Do I Give Him Insulin or Not?

K

KittyCatJake

Member Since 2019
Hi, my kitty Jake was recently diagnosed with diabetes (and lymphoma sadly) and has been on Lantus at 1 unit twice a day for almost 2 weeks now. Up til now vet has told me not to test him as it would stress me out too much, but as I was going to have to shoot early the other day before work I tested him and he was just over 12 (Australian numbers). Today I was supposed to do curve testing, but when I took his first reading this morning he was at 6.7. He was supposed to have his shot about 1/2 hour ago, but vet said to hold off til he gets up over 12. Problem is that it is now 8am Sunday morning here and tomorrow morning I have to leave the house about 6:30am to get to work on time which means I might have to skip tomorrow morning's dose. I just syringe fed him some food and will test him again in 5 minutes. Vet said it's ok to move it up an hour on the next doses so I can still do him tomorrow morning, or otherwise wait and just give him his dose tonight and get back on track from there and skip the curve testing today. I'm so confused! Thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
It's really hard to say yay or nay for dosing him without any BG information. Do you by any chance have a spreadsheet set up to let us review Jake's numbers?

FYI - With depot insulins like Lantus, you want to make dose changes in 15 minute increments. I wouldn't move the shot up an hour at one time because dosing too early can act like a dose increase (shooting late acts like a decrease).
 
Thx for your reply. No spreadsheet unfortunately. Vet told me not to test him before now as she believed his numbers would be all over the place and it would stress me too much. Today was supposed to be the first day of testing.
 
Okay, that's something you can set up to keep track of his numbers going forward. What was his BG at the last check? How off are you now for shot time? If it's an hour now, and you don't have time to move the shot times back before work tomorrow, it might be best to skip tonight and start again at your next shot time. I'm going to go find the link for the spreadsheet set up for you.
 
Okay the link to set up a spreadsheet is HERE. You'll want to select the World template. We also have a great article about understanding the spreadsheet, which is located HERE. Once the spreadsheet is set up, you can add it to your signature, which is the grey text below my message, (the instructions are in the first link) so that we can have access to view it as well.
 
Well this is getting very frustrating.....tried to re-test him, but now every time I put a stick in the machine it is coming up as an error. Tried about 5 fresh sticks and all the same! I spent over $100 on machine and test strips so not very happy right now! And poor little Jake just had to put up with me pricking his ear about 15 times for nothing!
Just googled and discovered error code was low battery, which I've already changed twice in the couple of weeks where I have rarely used it! Need to find battery before testing now!
Amanda and a Loudogg....thank u so much for that! I probably won't be able to do a curve now til at least Thursday and possibly Saturday as I have to work during the week. I might get it set up though and post my random testings on it and post the curve test to it when I do it and then I can use a screenshot of it to send to my vet!!
 
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Hi KittyCatJake :)
Welcome to this forum.
We are here to help with a goal of getting your little buddy Of The Juice (OTJ).
There are some highly skilled and knowledgeable veterans on this forum who can steer you right.
No one has capability to help without being able to see ‘data’- a SS.
I am going to tag a few veterans who, if are ‘around’ will be able to lend you directive advice :).
The first two are very skilled at helping you set up a spreadsheet, if you need it.
@Ti-Mousse , @Marje and Gracie ... @tiffmaxee, @Wendy&Neko.
These peeps are just a few... there are many more who are just as skilled and might surface too!
 
KittyCatJake said:
Well this is getting very frustrating.....tried to re-test him, but now every time I put a stick in the machine it is coming up as an error. Tried about 5 fresh sticks and all the same! I spent over $100 on machine and test strips so not very happy right now! And poor little Jake just had to put up with me pricking his ear about 15 times for nothing!
Just googled and discovered error code was low battery, which I've already changed twice in the couple of weeks where I have rarely used it! Need to find battery before testing now!
Amanda and a Loudogg....thank u so much for that! I probably won't be able to do a curve now til at least Thursday and possibly Saturday as I have to work during the week. I might get it set up though and post my random testings on it and post the curve test to it when I do it and then I can use a screenshot of it to send to my vet!!
Click to expand...
UGH! How frustrating! It's so weird, especially since you've changed the battery recently. I wonder what the meter's problem is?!
 
I’m just seeing Krystina’s tag. I can’t help until you set up a spreadsheet. When you skip a dose you can give the next one at whatever time you want to be doing time.

I’m so sorry about the lymphoma diagnosis. What type is it? How is it being treated? Small cell can be treated with two pills, prednisolone and the generic for leukeran quite successfully with good quality of life.
 
I’m out of town but can help with a SS when I get back which is Monday night, if you can’t do it from the directions which were linked.
 
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