Home Testing - Nervous & Starting Insulin soon

Status
Not open for further replies.
Lisa & Nacho

Lisa & Nacho

Member Since 2016
Good evening -

I have been trying to muster up the courage to "home test" my kitty. I purchased a reliOn home blood glucose monitor from walmart a few days ago. Any recommendations on the best way to home test? Also with the human monitors is there anything different number wise?

What range do I want my diabetic kitty to be in?

He went from 524 (first vet visit) to 405 (second vet visit after changing his diet to completely wet food).

I just want to make sure he gets started on not too high of an insulin dose if his home level is even less than 400.

I am nervous my kitty with freak out or I will when home testing :(

I also plan to call my Vet tomorrow to get a script for Novolin N, which seems to be the most affordable insulin at this point to try that out with my kitty.

Any suggestions helpful!!
 
My cat is motivated for food so I place a small bowl of freeze dried chicken in front of him and he is occupied with gobbling them up as I poke his ear. I use a 28g lancet (without the pen) and poke the outer portion of the ear.
There are lots of videos on youtube and some links on this site for home testing.
I use the same monitor and it hasn't given me any problems.

I'm sure someone will come along with more experience than I to chat with you about dosing.
Good luck!!!
 
Here's something I wrote up for others that needed help with testing...maybe it'll help you too!

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take him there as many times a day as you can and just give his ears a quick rub and then he gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking him to hurt him...you're testing him to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside his body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure his ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well.

When you're first starting, it's also important to use a lower gauge lancet, like 25-28 gauge. Most of the "lancet devices" come with 33 gauge lancets and they are just too tiny to start with. The bigger lancets (that are lower numbers) make a bigger "hole". As you poke more and more, the ears will grow new capillaries and will be easier and easier to get blood from...we call it "learning to bleed"

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that he really enjoys will help him to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!
 
Normal blood glucose for a cat not on insulin is in the low 100's or below, but with insulin you have to be more conservative, especially at the beginning. The most important numbers for you to consider right now are the "action" numbers we use to help keep your cat safe from hypos (hypoglycemia-- very dangerous). To start, these would be:

-pre-shot: 200. You should be above this number before giving insulin-- if you test pre-shot and are below this, don't give the shot and post for help.

-between-shot lows: mid-100's. Especially on Novalin N (which is one of the less-gentle insulins in cats), you don't want to see the "low points" of cycles dipping below 100 regularly-- even if the number itself is a safe one, that doesn't leave you a big enough buffer from the really low numbers to prevent a hypo.

-hypo low: below 50 (on a human meter) is considered in hypo territory. If you ever get to that level, you will need to take immediate action-- giving some high carb food or syrup to bring the numbers up, and call your vet or post here for help. In fact, I'd strongly recommend posting any time you get numbers that seem to be heading in that direction, especially if it's early in the cycle-- we can give advice for how to slow Nacho down so he never gets to that level.

Regarding insulins: most people here use one of the "L" insulins (Lantus and Levemir), as they seem to suit cat metabolisms better than the fast-acting insulins like Vetsulin or Novalin-N. We have lots of tips to keep costs down-- for example, ordering Lantus from Canada (you need a prescription from your vet) is much much cheaper and might be worth considering. Or, sometimes pharmacies will sell individual "pens" of Lantus in the U.S.-- it's more expensive per unit than the 5-pack of pens from Canada, but much less expensive than a whole vial (which is what they sometimes try to sell you-- not a good deal for a cat because the insulin will go "bad" long before you can use up a vial).

I'm just mentioning the other insulin options because you are (rightly) concerned about safety, and while the Novalin-N will "work", due to its harsher action it is harder to manage safely in a cat than the L insulins, and you can get a lot more expert feedback here on the L's. Just something to factor in.
 
Nan & Amber said:
Normal blood glucose for a cat not on insulin is in the low 100's or below, but with insulin you have to be more conservative, especially at the beginning. The most important numbers for you to consider right now are the "action" numbers we use to help keep your cat safe from hypos (hypoglycemia-- very dangerous). To start, these would be:

-pre-shot: 200. You should be above this number before giving insulin-- if you test pre-shot and are below this, don't give the shot and post for help.

