food & insulin before work

[majandra]

I understand that there should be no food 2 hrs prior to preshot test, but is there a way to do this when you don't have 3 hours before work to remove dish, test/feed/shoot, and get +1? I'm not able to get a timed feeder yet.

 

[Sybil and Zoe]

In an ideal world that would be great but we dont live in that world do we? It also would be great if we didnt have to give a shot before they have eaten but that is not reality a lot of times either. Zoe was so skittish at first it was a mess trying to capture her to test and there was and is not a day that she would be amenable to getting her ear stuck and then eating and getting stuck again for insulin. I would NEVER make it to work! It is important to have a feel for how your cat responds to insulin so starting on a weekend is best if you work a M-F job like me. I have been trying on weekends to do glucose curves so that I can see how her BG responds. I feel comfortable now getting her first thing in the morning (she comes and gets me by 6 am and I test her and give her the shot and she eats. When she was struggling to eat what I was giving her, it was a little nerve wrecking, but she has adapted mostly to eating what I put down. I was too strict at first and the food issue was draining me but I have loosened a bit and taken advise of others and crumbled her favorite Temptation treats and put a little topping on both kittys wet food and they eat it or a good part of it. I reward Zoe with a few treats after shots too. Now she comes to where I sit to do the shots and gets on the sofa beside me just so she can have her treats afterwards. If she has had an off reading, I have run home from work about 4 hours later to check her BG (after she had one dip into the green zone of 68) when I was adjusting her dose. All cats are different just like people so how yours will respond to insulin may be different. I have had a few freak outs over things but mostly things get better as both you and kitty adjusts to the new normal. Others may differ with me on this but I would not stress about the "fasting" preshot, as long as you know she/he is eating after the shot. My cats are fed twice a day when I do the testing and if they dont eat all the food in their bowl, Zoe may be eating it before the morning shot but I feel like it is eaten up during the night long before her morning test. I do not feel comfortable taking up the food they do not finish when I go to work or to bed in case she has a drop in BG and needs something while I am not around, since she is not allow to free feed with kibble like before her diagnosis..

 

[Tracey&Jones (GA)]

Jones free feeds as he always ate that way and with his medical issues it works best for him. I know that my PS maybe food influenced. That said, as long as he is willing to eat a few bites I gave him a shot. Not sure what insulin you will be going with but with Lantus you know you have two hours for them to eat. So as long as he was willing to eat....the shot went in.

The other thing I did was observe him. When I am home I would take note when he normally ate. So I know sometimes he would eat at +11 and other times he was done by +10 and didn't eat anymore until fresh food was put out. I can usually tell the food influenced days from the others.

 

[Molly and Sammy]

My Sammy is a ravenous crazy cat when I get up in the morning, and that is when I need to test and shoot. His food dish is empty and he chews my arm off if I try to test him first. Vet said give him a small spoonful of wet food to settle him down, and test/shoot immediately after. Clearly there's no question of whether he'll eat after the shot, and his numbers are still high enuf that a small food influence is not a big deal. Then he gets his full breakfast and our day begins. When his numbers get better I will probably need to adjust, but this workaround got us through the early days.