Introducing Mary and Stella (sugarcat)

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Mary and Stella

Mary and Stella

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Hello everybody! I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mary, and my sugarcat is Stella. I actually wrote an introduction last night that took me over an hour and when I hit ‘send’ it told me to log back in and my document was gone. As a result…this intro does not have the gusto behind it that the first one did.

Some history: My mom had cared for Stella for a period of time while my employment took me to the East Coast. I was only able to see my two cats once a month while my mom cared for Stella and her sister (by adoption) Boo. During the months my mom cared for my cats, we only noticed excessive water drinking and the litter bill climbing rapidly. When I moved back to the West Coast it was time to collect my furry family of twelve years. I was very excited to go pick them up. I was met with a shock. Since my last visit Stella had lost most of the mobility of her hind legs. I was saddened beyond belief.

Now in our new home, Stella was drinking a lot of water, and urinating to match. I thought this was fine until she started not making it to the box. Her accidents then began to include feces. I knew something was terribly wrong. I had been in denial.

I took Stella into the vet on 6/24/11. They ran a battery of tests and x-rays. I received her results and an extremely large bill on 6/27/11. Stella was diagnosed with diabetes. She was prescribed Lantus 2U twice a day, and a diet change to DM. I cried for two days while I researched feline diabetes on my computer.

After doing a lot of online research I found you here at FDMB. I also looked at Wikipedia’s definition of Feline Diabetes and found the following to be true of my Stella:

Neuropathy
The weak legs syndrome found in many diabetic cats is a form of neuropathy, in particular caused by damage to the myelin sheath of the peripheral nerves caused by glucose toxicity and cell starvation, which are caused by chronic hyperglycemia.[19] (There are other conditions that can cause weak legs too, consult your vet before assuming neuropathy.) Most common in cats, the back legs become weaker until the cat displays "Plantigrade stance", standing on its hocks instead of on its toes as usual. The cat may also have trouble walking and jumping, and may need to sit down after a few steps. Some recommend a specific form of vitamin B12 called methylcobalamin to heal the nerve damage. Neuropathy sometimes heals on its own within 6–10 weeks once blood sugar is regulated, but anecdotal evidence[20][21] points to a faster and more complete recovery with methylcobalamin supplements.

I then asked my vet to prescribe the vitamin B12 as well.

I believe Stella has shown some improvement over the last two weeks since receiving her twice daily doses of Lantus. I have been in a severe financial crisis for the past few years (thus my need to go to the East Coast where the job was) so I kept on the vet about home testing to lower my cost. At first she resisted and then I insisted I was serious about my inability to continue to pay large veterinary bills. If I could not make treating Stella cost efficient, I told her I may have to put Stella down because I could bear to let her ‘starve’ herself to death with diabetes eating her alive if I could not afford to treat her. Finally, yesterday I received a call from the vet saying I could do Stella’s glucose testing at home if I gave her all of my notes etc. to assist me in dosing. Finally! (This has been the longest two weeks!)

Other things you might want to know: Stella’s initial reading was 535. They did an additional blood test to average the last three weeks and it was in the 500’s. The first week’s dose of Lantus was 2U. A week later they did a very expensive glucose curve (I did not yet have approval to test on my own) and Stella had a 470 average. Her dose is currently 3U.

I have spent the last week going in circles trying to figure out what to buy. Today was a mess. I went to the Vet, Costco, and CVS. All day to buy a Contour meter (I got a free one online but they said it could take 7 weeks to ship to me so I bought the same one for $19.99 and it came with a Lancing device and 10 microlet lancets), B12, price Contour test strips and Microlet Lancets. It is now 9pm. This is taking a lot out of me.

I know everyone wants to know if Stella is off dry food. No. She is eating the largest portion of wet food in the am before her shot. She also eats wet food in the pm. My healthy Boo won’t eat wet food since all of this started so I bought the dry DM to keep out for Boo so she doesn’t go hungry and I wanted it to be the safest of all evils for Stella.

I know everyone wants to give me a lot of well-intended advice…and I do need it…just know I am a fact finder sort of person as well. I want to get Stella’s glucose tests underway and be comfortable with the process before anyone advises me on how to change her dosage. I am not there yet. I still don’t even have the test strips or microlet lancets because none of the pharmacies I went to today had them! This is the main reason two weeks have passed without my being more proactive. Maybe I have been chasing my tail. My new vet ended up being the ‘part time’ vet so she was rarely there when I needed her. Luckily everyone in that office knows me now and trust me…the other vets do too. Every time I go in there I break into tears! :lol: Things haven’t lined up the way they should have in a perfect world.

On a good note, Stella is letting me give her injections with no problem. She is jumping up on furniture and acting more kitty like. Whew!

Thanks for reading, I can’t believe you read this the full way through! I am not going to proofread it; I am going to bed. I hope I have found Stella her very own kitty angels with this post. Good Night!

Mary and Stella
 
Well, you have found a great site through your research. There are many very experienced members here who have lots to offer. We all live with at least one diabetic cat - some people have even adopted another diabetic on purpose. I'm not there yet!

Since you know about home testing and the evils of dry food, you are well on your way. Hopefully you won't ever have to pay for another expensive curve at the vet.

If you want scientific references for dosing, feed or any other question, just ask. We probably have it somewhere between us.