-between-shot lows: mid-100's. Especially on Novalin N (which is one of the less-gentle insulins in cats), you don't want to see the "low points" of cycles dipping below 100 regularly-- even if the number itself is a safe one, that doesn't leave you a big enough buffer from the really low numbers to prevent a hypo.

-hypo low: below 50 (on a human meter) is considered in hypo territory. If you ever get to that level, you will need to take immediate action-- giving some high carb food or syrup to bring the numbers up, and call your vet or post here for help. In fact, I'd strongly recommend posting any time you get numbers that seem to be heading in that direction, especially if it's early in the cycle-- we can give advice for how to slow Nacho down so he never gets to that level.

Regarding insulins: most people here use one of the "L" insulins (Lantus and Levemir), as they seem to suit cat metabolisms better than the fast-acting insulins like Vetsulin or Novalin-N. We have lots of tips to keep costs down-- for example, ordering Lantus from Canada (you need a prescription from your vet) is much much cheaper and might be worth considering. Or, sometimes pharmacies will sell individual "pens" of Lantus in the U.S.-- it's more expensive per unit than the 5-pack of pens from Canada, but much less expensive than a whole vial (which is what they sometimes try to sell you-- not a good deal for a cat because the insulin will go "bad" long before you can use up a vial).

I'm just mentioning the other insulin options because you are (rightly) concerned about safety, and while the Novalin-N will "work", due to its harsher action it is harder to manage safely in a cat than the L insulins, and you can get a lot more expert feedback here on the L's. Just something to factor in.
Click to expand...

Thank you!! I am going to talk to my vet about the L Insulins - as it seems many recommend those much more than novolin. With the L insulins would I still be giving insulin twice a day? Or once a day?

My vet had told me with the novolin it will be once per day. Also what supplies should I keep in stock in case of a hypo incident? Thank you! This forum is so helpful :)
 
LisaMarie, earlier someone said "It's also important to use a lower gauge lancet, like 25-28 gauge. As counterintuitive as that sounds it's sound advice. Poking a bigger hole seems scary but it works. Beautiful cat by the way. I had the same fear and once had my previous diabetic cat run out of the room, syringe still hanging on. That seems like 100 years ago. Now I can do it with a pounding migraine and you can do it too, it's not rocket surgery!
 
I just thought I'd share that I just bought Lantus from the Canadian pharmacy and I could not have been happier. They were so nice and helpful. It also didn't hurt that it was $125 including shipping. I've been paying $300 at my local pharmacy & they are the cheapest in town. Just something to consider if your vet does decide to switch insulin.
 
I recommend getting blood by poking the lancet in with your hand. It allows for a more precise location because you can see where you are going better than using the lancet shooter. It is also easier to control the pressure.

If you can't get any blood from the ear, you can try his paw pad. This is what I do every time. It depends on the cat, because some tolerate it better than others. Good luck with at home testing :) it definitely gets easier with practice!
 
Corie said:
I just thought I'd share that I just bought Lantus from the Canadian pharmacy and I could not have been happier. They were so nice and helpful. It also didn't hurt that it was $125 including shipping. I've been paying $300 at my local pharmacy & they are the cheapest in town. Just something to consider if your vet does decide to switch insulin.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I will look into this that is awesome :)
 
Mackenzie Obermeyer said:
I recommend getting blood by poking the lancet in with your hand. It allows for a more precise location because you can see where you are going better than using the lancet shooter. It is also easier to control the pressure.

If you can't get any blood from the ear, you can try his paw pad. This is what I do every time. It depends on the cat, because some tolerate it better than others. Good luck with at home testing :) it definitely gets easier with practice!
Click to expand...

Thank you!!
 
LisaMarie said:
Thank you! I will look into this that is awesome :)
Click to expand...

Here's all the info on Marks Marine pharmacy (where we're all buying our lantus from in Canada)

Corie said:
It also didn't hurt that it was $125 including shipping.
Click to expand...

It's actually better to go with the 5 pack of Lantus pens...for $175 (including shipping) you get 1500 units (the 10ml vial holds 1000).....the problem with the vial is that most cats can't use 1000 units before the insulin loses it's efficacy, so you end up throwing half a vial away. With the pens, each pen is 300 units and the box of 5 pens will last until the expiration date on the box...usually at least 2 years away!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top