BJ's Rough Start

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Jane said:
If you've got the brain power left and aren't too tired - setting up Your FDMB Profile would help us all more than your avatar (though we'd love to see that too), k? If not tonight, then tomorrow, alright?

Jane
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Okay, finished. It's not perfect but it's good for now.
 
Gonna get one more reading then I am going to crash hard. Will edit this post with last BG for the night. Yeah, I'm zombified. And I have so much reading to do still, which I didn't have time for over the weekend.

+3 BG @ (520)
 
On the plus side, BJ is a very handsome boy. He looks like an orange creamsicle. :)
 

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Great job last night everyone. Mike....you did really well. It was a stressful night and you stepped up. The first several weeks are not easy but it does get easier as Jane said. And everyone, even really experienced members give a fur shot now and then. Are you using smaller gauge needles? I found the 31g are so small that Gracie never knows I've stuck her....and most of us feed while we shoot so kitty is distracted.

Take a deep breath and get some week deserved rest. He will come back down...and I figured he was going to bounce and he would have even if you got all the juice in him. It's a natural process...all of our kitties do it at one time or another.

Thanks, Carl, for staying up and thank you, Jane, for stepping in so I could get a little rest :-D
 
Marjorie and Gracie said:
Are you using smaller gauge needles? I found the 31g are so small that Gracie never knows I've stuck her....and most of us feed while we shoot so kitty is distracted.
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I'm pretty sure these are the smallest needles, yeah.

It's been wierd. He was fine with me giving the shot when he's eating (and in general) but the day before yesterday he started flinching and trying to escape. So he hates it now and it's made worse because I have to struggle with him. He knows when it's coming and flees as soon as the last bite is gone. If I even just stand up when he's feeding he starts up and gets in flee stance mode. So I'm going to have to have my mother hold him for me until he chills out I guess.

Question: From the time he finishes his meal, what's the longest time that can go by before he gets his shot? I think 15 minutes was the longest I had to take to get it in him.

I'm going to post on the other forum now, as advised. I've reversed the AM/PM on his spreadsheet because it was causing confusion.
 
Dumb question.... are you holding the needle with the point facing the correct way? The needle is beveled, and if I hold it correctly (numbers facing up on the syringe), Ninja does not feel anything. If I turn the needle over (numbers facing down), she cries and tries to escape. Just checking... also are you doing the tent technique, and injecting into the tent - parallel to the skin (not down). Sorry if these are basic questions - but just trying to think of why BJ might be objecting to the shot. Also, have you tried different locations? I shoot (typically) in the upper back area (not in the scruff)...kind of off to the side, but mostly wherever I can get a handful of skin to pinch.
 
Question: From the time he finishes his meal, what's the longest time that can go by before he gets his shot? I think 15 minutes was the longest I had to take to get it in him.
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Mike, there really isn't a time limit. If you test before feeding, that's the number that counts. As long as your shot stays on or as close to possible a 12 hour schedule. If it's immediately before you feed, while he's eating, or just after, that's all fine. 15 minutes is not a problem.

Carl
 
Melanie, I'm 99% sure I'm doing it just like you're saying. The vet showed me and I watched some videos too. I dunno, I'm guessing I hurt him once and now he's scared.

I'm only doing him in the scruff right now because I'm comfortable with that and it works for the time being. I understand that's not the best place but until my confidence is higher I want to stick to that. Soon enough I'm certain I will try something else.

Bj's PS was BG (446)

Another question: Today I got the reading of 446 but there was a glob of blood on the strip so I put a new one in and got another reading. That one said 590. Ok, that's a LOT of spread. What is up with that? Do I want to average those or what? I mean I could understand +/- 10 or 20 points. But 140?

Note: I mistakenly had his dose on the sheet at 1.5 out of habit. The actual dose is 1.25u. (corrected)

Okay, I went over to the other forum you guys said to post on but the protocol there is confusing me right now. Thus, no post yet.
 
