EMERGENCY I GOT A 25 READING

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Mom-Mom

Mom-Mom

Member Since 2014
After being hi for the last 2 days or even past 400. I did nothing different, she tested a 25 this morning at 6:30. I pushed 3 eyedroppers full of Orange juice down her throat and gave her the favorite food, Tuna in water. I tested her again at 7:15 it was a 40. Os there something I can do??? Or do I just be patient???
 
I dont give her shot until an hour or 2 after I test. I just tested again its a 49. Thats on thwe way to being good, right?
 
Mom-Mom said:
I dont give her shot until an hour or 2 after I test. I just tested again its a 49. Thats on thwe way to being good, right?
Click to expand...

Yep definitely on the way to being good.
So, is it now 12 hours since her previous shot?
 
If it is more than 12 hours since Mom-Mom's last shot then it's unlikely she'll drop further now.
But I'd suggest getting another test and checking that she hasn't dropped and that she is still rising.
 
Okey dokey,

I'd suggest another test and check that Mom-Mom is still rising.
And maybe a little ordinary food.

Just going to have a look at your SS.
 
OK,

Just looked at Mom-Mom's SS and see that she sometimes drops a lot quite late on in the cycle, so you may not be out of the woods yet.
What is her BG now?
 
FYI,

Sugars like honey/karo/glucose etc act very quickly, but they also wear off quite quickly. So administering once might not be enough.
Food takes a little longer to take effect but lasts longer.
Do you have any higher carb food (in gravy)?

Waiting for an update from you.
 
I did it 10 minutes ago it was 49. Im gonna leave her poor little ear alone for a few hours now. She ate almost an entire can of light tuna in water and she is drinking alot of water. She is just relaxing on her cat perch in the window getting some fresh air. She looks 100 o/o since 6a.m this morning. I even had to hand feed her, it was like she went temporary blind. Shes good now......so far. I will test again at 11
 
Thank You everyone, especially Elizabeth. I will keep you posted. I am so lucky to have found this site. Thank God for people like all of you
 
Mom-Mom said:
I did it 10 minutes ago it was 49. Im gonna leave her poor little ear alone for a few hours now. She ate almost an entire can of light tuna in water and she is drinking alot of water. She is just relaxing on her cat perch in the window getting some fresh air. She looks 100 o/o since 6a.m this morning. I even had to hand feed her, it was like she went temporary blind. Shes good now......so far. I will test again at 11
Click to expand...

Hi,
I would strongly suggest that you do keep testing to ensure that Mom-Mom's numbers are continuing to rise.
Her ears will get over it. Really.
If it were my cat I'd want to see 3 successive rising numbers before I stopped testing.

That blindness that you witnessed is a symptom of severe hypoglycemia. And Mom-Mom was very fortunate that the blindness was only temporary. Sometimes it's permanent.
Hypoglycemia can cause death or brain damage. I've seen it happen on this forum.

I'm really, really hoping the Lantus users here can help you get on a dose that helps Mom-Mom but doesn't put her at risk.

Eliz
 
Its 8:17 a.m she now reads 102. THANK GOD . I am on top of the world right now......for now
 
The nadir for Lantus can be later than +7 for some cats.

Check again in 1 hour.
 
She is at 453. She only gets her insulin on the 8's. That's 8 hours away. Someone PLEASE HELP ME
 
Mom-Mom said:
She is at 453. She only gets her insulin on the 8's. That's 8 hours away. Someone PLEASE HELP ME
Click to expand...

Mom-Mom's Mom, please hear me...

The numbers are high because Mom-Mom's blood glucose has bounced in an attempt to protect her. This may not always happen. The dose needs to be reduced...

We care about you. Please let us help you.

(((Hugs)))
 
Mom-mom's mom

Did you understand what we are saying?

We need to know if you understand correctly.
 
Actually, BJM I don't understand what +7 is or Nadir. I didn't want to sound stupid so I didn't say anything. I did do another test and she was a 592. That was 2 hours ago at 2 p.m
 
There are no stupid questions. Every one of us started out knowing nothing and had to learn what everything meant. You will get the hang of it.

nadir = lowest glucose between shots

+# is any tests # hours after shot
ex.
+7 is any test 7 hours after a shot

You don't want the glucose to go any lower than 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer or 80 mg/dL on a pet-specific glucometer


In the upper right of the displayed page is a link to our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). You may find it helpful to browse those when things are calmed down a bit.
 
