George's Ear Pricks and Numbers

Nisha said:
no I give him a smidgen of wet food and he doesn't care... if he runs out of it before I get my sample I have to give him more or he wont let me touch his ear
Click to expand...

Have you ever tried Pure Bites freeze dried chicken treats (or a similar brand of pure chicken freeze dried chicken treats?). Cats go crazy for them. They make excellent “testing treats.”
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Have you ever tried Pure Bites freeze dried chicken treats (or a similar brand of pure chicken freeze dried chicken treats?). Cats go crazy for them. They make excellent “testing treats.”
Click to expand...
Yes! My roommate (the treat lady) buys them for both kitties. I've tried giving him a few then tried to get my sample but they're gone in seconds and then he will not co-operate. I give him a few more, same thing happens. She buys the chicken, turkey and minnows.
 
Nisha said:
Yes! My roommate (the treat lady) buys them for both kitties. I've tried giving him a few then tried to get my sample but they're gone in seconds and then he will not co-operate. I give him a few more, same thing happens. She buys the chicken, turkey and minnows.
Click to expand...
Well they’re good treats anyway. Your feeding mat sounds like a good idea. Where did you buy it?
 
Nisha said:
me too. But reading the reviews (I always check the worst ones first) leaves me alittle worried
Click to expand...
I understand. Researching cat food is something I spend hours and hours on. I frequently give up and keep feeding the same stuff (which is currently Weruva BFF PLAY pates for the last several years.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I understand. Researching cat food is something I spend hours and hours on. I frequently give up and keep feeding the same stuff (which is currently Weruva BFF PLAY pates for the last several years.
Click to expand...
I have spent hours. I was even trying to buy a Canadian made on if I could. Go! solutions is a Canadian company but makes its wet food in new jersey. Go! is what I'm feeding right now. adjusting for the calorie count (both cats) im spening about 400CAD on cat food right now. I'm really stuck on ingredients.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
If you switch foods too quickly you may cause diarrhea. Cats are notorious for that happening. I would switch slowly by mixing in a little of the new food (or putting a dollop on top of the old food.)

I can’t really see how the carbs could be negative? That can’t be right since there are protein, fat and carbohydrates and that is it. Maybe it’s close to zero.
Click to expand...
I reached out to Hounds & Gatos about their carb count, they sent me their analysis that included carb count and the Chicken and liver is 0 carbs
 
I don’t see the 216 on his spreadsheet, but I do see some better numbers on there :) If he continues on today and tonight with yellow nadirs then you are ready to increase to 2.25 units tomorrow.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
It’s still a low yellow and well within the allowable meter variance. I am really encouraged by how he is doing.
Click to expand...
me too. I bought ketostix at the pharmacy and have them by the litter box but have yet to catch him in the act. i bought the ones that only test for ketones and I'm kinda thinking i should have got the ones that do glucose as well....oh well hindsight is 20/20
 
Don't worry about the glucose. If his numbers are over the renal threshold (which can vary by cat, but it's probably in the 200s somewhere) then you will see glucose in the urine. What we need to do is get his numbers down and that will help with that. Good luck catching him in the act. But as long as he's hungry, not lethargic or vomiting, I feel pretty good about him being okay in the ketone department (probably trace or less.)
 
I do find him sleeping a bit more during the day but I think that has more to do with him wanting more food cuz hes always asleep by his food bowl. I bought a new dangling toy for him that he loves to play with, mostly in the evenings, so I wouldn't say hes lethargic. I work tomorrow for the first time in almost a week so testing will be before 930am and after 630pm, and hes gonna have to have less feeding but I'm sure he'll be okay.
 
Are you working the day after tomorrow? Saturday? Why don’t we hold off on the increase since you won’t be home much tomorrow. It’s not going to hurt to wait until Saturday to go ahead with the increase to 2.25. What do you think? Does this sound okay?
 
I work Saturday evening. I'll be home and hour late to give him his shot. (unavoidable unfortunately) maybe i should wait till Sunday..I'm off that day.
 