Mike,
Don't try to understand the whole protocol at once. Yes, it is confusing and it's a ton of reading! The benefit to posting there is that all of the people there are using Lantus or Levemir, and they are familiar with how your insulin works. Not everyone there follows the "tight regulation" protocol, and it's fine to post there whether you decide to follow TR or not. Bottom line though, post where you feel comfortable posting.

The two readings are a little "out of whack" with each other. What kind of meter and strips are you using? Some strips are intended to "sip" the blood up them, so you just put the tip of the strip on the edge of the blood drop, and it literally sips the blood up. Sometimes you can't even see it well, it's almost clear looking. But it's sufficient as long as you get the "beep" from your meter. I used a Relion Micro, and the strips were "sipping" strips. I found that when I stuck the strip right in the middle of the drop, I got higher numbers because the strip got flooded.

The optimist in me would say "use the lower reading you got" :smile:
Carl
 
I'm using the ReliOn, not micro one. Well, the sample that had too much blood was the lower one, strangely. Eeesh.
 
Hi,
I think some of our cats are more thin skinned than others when it comes to being poked with needles.
My girl complains too and I gave one the other day that finally seemed like I had done it just right. She didn't fuss. I pretended I was
good at it and relaxed.

I get allergy shots every week ( 3 of them) and I can sure feel the difference between the nurses. And the one I like best, I swear,
turns the angle just a little sideways when she pulls the needle out. So she goes in straight and then twists, which always makes
me bleed a little. And it hurts. Some nurses are able to do it where I barely even notice.
The best ones seem to be the most relaxed about it. Just in and out.

So I tell you, you'll get better.

The reason my cat sits thru it is I have her favorite treat . She goes crazy for shrimp so she's got a half one , sitting on top of her food that I put in front of her while I shoot.
So if BJ has something he really likes, little piece of deli meat or bite of tuna , he'll learn to associate that he at least gets his favorite reward for putting up with it.

And I'm going to try an experiment on my meter ( different than yours) with a larger droplet of blood.
I have been hitting a few more of those lately. And I'll test twice and see if I get huge differences....
 
Thanks for the reassurance.

I've been bribing the heck out of him with his new favorite, the PureBites. I think he's already catching on to that lol.

Yeah, it would be interesting to see what kind of different readings you get, if any. I got three different numbers from the same drop yesterday(?).

Update: I've posted a thread on the Lantus forum.
 
Mike: I got the exact same thing today -- two widely different readings from the same blood drop. It has happened to me before. I am using the Relion Micro. As Carl mentioned, it seems to happen when I get the larger drops of blood and the blood is globbed on to the strip rather than getting a small drop of blood and sipping. I tested twice on the same drop with a gap of more than 100 points, and a 3rd independent test that was within 10 points of the lower previous one. So like Carl, I choose to think the lower one is accurate. LOL!! Not sure what causes this though -- but it is a concern (how can you be SURE any given test is accurate)?
 
Melanie,
Unless you are dealing with low numbers like 60 or lower, it isn't so much the number that is important. It's the trends that matter more. And whether a number is rising or falling. For instance, whether you get a 300 or a 350 or even a 400 at shot time, you're going to shoot, right? If you are trying to test while low numbers are going on, then it might matter whether it's a 55 or a 35, because the way you deal with the lower numbers might vary (HC food, gravy, LC food, etc.). From what I have read over the months here, meters are all "off" up to 20% at times, but it seems that when you are testing lower numbers, the margin of error is less than with higher numbers. And of course, 20% of 400 is a lot bigger range of numbers than 20% of a 50.

Carl
 
Rhiannon experimented as well (in my other thread) and got close groups in the lower numbers.

Hope everybody is having a good day :smile:
 
I thought we were trying to get the chatter to the other post.

I tested shadow, direct from her ear was 83. scooped up the droplet and tested again for an 85 and then a third one for 86.

going with Carl that lower numbers are probably more accurate.
 
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