Meantime, welcome.
 
hey there, just want to say hi from another so cal member. i live out in xxxx, work in oc thru the week. just want to throw out there that if you need any help with testing in the next few days, let me know k. i can drive out and help.

there's several other so cal members for that matter too, lori and tom are in laguna, holly & spader are in the burbank area, a few others are around LA and several are further inland like gail & houdini.

seriously, i've gone down to mission viejo and helped someone late at night test her kitty and out to whittier to help another guy and i ran the newbie kit setup that we do here on fdmb so if you want some hands on help, just say the word k. i'm totally free after 6pm tomorrow and weekend is wide open after a vet visit at 9am on saturday :-)

as far as the lancets go, you don't have to get the contour brand of lancets. you can get just about any brand of lancet and it should work in the lancet device that came with your meter (accu-chek has a design that is not usable with most lancet devices). as a matter of fact, i can help stave off some costs and send you some if you'd like. my mom gets them thru medicare and she can't use them fast enough so i'm sure i've got several boxes here i can share with you. let me know and i'll explain how we can share a shipping address privately, don't post specifics like that on the open web.

i do want to say one thing. this is one of the most important things you can keep in mind when handling this disease
"On a good note, Stella is letting me give her injections with no problem. She is jumping up on furniture and acting more kitty like. Whew!"

the overall kitty is most important and easily overlooked once treatment is started. we just have to remind ourselves that kitty is still kitty and if they are healthy and happy, life is good. they don't know they have a disease. they just know that mommy is obsessed with them. as long as we don't make them nuts with our obsession, everything is good. :-)

let me know if you want to get together sometime.
 
Good for you for insisting on home-testing. It's what you'd do for yourself or your child. It's just for money that vets try to insist that you use only them for testing. Plus, numbers at vet offices are often higher than at home due to stress. You may want to start with fatter gauge lancets (28 or 29) so that the ear bleeds easier. I am almost a year in and I still use the 29s, but I now can set the lancet on the shallowest setting (1), where we were poking at a depth of "5" when we were first diagnosed! I had a wonderful fdmb member come out to my house to teach me how to do it and it really helped, so don't feel bad taking help from the wonderful people here. We all pay it forward at some point. Good luck!!
 
Welcome to the FDMB! Great group here! Sounds like you are on your way to getting Stella healthy and regulated. Glad you are able to home test her before each injection. That is really important.
Cedric was diagnosed in April and was on Lantus for a month. I changed his food to grain free, high protein, low cards as discussed on Rebecca's main site and here on the boards. I finally took Cedric's dry food (Blue Buffalo Wilderness) away and within a day his numbers dropped. Two day later they were normal. He hasn't had insulin since.

I feed him 4 small meals a day with the help of the Cat Mate C20 auto feeder. It comes with an ice pack, which helps keep the food cool. One container is for cold food out of the fridge to be eaten in about 3 hours; the frozen side opens about 7 hours after I set the timer (today's feeding schdule: 6am, 10-11am, 3-4 pm and 8-8:30ish). i think this has helped him a lot.

if you are still having problems with Boo not wanting the canned food, you might want to try the Wilderness. It is available at Pet Smart and Pet Supermarket. I have discovered a local pet food store that has a better variety of the grain free than the chain stores I mentioned. I found her shop when I was on the Evo website. I use Wellness and Evo, but have also tried BFF and another brand that escapes me at the monent. I did do a thread about food here a week or 2 ago that I will try to find. I don't know how much the DM costs, but the Wilderness might be cheaper and easier to get (versus going to the vet for food). My Midora (died in 2005) was on Perscription Diet W/D dry for her entire life. It was a pain in the butt to get that food! I also fed her fancy feast though.

Good luck and welcome! cat_pet_icon
 
Much thanks to each one of you that has welcomed me. I appreciate the support very much! :-D

I am going to make another go of getting the test strips and lancets this afternoon. Cindy, thank you for your offer to come to my place to assist. I would like to try it on my own first, and then if I need assistance I will definitely take you up on it. As far as the lancets, I would gladly take them off of your hands! I am not shy in getting donations on behalf of Stella!

Each of you has offered great tips of advice. My head starts swimming every time I try to tackle this in all directions, so today I will focus on glucose testing. I have looked at the videos and it seems very doable. confused_cat The only question I have is when should I do the test and how often? I can't seem to find a link that is very specific. Thanks in advance!
 
cool! i brought a few hundred lancets to work with me today just in case i heard back from you so i'll send you a private message now.

how we share private information is via something called private messages here. it's basically the board's version of email is the best way i can explain it. that way, personal information isn't posted on the wide open web for spammers to get. so, i'm going to send you a private message to get your shipping addy and you can respond there with it. up to the upper left of the page, just under the fdmb logo, you will see notification that you have a private message. just click on the words and it will take you to your inbox wherein you will find the private message from me. click on it, it will open like email, and you'll see my message.

to reply, click the "reply" button to the lower right of the message and it changes to a window wherein you can type. do so and then click Submit and it will send it to me.

i can drop a box in the mail on my way home tonight and since you're not too far away i would think you will get it in a day or two. :-)

i'm going to include a whole smorgasbord of them, various colors, brands, and gauges so you can play with them.
 
Thanks so much Cindy! I replied to your PM. :mrgreen:

Again, everybody thanks for the warm welcome. I am trying to get the Contour test strips from Costco, but my vet has not yet given them all of the info they need to process my prescription (so I get a discount rate). If I am able to test tonight I will let you know how it goes. Wish us luck!
 
