Home testing

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figaro

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We have been trying to home test our cat as the vet told us he last glucose test was negative. We did the urine strips and it came up negtive, but as this is not really reliable, we have been trying to home test. Figaro was diagnosed as having diabetes since 2005. We were giving him 4-1/2 units of insulin twice a day unti the doctor told us he tested low as far as glucose. The vet suggested that we now give him 2 units until we know for sure what the numbers say. The problem is we tried puncturing his ear but not enough blood to test. We tried the pad on his back foot but not enough blood. We are at our wits end. I know this can be done. We need help.
 
I'm here to help you;. did you see the video of mark and buddy hometesting? i can link it for you.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8

this is my favorite video for that hometesting. it also helps to warm the ear...and massage it a bit to get the blood circulating. the ear does 'learn' to bleed after a bit and it becomes a simple poke and blood. i really don't like the paw idea...but that's just me.
 
it's normal for it to be hard in the beginning and i've often seen it take several days for people to get a good test in so don't fret too much. i don't know if anyone's asked yet but if you want to post your general location, we can see if someone is close enough to come help you with it. don't post specifics, just nearest big city or "an hour east of ???" is fine. if there's someone closeby then we can hook you up and the two of you can exchange specifics privately
 
that's how i learned...thank you cindy 4 years later. hooked me up!
 
I just had to learn how to do it this week. It was a bit nerve racking and had to poke a few times before getting the blood. Warming the ears seems to work really well. All I can say is it is alot easier for me today than it was 5 days ago and will probably get easier with time for both of us! But it truly is the best thing I've ever learned to do because it makes me feel so safe that I know what is going on with my kitty.
 
I can't beleive it. We finally did it. We have been trying for one week to home test Figgy but with no luck. We watched the video you told us about and finally saw exactly where to puncture and finally got blood. Now this is the problem. I'm not sure if I should continue giving Figaro his insulin. He had tested low at the vets about one month ago. After that, they didn't want to give us the insulin until he was tested again. We tried the stips which always tested negative, but were not really sure. We finally got the result with the meter but it sounds very low. It says 73. Is that too low. Should I continue to give him the 2 units. We were originally giving him 4-1/2 units, but the vet said to decrease it to 2 units because he tested low. I'll call the vet tomorrow and will continue to home test Figaro, but I'm wondering if I should even give him any insulin tonight. Is this normal. Is this what is referred to as "honeymoon". Figaro has not changed as far as behaviour. He seems fine to us. He is not lathargic or non-responsive. He seems fine. He gets up on the couch and on our bed as usual. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated as usual. I love this website. I don't feel alone.
 
NOOOOO do not shoot that #...which insulin are you using?
 
Hurray! Welcome to the Vampire Club :RAHCAT :RAHCAT

Lori is right. No shot at that number. We urge newbies not to shoot below 200. Where are you in the cycle?
 
just read that you are using lantus but not posting there. now that you know how to test you will need to test before ever giving a shot. we don't know what figgy is doing becuase we have absolutly no data to go on...so if sue can help you get a spread sheet up and you can do some am and pm pre-shot testing that would be great.
 
We got the teting result at about 8:30 pm tonight which is the normal time I would have given hinm a shot, but with a 73 reading I won't give him any insulin tonight. My question is what about if he reads that low the next day, should I hold up on the insulin. Does this normally happen, or does this mean he may not need insulin any longer. I don't get it.

Figaro's Mom
 
You won't know any of the answers to those questions until you get more tests in. Test before shooting in the morning and come on here to ask about a possible dose, if he is over 200. Once you get some numbers, you will have a better picture of what is happening.

Sometimes it does happen - sometimes a food change is all it takes. We saw the kitties are off the juice (insulin) when they have been in normal numbers for two weeks or so, without insulin.
 
I went on the spreadsheet link and I'm really confused. Can you tell me what some of the abreviations mean. I wouldn't know how to start.

