Hello from a new Cat and Human. Any specific tester recommendations?

[Shane and Baby]

Hello FDMB members! Thank you for being part of this community and sharing your experiences and stories.

My apologizes in advance for my long post..!

I'm Shane and Baby is the main cat in charge of me. She's the avatar here. She's 14.5 years old. Yesterday evening the vet called at 9pm to go over a blood test from Friday; Baby had an abscess in her lip and I took her in to have it examined and treated and I asked for a blood panel at the same time.

Anyway, the Dr discussed the results showing there were high white counts and so forth related to the infection but also the surprise: extreme high glucose levels. That's when I was introduced to cat diabetes. The Dr had us come back in today for a urinalysis which confirmed the high glucose and some additional data based off of the blood and urinalysis: she's not ketonic, and the Dr thinks her kidney and liver health are good.

The Dr gave me a hand's on lesson on how to give injections and made me show her I could do it a couple times using saline on Baby. She also walked me through an ear blood draw test using the clinic's Alpha Trak 2, which came out to 468 @ 3pm today.

I left with Rxs for "any type of" insulin glargine and small syringes. 1U with breakfast and 1U with dinner. I picked up her generic insulin and the syringes for her a few hours ago.

While waiting at the pharmacy I was researching the Alpha Trak 3 blood tester recommended by the tech at the clinc and the relatively horrible reviews compared to the 2 made me feel that I would not be confident using that model exclusively. There are at least a couple people with reviews talking about how the AT3 led them to put their cats into hypo and many about inconsistency compared to the AT2. The threads here related to it are also not inspiring.

Searching "feline diabetes" had already brought me here very early this morning so I started to research human glucose testers instead per your recommendation. I was considering purchasing two human glucose tester and using both to give myself more data while I am learning and to also sort of cross-reference the tests against each other for now while I learn and we figure out how to best manage Baby's diabetes. I understand the numbers won't be the same between the veterinary and human glucose monitors.

I have noticed the recommendation for ReliOn here but I wasn't sure which models are viewed the most positively. Premier classic, compact, platinum? The platinum appears to have the best reviews. I couldn't find a "prime" model even though they have the strips. The local Walmart here didn't have the ReliOns on the shelf when I checked while waiting for the pharmacy so I have to order it anyway.

My thought is to order the ReliOn Platinum since it has the best reviews and the strips seem to cost the same as the standard ReliOn strips and then to also purchase the Contour next ONE since it claims to give you 60 seconds to "add more blood" to get a better reading. They all appear to claim to use a small amount of blood without quantifying small. Am I off track?

I went through and read as many of the stickies as I could find and filled out my profile, signature, about me and started my spreadsheet. Please let me know if I made any mistakes or missed anything that would be helpful.

While filling out the spreadsheet became aware of the dosing methods. My Dr didn't talk about this at all so is this something that is up to me? I had already given Baby 1U of Insulin before I came and set up here and now I am nervous about continuing to give her 1U twice a day until I have test units at hand. The Dr suggested that for a week or so it is fine to not test but the documents here seem to suggest that is risky.

I am ordering medium and high carb canned foods after I post this. Her current foods (Hill's S/D z/d 35% and Merricks LID duck 15% and FF classic turkey: 2%) don't have carbs listed so I am going to try to source that info as well.

[Edited to add carb% and: I'm shocked at the z/d carb %. We've been trying to move the IBD cats off of it because it goes out of stock for months sometimes and that's catastrophic. The Merrick seems to have been a good sub. I see the LID other flavors have more phosphorus but lower carb %. z/d is our high carb and LID Duck is the medium carb for now. I have to investigate foods the IBD cats can handle <10% carbs. We have suspection IBD triggers to beef, chicken, corn, wheat?, dairy. Not sure about fish... might start there. ]

We have honey, the ER phone # and address on the fridge, and I'm printing out the hypo and the toolbox cheat sheet now.

Whew, if you're still with me and Baby, thank you! I know that was a lot. Thank you all for your advice and your time and your support.

Shane and Baby

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Good to see you are doing research.
Any of the ReliOn meters are ok. And very reasonable to run. Pet meters are very expensive to run and are no better than human meters in my opinion. Our dosing methods are based on the human meter.
If you are giving high carb food now, be aware that when you swap to a low carb food, the BGs will most likely drop lower, so you need to be testing the BGs for safety.
As well as the two main meals which you will give with the doses of insulin, it is a good idea to give at least 2 snacks every cycle during the first 6 hours after each dose. A snack is 1 or2 teaspoons of low carb food.
Don’t be surprised that the vet has not given you much information about dosing methods as they probably don’t know about them. A dosing method and testing the BG and feeding a low carb diet is the best way to get Baby regulated… which won’t happen overnight. It can take weeks, months or longer, depending on the cat.
Great to see you here. Keep asking questions

 

[Shane and Baby]

Hi and thank you for the response.

I went with the Platinum, since it seems to be the replacement for the Prime, and watching some youtube videos of people using it it seems straight forward. That and the Contour Next should be here tomorrow, along with some 33ga lancets. Vet said to aim for the ear vein, but I came across the "sweet spot" pictures while searching for how to rotate blood draw and injection sites and a recommendation for thinner lancets. Baby's going in for a spot BG 6 hours after her first dose next Tuesday and I am going to compare my meters to the vet's AT2 (I know they're different scales).

I think we're going to slowly swap out the z/d for a low carb but keep the other foods the same for now. I want to make sure we don't trigger her IBD (milder, no steroids) or her brother's (severe, prednisolone daily). I'm still upset about the carb % of that ridiculous "prescription food". I'm going to test her regularly with both meters (and check her brother) and will stop food switching if there's a massive upset.

Just to make sure I am understanding the feeding cycle we would be doing: Morning meal and dose #1, then give her a snack twice after that over the next 6 hours, then the evening meal, second dose, and small snacks before bed? 2 meals and 4 total snacks.

Are the snacks to help keep her sugar from going to low between meals?

Thank you for reading my book and answering my newbie questions!

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

The snacks or several small meals throughout the day are easier on their pancreas and help avoid big sugar spikes. It also does help the bg from dropping too low. As Bron said, the snacks can be smaller portions of the food or low carb treats like freeze dried treats. I feel the 33 gauge lancets are going to be hard for you as a beginner. The higher the number, the smaller the gauge. I never used anything smaller than a 30 gauge and we recommend beginners start with a 26 or 28.

