Do I test twice a day?

[Ivana R]

Geppy doesn't like getting blood drawn from his ears. He still let's me do it, but it is a little bit of an ordeal. He's currently on 2 units of prozinc a day, one in the morning and one in the evening and the vet said to continue until he is under 200 bg. In the morning, his bg is usually around 350 before eating. Is it necessary to test him at night before injecting him as well? Can his bg drop so dramatically from his morning read? Does anyone else do the single read in the morning?

Thank you

 

[MrRumps]

Hello,
I'm sorry you're having a hard time, my name is Tony T and I'm using my girlfriends profile to help update our cats info, Rumpy. We're brand new to this, but we found that wrapping our cat up, inside of a very soft/ comfortable blanket helps out a lot. Make sure everything is tucked underneath and make a small kitty burrito. make sure he cannot slip his paws out the front or he'll be able to wiggle out, or stop you from taking blood because he has a free paw now. You should only see his head, it sounds kind of bad but it's actually a little more comforting to our cat. I think he feels a lot more comfort from us that way. A lot of animals need this kind of treatment with really bad storms or if they have anxiety. Trying to press and hold down Rumpy while drawing blood! omg, trust me I know the struggle, it can be very difficult that way. But the way we do it allows you to have more control over your cat without forcefully pinning him down. In regards to the pricking twice, we have to do that as well, so I'm not sure if you can only do it once or not but try this technique out, maybe it'll make it a little easier to test. I hope this is helpful.

 

[Noah & me (GA)]

You should definitely test twice a day, sometimes easier than said. Your first curve should be an adventure, practice makes almost perfect.

 

[AliceMeowliss (GA)]

I have to do a burrito to handle my bunnies, too, and it helps. I recommend giving that a try! there are videos on YouTube if you need.

I started out not testing regularly. Alice almost died last weekend. And originally, my vet would have been happy just to have a single midday number, because there are many "owners" (I call them that because that's what they are to themselves, but it's not what I am to my girl) that won't test at all.
Any data is better than none, but it's important to know their levels before each shoot for their safety. If you can't get a level before shot time, post, and someone will talk you through what to do next.

Get some freeze dried zero carb treats. You can even buy it bulk from human stores online to get more, more affordably! Treat before and after.
Alice is starting to learn when we get the meter kit out, she's usually getting a snack afterwards.

Pet, comfort, snuggle, get kitty relaxed. Warm the ear to make it easier. And if kitty is not hydrated well, it may be a little more difficult, so keep fluids up.


I have heard some people tested from the pads of their feet. My understanding though is that this is less comfortable for them typically.

It's hard to see our furbabies uncomfortable with this process, but so much harder and scarier to see them in shock, too high or too low. If you browse through the forums you'll see there are many times a BG test has helped save a kitty's life.

You can do it!

 

[Idjit's mom]

Ivana, since you are using Prozinc insulin, it would be a good idea to read the information at the top of the Prozinc insulin specific forum. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
This is from the Beginner's Guide to Prozinc:
How often should you test blood glucose?

• A daytime cycle pre-shot test (AMPS) and a nighttime cycle pre-shot test (PMPS). For your cat’s safety, always test before you shoot insulin, no matter how small the dose may be.

• Tests (as your schedule permits) to determine your cat’s nadir, which is the expected mid-cycle low BG level that occurs usually 4 to 7 hours after insulin is administered. Some cats nadir earlier, some nadir later. ECID - Every cat is different.

• Some additional mid-cycle tests are always useful, especially when there has been a change in dose or food. Every few weeks, a curve (tests every 2-3 hours) is very useful.

• If you work during the week, a weekend is a good time to get additional BG testing in during the daytime and nighttime cycles. (Yes, this means setting alarms to get up overnight, but you’ll see a payoff by helping to get your kitty regulated.)

You can post in that forum also for questions about dosage etc.

Edit: Idjit doesn't like being tested either, but we do it to keep him safe. If you have a young child and he or she doesn't want to take a medication, you would give it anyway. You can't explain to a child or a pet that what you are doing is in their best interests. We recently had a new member post that the cat had a severe hypoglycemic event. was hospitalized, is now blind, with possible other lasting neurological effects. Hopefully, this will resolve in time.
This is not an everyday occurrence, but there are many of us here who have experienced hypos, on the spectrum of just dropping too low to much more severe events. Testing between shots is the way to see how low that BG is going during the cycle, as well as testing to see if it's safe to inject. The more data you have, the better you can determine if the dose is right.