Re: Assistance needed 911
Catherine Sloan said:
Thank you Hillary, I will read the posts you have referred me to. Last night I watched a video on how the lantus is done. While Mr. Tom trusts me he does not let me play with his back two legs and I must be careful of even how I pet him because of the breaks in his legs. Another thing that troubles me is that I must give him insulin while he is eatting and distracted. While I know he had some human contact before me, I know he took some abuse because of the way he runs by me with a broom and is scared oe men for sure, even as kind as my husband has been to him. I even saw where you were suppose to hold it in for 10 seconds but hopefully that will not apply because there will definitely be none of that... I've got about 2 seconds to get the job done. I'm thinking the pens will not work but still researching. Also went to a site that has Insulin Products comparison chart and they say they only last 28 days and some oare done 30 minutes before eatting or 15 minutes or right after... Lantus says without regard to meals and that there is no peak.. does sound pretty good, and done once a day is nice perhaps I could use that second time to test.. HA... I sure can't imagine him letting me do that. Still feel panicked about this but I'll be reading. You're right, I'm a newbie again.
Cat & Mr. Tom
You still want to be sure Tom eats before shooting Lantus or any insulin, this is why the usual procedure is test (then if number is in good range) feed THEN shoot (lots of us do it while kitty eats, some do it a little bit after kitty eats to be sure the food stays down)
Lantus *does* have a peak... it's usually about the halfway point between shots but it can move around a bit. Some kitties peak at +4 or 5 others are later at +7 or 8 while others are right on target. This is why spot checks are so important. Lantus is not dosed based on the pre-shot number but on the lowest number (nadir) reached during the cycle. Now, ideally Lantus will give a nice flat curve (hold the same range of numbers) through the cycle so this could be what you took to mean no peak... but take a look at some spreadsheets of Lantus users and you'll see that there are definite nadirs.
The pens *will* work, you don't shoot from the pen, you use a syringe to draw the insulin from the pen. This is why the pens work out to be cheaper in the long run. Proper handling will give you much more than 28 days from the time you open the pen/vial.
One way you might make the testing easier on Tom and yourself is to start using treats. Whatever low carb treat he thinks is the best thing since Tuna. Lots of us use freeze dried chicken treats, they are actually a dog treat but are all protein and easy for kitties to eat. Most kitties love them so much that many of us refer to the stuff as Kitty Crack or FDCC freeze dried chicken crack

Give him a few bites of that after each test and shot and pretty soon you might find him stalking you in hopes that you'll poke his ear so he can have some more FDCC

Tugger learned that pretty quickly and would often come to me and paw at me with a pitiful look, which of course made me want to check his BG to be sure he was ok... which meant he got FDCC. It made him willing and even eager for what you would think is an unpleasant experience

He still comes and asks me to test, even though he's been OTJ (diet controlled) for weeks now.
You just have to figure out what trips Mr Tom's trigger like that =) Poor guy, I can't imagine he'd be very trusting of humans but I bet that he'll figure out pretty fast that what you do does make him feel better. The more you are in control of his numbers (testing so you know to feed him when he's getting low and getting the right dose in him) the better he will feel and he'll figure out that food makes him feel better when he's going low and he'll get up and go get food on his own.
Really. He'll clue in once he starts feeling better and with everything you do to try to make it less scary for him.
My boy will let me do anything to him, but I had to let him decide to allow the testing before it got easy. The first little while was a struggle but with patience, on HIS part, I learned to sit down on the floor with my testing basket and the treats and wait for him to come to me. When he did, I'd talk in the sweet voice he likes so much and skritch his chin till he melted. Usually he'd be beside me, head looking down my legs towards my feet, butt behind me. I could then reach over him with the arm he was nearest and do some more skritching around his ears and chin. Then I snuck in the warm baby sock with rice and used it to massage the ear (loves this!) then, keeping the sock behind the ear I sneak the (already set up) meter and lancet over with my free hand. Quick stick (you can scoop the blood off the ear with your nail and test from there if you need to) and lots of sweet talking, immediate ear skritches (Tug likes it when I give deep massage around his ears, makes his back leg kick) to distract him while I get the FDCC with the non-skritching hand and give the treat before releasing kitty from his oh so pleasurable massage for OH LOOK, FOOD!

So the entire exercise is pleasurable except that quick poke which he hardly notices hidden among all that lovin'.
You could work up to the poke, take a couple of days of doing something similar, however it will work for you and Tom, do all the steps except the actual poking till you're both good and comfortable with it. Do it as many times a day as you can squeeze in and always make it a happy loving time, after a day or so you should/might be able to sneak in that poke without him really noticing too much.
I don't know if it'll work but it's somewhere to start =) Maybe my thoughts will spark other thoughts from other folks and you'll find your solution there, who knows. In the meantime, there's urine testing while you figure it out maybe? I know there are some people around who do and might be able to help you figure that out. Paw testing is sometimes an option when ear testing isn't. So there are ways that you can still monitor his BG's =) don't give up! We're all here to try to help so just breathe innnnnnnnnnnnnnn and ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuut

Feel better?