Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directions..

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KolbiesMommy

Member Since 2013
Hi everyone,

I want to thank you for all the support you gave me on my previous post. My Vet called me back yesterday and was relieved that Kolbie was taking his insulin. I told her I wanted to try to home test him again while it was just me and him. She agreed to the idea. She wants me to get used to home testing and so do I. This was a very stressful week with my health issues and some family issues so while he is calm and while I am calm it is a good time to do it.

I will let you know how it goes. I am really hoping he will let me do it. I hope to get his numbers too. I learned some tricks from all of you and I will use them. Wish us luck! Thank you for all your advice on how to do this. : )
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

We did it!!!! I cannot believe it! He wasn't happy but he wasn't all that bad either... He did hit me once but I repositioned him and stuck him and got his blood. It was not perfect at all. I did not realize that I actually did poke him when he fled from me because there was no blood at the time. But after I poked him the second time my poor little guy now was bleeding from two spots! Please tell me this is normal at first?? I praised him and told him what a good, good, GOOD boy he was! I gave him his treats and then he went and played with his catnip toy that a new friend brought to him. So he seems ok. The real test will be when I go to give him his insulin tonight. So this was a midday reading...

His number was 272. That is still too high considering this is after his morning insulin. But it is lower than the last reading that I posted which was early evening. That one was after his morning insulin but pre-shot evening. So very similiar to now. His number then was in the high 300's.

I have changed his treats and will be changing his food over to a grain free, all natual food which was recommended to me by an old member from here. She is a friend of Venitas. I know I have to slowly change his diet though so there is o stomach upset or complications. If I can get his diabetes controlled by diet I would be so happy. All I can do is try.

So as far as I know this was a successful testing! I am so glad about that! Tonight will be the real test when it comes to his insulin shot. Thank you everyone for your advice. But please tell me if these little mistakes are normal? My heart sunk when I saw him bleeding from two spots. I feel really guilty as if I hurt my baby boy. : (
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

WOOT WOOT!!!! GOOD JOB!!!!

I have to poke KT twice sometimes too....that will get better as you continue to test and additional capillaries develop in that area. You got it goin on!!!

BIG HUG! YARD DANCE TOO! (Yard dance is one that's too BIG to do inside without wrecking something!)
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Good job!!!

Sometimes it can take a few seconds for the blood to well up. So you probably managed it ok last time, it just took a few seconds for it to bleed. Next time warm the ear up a little more and the blood should flow faster but wait 10 seconds to see before you poke a second time.

Can you summarize his readings for me? Or even better do a spreadsheet ( I am hoping Deb and Wink showed you how)

Last night 8pm .. high 300s?
This morning shot time was?
Midday today at what time - 272

We get better idea of whats going on that way - although his BG is likely high due to the high carb food - you should see a change when you move to low carb.

Wendy
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

There have only been these two. After that first one at night when deb was here Kolbie would not even take his insulin. So my vet was most concerned with getting his nsuilin into him over everything else and asked me to wait on testing for the rest of the week. After we talked yesterday we agreed it was ok to start testing again but to try in the middle of the day when Kolbie was most relaxed since I am just learning how to do this. Kolbie is a lion in the mornings for food so it would have been much harder and much more hectic to try my first time then.

His first one was 372 @ 610 on 4/2
Today's was 272 @ 110 on 4/6

Thank you all for all your encouraging words. I really appreciate it. I still need to look into the graphing... I have to look it up myself. Deb had already been here for 2 1/2 hours. I will do that ASAP.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Oh BTW, he eats fancy feat right now so his food is ok. But I want him on even better food.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

oh ok. well two readings isnt enough to tell whats going on yet. In the mornings you could feed him enough food to make him happy and then test as soon as possible after that ( ideally within 30 minutes) and feed him the rest.

Fancy feast classic pates are great because they are low carb and good cost. But if you want a better quality of food then Wellness grain free flavours are good too.

Here are the sheet instructions but if you have problems let me know and I will ask another member to come help you set it up: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

That's Fantastic Ali! Good Job!

Yes is is perfectly normal for the blood to take a little time to well up on it's own. If you don't see any blood in a 5-10 seconds, you can try milking the vein to push the blood up the length of the vein into the capillaries where you have poked.

To milk the vein, start at the bottom of the ear and kind of gently push along that large vein. This usually quickly gets the blood into the capillary area between the vein and the edge of the ear where you have poked.

It's good to practice at different times during the day to get Kolbie used to the procedure and coming for his treat. Always remember to give him a treat even if the poke and BG reading was not successful.

Ali was already worn out by the time I left. We didn't get to a lot of things, including the spreadsheet setup. Ali had also not been feeling good that day but still wanted to have me come to help her learn to home test. I see Wendy and Tiggy already have the link to the spreadsheet setup instructions in her post to you, so I won't repeat it here.

Be careful on those grain free foods. Grain free does not mean low carb. The shelter where my foster was living was being fed Arcana grain free - which has something like 37-38% carbs. It's extremely difficult if not impossible to get a cat regulated on a cat food that has that high of a carb content. The AAHA Guidelines for Management of Diabetes in Cats and Dogs says to feed a canned food with the lowest carb content the cat will tolerate. Here is the link:http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/AAHADiabetesGuidelines.pdf

As far as the food goes, most of us use this chart a vet updated in September 2012. It has values for most of the canned foods available except for a few where the manufacturers refused to share their data. It also has many of the prescription diet foods only a vet can prescribe. Most of us choose the lower cost Fancy Feast Classic pate styles or the Friskies pate styles because they are <10% carbs AND lower cost. Good for those of us on a budget. Look on this chart for any food that has 10% or less Carbs in the calorie % C column http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Not sure why you are under a different name but I was told the opposite about the grain free food from a member from the boards. I guess everyone has different opinions, thoughts or was trained differently as well. I won't be posting unless it is for his numbers... Thanks for the awesome support and encouragement on doing it by myself! You guys rock!
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Wendy I was told what you were about the wellness... Kolbie tried a can too and one other kind that was grain free. He liked one of them. So that was good! : )
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