Do not aim for the vein, that will be a bloodbath. You want to some for the sweet spot you saw on the pics.

When you compare the numbers with the vet, you’ll get a variance because of the different meters and because cats are usually stressed at the vet which causes their bg to be elevated.

Keep the questions coming!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Shane I would pick up either 26 or 28 gauge lancets to start with .
Feeding them small snacks is easier on the pancreas
Some will even feed 3 small snacks during each 12 hour cycle
We try not to feed small snack after the +6 which is usually the nadir ( lowest point during the cycle with glargine, but the nadirs can change .

Try to stick with one meter when you are testing
About the 2 dosing methods to choose from will let you know when an increase or decrease is needed
I'll give you the link when you decide which one you will follow can you add it to your signature and spreadsheet
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/

Oh and you do know not to feed 2 hours before you test first thing in the morning (AMPS) and PMPS because you don't want it to be food influenced

Copied this from one of our members
SLGS: You hold a dose for 7 days (unless a reduction is earned). You decrease the dose when the BG falls below 90. The aim of this protocol is to keep the cat in the 90-150 range. This is more suited for caregivers who can't test as much as TR requires. You do a weekly curve with SLGS.

TR is a more aggressive protocol with increases as often as every 3-5 days. Reductions are earned when the BG falls below 50. The aim is to keep the cat in the range of 50-100 (which is the normal BG range for cats). To follow TR, you would need to get at least one more test per cycle in addition to the pre-shot one i.e. 2 tests per cycle or 4 tests per day. You would also need to be feeding only LC canned food and no dry food.

You could try TR if you are feeding LC wet (and no dry) and if you think that's more testing than you can manage, you can switch to SLGS.


Do you have the U-100 syringes with the half unit markings ?
We adjust the doses by 0.25 units
So if you have the glargine pens they can only be adjusted by full units ,so we buy the syringes to insert in the gray rubber stopper in the pens and draw out the insulin needed
Feel free to keep asking questions
@Shane and Baby



Freeze dried treats for snacks , you can also use them as a treat while testing Baby
if she gives you any trouble , Baby will associate getting that treat when you test her
Click in this link and look at post #6. Numbers are to the right
You can get any freeze dried treats ,information is there
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/brand-new-many-questions-3.255627/#post-2878703

Part of that process is getting a feel for basic concepts:

• Onset - the length of time before insulin reaches the bloodstream & begins lowering blood glucose
• Peak/Nadir - the lowest point in the cycle
• Duration - the length of time insulin continues to lower blood glucose

 

[Shane and Baby]

Thank you both for your support and guidance!

Oddly enough both test units showed up about 30 minutes ago (they weren't expected until tomorrow). They came with 30 28ga lancets. I set them both up and tested them on myself and there was a difference in my readings of only 6 which I found reassuring. I did manage to get several errors with the ReliOn so I was happy to get that over with on myself instead of her.

Tested Baby about an hour after her PM dose and used the Contour Next first and got 364, I then went to test with the ReliOn and it turned off as I put the strip to her ear - wasting the strip and the blood. d'oh! So we had to do that again and I needed to get another prick (she was aggravated with me by this point and wiggled and the prick was a bit too much). The ReliOn gave 443 from the second prick. The ReliOn appears to need more blood than the Contour but I'm learning. I appreciated that the Contour let me go back and get "more" for a few seconds before it would error. I added these measurements to my spreadsheet at the +1 after the PM U. I will try again in a couple hours if she will let me!

Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA), I ordered the 33ga already and I'm comfortable practicing until I get it. I will probably order some 28ga as well. That makes sense about the pancreas! So much to learn. Freeze dried snacks would probably be easier. Giving her a snack a few hours ago brought the rest of the cat-mob out too. I am glad I learned to not go for the ear vein before testing her! The actual first blood prick seemed to go just fine at the sweet spot. Do you only use the inside of the ear or is it common for people to draw blood from both sides?

Diane Tyler's Mom, Thank you for your help! Okay, I think I understand the treats. Small treats in the first 6 hours or so after each dose then hold off til after the next dose and meal. Regarding the meters, since I already have both I figured I'll just use both and track them as separate curves for now while I learn. The ReliOn is R on the spreadsheet and the Contour is C. I don't plan to alternate them but to test with both ever time for a few weeks at least. I was a bit concerned about getting one and not having anything to test against it. Even if they are some value apart as long as it is consistent that should still be valuable I think.

I will do more reading about testing - ran out of time today! I will update my sig and spreadsheet once I figure it out. I am hesitant to do anything beyond the current amounts of insulin immediately while I'm learning because I will have to reduce the carbs in her diet (that stupid z/d) and I think that might reduce her BG levels as well. So I guess I'm starting with SLGS for now?

She is only on wet food but with her IBD it's been a restricted diet. I was shocked to find that it is not low carb (particularly the prescription food) so I'll have to find a third low carb wet that won't trigger her IBD as an immediate priority.

I did get U-100 syringes with half markings made for 30 units with 1/2" length. No one had told me what U-100 was so I sort of was holding on to that I needed to give her .01ml as 1 unit from what the Dr said. The pen does have an adjustment to twice and a button to push but it appears that the front half is full of insulin anyway so I have been shaking it and drawing it through the gray rubber seal as you describe. Do I have to twist and adjust with the button? It came with no directions of course.

Thank you for the links! I will read them all.

You've both been amazing and helpful thank you!

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Here’s a trick for the strips. You insert it into the meter just so it stays in place but not all the way in. After you prick and have the blood then you quickly push the strip all the way and put it up to the ear. There’s always enough time that way. I also liked scooping up the blood onto my nail and testing from there, that way I could take my time and the cats could move their ear since I already had the blood secured on my nail.

also, you don’t want to shake the insulin.

 

[Shane and Baby]

Here’s a trick for the strips. You insert it into the meter just so it stays in place but not all the way in. After you prick and have the blood then you quickly push the strip all the way and put it up to the ear. There’s always enough time that way. I also liked scooping up the blood onto my nail and testing from there, that way I could take my time and the cats could move their ear since I already had the blood secured on my nail

Amazing! Great tip! Thank you! I'll report back her +3 numbers if I succeed.

+3 numbers were 307 on ReliOn and 320 on the Contour. Poor Baby, I had to prick her three times to get enough blood... I kept getting small drops. I'll try warming up her ears more thoroughly tomorrow.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Do I have to twist and adjust with the button? It came with no directions of course.

