Fast reaction to first ever shot?

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As an alternative to dry food you could get some high carb gravy wet food or even medium carb to put down. People use this instead of honey when it comes to a hypo or when a cat is heading low so I feel it would also be suitable for you to put down overnight until you can get some tests under your belt.

Hopefully others will advise.
 
I had tried adjusting the depth, yes. She didn't even seem to react until it was on 5 so I'm not sure 3.5 is going to work for her. My husband says the next Walmart along is usually better stocked so we're going to try the pharmacy there tomorrow for the bigger lancets. If those don't work, then I guess she's getting the 18 gauge fluid needles for a bit until her ears start to co-operate a little more. If I'd started with one of those tonight I think she'd have been fine - she was just tired of me trying by the time I got to using that. And with her starting to move around, there was too much risk of me seriously hurting her or sticking the needle straight through my finger...though I've done that before and survived!

We do have some very high-carb wet food in the house - some of the 9 lives in gravy. It's only ever really been an emergency food for any time any of them are too sick to want to eat but I could put out a little of that for her in case she needs it. I have a sneaking feeling she's self-regulating on some level. The only thing she would eat the couple of days between being diagnosed and starting insulin was a few pieces of cooked meat and she's only picked at a mouthful of the dry food a couple of times today. It's as if she knows what she needs and is figuring some of it out herself - she really enjoyed the Friskies low carb food tonight but didn't really want to eat the MD either yesterday or this morning.
 
I don't think you should put that down until others more experienced members chime in as it might be too much. Remi used to self regulate somewhat. He would get up and tell me when he was hungry and then walk away when done. I guess the worry with putting down high carb wet is that they eat it just because it's so nice :)

You did the right thing walking away from the ear testing. They say three goes at any one time maximum otherwise everyone will be too stressed. Leave it an hour, you can always try again. The preshot tests are the ones you want to get each day but you also ideally want to aim for one during each cycle if you manage it.

Did you try heating the ear with a rice sock? I would get everything ready, heat the ear and then hold the ear behind where I was going to poke it. This helped the blood to pool in the ear. You might see the blood vessels expand. Then poke and then keep holding behind the spot but also hold and gently squeeze in front of the poked bit. Sort of massage the two bits you are holding. The blood drop should appear.
 
PS. If you ever have an emergency start a new thread and put urgent or 911 in the title. You can also amend the title of this thread by going back to the first post and pressing edit.
 
I haven't put any out yet - only a bit of the dry. And as Regan has to sleep in the bedroom if Rosa is or she gets insanely jealous I think she's grabbing some of it too as it's still her regular food. I have a feeling she would eat some of it regardless - that's why we've always kept a couple of cans in for any time any of them get sick and don't feel like eating anything else.

I did heat her ear with the rice sock (she quite liked that bit) and had my hubby holding the flashlight so I could see the blood vessels in her ear while I was poking it. I think the lancets were just too small as it's not something her ear's used to yet. I know I could've got some with the 18 gauge needle if she'd been OK with it, but as she wasn't by then I'll wait and try either later or first thing in the morning - she'll be well monitored overnight either way. I did try the massage - I could see a pink spot where I'd poked her but no blood actually came out. She's being very good about it all which was why I didn't continue after she stopped being happy to let me try - she actually let me get 4 attempts in with the smaller needle without stressing at all which is pretty amazing given that she's not used to any of this at all just yet. Tomorrow is a brand new day and I'm sure it'll all go better then. :)
 
Oh, and thank you - I'll keep in mind to post something marked urgent if it's an emergency. Because of the CKD kitty who's had a crisis point with it a couple of times, we're pretty familiar with the overnight emergency vet here and I have the instructions for what to do at home as an immediate measure though I'm 100% sure I'll panic if something does go wrong of course.
 
You are doing great, much better than when I first started. Keep some low carb treats on hand for when you do test her. Stress is the probably one of the worst things about finding out your cat has diabetes. I stopped eating and could think of nothing else. Make sure you can relax and give yourself a few treats too.