I think the most important thing to remember in the beginning is that Stella will let you know how it's all going.
You will see changes in the cat before they are reflected in the numbers, so please don't be discouraged if the numbers are not dropping low enough right away. Stella did not become diabetic overnite, so she will need some time to adapt to the improvements.

I also wanted to comment on the dry food because I have two diabetic cats, one I adopted because he was diabetic - Oliver, and Shadoe is the other.
I fed Shadoe dry food all her life and when she was dx with diabetes, and I found that dry food was not great for her, I had to figure out a way to take the dry from her but leave it for another cat, Booboo, who eats only one particular kind of dry food, Fancy Feast.
What I did was to put low carb wet food on the floor and dry food in a bowl on a counter for the non diabetic when I was home. When I was going out, I covered the dry food. I figured if Booboo got hungry enough, it was not like she had no food.... she was welcome to have some of the wet food!

I had to keep Shadoe from the dry food because I found when she got ahold of even just a few pieces, her BG would skyrocket through the roof! She is very carb sensitive, so it was necessary for her health. I would see her BG jump into the 400s every time! I finally found a high shelf where Booboo could jump up, but Shadoe could not so the dry is now left all day.

You may find that if the wet food is left for grazing, and the dry is put down when supervised, your other kitty, Boo, could eventually try some wet and like it!

There is a cheap meter Relion that could maybe cut down on your expenses. You could look into prices for that meter and the strips, and then keep your contour one as a backup meter.

For foods, the fancy feast pates and friskies are perfectly fine for price and carbs; I never tried diff foods for Booboo, so she could try the wet that you are feeding Stella.... after all, if it's good for Stella then it should be good for Boo.

You are in a good place here. ask any questions you may have, and someone will have an answer for you.
 
Welcome Mary & Stella

Sorry I'm late to the party so I'm playing a little catch-up on your posts. I'm one of those crazy people that not only adopted a diabetic cat on purpose, but I adopted 2 of them...lol. Maxwell & Musette are my two diabetics as well as having 10 other non-diabetics, and a large dog that thinks he is a cat.

If I've read everything right in the last few posts there are a couple of things that I would like to address that may be helpful. As far as feeding her all canned diet, if she likesthe canned stuff there is no reason to keep giving her dry, and it will be much easier to get her numbers down without it. Like I mentioned in total I have 12 cats, and every one of them eats what my diabetics eat, just plain old fashioned Friskies pate style canned food. Now I'm home with my fur-kids all day so I feed them 4 times a day, basically breakfast, lunch, dinner and a before bed snack. Not a single one of my cats would eat the prescription stuff more than a couple of days, and well its expensive, so when feeding the herd that I do, it just wasn't in the budget to continue to feed everyone stuff that no one really liked.

I didn't see anywhere that anyone had given you this link to the food charts that a lot of us use when shopping for our sugar cats. so if you've already got it, just disregard http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html but here it is in case you haven't seen it yet. Anything on either of the canned food charts that is under 10% carbs (the third column) is fine for Stella to eat. I personally went with Friskies because it comes in large 13oz cans and when feeding twelve it is just much easier to get the big cans, instead of breaking my back carrying in 400 3oz Fancy Feast cans a week.. :lol: On this diet Maxwell is already in remission and off insulin, and Musette is on a very tiny dose of .5u twice a day.

However, right now I wouldn't change Stella's diet until you are home-testing because of the size of the dose she is on right now, 3u of Lantus is a lot of insulin for a kitty, however, with the dry food it may be necessary to combat the extra carbs. Maxwell was 485 when he was diagnoised and just getting rid of the dry food, send him into remission. So once you switch Stella over completely to wet canned food you will need to drop her dose back down to 1u or less twice a day. One of the reasons we see lots of kitties started on too high of a dose is because no cat is truly happy about spending the day at the vet's, anymore than we would be spending the dy at the doctor's office (strange smells, animals, noises, people that aren't the mommy etc). So they stress out, stress raises BGs. So if the dose is based on the numbers at the vet's office it will be too high when kitty is relaxed at home.

You also asked when to test and how often, at the very least with Lantus you want to check before each shot and then any spot checks you can get in during the day. You will also at some point what to figure out where Stella's nadir (lowest point) is, normally it is right around +6 (6 hours after shot), although every cat is different, Musette's nadir is about +5. Then on the weekends or a day off you will want to run a curve where you test every 2 hours for a 12 hour cycle, which is what your vet is doing and charging you an arm and a leg for....You can do this at home, save yourself the dollars and save Stella a ton of stress, and it will give you a much clearer picture on hw she is doing. What I do is just email or take my spreadsheet into the vet's (leaving kitty lounging on the couch in front of the TV at home), mostly so they have a record of how they are doing. I, personally, don't even use my vet for adjusting dosage, but that is just me, and my vet knows me well enough to know that I can read the data and decide on my own how to handle those numbers. (I'm also a vet tech student and work for my vet with his other diabetic patients).

