beginner starting out questions

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kidsandliz

kidsandliz

Member Since 2015
Hi

I have a glucose meter given to me by someone on this forum who very unfortunately no longer needs it.

Yesterday I learned out how use it for the first time and my poor baby (14 year old male Max) now has a blood blister. Today I did much better, but he flinches when I prick him. What about using numbing cream?

Anyway pre diagnosis his glucose was 480. At 3 units Lantus once a day (at the vet) his lowest was 260 somethime or other about 5 hours post insulin. So the vet upped him to 4 units once a day. Yes I am going on twice a day but I thought I'd see today how the curve went to see if the 4 units is too high overall (someone suggested vet stress for the blood results at the vet) - he is a large cat but normal weight for his size around 13.9 pounds and I worry that maybe 4 units will be too high once he has had it enough times to stabilize on it.

Anyway 6 hours and 50 min after his insulin shot yesterday (4 units) he was at 116.

This morning 4 hours after he ate (ate at 5am - ugh, I ignored that as I was too tired - have to leave food out all the time as I have one who is 14, Max's litter mate, who is losing weight for reasons we can't find and only nibbles at food multiple times a day, and another also 14 whom I had from 10 days old who is hyperthyroid, we just upped her meds and she has a small amount of weight to gain back so they both really need food out all the time and that is also what they are used to for 14 years) but pre insulin his glucose was 316. He has gotten 4 units for something like 5 or 6 days now. It is not yet 2 hours after his shot for a second reading but he is on my beed acting normally and his ears are warm so I doubt it is too low, at least right now.

So my other question - after that long preamble, is that if he is starting at 316 (human meter) 4 hours post food today then maybe 4 units is too high? I gather it will take just about the length of time he has been on 4 units to stabilize on it? I can watch him most of today just incase it drops too low. Oh - he is on that stupid high carb kidney food (creatinine 2.4, the other stuff normal). Am looking for the friskies special diet canned - to give him instead since it is low phosphorus but not one store around here has any and online is out most places so I wonder what is up with that.

I plan to switch to twice a day, but not until after I come home from a job interview where I leave this Th in the early am then back Fri afternoon. Thus one shot before I go, and then the 1/2 a shot when I get back so he only misses 1/2 a shot. As a result I want to be sure I am in the ball park with the amount of insulin before I leave so that I know if I am giving him 3 or 3.5 again to be on the safe side if 4 is a bit on the high side since the person feeding my cats won't be doing anything other than food and wouldn't notice if the sky fell.

I know about the spreadsheet - looked at it this morning - but I am using my own I had already made as I have it linked to creating a graph and it is easier for me to see trends using a graph. When I download that one all the area you put in numbers is green with no lines and apparently not done by fill - done by some weirdness between Mac excel and goggle whatever that program is. Plus I don't want to have to go online each and every time I use it.

Thanks.
 
Get yourself a small sock (infant size) and fill it partially with dry rice. Then, tie is off. Place this in your microwave for about 20-25 seconds. Then apply it to the inside of the outer ear. It will help to dilate the capillaries and increase the blood flow to that area. Don't manually prick her ear. Use the little gun that you cock. Less deep and less painful for the cat. After getting the blood apply pressure over the puncture site and hold for about 30 seconds. Apply a little Vaseline and massage into the ear. No lumps or redness and it keeps the ear soft. My little one has learned to associate feeding time with blood sugar time. I don't restrain her either. Good luck from Jane and Stewey
 
now 2 hours 20 min 0ut from insulin his BG is 78 (down from 316 pre insulin and 4 hours post any food). I am thinking since nadir is several hours away he may end up too low? I just got him to eat something ( the kidney food which is higher in carbs)
 
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Lots of us freehand the lancet...it makes it easier for me to hit where I want to...if you're happy with freehanding, there's no reason to go out and buy the lancet device
 
That's a big dive!! He's still at a safe number, but it's good to feed him something now to hopefully slow him down some. It's not necessary to feed high or medium carb, just regular low carb food and retest in about an hour
 
Chris & China said:
That's a big dive!! He's still at a safe number, but it's good to feed him something now to hopefully slow him down some. It's not necessary to feed high or medium carb, just regular low carb food and retest in about an hour
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He has kidney disease too (stage 2) and so until I can find the high protein low card low phosphorus friskies special diet which seems to have vanished from the shelves I am feeding him that.

I thought that was too much after 2 hours. I good thing I can keep an eye on him today.

This last time I got him perfect - tiny hole, just enough blood and none extra... for now I am going to keep free handing him if I can keep up doing it this way.
 
It is OK to free hand the lancet, rather than use a device. I found free-handing gave me a better view of what I was doing.
Lantus will stabilize after 3-5 day of every 12 hour dosing, not every 24 hour dosing.
Four units at 1 time is too much. Going to 2 units, every 12 hours will work much better.
It is OK to leave the food out for grazing for all you cats, so long as it is low carb.
 