I do hope I haven't overloaded you at all with info. I would like to give you one last link. A message from your cat:)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/letter-from-your-kitty-to-you-during-this-time.131186/
 
Trust me, I'm really not. I've cried all over hubby, all over pretty much all of the cats - even at the vet office yesterday. And I forgot to make dinner last night I was so busy making sure Rosa ate hers! We always have either turkey or beef or both from the deli in the house - it's her favorite treat and I reckon fine in small quantities as it's pretty much pure protein.

I do keep reminding myself that I have to sleep and eat and maybe just relax and play a video game or watch a movie at some point - if I get sick too I'll be no good to her and she needs me to get her well.

You haven't overloaded the information at all - I'm really grateful for all the help. It makes such a difference knowing that other people are managing this for their cats and making sure they have a lot of good quality years left. I was so scared when she was first diagnosed that I'd only have a few months or a year left with her and she's too young for me to lose her yet.

Thank you for the link - I really do need to remember some of that. I seem to be checking up on her all the time and sometimes she gives me that look that says 'but I just got to sleep, why are you waking me up now?' I did manage to leave her with our housemate just for half an hour tonight - I felt guilty but at the same time I needed to get out and just breathe for a bit. She was fine of course and he knows exactly what to do if anything goes wrong.
 
manxcat419 said:
So she's still not giving me any blood to test. The only thing is, I think it's the lancets - our local Walmart didn't have any in stock so I'm stuck with the 10 that come with the unit until Monday. I think they're just too small to get me any blood even with all the hints and tips from everyone. I even used a flashlight to make sure I was getting the right spot on her ear but I've stopped before she gets too unhappy with the whole idea. I've given her 3/4 can of Friskies wet food before her shot - going with 1u again and I'll leave some of her old food down again later in case she needs it. She is, however, eating the Friskies just fine which proves to me at least that she just didn't like the MD. She's been pretty alert and bright all day compared to how she was a couple of days ago so I think it is doing her some good even if I can't check for sure just yet. I will, however, get the hang of this testing before they want her curve test doing next week. I think the bigger lancets will help - it was definitely going in her ear but just not getting any blood out.
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It sounds to me as if the lancets could well be the problem manxcat. I'm sure things will go better when you get the right ones.
 
Trust me, I'm really not. I've cried all over hubby, all over pretty much all of the cats - even at the vet office yesterday. And I forgot to make dinner last night I was so busy making sure Rosa ate hers! We always have either turkey or beef or both from the deli in the house - it's her favorite treat and I reckon fine in small quantities as it's pretty much pure protein.

Oh poor you *HUGS* I cried as well when Squiggles was first diagnosed & we were trying to get things sorted out.
 
It does get a lot easier, you will settle into a routine and once the testing becomes easier it isn't half as stressful.

For me I found that by getting up early and testing, feeding and giving the insulin at 6am and then giving it again at 6 pm made all the difference. I could go back to bed at the weekend, sneak in a +1 or +2 test before work and in the evening get the stressful bit out of the way early and then if I found he way going low I could do the things I needed too without it being too late at night and if things were fine and my +1 or +2 test said he wasn't dropping too low or fast I could even pop out and not worry about him (too much). You have to find a routine that will work for you (if you do swap his insulin times you should only do it by 15 minutes per shot).

With regards the chicken from the deli as a treat one thing BJM said to someone else about cooked chicken from the shop is that you have to make sure that it doesn't have sugar added. Sometimes they put a coating on it and sometimes they even inject chicken to make it taste nicer. Is it that type of chicken. Could you ask to make sure or I guess even better you could cook up your own. But that abit of a hassle. Just a thought.
 
Thank you both. I'll get there with it - it's just getting into a routine where I'm not worrying about her every minute of the day. Once she's on a more settled, accurate dose and I know how it affects her and when I'll be fine for sure. She's had another good night and although she's got a way to go yet she's eating much better this morning and looking happy in herself.