You don't have to do anything to the pen , just insert your syringe and draw you dose out.
Can you add SLGS to your signature and SS so members know ,because they will ask you what method you are following

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Make sure you give her a treat every time you prick her!
If you put a torch behind the ear and look at the ear you can see the vein and where to prick and where to miss.
Definitely keep using gauge 26 or 28 lancets. You will have much better success.
I used the whole of the outside of both ears for testing … ie around the edges of both ears on the furry side.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Do you only use the inside of the ear or is it common for people to draw blood from both sides?

I have never used the inside of the ear to test, but you can also use the outside if you want to

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

The ReliOn appears to need more blood than the Contour

They both need the same amount
Sample Size 0.6 µL

When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB.

You're way ahead of the game so thanks for doing your homework and getting your spreadsheet and signature set up.

A couple of thoughts...
Please keep an eye on Baby's numbers. The abscess may have been what tipped her into diabetes. Any infection or inflammation acts as a stress and can cause her body to release stress hormones. These will cause blood glucose numbers to rise. Once the antibiotics kick in (I'm assuming she's been prescribed antibiotics.), her numbers could drop quickly. Just be aware of the possibility.

There is a really good website for IBS. They are advocates of a raw diet. Even if feeding a raw diet isn't your preference, the information on supplements, especially if your cats are having a flare, is wonderful. For those of us that do use a raw diet, you can buy a pre-mix which contains all of the supplements that are needed to make raw food nutritionally complete. Many of us use FoodFurLife. If a raw diet doesn't appeal, many cats do well on a diet of novel proteins. I have an IBD cat and he eats a combination of raw (pork or venison), ZiwiPeak venison, and Stella & Chewys rabbit morsels. He can't tolerate poultry.

 

[allicatmeow]

Hi Shane! Welcome! You are doing great research and asking great questions. Everyone here is just lovely and willing to help at any given hour.

Getting used to the poke is more of a mental game than anything. If you got it in 3 tries, you're doing fantastic already! I had used the AT3 for my first 3 weeks and while it uses much less blood than human meters, I had tons of errors and issues with it. It was accurate, just errored frequently and the bluetooth would not upload (it is still an open case with Zoetis). The cost of the strips is over $1/ea, so to error out or make errors is costly. The ReliOn seems to be the favorite here and it just takes a little getting used to. I chose the ReliOn Blu and have been using it since 9/9 with success.

My Smudge loves PureBites freeze dried treats. There is a brand called Whole Life as well, but he didn't like them. He prefers the chicken, so I actually get the ones labeled for dogs because they are bigger, but easy to rip apart into nice little chunks. The cat labeled bag has a lot of broken "chicken dust" in the bottom that is not great for treat time, but I am using up as a food sprinkle. My other cat (also a calico like Baby) has CKD and she is going crazy for the PureBites too. Everyone wins, I guess!

Everyone in this thread has given you great information so far. It probably seems overwhelming (it is!), but each day gets a little easier. Don't hesitate to ask ANY questions, no question is silly here and everyone has so much knowledge, you will get great answers that help you make sense of things.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Shane and Baby
Hi Shane don't forget to fill in how many units you gave tonight on your spreadsheet

 

[Shane and Baby]

Thank you all for being so supportive and helpful!

I'm going to attempt to test her 4 times a day at the same intervals for at least a week if my schedule will allow. I've updated her numbers in the spreadsheet. I tested each time with the ReliOn and the Contour. They seem to be consistently the same amounts apart which is good I think:

Today I tested her before both meals and doses then +2.5 after AMPS and +3 after PMPS.

ReliOn was - AMPS: 428, +2.5: 317, PMPS: 411, +3: 296
Contour was - AMPS: 399, +2.5: 282, PMP: 371, +3: 285

The 28ga lancets seem to work okay. I need to get better at keeping her from shaking her head or flicking her ear before I get the blood drop! Thank you for pointing out they take the same amount of blood Diane Tyler's Mom. I find the Contour easier for some reason. I did have success with the 33ga but I will probably go with 30ga when they run out unless my skill improves. Thanks for the milking tip! Just used it and it worked well.

The vet only had me do it inside the ear and it only makes sense you could get blood from either side! Sorry for the silly question. How low down on the ear do you find effective? Just up in the "sweet spot" or all the way down the outside too?

I don't have treats for her yet but I am going to get some. I've been giving her her snacks after her pricks so she seems pretty ok with it so far.

Sienne and Gabby (GA), that's a good point. Her blood work from the end of last year had no elevation of glucose or ketones so I am not sure how recently she became diabetic. She is on some sort of antibiotic shot that made it so I don't have to give her any pills and it works for 2 weeks. I didn't get the name but it's the first time I haven't had to dose antibiotics and her abscess seems to be healing well. We still have to figure out where it came from but that's after it's healed.

I don't know if I've looked at that one before. Raw feeding would be ideal but I came to the conclusion last time we had an issue it just wasn't feasible for all our our cats with our small fridge but using Dr Lisa's food list makes me feel like it might be the only reasonable solution to cover IBD and Diabetes and so many other things. We used ZiwiPeak for a while but most of the cats didn't find it palatable and it went out of stock at some point. I was also a bit worried about the iodine in the mussels they used but I don't know how big of a deal that is. One of our cats is medicated for thyroid issues so I am anxious with foods! Thank you for the specific brand recommendations. I wasn't sure where to start with the treats.

Honestly I've been reading a ton about the diets the last two days to try to get rid of that stupid z/d. I need to go back over which foods didn't work before. I am wondering if it wasn't even the animal proteins in the foods that trigger their issues but other random ingredients like peas and flax and so forth.

 

[Shane and Baby]

Hi Shane! Welcome! You are doing great research and asking great questions. Everyone here is just lovely and willing to help at any given hour.

Getting used to the poke is more of a mental game than anything. If you got it in 3 tries, you're doing fantastic already! I had used the AT3 for my first 3 weeks and while it uses much less blood than human meters, I had tons of errors and issues with it. It was accurate, just errored frequently and the bluetooth would not upload (it is still an open case with Zoetis). The cost of the strips is over $1/ea, so to error out or make errors is costly. The ReliOn seems to be the favorite here and it just takes a little getting used to. I chose the ReliOn Blu and have been using it since 9/9 with success.