Nisha said:
I work Saturday evening. I'll be home and hour late to give him his shot. (unavoidable unfortunately) maybe i should wait till Sunday..I'm off that day.
Click to expand...
So which shot will be an hour late? Saturday evening? Is there any way to slightly adjust his shot time by 15 minutes or 30 minutes tomorrow to help make it not so late that day?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
So which shot will be an hour late? Saturday evening? Is there any way to slightly adjust his shot time by 15 minutes or 30 minutes tomorrow to help make it not so late that day?
Click to expand...
Yes. I can move him morning shot at 8:30am instead. I don't work until 3:30pm so I leave at 2pm. I'm not sure why I never thought of moving it by 30 mins when I work later. I've been told that was okay. :facepalm:
 
Nisha said:
So should I test him overnight? I just need to set alarms if I am
Click to expand...
Since you have just increased, I would try to get a “before bed test at +2” if that is a lot lower than PMPS, I would test again at +4. If it is not, then you can probably just wake up at +6 to check up on him. Do you have a way of giving him snacks this evening? An automatic feeder?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Since you have just increased, I would try to get a “before bed test at +2” if that is a lot lower than PMPS, I would test again at +4. If it is not, then you can probably just wake up at +6 to check up on him. Do you have a way of giving him snacks this evening? An automatic feeder?
Click to expand...
I don't have an automatic feeder, I have been looking at them. Unfortunately anything I put out for him he'll eat immediately.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Since you have just increased, I would try to get a “before bed test at +2” if that is a lot lower than PMPS, I would test again at +4. If it is not, then you can probably just wake up at +6 to check up on him. Do you have a way of giving him snacks this evening? An automatic feeder?
Click to expand...
Levels look about the same as the last few nights. I'll test him again at +4
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Okay. So he had a similar cycle today to previous days. We will have to be a little patient and see what happens tonight.
Click to expand...
Hi! Been a while but I thought I'd post here to see if I could get you're opinion on George's numbers so far. Today I had a confusing test. I tested George and he came out with 8.8mmoL (159mg/dl?) and I was shocked it was so low so I tested him a second time and his number was 7.9mmoL (142mg/dl?) I wasn't sure how to enter that into my spread sheet since the tests occured 3 mins apart. It's the lowest I've seen it. I had skipped his nighttime insulin last night because I wasn't sure if my roommate did it for me as I got home from work and hour late for his insulin. Gave him his 2.25 units as usual this morning. If I am home for the day I will split his feelings into 3 or 4 feedings one in the am one at pm and 1 or 2 during the day. If I have to work he gets 2 feelings one in am and one at pm. I know consistency is key with treating diabetes however sometimes work makes it difficult. Anyways if anyone has some feedback as to his numbers overall or the low numbers today id appreciate it. I'm also going out of town next week and my roommate is going to be giving him his insulin. She isn't very comfortable with the ear pricks yet so I'm not sure we will be able to do them while I am gone. Is this something to be concerned about? Before I started home testing I was giving Insuling blindly like the vet said to... Thanks for your help. Also if I should make this a new thread please let me know I will make a new one.
 
That blue looks beautiful on his spreadsheet. There haven’t been a lot of tests lately during the cycles, so that (the blue mid-cycle test) is good to see. Also there are no nighttime tests for a while. Many cats do have a pattern of dropping lower at night, so it’s important to at least try to get a “before bed” test to see if he’s dropping low. Also, many times the night time numbers give us clues to the morning numbers.
 
Is your roommate familiar with giving the insulin shots. Are you sure that your roommate can accurately draw the dose of insulin. Could you leave a syringe that is filled with colored water (food coloring in the water) and is drawn to the correct dose?will the roommate be available to give food snacks during the cycle?

I am not sure exactly when you are feeding George during the cycles when you are at home— but I highly recommend feeding small amounts of food at +2 and +4.
 
I was running low on test strips and had to get more I was limiting the testing since I needed to wait for pay day. I will be doing more testing after my trip. I'll be gone for 7 starting Sunday so the sheet will be pretty sparse in turns of day time/night time testing. I'm hoping to get my roommate comfortable enough to at least test before shooting but I don't know if she'll get there.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Is your roommate familiar with giving the insulin shots. Are you sure that your roommate can accurately draw the dose of insulin. Could you leave a syringe that is filled with colored water (food coloring in the water) and is drawn to the correct dose?will the roommate be available to give food snacks during the cycle?

I am not sure exactly when you are feeding George during the cycles when you are at home— but I highly recommend feeding small amounts of food at +2 and +4.
Click to expand...
She has given him insulin for me before. I showed her how much but I plan to run through things with her again before I leave. I try to split his meals evenly between 3 or 4 meals a day when I'm not working. Unfortunately some days I don't have a choice but to give him 2x day. His weight seems to have stabilized at 360kcal a day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top