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Travis2020

Member Since 2020
Hi I’m new here , not even sure I’m posting in the right thread . Have many questions , my cat is 10 and just made it through DBK . I really want to take care of her . I have a monitor alphatrak2 and I have a freelite . I have her monitor set to code 36 is this right ? The alphatrak2 is reading 641 after 1unit of insulin . I’m not sure I’m getting the needle in ? I need help and I’m getting frustrated. How do I know if the monitor is right ? I did order test solution , but what should the solution read ? And do I change the code for the solution ? The freelite monitor is reading 341 but idk if that is for pets ? Help is appreciated thanks
 
It that the Freestyle Lite you are using? Human meters typically show lower that pet meters in the high numbers and much closer as you get to normal blood sugar values.

How long after giving the insulin did you test? What type of insulin are you using! And most important,what is your cat’s name?
 
Travis, you are in exactly the right place. Well done! Travis PM'd me, and I suggested he make a post here. His kitty was DK and had 6 days at the vets recently.

Travis, your meter may be working fine. Sugar cats can be very high at first and it takes time for the insulin to make a difference. We'd love to know your cat's name. And when you can, get your signature set up with type of insulin, what diet you are feeding, etc. You can look at my signature to see an example of the types of things to put in it. This will help members give you good advice, since they can see all the basic information right on your every post.

In time, your kitty may need a higher dose, but we need to see how she's responding to the insulin before anything like dose changes. A 1 unit dose twice a day is a great starting dose. For now, test before every injection, and don't give an injection is she's under 200. And if you can, try to get some mid-cycle tests in. They help show us when a dose is good of needs changing. For example, you might try a test 3 hours after dosing and 5 hours after dosing. (+3 and +5) Or +5 and +7. Look at my signature and click on the link that says Billy's Spreadsheet. You can see how much I tested Billy in the early days, once I found out I was supposed to. You can also see how these tests paint a picture of how Billy was doing on insulin, and how we ended up lowering his dose when it was time, based on the mid-cycle readings.

If you haven't already, you might want to pick up some Ketostix at the pharmacy. They test ketones in urine. Since your cat had issues with ketones, testing regularly can help keep your kitty safe.

Most of all, hang in there. It all gets easier, I promise.
 
Ok I will add to my signature today , I’m using pro zinc and I tested about 1 hour after insulin . Maybe I didn’t wait long enough . Her name is Kitten (I know very original ) but I call her pretty kitty because she is pretty . I love her and just want the best for her . And yes the other monitor is freestyle lyte . I think I’ll trust the alpha trak2 . I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all .
 
Well you've already made the best decision for helping your Pretty Kitty.:) You've found the FDMB! WELCOME!
Theres a wealth of info here and people that will help you decipher it.
We are GLAD you are here!:bighug:
jeanne
 
Travis2020 said:
I have a monitor alphatrak2 and I have a freelite . I have her monitor set to code 36 is this right ? The alphatrak2 is reading 641 after 1unit of insulin .
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Hi Travis,
Welcome to this group! I'm away from home so don't have my meter or strips in front of me. But I *think* 36 on the AlphaTrak might be a code for dogs? If you look on the container your strips came in, the label should have a number for cats and a different number for dogs. The numbers vary by container...You might buy two more containers with the exact numbers, or you might get new codes and need to adjust your meter.

Take heart! There are many wonderful people here with lots of knowledge to help you and Pretty Kitty.
 
Kerri & Tigger said:
Hi Travis,
Welcome to this group! I'm away from home so don't have my meter or strips in front of me. But I *think* 36 on the AlphaTrak might be a code for dogs? If you look on the container your strips came in, the label should have a number for cats and a different number for dogs. The numbers vary by container...You might buy two more containers with the exact numbers, or you might get new codes and need to adjust your meter.