The +# are at the top of your spreadsheet and show when a glucose test was done with respect to the insulin injection. We're in many different time zones and doing it this way helps folks understand what the numbers could indicate.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
Its now a few minutes before 5. I just did another test it was "hi". I am gonna wait till 8 for another test, plus Im gonna run out of strips before the ones from Amazon get here, I only have 6 left and my order wont be here till the 14th, I have no clue what I am gonna do. I cant even afford to buy more, I barely get by on disability. Plus my husband needs a liver and just found out he has C.O.P.D to go with the scierosis of the liver. Its in Gods hands now
 
oh my goodness, you are dealing with a lot! sending you a bucket full of hugs.

what is your name?

you don't ever need to feel dumb here - as others said, every single one of us arrived without knowing anything about feline diabetes. we've all had to learn, but having learned many of us have stayed to help others that are in your exact position. so please, ask away.

the high numbers will pass - just like they did since the last time she was high. they usually don't last more than 3 days - and fortunately for Mom Mom, that's a protective mechanism that keeps a cat alive when their blood sugar goes too low.

Where are you located? You must be east coast. We have members everywhere and no doubt someone can get some strips to you asap. In fact, I know someone who has a meter and strips to give away. If you will pm me your name and address, I'll connect you to her.

Hang in there - this has such a steep learning curve and it's so very overwhelming for everyone at the beginning, but truly, we'll help you one step at a time until you've got it. just let us know when you don't understand something and please keep asking questions. we totally get how overwhelming this is.

Before you shoot again, we want you to significantly reduce the dose. Sometimes after a hypo event a cat can become very sensitive to insulin. I want to discuss her situation with some others and will get back to you with a suggestion for a new dose. I think you're shooting in about 2 hours from now. Please wait for me.
 
hi!

ok, Dyana and I talked about it, and we're thinking with the limited strips it might be best for us to err on the conservative side. We're suggesting a dose of 0.25u.

There are pictures of what that looks like here. Scroll down the page until you see the pics.

I'd think you really need to get a preshot # to make sure it's safe to shoot. don't worry if it's high - from the low number last night and then reducing the insulin like this, she may stay high for days. But it will be better to have her high than too low when you don't have enough strips to do mid-cycle tests.

The person I'm talking about will donate the meter and 200 strips to you. We all get how it is to manage this on a tight budget. She might be able to get them to you fairly quickly, depending on where you live.

hang in there! truly - the learning curve is so steep, but you'll get there! it even becomes routine after a while! the first time i was able to test punkin while talking on the phone i thought "i think i've got this!!" you'll be thinking that before long too.
 
I wanted to link your last post in the Tight Reg forum so you could take a look at it. One of the things that can happen is that people can post at the same time, and valuable information can get missed. Please click here.

we're really concerned that Mom Mom's dose get reduced immediately. When a cat has had a symptomatic hypo, they can become very sensitive to insulin. We know 1.0u is too much because it dropped her to 25, and she had temporary blindness.

Please, please, please, for her safety, reduce her dose to 0.25u regardless of how high her blood sugar is. We understand diabetic cats and how Lantus works. She needs less insulin. This is critically important.
 
I'm posting this here because I sent it to Laura in response to a pm from her:

ohmygosh Laura, I just saw your update on the spreadsheet of +4/285. This means that she's dropped over 300 points in 4 hours. And if i'm reading things right, you're out of strips.

You need to stop her drop immediately. that is too fast, and it means that she's cleared the high numbers and is on her way down. Can you get to walmart and get the strips asap?

Instead of orange juice, you're going to want to give her high carb cat food if you have any - anything that says gravy on it. most of the carbs are in the gravy. If you don't have that, add some sugary syrup to her cat food - honey, karo syrup, pancake syrup - anything like that.

please let me know you saw this. i'm going to post it on your last thread on main health.

julie
 
Mom-Mom said:
So its now 3:12p.m and Mom-mom's BG is 374. Is that getting better?
Click to expand...

Hiya Laura,

Can I just clarify a couple of things?

Do you now have a supply of test strips?
What (if any) action have you taken so far since Julie and Punkin's message (above)? Did the blood glucose come up on it's own or because you gave syrup/karo etc?
(Just trying to see where we're at.)

Big reassuring (((hug))) to you. ( We know this isn't easy.)

