Insulin if BG is high but not eating like usual??

MeganEvans

MeganEvans

Member
Conner hasn't seemed to have his usual appetite today & I'm curious about whether or not to give him his evening insulin. His #'s typically have been well enough above the 200 mark. I guess my question is should I give him his evening dose if his #'s are still in the 400 range but he isn't eating much?

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
Is Conner eating on his own at all or are you having to coax him to eat anything? For instance will he take treats or something he really likes or is he beding fussy about everything?
 
He has eaten a little today but it's definitely less than he normally eats. He didn't seem to want the Tiki shredded chicken but has eaten some of the Iams wet food mixed with water. Usually whenever one of us walks into the kitchen he comes meandering out and looks for food. He's only come out a couple of times today and looks at me like where is the food, but when I put something down for him he just doesn't do much with it and then walks away. Typically if there is food put out for him, his plate is cleaned up. Up until today, he was eating good. We just tested him and he is at 434. He just ate about 1 of the Iams perfect portion packs (there are two packs that kind of break apart...each side is 1.3 oz).
 
Ok. It sounds like he will eat but isn't eating his usual amount. Have you been testing Conner for ketones at all? If not, I recommend you get some ketostix from the pharmacy and test for ketones. Any reading over trace is cause for a vet consult/visit. In the meantime you need to make sure he eats, gets lots of fluids and insulin.

I am a bit hesitant about giving a full dose due to his appetite and because there are no mid cycle tests on the spreadsheet. You need to know how low a dose is taking Conner and mid cycle tests are the only way to do that.
I think given the appetite issue, you could try 0.5u tonight, get a test 2 hours post shot to see where he's headed and if that is not bedtime, check him again before you head to bed just to make sure he is not dropping too much.
 
I was able to get him to eat some more after we tested his blood...some food and some of the Purebites chicken treats. Since he ate some I went ahead and gave him his regular dose of 1 unit (also before I saw your recommendation). We will test his blood before bed just to make sure it's okay. Our vet didn't mention anything about testing for ketones, but I will see about getting the ketostix and doing that test. I'm going to go back and look at his bloodwork and see if there is any notation on there about it....I checked and all his bloodwork showed "negative" for ketones (most recent bloodwork was 6/6/19). I'm sure that can change at anytime so it probably is a good idea to test for those. We only did one curve testing for him so far on 7/4/19. Thanks for your recommendations!! I'll update tomorrow how he's feeling and what his test numbers are.
 
Not unusual for vets not to mention ketones unfortunately but I think they are afraid of overwhelming folks when they are already have so much to cover with these extra sweet fur kids. It's a good idea to check periodically and definitely when kitty's appetite is off or they seem lethargic. They also suggest curves rather than mid cycle testing I think often for the same reasons.....not wanting to overwhelm pet parents. Grabbing tests mid cycle when you can and definitely before bed every night, gives you a good overview of how kitty is doing and helps to keep kitty safe. Curves are fine but they only tell you what's happening one day and every day is not the same. Mid cycle testing gives you a better idea of how well a dose is working and allows you to make dose adjustments if BG is staying high or going too low.
 
His appetite seems better today...more like normal. He's back to eating the Tiki chicken like normal. His first test this morning was 393. When you say mid cycle, does that mean at the 6 hour point or just at random points but not necessarily every 2 hours like a curve? It actually seems like he is minding the pricks more now than when we first started the process so I guess we need to refine our process a bit to be easier for him if we are going to be testing more than 2x a day.
 
By mid cycle I mean randomly through the cycle on different days. With Vetsulin, it usually peaks in action between +3 and +6 so concentrating on that period will likely get you the info you need which is how low the dose is taking BG. One day do a +3 and the next a +4 , then a +5. If you find Conner is doing most of his dropping early in the cycle, then that is the time you should check him going forward....if he's later you, can test a bit later. It's all about figuring out what your cat's pattern is and then testing accordingly. I'd periodically grab a test after +6 as Vetsulin has a second "hit" around +7 or thereabouts but it's much smaller and not always noticeable. At night, if you can get a +3 or at least one test before bed to make sure BG is not dropping too fast or too much, it gives you the opportunity to intervene if you need to and gives you some data about what's happening at night. A lot of cats go lower at night so it's a good idea to periodically try to get a little later night time test but obviously we all need our sleep so getting the early test helps fill in the big picture of how kitty is doing.

Some folks use Polysporin with pain relief on their kitty's ears. Perhaps his ears are getting sore. Are you poking in the sweet spot rather than the vein? Are you applying a bit of pressure to the poke spot after testing to prevent bruising?
 
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