When feeding my 12.5 year old Boo this morning I think I gave him a fur shot. I know it says to skip it but for some reason I was pretty sure the 1 unit of Lantus went on my finger and his fur. So I gave another. I know terrible idea! Was half asleep....Now im worried about hypoglycemia. I just got the glucose monitor & strips for home testing, havent tried it yet. Im watching him now, he's sleeping, what do i look for? The vet had me start him on 2 units, then raised to 3 units after 2nd at-vet-all day glucose panel, but this group suggested lowering to 1 unit which I've been doing for 2.5 weeks. That seemed to be working as hes not drinking or peeing as mych. And he's now on wet food okayed by this group, fancy feast & Kirkland pate. (The vet also had him on early care k/d diet since June, which turned out to be inaccurate, I only recently learned about this goof so now at least hes not on high carb wet & dry food.) This is hard I feel like I am flailing with no guidance other than this group which is at odds with most of the vet advice.
Double dose?
- Thread starter BooHenry
- Start date
Pleases set the permissions for your spreadsheet to "anyone with the link." I can't open your spreadsheet.
Please try to test Boo in about an hour after the shot. Even if you're sure that you saw the insulin squirt across the room, you still have no idea how much, if any, insulin went into your cat! Also, not all cats show symptoms of hypoglycemia until their numbers are really low. It's one of the reasons that home testing is so important.
Also, a curve at the vet's office is typically higher numbers than what you'd see at home. Most cats are stressed by being at the vet's office and the stress causes higher blood glucose numbers. (It's called "stress hyperglycemia.") We also change doses in much smaller increments than what your vet suggested. We change doses by 0.25u.
FWIW, the recommendations we make are generally based on feline diabetes research coupled with the 25 year track record for FDMB. We are truly not all crazy cat ladies.
Please try to test Boo in about an hour after the shot. Even if you're sure that you saw the insulin squirt across the room, you still have no idea how much, if any, insulin went into your cat! Also, not all cats show symptoms of hypoglycemia until their numbers are really low. It's one of the reasons that home testing is so important.
Also, a curve at the vet's office is typically higher numbers than what you'd see at home. Most cats are stressed by being at the vet's office and the stress causes higher blood glucose numbers. (It's called "stress hyperglycemia.") We also change doses in much smaller increments than what your vet suggested. We change doses by 0.25u.
FWIW, the recommendations we make are generally based on feline diabetes research coupled with the 25 year track record for FDMB. We are truly not all crazy cat ladies.
I don't think you are all crazy cat ladies! I have the Relion Glucose Monitor, the Relion Test Strips, but Walmart seems to be out of the Relion Thin 26 Gauge lancets. What is a good option? and do I need the corresponding device?
The lancets can be any brand providing you are free handing vs using the lancing device. Any gauge from 26 - 28 is fine at the beginning. When you're starting out, you want to use a wider gauge lancet since it takes a couple of weeks for your cat's ear to bleed more easily. (It takes a while for the capillary bed to build up.) Once you've mastered home testing and Boo's ear will yield a drop of blood more easily, you can switch over to a thinner lancet (e.g., a 30 gauge).