I'm new, and I want to get this right

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mshell

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Hi there, my 15 year old cat was diagnosed today and I'm jumping in with both feet.

I'd like to start home testing tomorrow, and will be giving insulin. I have a few questions:

1. When should I test? Before she eats or after? How long after?
2. Does anyone have any templates for recording insulin, glucometer readings, etc that I could see? I'd like to start keeping records right away, but I want to include the relevant info my vet will need, not stuff that would muddy the waters.

Thanks for any input!
 
Welcome! Good for you to jump in both feet. So glad you are planning to test at home - the only way to keep your kitty safe.

As long as you use one of the milder, longer lasting insulins like Lantus, Levemir or PZI, you test, feed and shoot. Test before each shot to make sure the dose you are planning to give is safe. Lots of us shoot while the kitty's head is deep into his breakfast.

If you read some of the other posts, note in the signature the spreadsheet. Usually it says Cat's name Spreadsheet. We have a google template that is color coded and easy to use:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

It has space to track behavior, food etc.

My diabetic kitty is gone, so I don't have one for you to look at, but check other people's out.
 
mshell said:
Hi there, my 15 year old cat was diagnosed today and I'm jumping in with both feet.

I'd like to start home testing tomorrow, and will be giving insulin. I have a few questions:

1. When should I test? Before she eats or after? How long after?
Click to expand...



Welcome :smile:

Always test before you give insulin. That's very important. Most people feed, test, give insulin. I always tested and gave insulin while my cat ate.

If you're using Humulin N (which I hope you aren't because it doesn't work well for some cats), you want to feed some food, wait about hal an hour, test, and then give insulin and the rest of the food. Having some food in the tummy will soften the effects of a less gentle insulin such as HumulinN.

Test at random times when you can. A few bg checks is usually enough for most cats.


mshell said:
2. Does anyone have any templates for recording insulin, glucometer readings, etc that I could see? I'd like to start keeping records right away, but I want to include the relevant info my vet will need, not stuff that would muddy the waters.
Click to expand...

Sue already gave you the link to the spreadsheet most people here use. You can give the published link to your vet and he/she can just go online to view the latest bgs. My vet loved my cat's colorful spreadsheet :-D He found it really helpful to determine how the insulin was working and what dose changes were needed.
 
Thanks Squeem3 and Sue and Oliver. This morning I successfully fed my kitty, then I checked her blood glucose, which went surprisingly smoothly, and gave her 2 Units of Lantus insulin. I watched several videos of how to test her sugar, and read several articles, and the techniques really made a difference.

I'm in Canada, so we test in SI units (mmol/L) instead of metric units. Is there an equivalent google template that might already be set up in SI units?

Thanks again for the quick and helpful replies. My cat and I appreciate it. Next up--doing a curve (but not till next week or so!)
 
Thanks Jennifer. I'm using Lantus insulin, not 12/12 which the template seems to be set up for. Is the template for day to day monitoring, or is it for setting up a curve?
 
Oops. And Min's BG was 17.8 mmol/L this AM (320 US equivalent), so per the vet's instructions I gave her 2 U lantus. She took it like a champ!
 
When you say not 12/12 does that mean you're not giving the insulin two times per day. 12/12 simply means every twelve hours. Lantus works best if given consistent doses every 12 hours. I give a similar insulin to my cats and shot time is 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM.

You can use the spreadsheet for a curve. You'd input your morning Blood Sugar, the reading that you take before you give the first shot under the column that reads AMPS (AM - morning PS preshot). Then if you get a BG at 2 hours after, input that in the column that reads +2, if you get a BG four hours after the shot, put that in the column +4. Make sense?
 
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