feeding beeber and testing blood

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lucybooz

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i'm confused. my vet said to feed beeber and THEN test the blood. how long AFTER feeding must i wait to do the blood test? can it be done right after feeding?

i checked her and it was 434 then remembered i had to feed her then check her. she has now eaten and i'm about to put her thru yet another test - her poor ear is sore i think.

thanks
 
I know this is confusing to have to learn so much so quickly. Let me simplify this part:

The test is to know where her actual bg is to be sure it's safe to give her insulin so it needs to be without food

The body needs food for the insulin to turn to energy during that cycle so you want her to eat before (during) shot.

Your test before is just fine....You're getting it! Hope this helps a bit...

HUGS!
 
We test first because the food can raise the number and we want a "real" number. Then you can feed and shoot. Lots of us give the kitty the shot while they are busy eating.

So your test is fine and you don't need to do another.

Are you testing for ketones also? Her numbers are still pretty high.

After you poke her, hold the ear for a few seconds. That will help the bruising. You can also use Neosporin with pain relief. - a tiny smear on the spot.
 
i got the keto-strips but have not been able to catch her in the litter box. there are wet spots so i guess i must be more diligent about catching her. i tried pushing the test strip into the wet litter but i don't think it worked. the strip didn't change color at all, which if done properly, would be great.

thanks for the 911 advice. i'm off to give her her shot.

don't know what i would have done without you guys. both beeber and myself say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
 
sorry but i have yet another question? i'm under the impression she needs checking and insulin, if needed, every 12 hours. tomorrow we go to church and do our shopping. her usual times have been 10:30 - 10:45. if we are not home at that time (and normally we are not on sunday), will it hurt to test around noon?
 
I am not sure what you are asking. You need to test before each shot so you know it is safe to give the dose you are planning on. Shots need to be 12 hours apart. With her numbers and the threat of ketones, you would not to shoot later than the 12 hour time frame. Her numbers could get very high after 12 hours.
 
What is the latest time you could test and shoot before leaving for church? In the case of needing to shoot, along with concern about ketones, if you have to pick between shooting early or shooting late, and that can't be avoided, I would shoot early rather than let the BG climb beyond the 12 hour schedule.

Shooting early may mean needing to adjust the dose, so if you can tell us when you could stall until you have to leave for church, we can help you figure out the dose.

Carl
 
we leave for church at 8 a.m. we are giving her ONE unit of insulin. can i check before i leave - she' eaten at 5:30 a.m. and now eating a little again. should i check her blood before leaving for church and if it's over 200 give her a shot? could the #'s be high because of the small amount of insulin we are giving her? i'm keeping a log and go back friday with her and the vet said they may then adjust her insulin. i'm going to desperately try to the ketone strip in the uring today. i'm really concerned about giving her the shot 2 hours earlier than normal, or else be 1-2 hours late. we could pobably be home by 11, so would that be ok to shoot then?
 
I'm not sure what insulin you are using so my response may not be entirely accurate since I am most familiar with Lantus. You need to be able to give insulin as close to every 12 hours as possible. If you are going to be 2 hours off schedule today, are you able to adjust your shot time this evening and tomorrow? The most we typically recommend to move a shot time is by 15 min. per shot or 30 min. once a day. You may need to give some thought to your shot time so you can not only accommodate your weekday schedule but also your schedule on Sunday.

At least with Lantus and Levemir, because they are long-acting insulin, an early shot acts like a dose increase and a late shot acts like a dose reduction. IMHO, it's better to shoot late than early especially if you can't be there to monitor with an early shot.
 
She is using Prozinc: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=71791#p779858 This is a cat that had ketones.

Can you temporarily replace the normal cat litter with fish tank gravel so you can get a urine sample to test for ketones? Make sure to wash out the litter box thoroughly because litter residue may affect the ketone tset reading. It may be easier to buy a cheap non-hooded cat litter box for a few dollars and fill that with fish tank gravel and let your cat only use that box. After your cat has used the litter box, tip the box a little to pool up the urine into a corner and stick a urine test strip into that. It's ideal to use fresh urine.
 
here's what happened. we got home from church around 11:30 which made it one hour later than the regular testing time. i checked her blood and it was 475, which was just a little higher than when we tested at 12 hr intervals. i gave her her 1 unit and she wanted to eat so i let her eat. she's eating really good today and has begun grooming herself again. she's jumping up on the counter - really acting more and more herself.

these #'s i'm getting - 440's - 470's......are these NORMAL #'s to be gotten just before getting a shot? also, i'm trying desperately to keep my eye on her to take the ketone test. what bothers me is the vet telling me i DON'T have to worry about them, and everyone here making it sound IMPERATIVE to get this. i'm trying and will try the fish gravel. if i can get at least one sample maybe we can relax a bit.
 
Those numbers are fairly high and we would like to see them lower. The one important question is whether she goes down mid cycle, so a number 6 hours after the shot is important. If she is dipping low and then bouncing back up, we wouldn't want to increase the dose. If she stays consistently high through the cycle, we would want to increase.

Are you feeding all wet low carb and if yes, when did you switch? It can take the diet a few cycles to kick in. And if she still has an infection, that can cause higher blood glucose levels.