My Smudge loves PureBites freeze dried treats. There is a brand called Whole Life as well, but he didn't like them. He prefers the chicken, so I actually get the ones labeled for dogs because they are bigger, but easy to rip apart into nice little chunks. The cat labeled bag has a lot of broken "chicken dust" in the bottom that is not great for treat time, but I am using up as a food sprinkle. My other cat (also a calico like Baby) has CKD and she is going crazy for the PureBites too. Everyone wins, I guess!

Everyone in this thread has given you great information so far. It probably seems overwhelming (it is!), but each day gets a little easier. Don't hesitate to ask ANY questions, no question is silly here and everyone has so much knowledge, you will get great answers that help you make sense of things.

The worst part is if she pulls away when I prick her. I need to get in and out fast. It seems to be more of an "super itchy" thing for her rather than pain and she instinctively tries to pull away and scratch.

The cost of the strips on the AT3 were a real turn off for me because I figured I would waste a lot of them and so far I have wasted quite a few (e6, e4, e1, e20, I've seen all of these so far!). Both the ReliOn and the Contour have been working better than I expected. I really appreciate the cost of the ReliOn strips.

I will check out the PureBites too! If only the pet food market was not so super not transparent. I love how many of these foods have people showing bones and plastic in their cans and you find out the food is owned by Colgate or something.

The catinfo.org site is very informative and confirmed my long held suspicions about how poorly nutrition is taught to vets. I love that they are trained basically by Hill's employees!

@Shane and Baby
Hi Shane don't forget to fill in how many units you gave tonight on your spreadsheet

Thanks! 1!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

The vet only had me do it inside the ear and it only makes sense you could get blood from either side! Sorry for the silly question. How low down on the ear do you find effective? Just up in the "sweet spot" or all the way down the outside too?

It's not a silly question , I usually poke up top on the sweet spot or a little bit down from there like on the side of the ear. I think you will find it easier poking on the outside of the ear and put the cotton rounds behind the ear.
I don't even go down this far when I poke . I usually poke where you see the green color starts

 

[Shane and Baby]

Thank you! Do the cat's ears not end up in tatters if you start pricking multiple times a day for multiple days? I can only assume not but I still worry. I read that 4 points a day for a week is a good place to start for some idea of a curve so that's the current plan.

She's very patient with me, just like all of you! Thank you.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Thank you! Do the cat's ears not end up in tatters if you start pricking multiple times a day for multiple days? I can only assume not but I still worry. I read that 4 points a day for a week is a good place to start for some idea of a curve so that's the current plan.

She's very patient with me, just like all of you! Thank you.

Not really , just alternate the ears if you want to
Some members will put a tiny dab of Vaseline on the spot where you are going to test
you might try putting a dab of Vaseline on the ear before you prick. Some find it helps the blood to bead up rather than soak into the fur.
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with
As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try.

Here's a video one of our members made testing her cat
She used the Alpha Trak, ignore that and don't ever put neosporin on the ears
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

If her ears ever look sore
Get pure coconut oil
I have read that many members use pure coconut oil, I have copied this from one of the members posts
just make sure the only ingredient is coconut oil (mine is solid at room temp and I would take an itty bitty dab and rub on his ears)
It seemed to help with the healing
You might be able to get it at a health food store or just Google pure coconut oil

Just remember after 7 days you need to do a curve
Tyler's ears never looked beat up or sore to me
Shane one last favor can you add to your signature human meter ,that's the first thing members will look at
Thanks
@Shane and Baby

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I was a testaholic! Take a look at Gabby's spreadsheet and you'll see what I mean. I also tended to test on one ear. Her ears were never in tatters.

With regard to raw food, keeping in mind that I have 2 cats and they get a combination of food vs an entirely raw diet, I make up a batch of food and freeze it in ice cube trays. I pop the "catsickles" out of the tray and the cubes are in a bag in the freezer. I defrost what I need the day before it's needed.

It's very likely that the antibiotic is Convenia. It is used for skin infections and lasts at least 2 weeks. Please be aware that vets will use it for other sorts of infections that it's not really meant for. They like it because it means you don't need to pill your cat! However, the potential downside of the drug is how long it lasts. If your cat is allergic/has a reaction, once it's in, there's not a lot you can do. Dr. Pierson discusses it on her Feline Nutrition website.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

The replacement for Walmart's Prime of meters in the Premier. It comes in four m9deos all of which use the same strips. The is the Classic, Blue (conects t your ph9ne via bluetooth, Voice that talks to you and the Compact (small). The Compact actually costs about the same as the Classic since the Compact includes 50 strips while the the others do not include any test strips.

 

[Shane and Baby]

Thanks Diane Tyler's Mom, I added human meters to my signature.

I have pure coconut oil I can try. Her ears have been healing well but I'll try that if they don't. I have been having some decent luck with the 33ga lancets too. She barely notices them but the 28ga aggravate her.

I managed to test her at +6 from AMPS today as well as the +3.

With the curve is the goal to test every 2 hours throughout the day for that one day (day 7)? How many tests are we aiming for total?

I ordered some of the treats recommended here and I got a low carb food to try to ease her off of z/d with. The more I read the more I feel like I need to make the cats' food to get a reliably high quality product. I'd like to someday.

Sienne and Gabby (GA), I did look at Gabby's spreadsheet! It was the first one I opened when I found this site before I even signed up to get an idea of what was going on. I think you were talking about how to do a SS and I clicked yours since you seemed so knowledgeable. You did a fantastic job collecting data!

I've been rotating her ears and practicing being near, but not on the veins.

Thank you for mentioning Convenia. If the Dr told me the name I missed it. Luckily Baby hasn't had any reactions to the antibiotic shot as far as I can tell. She has had more dandruff and I am not sure if that's related to the shot or the insulin or just stress. Otherwise she seems a bit happier than last week which is good. The Dr thinks there's some sort of growth in her lip causing a mass which ended up with the abscess but we're working on managing the diabetes before we focus on that growth I think.

Larry and Kitties, thanks for the info. I figured it must be something like that. I ended up just going with the one with the best total reviews even though they were all good. So far it works pretty well. I have noticed a consistent 30-40 higher reading with the ReliOn than the Contour Next. I wonder which one is closer to the actual number? I think as the values get lower the two meters will report closer together. 10% variance isn't too bad.

 

[Shane and Baby]

Took her in to get a spot bg check with the vet 6.5 hours after her AM 1U and breakfast. She had a small snack a few hours prior too. Vet's AT2 read 443, and I got 318 and 310 on the Contour next. I only took that one with me.

