Cat/Charlie continued; still figuring things out

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CatCharlie

CatCharlie

Member Since 2023
Previous thread: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...sted-caninsulin-8-28-charlie-pmps-455.280954/

Currently doing my best to learn how to home blood test- not doing very well but it's important so I'm trying.

Also trying to establish a safe but steady feeding routine as Charlie's appetite is up and down at the moment and trying to blindly figure out a safe dose of insulin based on how much he's eating (less than he needs to).

All in all it's hard going, frightening and everyone here has been very kind and judgement free.


Original thread: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/another-terrified-newbie-28-8.280924/
 
Hello there. If you are giving Charlie 1.5 units of insulin twice a day, can you please put that into your spreadsheet each day - regardless of whether or not you get a successful BG test. This will help - I am sure that you will soon have some good tests and will have some numbers to put on your spreadsheet.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hello there. If you are giving Charlie 1.5 units of insulin twice a day, can you please put that into your spreadsheet each day - regardless of whether or not you get a successful BG test. This will help - I am sure that you will soon have some good tests and will have some numbers to put on your spreadsheet.
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Thanks Suzanne. I've actually only given him 1 the previous couple of days as he has not been eating as much food and the vet nurse said to reduce the amount if he eats less.
 
CatCharlie said:
Thanks Suzanne. I've actually only given him 1 the previous couple of days as he has not been eating as much food and the vet nurse said to reduce the amount if he eats less.
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Okay. Well would you put whatever you have given him into the spreadsheet so it’s apparent that he is receiving insulin.
 
Hi @CatCharlie
When our cat Duke is constipated or his poops start to get hard we give him either 5ml of liquid paraffin or 5 grams of vaseline, this is normally once to twice a week depending on how he's doing. We do put Miralax in his food but it doesn't really work for him.
We did try Lactulose once but it sent his bloods sky high for some reason (see 10/11th Dec 2021 on his spreadsheet) so we never gave him it again.
About the food, maybe Charlie just doesn't like the Sheba, maybe try him on another low carb food that he might like.
Watch out for the Whiskas it's all changed now, it's a whole new range so don't rely on the UK Food list info and always double check.
Manufacturers are always changing things so what we do is always check the Analytical constituents on the box in the supermarket before buying it using the BalanceIT calculator. When you press calculate just double check that the figures you entered into the boxes still correspond because i had one or two that just reverted back to zero and gave a false answer.
https://balance.it/convert
The lowest carbs on the new Whiskas range i can find is the kitten range which comes in at 5.6% carbs most of the others are about 10% but some like the farmers menu and others are as high as 26% so always check the box.
We only feed our cat on Sheba fine flakes poultry and the terrine chicken and and it's always the poultry never the fish, beef, lamb etc as he always has a bad reaction to it.
@Bron and Sheba (GA) @Suzanne & Darcy @Diane Tyler's Mom thanks for stepping in as you all know i'm a Prozinc user and i don't have a clue regarding Caninsulin.
 
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Do you think Charlie could be nauseated and that is why he isn’t eating a lot. Or is it becasue you have changed the food?
It’s important he eat and eats well so he can get the insulin.
Keep trying with the hometesting. Can you tell us what issues you are having with it, that is making it hard for you to get enough blood?
@Diane Tyler's Mom may have some tips for you.
 
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
From your previous post
Try bringing him to the same spot when you test him
Try giving him a treat such as a small piece of plain boiled chicken right before you're ready to test him.
Some members might sing a song , I know it sounds silly
Just putting this up here to look at again
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with
Here is a video one of our members made testing her kitty
She's using a pet meter that has to be coded ,with a human meter you don't have to code it.
I have always used a human meter
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
 
Hi everyone!

Managed to get bloods today! Either a lucky poke or the electronic hand warmer worked like a charm! Let's think positive!

16.1 (289.8) on the gluconavii six hours after feeding. Obviously this isn't *super* helpful as I don't know what his starting glucose is or what it dropped to but it's a hopeful first step in being able to monitor a curve.

He actually ate the sheba it's his regular food he turned his nose up at. Sometimes they just decide they're sick of what I've been feeding them. A mite annoying
 
8pm failed but 10pm got a result- very high. May bump back to 1.5 perhaps he's nauseated from the high blood glucose?
 
I would not increase the dose until
You get some more data. He could be dropping low and then bouncing back up high and unless we see that, we don’t know what is happening.
Keep up the good work with the testing.
Are you testing the urine for ketones?
 
I've tested for ketones and no trace.

My vet finally got back to us today and said they don't recommend home testing cats for blood glucose as the results 'can vary wildly depending on food intake and activity level so are often inaccurate'. She said only bother testing if I suspect it's very high or very low before administering. Poor charlie isn't doing any activity he's just lying down all day and changing position occasionally and he's hardly eating compared to before :(

It's very very high- 26.6 today before shot and the lowest it went yesterday was 18 6 hours after his first shot. I think he needs to go back to 1.5 but am terrified I'll knock him hypo. My stupid sleeping hours have slipped to his shot being in the middle making 2hr monitoring difficult :(
 
CatCharlie said:
I've tested for ketones and no trace.

My vet finally got back to us today and said they don't recommend home testing cats for blood glucose as the results 'can vary wildly depending on food intake and activity level so are often inaccurate'. She said only bother testing if I suspect it's very high or very low before administering.
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That's silly, just because the blood glucose values change throughout the day doesn't mean it's not good data to have! The more you know about what is going on with the blood glucose the better.
 
Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
That's silly, just because the blood glucose values change throughout the day doesn't mean it's not good data to have! The more you know about what is going on with the blood glucose the better.
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Exactly, and regular testing should account for anomalous results, so doing it sporadically is even worse advice.

And frankly the people here seem to have good outcomes with it. I looked at a couple of spreadsheets earlier and the results *are* variable but it's still good data and shows the highs and lows. If I walk in with a sheet of data next week showing his BG is consistently high I doubt they'll say 'oh but it's not very accurate in cats so we'll keep his dose the same'
 
CatCharlie said:
Exactly, and regular testing should account for anomalous results, so doing it sporadically is even worse advice.

And frankly the people here seem to have good outcomes with it. I looked at a couple of spreadsheets earlier and the results *are* variable but it's still good data and shows the highs and lows. If I walk in with a sheet of data next week showing his BG is consistently high I doubt they'll say 'oh but it's not very accurate in cats so we'll keep his dose the same'
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I wish I could share Hendrick's spreadsheet with you but it got deleted from Google by accident somehow. You could see the progress over the weeks and months as his BGs slowly came down and the dosing was slowly increased. So yes, the data is variable but the whole point is to get enough data that you start to see trends and can make dosing adjustments with confidence. Knowledge is power.
 
Hang in there. My vet does not recommend home tests, but I test the urine for glucose and ketones. Most important is that you love your cat, do your best, and I hope you take good care of yourself too. You are doing great.
 
Thank you. Honestly the results I'm getting from the glucose meter are consistent and high and regardless of their 'not recommend' which seems to be working very well for a lot of people here I'm going to stick with it and do my best for him.
 
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