Eliz
 
Eliz:
My husband grabbed me a supply of 20 strips this afternoon. I do have 100 ReliOn strips coming from Amazon. I ran out because the last order I placed with Amazon was for 100 Freestyle Lite meter that the pharmacy gave me for free. That was until I started seeing (actually most) of the readings that were like 150-300 difference in numbers when compared to the Accu-Check I borrowed from my mother until my Free Style strips got here. In the meantime I was told on here to buy the ReliOn meter and strips instead. So Amazon is accepting the Freestyle strips back on a return, however, they are taking their sweet ole time sending me the ReliOn strips. In the meantime I did buy 20 ReliOn strips on Friday but since I had the "episode" with her yesterday, I used the 20 ReliOn strips that I just bought Friday. Thank You for asking though but I am good, for the time being anyway. This is sooooo dramatic with this cat. If I didn't love this cat more than life itself theres no way I would go through this for anyone or any kitty. Well actually I probably would but I would like to believe I wouldn't. LOL I will test her again around 6pm but, in the meantime I think a nap sounds great. Again, Thank You for your concern
 
thanks for getting another test in! so she stopped dropping and stayed high - very strange. it looked like she was dropping fast.

it is very hard at the beginning, but once you get the dose reduced, her numbers will stop zooming high and plummeting. she's going so high because she's gone too low. she's going too low because the dose is too much for what she needs now.

Glad you got more strips. reduce to 0.25u tonight, even though it doesn't look like it's anything. for some cats that's all they need. their bodies are very small. if you get a number at preshot that you aren't sure about whether or not it's safe to shoot, please post here and/or on the Tight Reg forum and ask for help deciding what to do. Experienced people can help with the decision. Everyone does this at the beginning if they get a low number. If it's a high number, you just give 0.25u and hold the course.

Did she have DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) when she was diagnosed? or ketones? did the vet say anything like that? i'm thinking that's why the vet said it was the worst kind of diabetes - ketones make cats extremely sick.

it might help if you keep posting just on one post instead of posting new ones. it keeps the info together so people can give you the best possible help.

it really does get easier, laura. hang in there. the people on here are generous and will teach you what you need to know. we live & breathe feline diabetes 24/7/365. we get it.

julie
 
The vet told me initially that her keytones were high, however, I don't know if it had anything to do with being traumatized while she was there but, I have tested SEVERAL times and ALWAYS come up with a good reading. I do have the keytone test strips for that as well. I feel really bad about the fact that I cant give her dry food anymore. Even just before bed if I could give her just a little. But she has been very co-operative with me. She is such a good cat. She doesn't get any treats anymore so I have been trying to compensate for that and ended up buying her 2 new beds and a "kitty gym" this week. No matter how many new things she gets, she always goes back to her old cat perch. That thing was supposed to be "trash" 3 years ago when my mom threw it out and my trash pickin husband bought it home. LMAO He's not really a trash picker, but I tease him about getting that out of the trash even still after 3 years. I call him "Lamont", you know from Sandford & Son. I used to love that show. Anyway, I will DEFINITELY only do 0.25 tonight. Also, is there any treats that you know of that I can give to her??? I tried the Blue Wilderness treats but it sent her sugars wayyyy up. So I threw them out. Please let me know. I looked in Petco yesterday but didn't have any luck there
 
Freeze dried chicken treats are great. I use the Halo brand, and I believe there is another brand. They have no carbs, are just 100% chicken and I have never seen a cat who didn't love them. I know you can purchase them at Amazon and other online retailers, I dont think Petsmart or Petco carry them though.
 
Just adding a few more ideas to what Katiesmom said on the treats. Anything pure protein makes a good treat for a diabetic cat. Lots of use the freeze dried treats Like PureBites (check the dog section for bigger bags) but fresh meat or poultry, raw or cooked would work too. Tuna in water only. Ham but it's a bit salty and can be sugary. A tiny piece of cheese.

A treat doesn't have to be food either. Maybe your cat loves to be brushed, or ear scritchies or picked up and hugged. Those work as treats too.
 
I wasn't able to get to the medication,computer or cat until 9:30. She is a 481 do I keep her at .25?
 
Laura, only 0.25U for now as has been suggested over in your post in the Lantus TR group forum.

Mom-mom has about 5 different topics going in at least 2 different forums. She is posting over in the Lantus TR forum and getting assistance from the folks there. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=116766&view=unread#unread

We are trying to get Laura to post only in one place, and that is in this post for now.

Laura has been advised by several members to only give 0.25U and hold that dose for a minimum of 6 cycles. People were concerned with the increased insulin sensitivity that is sometimes seen when a cat drops really low into the 20's. We don't want another incident of temporaty blindness for Mom-mom.
 
Deb & Wink said:
...We are trying to get Laura to post only in one place, and that is in this post for now.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea, Deb. But can I suggest a 'however' to that? The 'however' being that if there is a real emergency that needs immediate attention - and there is nobody around in the Lantus forum to help - that Laura posts on the main Health forum also?

Eliz
 
The she should include in her post in the Health forum that people should reply in the Lantus forum, giving a link to that forum topic.
 
Larry I am having this much trouble with ONE cat and how many do you have??? You are truly a hero. That is so kind of you
 
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