Dr wants to go to 2U twice a day. She didn't give me too much push back about using human meters. I explained my discomfort with the AT3 as my only tester and how I'll probably add it later if $ allows so I have some data for people to see to compare with human testers. I like the Contour and the ReliOn so far.

The low carb food is here and I'm slowly transitioning her off the z/d to it. Fingers crossed!

Thank you all so much for all the education and support!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Dr wants to go to 2U twice a day. S

Hi Shane we don't raise insulin by whole units, we adjust the dose by 0.25 units when needed .
Do you plan in doing a curve soon per the SLGS method for lantus
Are you using the U-100 syringes with the Half Unit Markings?

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

With the curve is the goal to test every 2 hours throughout the day for that one day (day 7)? How many tests are we aiming for total?

Yes , if you do a 12 hour curve for example only
Say you test at AMPS at 8 AM
Next test 10 AM
Next test 12 noon
Next test 2 PM
Next test 4 PM
Next test 6 PM
Then you PMPS test at 8 PM

From the Glargine sticky
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.

• If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
• If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
• If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit

 

[Shane and Baby]

Hi Shane we don't raise insulin by whole units, we adjust the dose by 0.25 units when needed .
Do you plan in doing a curve soon per the SLGS method for lantus
Are you using the U-100 syringes with the Half Unit Markings?

Yes , if you do a 12 hour curve for example only
Say you test at AMPS at 8 AM
Next test 10 AM
Next test 12 noon
Next test 2 PM
Next test 4 PM
Next test 6 PM
Then you PMPS test at 8 PM

From the Glargine sticky
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.

• If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
• If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
• If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit

Hi Diane Tyler's Mom, thank you for the fast response! I wanted to discuss the changes here before changing her dose. Especially since we're reducing the carbs in her diet starting last night.

Thank you for explaining the curve to me. I apologize, I missed that sticky even when I looked for it. Dang, I could have done the 18hr curve today but I missed the middle of the day. I will do the 12hr curve tomorrow.

She only got her 1U PMPS tonight and I'll keep the dose there tomorrow during the curve.

I do have the U-100 syringes marked in 0.5 units. The lowest reading I've gotten on her so far was 257 at +3 PMPS a few nights ago.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Diane Tyler's Mom, thank you for the fast response! I wanted to discuss the changes here before changing her dose. Especially since we're reducing the carbs in her diet starting last night.

Thank you for explaining the curve to me. I apologize, I missed that sticky even when I looked for it. Dang, I could have done the 18hr curve today but I missed the middle of the day. I will do the 12hr curve tomorrow.

She only got her 1U PMPS tonight and I'll keep the dose there tomorrow during the curve.

I do have the U-100 syringes marked in 0.5 units. The lowest reading I've gotten on her so far was 257 at +3 PMPS a few nights ago.

Yes keep the 1 unit dose for the curve and then we will see what the next move will be.
We can ask the more experienced members what they think

 

[Shane and Baby]

Yes keep the 1 unit dose for the curve and then we will see what the next move will be.
We can ask the more experienced members what they think

Thank you. Managed to do the 12 hour curve today. The cats usually eat 11 hours then 13 hours apart so they all had to wait an extra hour today! Her low was +4 after her first dose. 174/164. Interestingly, the meters tested closer today than normally. I even got the same result on them once!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Shane and Baby
Hi Shane saw you finished the curve and you said in your post #24 that your vet wants to do to 2 units twice a day, also said
You explained your discomfort with the AT3 as your only tester and how I'll probably add it later if $ allows so I have some data for people to see to compare with human testers. I like the Contour and the ReliOn so far.

The low carb food is here and I'm slowly transitioning her off the z/d to it. Fingers crossed!

There's no reason to get the Alpha Trak 3 because our numbers are based on human meters and the members here will not compare it to the human meters
I would stay with the human meters you are already using.

I don't know if you are going to go along with the dose your vet wants to increase it to or take the advice from the members here

Baby does look like she needs an increase looking at the curve you did today.
I'm going to tag a few members to see if they agree with me and to only increase by
0.25 units so the new dose would be 1.25 units for tomorrow morning
Good job getting the curve done
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Wendy&Neko
On your SS you are testing with both human meters , I think ,but not sure if the members I tagged would suggest to stick with just one meter
Thank you ladies

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Merricks LID duck 15%

I strongly suspect this is an error in the Catinfo document. I fed it to my Neko as a low carb low phosphorus food. She was very carb sensitive and did not react to the LID duck with raised numbers. Plus, when you look it up on Chewy, the carb% listed there is 1.5%. I suspect a missing decimal point in the Catinfo document. That's the only error I've seen in that document.

As for testing with two meters, we always say it's best to pick one and stick with it. The two meters have been quite consistent, well within the 20% variance. I would put one in the cupboard as backup, and save her ears. Another tip on testing, it's good to mix the testing times up at the beginning, it helps you fill in more of the picture. Whenever I see large white spaces in the spreadsheet, I always wonder what is happening during that time. Once you've got enough data about how Baby uses the insulin, you'll be able to be more strategic about when you test. As she starts seeing better numbers, you'll start to see patterns in that BG data as well.

As for insulin dose, I think you can go up to 1.25 units now. Baby saw some very nice numbers under 200 yesterday, I definitely would not increase by more than 0.25 units at this point. You've also shown the value of testing at home. You get much better data than a spot check at the vet gives you.

 

[Shane and Baby]

@Shane and Baby
There's no reason to get the Alpha Trak 3 because our numbers are based on human meters and the members here will not compare it to the human meters
I would stay with the human meters you are already using.

I don't know if you are going to go along with the dose your vet wants to increase it to or take the advice from the members here

Baby does look like she needs an increase looking at the curve you did today.
I'm going to tag a few members to see if they agree with me and to only increase by
0.25 units so the new dose would be 1.25 units for tomorrow morning
Good job getting the curve done
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Wendy&Neko
On your SS you are testing with both human meters , I think ,but not sure if the members I tagged would suggest to stick with just one meter
Thank you ladies

I would only get it to provide additional data for the community. I am happy with the meters I have. I find the Contour easier to use but have no complaints with the ReliOn, and the price is very good for the ReliOn strips.

My plan is to utilize the knowledge here and keep the Dr in the loop. All of our vets know I am an involved pet parent and I will disagree with them if I have a reason to. I think the Dr just wants to stabilize her as fast as possible. If smaller increments than doubling her insulin are common here I would rather go that route! We will get to 2U anyway if that's where we need to go.

