Help!!! First time testing readings at 61 and 69

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Vhens2211

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Tested with the Confrim relion today. Readings at 61, and 69. Ozzie was checked yesterday at the vet and he was at 345.

I called the vet because he was due for insulin. We are going to err on the side of caution and not give the insulin tonight, and will give in the morning.

Is the meter defective? Did I do something wrong?

Should I get another confirm meter or switch?

Also, Oz was quite traumatized by the poking.... he went to hide after the second reading.


Any advice to make things go easier? Momma is a little stressed out.
 
Hi there....I don't really know anything about you yet (how long with diabetes, history so far with insulin, type of insulin, dose, etc), so will do a quick search to see if I can find any other posts...and will be right back!
 
Good call! You do not want to give insulin with numbers in the 60s. We generally tell new diabetic parents not to shoot under 200. (You can wait 30 minutes without feeding to see if it moves up above 200. You can shoot a reduced dose if you have some data to support doing so. You can skip.) Since he is fairly new to diabetes, skipping sounds like a plan!

Tomorrow you may have higher numbers as he will have gone without insulin for 12 hours. But you want to be cautious. Clearly today's dose was too high.

If I were you, I would go on the Insulin support group for your insulin with your morning number and ask for dose advice.

BTW, Thank Goodness you tested. Shudder to think what insulin would have done on a 61!

I am assuming your number was accurate. If you are wondering about your meter, test on yourself and see if you get a good number.
 
OK...it's Vivian right? From what I can tell, you were just diagnosed on 10/29 and at that time started on 2 Units of....not sure what. Then a few days ago, you returned to the vet yesterday and they upped the dose to 3 Units.

Can you tell me what type of insulin you are on and how often you are giving the 3 Units? I have a hunch I know....but would like you to confirm.

At this point, I can tell you with almost 100% certainty it's not the meter and your catch tonight was a very good one that could have very well saved Ozzie's life.

Take a deep breath and let's chat here for a bit so we can begin to get this figured out for you OK?
 
He's on Prozinc. I'm at class right now. Grad school! Hard to concentrate. I'll try testing on myself when I get home too
 
My hunch was wrong!!....I am going to send a link over to the ProZinc group to have someone from there give you some advice on that specific insulin.
 
Vivian, I'm so glad you tested! You can Breath, now. Skipping the shot was the right thing to do, tonight. You are doing fine. We are here to help you, when you get home. Ask all the questions you want, when you have time.
 
I promise you it will be easier to test yourself :lol: :lol: :lol: I sent the link over to PZI so hopefully someone will be heading over soon! Normal fasting human blood glucose is between 70-100.
 
Or you can test yourself--I found that this is a very good way to make sure the meter is working right. Since you got two very close numbers in a row, the meter was most likely correct.

3u is a high dose of insulin for a cat on a canned diet (you just switched to canned food, right?), so you can expect numbers to drop quite a bit from the diet change. I don't have experience with your insulin, but I think it's likely you'll need to lower the dose. Hopefully someone experienced with PZI will be along to advice you by how much.

Vet numbers are almost always much higher because of stress, which is why testing at home is necessary in order to get accurate readings.
 
yep, you can test any other kitties you have, yourself, or other family members. that's a great way to get a feel for if your meter is working right.

bear in mind that your non-diabetic kitties should or will give you numbers anywhere from the 40's to maybe somewhere around 100 on the high end.

(got pulled away after i typed this but before i clicked post so may be useless now :-) )
 
Hi vivian
Welcome! I am so very happy that you have tested! you saved your baby's life!
There is so much information to give you but I do not want to overwlem you so we will start slowly
On the website you will see the insulin support group
If you go to PZI there is a wonderful group of people there to help

But I will start with this..Very excellent idea that you did not shoot tonight,
I am not sure of all your details (hopefully you can fill us in later with everything)
I am assuming that you started the insulin recently
As we always say on the prozinc support group, start low and go slow
We usally (depending on the cat and how long they are on the insulin)
to start at one unit (depending on his sugar levels)and hold for a few days (3 to 5 days) and slowly raise from there
I believe I saw that you were giving him 3 units...I think you should start over again tomorrow
morning, with one unit (depending on his am preshot)
as Sue said, dont shoot under 200 (newbies) wait 20 minutes and test again to make sure the suagar levels are rising
We recommend that you always test before you shoot the insulin, am and pm....
When you get home from school of you could please type up all info so we can help from there
I am sorry but I will be asleep by then but if you go to PZI support group, I am sure someone will be there to welcome you.
so very glad you found us!

so ver
 
Ok... just got home. Picked up a Confirm Micro meter.

