Hypo help request

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Chris & China said:
on the AlphaTrak, your "time to act" number is 68
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For future reference, that rule applies to long durations insulins like Lantus or Levemir. With a shorter duration insulin like Novolin, you'd want to slow things down sooner.

Sarah, you know your cat best. Do what you can to calm her down. We need her cooperation if we are to avoid a trip to the ER. Love on her and maybe distract her with her favorite toy?
 
Sarah Price said:
I was trying to get her numbers up as soon as I realized what I had done, at +1.
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Good. I wasn't criticizing you. Just sharing info as I'm learning more about Novolin. Sorry I'm not more knowledgeable, but I do know about keeping kitties safe.

Do NOT start feeling guilty about this. This is a hard dance, and we all make choices we later think were not the best. Just hang in there.
 
I'm feeling extremely guilty. I gave her that shot. If we have go to the ER, how do I keep her alive on the drive, keep pulling over and getting honey on her gums. No one to come with me
 
IF you have to go to ER, yes, that's what you'd do. But we don't know if that'll be necessary. At this point, she's responding to what we're doing, so try not to think about that. She will feel your stress, so try to calm both of you down as best you can. It's going to be okay.
 
58 at 4.75. Sorry, I was confident I'd learnt so much from the FB and now it's obvious I didn't know as much as I thought and it's been a bit of a shock. She hasn't eaten in a little bit, should I try and get some honey on her gums?
 
That's still pretty flat, but it's lower than we'd like her to be, so if you can get her to eat some gravy or can get some honey on her gums, that would be good. Then retest in 20.

Don't apologize. This is a scary, complicated disease, and none of us has ever been perfect at handling it. Trust me. You're doing great.
 
The honey didn't go so well, I tried it in a syringe but short of wrapping her in a towel, I'm not sure of another way to make it happen. The towel would just upset her even more. Should I test now or give the gravy a chance to be absorbed a bit?
 
Does your local vet have an answering service? My vet will meet me at the office in an emergency Shorter drive and less expense plus kitty sees her regular vet
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I'm calmer now! She is trying to find a place to hide from me but not succeeding! The first time I saw her hypo, before I was testing, she actually went blind temporally but the Karo brought her back up so compared to then she actually looks really good! God knows how low she was then! Now at 69 at + nearly 5.5. We may just get through this!!
 
Sarah Price said:
I'm calmer now! She is trying to find a place to hide from me but not succeeding! The first time I saw her hypo, before I was testing, she actually went blind temporally but the Karo brought her back up so compared to then she actually looks really good! God knows how low she was then! Now at 69 at + nearly 5.5. We may just get through this!!
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I wish! She did talk me through it on the phone the first time it happened though. All the local vets just direct you to the veterinary school and hospital which has an ER.
 
I'm cautiously optimistic that you are over the hump. Do you think she'd eat a little LC or MC at this point? Just something to keep her surfing. I think you could stretch the next test out to 30 minutes.
 
When she went really low before, she vomited a lot, more solid though, but then went and ate and ate and ate. And was fine afterwards. Keeping my fingers crossed that she'll do the same here! If she doesn't, should I get something down her, or wait till I test?
 
Sarah Price said:
So you mean if she doesn't eat in the next two hours she could drop again?
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She could, but not necessarily. If the insulin is wearing off, she would be rising naturally. What we want to be sure of is that the effect of the gravy, syrup, etc. isn't artificially raising her numbers, because when it wears off (after about 2 hours), she could drop again. So if her next test is at least 30 minutes after the last time she ate and it's the same or higher than her last test, don't feed and test again in 30. If that's good, don't feed and test in an hour. At that point, if she hasn't dropped, she should be safe. Does that make sense?
 
It does! Thank you so much! Should she get in to the vet tomorrow or is there no need since it was me screwing up not a wrong dose issue? Also, if she does eat by herself during that time, do I follow what you describe above still?
She is 86 at +6.5 hours
 
Okay. So test in one hour. At that time, if she's any higher, I'd say you can offer her food and go to bed. I don't think a vet visit is necessary unless you see anything unusual going on, like more vomiting, not eating, etc. She may have diarrhea from all that high carb stuff -that's normal.

I don't know anything about Novolin dosing, but I'd say she's earned a reduction in dose. If you've been getting your dosing instruction from your vet, you might want to call in the am and ask about reducing. Otherwise, follow the instructions you've been given. If you're unsure, post here and ask for help. Hopefully someone that knows more than I do will be around to help.

If you are nervous at all, it's okay to test in 30, but no later than one hour after the last test. You must be exhausted - it's 5:00 am there, isn't it?

I'll be here until you are comfortable enough to go to bed.
 
Thank you! This all happened because I gave her the shot when I shouldn't have, she had tested too low. I think I read that I shouldn't give her insulin for the next 24 hours, no matter what her BG is, is that correct? Her poor ears are having a hard time producing blood now! There's no way the paw would work for this grumpy old lady!!! I wish I could get the shelter to agree to pay for Lantus, but there is no way! (She's a foster)
 
She is so awkward! I can't get her to eat any wet food on a consistent basis! I'm sure I could get her numbers more stable if I coud get her off that DM dry. I bought some YA to try her with but again, getting the shelter to pay for it...
 
Sarah Price said:
I think I read that I shouldn't give her insulin for the next 24 hours, no matter what her BG is, is that correct?
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I don't know about that rule. I've never heard it, but as I say, I don't know much about Novolin. Typically, if there has been a symptomatic hypo, you might withhold insulin, but from what you've said, she had no symptoms and wasn't really in the hypo zone.

If she were on Lantus, she'd probably bounce from tonight's hijinks. Don't know if that happens with Novolin or not. I would say to call the vet in the morning and ask for guidance on whether or not to shoot, and how much.

You are amazingly dedicated to a foster kitty! Of course, if you're like the rest of us, you love them all, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I can understand the shelter's hesitation, but it is too bad, as it is holding her back from regulation and possible remission.

Have you been to Dr. Lisa's site? She has some advice for getting a kibble addict off the dry stuff. Check it out when you have a chance: http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf
 
Since she went down so low, she will probably be bouncing
Up and down for a few days. You should talk to your vet about lowering her dose a bit. It great that you were home testing. You probably saved her life.
 
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