Home Testing Questions. Please respond....=)

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Becky56

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I have just started home testing my girl, Bobbie this week. I'm feeling a lot better about her overall, but still not sure about some things. Her readings have ranged from a low of 49. This was a couple days ago the morning after her last shot. Her highest reading was last night after her 10 pm feeding. It was 158.

So far I have not tested today. It is almost time for her to have her first feeding of the day. I am currently feeding her Friskies Classic Pate 3 times a day. Morning, afternoon, and evening. She is eating a bout half a can at a time for a total of 1 1/2 cans per day.

She seems to have her appetite back and for the first time is acting like herself and being playful.

I am concerned about the frequency of testing. I'm afraid her ears are getting sore- I can see the little marks from previous tests.

At this point- where we are monitoring to make sure she is being controlled by her diet, how often do I need to test per day?

Is it ok to just check after she eats, or is it really neccessary to test before also?

TIA
 
You want to test before eating normally so you aren't seeing a food spike. But where you are just checking in on her you can do one of two things...either test twice a day at her normal shot times.

or

Do a food test, where you test her before eating, feed her, wait 2 hours and test again. If she drops on her own you have a functioning pancreas. How much she drops will tell you how well it is working.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang (off to go poke a kitty...again)
 
If you are not injecting insulin, you can test whenever you like.

If you are injecting insulin, we recommend testing before every injection and at mid-cycle (+6 hrs after injection or different if she peaks at a different time.)

The blood sugar levels naturally go up and down all day and night long, whether or not insulin is injected.

After eating, there is more sugar in the blood - because the food has been digested and the fuel is now available to the body.

So - you will typically see a higher blood sugar an hour or two after a meal. In a cat with a functioning pancreas, the act of eating/digesting will stimulate the pancreas to release insulin to transport the sugar into the muscles and other tissues.
 
I am not giving her shots right now. Just monitoring. Today is day 3 without a shot.

So will it be ok just to check her morning and evening after eating to make sure she isn't going too high?

Or for now do I still need to check before eating? Is it ok to skip checking in the afternoon?
 
Ok, just reread your replies. I'll keep testing her a couple times a day. an hour or so after she eats to make sure she isn't going too high after eating. Thanks!
 
Actually, you want to test a.m. before eating and then you can wait till the mid-afternoon snack and test or just wait till her p.m. feeding and test before eating. If her pancreas quits, that p.m. test will tell you by a higher number. As for her ears, as long as you apply a little pressure after each poke to stop the bleeding, those bruises will disappear. Just make sure you are only testing edge of the ear, not anywhere in the middle.
 
Hope + (((Baby)))GA said:
just wait till her p.m. feeding and test before eating. If her pancreas quits, that p.m. test will tell you by a higher number.
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Let me see if I have it straight.

Morning feeding- test before. Should I also test after?

Evening feeding- test before. What about after?

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm not getting it. I just want to make sure I am doing this correctly.

I am testing on the outer ear. Thanks to Buddy's video.
 
Before you feed her, take a test and record the number, and then let her eat that meal.
Test her 2hours after she eats that meal because if all is working well, you should see a drop in BG from the test done 2hrs earlier.
What you want to find out is how her body is using the food she is eating.
The body takes the food and produces its own insulin to balance out her numbers, so you just want to see how well her body is doing its job.

For the testing, my two pretty much come when I call for testing if I can't find them or they just sleep through the pokes. I don't know why but Shadoe gives better drops when poked on the outer side of the ear, but Oliver is better when poked on the inside of his ear tips.
 
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