Take heart! There are many wonderful people here with lots of knowledge to help you and Pretty Kitty.
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Yes thank you after more research I see I need it set to 38 , after doing this I took a reading and it’s 403 after 1 hour of giving 1 unit . I’m worried , she is now not eating again and not purring or meowing . Ugh I hope she doesn’t die
 
I know she needs to be on wet food and before she was eating wet food no problem she would eat a ton and didn’t care . Yesterday she was eating a little and now today nothing . Not a drop . I have a whole buffet of 4 different foods out . Idc what she eats I just want her to eat something . The chicken cat treats I have she won’t even eat today . This is what she did before when I had to take her into the vet on a Saturday when they were closed . That’s not cheap and tomorrow is Saturday and here we are again .
 
Do you have any urine ketone test strips yet? If she was recently in DKA, you should be testing her at least once a day for ketones. They are available at any pharmacy that has diabetic supplies.

Also, it's important that she eat now...doesn't matter if it's good food or kibble for now. It's important that she gets calories.

Food is like medicine when it comes to recent DKA's....she needs to be eating 1 1/2 times as much as she normally would.
 
I do not have any at the moment , I’ll go first thing in the morning . And get some it’s midnight here . Also how do I get the urine ? I’ll research this
 
I don’t feel good at all about this , I’ll test her again in a bit . She doesn’t care about me testing her . Honestly right now she doesn’t care about anything . She’s so small 4.5 pounds and frail . I feel like a horrible parent she is seriously dying and I can’t seem to get her glucose down . I just don’t understand . The vet had her drop all the way to 50 . I know I’m getting the needle in because her fur is not thick . I can literally see the needle
 
If she has had insulin you need to bring that number up. Give her some sugar or syrup karoun syDo you have some high carb food or even medium carb food
 
OK....rub some karo on her gums or you can syringe it into her mouth....get at least a few good sized drops into her and test again in 15-20 minutes

Have you got some high carb food like Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers?
 
I think that 48 was probably a wonky test strip if she's at 313 already.

Grab another test in about 30 minutes and if she's really that high, you just need to get her eating or to the vet first thing in the morning. If she's still not eating by morning, I don't think you should wait until noon to get her to a vet to check for ketones
 
Happy I could help. Please do get your signature done ASAP because it saves us time to know some details about your cat when it's an emergency instead of having to go back and read through a bunch of posts or ask a lot of questions first.

I am going to tag @Bron and Sheba (GA) to check on your later. She's in Australia so it's early evening there instead of close to 1:30am
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
Happy I could help. Please do get your signature done ASAP because it saves us time to know some details about your cat when it's an emergency instead of having to go back and read through a bunch of posts or ask a lot of questions first.

I am going to tag @Bron and Sheba (GA) to check on your later. She's in Australia so it's early evening there instead of close to 1:30am
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Updated , not sure that’s the correct way but for now it’s ok ?
 
Hi. @Chris & China (GA) asked me to look in on you.
I agee with Chris that you need to get your kitty to the vet first thing in the morning and get the ketones tested.
Also she needs to eat. It's extremely important that she eats anything at this point,
Is there any food at all that's she will eat...if you hold it in your hand? Or try putting it in her mouth?

Do you have a syringe that you could try syringe feeding her with?
Is she lethargic?

ETA Is there an 24 hour vet you could take her to now? I think you need to take her to the vet now because she could be developing DKA again and that needs to be treated asap
 
She is at the vet and has an IV in . She was eating normally there . So I decided to leave her again for most likely another week . She didn’t eat normally when I got her home . So the vet is wondering if she can’t stay hydrated without an Iv . I want to thank all of you for helping me . I really appreciate it
 
Thank you for updating us! That's wonderful, that you could leave her in the clinic. We hope you'll keep us posted--and once you have her stable and back home, there are such good resources for you here. (Or if you have questions to prep up for bringing her home, that's good too!) A good strategy is to keep this same thread going (so members can see the history easily / you don't have to re-tell everything). You can edit your thread title anytime....Just go to "thread tools" at the top of the thread. . . . You can also tag the thread title with a "?" if you want to be sure everyone notices you have a new question. Kitten is lucky to have you!
 
You can learn to give subq (subcutaneous ) fluids at home. It's not hard. The vet can show you how.

Glad that Kitten is at the vet and being monitored.
Did they say she had ketones?
Or was she only dehydrated?

Hi Travis, would you update your signature when you get a chance and add the meter you are using and "recent DKA". please, Thank you.