Figaro's Mom
 
Basically non-diabetic numbers for cats is between 40 and 120, Max who is in remission and diet controlled routinely runs between the mid 60s to the low 70s. If Figaro keeps giving you anything below 100 I personally if he was my kitty wouldn't give him a drop of insulin. Just my two cents worth. Another thing you can do it to a food test. Test him before you feed him then test him again about an hour to two hours after he eats and see if he goes down naturally, if he does, then his pancreas is working.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
In a minute there will be "1 new message" up on the corner of the page. Click on it. I can help walk you through the spreadsheet and get it set up.
 
AMPS = Am Preshot #
U-units
PMPS = PM Preshot #
+1, +2, +3 etc is how many hours since the shot was given.

Are those the abbr. you were wondering about?

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
Thank you - all of you - for your advise. We will test Figaro a.m. & p.m. and also try before he eats and again few hours after he eats to see what the reading will be. Hope we get blood again.

Figaro's Mom
 
using lantus it if you do get a shootable # (200+) it's very important to do spot checks during the day. also since you've only begun to test you might want to reduce your dose to .5u if you get a shootable # and do spot checks during the day. actually you DEFINETLY want to get those spot checks in.
Good luck!
 
Hi,
I'm a bit confused about the history. Have you been giving figaro 2 units twice a day, every day for the last month? Or has figaro been off insulin completely for the last month?
-Craig
 
I was giving Figgy 4-1/2 units for several years. Last month he had a problem with constipation and we brought him to the vet which we don't really like to do because he freaks out. Anyway, they tested him and said his glucose was low. I thought this was a good thing. I'm very ignorant about this whole thing. When we called the vet a few weeks later for new prescription of Lantus, they explained that Figgy needs to be tested before giving any insulin. We had to reduce the insulin to 2 units twice a day which we did for about 2 weeks. We were testing his urine at first then realized we needed to test his blood. This took about a week to finally get blood, but now the meter is showing the following:

the first time we tested we didn't have the date and time set up so we're not sure exactly what date but it must be several days ago.l
Reading #1 - 107, #2- 114 (we are not sure exactly what dates but we always tried at about 8:00 p.m. but didn't think it registered because there was so little blood.

Last night we got a good drop of blood and it tested 73 - we did not give him any insulin
This morning we tested and it read 70 and again no insulin
Tonight it read 81 - then 76 popped up with an A. Does this mean "average" not sure about this.

I am not sure so I'm afraid to give him any insulin, but also afraid because I'm not giving him any insulin. I will be calling the vet tomorrow with these readings.

When this happens does it mean no more diabetes?
 
Those are beautiful non-diabetic numbers! When that happens it doesn't mean that he is no longer a diabetic, once a diabetic always a diabetic but that does mean that you may very well have a "broken diabetic" While you will always have to watch his carb intake, you won't be needing to give him insulin as he is what is known as diet controlled.

With those numbers you don't want to be giving insulin and luckily you were testing his blood at home so you caught the nice normal numbers. Give yourself a pat on the back. If those pretty numbers keep up for the next two weeks you can announce that Figgy is OTJ (off the juice). We just love OTJ parties here.

If you want an example of a diet controlled FD cat's numbers just sneak a peek at Max's SS in my signature. Max has been OTj since November officially. I still test him about once a week, partly because he demands a test every so often (he's in it for the treats) and partly because I'm a nervous mom...lol

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
Did you hear me screaming YEAHHHHH I will continue testing Figgy every week like you have been doing. I saw your spreadsheet and I noticed as low as 47. The notes that came with the meter say that if I see an "Low" reading I should contact vet. What is that?
 
No insulin = no chance of hypo...normal BGs for a kitty is between 40 to 100. So 47 isn't that low since Max wasn't on insulin at the time...just had a very relaxing day, in fact I think I got that test while he was sleeping on my lap...lol.

:RAHCAT Go Figgy Go :RAHCAT Max is mixing up the tunaritas already for your OTJ party!

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang
 
Thank you Momma so much for all your help. And also thank you Lori and Tom. Thanks for turning us on to Mark & Buddy's video. By the way, Buddy is Figgy's double.

I'll Keep Testing.
 
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