Frustrated and Discouraged, plus need advice on insuliin

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wsugold

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hi everyone,
it has been a while since i've written last. just to recap real quick, simba was diagnosed w/a # of 438. after switching food he went down to 292.
i switched vets b/c i wasnt happy w.the original one but now i am pleased and more confident w/the new vet.
we just went back the other day to learn how to test his sugar at home. when they used there meter, simba was 348. when i used mine he was 378.
they used a special one for animals...where i bought the one touch.

what meters are you guys using?

i am frustrated b/c at the vet i was able to get blood. at home i am not....or not enough. i tried yesterday and again tonight w/no luck of getting enough. i have already pricked him more than enough times and i dont want him to get so upset by this process since its going to be a regular thing.

anyway when i learned how to do the blood sugar it was a tech that taught up. she also taught us how to do insulin b/c she said she thought w/his #'s the dr would want that.
the next day they called and said they did want to put him on it right away. they put him on lantus 100 u/ml. do you guys use that? Is it good? its pretty expensive.

i guess i'm just frustrated b/c his # went up again and i cant get any dann blood from his ear. is there anywhere else i can try? i havent begun the insulin yet b/c i want to test his sugar at home b/c he was sooooooooooooo upset at the vet, he peed all over everyone. and i wanted to take it in his normal environment. is that stupid?

anyway, any advice on how to get more blood and on the type of meter u use and the type of insulin would be great.

thanks
michelle and simba
 
The most important things for us were heating the ear enough and using bigger lancets. With new diabetics, sometimes you have to warm the ear for a minute or more. 25-27 gauge lancets sometimes work better at first. The 31 gauge sold just make too small a hole.

Lantus is a great insulin.
 
Breathe :) You are doing well so far changing the food and learning to home test before starting on insulin - very good steps!

Lantus is a wonderful insulin to use on cats. It has a very good record of regulation and remission.

Are you using the same lancets at home that the vet tech used when she showed you? If you bought over the counter you probably got some that are way smaller and might want to go find some that are bigger, the lower the number the better. the ones they use in the vet's office are like little tree trunks they are so thick. If you are using a lancing device, try dialing it up higher to bet a deeper poke. Some of those you can use the lancets free-hand instead of in the device and you could try using it free-hand and poke twice in the same spot to get it to bleed.

When we started testing Smokey, we couldn't get anything from the normal spot on her ear called the "sweet spot" on the outer edge of her ear. So I poked her on the top, inside edge of her ear instead. Still do, though sometimes I use the "sweet spot" now when I need to do a lot of pokes in the day, but the edges of her ears at the top inside have always bled much easier than the outside edges so that's usually where we've tested.
 
I may be mistaken but I think the one touch requires 1.0 of blood, you can get other meters that only require 0.6 many people seem to use the Relion from Walmart which has the cheapest strips too. DO NOT BUY the freestyle, although it only requires a tiny 0.3 of blood it does not read accurately at higher numbers - we have renamed it the heartbreaker for that reason.

You can test from the paw but I wouldn't be ready to give up on the ear just yet if I was you. See how you go with more warming and/or increased lance size and/ore change of meter (if I am correct in thinking the one touch requires 1.0 of blood). Also the more you poke the more easily the ear will bleed, I can't remember exactly why something about getting more or larger cappileries. Most people have a bit of trouble to start off with but nearly everyone gets the hang of it so just keep persevering.

I think you are much better off trying to do all these things in the home environment, much less stressful for Simba. Just try not to let it stress you out too much or Simba will know and get upset too.

Lantus is a great insulin the thing to watch out for is many vets suggest too high a starting dose and/or increases that are too large. Many vets seem to think that since the syringes are marked in units then increasing by a unit or more is the way to go - it is not. Around here we only increase by 0.25 or 0.5 at a time. This helps keep kitty safe from overdose and also makes sure you don't go past the best dose for you kitty.
 
wsugold said:
hi everyone,
it has been a while since i've written last. just to recap real quick, simba was diagnosed w/a # of 438. after switching food he went down to 292.
i switched vets b/c i wasnt happy w.the original one but now i am pleased and more confident w/the new vet.
we just went back the other day to learn how to test his sugar at home. when they used there meter, simba was 348. when i used mine he was 378.
they used a special one for animals...where i bought the one touch.

what meters are you guys using?

i am frustrated b/c at the vet i was able to get blood. at home i am not....or not enough. i tried yesterday and again tonight w/no luck of getting enough. i have already pricked him more than enough times and i dont want him to get so upset by this process since its going to be a regular thing.

anyway when i learned how to do the blood sugar it was a tech that taught up. she also taught us how to do insulin b/c she said she thought w/his #'s the dr would want that.
the next day they called and said they did want to put him on it right away. they put him on lantus 100 u/ml. do you guys use that? Is it good? its pretty expensive.

i guess i'm just frustrated b/c his # went up again and i cant get any dann blood from his ear. is there anywhere else i can try? i havent begun the insulin yet b/c i want to test his sugar at home b/c he was sooooooooooooo upset at the vet, he peed all over everyone. and i wanted to take it in his normal environment. is that stupid?

anyway, any advice on how to get more blood and on the type of meter u use and the type of insulin would be great.

thanks
michelle and simba
Click to expand...

For the food, it's great that you changed; food makes a huge difference in your success.
For home testing, I have to say that's another huge important part in success and the safety of your cat.

Unfortunately with the testing, it takes a bit of practice for you to get the hang of it, and the cat's ears to learn to bleed, and the two of you get a routine in place. Rest assured, before you know it, you'll be able to wake in the middle of the nite, test Simba's ear without Simba waking, record that number, and stumble back to bed.

The meter you have, the OneTouch is a great meter; many others are using this meter and I have a OneTouch for my backup meter. My main meter is the Bayer Contour, but both are fine. The cost of test strips are comparable, but many people use one of the Relion meters in the US as they are by far the cheapest meters and also the strips are the most inexpensive. The vet meters are very expensive and so are the strips for that meter, plus one big downside is that the strips are not easy to find, I would guess you are stuck with getting them from the vet. The human meters are perfectly fine; not a thing wrong with them.

The insulin choice of Lantus is very good; I am sure you will see quite good results and a much happier Simba quickly.

Lantus is a U100 insulin like others, unlike the U40 vet insulins PZI or Caninsulin.
Be sure you do not get the 10ml vial of Lantus as there will be too much waste, so it will be expensive. Instead, you want to get the pens or cartridges as they are only 3ml and chances are you will be able to use it up before it goes pfffft on you. Lantus is guaranteed for around 28 days, so if you start to see Simba's number worsen around that 28day mark, chances are it's time to crack open a fresh pen / cartridge.

It's been found to start around 1unit twice a day is good; when you have your insulin, the U100 syringes (be sure to get syringes with 1/2 unit markings on them), there will be plenty of people around here who can be available to answer any questions you may have.

Simba got upset at the vet? Exactly why any numbers you may get at the vet are not the true ones.... so many cats have much higher numbers and even lower numbers when tested at the vet office. Home sweet home is the best place for getting some real numbers from Simba.

Food's great, insulin's great, meter's great, and very soon you will be flooded with testing tips.
 
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