Laura and Harley (GA)
Very Active Member
Hi everyone,
My sugarkitty Harley and I are new to FDMB but not to diabetes. He was first dx’d in early 2009 and we started 1u Vetsulin bid. At the time, Harley was on Hills Science Diet dry food and my vet told me that diabetics do best on a wet food, low carb, gluten-free diet. So I went online and found Janet and Binky’s list of Fancy Feast Classic gluten-free foods, made the switch and both my kitties have been eating nothing but ever since. Of course that did do wonky things with the Vetsulin and although he didn’t hypo on me, Harley told me he didn’t need insulin anymore by grabbing my hand holding the needle in his jaws and not letting go. (The bean got the message.) This was April 2009 and he went off the juice!
Fast forward to January 2011 and I took him back to the vet with the familiar symptoms: weight loss, PU, PD, uncontrolled yowling, etc. BG was 320 and fructosamine 540. So we started ProZinc 1u bid. Since he was already on low-carb food, I came back online to do more research and this time found the FDMB. After reading about home testing I took the plunge and ordered a newbie kit from Lori and Tom. (Thank you!!!!) Good thing I did, because my first reading the night I got it was an 89. I freaked out and didn’t give the shot. But the home testing learning curve has been a steep one for Harley and me. Only in the last few days he we hit our stride. I’m now able to get AM and PMPS numbers but have not yet curved him.
I have been working with my vet who is supporting of my home testing. For the last two weeks I’ve been getting AMPS/PMPS numbers in the mid to upper 100’s and she was telling me to withhold the shot if it was under 180. So he didn’t get a lot of insulin the last two weeks. However when I took Harley back for a follow-up fructosamine test on Tuesday of this week, we were both surprised to see it was 415 despite the lower numbers I’ve been getting at home. To further confuse things, I took both my Freedom Freestyle meter and ReliOn Micro meters to test against their meter. Hers was out of service so we tested my meters against the lab and the lab BG reading was 192, the Freestyle was 148 and the ReliOn was 153. Given the variance between readings, my vet wanted to restart ProZinc at 1u bid. I said I wasn’t comfortable with that dose and wanted to start lower at 0.25u bid using U100 3/10 cc syringes with the 1/2 unit marks. She agreed (I think reluctantly) and after 1 week at this dose I’m going to attempt my first curve. So I'll be doing time in the PZI forum. Ready or not here I come!
I’ve been lurking and reading a lot lately and am stuck by what a wonderful and caring online family this is! Harley and Princess are so glad their bean has found a support group. Despite all my experience with sick kitties, I’ve been a bit crazy lately. nailbite_smile
Purrrs,
Laura
My sugarkitty Harley and I are new to FDMB but not to diabetes. He was first dx’d in early 2009 and we started 1u Vetsulin bid. At the time, Harley was on Hills Science Diet dry food and my vet told me that diabetics do best on a wet food, low carb, gluten-free diet. So I went online and found Janet and Binky’s list of Fancy Feast Classic gluten-free foods, made the switch and both my kitties have been eating nothing but ever since. Of course that did do wonky things with the Vetsulin and although he didn’t hypo on me, Harley told me he didn’t need insulin anymore by grabbing my hand holding the needle in his jaws and not letting go. (The bean got the message.) This was April 2009 and he went off the juice!
Fast forward to January 2011 and I took him back to the vet with the familiar symptoms: weight loss, PU, PD, uncontrolled yowling, etc. BG was 320 and fructosamine 540. So we started ProZinc 1u bid. Since he was already on low-carb food, I came back online to do more research and this time found the FDMB. After reading about home testing I took the plunge and ordered a newbie kit from Lori and Tom. (Thank you!!!!) Good thing I did, because my first reading the night I got it was an 89. I freaked out and didn’t give the shot. But the home testing learning curve has been a steep one for Harley and me. Only in the last few days he we hit our stride. I’m now able to get AM and PMPS numbers but have not yet curved him.
I have been working with my vet who is supporting of my home testing. For the last two weeks I’ve been getting AMPS/PMPS numbers in the mid to upper 100’s and she was telling me to withhold the shot if it was under 180. So he didn’t get a lot of insulin the last two weeks. However when I took Harley back for a follow-up fructosamine test on Tuesday of this week, we were both surprised to see it was 415 despite the lower numbers I’ve been getting at home. To further confuse things, I took both my Freedom Freestyle meter and ReliOn Micro meters to test against their meter. Hers was out of service so we tested my meters against the lab and the lab BG reading was 192, the Freestyle was 148 and the ReliOn was 153. Given the variance between readings, my vet wanted to restart ProZinc at 1u bid. I said I wasn’t comfortable with that dose and wanted to start lower at 0.25u bid using U100 3/10 cc syringes with the 1/2 unit marks. She agreed (I think reluctantly) and after 1 week at this dose I’m going to attempt my first curve. So I'll be doing time in the PZI forum. Ready or not here I come!
I’ve been lurking and reading a lot lately and am stuck by what a wonderful and caring online family this is! Harley and Princess are so glad their bean has found a support group. Despite all my experience with sick kitties, I’ve been a bit crazy lately. nailbite_smile
Purrrs,
Laura
. You are several steps ahead of many of the new people we get here. In general, it is better to start with a lower dose and moniter BG response. The numbers you have gotten so far aren't that high compared to some people who start out in the 300s and 400s. Your rationale to start at less than a unit makes sence to me. We have another new member, Patrick 777 who had numbers much higher than yours that is on .8 units. 