You can test at home yourself for dehydration. The quickest and easiest way is to gently pull up on some skin near a cats shoulder. If it goes right back down, hydration is normal. If the skin "tent" stays up, that indicates dehydration.

There is also the gum check method for dehydration. Put a finger on her gums, if it feels dry and tacky, that indicates dehydration also.
 
Hi Travis, I am so glad Kitten is responding and at the vet.
When you bring her home, make sure you are given some oral antinausea medications such as cerenia and ondansetron from the vet as cats that are nauseated won’t eat and it is good to have them at home for when they are needed.

Also pick up a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy so you can test her urine at home for ketones. Cats recovering from DKA need to be tested daily at least to ensure that the ketones are not reforming. If you think you might have trouble collecting urine samples, you can use a blood ketone meter which works the same way as a glucose meter does.

Please keep us posted. Sending best wishes
 
Deb & Wink said:
You can learn to give subq (subcutaneous ) fluids at home. It's not hard. The vet can show you how.

Glad that Kitten is at the vet and being monitored.
Did they say she had ketones?
Or was she only dehydrated?

Hi Travis, would you update your signature when you get a chance and add the meter you are using and "recent DKA". please, Thank you.

You can test at home yourself for dehydration. The quickest and easiest way is to gently pull up on some skin near a cats shoulder. If it goes right back down, hydration is normal. If the skin "tent" stays up, that indicates dehydration.

There is also the gum check method for dehydration. Put a finger on her gums, if it feels dry and tacky, that indicates dehydration also.
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Are you saying I can give her fluids myself to keep her hydrated?
 
Travis2020 said:
Are you saying I can give her fluids myself to keep her hydrated?
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Yes! You can definitely do this at home. You don't have to do a constant IV or anything. Just at whatever interval and amount your vet says is right for your kitty, you administer under the skin at scruff of neck from a bag of fluid. It will leave a little puffy spot under their skin that gets smaller and smaller through the day as kitty absorbs it. The lump looks weird but is not uncomfortable. I think there are some videos floating around this site, and I'm sure on YouTube. I did subq for several months as end-of-life care for my old kidney disease kitty, and it saved me tons of money and the kitty tons and tons of car ride and vet stress.
 
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Yes, I had a vet tech show me how to give subq (subcutaneous) fluids the first time. I've had 2 cats that needed fluids several times a week. So I learned how to do this at home and ordered the supplies on-line.

It's been so long since I have ordered the IV solutions, needles, and lines, I don't know the best place to get these types of supplies anymore. I ordered the IV fluids by the case, I was using it so frequently for one of my kidney disease cats. It was much less expensive than the vets.

If your cat has heart disease, there can be issues with giving them too much fluid.

If your cat is getting electrolytes in the fluid as well as the lactated ringers solution, then your cat may need to stay at the vet for monitoring. That monitoring would be so that blood tests could be done to check on potassium, magnesium and phosphate can become "out of whack" if a cat is suffering from severe dehydration or has ketones.

Has Kitten had a relapse of the DKA? Are ketones high again and are her electrolytes out of balance?

p.s. We've helped several members here in the last few months treat their cat after a recent DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) episode. @Chloe007 is 1 of those recent members who's cat survived DKA. Her cat Oscar also uses Prozinc.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Yes, I had a vet tech show me how to give subq (subcutaneous) fluids the first time. I've had 2 cats that needed fluids several times a week. So I learned how to do this at home and ordered the supplies on-line.

It's been so long since I have ordered the IV solutions, needles, and lines, I don't know the best place to get these types of supplies anymore. I ordered the IV fluids by the case, I was using it so frequently for one of my kidney disease cats. It was much less expensive than the vets.

If your cat has heart disease, there can be issues with giving them too much fluid.

If your cat is getting electrolytes in the fluid as well as the lactated ringers solution, then your cat may need to stay at the vet for monitoring. That monitoring would be so that blood tests could be done to check on potassium, magnesium and phosphate can become "out of whack" if a cat is suffering from severe dehydration or has ketones.