And don't worry if not everything sinks in to begin with, just take it all in baby steps and ask all the questions you need to, and you'll find yourself a pro in no time at all. :-D

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & the Fur Gang
 
Thank you again for the tips on how to get my healthy Boo to eat wet food again with Stella. It is strange, she was eating the Science Diet wet food every morning until I started giving insulin injections to Stella. I had switched them both to the DM wet food and Stella loved it and Boo snubbed her nose at it. I then put out the Science Diet the next day for Boo and she walked away while looking at Stella's bowl of DM. I then tried the Fancy Feast Classic for Boo in Chicken for several days and nothing. Stella is still eating the DM with gusto. :lol: Again, Boo is only eating the dry DM. I will try other varieties of low carb wet foods until I land on one both Stella and Boo like. They have to be eating the same thing...it has never worked any other way if I want them both to keep eating! Gayle, thanks for your input on putting the dry stuff up on the shelf...but I noticed Stella seems to be self regulating her Insulin since going to 3U. She wasn't touching the stuff at 2U...another reason to use a meter to monitor what is going on.

Mama, thanks for listing when the glucose testing should be done. It was very helpful! To all of those I did not say thank you to personally..please chalk it up to me still in overwhelm!

Also, if I sent a PM and it is still in the Outbox how do you get it to send? I am trying to figure out why it is just sitting there. So, if you are waiting for a reply...I have tried to reply...and will try again later. Thanks!
 
Mary it did send it will stay in the outbox until the person it was sent to reads it....Yeah that one confused me too at first, way to use to regular email...lol

And Oh do I know the how to get all the same kitties on the same page with food dance. :roll: I tried just about every canned food out there I think and either half didn't like it, or only liked it if it was in someone else's bowl...I even tried a lot of the higher end foods, to which about half of them looked at me like I had lost my mind...lol. Finally after a lot of trial and error, mostly error, I found about 5 flavors of friskies and a couple of flavors of 9-lives that everyone will eat. One suggestion, only buy a few cans at a time that way you don't have to haul back a lot, when they turn up their noses at it.. :lol: Now my bunch would gladly wolf down any Fancy Feast I set in front of them, but I'm not about to pop open that many cans! ohmygod_smile, the recycling place already gives me strange looks when I haul in the cat food cans for recycling once a month..lol

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Thanks for making me laugh :lol: Momma I needed it after my first and second attempt to draw blood from Stella's ear. It is almost like she doesn't have any! I am discouraged. Maybe I am just tired this evening. And she was such a good girl too. Sitting in my lap, trying to figure out what I was doing rubbing her ear. At first I thought I didn't load the lancet right, so I started all over again. Stella just waited until I came back. Boo sat nearby wondering what in the world was being added to our routine now...

Thanks to everyone who has PM'd me today. You are a terrific bunch! I am so lucky to have you on my side.
 
Mary, don't worry, in the beginning it can take some time to train the ear to give blood, but it happens pretty quickly.

For now, add some white rice to a cotton sock, I used to use my husband's gym sock :) Just a small amount, less than a quarter cup. You could add catnip in there too for aromatherapy. Warm the sock in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Place the warm sock on the ear before trying to get blood. The warmth draws blood into the ear.

When I use the lancet, I often will let my cat shake her head after, this draws blood to the spot but can also get blood on you or the wall :lol:

Then I push from above and below, add a little pressure on both side and push blood toward the spot you struck, it's called milking the ear.

If you don't have a microwave or rice available, you could take a washcloth, add warm water to it and put that in a ziplock bag so you don't get all wet, apply that to the ear to warm.

Hope that helps :)

Have you seen the links to hometesting?
 
tuckers mom - Thanks so much for 'talking me down off the ledge' :lol: I think I was just too tired last night. I gave it another shot this morning. I still 'failed' :YMSIGH: I did prick my own finger on accident, and drew a nice specimen :roll: I was then able to make sure I knew how to use the test strips and meter: check :razz: It was a bit of a shock and I laughed so hard because the blood poured out of my own pricked thumb. Stella waited patiently as I cleaned everything up and tried her ear again. Her specimen was too small. The meter giving me the sign confirming I didn't milk out enough blood. I tried! I will give both of your suggestions a whirl in the next hour to see if it works. If not I will try her foot pad. Maybe the large pad will be easier on both of us. I wasn't too keen on the pad though...walking on litter and all. But in the end, I just want to keep her stress down and my $$$ down by keeping her out of the vet's office.

Stella received week #2 B12 shot from me this morning. Another reason I need to get these glucose tests off the ground is because I may have done a 'fur shot' of insulin this morning. How silly is it that I can't even tell sometimes if it made it into her??? confused_cat Oh dear...

Stella seems to be sleeping an awful lot, but Boo is too...so I am not worried about that. Thanks again everybody! Please keep checking up on us!
 
i'll keep an eye on your journies as the week goes on and if no success maybe we can figure out a time to get together this weekend

fwiw, it's totally normal to not get it right away so don't get discouraged. it takes a bit to convince their ears to give up the blood and to work out a strategy that works for each person. just remember to reward Stella every time, whether you get blood or not. that way she ties what you are doing to something good
 
Thanks Cindy! :-D I know you are there if Stella and I need a house call! We will keep at it... hopefully one of the techniques above will help. I have read the links and watched the videos...I don't know why I completely forgot about the 'heated' approach.
 
confused_cat cat(2)_steam :?

I just don't get it! I cannot get Stella to give me the tiny drop of blood required for my Contour meter!!!

I don't have rice at the moment, so I heated a wet washcloth for 30 seconds and placed it into a ziplock. It was too hot so I waited until I could comfortably place it on my own cheek.

I then proceeded to pet Stella as her ear was warming up. It felt warm so I used the lancet. Nothing. I re-cocked the lancet device and gave it another shot. Nothing!