My Vet wants Kolbies numbers from the weekend. She really only wanted me to strive for one and if we could do more than that then it was a bonus. This is new to both me and my Kolbie so it is taking us some time to get a routine down. I want to test him tomorrow before I call her. Poor Kolbie still has redness from where I poked him yesterday. I hope to do a better job tomorrow. Wish us luck! : )
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Yes the neosporin w/pain relief after. Also, gently but firmly press down on the poke spot with your cotton ball to prevent bruising. You only need about 15 seconds of pressure.

Slow but steady on the testing. It takes time.

Good luck. Healing vines to Kolbies ears, calming vines to Ali, success vines to the testing.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

I think what Deb was saying is that some grain free foods are high carb, however the Wellness grain free ones are not and so you are ok to feed those.

Here is a list of foods so you can see what i mean - you want column C (% calories frm carbs) to be under 10%): http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

A little bruising is to be expected at first, you will get better and those will pass. I have been doing it for a year and sometimes I still get a little bruising where i poke the same spot too much or dont warm the ear enough to get blood. My bad. Doesnt do them any harm though.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Let me amend my statement about grain free foods. Grain free does not always mean low carb. Sometimes, grain-free is also low carb. For example, those Wellness grain free foods, except for the Core grain free Indoor are <10% carbs.

Replacing the grain with potatoes or peas or tapioca or fruits and vegetables is simply trading one type of carbohydrate for another.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Absolutely could not test Kolbie today. He would have no part of it. It did not matter what I did or how I held him...he was not having it. It was a bust! At one point I was concerned of injury for him since he had a paw loose and was swatting as I tried to get closer to him to poke him. I though his foot was going to get poked. Just not a good testing day. SIGH!
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Well maybe you would get some blood from the paw ;) And you gotta think that his having energy is a good thing!

Give him a break for a day but keep giving him attention cuddles strokes and whatever - no poking. Stroke his ears and dont poke them to get him used to it.. In the interim use the secondary monitoring tools to watch him.

How is he about having his feet touched? Some members test paw pads.

Wendy
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

He is so so about his paws. I love touching his paws so sometimes he lets me. At night when he is sleepy...he lets me hold his paw. It is rather cute. He always has to be touching me so he extends hi leg out into my arm when laying next to me on the couch or a chair. When we are going to sleep I just ouch is paws because I want to...sometimes he pulls them back though.

My Vet wants to do a curve with him in her office because he will not even take his insulin at this point. I think I wrote that already but I confused myself by having they threads. : /
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

If you can talk to your vet about the curve and feel comfortable doing that, it will save you some money to skip it. Most cats are stressed at the vet (strange sounds, smells, animals and people who are NOT the Mommy). Stress raises bg levels so the numbers there tend to be inflated. Once you get the testing down, your curve at home will be less expensive and more accurate.

You could just tell the vet you don't have the money?

Re your walk on your other thread - why don't you start a new thread on the Community Forum and tell people about it?
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

She is having major issues testing and even shooting which is why the vet wants to do the curve.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

I get that, but I don't see that it will give much good info. And they usually are quite expensive.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

He had 2 curves done at the VET and he was so stressed out that they were most likely not accurate. He has never ever been away from the house before other than the VET. So he knows as soon as his carrier comes out days before that it is coming
Click to expand...

Ali told us this in her post back on March 31. We need to find ways to lower the stress on both Ali and Kolbie.

Kpassa put together a wonderful writeup on ear testing psychology that I bookmarked. I think it would apply just as well to giving the shot to a cat. https://sites.google.com/site/michelangeloprofilefdmb/feline-diabetes/ear-testing-psychology Ali, I would suggest that you read this and see if you can incorporate some of these ideas into your testing and shooting.

Relax, take 10 or so slow deep breaths to regulate your breathing and heartbeat. Think positive thoughts and clear your mind of other issues in your life. I know, I know not an easy thing to do at all. You want the absolute best for your baby Kolbie and your being able to keep yourself calm, cool, collected and confidant of your success is one of the hardest but most important things you can do.

We'd love to be able to help you keep Kolbie's stress level down. He would probably be happy if he never had to go back to the vet. :o Let us know if any of these ideas in Kpassa's document make sense and try a few out.

We're rooting for you and Kolbie.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

I agree with what deb and wink wink said, and hope you will be able to get some tests in, instead of the vet.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Ali

Just a reminder not to roll or shake the insulin. It will last longer. Keep it in the fridge - not the door. Here are some handling tips http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Obviously dry food wont help regulate the diabetes. You have probably seen that 100 times on this forum. But in this case, since Kolbie is already on insulin, and you arent testing consistently its probably a good thing to stop him dropping too low. However once you are testing more we want to get him onto wet. The sooner the better since then he has a good chance of remission!

Wendy
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

So you don't roll it? They showed me to roll it. The reason is because it will last longer?
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

Maybe send a PM to Sue or Carl. For some reason I thought you were using lantus. Not sure about prozinc. I would ask how to handle it and what it's shelf life is like.
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

And what about shelf life of prozinc? I heard it lasts longer than lantus so is it still six months? Do you keep it in the fridge?
 
Re: Going to home test Kolbie by myself today...Vet Directio

You do keep it in the frig. I think most users get at least 6 months from a vial.
 
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