First home test on meter, need guidance on reading please

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Deborah Martin

Deborah Martin

Member Since 2018
Hi feline friends family! I finally did a successful home test with a Relion meter! I got home from work at 4:45. I hadn't feed Doody since I left for work at 5 a.m, but I had given him an entire can of Friskies Pate then. When I got home, I gave him a can of Fancy feast, which he ate a few nibbles of, as he does. He likes to eat, roam a bit, and come back to the food several times.
I was able to do the test! Finally found the vein in his ear. Not an easy thing on a black cat, in my humble opinion.
Anyway.....the result was 87.
Now then....what should I make of that? It sounds really good to me, but I'm still very new to all of this. I give him one unit of Lantus at 5 a.m. and another at 5 p.m. I don't want to give him his 5 p.m. shot until I'm certain he needs it.
He's on a very low carb diet of Friskies and FF, as recommended on the food chart on this wonderful website. I'm so hoping that makes a huge difference in his need for the insulin.
He had a glucose curve done last Thursday, at the Vet, and his numbers were in the 331 to 480 range all day. So the Vet Tech told me to increase his dose to 2 units, twice a day. HOWEVER....I showed her what the mark I was going by on the hyopermic needle, and it turns out I was only giving him a 1/2 unit twice per day! So....my thing is....now....giving him 2 units twice a day seems like way too much. And with this reading of 87, it really, really seems like it's not wise.
Help, as you can sense if you read this far...I need some help with this.
As always, thanks and more thanks.
 
87 is way too low to give him his insulin. Did you test him before or after you fed him? It's always test, feed and shoot, if his numbers permit. I'm not sure about lantus, but we usually don't shoot below 200 or more. We want our kitties to be safe from hypos. You might want to post in the Lantus forum. It's a busy group with lots of experienced people. They will be a lot of help.
 
I don't use Lantus so this is a quick hello and really basic advice. 331 to 480 was high, 87 is better but that number should have been after 2 hours without food. Be absolutely positive about how much insulin you're giving, never reshoot if you think you missed (a fur-shot or poking through the tent), do not give insulin at 87.
It's a long road but you're off to a good start. Better advice is coming especially from people who use Lantus.
 
donnalea said:
87 is way too low to give him his insulin. Did you test him before or after you fed him? It's always test, feed and shoot, if his numbers permit. I'm not sure about lantus, but we usually don't shoot below 200 or more. We want our kitties to be safe from hypos. You might want to post in the Lantus forum. It's a busy group with lots of experienced people. They will be a lot of help.
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Hi! Thanks for the reply. I had just been home about 15 minutes and he had a few nibbles of FF prior to the test. Again, bless you for the reply.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
I don't use Lantus so this is a quick hello and really basic advice. 331 to 480 was high, 87 is better but that number should have been after 2 hours without food. Be absolutely positive about how much insulin you're giving, never reshoot if you think you missed (a fur-shot or poking through the tent), do not give insulin at 87.
It's a long road but you're off to a good start. Better advice is coming especially from people who use Lantus.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your reply! Thanks! He was without food most of the afternoon, since I feed both he and his sister (the kitty food vacuum) together before I head to work int he morning. He only had a few nibbles of FF prior to the test. I thought 87 was low, and was pretty certain he shouldn't get any insulin at 5, as I usually do give him. I'm going to try, try, try to test him in the morning (even though doing so at 5 a.m. is going to be more fun than I can imagine!) to see if he needs his a.m. shot. I've been so careful with keeping their carbs low, but am amazed at the low reading so soon into this diabetes adventure. Again, thanks for the help and advice. So appreciated.
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB:)
If you are getting a reading of 87 with giving 1/2 unit Lantus insulin, DO NOT increase the dose. When in the cycle did you get the 87 ( how long after the insulin shot?)
Cats typically have higher BSL readings at the vet as they get stressed which sends up the BSL so curves taken at the vet are not very reliable. Home testing is far safer for the cat.
ALWAYS test before giving an insulin shot to check it is safe to give the shot, and if it is below 200 stall and don't feed and post online for advice.
This Lantus forum has many experienced people who can help you so I would start posting here
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

It would help if you could set up a spreadsheet and post all the blood sugar readings. You will need to have a SS for people to be able to help you with dosing. Here is the link. If you have trouble setting it up,yell and someone will help.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
Go to the Lantz forum. My cat was on Lantus and unless it was below 50 I would shoot him his regular insulin shot .87 in my opinion is okay to give insulin but it depends on if he was fed or not before the shot go to the Lantus forum and ask them
 
Lesliejm said:
Go to the Lantz forum. My cat was on Lantus and unless it was below 50 I would shoot him his regular insulin shot .87 in my opinion is okay to give insulin but it depends on if he was fed or not before the shot go to the Lantus forum and ask them
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Go look at my spreadsheet and see my numbers and when I did shoot and at whatwhat number I shot at.
 
Hmmmm, I am new as well and told a couple of times that I should not give Princess a shot under 200 (She is on Vetsulin 1 unit x twice a day) - I also generally do Friskies Pate during the day and Fancy Feast classic at night. I have been keeping track of what Friskies I give her on my chart and think different ones have different effects, time will tell. I also leave food out all day and take it away 2 hours before testing (Important)

She had a 487 last night and a 82 this morning. Also tested on a Relion "Confirm" meter, I sometimes wonder if the amount of blood makes a difference, they say as long as it beeps its ok, but it sure seems the times I don't get a good blood drop I get a real low reading. I don't mean to jump on to your thread, but we doing things so similar (except which insulin we use) I wonder if we can learn from each other.

PS: I use to go for the vein and was told NOT TO, but to go along the rim of the ear right next to the vein, the vein was painful, and I could see bruising where I hit the vein, just get the lip of the ear next to the vein I was told.
 
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