I might have to try the waking up early to get everything done a bit earlier in the day. I guess there's no reason I couldn't go back to bed after I give her morning shot if I bring her with me so I can be there if she needs me to be. And of course there will be times when I have to be out in the evening. At the moment she's at around 10 am and pm which really isn't going to be any good long-term - it wouldn't fit around work and it cuts completely into the evening - but I was told by the vet not to give her first shot until she'd eaten so everything finished up being much later than I wanted it to be as it took her so long to eat the food the first day. I'll work on moving her back just the 15 minutes at a time now she's eating better.

None of the meat I buy is meant to have added sugar - I avoid corn syrup completely in everything and only buy things like meat without added sugar. I might well try cooking some myself though - we eat a lot of chicken anyway so cooking up an extra piece plain wouldn't be a bother at all. Both cats are pretty clever at trying to steal little bits of meat from my plate anyway so I think she'd take to that really well and it would mean that she could have it while it's still warm sometimes which she'd like even better. :)
 
With Lantus, unless you've had a problem with her eating, its OK if she doesn't eat right at shot time.
 
Thanks for confirming that. The vet was very insistent that she has to eat all the food every single time before she gets the shot. I can understand that the first couple of times as she'd been eating next to nothing for a few days so it was likely the right advice for that very first shot to make sure she had some food in her system. I'm a bit more relaxed about it now though - she has the food down for a bit before she gets the shot but I'd say today she's only eaten half the food before shot time - she did the same yesterday and then finished it off about an hour later. She never has liked to eat a full bowl of food all at once.
 
Remi's the same. As long as he ate a little and I was happy that he would eat more a little later I would give the shot. Have you had any luck with getting any blood?

I would try to get a blood test 15 minutes before the shot was due so I wouldn't have to panic.
 
No blood yet - I need to pick up those bigger lancets today, but I only just about managed to get out of bed before her shot time after being awake on and off overnight to check on her again. I didn't want to delay her shot by an hour or more by going and getting them first - the local Walmart that didn't have them in stock is only 5 minutes away, but the other one is a good 20-25 minute drive each way. I'll have more time later of course to try for a test before shot time and if everything's looking OK then and at bedtime I'm going to try and start moving her back just by a few minutes each time so her shot times are a little more workable in the long term and so I can get a bit more sleep by having time to observe her for 4 or 5 hours before bedtime. She is, however, clearly feeling pretty good so far this morning - she jumped up for a fuss and then smacked me round the face with her tail which is something she'd always done until recently. Weird how I'm happy about it now when it was never my favorite trick of hers! Once she starts standing up on her hind legs to greet me when I walk in the door again like she's done since she was a kitten, I'll know she's getting close to feeling back to normal.
 
Manxcat, don't make yourself ill trying to do everything perfectly, you'll be no good to her if you're fraught & exhausted xx
I hope you manage to get the lancets you want , & that the blood test is successful. Good idea to move your timetable around so things are more workable.
 
You can change the shot time 15 minutes per shot or a total of 30 minutes once per day.
 
I just called the next Walmart out to make sure they have the right ones - I do have about 5 or 6 stores to choose from in reasonable driving distance. They said they've got a lot of the 26 gauge so I'm going to go get a couple of boxes of those this afternoon just in case I have problems getting them from the local store again next time.
 
I agree with Lynn. It impossible to get it all right straight away so don't kill yourself trying and please don't think I am every pressuring you. :)
 
Hi April, fingers crossed that the larger gauge will do the trick. Even the unsuccessful pokies do help the ears "learn to bleed." As strange as it sounds, our kitties ears do actually start to bleed better the more you poke, because they grow more capillaries in the edge of the ear. It does get easier! I promise! :bighug:
 
I don't feel any pressure from anyone here - just help to try and get this all figured out which is exactly what I need at the moment. I'm sure the larger gauge will make it much easier - I can see the capillaries in her ears with a flashlight, I just need to persuade them to bleed just enough for a sample. I'm sure she'll get there soon - she is trying to help me in her own way by keeping still and staying happy for me even though it must be really strange to her that I'm suddenly poking her with needles for no reason that she could possibly understand.
 