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now 4:30 hours out it is 47. I just gave him food which he ate. I am presuming it will continue to fall for at least another half hour to 2.5 hours so I will check him in an hour. He is lying down where I can see him so I can keep an eye on him.

Seems to me that tomorrow I should cut back to 3 or 3.5 (am staying on one dose until Friday evening when I am back from the job interview and will switch to 2 doses a day- staying on 1 will mean he will get TH OK, and Friday evening I will give him 1/2 so he will only miss 1/2 a dose.
 
4:48pm BG 103 but I also fed him some high carbs. Do people think it would be reasonable to cut back his insulin to from 4 to 3.5 tomorrow to see if it dips as low? I am going to be out of town TH and Fr (so dose a early by about 5.5 hours before I leave for the airport and then a 1/2 dose the following day in the evening) and I don't want to risk they dip as low while I am gone on TH as I had to put food in front of Max for him to eat when he was at 47 as he wasn't getting out of the chair to eat. If I am not home to do that I am worried he will get too low.

Also I called the vet to ask about the 47 and they told me I can't go by a human glucose meter, they aren't all that accurate, they are off from the pet one (well duh) blah blah blah and told me not to worry about 47 or if it dips lower as you can't tell anything from these they are too unreliable. Now I don't believe one word of that. I don't think they'd be able to sell these things if they were that inaccurate and as long as I am using pet numbers calibrated for pets on a human one and not human numbers for figuring "normal" on a human one - those are what about 50 to 120? on a human one instead of pet meters 70-150? - then I don't know what the problem is other than they don't like me taking the initiative here. They also told me I could tell nothing if I was letting him eat while I did this. That I don't believe either. He is going to be eating normally anyway so we need to see what the levels are when he eats - normally. Geesh. I am going to have to be very careful how much I share with this vet about me keeping track of his blood levels.
 
If you can get a hold an AlphaTrak 2 meter, which is animal specific, you can use the Freestyle Lite test strips. They're made by the same company and cost about half as much.

Also, I just had to comment on how much your boy looks like my boy!
 
kidsandliz said:
4:48pm BG 103 but I also fed him some high carbs. Do people think it would be reasonable to cut back his insulin to from 4 to 3.5 tomorrow to see if it dips as low? I am going to be out of town TH and Fr (so dose a early by about 5.5 hours before I leave for the airport and then a 1/2 dose the following day in the evening) and I don't want to risk they dip as low while I am gone on TH as I had to put food in front of Max for him to eat when he was at 47 as he wasn't getting out of the chair to eat. If I am not home to do that I am worried he will get too low.

Also I called the vet to ask about the 47 and they told me I can't go by a human glucose meter, they aren't all that accurate, they are off from the pet one (well duh) blah blah blah and told me not to worry about 47 or if it dips lower as you can't tell anything from these they are too unreliable. Now I don't believe one word of that. I don't think they'd be able to sell these things if they were that inaccurate and as long as I am using pet numbers calibrated for pets on a human one and not human numbers for figuring "normal" on a human one - those are what about 50 to 120? on a human one instead of pet meters 70-150? - then I don't know what the problem is other than they don't like me taking the initiative here. They also told me I could tell nothing if I was letting him eat while I did this. That I don't believe either. He is going to be eating normally anyway so we need to see what the levels are when he eats - normally. Geesh. I am going to have to be very careful how much I share with this vet about me keeping track of his blood levels.
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I guess I'd say that if your vet "can't handle the truth", that I'd go vet shopping......
 
Chris & China said:
Not sure what this means, but it sounds like you're going to give a shot 5.5 hours early??
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If he is going to get insulin on TH I am going to have to (staying on the 1x a day right now because of that) as I leave really early and won't be back until the following day at dinner time. I can't afford to board him essentially 3 days due to when I am leaving and coming back. The other alternative is no insulin from Wed AM once a day shot to Friday PM when I am giving him half and switching to the twice a day then.
 
What about finding a vet tech, or high school or college student interested in veterinary sciences, possibly through a church, to cat sit - feed, monitor, etc?
 
I wish but not possible. Due to only working part time (looking for full time - that interview is out of state and full time but wouldn't start until Aug sometime), cancer, living in a state with no medicaid expansion so I am paying full price, I am living in someone's basement (better than my car). These people would flip if I had someone coming in to do it. I am afraid if they did it they might not be careful, give him too much, not look in on him and that would be the end. I'd come home to a dead cat. They said they'd give another cat her hyper thyroid meds while I was in Houston getting a cancer check up. Counted pills, they did it one time only the entire time instead of twice a day. Safer just to skip it. While I intend to stock up the food and water I'd also be afraid what would happen if they forgot to feed (they forget to feed their own cats on occasion) and gave the insulin.
 
If those are the only choices, I think I'd skip it until you got home....He'll be much safer too high for a few days, than too low for a moment and giving it that early could be disastrous
 
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