Chester 2/4

[turbocat]

Well, I am becoming an old pro with the ear BG testing. It just took the right position. I sit cross legged on the floor and pull him over and he lolls around on my lap while I get everything ready. I have prewarmed the warming sock so while I hold that on his ear I rubbed and scratch him with the other hand. I think maybe I wasn't getting his ear warm enough before. Of course, he likes the ear warming, who wouldn't? I have a tissue ready and I swap the sock for the tissue and use the lancet pen and it's a breeze. I had to prick it twice for preshot this eve because not enough blood and it didn't even faze him! I picked up some freeze dried treats in the big town today and he loves the chicken ones. I also got shrimp but haven't cracked those open yet. So gave him a couple treats and some more snuggles and all is good. I have to push him off so I can get up. Yay!

So, I tried to take as many readings today as possible and I had to miss early to mid afternoon for the aforementioned treat, etc. shopping. I find it odd that there wasn't much jump from the +7 to the preshot testing today. Of course this is the first day I've tried to check regularly so there is no pattern to look at from previous days. But if somebody could take a look at his SS and let me know what you think about things. Today was 1 unit morning and eve and I did notice there was a lot of urine, so that had an uptick. Should I really stay on 1 unit for a whole week?

Now his eating. He just isn't as much as I thought or hoped. He eats better in the morning, but he seems to mostly want to lick the canned food. But he doesn't seem to concerned about chowing down on kibble either. Otherwise he seems happy today. Should I be concerned about the not eating much? He's almost 20 lbs, you think he'd need more!
THanks!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Congrats! I am so glad the testing is becoming easy.

It would be good to hold the dose for a few more cycles. To make that a safe move, we need him to eat and you need to check for ketones. Have you heard about ketone testing yet?

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis

A couple ideas about eating. Niko really didn't understand how to eat the pate style foods; we needed to chop it up for him. He also likes some warm water in it to make it soupy. Other ideas are to put some of the treats he likes or Parmesan cheese or tuna juice on top.

Is he eating any dry now? That can really increase the bg levels.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

You might try crumbling up one or two of those freeze dried chicken treats and sprinkling it over the canned food. I always chop up the FF pates, otherwise, they grab a big chunk, drop it on the floor, and eat it from there. I wish I could teach them how to mop....maybe then they wouldn't be such slobs with their food!
Great job on the testing too!
Carl

 

[turbocat]

Hmm, maybe I will try the chopping. The dried shrimp might help on the food, cuz they're tiny anyway. I try to give him pate style because other wise he just licks the gravy/juice off. He gets a very small amount of dry kibble here the past few days. Trying to phase it out. I have 4 other cats and they are still eating it, though I am giving them a grain-free kind. I've been focused on getting Chester situated before I worry about what everyone else is eating. I just want them to eat, period. I was feeling very overwhelmed and still get waves of the feeling, so I am trying to master things one at a time.

I have heard of ketones, but am not testing for them yet. Where would I get testing supplies for that and how expensive are they? I have no idea how I would catch him peeing without following him around forever. Chester is acting fine, and was when I took him to be tested when I suspected he had diabetes. The only thing that tipped me off was the huge pee clumps in the litter box. Otherwise he looks and acts fine, just like he always has. I hope that means we caught it early.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Testing for ketones is cheap. Check out that link. You buy the same ketone strips at the pharmacy- they are the same kind human diabetics use.

Some people can catch the cat midstream - they stick a ladle under the cat. If he generally goes in the same spot in the box, you can scoop a little of the litter out and put a piece of San wrap in the hole. We had to use aquarium gravel. Oliver would not pee when anyone was watching so we put the gravel in a clean litter box and left him in the room. He couldn't stand a clean box.

 

[Teresa and Poopy]

Congrats on the BG testing! That's the biggest hurdle, in my opinion. :smile: At least that's where my largest learning curve has been - so far. (Knocks on wood.)

For about the same amount of $$, ask the pharmacist for the ketone strips that also checks glucose (they keep them behind the counter in some places). For me, it's a sort of double check on how Poopy is doing (when I can catch him going). Poopy doesn't like voyeurs when he uses the litter box so I have to catch him already going. Most of the time, when he jumps out, there's still a small puddle that hasn't sunk into the litter, so I can quickly dab the stick into the urine on top (I have to be ready, though, because it sinks fast!).

I can imagine Poopy's thoughts...As he's squating, doing his business, weirdo mom approaches and hovers over the box, holding the strip as if it's a prize and grinning like an idiot, waiting for the leap. No wonder he runs when he's done! :lol: