New Member - Christina & Kitty Cat - 9/13/20

Chicken flavoured Greenies:
Chicken Meal, Ground Wheat, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Oat Fiber, Natural Poultry Flavor, Ground Flaxseed,

High carb.

 

Is that the w/d wet food?

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Yes, hills w/d wet food. I don't know if he'll eat it though, he seems to be done with dinner after just under 2 cans FF. Which means he ate a little over 3.5 cans FF today.

 

You may need a pot of coffee, depending on what his lordship does next...


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Can you get a test one hour after the shot (we refer to it as +1 because we have members here from all over the world) and a test 2 hours after you shot?

The +1 test should be higher because it is food influenced.
If the +2 test is the same as the shot time test or lower, it can be a sign of an active cycle.

 

Oh boy, I don't know why I didn't think to check the treats before buying. Was concerned about his dental disease. I will stick to the purebites only now.

 

I was asking about higher carb foods to see how you were provisioned in case you need to give small amounts of higher carb later on if Kitty Cat's numbers need a boost.

How many test strips do you have for the Alphatrak?


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Yes I will test +1 and +2.
Silly question but what do you mean by "active cycle"?

 

I have 17 left. (can't believe how quickly these get used and how expensive they are!)

 

Do you have a Walmarts very close by?

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And are they open late?

Or is there a late-opening pharmacy?

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Oops I missed this one. I ended up giving him the shot ~10 minutes after the regular time.
I have 17 strips left. I don't have karo but I do have wee bee raw honey? I have hills w/d wet food available.

 

Since this thread is already very long and there is no spreadsheet yet, I'm starting a timeline for people to read.

HisTreats sometime before PMPS: Greenies Chicken flavour and Purebites Chicken

PMPS 56/106/121 AlphaTrak
1 unit Lantus
Fed just under 2 cans FF.
Shot 1 unit Lantus.

History:
Ketones: small
Vomitting
Admitted to clinic Monday 14 Sept
Vet said not in DKA "yet"
Given fluids and cerenia.
Ultrasound showed pancreatits and GI inflammation.
Sent home today (15 Sept) with ondanestron and famotidine.​

 

The honey will do the trick.
If high carb food is needed, you can use the greenies too. A rough estimate is 40% carbs.

 

He actually didn't need to stay overnight so he went to the hospital sept 14 and came home sept 14 same day.

 

There's a 24hr drug store an 8 min drive away but the pharmacy counter is closed so nothing prescription. Do I need to buy something now?

 

Do I give him some now? What's the rules for this? Going to test his +1 in ~15 min

 

No food now.
Test in 15 minutes and post the number.

 

I strongly recommend you get a human meter and a supply of test strips for it. In the event that Kitty Cat were to run on the low side tonight I'm worried that you don't have enough strips.

Maybe give them a ring first to see if you'd be able to get a meter and strips from them? Is there anyone at home with you who could pop to the drugstore for you?

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Don't do anything until you post the +1 test result and hear back from us about next steps.

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Reasons why tonight might use up all of your strips.
If the 56 was a valid number, tonight might be busy.
It is recommended that no shot be given under 150, so that makes the 106 and 121 numbers to be concerned about.
Next time, do not feed and test again as you did tonight, then stall another 20 minutes to see if the cat is headed up or down.
With the "not in DKA 'yet'", it is important to give insulin. Knowing which way the cat is heading without the benefit of food can help tell us.
If Kitty Cat goes low tonight, 17 strips may not be enough.

 

I have someone getting relion meter and strips now!

 

Awesome!

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+1 is 134!! Are we okay???

 

For now, yes.

This reading will be influenced by the food Kitty Cat had an hour ago.

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I'm panicking but I know I need to calm down. I will test again in 1 hr for his +2. He's due for another dose of ondansetron in 2 hour.

 

Breathe. You are on top of everything and you have people all over the world at your disposal if anything happens. I'm in Canada, NE of Toronto.

 

Kitty Cat is at a very safe number right now, so give yourself permission to take a big deep breath ... or six!

You're doing really well, Christina. Visual monitoring should suffice for the time being until you do your +2 test. If you're not sure of anything just post.


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I'm in the UK.


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Thank you so much everyone!!!! :'( <3 me and the sweet bean are very grateful. I'm in NYC. He's already sleeping which made the +1 test easy to get. He usually knocks out right after eating.

 

They don't have relion so trying another store but will any brand do?
Edit: they don't have any strips. All the strips are behind the pharmacy counter and all the pharmacies are closed. I will make sure every once of my remaining strips count.. pharmacy opens in 9 hours.

 

Only the greenies pill pockets/allergy free duck and pea are low carb. Dog version only exists, not cat version now. All other greenies are higher carb.

 

Relion is a Walmart brand. CVS won’t have it.

 

+2 is 80!!!! What do I do now??

 

https://www.greenies.com/products/d...r-dogs-grain-free-duck-and-pea-formula-tablet
Scroll down. They have been discontinued.

 

You want a meter with cheap test strips, and a relatively small blood drop requirement.

 

Do I give him the honey now? I'm assuming I'll be testing every hour now? Is it likely he'll need to go to the hospital soon?

 

No, not yet. Give him a snack of Fancy Feast.

Some meters come with a small bottle of strips. Look inside the box.

 

Only feed a couple of teaspoons for now because you will need him to eat again shortly.

Please can you tell us what foods you have in the house at the moment (we already know you have FF low carb and the w/d wet food).

Do you have any kibble in the house? If yes, can you give us the brand and variety so we can check the carbs.


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I have purina cat chow naturals original with chicken and salmon dry food, Rachel ray nutrish purrfect entrees grain free wet 3 flavors

 

Photos of the food

 

The first one looks like it has carbs. There’s corn and peas. It’s hard to see the list because it’s turned the wrong way. The second one appears to be low carb. Rice too.

