I brought Kitty home from vet

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I put the can in some warm water, and I was able to get 2 tsp of gravy. She just finished it. I'll test in 30 minutes and let you know. Thank you, Deb and everyone else, for sticking with me. I really do appreciate it. This is so overwhelming, and to have you guys go out of your way to help me..I get all misty eyed thinking about it! Ha!
 
It's all part of what we do here. Stick with people when the numbers are really low and advise them on what to feed and when to get another test.

Can you tell me the exact name of the Friskies food you are feeding? Everything it says on the front of the can. I want to check the carb percent. Please.
 
Ok, it's Purina Friskies with beef in gravy..meaty bits. It's the 5.5 oz can. I remembered someone saying to get some canned food with gravy in case her BG got too low, so I picked that up today. I don't know how to read the numbers on the can yet, so I just assumed that was good since there was gravy in it.
 
Ah, the Friskies Beef in Gravy, Meaty Bits. That has 19% carbs according to our food chart. Nice HC (high carb) choice.

You can't really read the numbers off the cans. But this vet, Dr. Lisa Pierson, contacted a lot of manufacturers and got the data and crunched a lot of numbers and put together this food chart we all refer too. Here is the link food chart so you can refer to it yourself. I have it added to my internet favorites.
 
I may need to test on her pad somewhere since I've been sticking her so many times today. I don't have any treats to give her, just lots of loving. Has anyone tested on the pads before? Is it accurate, or is it not advised?
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You asked me about testing on her pad. Yes, you can do that. I don't know which one is best.

You can also test the ears a lot more than you think you can. Be sure to apply a little pressure to the poke spot after the test, maybe 20-30 seconds if she will let you. Do you have any antibiotic ointment with pain relief? Not he cream version.

Do you have any human food pure protein? A little bit of chicken or turkey or beef or water only tuna? A little piece of fish or shrimp? Only needs to be about corn kernel size.

If she likes brushing or chin scritches, those are treats too. Talk to her and tell her what a good girl she is being. Praise her. Let he know how much you love her. Sweet talk her.

You're doing a good job here. Time for some deep breathing exercises. Deep breath in, hold, release, deep breath in, hold, release, deep breath in, hold release.
 
No more food for now. Retest in 1 hour please.

We want to make sure the gravy is not wearing off. We want to see a rising number without food.

Do you have any of the antibiotic ointment with pain relief? Dab a tiny bit on the poke spot and wipe off the excess with a tissue.


What were they feeding Kitty at the vet?
 
I do have some Neosporin with pain relief. I'll put a little of that on there and give her lots of kisses. `1we24 That was Kitty..she wanted to say thank you. That or she just likes stepping on the keyboard while I try to type.

They were giving Kitty Purina DM at the vet, or at least that's what he said he was wanting to put her on. I assume he was giving it to her there.
 
I have a feeling it was dry food. I told him I would be changing her over to a wet food diet, and he didn't say he was already giving her wet food. I'm getting the feeling I assume too much. Ha! I don't know why I don't think to ask the questions you guys are asking. I feel so stupid!
 
Ok, looks like some of that gravy food has worn off. Nice numbers, but I'd like to test for a bit longer.

How hungry is she? I think a teaspoon of food, chunks too, would be good for her to eat.

And test in another hour.
 
She's getting pretty ticked when I start messing with her ears now; she also cried a little when I stuck her. :sad: She is at 104 now.
 
Bet she is really hungry too. When was her last big meal? (big being more than 1-2 teaspoons)

I would do one more test in a hour and then feed her. No food before the next test. If she is still over 100, I think you can go to bed and get some sleep.

Vetsulin and PZI rarely last this long. We are just being extra cautious here. Safety is our number one concern.
 
I gave her some Friskies Turkey and Giblets dinner around 2:00 PM. It wasn't a whole bunch though because I didn't want her to get sick. Should I give her some canned food with some of her old dry food (Meow Mix)? I don't want her to get sick if I just switch her cold turkey. I don't want her glucose to go up though, so I don't know.
 
Some cats do get digestive upsets with a sudden switch in foods. This is usually seen with symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting. Some cats are just fine with a sudden food change.

I'm torn here. I love these low numbers but not sure yet what is going on to cause them. The low carb wet food usually takes more than a few hours to have this startling an effect on the BG numbers. A week is more like it for the food change to have an impact.

You could go two ways on this. Here are your options.

