Need some advice, please!

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FluffBunny

FluffBunny

Member Since 2014
I am new at giving insulin and testing blood glucose. I have been able to test Oliver's BG only a couple of times. Earlier today, his BG was 147 - the lowest it has ever been. It is time for his insulin injection so I tested again and it is 170. His BG at the vet (on their Alpha Trak meter) has been above 400.

I went to the vet yesterday to get some more instructions on giving the insulin injection. I think I have been mostly missing this week. I am sure I got it in him last night and this morning.

My question is, should I give him his shot now? Is 170 too low? I had a cat go into a diabetic seizure a few months ago and it not something I ever want to experience again.

Advice?

I should add that I am using a ReliOn Micro meter and his dose is 2 units. The 147 reading was at +8 and the 170 was at +12.
 
Stall 30 minutes without feeding and re-test. If he is going up, shoot. If not able to monitor overnight, reduce the dose by 0.25 (eyeballed) to 0.5 units lower.

Lantus hits nadir between +5 to +7 for many cats.
 
You may have noticed that many of us have links to a spreadsheet in our signatures. We find it very helpful to post the glucose tests in this grid so that we can get feedback from others who have the link and review it.

Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning pre-shot test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening pre-shot)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
I just tested him again and it was 205. I am thinking about maybe giving him 1.5 units instead of 2. I will start a spreadsheet but I have only recently been able to test his BG. I had many unsuccessful attempts this week and his poor ears look awful. I have gotten better at it today, so maybe I can test more frequently. I should have added that I just started this on Monday and I am pretty sure I gave him numerous air shots before the last 24 hours. I got him shaved in a couple of spots so I could see what I'm doing, and I have gotten better at the injections.
 
I have started a spreadsheet. Thanks for your advice. I hope I did the right thing by lowering his dose tonight.
 
Lantus is a depot insulin. This means its effect builds up over several days - 5 days to start, then 3 days for dose adjustments after that.

We have a saying - better high for a day, than too low for a moment.
 
If you would link that SS (spreadsheet) you created into your user control panel, profile tab, edit signature it would allow us read only access and let us see what is going on.
 
I don't know how to link my spreadsheet. I couldn't download the spreadsheet, so I copied and pasted it to an excell sheet in my documents.
 
There shouldn't be any need to download the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is a google template that you copy and rename for your own use, right on Google. If you do not have a google account, you just need to sign up for one.

Follow the instructions in this document from our Tech Support forum to set it up and link it into your signature.
 
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