NEW MEMBER Cap Needs Your Help / Help with Blood Testing Numbers

Charity & Cap

Charity & Cap

Member
(Copy and pasted from the intro forum, per request.)

Hey!

My gorgeous, sweet boi got diagnosed in late Feb, with his numbers at 472 glucose. Vet put him on 1 unit of Prozinc every 12 hours after a meal. Switched him to all FF/Tiny Tiger pate and some of the Regal zero carb chicken / duck brands, and shifted him to Dr. Elsey's low-carb cat food.

We had a checkup last week and his numbers were 374, so she increased the dose to 1.5 every 12 hours and wants to see him back in a month. Taking him to a vet is super expensive / horrible for him (he does not travel well, and it's an hour one way) so I need to know how to deal with this / track his blood sugar at home, but I'm anxious about pricking his ear, learning to read a meter (I did buy the ReliOn Premier Compact) and messing with him. He's a gentle, mild-mannered cat, but hates me messing with his ears and resents getting his shots. He also is picky and sometimes doesn't want to eat at the right times.

Last week, we had a bit of a scare when he ate the wrong wet food by accident. I did not realize and gave him his shot, only to leave for 2 hours and come home to him having puked up all his dinner. He refused to eat four 5 hours and I had no way to tell if he was feeling okay / his insulin was too high or too low, which convinced me I had to bite the bullet and get on board with blood testing.

Cap has a history of health problems -- he has allergies and it took me 2 years and changing up his diet to cure him of his skin condition. But he no longer takes that medication (Atopica) and has been okay for two years.

Any tips you can give me and/or reassurance and guidance about using the spreadsheet, testing him (I guess 60 is the range he should ideally be in, on a human meter?), etc. would be appreciated. I know it's not going to hurt him to prick his ear, but it will hurt me! :D Any tips would be appreciated!

We lost another cat to this disease a year ago, which made this diagnosis upsetting. I currently have one other cat in the house (5 years old, female) and she does not favor wet food. If it's important to take them both off it altogether, I can try, but Cap likes to nibble in-between meals (the vet says despite his high numbers, he was behaving well and shiny and looked a lot "better" than she would expect, which made her think he was self-regulating somehow).

ETA: He is 7 years old, and 11 pounds (down from 15). Allergic to peas, beef, and dairy products.
 
As to feeding, multiple small meals spread throughout the early portion of each cycle will be best for Cap. Feeding the first snack at +2 (two hours after the insulin shot) and then again at about +4 and he can be fed again later if needed, but usually it’s best not to feed a lot after the typical nadir hour (which we will figure out soon) as it can cause glucose to rise earlier than we want and shorten the duration of the insulin. He seems like he’s lost a lot of weight — is this correct?
 
Thanks.

Tried blood testing him this morning. Got a drop of blood, but the meter gave me an "error" 4 reading no matter what I did. Now he's upset, I'm upset, and he's refusing to eat anything I've offered him, so I guess he gets no shot this morning until he does.

I'll try testing again later. Guess I didn't get a blood bead big enough. :(
 
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Cap's Mama said:
Thanks.

Tried blood testing him this morning. Got a drop of blood, but the meter gave me an "error" 4 reading no matter what I did. Now he's upset, I'm upset, and he's refusing to eat anything I've offered him, so I guess he gets no shot this morning until he does.

I'll try testing again later. Guess I didn't get a blood bead big enough. :(
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I am sorry this happened. I cried a lot the first week I was trying to test! I assume you have already been given all the tips and tricks regarding getting blood (including “milking” the ear or scraping a drop of blood onto your fingernail and testing it off of your finger/thumbnail?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I am sorry this happened. I cried a lot the first week I was trying to test! I assume you have already been given all the tips and tricks regarding getting blood (including “milking” the ear or scraping a drop of blood onto your fingernail and testing it off of your finger/thumbnail?
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I haven't, no. But that's a good idea.

I think my monitor is busted. No matter what I do (testing it on myself) I get an Error 4 / not enough blood / too thick of blood message (even though there was certainly enough blood on the strip, because I hurt myself and decided to test it lol). I will keep trying to make it work on myself before I try it on him, but for now, I'm stalled out on testing him.

And yes, he is a gorgeous cat. He's the first gray one I've had and they are soooo soft and velvety.
 
Cap's Mama said:
I haven't, no. But that's a good idea.

I think my monitor is busted. No matter what I do (testing it on myself) I get an Error 4 / not enough blood / too thick of blood message (even though there was certainly enough blood on the strip, because I hurt myself and decided to test it lol). I will keep trying to make it work on myself before I try it on him, but for now, I'm stalled out on testing him.

And yes, he is a gorgeous cat. He's the first gray one I've had and they are soooo soft and velvety.
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If you pricked your own finger and it still didn’t work… I would definitely get a new monitor. Is it a new monitor? I am sure Walmart would exchange it for you.
 
Just checking -- I THINK it's safe to give him Fancy Feast Flaked Trout / Flaked Chicken & Tuna. It is 7% carbs, yes? (I keep finding mixed results when I Google search.) The former is pretty much all he wants to eat at the moment.
 
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this one has 8.1% carbs on a dry matter basis
 
So... no? :(

Cap gonna be bummed. I don't know what else to give him. He rejects most of the Pates and the Classics. I guess I can bake him salmon again...
 
I hope so because I don’t like too much fish in the cat’s diet due to mercury and other heavy metals and chemicals. But he must eat! He may be a fishaholic.
 
He is doing better though since we were able to increase his dose after your last curve. It’s nice to see that. How is he acting?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
He is doing better though since we were able to increase his dose after your last curve. It’s nice to see that. How is he acting?
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He seems to feel good. Isn't as ravenous as he was, not peeing as much or drinking as much, seems to be a bit lazier than when he was hyperactive, which is fine. Overall I'm pleased and he is happy. :)
 
Okay.