I then decided the back big foot pad was the way to go (Stella hates anyone touching her feet). I flipped her over and rubbed her tummy. She liked that for 30 seconds and flinched as the lancet drew a Too Small drop of blood. I massaged her foot pad and she got mad at me. Stella actually bit and scratched at me... the foot pad will not be the way to go. The tiny bit of blood I did get flicked off. It was too small to test anyway... I at least have learned what not enough blood looks like before wasting a test strip. I gave Stella a little treat. After she ate that she jumped into the litter box and in her frustration with me kicked a bunch of litter out of the box. She told me alright. ;-)

I really have to do a glucose curve on her tomorrow. I feel 3U is too much, but if I can't test her blood, I can't prove it. And if I am wrong...I can't lower it just because my intuition and observation is showing she is in hiding.

I know the lancet is working. If you recall yesterday the lancet accidentally got me and I sprouted a huge drop of blood. Will heated rice in a sock really do any better than the heated washcloth in a ziplock? This is ruining mine and Stella's relationship. :sad:
 
It's so hard to know without being right there and seeing what is and is not happening...Perhaps take Cindy up on her offer to give you a hands on demo? That way Stella can be mad at her... :lol: Seriously from what I have heard about Mousie, if Cindy can test her, she can test just about anything with blood in it.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Another shocker from another thread :cry:

Cindy + Mousie said:
methylcobalamin will help, as well as starting treatment for the diabetes and getting his glucose levels under control, and you are working on that so :-) it is B12 vitamin but make sure you get methylcobalamin, not cyanocobalamin.

and here's some reading for you to look at as it is fixable
http://www.laurieulrich.com/jasper/

and here's one that alot of people here use
http://www.lifelinknet.com/siteResource ... baline.asp
Click to expand...

Cindy- you have saved me again. I sent an email to my vet with these links. She had prescribed the wrong B12 and I brought it to her attention and she was wise enough to tell me she had never heard of it. She said she would voice authorize it if the pharmacy knew of it. Both CVS and Costco thought I was wrong. As a result, Stella is getting the wrong B12 for her Neuropathy.

Someone please PM me where I can get it. I have already asked for a new prescription.
 
MommaOfMuse said:
It's so hard to know without being right there and seeing what is and is not happening...Perhaps take Cindy up on her offer to give you a hands on demo? That way Stella can be mad at her... :lol: Seriously from what I have heard about Mousie, if Cindy can test her, she can test just about anything with blood in it.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
Click to expand...

Yes. Cindy is following my posts. I am sure she is well aware I am a complete bomb so far.

And momma...Thank you for making sure I am taking people up on their offer of help. Stella would be very happy to know you are there to watch over (what is currently) her 'dumb person' :-D
 
too funny Mel! :-)

i always order my B12 on the internet 'cause i always had trouble trying to find it locally. recently though i did see some of the methylcobalamin at a store called Nutrition Zone here in YL. do you have one of those in your area Mary? problem is you don't want it to have a bunch of other ingredients either as i think there's some out there on the market that has something in it that cat's shouldn't get. i just can't remember what that is. getting old i tell ya!

and you are not a bomb. seriously, this is actually normal for the first week or so. in another few weeks you'd swear you could make her ears bleed on command.

where on the ear are you testing? outer edge? up high or down by that extra flap of skin? i found on Mousie that her right ear bleeds better than the left and the closer i am to that extra flap of skin, the more blood i get.

wonder what traffic is like from oc to LB on a thursday night. i'll drop my fiance off at the bike trail around 6:30-7:00 tomorrow night and then i'm free. instead of going home maybe i could come your way but what do you think it would take as far as time to get there on a weeknight? 1/2 to 1 hour? and would you be open to that late?
 
I may have missed it, there's a ton of great info in this thread...but I didn't notice anyone tell you about the no-shoot number. If you test the pre-shot bg level and you get anything below 200--- do not give insulin!! Once you have more information based on testing, that number will go lower. But for newbies, never shoot below 200. Sorry if I'm repeating info you were already told. This is an important one, though. And especially important when you're also changing the food.
 
Cindy I will PM. I noticed one of the links you posted had one you could order online. Is that the good one? How exactly do you know it is a good one??? Can you tell I am spinning out of control? Grrr... :-D
 
lol don't feel bad, it takes awhile to get the ear pokies down. The only reason I was able to get them right off the bat with Musette and Maxwell was because I have 10 other cats to practice on...lol. And it taught me that every cat is very different. With Maxwell, I have to poke low on his ear, just right above that little double flap of skin, with Musette who is tiny compared to Maxwell I have better luck if I'm up closer to the tip of her ears. And she has one ear that I barely have to look at with the lancet in my hand and it bleeds. The other one I might as well be trying to get blood out of a turnip, it doesn't matter how much I heat it, or where I poke on it, it just doesn't bleed enough.

Trying to brain storm a little bit: Are you backing the ear with something firm? Sometimes having a bright light like a flashlight or a bright desk lamp helps to see where you are targeting. Are you using the lancet device? or free handing it? What helped me when I was first learning with Maxwell was to use the lancet device but take the cap completely off so I could aim free hand, butuse the spring loaded action to do the actual poke. Which side of the ear are you using, the furry side or the not so furry side? Have you tried doing a quick double poke in the same place to make the hole a little bigger? And then lastly wat size lancets are you using? You might need a bigger size if you are getting blood just not enough.

