Ear Testing

This morning is the first time that I was able to successfully get a BG reading by poking Fluffy's ear..... 586! I need to do a curve so that I could see where his numbers are throughout the day. How do I begin this? This is going to require many pokes. Am I going to make his ears very sore for poking it so many times?

 

To do a curve after you have withhold food 2 hours prior to testing his BG number, then feed 1 hour after testing.you will then test him every 2 hours for 12 hours
Example
Say you test at 7AM and 7 PM
7 AM enter his BG number on his spreadsheet
Feed him then and wait 1 hour and then give insulin since you are using Novolin so that would be 8 AM when you give him his insulin

10:00 AM test
12:00 PM noon test
2:00 PM test
4:00 PM test
6:00 PM test
7:00 PM PMPS test

@Suzanne & Darcy
Hi Suzanne would these times be correct for doing a curve since she is using Novolin
Thanks

I do know if you are using lantus and test at 7 AM you can then start testing at 9 AM
With Novolin since you have to wait 1 hour after feeding is what I wrote correct

Tagging a few other members
@Bron and Sheba (GA)

@Bandit's Mom

@Wendy&Neko

@tiffmaxee

 

thankfully, cat's ears heal very quickly and as long as you're following some best practices regarding ear pokes they will be fine

• avoid the marginal vein, this causes bruising and is much more painful to kitty
• rotate, rotate, rotate -- down one ear, up the other, down one side of the ear, up the other. Giving the ear time to heal
• use a cold/cool compress immediately after poke to sooth and reduce swelling
• use topical items to aid in healing

 

I believe this would be a good curve.

 

I would do a pre-feeding test (with no food for two hours prior,) then feed Fluffy and test again in one hour at the same time you give the shot (this would tell me how much Fluffy rose due to the food.) Then I would test again every two hours.

 

@Scarlette & Fluffy for some reason I can't see your spreadsheet anymore
What you need to do
To set spreadsheet sharing permission:
* At the top right of the spreadsheet screen click on Share.

* In the pop-up dialog box click on the Get Link section.

* Change link access from 'Restricted' to 'Anyone with the link' and make sure that the permission on the right hand side is set to 'Viewer'.

* Click Done to save the changes.

 

That's not the problem, but I'll tell you what happened. This morning after I recorded Fluffy's amp reading I saved close the app. When I get his next test open the app the file said view only and I'm the owner it shouldn't have said view only no matter what I did I could not change it or fix it. So I tried sharing it to myself so if I open the link I shared to myself perhaps that would fix the problem. But it was unsuccessful. So I ended up making a copy of the spreadsheet with a similar name, then I renamed the original spreadsheet using a_orig after it next I went back to the copy and I made the name of the copy the exact name of the original and I thought since it was the same location that the link that has been copied into my profile would still work. but apparently it didn't. So I guess the next step is for me to go to that copied file and get the link and edit my profile with the new link and yes I did remember to go into the new copied file and share. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...CatzTR9UyslMbgcWDiZGOSq7Wsg/edit?usp=drivesdk

 

I have a degree in technology.

 

If you find any other issues with my link please let me know.

 

Looks good now

 

I can see it. Data for May 5-7.

 

Here fluffy and I are, tonight he did not want to eat very much dinner and he was due for insulin at 7:30 and I was afraid to give it to him. what do I do? Could it be that maybe he doesn't need any insulin?

 

Well that cannot be the case if the numbers that I see on his spreadsheet are correct. I see a lot of high numbers. I am concerned about him not wanting to eat though. Does he want to eat dry food?

 

Yes...I feed him dry food. He had to eat something! I retested his BG at 10, after he eat some dry, 469, gave him 1U at 10:05p. Idk what I need to feed him. I feel so lost.

 

Yes. He has to eat. That’s paramount. I didn’t mean it like … “oh that’s bad”. I am actually relieved that he’s eating, because from a few of your other messages, I was worried that he wasn’t eating at all… so I am relieved that he is eating - even though we would prefer that Fluffy would eat his wet food.

