Help interpreting BG home testing results

[jkbank]

Hi All

I have been testing Gem at home for a few days now. Admittedly, I have not been able to do it so regularly every day but I've gotten a fair amount of data. Problem is I have no idea what to make of the information, other than that it's clear she's not yet regulated. The numbers seem all over the place with no rhyme or reason, no discernible pattern to my eye. Perhaps you with more experience may be able to glean something from it.

I hope there is enough background info on the sheet but let me know if you need any other information. I am testing with a One Touch Delica meter. Gem eats mainly Purina DM - I am working on transitioning to some of the better lo-carb options out there, but I can only deal with so much at one time

A few thoughts I've had on things that may be skewing the results:

1) Gem will not eat all her food when we first put it down. She eats enough (and her BG is high enough) so we can give her a shot, but we leave the food out so she can eat an appropriate amount. I've not really kept track of whether or not she's eaten more just prior to the test (or how much) so I don't know to what degree this is impacting her BG

2) Three times a week in the morning, Gem gets half a baby aspirin (for heart problems) and some laxatone (to keep things moving!). Would this impact her BG to any great degree?

3) Because she is taking 2 pills in the AM and 3 in the PM, she gets Greenies pill pockets at those times. Are those high-carb/high-sugar? Or is it small enough to not be a real problem at this point?

Bear in mind that for right now, I am not making any dosage changes based on the testing, just gathering information. We are going to the vet tomorrow, and I will share the numbers with her. But any thoughts on her numbers would be most appreciated!
Thanks

PS Let me know if there is a key time to test that I am missing that you think would yield important clues

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on without more data, so keep working on the testing! To truly know what is going on with Lantus, you need at least three tests a day, once before each shot, and then a test mid-cycle. You are doing an excellent job starting out, but I would need more data to give you an opinion on what's happening. Without those daily, mid-cycle tests, it's hard to tell if the dose is too high or too low. Cats on too high a dose will have blood sugar that stays just as high as cats on too low a dose, because their livers dump glucose into their blood stream to counteract low numbers. So a cat that is being chronically overdosed can show high numbers for 2-3 days straight, but if you miss that one day when he's dropped low, it appears that the dose isn't high enough when in reality it's too high.

If you rotate that daily mid-cycle test around between +4 and +7, it will give you an even better idea of how the insulin is working.

I know Gem has other health conditions going on, so the 3u may or may not be an appropriate dose. I can tell you that cats on a low carb diet without secondary health conditions usually don't need much more than 1u, and normally I would tell someone in your situation to lower the dose and start over at 1u with your data because 3u is almost always too high a dose. However, I'm hesitant to give you that advice because of Gem's other conditions. All I feel comfortable recommending right now is to keep up your testing and get those mid-cycle checks, and hopefully the data will be more revealing the more it's collected.

2) Three times a week in the morning, Gem gets half a baby aspirin (for heart problems) and some laxatone (to keep things moving!). Would this impact her BG to any great degree?

The baby aspirin would not affect BG, but laxatone does contain corn syrup. Many people here use Miralax for their cats instead, because Miralax has no impact on BG.

Because she is taking 2 pills in the AM and 3 in the PM, she gets Greenies pill pockets at those times. Are those high-carb/high-sugar? Or is it small enough to not be a real problem at this point?

It depends on the flavor--the chicken and salmon flavors of pill pockets are full of wheat flour and corn syrup, so they are not good for diabetic cats. The Duck and Pea flavor are diabetic safe. However, apparently Greenies is discontinuing this flavor so I would recommend grabbing as much as you can before they disappear. If your local pet stores or vet doesn't have them anymore, you can still order them on amazon for the time being.

As with any diet change, I would be very cautious about the insulin dose once you remove these from Gem's diet. It could cause her insulin need to reduce by an unknown amount, which could cause a dangerous hypoglycemic incident if you are not testing/lowering the dose as changes are made.

You're doing a great job so far--Gem's lucky to have you!

 

[jkbank]

Thanks Julia for your thoughtful and thorough reply. I appreciate all the support I get here.

I will definitely work on getting those mid cycle numbers and see where that takes us.

I thought I had read something about the greenies. Right now I've been using the chicken flavor, and had been hesitant to try others as I was shocked that she took them and was so concerned about getting all those pills into her! I will look into the duck & pea flavor and see if she'll eat those. And of course, keep a close eye on her BG if so. And will look into the miralax as well.

Thanks again!

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

What I did before they released the diabetic friendly pill pockets (and when my picky cat wouldn't eat them anymore) was use a small piece of American cheese to mold around the pill like a pill pocket, and then rolled the whole thing in Tuna (you can use anything your cat really likes though--I also used canned Salmon, sardines packed in water, canned turkey--anything that my picky cat would eat).

