but not enough blood for a reading. Had to go back to the right ear. At least I go the test done! I'll keep trying on that left year.
 
I have nothing to report this morning. I tried my best but was unable to get enough blood to get a reading. After 4 pokes I had only a little tiny spot of blood and CL was kicking and fighting. I could tell that she had enough so I quit trying and fed her half a can of FF. Some days are better than others!
Terriy
 
Hang in there. It is amazing how strong these small creatures are when they don't want you to do something. Today was a furshot for Simon cause he tried to get away when I was administering his insulin...ugh!
 
I am using 28 gauge lancets. Maybe Im not getting her ear warm enough. Sometimes she fights so much that I try to hurry to much I think. Going to try and get the +6 reading in about 15 min. I'll make sure that I warm that ear well! I hate to have to poke her more than one time! ohmygod_smile

Back again - was successful at 10 am getting blood. At 6+ she is 90!!! :mrgreen:
 
That's a nice number. You might get another one around +8/9 to see when she starts up.

It does seem like it takes a long time for the ear to "learn to bleed" Getting it very warm in the beginning is part of that process.
 
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