I cannot BG test

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

hurricanegirl

Member Since 2013
Hello. It's me again (carol)

Hurricane 13 YO male, 18.5 lb. Diagnosed 6/1/13. Curently on 4 units twice a day Vetsulin. Appears to be doing OK! We have the 5 p's. He eats well. pee and drink are dimishing. Diastex test (3x weekly) shows either 1/4-1/2 or negative. I undertand this is not a reliable test

It is not the he wont let me test,at the least I dont know, but I simply can't get there....I feel like my (our) "plate is full enough". I love this cat desperately and will do anything for him. Cost is never a consideration...............but he is not happy!................so far, we have changed our morning routine,,,,,we have changed his feeding cycle (from free feed to twice daily)....he is confused ( why is there saran wrap in my litter,???,,,(I am dipstick testing with diastix)....Why do yu pick up my food dish???.
I feel like I cant change his routine anymore than I have,,,and I guess I am also in a bit of a denial.

Am I a terrible caregiver if I never BG test?

Is anyone else there?

I read any article that said "it doesn't have to be 100%,,,if 80% is what you can do, then do it well

I know how you all on this board feel and I respect your comiitment, knowledge, etc.

But what if I just cant do anymore?


Is he doomed to die by my inactions?
 
Oh, sweetie,

My heart goes out to you... (((Hugs)))

I was a very reluctant hometester. As soon as I started doing it I could immediately see the benefit of it but it took me a little while to get there, so I really do understand how you may be feeling with this.

May I ask (I've scanned through your previous posts but seem to have missed this bit, sorry if I'm being dim) why have you changed your cat's feeding routine? (Many of us here free-feed). I'm just wondering if there is some of the routine that you can restore to make things easier for you...?

Eliz
 
Hi Eliz

I changed feeding based on Vet instruction.

Vetsulin - feed twice day, shoot twice a day. No more Free food , per Vet (and I trust him)
 
hurricanegirl said:
Hi Eliz

I changed feeding based on Vet instruction.

Vetsulin - feed twice day, shoot twice a day. No more Free food , per Vet (and I trust him)
Click to expand...

Hi Carol,

I used to trust vets implicitly until the one who diagnosed Bertie's diabetes suggested I have him 'put to sleep'. She said diabetes in cats was really hard to control, and that having a diabetic cat "would be like having a two-year old around the house the whole time". (I never did quite understand what she meant by that remark!!!) I left the clinic thinking that I had no intention of getting rid of my cat, but every intention of getting rid of my vet!

Then I found this forum; and learned so many things from so many experienced and compassionate people. Finding this forum has truly saved my cats life.

I got a new vet too. He thought feline diabetes was treatable (and didn't suggest that I kill my cat!); but he still wanted me to feed specialist diabetic cat food twice a day; and advised me not to hometest. He told me that diabetic cats in his care typically lived up to 2 years after diagnosis... Well, I have to say that I went against his advice: I continued to free-feed my cat (low carb canned food); and I learned to hometest. My cat has now had diabetes for six and a half years and my vet is amazed that he is still alive and so well. What's more, he now entirely respects the choices I've made in respect of my cat's care. He has changed his point of view.

I am not suggesting here that you ignore your vet's advice. But just trying to point out that they aren't always right... If I have learned anything about feline diabetes in these past years it is that 'feline diabetes is a home-managed disease'. There are so many illnesses that can affect our kitties over which we have very little control (one of mine has a really nasty aggressive cancer, for example). But feline diabetes is something we really can DO something about. It's one illness where we really do have a chance to affect the outcome. :smile:

Hugs to you,

Eliz
 
With the Vetsulin, it is important to ensure enough food is eaten to match up with the initial insulin, hence the meal feeding approach.

You can, however, divide it into a main meal and 1 or 2 small mini-meals a few hours later before the halfway point to help keep him from getting too hungry.

If you can document enough lack of success with the Vetsulin, you may be able to switch to a better, longer lasting insulin. Just record as much data as you can using the Secondary Monitoring Tools in my signature link. If you have lots of water consumption, lakes of wet litter, major hunger, positive glucose tests, and positive ketone tests (those are serious!) you may be able to switch.
 
