8/22 -New Member: Penny

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Laurisaurus

Laurisaurus

Member Since 2020
Hello everyone! I’m Laurie, a new member here!

Penny was diagnosed on Monday (8/17). We started 1u of Lantus 2x day on Wednesday 8/19.

Penny eats only wet food (FF/Friskies). I was feeding both shreds and pate as both she and her brother Charlie like both. I have since moved her to pate only a it is lower carb. She had previously also eaten dry food regularly (or crunchies as we call them), but about a month ago she stopped and would only touch the crunchies if she was really really hungry. I am now wondering if she stopped because they made her feel bad.

Honestly, I'm a bit shocked as she checked out fine at her annual in April. She had what the vet thought was an middle ear infection in July and so she was given antibiotics and ear drops. Soon after she started drinking and peeing ALL THE TIME (5-7x day) so I took her back and her tests came back as diabetic.

Since starting the Lantus she already drinks less and is peeing 2x a day again.

We're new to testing, but she and I are learning together. She's basically a potato, so she is pretty calm and doesn't fight me, even when it takes me multiple pokes to get blood. I don't have many numbers yet as I am still learning and don't want to stress either of us out, but I did start a spreadsheet.

I'm not really sure what to make of her numbers right now. Maybe that's normal since she just started. Maybe there is nothing to make yet. It's interesting to me that she's highest at PMPS and so much lower in the AM. Her 12 hour schedules are basically identical with the only difference being that everyone is asleep all night.


All in all we're doing OK I think. I'm quite overwhelmed as Penny was always my healthy lady. She's a bit overweight and has arthritis, but besides that she's checked out clean for years. Brother Charlie is my problem child. He has had issues his whole life (allergies, hives, liver problems, ear infections) and is now dealing with hyperthyroid, IBD or Lymphoma, along with long standing urinary and litter box issues.

Anyway, hello! I don't have many questions yet as I've spent the last 3 days reading up on all of this and searching this board for answers, but I'm sure I'll have more as we continue on our journey.
 
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WELCOME TO FDMB! Boy you are already ahead of the game! Home testing is SO VERY important!! good for you!

Theres a wealth of information with experienced people here to help you decipher it all. Your Penny is beautiful btw

I am wondering...Did the Vet check her teeth over? Not wanting to eat her crunchies may mean she has teeth problems. ( just in case you hadnt thought of it) ;)

I will let our more insulin experienced people address her number.
Just wanted to give you a hardy WELCOME to our family post! :bighug:
jeanne
 
Welcome to you and Penny, Laurisaurus.

Laurisaurus said:
She's basically a potato
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That has to be right up there in the all-time top twenty cat descriptions. :D

You guys are off to an absolutely flying start. It's good to hear that Penny's already getting observable benefits from her Lantus. On the numbers, it takes several days for the Lantus depot to establish and stabilise. The numbers should settle down once it does and that will give you a clearer picture of how the current dose is working.

Sorry to hear about Charlie's woes, poor little fella. :(

There are lots of informative sticky posts at the top of the Lantus, Basaglar and Levemir Support Group board. Shout out when you need help with anything.


Mogs
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I believe that her teeth were checked. I've poked and prodded them myself (again, she's a potato with the patience of a saint). We'll be back for a recheck on Monday so I'll have them take a closer look just in case.
 
Critter Mom said:
You guys are off to an absolutely flying start. It's good to hear that Penny's already getting observable benefits from her Lantus. On the numbers, it takes several days for the Lantus depot to establish and stabilise. The numbers should settle down once it does and that will give you a clearer picture of how the current dose is working.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, so I'm not too concerned right now. She's being her normal self (she literally does nothing all day), so nothing out of the ordinary is happening. She did come upstairs this morning and ate a few pieces of Charlie's crunchies before I was able to get them away from her. She rarely comes upstairs, and I have to leave food down for Charlie at night or he throws up so I keep it up in the bedroom. But, she was like, oh my god mom, I'm starving, breakfast time was 5 minutes ago and now I have to fend for myself!

Luckily I'm in the process of switching to Dr. Elsey's dry food so at least if she sneaks a few pieces it's lower carb.
 
Here’s Penny with her brother, looking judgy, but still cute
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Laurisaurus said:
Here’s Penny with her brother, looking judgy, but still cute View attachment 55675
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Hi Laurisaurus
Just wanted to say a big hi to you and Penny - both cats are so beautiful.
I am very new to this too - Mac has just completed his first week of injections.
I have already had lots of useful advice from this site and helpful replies and will leave it to others who are much more qualified to give you technical help!
Just wantedcto say that I know how overwhelming this is at the moment - what helped us was reading a letter on here "dear mom" - for some reason I can't post the link but in the search box type "dear mom" & put "Robert and Echo" in the posted by box . it will then find it when you search. I can't recommend reading it enough - it is amusing but suddenly made me realise how we were acting and helped us relax a bit especially as we now knew it was not just us feeling that way !!
All the best to you and both your kitties.
 
Welcome to you and your beautiful babies!

I echo what Mogs said. You’re off to a great start!! It’s also so helpful that she lets you test. Do you need any tips? Are you warming the ear to make it easier to get a decent size droplet?

Anyway, a thought on the low amps numbers can be because she’s not eating much at all overnight. That tends to make most cats go lower at night. Do you leave any food out for them? A lot of members here use a feeder with a timer overnight and while away at work.

I know you’ve been reading up, but we suggest everyone start here and, if you don’t mind can you add a bit more info to your signature?

Make sure your signature is up-to-date.
  • On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
    • There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
    • Add any other text, such as
    • Caregiver & kitty's name (optional)
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin
    • 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)
    • 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!
 
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Laurisaurus said:
:mad: No PMPS tonight. Multiple failed tests and wasted strips. Oh well.
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What meter are you using? Are you warming up the ear? Are you always aiming for the sweet spot? If you prick and it’s tiny and not enough blood, try to prick on the same spot again as that will usually get you more blood. It just happened to me tonight and the second prick did the trick
 
Critter Mom said:
Chalk it down to experience. ;)

For general info, you can get testing errors with both too much and too little blood on the strip.


Mogs
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My trick when I get too much blood on a strip: I remove it and save it then I insert a clean strip in the meter and pull from the excess blood off of the first strip. If the 2 numbers I get are not that far off, then I know the amount of blood didn’t affect the reading
 
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I see you have a PMPS of 288 and gave 1 unit.
It would be wise to get a +2 reading to see which way the wind is blowing.

Also, it would be good to get a few tests in during the night cycles. A test before bed and a test if you get up anytime during the night to use the facilities. Some people set an alarm on their phones. Some people drink a large glass of water before bed.
 
That is basically the same as 288 (allowing for meter variance).
A similar number at +2 can, but not always, mean an active cycle.

Is it possible for you to get a +3 test?
The reason I ask is that the insulin depot should be just about full and you might see some lower numbers.
I'm not sure I'll be around for the +3 but someone will be.
 
We just got back from the vet for a BG spot check and follow up after diagnosis last week. I checked bg at 12:30 (+6) and she was 240. Vet tech said that she was 180 when they checked (at 1pm). I'm not sure what meter the vet uses, but I had assumed that it was the alpha trak since that is what they recommended to me. Seems like a big difference in numbers to me but the vet tech didn't seem concerned at the variation. I'm going to check her again in a bit.

I am to continue the 1unit for another week and then they want me to do a curve on Monday.
 
I certainly hope so! I think I caught it really early, as I said she checked out clean at her annual visit in April and only started showing symptoms in July.

I feel bad, I have to check her BG now but she's really sleeping. I can hear her snoring.
 
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