1. Stay with the wet food only. If she gets diarrhea or vomiting, we'll do a slower transition with the food change. Or we can have you add some plain pumpkin, 1 teaspoon, no spices to her wet food. That often firms up the poops.

2. Feed a mix of wet and dry. We'll compensate for any higher numbers with insulin.

At this point, I'm not even sure Kitty will need insulin in the morning. Please, get a reading in the morning and post here for help. If no one answers you, skip the shot please. "Better too high for a day, than too low for a moment."
 
Since she hasn't had any diarrhea or vomiting, I think I'll just stick with her canned food for tonight. If she has some later, I will add the pumpkin to her food.

Deb & Wink said:
The low carb wet food usually takes more than a few hours to have this startling an effect on the BG numbers. A week is more like it for the food change to have an impact.
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Yeah, I'm kind of shocked that I haven't had to give her any insulin yet. I knew the wet food would change her BG, but I didn't think it would be THAT fast. I'm not complaining though! I would love for her not to need any insulin.

I will test her in about 10 minutes and give her some food. I'll post my results before I go to bed.

Deb & Wink said:
Please, get a reading in the morning and post here for help. If no one answers you, skip the shot please. "Better too high for a day, than too low for a moment."
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That's great advice. I'll do that.

You have been so great, Deb. I really appreciate your time and thoughtful advice. I can see that you love cats like I do.
 
Yup, I love cats. But I only have half as many as you do! ;-)

Ok, you choose sticking with the canned food and see how it goes. We can work with that.

What were you thinking of using for your test and shot times? So I know when to look for you.

My gang of 3 will have me up at the crack of dawn, and it's an hour earlier than you are. :shock:
 
I was thinking of testing around 8:30 AM.

I'm about to test her and feed her..results soon. *EDIT* She is not letting me get near her ears any more right now. I stuck her, but she cried and jerked away. I wasn't able to get hardly any blood from that, and I hate to try for that spot again. Poor little girl!
 
Do you think that she will be OK if I don't test her before we go to bed? She is pulling away from me and crying when I touch her ears.
 
If you can't get this last final blood test, be sure to leave out some of that HC (high carb) food for her to eat. Cats are smart and will often go seeking food when their BG numbers drop low.
 
Maybe a couple of teaspoons of the HC food. Then try to test again? The other ear maybe?

I'm a little nervous about calling it a night without another test to tell us if her BG number is still in a good range.

We need to teach you about making catfoodcicles. Later though.
 
I stuck her, but she cried and jerked away again. I wasn't able to get enough blood out of it to test. I'm not going to be able to get another reading. Her poor ears have had it.
 
We need to call it a night then. Sorry you were not able to get that last test. We'll pick it up tomorrow morning.

Good night, and thanks for all those tests you got. Give Kitty a hug from me.
 
Just chiming in here to say that you are in the best of hands for the health and safety of Kitty....I rely more on these guys here than my vet honestly.

You're doing amazingly too, Miss E !! :-D

It will get easier, you'll get more of an understanding, your heart rate will return to normal, and it will become second nature alot faster than you think :-D
 
Since my Mom passed away a few years ago, I have been living with my Dad. Kitty has been staying in my Dad's room since she doesn't like any other cats. This morning at 5:00 AM, Kitty started crying, so my Dad fed her the rest of the HC food. I couldn't believe it when he told me. I'm still in shock.

Her BG this morning is 298.
 
He said it was 5:00 AM. That was 3 hours and 45 minutes ago.

The vet has been giving her shots at 7:15 in the morning. This will be the first time I'm given her a shot.
 
If I remember correctly:

1. Your shot time is 8:30 CDT
2. You do not have insulin syringes yet, only the pen needle tips for the Lantus Solostar pen
3. This will be Kitty's very first dose of the Lantus insulin

I'll be moving Kitty to another part of the house so that my Dad can't do that again.
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Or teach him to only give the LC(low carb) food, and no food 2 hours before shot time. With your shot time at 8:30, Kitty can have food until 6:30.

So we are ok today. I'd prefer to see Kitty only get 0.5U this morning, but without insulin syringes, that is not possible.

2 choices.

1. skip the shot this morning
2. give the 1U dose
 
I got some syringes last night!

My Dad is not teachable. I'm not joking. It's best that he just stays away from her.
 
OK! Hope you got the syringes with the 1/2 unit markings on the barrel. If not, just eyeball it the best you can.