Has Kitten had a relapse of the DKA? Are ketones high again and are her electrolytes out of balance?

p.s. We've helped several members here in the last few months treat their cat after a recent DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) episode. @Chloe007 is 1 of those recent members who's cat survived DKA. Her cat Oscar also uses Prozinc.
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I’m not sure the vet didn’t check , he just wanted to get her on fluids right away . I’m going to visit tomorrow since today is Sunday . So tomorrow I’ll find out more information . I did find the video of giving fluids and it looks simple enough . I’m going to ask , I love in a rural area and I’m honestly not to positive about my vets skills . There is a bigger city but it’s about an hour away . Maybe I’ll have to go there . The ear they used to check her glucose was all scabbed . Where the ear I used you could hardly tell I pricked her . He was very impressed with my rice sock and how I got blood so easily . Kind of scared me because he’s the vet . They are using a actual needle to prick her and it is just beating up her ear
 
If you use the lancet correctly, and are not poking the actual vein, but are hitting the "sweet spot", it's very hard to tell that your cat is even being BG (blood glucose) tested at home.

Take a lancet or two in, and show the vet, and even more importantly the vet techs, how you do the ear testing. You'd be surprised how this "skill" is not widely known in the vet community. Usually, the vet clinics get the blood from a leg vein. I'm surprised they are using the ear.

Paw pads on a cat are another place that can be poked with a lancet for testing.

Here is the "sweet spot" diagram we use here. Don't know if you can print it out, or copy it to your phone or something, so you can show your vet office.

Testing
We all know the basics:
  • Warm the ear with a rice sock or a warm washcloth wrapped in a plastic bag.
  • Either freehand or use a lancing device; new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed; then progress to a 31g or 33g which are finer.
  • Be sure to poke in the "sweet spot" and not the major vein that runs along the length of the ear. Poking the vein will not only hurt, but will result in a lot of blood. The sweet spot is on the edge of the ear.
4395c545-36bf-4aba-bec7-4392fcdb191c-jpeg.48119

But did you also know there is a particular way for the lancet to be used? It has one side that is beveled so the sharpest part goes in first, if used correctly.
 
Travis2020 said:
I’m going to visit tomorrow since today is Sunday. So tomorrow I’ll find out more information . . . . They are using a actual needle to prick her and it is just beating up her ear
Click to expand...

It's so hard to see our kitties looking so vulnerable. But the ear will heal--and when she is home, you're way ahead of the game if you've already been getting blood easily. My poor kitty had Frankenstein ears the first few weeks while I figured things out! Just shredded-looking.

Tomorrow you will know more.

If you ask your vet for a paper or e-copy of whatever labs he runs, there are super smart folks on the board who can look them over and help interpret, if you find that helpful. And maybe your vet is better than the ragged ear makes you think. At least he sent you home with some good DKA directions--making sure she eats whatever she will eat--and he didn't give you a crazy high starting dose of insulin. (Lots of us here have had bad advice from vets on our insulin dosing--mine said 4 units twice a day, and we crashed FAST.) So, maybe your vet is good with everything but ear-pricks. Fingers crossed. :cat:
 
Kerri & Tigger said:
It's so hard to see our kitties looking so vulnerable. But the ear will heal--and when she is home, you're way ahead of the game if you've already been getting blood easily. My poor kitty had Frankenstein ears the first few weeks while I figured things out! Just shredded-looking.

Tomorrow you will know more.

If you ask your vet for a paper or e-copy of whatever labs he runs, there are super smart folks on the board who can look them over and help interpret, if you find that helpful. And maybe your vet is better than the ragged ear makes you think. At least he sent you home with some good DKA directions--making sure she eats whatever she will eat--and he didn't give you a crazy high starting dose of insulin. (Lots of us here have had bad advice from vets on our insulin dosing--mine said 4 units twice a day, and we crashed FAST.) So, maybe your vet is good with everything but ear-pricks. Fingers crossed. :cat:
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I really hope so , when I took her in the first time she was really bad and he seemed to know a lot . He said she was dehydrated he took urine sample right away to check for ketones and he took her temperature which was low . So I was very positive about him . Just the ear and not thinking dry food is a big deal . Those are the only complaints I really have at the moment
 
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