Yay - I got her test first try tonight :) Unfortunately, the number isn't all that good - 566 at +11 though she was a bit stressed this afternoon as there was thunder which she hates. Any opinions on whether I stick at 1 unit or go back to 2?
 
I am not a very experienced with dosing and so can't advise. How many days has she been on this dose for? It can take a few days to build up in the system and I wonder if she has yet to get the full effect. Also without seeing any more test results it may be difficult to advise. Lantus dosing is based on the nadir ie how low a cat goes not necessarily the preshot level. If possible get another couple of tests in today -preshot and then if possible a couple more say one in the early part of the cycle such as a +2 and then another at +5 or +6.

If you bring forward the insulin dose as you are doing that does act like a small dose increase. Are you doing that is that someone else?

You could start a new thread in the main health section with the title something like new lantus user needs dosing advice asap and do a short recap. Put what has happened so far, how many tests you have got, the weight of your cat,etc. or ofcourse amend the title of this thread.
 
Can't really tell with no mid-cycle test.
The pre-shot number could be high because the middle of the cycle was a low for her and compensatory hormones kicked in to release stored glucose (glycogen).
 
Thanks phlika. I did post in the Lantus forum too and got some useful advice there. I'm keeping things as they are for now in case she's bouncing late in the cycle and planning to get some mid-cycle tests on her tomorrow plus a bedtime test tonight to make sure she's not dropping hard and fast after a couple of hours. I'd run the mid-cycle tests overnight but after the last couple of nights with not much sleep from checking on her, I think I'm just going to be too tired to wake up enough to poke her with a needle tonight. Unless she's dropping badly at bedtime of course, in which case I'll be making coffee and carrying on!

It is me who wants to move the dose forward a little each time until it hits a more reasonable time each day - I moved her forward by 15 minutes tonight and I'll be doing the same until it's back at the times I need it to be. I've nothing but praise and cuddles for her tonight - she was great about the test, though bribed with some low-carb treats before, during and after. And I'm feeling a lot more confident too now I know how easy the test was to get with the right needle size.
 
That's great news about getting your first test. I was also thinking that you are transitioning to a low carb wet food aren't you and so this will hopefully have a positive impact on the blood glucose as well and hence the need for as much insulin. If you feel you can monitor her better now I guess you can go ahead and start adding in more of the low carb.

Have you read through the link on storing, handling and injecting lantus? I think I linked it previously but it is at the top of the lantus forum. Somewhere in there is talks about giving the shot to get the best out of it. I was advised to not withdraw the needle too quickly in case it also pulls out some on the liquid lantus. I would pull up the skin, create the tent, inject, let the skin fall back into place and then slowly take out the needle. Well at least that was my aim, half the time remi would walk away, roll over or jump when I gave it him:)
 
Thank you. Yes, I think I'm going to start transitioning her over fully to the low carb wet food. She and Regan both really like the Friskies I bought for Rosa instead of the MD the vet wanted her to have so I'm most likely going to switch Regan over to the same (she has to have whatever her twin has of course - I'm just waiting for her to start 'supervising' Rosa's shots to decide if she might be feeling left out about those too)! I did get a second test from her tonight at a few minutes before +2 but it just read HI so I'll have to wait until tomorrow for some more tests to see how low she's actually going later in the cycle. At least I can sleep tonight knowing she shouldn't drop dangerously low too quickly from that point, though of course I'd have preferred to see her number come down a little not go up.

I did go through the link on Lantus, thank you. I'd already told hubby and our housemate that no matter how full the fridge gets, that takes priority unless they want to pay the 300$ for a replacement vial. Fortunately, we're pretty good about anything like that as hubby's youngest is also diabetic so even though he's not with us all the time, we always have his supplies (including Lantus as well as one of the shorter-acting insulins) in the fridge. I've been trying to take the needle out slowly but as Rosa handles everything much better if she's not restrained that is, as you say, dependent on her not deciding she might just wander off as soon as the shot's done. Mostly she'll just sit there, but if she decides something else interests her more than what I'm doing she'll just get up and walk away ;)
 
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