Yes, all of my tests have been with the Contour and the ReliOn except the one at the vet. The "R:" prefix on my SS is for the ReliOn readings and the "C:" is for the Contour next.

I will eventually switch to one main meter and use the other to spot check. I wanted to make sure they read close together though. Most electronics fail soon after you start using them if they have some sort of defect. If I only had one meter and it was 40% off I would have never known. I am beginning to feel more confident with these two now.

You have been amazing in your helpfulness and support! Thank you!

I strongly suspect this is an error in the Catinfo document. I fed it to my Neko as a low carb low phosphorus food. She was very carb sensitive and did not react to the LID duck with raised numbers. Plus, when you look it up on Chewy, the carb% listed there is 1.5%. I suspect a missing decimal point in the Catinfo document. That's the only error I've seen in that document.

As for testing with two meters, we always say it's best to pick one and stick with it. The two meters have been quite consistent, well within the 20% variance. I would put one in the cupboard as backup, and save her ears. Another tip on testing, it's good to mix the testing times up at the beginning, it helps you fill in more of the picture. Whenever I see large white spaces in the spreadsheet, I always wonder what is happening during that time. Once you've got enough data about how Baby uses the insulin, you'll be able to be more strategic about when you test. As she starts seeing better numbers, you'll start to see patterns in that BG data as well.

As for insulin dose, I think you can go up to 1.25 units now. Baby saw some very nice numbers under 200 yesterday, I definitely would not increase by more than 0.25 units at this point. You've also shown the value of testing at home. You get much better data than a spot check at the vet gives you.

I too checked on Chewy and I wasn't sure if this was a conversion from wet to dry or something like that. All the cats are doing well on the LID duck so I was planning to keep it. It's about 50% of her calories. I mentioned my upset at the amount of carbs in the z/d to the vet (their prescription). She didn't seem surprised but did suggest a Purina prescription diet on which she has had luck getting diabetic cats back into remission, but I told her I wasn't interested right now. I am suspicious of "prescription" foods for pets and think we can get better quality for less money with careful research.

But we're replacing the z/d with a Weruva low carb and so far no flare up with any cats!

I will switch to using just one tester most of the time and using the second as a double checker. I would like to see how they match up in the 150-70 ranges so I will probably do both sometimes until her sugar levels are more controlled and I understand her range like you mentioned.

Thank you for bringing up test intervals. I wasn't really sure what sort make the most sense. I assumed I should always do the AMPS, PMPS and several in between as possible. If I understand your suggestion, rather than always try to get +3 and +6 every day, I could try to get times I haven't gotten recently like +5 and +9 (looking at the SS) after her first dose and of course the AMPS and PMPS. Thank you!

I'll go to 1.25U twice a day if that is what is recommended by you knowledgeable folk here. Clearly she needs a bit more than she is getting and I am only beginning to learn so I won't go higher than recommended here.

It's hard to imagine you could safely manage diabetes at home without testing, is it very common?

Thank you both!

P.S. It was Convenia she got for antibiotics. I see there are some concerns on the net about adverse reactions with it. Luckily she didn't have any but I am aware of it next time a cat needs an antibiotic so I can discuss it before they are dosed.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I'm glad you're going with the 1.25 units. If I would have listened to my vets partner on how many units to give by going by the pre shots Tyler definitely would have gone hypo. Then I joined this wonderful group and took their advice and followed the dosing method I chose. He been in remission since 1-24-21 knock in wood.
Your vet most likely never heard of the 2 dosing methods
If you follow the dosing method you chose you will be fine.
Every 7 days you do the curve and that will tell you whether you need to increase or decrease the dose.
Anytime Baby drops under 90 per SLGS you would reduce by 0.25 units
We have a saying that feline diabetes is a marathon not a sprint.
Thought I'd give you this link it's a glossary
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-glossary.194472/
@Shane and Baby

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Hi Shane, welcome to the group. Wow you are really hitting the ground running, mad props (as the kids say...or did? I'm old)

Just to compare to me, well...I didnt manage a successful home BG test on my boy Hendrick for a couple weeks after diagnosis. I struggled so! Even with my wife helping. And I was so overwhelmed and depressed. This place saved me and saved my boy, and he is now a diet-controlled diabetic feline in diabetic remission thanks to this group and the Tight Regulation dosing method.

 

[Shane and Baby]

I'm glad you're going with the 1.25 units. If I would have listened to my vets partner on how many units to give by going by the pre shots Tyler definitely would have gone hypo. Then I joined this wonderful group and took their advice and followed the dosing method I chose. He been in remission since 1-24-21 knock in wood.
Your vet most likely never heard of the 2 dosing methods
If you follow the dosing method you chose you will be fine.
Every 7 days you do the curve and that will tell you whether you need to increase or decrease the dose.
Anytime Baby drops under 90 per SLGS you would reduce by 0.25 units
We have a saying that feline diabetes is a marathon not a sprint.
Thought I'd give you this link it's a glossary
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-glossary.194472/
@Shane and Baby

I'm glad I listened too! Today her numbers were the best I've seen so far. She went down to 125ish so I am not sure how low she'd have gone on 2U. I was reading when I first found this community about some doctors recommending jumps of 2-4 units pretty early on. I am not a huge risk taker and would rather find good advice. Thankful to find it here!

*knock on wood for Tyler!*

Thank you for the link. It's a lot to retain but I'm absorbing it bit by bit! If she goes below 90 at her lowest in the curve? Is there an accepted common "upper" range for BG that is under control? If she is 400 AMPS then drops to 90 is that considered safe? Or is it expected she might go between 100-250 or something over a normal day once her diabetes is under control?

Thank you!

Hi Shane, welcome to the group. Wow you are really hitting the ground running, mad props (as the kids say...or did? I'm old)

Just to compare to me, well...I didnt manage a successful home BG test on my boy Hendrick for a couple weeks after diagnosis. I struggled so! Even with my wife helping. And I was so overwhelmed and depressed. This place saved me and saved my boy, and he is now a diet-controlled diabetic feline in diabetic remission thanks to this group and the Tight Regulation dosing method.