 

I just took his BG it's 459 he normally would eat and then he gets a shot at 7:30 but since he didn't have a shot until 10 last night I don't know what to do and I only gave him one unit last night because I wasn't sure if he ate enough. He's been grazing on the community bowl off and on all night long along with the other cats. I removed the community bowl for now thinking I would wait until 7:30 recheck his b.g. feed him and give him his one unit at 8:30. I don't know if this is the best plan for today. I really don't know where to go from here. My cats are used to free feed and I think he's not adjusting very well having to eat wet food at a specific time. He just wants to be grazing as he pleases as before. I'm very concerned about the cost of any of the low-carb kibble. I hear that they eat less on this kibble but less is still multiplied seven times in my household. I don't think they're going to eat that much less that will really make a big difference in the cost for me. It is not feasible for me to have to pay $60 or $80 for an 8 lb bag. For 7 cats that's probably going to last a month or less when I'm typically paying $25 a month for dry food.. I'm doing my very best to keep my boy healthy and to get him healthy with the funds that I have available to me.

 

What time zone are you in?

 

For me, 10 a.m. is still 2.5 hours away. So you have a while to wait until shot time (no matter what time zone you are in.). You could shoot at 9:30 your time

 

I pay a little under $40 for a 6 lb. Bag of the Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein (at Chewy). It is expensive. I don’t feed much dry food to my cats though. It’s only for a treat.

 

I know you don’t want to hear this, but you really would be better off getting all of your 7 cats on a feeding schedule. Feed them in the morning and evening and maybe you can even do lunch (although I don’t know what your schedule is like or if you are even at home at lunch time). I do this with my menagerie of cats. They rarely get snacks or lunch. I feed morning and evening. The only cat right now eating more often is my cat Ginger, but she’s special needs (old, suspected hyperthyroidism) and I put her in my laundry room to eat several times a day and close the door while she eats. My diabetic boy got fed a lot more than just morning and evening though. He needed a lot of food.

 

I'm in Eastern Time Zone.

Actually, it's not even that. Ever since fluffy was diagnosed in March with FD. I have been feeding him twice a day, morning and evening as I cannot be home at lunch time. There are times when I have removed the community dish after about 2 or 3 hours, that allowed the other cats to eat but on the days I work that can't be done.In concern about Fluffy's BG dropping while I'm gone I have left Community dish for his access. Since his BG is not yet regulated and he's not been eating that great at his timed feelings makes me feel safer while I'm gone that he has access to some food so we can try to avoid hypo situation.

But in really thinking about this I understand that stress will elevate a cat's blood glucose levels therefore if they are accustomed to free feeding and I switched them to a timed feeding, is that going to stress them out and cause fluffies blood glucose levels to rise?

I feel like I'm grasping at straws to try to feed him something that he will eat so that I could get him systematically on every 12 hours.

Today I fed him raw food and he ate it all. And I can try that again for tonight's feeding and for a few feedings but how do I know he won't get tired of that and not want to eat again? After he had the Raw food he did go to the food dish for the dry probably was there for 1 or 2 to literal minutes and he walked away.

When it comes down to it, if I have to pick up the food dish and put them all on 12 hours I will do that. I'm just concerned with him not eating regularly. It's interfering with his 12-hour shots and I don't want to come home to him being in a hypo situation or worse. God-forbid!

I could not find a list of dry foods that have an acceptable profile For low carb low-fat. I understand you use dr. Elsey's as a treat. What if Fluffy crave's dry food? I cannot afford to feed him or the rest of the cats dr. Elsey's. Even if I just fed fluffy Dr Elsie's 6 lb bag or 96 oz would only last him 16 days feeding him 3 oz per serving twice a day. What are you feeding your menagerie of cats as a main staple? Can food or raw food?

As previously mentioned fluffy in the beginning since March did good on the wet food twice a day but now I don't know what it is. And during this time I did not have a glucometer to test him. I didn't get one until last Wednesday. Seems like we've just been out of sync fluff and I. I don't know if he's bored with the flavors or the texture, or what. I don't believe he has a lack of appetite. I just think he's being very finicky. Whether that's based on a craving for high carb in the dry food or the disinterest in the low-carb wet food that I have been giving him oh, God only knows.

Thank you for your comments and feedback I appreciate the input.

 

I agree with this.