Hi,

I used to use Caninsulin (which I think is pretty much the same thing as Vetsulin?).

I found that - as well as feeding at the time of the insulin shot - it was also helpful for my cat to eat a few hours afterwards too because of the steep BG drop that Caninsulin/Vetsulin can sometimes cause: The feeding after the shot slowed down the drop. (When Bert's blood glucose dropped too fast it would then bounce up high from that; even though the blood glucose hadn't actually dropped too low).

Since I wasn't always available to give that second meal, I continued to free-feed, and just left food out for him to eat as he wanted/needed. An alternative to having food available all the time could be to have a timed feeder, perhaps? Maybe timed to provide a snack 3 - 3.5 hours after the shot...? Just a thought....

Eliz
 
I used to use Caninsulin (which I think is pretty much the same thing as Vetsulin?).
Click to expand...
Yes, same thing, different names and manufacturers.

So Eliz's advice on the multiple meals is spot on.
 
hurricanegirl said:
It is not the he wont let me test,at the least I dont know, but I simply can't get there....I feel like my (our) "plate is full enough". I love this cat desperately and will do anything for him.
Click to expand...

Good morning Carol,

Is the problem that he will not allow you to test him because be becomes angry, or is it that you have a fear of testing?

To me glucose testing is easier than testing with the diastix. Once you get your routine figured out, it only adds a couple minutes to your daily routine. Glucose testing is more reliable too.

To make it easier for you, you want to always reward your cat with a treat each time you test. Soon your cat will associate getting tested with getting treats. My cats would patiently wait for me to test them so they could get their treats. Also, since you want to test just before feeding, that will make it easier.

If you are not sure how to do glucose testing there are several video links on this site. Also, if you let us know what city & state you live in, there may be a member nearby that will be able to show you.
 
I am hoping you will let all of us help you get there with the testing.
It is really not as bad as you are imagining....
It becomes as routine as flossing your teeth or any other thing you do daily.
Collectively, we know all the tricks ..... :smile:


We are all trying to educate our vets about how important it is to test and how easy it is and how it doesn't bother our cats.....
Unfortunately we see so many cats lose their lives because of vets telling patients not to test.


I promise it gets easier.....
it's just a big adjustment in the beginning.... the whole diabetes thing feels so overwhelming.....
we've been where you are....
 
I live in Somerset, MA 02726. I have already looked, no one is near me.

But You all have been fantastic - I am just so sad, frustrated, stressed, fearful etc

And yes I am most fearful of giving injections without a BG test first! But I can't...........
 
I live in Somerset, MA 02726. I have already looked, no one is near me.
Click to expand...
Close is a relative and loosely defined term.

MJ+Donovan are in Worcester. About 1 hr - 1 hr 20 minutes away from you.

I'm in Newbury, a bit further, 1 hr 50 min - 2 hr 10 min away from you.
 
Deb and Wink, I can't read your PM because my box is full :-|

Claudia Mongin (works with DCIN and is an animal communicator) lives in Middleboro. I can ask if she's able to help. Email me at m.j.towler at gmail.com if you want to pursue this.

MJ
 
If you are afraid of needles, I can attest that I was too.
I had 10 plastic surgeries by the age of 10.... and then other surgeries every few years....
I was horribly afraid of shots and nurses and ran hysterically thru the hospitals screaming as a child when they had to draw blood to admit me.

When they told me I needed to give shots to Shadow, I was so afraid of it all but I figured I had to try before I gave up on her.
I even managed to be one of the lucky ones who got my cat to remission status.
I hope you will let one of your neighbors offering to come help you.

There are so many worse things out there than Feline Diabetes and I wish I had found this website years ago for other pets I had who developed
diabetes.
 
Carol,

Claudia Mongin here. I'm in Middleboro and I have 5 diabetic cats that are either regulated or in remission. I'm probably 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour from Somerset. Can I help?

Let me know

Claudia
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top