He's not feeling good today. Barfed last night, had diarrhea this afternoon.

Seems better now, though. Hanging around me, waiting for his dinner (another 45 minutes, bud).
 
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Hi Charity and Cap! You are getting excellent help here, and I just wanted to assure you that your handsome Cap will likely get used to having his ear poked. I found that my cat got used to it quickly, and at shot time I give her a low carb treat. (In her case, a catnip-flavoured Feline Greenie, which doesn't spike her, or a few slivers of bonito.) But she's also fine without it and just heaps of praise.

If Cap is having an unsettled tummy because of the food change, I found that Slippery Elm works wonders for barfing and diarrhea. And it's good for humans too. There's instructions here on how to make a syrup of it, or you can pack it into a tiny gelatin capsule and coat it in pate. My cat falls for it every time 😸

Best wishes!
 
Lara & Luciole (Lu) said:
Hi Charity and Cap! You are getting excellent help here, and I just wanted to assure you that your handsome Cap will likely get used to having his ear poked. I found that my cat got used to it quickly, and at shot time I give her a low carb treat. (In her case, a catnip-flavoured Feline Greenie, which doesn't spike her, or a few slivers of bonito.) But she's also fine without it and just heaps of praise.

If Cap is having an unsettled tummy because of the food change, I found that Slippery Elm works wonders for barfing and diarrhea. And it's good for humans too. There's instructions here on how to make a syrup of it, or you can pack it into a tiny gelatin capsule and coat it in pate. My cat falls for it every time 😸

Best wishes!
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Thanks for the encouragement. :) I will check out Slippery Elm. :)

Cap has always had a sensitive tummy -- he will puke if he eats something too rich, too fast, or too much. He used to barf constantly until I got him a raised food bowl. Probably had something a little too rich for him yesterday.

He's gotten used to me poking him before his breakfast and dinner. Tolerates it pretty well, provided he gets food after. He's a very mellow and sweet cat, overall. I'm lucky.
 
He’s been on this dose long enough. If you hold the dose too long he will get far too comfortable in the higher numbers and it will be harder to shift him out of them (it’s called glucose toxicity.) Can you do a curve (a mini curve with +4,6, 8 — skipping 2 and 10 — would be adequate) and we can increase to 2 units. I would like to see his nadirs more consistently in lower blues and I would like to see the preshot numbers come down.
 
Ok. I can try for a mini curve tomorrow.

I have to run around for work on Wed/Thurs of this week and won't be able to get 6 hour in nadir shots; should I hold off any increase until I can be home to test him?
 
I don't understand what happened. He was getting down into the 100s for a few days, and now he's not below 200, and it seems to rise before the 6-hour mark. :(

Is it because he had that 431 and it's been rolling over into higher numbers ever since?
 
There could be several different reasons. One reason is that I suspect this dose has kind of gone “stale” on him. It is what I was talking about — holding doses for too long can sometimes allow numbers to creep up.

You did a great job doing the mini curve today. He can have an increase to 2 units now. Some cats do go up (and down) in dose quite a bit. And some cats will reach a “good dose” and stay there for a long time.
 
I hope he's one of the latter (that he'll stabilize on us at 2 units). Otherwise my new lifestyle will be the crying and eating ice cream gif on Google. ;)
 
I understand about crying and eating ice cream! Last week when I got home from the vet, the first thing I did (after letting my cat out of his carrier) was to make brownies. Ice cream on top. I needed a punch of chocolate. But two units isn’t a lot really. He needs however much insulin he needs and if we can get him into lower numbers hopefully his pancreas can heal and he will need less and less insulin. But he’s more than his numbers. We want him feeling healthy and being happy. That’s number one!
 
Ice cream and brownies are the only valid response to life on certain days! Good choice on your part.

I have to eat ice cream standing up / away from furniture or Cap tries to get it, lol. He can smell it and last time, climbed up on the back of the couch to try and stick his nose into my bowl. "What do you need ice cream for? I'M THE ONE BEING POKED."

They can be so cute sometimes.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
You decided not to wait until Friday to do the increase?
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Yes. I decided it would be better to get his numbers down sooner rather than later.

Do you want me to get a blood test tonight?

(He was on this dose for 2 weeks earlier in the year, so I don't think he'll get into dangerous numbers.)

I can test at 4 hours tomorrow and possibly the next day if you think I should.
 
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Charity & Cap said:
Yes. I decided it would be better to get his numbers down sooner rather than later.

I'll try to get a 9am test tomorrow before I leave, and I will try for another the next morning.

Think he'll be okay or do I need a late test tonight?
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Can you get a +2 tonight or is it too late? If the +2 is quite a bit lower than the PMPS he may drop. The important thing is that he have snacks tonight. Does he have an automatic feeder or can food be left out for Cap?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Can you get a +2 tonight or is it too late? If the +2 is quite a bit lower than the PMPS he may drop. The important thing is that he have snacks tonight. Does he have an automatic feeder or can food be left out for Cap?
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I could get a 2.5, since I won't be here at 7pm but should be back at 7:30.

I've been leaving Dr. Elsey's out for him at night, just enough for him to snack on. I can also stay up and feed him again at 10 (5 hours after shot) if necessary.

Should I not give him 2 in the morning? Or will that screw with him?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I think that unless he’s really low in the morning you should stick with 2 units.
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Okay.

I ran home from my parents' house and got a 2+ reading: 284. Hasn't dropped a ton, which I guess is good.

Cap has also informed me he's done for the day and I am not allowed to poke him again. I'll feed him a bit of shredded chicken at 4+ and leave out the Dr. E's kibble overnight.
 
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