Have I injected him properly?

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Kezz26

Member Since 2014
Hi All,

My cat was diagnosed as a diabetic about a month ago. He has been to the vets 3 times for curve tests and each have led to increases in his insulin. He now takes 2 units twice a day of Lantus and I have also for the very first time used an Alphatrak glucose check this morning (I intend on doing a curve test today).

I fed him, gave him his insulin and tested his glucose straight away. I had intended in doing the test first, but he was too excited about his breakfast to allow me to get a sample of blood.

The results so far are:

7.30am - 15.1
9.30am - 16.4

My worry is that the levels have increased after his injection. Have I injected him correctly? Is this something that happens?

Obviously, I will take another reading at 11.30am but I am a little concerned about his numbers not falling during those two hours.

Any advice would be most gratefully received.
 
A level increase after feeding is normal. Food will raise the levels briefly and if you test later in the cycle, you probably will start to see a decrease in the BG readings.
 
Hi,

Many thanks for the reply :smile:

I have taken another reading and this one is 14.6 so it looks as though it is coming down slightly.

I will post again if it goes up.
 
Glucometers read +/- 20% of what a lab would get.

If the lower number * 1.2 is greater than the higher number * 0.8, they may be considered roughly the same.

Your number meet that.

15.1 * 1.2 = 18.2
16.4 * 0.8 = 13.12
 
Hello again.

I have the following readings to share:

13.30 - 15.9
15.30 - 24.9

He did sneakily I might add help himself to some turkey breast at about 12.30 and I am hoping it is the reason for the spike at 15.30.

Please excuse my many questions but is this a normal spike for a snack over a 3 hour period? Does it seem to the experts on here that it is a possibility that the dose he is receiving is too low?

He is due another test just before his dinner and last injection. I'm hoping it goes down again.
 
Some turkey breast is injected with broths that may contain some sugar.

Food spikes generally happen about 2 hours after eating. The larger the amount consumed, the higher the spike may be, particularly in sensitive cats. Feeding mini-meals may help with ths.
 
I have just done the last one before his meal and second injection. That was stressful. I am sure it does not really hurt him but I keep thinking it is and I feel so guilty!
I am so grateful that there is somewhere on the net where I can get support from like minded, very kind people.

Would someone mind please just having a quick look at the below and giving me their experienced opinion?

The readings were with 2 units of Lantus twice a day:

0730 - 15.1 (after feeding and first insulin jab)
0930 - 16.4
1130 - 14.6
(Macca helped himself to some turkey breast a little time after 1200)
1330 - 15.9
1530 - 24.9
1730 - 19.6 (just before his last insulin jab and dinner)

Is there anything from those readings that I need to be concerned about?

Do you recommend anything?

As before, thanks for your help.
 
He seems fairly high and flat. How long have you been on this 2u dose and how often each day are you testing him? Or was the AlphaTrak the first time you ever tested him? If so, great job with the testing! :thumbup

Also, what foods are you feeding him? It might be the food that is keeping his numbers elevated.
 
Good morning :-D

He has been on the dose for about 7 days, and yes it was the very first glucose testing I have ever done on the Alphatrak. I only did ok because he is so sweet and patient.

One thing that may be affecting his results may be the dry Royal Canin veterinary food for urinary tract prone cats. Macca has suffered from this twice in his lifetime and I feed him the dry for breakfast and at the end of the day he has a wet dinner of a higher end supermarket food (such as the gourmet foods. He will not even contemplate eating prescription wet food, I also bought him the Lily's range and he hated it!).

I get mixed messages from my vet about the dry vet food, and have considered removing it entirely. I am however concerned that he may develop a urinary infection if I do.

Again, any advise would be great...
 
If you're going to continue with the dry, it may work best to have either even amounts of both wet and dry food at each meal, or slightly more dry food in the evening. That will help to ensure that any given meal has about the same proportion of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.

The reason you might do slightly more dry at night is that many cats go lower at night. If the dry food is somewhat higher carb, it might help even out the resulting glucose level. Checking around +2 will identify if that is true for what you are feeding.
 