Another thing that helps with constipation issues are pet fountains--they encourage cats to drink even when they aren't thirsty. Also, mixing some water in with her canned food is another way to get extra moisture in her. The more hydrated she is, the better her movements will be. My cat Gabby was constantly dehydrated because of her kidney disease, and I had to use lactolose (a different stool softener, but she wasn't diabetic and it contained sugar) to help her movements out. After I got the pet fountain and started adding water to her food, even though she was drinking like a fish already, I had to cut the dose of stool softener in half for her because she was better hydrated.

 

[jkbank]

What I did before they released the diabetic friendly pill pockets (and when my picky cat wouldn't eat them anymore) was use a small piece of American cheese to mold around the pill like a pill pocket, and then rolled the whole thing in Tuna (you can use anything your cat really likes though--I also used canned Salmon, sardines packed in water, canned turkey--anything that my picky cat would eat).

Thanks for the tips. Gem was never one for "people" food, as opposed to my other healthy kitty who will eat most anything, if he can get his paws on it! So I'm not sure what she will and will not eat. BUt I will experiment and see what works.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

What I did before they released the diabetic friendly pill pockets (and when my picky cat wouldn't eat them anymore) was use a small piece of American cheese to mold around the pill like a pill pocket, and then rolled the whole thing in Tuna (you can use anything your cat really likes though--I also used canned Salmon, sardines packed in water, canned turkey--anything that my picky cat would eat).

Thanks for the tips. Gem was never one for "people" food, as opposed to my other healthy kitty who will eat most anything, if he can get his paws on it! So I'm not sure what she will and will not eat. BUt I will experiment and see what works.

When Gabby started refusing more and more foods because of her stomach cancer, I literally went through an entire supermarket full of food. I was even using SPAM for a little while! Here's that post with the different suggestions: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=35261

 

[jkbank]

What I did before they released the diabetic friendly pill pockets (and when my picky cat wouldn't eat them anymore) was use a small piece of American cheese to mold around the pill like a pill pocket, and then rolled the whole thing in Tuna (you can use anything your cat really likes though--I also used canned Salmon, sardines packed in water, canned turkey--anything that my picky cat would eat).

Thanks for the tips. Gem was never one for "people" food, as opposed to my other healthy kitty who will eat most anything, if he can get his paws on it! So I'm not sure what she will and will not eat. BUt I will experiment and see what works.

When Gabby started refusing more and more foods because of her stomach cancer, I literally went through an entire supermarket full of food. I was even using SPAM for a little while! Here's that post with the different suggestions: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=35261

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely keep that handy!

FYI, just tested Gem, 5hr post shot and she's at 264, which is a big drop from the morning (though she had just had lunch). I feel like with every test I grow more and more confused…sigh...

 

[MommaOfMuse]

At first it is all just a bunch of spaghetti when looking at the early numbers, but the more tests you get and at more varied times patterns begin to take shape. Its like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without having the picture on the box to go by, first you can only get the edges together, then slowly you find more and more pieces that fit together and pretty soon you see the picture begin to take shape.

Besides recording just the BG numbers if you keep careful notes on what she ate, how much, mood, activity level etc it will also help make sense of the numbers. It would be so nice if it was a simple recipe of just add insulin and get this result but it isn't because just like that jigsaw puzzle each piece is dependent on the others to fit together right to make a whole picture. Activity level and food as well as mood all play a part in why their numbers do what they do.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Things will become more clear once you have a few more days of data, but it looks like she might be clearing a bounce (elevated blood glucose either due to too low or normal numbers that her body isn't used to yet). All cats bounce in the beginning, even if the dose is right. That's why you're in a wait and see mode right now. If you get a low preshot tonight, that may be an indication the dose is too high, but you need to wait and see where her tests take you.

 

[jkbank]

Things will become more clear once you have a few more days of data, but it looks like she might be clearing a bounce (elevated blood glucose either due to too low or normal numbers that her body isn't used to yet). All cats bounce in the beginning, even if the dose is right. That's why you're in a wait and see mode right now. If you get a low preshot tonight, that may be an indication the dose is too high, but you need to wait and see where her tests take you.

Ugh, dh didn't realize what my plan was with the testing, so with good intentions gave Gem her PM shot before I could test! I feel like it's a wasted day now as far as testing goes. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, though we go to the vet tomorrow, which throws everything off.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Things will become more clear once you have a few more days of data, but it looks like she might be clearing a bounce (elevated blood glucose either due to too low or normal numbers that her body isn't used to yet). All cats bounce in the beginning, even if the dose is right. That's why you're in a wait and see mode right now. If you get a low preshot tonight, that may be an indication the dose is too high, but you need to wait and see where her tests take you.

Ugh, dh didn't realize what my plan was with the testing, so with good intentions gave Gem her PM shot before I could test! I feel like it's a wasted day now as far as testing goes. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, though we go to the vet tomorrow, which throws everything off.

Don't get discouraged! And it's not a wasted day just because you missed one--ANY and ALL data you gather is valuable.