Need Advice... Again!

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Blamethecats and Hannah

Blamethecats and Hannah

Member Since 2014
I am sure someone on this forum has experienced a similar situation, so I am hoping someone can provide suggestions and advice. My DH just came in the door and told me that he has invited friends to our house for the evening. Normally, that would make me happy. This time around, not so much. They will be arriving just about the time I am getting our shy little kitty ready for her evening BG, food, and insulin. I usually take her BG around 7:45 PM, then feed her, followed by the insulin at promptly 8:30 PM. She is a slow, picky eater, so it takes time. It all works well and she is getting quite used to this routine. Tonight, the minute our guests come through the door around 7:30 PM, she will run upstairs and hide under our bed until they leave, probably around 10:00 PM. How do I handle this situation? I am already a nervous wreck just thinking about it. Sigh. :-| Will it be okay to delay for an hour-and-a-half or until our guests leave? I really don't like doing that, as her numbers aren't that great in the first place. Suggestions, please, please, please... and thank you!
 
I am not sure where you normally feed her, but if she is gonna run up to your room anyways, would feeding her in your room before guests arrive work? Then you can keep her in there with the door shut, and she might not get afraid if she doesn't necessarily know they are there. That way she is already in a safe environment and then you can just go up and give her her shot when it is time?
 
I like Skooter's mom's suggestion. With ProZinc, a shot 15 minutes early or late is fine.

I took a quick look at your spreadsheet. Have you considered upping Hannah's dose a little? I would think you could increase it by .25 for a few cycles and if the numbers don't come down, then up to 1.5 It isn't good for her to sit in those high numbers. If you can monitor (and you have done a great job getting tests in) she should be safe with a little more insulin.

Have you seen the protocol we put together for ProZinc?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=109077
 
I also think I will follow Skooter's Mom's suggestion and hope to make some progress before things get busy this evening. Please wish me luck, especially if they bring their small children with them. Yes, I am not happy with Hannah's spreadsheet numbers, either. I worry all the time about her. I just keep hoping progress will kick in. Her vet lowered her dose a few weeks ago after she made one trip to the ER with a near-hypo episode and another that we handled at home with Karo Syrup and food. I would like to increase her dose slightly, but am confused as to how to go about it. When you say "increase it by .25", where would that be on the Terumo U-100 syringe? Her current dose is to the first line (0.01 ml)and I assume the next line would be a double dose? How do I get to that .25 increase, as there isn't a mark for it? This is all so confusing to me. I just can't seem to wrap my head around so much of it. As a side note to this conversation, the UPS truck just pulled in to our driveway to deliver a package (hopefully her Stella and Chewy treats), she got scared, and is now hiding under our bed. Wish she wasn't such a 'fraidy cat.
 
If you can, you might want to turn on the tv or play some music in the room as well....

Maybe if she has that to drown out the noise of the people and kids, that might help......

Also if she has a blanket, pillow, toy etc she likes, I would put that in the room as well......
 
A .25 increase is an increase of a quarter unit. A unit of insulin is .01ml, so you'd be increasing your dose to 0.0125ml, only a quarter of the way toward the second line on the syringe (assuming you have syringes that mark whole units only). You pretty much need to just eyeball that amount on the syringes and try hard to give the same amount each time.

One trick that worked for me when I was giving funny doses is to dye some water with food coloring and then draw that up into a used syringe to the amount that looked right to me. Cap it and save it. Then I used that colored-water syringe to compare to when I draw the doses.

Good luck with the guests tonight!
 
Well, the evening went okay and the company is now gone. Thanks to all who offered advice on how to handle the situation. As expected, Hannah headed straight upstairs and under our bed. As suggested by Skootersmom, I put her favorite bed under our bed and turned the AC on low to muffle the noise downstairs. Very good advice, as she calmed down a bit after that. Fed her long before her AMPS, as wanted to get her to eat before things got busy. Unfortunately, that sent her BG number sky high and rattled my nerves. But at least she ate before her insulin.

Talked with Hannah's vet this afternoon and he wants to increase her morning dose to 0.02 ml and leave her evening dose at 0.01 ml. That morning increase scares me a bit, so hope and pray it will be okay. What do you all think?? Am not sure I want to go for that much of an increase but don't know if I can "eyeball" a smaller increase. These old eyes aren't what they used to be! I just know she can't successfully go on with such high nunbers and we have to do something else. The current plan isn't working. Sue, thanks for the thread and pics of the U100 needles. We have the 1 unit syringes, not the 1/2 unit ones.
 
Maybe consider getting those needles when you can?

So the vet is suggesting doubling the dose? (i am used to dealing with units). I think it would be safer to increase by half units?
 
Fortunately, I was able to give her insulin right on schedule. Just excused myself to our guests, said our diabetic kitty needed her shot, and that I would return in a few minutes. When I went to our bedroom where she was hiding, she was glad to see me. Took the jar of Stella and Chewy's treats with me and gave her a few small snips as a reward. cat_pet_icon
 
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