Just trying to throw out some random thoughts and ideas.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Charliemeow said:
I may have missed it, there's a ton of great info in this thread...but I didn't notice anyone tell you about the no-shoot number. If you test the pre-shot bg level and you get anything below 200--- do not give insulin!! Once you have more information based on testing, that number will go lower. But for newbies, never shoot below 200. Sorry if I'm repeating info you were already told. This is an important one, though. And especially important when you're also changing the food.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much! :-D Please continue to keep me on my toes. I am usually able to 'go with the flow' but this wall smack is hard... I tend to find things easy... and this is not. Good for me. I am continuing to 'grow up'... just when I thought I already had.
 
[quote="Trying to brain storm a little bit: Are you backing the ear with something firm? Sometimes having a bright light like a flashlight or a bright desk lamp helps to see where you are targeting. Are you using the lancet device? or free handing it? What helped me when I was first learning with Maxwell was to use the lancet device but take the cap completely off so I could aim free hand, butuse the spring loaded action to do the actual poke. Which side of the ear are you using, the furry side or the not so furry side? Have you tried doing a quick double poke in the same place to make the hole a little bigger? And then lastly wat size lancets are you using? You might need a bigger size if you are getting blood just not enough.

Just trying to throw out some random thoughts and ideas.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang[/quote]

Maybe I am not understanding the concept, although I have watched all of the videos. As you see from Stella's pic she has very light ears. I see the veins. Maybe I need to know the 'what is happening?' behind the 'lancet' concept. I have always had something firm behind the ear. Last time it was the ziplock with the warm washcloth. Does this lancet go all the way through the ear? Maybe even though I think I am holding firm, something inside of me is pulling it back without me really thinking I am doing that. Maybe it is a simple case of me thinking I am going to pierce her ear all the way through. Or is that what actually happens.

I have always tried from the furry side. I will try from the under side this time. I have tried high up and low down by the flap. I have switched ears too.

Time for Stella's Lantus. I will give it one more go right now.
 
here's another video, a pretty up close one. not sure if it will help

bear in mind this is one of my civies (non-diabetics) and done probably a year or more after i learned to test

http://s138.photobucket.com/albums/q270 ... 0_0826.mp4

oh, and as far as the link for the B12, that one is one of the good ones and one i've seen dozens and dozens of people here use and recommend since the day i joined back in 2006 so i'd say it's pretty trustworthy
 
Everyone.... success!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I finally drew blood from Stella's ear.

Her pre-food/ insulin BG test result was 396. Wow. Not being at the vet brought it down significantly despite Stella and my mishaps throughout the last 48 hours with the lancet. She also just had a healthy meal of wet DM and has now escaped from me to behind the couch. I am quite confident once the insulin kicks in she will love me again. :-D As long as I leave her feet and her foot pad alone everything should return to normal again.

More questions.
1. My meter did not come with control solution, so I had to call Bayer and it is in the mail...so I did not do a control test on this meter and it is new. Is this a problem in reading the results?
2. Can I keep pricking the same ear in the same place since there apparently only one spot on Stella that bleeds?
 
WAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Congratulations!!

and yes, she'll forgive you.

as far as meter accuracy, what we often tell people is to test themselves and if they get a number that is right for a non-diabetic human (assuming said human is non-diabetic), then the meter is probably reading pretty accurately. if you test yourself and get let's say 200, then either the meter is not reading right or you need to talk to your doctor :-)

and as far as poking in the same place. myself i wouldn't do it too much in the same place as it will make it pretty sore i would think. the same place once or twice a day i think is ok. but if you're going for a curve, i'd try to move it around at least a little. you can though put a dab of neosporin on their ears to help with healing and bruising, etc..... and make sure to apply pressure after you get your sample, to help with bruising also.
 
Cindy- I did test my blood as a matter of fact when I accidently pricked myself and it was on the high side of 'normal'. With all of Stella's pricking and my pricking...we probably were stressed like at the vet... :lol:

Tomorrow is Stella's curve. Wish me luck!
 
Additional good news! I did the post meal/insulin shot at 9:20pm when the monitor alarm went off and Stella BG was 223!!!

Perhaps I have a faulty lancing device. I took off the entire cap (as suggested above) and pricked without it and a couple of pricks later we got the perfect droplet. I applied pressure to her ear, added neosporin and gave her a treat. She lounged around and happily let me rub her tummy.

Good Night!
 
Great job!!! :RAHCAT :RAHCAT :RAHCAT It'll be second nature in no time, I promise. And Stella will get used to it, too. charlie comes up and sits in his testing spot when I gather up all of his supplies. He'll do just about anything for a treat :lol:
 
Woohoo!!! :RAHCAT Welcome to the Vampire Club!!!!! dancing_cat

Bet you never thought you would hear that one, did ya? Or be some dang glad to be a member :lol:

See I knew you could do it, it was just finding the right trick that worked for you and Stella. As far as pricking the same ear, in the same spot....well as others have already said probably not in the exact same spot, but I know Musette only has one ear that bleeds well, so I try to move around on that ear when I need to test several times a day. And as crazy as it sounds Stella's ears will learn to bleed. So as you get better at testing and her ears get use to being tested, you will more than likely be able to go back to using the lancet device. I know I had to take off the cap when I first started with Maxwell, now I can use the device without a problem.

