Home testing.

ok everyone i went and got everything i needed to start doing home testing on squishy... now what do i do?

 

ok i have been giving squishy 3 units at 8am and 3 units at 8pm since friday june the 4th. just did our first home bg's test and it was 396. where do i need to go from here. i want to take his dry food away but i am nervous to cause he had 3 units of insulin at 8 pm. should i wait till morning to take a way the dry food completely? Then when i get up in the morning feed him one can of wet cat food, test his sugar, then only give him 1 unit of insulin???

 

Hi,
This might get more responses if you posted in the Health forum instead, there are more people looking at that one on a regular basis.

Good job on getting the testing equipment!

I take it no one has shown you how to test?
The general idea is that you will
- put a test strip in the glucometer
- prick the edge of the cat's ear, get a tiny amount of blood
- put the edge of the test strip against the drop of blood, so that it "sips" some into the strip (it's the end edge that sips, not the top)
- apply a bit of pressure to the ear with a tissue to stop the bleeding
- read the number on the glucometer

Now there are lots of tricks on how to do each of these steps that will make life much easier. There's different ways to do it and you'll eventually find a routine that works for you.

There's a bunch of info here, including pictures and videos:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287

Have a look... ask questions
Odiesmom

 

Oh! you've managed to get a test done, congratulations!

I would wait until morning and start then. Low-carb food and 1 unit.

If you can, test a few times this evening if you'll be up late... otherwise test once just before bed.
You want some numbers mid-cycle to make decisions about dosing.

Congratulations again though!

 

You may also want to consider taking the dry food away gradually over a period of a few days. Especially if you are feeding all dry right now, that can be easier on their digestive system than a sudden change (sorry if you already know that, just wanted to mention it!).

For the dose, I agree dropping down to 1u with the food change is a good idea, especially since you are new to testing so may not have a huge amount of data to go on for a little while. If you make a gradual food change, you might reduce the insulin dose more gradually as well, but if squishy (LOVE that name! :mrgreen: ) doesn't have any ketone history and is feeling fairly well, it's probably ok just to go to 1u as you transition. It can take a few days even after on 100% LC canned for the dry food to fully clear their system, so hopefully the #s will gradually start to come down over the next few days, and then once you have been serving just LC for a week or so, you'll be able to get a better picture of things.

I agree for testing tips try posting on Health, there's a lot more traffic there, and you will get TONS of advice. Congrats on getting your first test done!!! That # isn't all too bad.... yay!!! Here's to more progress soon. drinking24