 

I feed them canned food, and my food bill is several hundred every month (not good) so that's not an option. I periodically threaten to feed them Friskies canned food instead of the stuff I do feed them which is called Performatrin Senior Turkey and Chicken as well as Weruva BFF PLAY Chicken and Lamb Laugh out Loud because they are lower phosphorus foods... I am trying to reduce the phosphorus load on my older kitties and spare their kidneys. There's nothing wrong with Friskies Pates, but I believe most of the flavors have fish in them and I don't want to feed them fish every day). You have to work within your budgetary constraints. I have no idea how you feed 7 cats on only $25 per month though. I'm sorry about all the stress. I can tell you are really stressed out. I am thinking that you will have to adjust Fluffy's insulin slowly and carefully due to the dry food. I don't like that he's on Novolin and I hope that you can get him on a better insulin for cats... but you'd have to talk to your vet about that.

 

And some time I really want to hear the story about how Fluffy came back to you... wasn't it after 9 years?

 

Can you update your spreadsheet with whatever you shot this morning? Will you be able to do a "curve" maybe on the weekend when you are at home? Or another day when you will be home? Catch me up... the recent reductions in Fluffy's insulin were due to the fact that he wasn't eating as much? I'm just wondering about the reduction from 2 to 1 and also 1.5. I'm sorry. There were several different threads and I've read some on several of them and it just gets hard to follow. You should probably start a new thread with today's date (or tomorrow's if you want to do it then) and Fluffy's most recent AMPS and then link the old threads to it (simply by cutting and pasting from the address bar in your browser into the body of your message.) Your title could be like this:
5/11 Fluffy AMPS ### and you can write a few word in your title if you have any questions ... you can also put the question mark at the beginning of your title if you have a specific question. It gets more attention that way.

 

Just my two cents...but many members here feed their cats multiple times a day. I would stick with this, not only mornings and evenings. It's easier on the pancreas, and this can be for all your cats, not just your diabetic one.

 

Yes. April is correct, Scarlette. I always fed my diabetic boy as much as he wanted for the most part (except 2 hours before shot time when I was a newby and did not have much data to show me how he responded to carbs.) But he was Acro and 17lbs. and had been DKA and needed a lot of food. The issue with Fluffy is not so much when he is eating (although that does play a part in his BG) as what he is eating, since it is - at least partially - high carb dry food. A feeding schedule is important for a lot of cats. It can be two, three, four or more times a day. ECID. Right now, the high carb dry food is all Scarlett can give them. She's trying to feed Fluffy low carb canned food twice a day and let him free feed at other times ... but he's not been that interested in the LC lately. A lot of people here, Scarlette, do what they call "feeding the curve," which means they feed their kitty the a.m. meal that goes with the insulin shot, then they sometimes feed at +1, +2, +3, etc. -- just a small amount of LC wet food to keep the cat from dropping too much and to flatten out their numbers. It's very individual and depends a lot on the cat and how they respond to the insulin. Some people aren't able to do that because of their work schedule, so they have timed feeders that are set to open at certain times of the day (and/or night) so their diabetic cat can have snacks at certain points in the cycle. This stuff really doesn't apply to you since you have seven cats! I am not sure how that would work. LOL. You don't really need to know all that right now about feeding the curve, but it's just FYI (if you are looking at other people's spreadsheets and wondering.) You will develop something that works for Fluffy and you.

 

Yes..9 yrs.
I have been approved for dcin but they want the insulin to be either Lantus or Levemir instead of novolin N I contacted my vet she would rather put him on vetsulin but that is not covered by dcin I cannot understand why a vet would hold back aiding and assisting a client when 5013c agency is going to pay for his insulin. Leschi reconsiders she has declined writing a prescription for dcin for an alternative insulin besides veselin. I will hear back tomorrow evening what the final answer is I'm praying she will honor my request and provide me with a prescription for levemir... I thought I would try that over Lantus because I hear Lantus is more rigid and I'm having complications with fluff not wanting to eat because he's being finicky.

He does not display any Behavior causing me to think his belly is upset nausea or lack of appetite he just wants what he wants.

 

I will post his story in a day or two.