For urinary crstals, stones, infections, and renal impairment, wet is best. "The solution to pollution is dilution" Having enough water go through the bladder carries out the solute which could otherwise crystallize and form stones, reduces the time available for anything bacterial to grow and become irritating, and keeps the cat hydrated adequately. Both diabetes and renal disease can push enormous amounts of water through the urinary system and when you don't keep up with the water, the cat may become dehydrated.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for 2 ways to check for dehydration, as well as other assessments you may wish to make.
 
HI Kezz,

Well done with the testing!

Saoirse was on RC Urinary S/O and subsequently Urinary S/O Moderate Calorie dry foods after she developed oxalate uroliths from eating IAMS. All her current health problems stem from her previous dry diet (much exacerbated by the RC foods).

I've transitioned her to wet food now and she's doing great in spite of having a major panreatitis flare-up. Her coat and body condition have improved phenomenally. My vet could not get over the improvement in her last week. I test her urine about once a week now, and the dilution is good. Her recent urinary tests at the vets all came back clear. I also transitioned my civvie, Lúnasa, to wet food and her urine output has increased significantly: clinching proof that she wasn't making up sufficient fluids from her water bowl when on dry foods.

Have you come across Dr Lisa Pierson's site? There's great information there on nutrition and feline health in general. Here's a link for you:

http://www.catinfo.org/

There's a link on the destination page to information about urinary tract issues.
 
Good morning all.

Macca just had a reading of 21.4 first thing in the morning...

1. He was tested literally 2 minutes after eating and his insulin jab (this is the ONLY time I can get a test first thing in the morning because he is so excited about breakfast, and the only time I can give him his jab without him squirming madly). This could not affect the result so quickly could it?
The result is higher than a test first thing in the morning that I carried out two days previous which showed a reading of 15.1 (again this was done immediately after his breakfast and the insulin injection)

2. He was being poked and prodded as he was eating (I was trying to get a blood sample at that point but he squirmed like crazy while continuing to eat). Could the result have spiked due to my stressing him out?

3. Is it possible I gave him a fur shot last night?

The result is higher than a test first thing in the morning that I carried out two days previous which showed a reading of 15.1 (again this was done immediately after his breakfast and the insulin injection)

His water intake appeared to be good last night (definitely not what he used to drink before diagnosis)

I think I may have already answered some of own questions here, but if someone could please let me know if they ever get the same type of readings it would be helpful.

Thanks All!
 
There are 2 main reasons he could be higher, asuming no other issues.

1) a fur shot - was the fur wet after attempting to inject? Did it smell medicinal or like a Band Aid?
2) bouncing - when the insulin drops the glucose quickly or to an unfamiliar low level, compensatory hormones release stored glucose (glycogen). This raises the glucose higher for up to 3 days.

Other issues:
If he has developed infection, that can raise the glucose levels.
If he got into any contraband/high carb food, that would raise the glucose, too.
 
The fur did not appear to be wet and I cannot see that he got any contraband. He finished his dinner last night (cleaned the bowl) and had nothing else until the morning.

I think I may have stressed him a little.

I have just taken another reading:

12.15pm - 17.2

This is still high, and he will not be getting another feed or jab until about 17.30 this evening. I will take another just before feeding (if he lets me!)
 
Some other assessments you could make are in my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools.

The most important one is urine ketone testing. Ketones form as a by-product of fat breakdown for calories. Too many ketones may result in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially fatal, expensive to treat, complication of diabetes.
 
The big reason you don't want to get a pre-shot test after they eat is in case they're low. If they have a low pre-shot (for new members, below 200 on a human meter), then we recommend to NOT feed or give the shot but test again in a half hour and see if the number is "rising."

But I know exactly what you mean about it being impossible to do anything without feeding first. What I used to do with Mikey is I would still feed him, but just a smidge of food. Once his hunger was satiated, I'd test him and feed him the rest of his food and give him his shot...or I'd hold off a half hour and test again. That tiny snack didn't impact his number too badly and it was the only way I could get him to cooperate in the mornings for the first few months. (Now, it's become so routine to both of us that he actually waits to eat till after I've tested him and tell him he's a "good boy.")
 
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