Haha, thank you Kyle! Hendrick Cuddleclaw seems very relaxed in your video and it seems like you have it down. Baby has accepted the poking and already associates it with a snack or pets so the biggest issue I have is her flicking her ear and wasting the drop or not getting enough blood and wasting the strips. About hitting the ground running - I learned a long time ago that the best way for me to manage or overcome my anxiety or fear was to understand whatever it was that was causing it. Obviously that doesn't solve the problem but it lets me come up with a plan. Luckily there is this amazingly supportive and helpful community here that really spoon(shovel!)fed the info to me and I am grateful. Really that helped me not become too obsessive about this...

I completely sympathize about being overwhelmed and depressed. So much is going on in each of our lives and this is a big curveball that obviously we have to deal with _right_now_. This community has really helped me and I've been here so short a time! Baby seems happier than she's been in months and I'm grateful for that!

Well, to be fair, my vet made me do a bg test in her office with her telling me what to do and using her meter, and then I had the guidance here the same night, so basically I just got lucky there. My wife has helped me a few times, especially the first couple of days. I struggle with testing Baby when she's starving first thing in the morning still. It's the only time she's impatient with me.

I haven't absorbed the TR dosing method yet but since the SLGS is working I'm sticking with it for the near future. It's on my list of reading though! I'm so happy to hear you both are doing better and thank you for the welcome. I hope Hendrick stays in remission!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I'm glad I listened too! Today her numbers were the best I've seen so far. She went down to 125ish so I am not sure how low she'd have gone on 2U. I was reading when I first found this community about some doctors recommending jumps of 2-4 units pretty early on. I am not a huge risk taker and would rather find good advice. Thankful to find it here!

*knock on wood for Tyler!*

Thank you for the link. It's a lot to retain but I'm absorbing it bit by bit! If she goes below 90 at her lowest in the curve? Is there an accepted common "upper" range for BG that is under control? If she is 400 AMPS then drops to 90 is that considered safe? Or is it expected she might go between 100-250 or something over a normal day once her diabetes is under control?

Thank you!

The normal range for a cat on a human meter is 50-100
On a human meter, 50 is your “take action” number meaning it's time to intervene with food to bring the BG up



With SLGS if Baby drops under 90 at any time you will reduce the dose

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

our vet also had a vet tech show us how to get blood from Hen's ear but they showed us wrong, actually. They used the marginal vein which produces far more blood than you need and causes bruising of the ear. And I am sure it hurts. Unlike just hitting a tiny capillary in the sweet spot between the marginal vein and the edge of the ear, which most cats seem to barely notice and there is usually no bruising at all.

Regarding test times -- you nailed it. Different times, spread the tests around, the more data you have from more different times of day the more the picture starts to form of how the insulin is working on your cat.

Of course, there are certain sort of 'standard' times -- for example I nearly always tested at +2 because with Hendrick that is when the insulin would hit and if it was an active cycle, I would see a pretty big drop at +2 and this would alert me to do more testing and monitoring that day/night. Which is pretty common, you'll see a lot of people always do a +2.

But then in addition to +2's, I would get a +4 one day, +5 the next, +4 and +6 the day after that....etc. I would share all of Hendrick's data with you if it had not been mysteriously deleted off of Google sheets, and Google could not recover it. All gone. Back up your stuff locally! Do not trust the cloud.


This is all I have left, a screen snip of a period of time about 3 months into his insulin therapy. I added a row with the time of day at the top of my sheet:

And here is some interesting data. Every AMPS and PMPS from several months of insulin therapy, showing Hendrick going from an unregulated diabetic feline to a well-regulated diabetic feline, to a tightly regulated diabetic feline. He entered diabetic remission about 2 months later, these graphs only go to April 2022, he went into remission in June of 2022.

 

[Shane and Baby]

The normal range for a cat on a human meter is 50-100
On a human meter, 50 is your “take action” number meaning it's time to intervene with food to bring the BG up



With SLGS if Baby drops under 90 at any time you will reduce the dose

Thank you for the explaination. I wrote it down so it's right here at a glance.

our vet also had a vet tech show us how to get blood from Hen's ear but they showed us wrong, actually. They used the marginal vein which produces far more blood than you need and causes bruising of the ear. And I am sure it hurts. Unlike just hitting a tiny capillary in the sweet spot between the marginal vein and the edge of the ear, which most cats seem to barely notice and there is usually no bruising at all.

Regarding test times -- you nailed it. Different times, spread the tests around, the more data you have from more different times of day the more the picture starts to form of how the insulin is working on your cat.

Of course, there are certain sort of 'standard' times -- for example I nearly always tested at +2 because with Hendrick that is when the insulin would hit and if it was an active cycle, I would see a pretty big drop at +2 and this would alert me to do more testing and monitoring that day/night. Which is pretty common, you'll see a lot of people always do a +2.

But then in addition to +2's, I would get a +4 one day, +5 the next, +4 and +6 the day after that....etc. I would share all of Hendrick's data with you if it had not been mysteriously deleted off of Google sheets, and Google could not recover it. All gone. Back up your stuff locally! Do not trust the cloud.


This is all I have left, a screen snip of a period of time about 3 months into his insulin therapy. I added a row with the time of day at the top of my sheet:

And here is some interesting data. Every AMPS and PMPS from several months of insulin therapy, showing Hendrick going from an unregulated diabetic feline to a well-regulated diabetic feline, to a tightly regulated diabetic feline. He entered diabetic remission about 2 months later, these graphs only go to April 2022, he went into remission in June of 2022.

It's funny you say that Kyle. The Dr told me to aim for the vein too. The info here sorted that out before I even did it once, but I suspect she was just trying to convey it in a simple way to me. But the time I have hit it it was way too much blood! I think the thin lancets along the edge of her ear might feel like an itch or a tickle to Baby so that's what I aim for!

Sometimes I have to do it two or three times though. When it's cold I sometimes jump the gun on the warming up of her ears I guess.

Thanks for your data. I have taken +2 a lot from the start because I was impatient and wanted to make sure *something* was happening! I like the staggered testing approach and I will give it a shot.

I'm sorry to hear about losing your sheet. I just backed ours up. I don't think I've lost anything off a cloud yet, but I am not surprised they didn't recover it. I am not sure how much effort they put in unless you're like an enterprise customer or something. I might have to come up with some sync solution to keep it backed up.