You may also want to try other lancing devices, I have something like 4-5 of them here, and there is one here that I actually like using. The one I use came with my Relion meter that I have for Maxwell, I don't like the one that came with my Bayer meter, and can't get it to work for me at all. I don't know if its just because I'm so use to Relion, or if the Bayer one just doesn't work as well. The one I have from Bayer is a little square-ish thingy, whereas my Relion looks almost like a pen. The Relion one is just easier for me to hold and aim with. But you will figure out what works best for you.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Thanks CharlieMeow and Momma! You are right, I never thought I would want to become a member of the vampire club, or be so happy to belong! :-D I love the pom-pom kitties! What a great way to celebrate my ability to finally get the BG testing right!

Today, Stella and I are in the process of doing our first 'at home' BG curve and we are off to a great start! I will be alternating ears, because miraculously either they started bleeding or I have figured out how to do it properly. I must admit though...her ears look a bit bruised from the past two days. This was a very difficult learning curve for me...but now both her ears sprout blood drops! ~O) :-D PS. I have put neosporin on both ears to relieve her painful ear tips, and she has received a treat after each lancet prick.

After the 12 hours is up, I will post the full BG curve for you folks here on FDMB, and email it to my vet. I was supposed to do it tomorrow per the vet but I am working tomorrow and today is my day off.

6:45am 373 3U
8:45am 327

Thanks again everybody...there is NO WAY Stella and I would have gotten this far without you. Thank you all for not letting me give up and sticking with me. I am sure next week I will have wondered what my problem had been. :lol:
 
good job!

one quick question or note or whatever you call it :-)

u didn't shoot another 3 units at 8:45 right? just habit to type it there probably. just want to clarify that so people don't have heart attacks thinking she got 6 units in 2 hours time
 
:!: NO :!: Cindy, thanks for catching my error on my post. To answer your question, NO, I did NOT give her a second injection of 3U at 8:45am. Thanks so much for catching the error. I have edited my post to be accurate. Can you imagine if I had??? YOU would have saved Stella. ;-)
 
Mary: don't feel bad about the tough blood getting. I still havfe problems w/Cedric and only test from his left ear - gave up on the other. I don't use a lancet device, just the lancet and I might poke him 10 times to get the blood. I use a reli-on mirco from walmart. Doesn't need a lot of blood and a couple of times when I finally got something that I thought was too small, I used it anyway and Volia! It worked. Speaking of, I forgot to Test him Tuesday (so wrapped up in recording the food ingredients), so I better go test him!
 
Thank you doombuggy. My 12:45 on the curve today was really tough. More so on me than Stella...she is so patient. I went to the grocery store after that BG test and broke into tears on the way home. I just see the bruises on her ears for the past two days and I feel so bad for Stella that I haven't been getting it right. I know it will get easier. My two kitties (Stella and Boo) have such a great trust of me. I have never yelled at them or been forceful in any way and I just think Stella must be going through a tough time wondering what I am doing to her. (I started crying just typing that). I know in the end it is worth it, and we will both be thankful that we went through this to get it right...it is just very hard on me right now. Thank you everybody who as cared enough to make a comment on this thread in order to get me (and Stella) on the path to her continued good health.
 
Mary,

Its okay the bruises will go away as her ears learn to bleed. If you think Stella is confused right now, imagine what Maxwell and Musette went through. Stella already loves and trusts you. Maxwell was a Katrina survivor, then went to a sanctuary for 2 years, then got adopted by an elderly lady, who loved him to pieces, but he got diabetes and she got dementia. His mom went away and he was taken to a vet that he didn't know and was waiting to die, he had less than 24 hours to live when DCIN stepped in and rescued him. Then after a week in foster care, he was put on a plane, flown to Nebraska to have two total strangers pick him up and drive him to a home full or other kitties and a very large dog. He was now getting his ear poked all the time, they weren't letting him have his crunchy food or treats. And yet he fell madly in love with this stranger who said she was now his mommy. In fact he won't go to bed without me, I have to come to bed before he will curl up on my pillow and he has to be touching me at night, either laying on my head or holding my hand.

Musette gave her former owner 11 years of her life, then she got sick, very sick with DKA. After getting her over DKA, her vet records show where the vet himself chewed out her former owner for not caring for her properly, not changing her diet, not giving her insulin on a regular basis and finally the last ultimatium, either treat her right or put her down. She wasn't being treated for her diabetes or her UTI, until she was also pulled from certain death. Then 3 weeks in foster care until she was well enough to travel, put on a plane, flown to Colorado, picked up by strangers, driven 3 hours to another set of strangers, and driven another 3 hours to a home full of critters. Yet Musette like Maxwell, cuddle in bed with us at night, she is just a daddy's girl. :-D She sleeps with my husband, and Maxwell with me. She is learning to play with the other cats, gives the dog kisses and crawls in my lap to be tested. She is still a work in progress, but I have a feeling by the time the holiday season rolls around this year, her former life is only going to be a memory. She is happy now and judging by the way she acts sometimes I think this may be the first time since she was a kitten that she was truly loved.

Cats are smart, Stella will learn that a prick to the ear means treats and mommy time. The shot means I feel better. And if you look at the cat in my avatar that is Maxwell and his ears are very light colored and still just as beautiful now as they ever were, and yes, they use to be very brusied in the beginning. I got better at testing and he got better at bleeding and the bruises vanished.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
Momma that is one story! Max is very lucky to have you, and I am very lucky to have you to get me to stop crying. I am sure I sound like a huge crybaby, but I assure you I am not. It's just that my Stella and Boo are much more to me than 'just pets', and I am sure everyone here on FDMB knows exactly what I mean by that.