Let's go ahead and give Kitty 0.5U. Now, with the Lantus pens, you do not inject air into the pen, just withdraw, a little bit over, remove the syringe and holding the syringe pointed up, slowly twist the plunger to squeeze out drops to get that 0.5U dose. Think you can do that?

Where are you going to inject her?

This means your PM shot time will be at 9 instead of 8:30. Will that be ok with your schedule?

You can move the shot times 15 minutes earlier each cycle, or 30 minutes once per 24 hours. So we could get you back on schedule tomorrow morning. Would that work ok?
 
I did get the syringes with 1/2 unit markings. :D

I think I can do that. I'm glad you said that about the air..I was just about to ask that. I was watching a video on YouTube about how to prepare the syringe.

I don't know where I was going to inject her. The neck or side somewhere I suppose. All I know is that I pinch up some skin, and make sure that there isn't any muscle with it. The YouTube video says you should pull the plunger back after you first insert it to check for blood. If blood is present, remove the needle and get a new one. Is that right?

9:00 PM is fine for me.
 
Do I feed her the Friskies pate after the shot? I know she's really hungry right now.

And do I need to gently roll the insulin between my hands to mix the insulin? I'll put it in the refrigerator after I use it.
 
Most of us never pull the plunger back to check for blood. I always skipped that step.

You can shoot in the flank, the belly, the scruff as shown in this picture. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Needle goes in, parallel to the body. Make sure the needle tip is not poking out the other side. Run your hand lightly over the spot after to check for a "fur shot". Some people describe insulin as smelling like bandaids.

We really need to get you set up with a spreadsheet (SS) . I'll give you directions for that later.

I know you must have a very busy life. Let me know if you need some help with the SS setup.

You can give her the shot as she is feeding if you think that will work for you.

Lantus does not need to be mixed. No need to shake, rattle, roll or stir. ;-)
 

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I accidentally got way too much in the syringe. Do I have to just waste it? I only need .5 units, right? Dang, that seems almost useless. Ha!
 
Don't worry about wasting a little bit of the insulin right now. Syringe needle up, tap the side of the syringe hard, to get any air bubbles to the top. Then slowly squeeze out the excess.

We can't take the insulin back out once you inject it. Better to start low with the dose and work our way up. Remember, you are changing her to the low carb food too. She'll need less insulin than when she was at the vet.
 
Ok, she didn't even notice that I gave her the shot, but it was such a small dose, it didn't even feel like I pushed the needle much. She's thoroughly enjoying her pate.
 
All right! Congratulations on giving your first shot of insulin.

There are several things I'd like to cover with you. Have YOU had breakfast yet? Do you have some time this morning?
 
KarensPoe said:
Just chiming in here to say that you are in the best of hands for the health and safety of Kitty....I rely more on these guys here than my vet honestly.
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I agree, KarensPoe. Everyone has been so helpful here. I couldn't have done this without them!
 
We need a test at +2 today and we will decide what other tests to do from there.

Please add the Lantus insulin to your signature.

Catsicles. Freeze cat food for later use. Some of us mix water in first. Put cat food in non-stick muffin pan. Freeze solid. Pop out and store for later use. As they gradually defrost, your cat can have some food to nibble on for the day.

Insulin storage and handling link here. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

For those people home testing, we have a wonderful way to keep track of the test data and shots. There is a google spreadsheet template you can use so you don’t have to start from scratch and figure out what you want it to look like.

We have instructions on how to set one up. how to setup a SS and link to your signatureThe color coding is helpful to see trends over time in how the insulin is working. We even help set them up for people that may be technology challenged. Please ask if you need help.

Having a SS set up and linked to your signature is a great way to get some suggestions from the experienced people on FDMB. You can even share the spreadsheet with your vet, by email. It's totally optional but it can get you some great advice on how to manage your cat with his BG numbers.

What do you think? You can look at Wink's SS in my signature to see what one looks like. I found it invaluable.

If you are not able to do a spreadsheet set up right now, providing your data in this format would be helpful.

Date, pre-shot test, Units of insulin given, + hour since pre-shot given, BG number.
e.g. 6/1 AMPS 293 1U +1 289 +3 150 +6
PMPS 350 1U +2 340 +6 200
6/2 AMPS 400 1U +6 203
PMPS 189 0U +3 289 +6 458 +9 590
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Having a backup meter might be a good idea. The Relion Confirm uses the same test strips as the Relion Micro you are using.
 
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