I like your graphs! I'm planning to graph Baby's data too. That's a big improvement. I'm glad he's in remission and that seems like you two got in under control quickly.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

You probably saw this but I'll post it again
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with
Here is a video one of our members made testing her kitty
She's using a pet meter that has to be coded ,with a human meter you don't have to code it.
I have always used a human meter
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Sometimes I have to do it two or three times though. When it's cold I sometimes jump the gun on the warming up of her ears I guess.

that was super common for me. Anytime I actually got enough blood in one poke was a celebration. That is still true today, even though we are only doing occasional spot checks. The recommendation is for me to test him once a month while he's in remission but to be honest sometimes several months go by and I find myself saying to my wife " we are way overdue on the Hendrick pokey" and I had him so wonderfully conditioned to sit perfectly still most of the time.... Much of that conditioning is now gone. So it is even more challenging now.

I'm sorry to hear about losing your sheet. I just backed ours up. I don't think I've lost anything off a cloud yet, but I am not surprised they didn't recover it. I am not sure how much effort they put in unless you're like an enterprise customer or something. I might have to come up with some sync solution to keep it backed up.

if I'm being completely honest I have to admit it may have been user error. You can go into your Google Drive and look at the history and in my case it showed that I permanently deleted it the day after Christmas 2022. I do not recall doing so (why would I delete it anyway???), and I did not discover it was gone until February 2023. But if somehow in some haze of holiday cheer i actually deleted it myself well -- That really sucks and I should have had a backup. Don't trust the cloud but also don't trust yourself in my case apparently!

 

[Shane and Baby]

You probably saw this but I'll post it again
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with
Here is a video one of our members made testing her kitty
She's using a pet meter that has to be coded ,with a human meter you don't have to code it.
I have always used a human meter
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar

Yes, I'm getting better with everyone's helpful advice! It may be that she has more capillaries in her left ear or it's closer to her heart or something but I have much better success with her left ear than her right early in the morning!

that was super common for me. Anytime I actually got enough blood in one poke was a celebration. That is still true today, even though we are only doing occasional spot checks. The recommendation is for me to test him once a month while he's in remission but to be honest sometimes several months go by and I find myself saying to my wife " we are way overdue on the Hendrick pokey" and I had him so wonderfully conditioned to sit perfectly still most of the time.... Much of that conditioning is now gone. So it is even more challenging now.




if I'm being completely honest I have to admit it may have been user error. You can go into your Google Drive and look at the history and in my case it showed that I permanently deleted it the day after Christmas 2022. I do not recall doing so (why would I delete it anyway???), and I did not discover it was gone until February 2023. But if somehow in some haze of holiday cheer i actually deleted it myself well -- That really sucks and I should have had a backup. Don't trust the cloud but also don't trust yourself in my case apparently!

Yeah, I've had a busy week this week and I feel like I've gotten "lucky" more and more with one poke tests the last few days. She really only gets annoyed when she wants food. But I give her a treat now often after a test that reinforces it. If I'm honest I don't think I've ever bothered to delete anything off Google drive/sheets/docs that I can recall so I don't know how well they prevent accidental deletions. I think I have accidentally "selected all" and then put something in that replaced all the data but I was able to recover it with the version history -> "ctrl alt shift H" with the sheet open. It's also under file -> version history. I don't know if it goes back far enough to find Hendrick's stuff though.

I did her second curve today. She had what seem to me to be some weird numbers this week -- I don't know what was going on with the 26th. I've tried to be diligent about making sure all the insulin exits the syringe and that it it between the 1 and 1.5U markings. She had inconsistent bathroom issues this week so that might be related. I think the curve suggests I should go to 1.5?

Her appetite seems aggressive this week. Can that be related to the insulin helping her feel better and less tired?

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

When manually color-coding cells on your spreadsheet, please remember to set the text color to white so it's readable.

Just looking at the spreadsheet it looks like an increase to 1.5 is warranted. But let's see what SLGS says, as that is the method you've chosen:

Hold the dose for at least a week:

• Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
• Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.

After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.

• If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
• If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose <----- This appears to apply in your case Shane
• If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit

Question, you're obviously testing a lot why SLGS? Tight Regulation is what I would recommend. More aggressive and more successful.

 

[Shane and Baby]

When manually color-coding cells on your spreadsheet, please remember to set the text color to white so it's readable.

Just looking at the spreadsheet it looks like an increase to 1.5 is warranted. But let's see what SLGS says, as that is the method you've chosen:

Hold the dose for at least a week:

• Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
• Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L). If kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.

After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.

• If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
• If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose <----- This appears to apply in your case Shane
• If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit

Question, you're obviously testing a lot why SLGS? Tight Regulation is what I would recommend. More aggressive and more successful.

Hi Kyle, thanks for the quick response.

I think you mean the blue and green level cells. Sorry about that I went and changed them. There seems to be some inconsistency when I set the text color on my phone and between dark/light themes. Hopefully that fixed it!

Any luck finding your old values in the SS version history?

I left her dose at 1.25 for the day and I'll do more reading.

I went with SLGS because I was overwhelmed when she was diagnosed and it seemed less "risky". I didn't understand almost anything about feline diabetes or how these long acting insulins work and I felt like SLGS was the more common and standard path, at least to start. Additionally, we have 5 cats that all eat at the same time and traditionally it was a 13.5 hr then 10.5 hour gap for their feedings so adjusting that has been a processes.

I have been reading through quite a bit on the LLB forum and feeling more comfortable with TR after your reporting of success. I've re-read a lot of what is on the tilly site too. There were some posts from Kirsten from quite some time ago about how the months after diagnosis were critical for trying to get to remission and overly cautious dosing is something to overcome. I think I needed more time to absorb this material to consider TR.

Do you test for ketones with your TR dosing?

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Absolutely testing for ketones is part of TR

No, there's no version history because it was permanently deleted. Supposedly, Google can recover such permanently deleted items for up to 60 days. I submitted many support tickets. No response, ever.

To be fair, my recommendation of TR comes with a bit of bias on my part because that is what worked miracles for my boy Hendrick.

 

[Shane and Baby]

Since the SLGS guide says to hold her dose that's the plan for the immediate future and I'm going to get some ketone testing strips and see if I can get her to cooperate. I don't know how I missed ketone testing in the first place.. too much information overload I guess.

I read the sticky about 50 posts max preferred per thread for this forum so I think I should move to the LBL forum and switch to the daily post thread format. Have to make sure my sig is the correct format and I absorb the thread title format.

I'm still reading through the TR material, especially the glossary and older threads. There's so much to learn!

That's a bummer. Sorry, I was hoping it might work.

Well, I am all for miracles! There's definitely some miracle-helpers if not miracle-workers here!