 

Please note that this is a Continuum from Tuesday evening May 10th when Fluffy was fed wetfood at 6:30pm prior to injection at 7:30p. He didn't touch his food only drank bone broth I added to it to make more palatable. He didn't eat very well in the a.m. on this day either. I had tried to take my hand blender and blend up some more bone broth and the wet food to sort of make it the consistency of a licky stick which he likes. But once again he had nothing to do with it. He did go out to the community dish and I let him eat some kibble but over the course of time it was about 10 and I made the Judgment call 2 only give him half of his 2 unit dose in case he didn't have enough food in his belly that he would be safe throughout the night and I left the community Bowl accessible all night. I picked the bowl up somewhere between 4 and 5 a.m. on 5.11.22

5.10.22 PM DOSE 1U
10p BG 469 (1HR POST EAT)

5.11.22. DOSE. 1U
6am BG 459 PRE-EAT
8am BG 449 PRE-EAT TEST. THEN ATE
1pm BG 367
6pm BG 391 PRE-SNACK TEST
8:30pm BG 441 PRE-EAT TEST, THEN ATE
10:30pm BG 563

I don't understand what's going on with his BG's! I put in a call for the vet to change his insulin to Levemir, she declined. She wants to put him on Vetsulin. I explained that DCIN will not pay for that insulin. Thought that is taking it over and will give me a final decision Thursday evening.

For Fluffy's morning meal I gave him homemade Raw chicken Food and he ate the whole thing. And for his evening meal I also gave him homemade raw food and once again he ate the whole thing. A few minutes before 6 p.m. I took his blood glucose level and they're provided him with access to the community dish which only had a couple ounces kibble
In it. He and another ate it all.

I am new to all of this so I really don't have experience to speak of, but from my observation fluffy is neither nauseated or suffering from lack of appetite. He's just being finicky! I also feel this Novolin is not helping him. His body doesn't seem to be responding well to it. I pray this vet will reconsider and work with us and give me a prescription for Levemir.

Any feedback, comments or suggestions?

Fluffy's behavior also seems to be back to his old self before he was stricken with FD. He is active, jumping up on the bed, jumping up on the window purches and playfully pouncing on the other cats. He's not like he was before when he wasn't feeling good laying around, lethargic. And he is negative for ketones for the ReliOn test strips I've been using.

 

I’m glad he ate the raw food. Will your vet consider ProZinc insulin? Or Lantus?

 

IDK, yet but DCIN doesn't cover prozinc.

HELP His BG JUST NOW SAID LO!
What does this mean? What numbers are LO? He is feeding on raw food this morning. In a few minutes I'll see if he ate it, all about 2.5oz

I have been giving him 1U of insulin with his BG being LO, should I continue with 1U at 8:30a?

 

Retest that right away

 

If it still says Lo give Karo syrup or honey or pure maple syrup right away. You can mix it with food if he will eat. I always mixed it 50/50 with water and syringed it in. You may want to do a stronger mix.

 

If it says Lo then NO INSULIN!

 

Please let me know what next number you get. I’m worried about Fluffy.

 

No! I hope you didn't already shoot. I am standing by and waiting for the new number.

 

Fluffy only ate about 1.5oz outta 2.5oz of his raw food this morning I retested him his BG was 313. He is now nibbling at the food dish should I continue with one unit

 

It's 313. After eating 1.5oz raw food walked away, retested, now his nibbling on dry food and we're standing by. His dose was due at 8:30a

 

Okay. Whenever you get an unusual reading on your meter then retest immediately. You must have had a bad test strip. That does happen occasionally. This applies whether you get a number that is unusually high or unusually low -- anything really out of the normal expected number for Fluffy.

 

You can shoot now, yes, if one unit is what you've been doing lately (which I see it is on the Spreadsheet.)

 

I guess he wanted to eat some dry. But at least he's eating.

 

Please update your spreadsheet for this morning as soon as you can. Are you going to be at home today or working?

 

Ok...home. updated SS

 

Please tell me what DCIN is??? I need help paying for insulin. My vet prescribes Lantis.

 

DCIN stands for Diabetic Cats In Need. @Chris & China (GA) can you help here?

 

DCIN has 2 programs to help. One is for anybody who's struggling with the upfront costs of treatment and the other is dependent on income and we will continue supplying insulin as long as it's needed.

Here's the link to our Help for Individuals which includes the info on the 2 programs and links to apply.

We also have a page on Facebook that you can contact too but I'd suggest getting the application done ASAP....it can take about 2 weeks to get you into the system and get supplies sent out and with summer coming up, there will be times that we won't be able to ship due to the heat.

Feel free to send me a private message if there's anything I can help you with. Just click on my name and choose "Start a conversation"

 

@Chris & China (GA) Thank you!

 

No problem! You know me...I'm always lurking around somewhere!

 

Thanks so much @Chris & China (GA) !