Tested my sugar levels. First, the Micro came in at 59. The Confirm at 80. Retested again, and both the Micro and the Confirm matched at 80.

Tried testing my non-diabetic cat, but he wasn't having it.

Here's Ozzie's background:

Bloodwork on 9/23. Diagnosis on 9/24. Started wet-low carb diet immediatley

Monday 9/29 started on ProZinc at 2 units. 6am and 6pm doses

Tuesday 10/6 -Blood Glucose test at the vets at around 4pm. Glucose 375.

Told to increase to 3 units, 6pm dose on 10/6 was at 3. Dose this morning 10/7 at 3pm. Tested before class at 5pm, got low readings. No insulin.

I REALLLLLLYYYYY hope Ozzie cooperates tomorrow morning before I go to work, and that his levels are ok. If they are still low, I am going to forgo insulin again and see if I can get him checked after work so we can see what the issue is.
 
Morning all!

Took Ozzie's BG while he was in his bed this morning (went a little easier that way). It was at 372, so I went ahead and gave him insulin.

I'll check it again before his 6pm dose too....

I feel bad though, looking at Ozzie's ear it looks like there isn't really anywhere else left to prick! (i know thats probably not the case). Can I poke him elsewhere?

He still has a shaved arm from his blood testing 2 weeks ago.


Thanks again to all who have shared advice with me. It's comforting to know that I can turn here for help! :)

Gotta get ready for work!

Much love all,

Vivian and Ozzie.
 

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OMG, hurray for home testing and for your baby that did not hypo! gooood mommy bean. The home testing will get better.
I had a special spot, special treat and testing did get easier. It just takes a bit.... habit was the key for my sugar Bean and I... I can pick up her 'pokey poke basket' and she knows it is special bond time, lots of love, and of course those treats. Bean does do better with testing if her furry sisters are not around. She is OTJ now, but we still test (mommy went over a month without testing-bad mommy). She/we were not that great the last time as we have not stayed on our once a week routine.

When you gave the last shot, was it 3 units??. Do you think you could get a test +2, +4 afterwards? I know when I changed Beans food to low carb, she went from 400+ to in the 150's. Then finally in the low 100 and now no shot at all. Her spread sheet shows that her insulin was reduced to finally not needing it.
I am sooo glad I started testing as you will see on her sheet what happened to her when I was not testing.
Are you holding the poke area with a towlett for a min. or two after the test is over? this helps healing the ear, keeping if from bruising. As well as some pain relief neosporin.
Wishing you good luck with Ozzie!
 
I'm going to try to do a curve over the weekend. I work full-time, moonlight one night a week as a bartender and go to grad school at night, so finding time when am home for elongated periods of time is always a challenge!!!

He did have 3 units this morning.

I did apply pressure to his ear.... and put some regular neosporin on him. I'm scared I am going to run out of poking spots!!!

It went much smoother than yesterday!!

Ozzie has a vet appt on 10/15, so I am going to bring the meter in with me so we can compare it against the AlphaTrack at the vets.
 
Trust me you aren't going to run out of places to poke on those little ears and as crazy as it sounds they will 'learn' to bleed. Musette is very tiny when I first adopted her, just a mere 6lbs and she has tiny little ears, but now that we have been at the whole testing process except for a little dried blood on her fur (she has fluffy ears as she is a Himalayan), I can't even tell where I just poked a mere 3 hours before. One of my tricks is to use one ear one day and then the other ear the following day, to give the first ear a day to heal.

I do her curves on the weekends when I have the whole day to be with her, since this is also the same time I have set aside to also study, what I do is set either the oven timer or my cell phone alarm to go off every 2 hours, then curl up with my text books, study until the alarm sounds, go test Musette and then go right back to the textbooks. This gives me a much needed break from the books every couple of hours to stretch my legs, get a drink, go to the bathroom etc, and it gets her curve done as well. During the week, I'm blessed to be home most of the time, but I do the same thing except every 3 hours apart or more so that I can be busy doing what I need to around the house, and still not miss a prescheduled test time.

Having an insulin dependent kitty has made me a pro at time management. :lol: And actually probably made me a better student and wife, since I have to schedule out my day and not let things like a nap or a good movie distract me...lol.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
I replied on PZI this am. Was hoping you would lower the dose this am after your low numbers yesterday. Can you get home at some point to get a test in (around the lowest point or nadir at +6 would be great.)? We do not want to see him under 40.
 
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