Can we help you set up a spreadsheet? It will really help people set your history of dosing/numbers when you want advice. Here are the instructions: If you want help, send me a pm and I'll help you set it up.

Yes, get that ketone test so you can breathe a bit. And get some midcycle numbers.

As a frame of reference, we say a cat is regulated if they range from a little above 200 at preshot and near or below 100s at midcycle. She has a way to go, but she also has some extra stuff going on like the infection.
 
i just caught her in the litter box. the test strip did NOT change color - remained at the real light brown. i held it right under her and it was wet so i'm sure i got it.

i don't know if it's just because she might be feeling better but she is eating really good today, drinking normally, and acting normally. she's gone thru practically a whole can of fancy feast classic liver & chicken feast. i tried to get her to finish the chicken stage 1 baby food but she didn't care for that at all - i used that when i used the syringe, watering it down as well. we always had dry food out - we have 3 cats - and i caught her twice nibbling at it - i'm sure she didn't get much. guess i need to stop putting the dry out altogether. she's on the classic only since friday. we used to give her the gravy/cheese types but she gets NONE of those any longer. if i can remember, and i've had to remember so much lately, they wanted to put her on 2 units but changed it to 1. the first time i tested i tested right AFTER she ate. these 400 #'s are testings done BEFORE she eats. i think that's what folk on here say to do - test BEFORE eating. when she was so sick all they wanted her to do was eat....anything, but now that she's gotten her appetite back, i hope i'm not giving her too much. i also read on here that most fancy feast classics are ok to feed. she really needs to gain some weight back also - she was down to 6-1/2# last tuesday (when she was so sick), from almost 9# in february. she's taking an antiobitic as well (pill form). i go back on friday for a check-up, and with the weekend/holiday it will be difficult to talk to any of the doctors. i don't see anything that is an "emergency", so i will hold off until tuesday if i feel i need to call them.

right now i'm testing in the morning (10:30) and evening (10:30). i'm not understanding the "curve" you talk about. must she be checked more than twice/day?

i'd love to set up this chart, but please tell me how to "pm" you.

can her poor little ears take all this pricking?????
 
lucybooz said:
i'm not understanding the "curve" you talk about. must she be checked more than twice/day?
Click to expand...

A "curve" is when you test blood glucose levels approximately every 2 hours for a 12 hour period. This is to see how your cat is responding to the insulin. A curve can be done whenever you have a full day available, like a weekend.

Checking blood glucose levels twice day, before each insulin shot, is the very minimum. Most people also get in a random test or two in between the shots just to see how their cat is doing.

i'd love to set up this chart, but please tell me how to "pm" you.
Click to expand...

The spreadsheet instructions are here: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130

PM is private message. There should be a clickable PM box at the bottom of her post. If you don't see it, go to her profile and click on the PM box in the Contact section: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=229

can her poor little ears take all this pricking?????
Click to expand...


Don't worry. A cat's ears can take multiple pokings :smile: My diabetic was a pincushion from being poked multiple times daily for 4 years and there was no damage to his ear.
 
Hi!

I'm Lu-Ann and my extra sweet boy is Grayson. He has had MODERATWE ketones 3 times. The first time everyone was concerned - for good reason. But as long as you stay on top of the testing, and he continues to register as negative or trace you should be fine. But test as often as you can, as it may ultimately save your kitty's life! If it's ever SMALL or above, you need to get him some attention.

The rule of thumb is to test, then feed, then shoot. As described above, you want a test that's not influenced by food. Grayson likes to eat, so he's sometimes MORE stationary if I feed him and test him simultaneously. Some kitties seem to have digestion problems, and spit up food, so that's why some people may test and feed, then wait 10-30 minutes before shooting. Fancy Feast Beef does not agree with his stomach - he's thrown it up (ALL over the place!) when I've given it to him. So if you pay close attention to what you're feeding him, it will help you see what he likes/doesn't like, and also trends with his numbers. One can of FF food impacts Grayson about 30 points on average. You also want to make sure he eats, so there's food in his stomach when he's shot. Again, not an issue w/ Grayson, but our routine has become pretty expectable for him, so it's not been a problem.

If your kitty is eating, and there's no sign of infection, then a ketone scare can be less of a concern... but ketones can pop up in a matter of hours, so it's VERY IIMPORTANT to keep them in check. I always say the test strips are the best little insurance policy you can get in a $10 bottle!

It helps to look at other peoples' spreadsheets to see what to expect. Grayson's is not up to date, but you can look at it to see how frequently I test and what kinds of notes I make. Typically food type & quantity, ketone tests, any any other variations from the norm.

Most of us started out w/ kitties' preshot numbers in the 400s. Grayson has another condition called "insulin resistance", so he did not respond normally to the shots. He's also on a much higher dose as a result of that, so keep in mind that his spreadsheet does not look "normal". But you can click on others to see what their kitties are doing, and that's very helpful.

I'm not on as regularly as I once was, but will check back in on you to see how you're doing. If you have specific questions, be sure to post them and others and I will be back to offer our experience and [hopefully] wisdom! And you can come over to the PZI Insulin group to have the folks with the most experience in Prozinc helping you!

Lu-Ann
 
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