introducing Dragon

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popcorn

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Dragon has been recently diagnosed with diabetes, and he is hyper thyroid, which has been now controlled. He has lost a lot of weight and he wants to eat a lot. He has been eating dry food since he was a kitten, but for the past 4 years I have been feeding him a small portion of wet grain free food a day. Now I would like to switch him to an all wet can food diet.
This past weekend I have gotten the supplies I need (ie. glucometer, test strips, lantus, syringes). What I am looking for is for someone to help me make a schedule to test his blood and dosing the insulin, and transitioning him to an all wet diet.
I've been trying to home test him. I have been having problems finding the vain and having him hold still, so I haven't been able to test him yet. Can someone give me any suggestions on how doing so?

I appreciate any help I will get.

Thank you very much
Paula
 
Welcome! We are eager to help you and Dragon.

So glad you are working on home testing! It is the best way to keep Dragon safe. To help keep him still, you might try the kitty burrito. We used it with Oliver until he figured out a treat was coming with each poke. You wrap the cat up in a towel with only his head showing. The other two things that helped us were 1) heat the ear until nice and warm and 2) use a large lancet - 25-28 gauge.

To set up a schedule, decide when you can be around 12 hours apart. Shots are given every 12 hours. Test before each shot. We urge new diabetics not to shoot if the blood glucose levels are 200 or under but to wait 20 minutes, without feeding, and retest. We want the numbers in a higher, safer range and we want to be sure the number is going up, not down. You also need to be able to give midcycle tests whenever possible, around 6 hours after the shot.

We'd encourage you not to switch to wet low carb until you have testing down. It can make a big difference in blood glucose levels. Oliver went down 100 points overnight when we switched.

Other specifics depend on our dose, dosing history and blood glucose levles. Give us some more info. Keep asking questions.
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB. You are off to a great start with wanting to hometest and Lantus is a good insulin.

The testing schedule is easy. You want to test before every shot which will be twice a day. We recommend that you test, feed then shoot. We also recommend that with your insulin dose you start low & slow. 1 unit twice a day is a good starting dose. If you need to increase, you only want to increase by 1/2 unit and wait at least one week before adjusting your dose. This will give Dragon's body enough time to adjust to the new dose. Also, you can do your own curve to help you to decide if the dose is working. All this means is testing every 2-3 hours after the insulin is given until time for the next dose. This will show you the BG readings fluctuate in between doses.

For newbies, we recommend that you do not give insulin unless your glucose readings are at least 200 or greater.

To get Dragon used to testing, you want to always reward him with a low carb treat after his test, even if you are not successful. Soon he will associate getting tested with getting treats. One trick is to warm the ear before trying to draw the blood. This will help it flow it easier. You can use either a warm wash cloth or rice sock and hold it against the ear to warm in. Another trick is to massage the ear towards the area you are going to take the blood from. Using the lancet device that comes with the meter is personal preference. Some people find it easy to use, others use the lancet freehand without the device. The vein runs along the edge of the ear and if you hold a flashlight under the ear, you will be able to see it. You want to try to aim between the vein and outer edge of the ear. However, if you get the vein, do not worry. You will just have a large drop of blood. Make sure you have a paper towel or napkin handy, otherwise, if Dragon shakes his head, your walls will look like a scene from CSI. :lol:
 
I have a question. When a cat's blood is in the range of 4.6 to 12, what would that mean for the cat? Are those numbers to low or are they to high?
I don't know what they would mean for a cat, but for a human I do.
Please let me know what they could mean.
Thank you very much for your help!!
Paula
 
I assume you are in Canada or Europe? We use the American system, not metrics like the rest of the world. :mrgreen: So if you multiply your numbers by 18, they will look more like the numbers you see in other posts. So your 4.6 is 55 and the 12 is 216.

Generally we say a cat is regulated if they are (on insulin) in the 200s at preshot and in double digits at nadir, but not below 40, which is getting into a low range. Cats are considered in remission if they range from 40-120, off insulin, with the majority of the time spent in double digits.

We tell new diabetics not to shoot if the kitty is under 200 at preshot but to wait 20 minutes without feeding (which can raise bg levels) and retest. We want to make sure the number is rising, not falling and is above that 200 mark. Once you get data, it can be safe to shoot at lower numbers because you have some history about how Dragon will react.

We have a great spreadsheet that will convert the bg numbers for you and for us. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207
 
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