 

Looking up the Purina. BRB...

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Purina cat chow: Chicken, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, rice, soybean meal, ground yellow corn, ground whole wheat, beef tallow naturally preserved with mixed-tocopherols, natural liver flavor, salmon, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, dried spinach, taurine, potassium chloride, VITAMINS[Vitamin E supplement, niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), folic acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 supplement, biotin (Vitamin B-7), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K)], MINERALS [zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite]. G452118

 

Is the goal to give him high carb food right now? That will make his bg go up?

 

Here's the list of ingredients for the Cat Chow Original dry food:





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Do I still give this? due in 5 mins

 

That's the idea, because of the test strip shortage.

Is your helper still with you? Is there any chance that you could call the drug store to ask them whether they could check the contents of the meter starter kits they have for sale to double-check whether any of them come with a small supply of test strips included in the box? (They often come with a pod of 25 strips in the starter sets.)


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Yes. Very much so.

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I suggest giving him 1 Purebites treat after the ondansetron to make sure that the tablet goes down properly, rather than fill him up with drinking water or food.

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mom said person at the store said "none of them come with strips and all the strips are behind the pharmacy counter" so I'll have to wait until they open in 8hrs. I miscounted. I have 15 left to last me 8 hours until the pharmacy opens. Giving ondansetron now. testing again in 7 mins

 

@Red & Rover (GA), @tiffmaxee -

Is there any chance one of you could do a guestimate on the carbs in the cat chow:

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (Min) 34.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 13.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 3.0%
Moisture (Max) 12.0%

I'm used to the UK analysis so don't know how to ballpark the US food carbs.

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Standing by for result...


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I’m to try and see if tanyas has the carb count.

 

@tiffmaxee - Forgot to mention above that I did check the Pierson list but it wasn't on there.

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+3 is 55. I dont know how much of the pill i got in... he doesnt want to eat now, not even treats
Edit: he's eating the purina!

 

OK.

You need to rub some honey on his gums to bring his sugars up. Do that straight away.

How far away is your emergency vet?

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The Purina has corn and rice so it’s got carbs. I can’t find it on the lists though. I’m very concerned that she’s not eating enough and dropping. I think she needs the ER.

 

Using Dr. Lisa's simple calculator, I get 35% (adding in 3% for ash).

 

gave honey, he's eating more purina. hospital is 15-20 mins away

 

Is that the dry cat chow?

 

Or Fancy Feast?

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How much honey?
It needs to be at least a teaspoon.

 

yes dry cat chow. 2 globs but i didnt measure so ill give more now

 

Do you know of a diabetic human near you?

 

Good - because the dry takes longer to start to work.

 

I found this on the Chewy site about the Purina Cat Chow
what is the percentage of carbohydrate now that the formula has been changed? Thanks!
This recipe contains 27.20% Carbohydrates on an as fed basis.

By on Jan 8, 2020 Answer This Question

 

@Diane Tyler's Mom - Thank you!

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I got a meter and strips
Gave more honey

 

I really think you should go to the ER They can check her out and put her on a glucose drip if needed. If they feel she can go home they can sell you some test strips.

 

I agree.

* Very early in the cycle.
* Numbers already low.
* Not enough test strips to be able to monitor properly.

Is one of you able to drive so that the other can tend to Kitty Cat on the journey to the vet?

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Take a test now.
Human meter?

 

You are welcome, 99 % of the time if you go to the Chewy site and look up a food after it's done loading you will see how many questions are asked and answered

 

Saw the post about the strips. (Bravo!)

Can you test Kitty Cat's BG again now using the Alphatrak (so that we have a direct comparison with the +3 reading). We can then assess next steps better.


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No, not the human meter yet.

I want to see Kitty Cat back up within the reference range on the Alphatrak first.

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+3.5 is 72

 

I'll rephrase my question.
It is a human meter that was obtained tonight>

 

Which meter?

 

+3.5 is 72 on alphatrak. tried to get with human meter too to compare but it wasn't a big enough sample (i think i needed to cover the full strip) so i got an error. was a lot of blood though so i panicked and wiped it already.

 

It’s what we wanted so we could compare to the last test. We don’t know if you use the human one right now. How many strips did it come with?

 

That's back in the reference range but low.

For info, there's no way to directly compare meter readings on the Alphatrak with those taken on a human meter. You just use a different reference ranges for the two meter types. Let us worry about the interpretation of numbers for the time being till we get you two through this.

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I have endless supply of the human strips.

 

Tomorrow pick up some of these.I know it is hectic right now and we have to get his numbers up but I just wanted you to make a note of these for you in situations like this

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

A must to have these on hand, it's really only the Gravy that is full of the carbs , if he is not stuffed full of food you could also feed him a teaspoon of the food

 

How much Purina kibble do you think he ate?

 

+4 is 143 on alphatrak

1/16th cup?

 

Now, isn't that a lovely number.

Test again at +4.5.
It's still early in the cycle and carbs wear off.
And breathe. Just don't fall asleep.

 

That's better. He's up close to the top of the normal reference range at the moment.

 

I'm wide awake now. Kitty cat not so much.

 

One each.

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Yes!

 

And one each for Mogs and Elise.

 

How many hours past insulin? I’m guessing about 4?

 

almost +4.5

you are ALL our heroes!

 

Just checking Lúnasa's blood pressure. Back shortly.

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Right back at ya!



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+4.5 is 158 on alphatrack

 

Good. I’d test again in 30 minutes. I’d give a small snack.

 

won't eat not even the greenies treat. looks exhausted.

 

+4.5??

(Need to double-check so we all know how far along you are in the cycle.)

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