First time doing in home testing-results ?

[Frank's Mom]

Ok, so I got myself all prepare today and got a Relion monitor and strips, and a lancing kit. We're all set to go. Frank gets his insulin at 7:30 A and P, so right before tonight's dose, I checked his sugar. (It would have helped if I had been putting the strips in the meter the right way the first 2 pokes...ugh.) Anyhow, we got a reading of 384. I know I'm new to this, but holy moly does that seem crazy high. (He was 199 at the vet with initial diagnosis.) How closely should I be monitoring his eating? Maybe he's eating too much and that's why it's high? Would anyone recommend cutting the dry food altogether, seeing as the number is still so high? Or maybe it's because his next dose of insulin was due. I'd like to check him again in a bit to see where he's at, now that I know I can do it myself. (I was so nervous I'd mess up, or he'd be in pain, but I don't think he even noticed.) Just looking for general advice on what to do now that I at least have a number to go off of.

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

Congrats on your first test . I'm still a new member but one thing I do is partially insert the test strip, so it doesn't turn on, poke his ear and when I see it's a good blood drop I push the test strip in all the way. This helps me so I don't feel too rushed to poke him and have the meter time out. Generally with the pre test shot you want to make sure they have NOT eaten anything 2 hours prior so the BG number is not food influenced.

A lot of people do recommend cutting out dry food completely but I would get a little more comfortable with testing for a couple days. Cutting out dry food can drastically lower their numbers . There are some, including myself, who leave dry food in the diet by using one of the better formulated dry foods for sugar kitties. The statement Every Cat Is Different (ECID) sounds like a blow off answer but it really is true .

I don't think 384 is a terrible number as you will see by looking at other people's SS and it will usually be higher closer to when his next injection is due. ProZinc usually has a nadir (lowest reading in the cycle) between the 5-7 hours after shot. I'm sure some of the more experienced members will chime in too

For any insulin specific questions, hop on over to the ProZinc thread!

 

[JanetNJ]

It's high but believe me most of us have seen numbers even higher. My cat had numbers in the 400's and 500's before getting things under control. Very good advice above.


Make sure not to feed two hours prior to the preshot test so the number is not food influenced.

 

[Frank's Mom]

I'm probably feeding him too much. He's very vocal about getting food, and it's always driving me crazy. (He likes to sing the song of his people called "My Food Bowl is Almost Empty". He sings it over, and over, and over.) I didn't realize I should take the food away before testing, so that's probably what I've done here. I actually gave him some dry food not horribly long before the test, and I'm sure he scarfed it. (He's getting Royal Canin glycobalance, so it is lower in carbs, but still...) I think I'll try to test again in the middle of the night to see what we get. When I'm sleeping (and not in the kitchen) he's less likely to sing his song when I take his food away.

 

[JanetNJ]

I'm probably feeding him too much. He's very vocal about getting food, and it's always driving me crazy. (He likes to sing the song of his people called "My Food Bowl is Almost Empty". He sings it over, and over, and over.) I didn't realize I should take the food away before testing, so that's probably what I've done here. I actually gave him some dry food not horribly long before the test, and I'm sure he scarfed it. (He's getting Royal Canin glycobalance, so it is lower in carbs, but still...) I think I'll try to test again in the middle of the night to see what we get. When I'm sleeping (and not in the kitchen) he's less likely to sing his song when I take his food away.

Unregulated cats need to eat more than other cats because they can not properly utilize the nutrients in the food. It's OK to feed them several times over day and overnight, just don't feed two hours prior to preshot testing.

 

[Frank's Mom]

Tested again...about 5.5 hours after his last insulin....and he's at 353. So I'm thinking his dose is too low, but will calibrate my meter to the one at the vet's on Thursday. Definitely going to try to withhold the dry food for now and focus on just the wet to see if we can't get him to a better reading. I'm so happy I found this board and got so much good info. Also found out a friend's cat was diagnosed last week as well, so hoping we'll see him on this board soon, too.

 

[JanetNJ]

Tested again...about 5.5 hours after his last insulin....and he's at 353. So I'm thinking his dose is too low, but will calibrate my meter to the one at the vet's on Thursday. Definitely going to try to withhold the dry food for now and focus on just the wet to see if we can't get him to a better reading. I'm so happy I found this board and got so much good info. Also found out a friend's cat was diagnosed last week as well, so hoping we'll see him on this board soon, too.

With the numbers still that high I agree skipping the dry is a good idea. Skip the dry and hold the dose and just keep recording the data. It may take a few days for the numbers to come down on a dose. (Keep the dry on hand in case you ever need to steer numbers up.... You should have a few cans of Hugh carb gravy food also in case of a hypo, as well as honey.).

When you can, set up a spreadsheet as well. Do you need a link to our template?