Yes, I know her ears will heal. I just feel bad when I see the bruises now. Stella and I only have two more pricks to go on her BG curve today. I think we will both feel much better about this tomorrow.

Thank you for sharing your and Max's experience with me.
 
Oh I know what you mean about them being more than just pets I carry two brag books with me at all time...One for the furry kids (the cats and dog) and one for the non-furry kids (grandchildren) and yes they are label exactly like that! :lol: Out of the 12 cats and the 1 large dog, only Bert my blue-point siamese doesn't have a back story to him. Everyone else is someone else's throw away. But they are all my kids now! Musette was originally named Angel, but we already had an Angel so we renamed her in honor of my first diabetic kitty...Muse, who is now an angel herself. And oh do I still remember the tears when I learned she was a diabetic. Sadly for her we didn't discove what was wrong with her until it was too late to save her, she already had organ damage and passed away shortly after being diagnosed. It was then and there that my husband I decide that our family would only expand again if the new member met two critria they had to be "special needs" and they had to be at risk of being killed. I couldn't ask for two better members to our family than I now have in Maxwell and Musette.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Stella's first 'at home' 12 hour BG Curve results:

Time Dose BG Reading Note
6:45am 3U 373 Pre Lantus injection
8:45am --- 327
10:45am --- 159
12:45pm --- 157 Nadir (lowest BG read)
2:45pm --- 163
4:45pm --- 219
6:45pm 3U 333 Pre Lantus injection

Curve average: 247 That is great considering 2 weeks ago she was 535!

There you have it. :-D We did it! I am so very proud of the both of us. It will be easier next time. I emailed these results to my vet, and I expect she will contact me tomorrow in regards to dose.
 
After what appeared to be a great improvement in Stella's numbers yesterday, imagine my surprise when I tested her this morning and saw them skyrocket back up this morning:
Time Dose BG Reading
AMPS 7:00 am 3U 474
Post 8:45 am 370

On a good note: Last night Stella shocked herself as she sprung at the feather we played with last night. Stella stopped a moment...and then tried it out again...she jumped furiously around the house...not like a kitty but a hopping bunny running...it was quite a sight as she saw she could pick up speed. :lol: Boo chased after her to watch.

This morning after her first dose, Stella and Boo tore around the house and quit when they both pooped out in just a few minutes. Stella is doing a bunny hop because the Neuropathy of her hind legs have not caught up with her new found energy! I guess both legs working together is what she can manage. :smile:

After the 8:45 BG check (which suddenly became very easy!) Stella did the fast bunny hop toward the scratching post and attacked it with vigor. Boo was asleep on the bed.

I am very hopeful for a remission. I know her little furry little body has the power to make it happen!
 
A couple more things I cannot recall if anyone mentioned...
- it is good if you can remove food for the 2 hours before shots, so if you can pick up the food at 4:45, then all the food will be out of her system and the BG result will not be affected by her food - food can raise the number.

- in the evenings, it`s good to get a BG test just before you all head to bed for the nite.

The curve looks great and it`s wonderful to hear she is OK with the testing and doing well.
 
Thanks for the tip Gayle. I wake up just to get Stella's new routine off the ground, so I am not up that early! I always wake up once in the middle of the night though and see the kitties sleeping, so I will pick their food up then. I appreciate the feedback. :-D
 
Hang in there with the home testing. I know how hard it can be, but the kitties really do not seem to mind it as much as we humans do! I've been in tears more than once from seeing my poor little guys ears, but now it seems when he smells the rice sock coming out of the microwave, he sits beside me to get ready for testing! It probably helps that he gets a treat afterwards. Sometimes I have to prick his poor ear up to three times, but usually it is perfect on the first time. I use a lancet device, just got the #29 needles, that seems to work better.

Good Luck, it does get easier! The people here are great and will help you get through this! :-D


Jeanne and Sebastian (sugarcat) and Sabrina (blind cat)
 
Thanks Jeannes for making me feel better about shedding those tears. :lol: It was already much much easier this morning. I just had to get that BG Curve done on Stella yesterday so I was stressing out. Please tell me how you made the rice sock? I wonder if that would be a better experience for her. Do you sew the end? I thought maybe I would buy a nice fuzzy sock like the blanket she enjoys and try rice in one of those with the fabric she adores. I don't know when I would get to making it...but I could try! Thanks again!
 
fwiw, when i was doing the newbie kits, i often bought little baby socks from target or walmart, put some rice in the toe of it and just tied a knot in it then. figured since me sewing is quite a joke that was easy enough for me to do and another benefit was that if it ever needed cleaned, you could just untie the knot, dump out the rice, and throw the sock in the laundry.

often though i would get donated rice socks. ladies here would sew up various types and sizes of rice socks or rice squares. they were adorable! much more crafty than me
 
I got my rice sock from the newby kit, and it's a white little kids sock tied on the end. It's so much easier to clean, like Cindy says. Just get one at the dollar store, fill it up with about a quarter or half a cup of rice, and it works wonders.

I was thinking about you tonight, Sebastian's ear was freezing just before I put the the sock on it. It was a good one, just took one poke, yeah! Unfortunately, it happened just as my guy dropped and broke the coffee pot in the kitchen, what a noise! We were lucky Sebastian didn't end up with a giant hole in the middle of his ear! :o
 
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