New member, Freestyle question, dental infection surgery coming

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Tosca

Tosca

Member Since 2022
Hello everybody, I am happy to have found this forum. I am in Canada, and my adored cat Tosca, was diagnosed with diabetes 2 weeks ago. We went to the vet for a tooth infection, found the diabetes (325mg glucose, 479 fructosamin), and started insulin (completed first week), antibiotics (completed 2 weeks) in order to prepare for the dental surgery (coming in 4 days).
We got a freestyle sensor that Tosca was able to keep for only 4 days. She scratched off or licked, so it came off. However it gave us some data: Tosca stayed between maximum 400mg and minimum 200mg all the 4 days, and the veterinary with whom I shared the Freestyle data said that she has a " good glucose curve" and is not at risk for hypoglycemia at the current prescription, 1U Glargine every 12 hours.
I tried to get blood from the ear, following guideline from this forum, but I only managed 2 out of 6 trials.Her ear is already very red and I feel guilty and sad.
Tomorrow we will get her new freestyle sensor installed. I wonder what to do to keep it in place until the surgery at least? We bought a medical jacket to cover the body and therefore the sensor so she can't lick it but I don't know if it is a good idea. How do other people keep the sensor longer, ideally for 2 weeks? And what is the safest location to get it put on and last longer?
I am very worried for the dental surgery (general anesthesia) for cleaning and extraction of teeth. Is she safe with these levels (glucose 400max- 200min) for the surgery? The surgeon is a a dentist surgeon and I was told she will have her all technician to get supervised the whole surgery.
Thank you everybody for any thoughts or comments.
 
Hi and welcome to you and Tosca. Glargine is a great insulin for cats and 1 unit is a good starting dose.
That was bad luck the libre fell off but that does happen sometimes. Information about the libre at the bottom of the post.
Keep trying with your hometesting and you will find you will be able to do it. It takes time for the ears to learn to bleed. But you will get there. We all started off the same way. I was hopeless in the beginning getting blood.
Are you warming the ear first and milking it towards the tip?

It is safe for a diabetic cat to have dental work done. Most cats get a 1/2 dose of insulin at the normal scheduled time before the surgery and if they are monitored during surgery they are OK. It’s important to get the teeth done as dental issues can raise the blood glucose and stop the cat begetting into better numbers.

What diet are you feeding Tosca? We recommend a low carb diet of 10% carbs or less.
FOOD CHART

Can you tell us a little bit about Tosca…..age, food given, type of meter (pet or human), any other health issues, medications and put this information into his signature which will appear at the bottom of all your posts. This will stop us having to ask you about Tosca all the time. information how to set up the signature, hypo box (very important) and spreadsheet as in this link HELP US HELP YOU

Here is a thread that talks about the Freestyle Libre https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...stration-explanations-tips-discussion.221630/
 
Thank you for your encouragement about surgery and thank you for the link about Freestyle.
2 weeks ago I switched to what I thought low carb diet from research, only can food, Fancy Feast, DM Purina can, and Tiki.
I added details to my signature.
I didn't try to warm the ear, because I try to move fast and do this while she eats. She runs away if I don't give her something to eat, and sometimes she finishes eating or runs away before I get any drop. I couldn't make her stay still but I will try to warm the ear in future. The other option is just to get blood spontaneously when she relaxes and allows me, but that doesn't happen on my schedule, I mean before eating, it just happens on her schedule, when she is napping or unaware that I want something from her.
I think I am prepared for hypo, I have honey, maple syrup and carb food cans from the per-diabetic times.
I tried to feed Tosca only 2 times a day as the veterinary recommended but it doesn't work. I feed her about 6 oz in small portions through the day, about 6 meals per total. Should I force Tosca to only eat 2 times a day before insulin?
 
Hello and welcome from the BC coast. My girl had her first dental starting the day in the 400's. Since you are going to a dental specialist, they will be used to extra special kitties.

No to forced feeding - two times a day feeding is old school thinking with old school insulins. Since she's on Lantus/glargine (a good choice for cats), you can give her several meals a day. We have some people who's cats are grazers. The only thing we suggest when you are new is not to feed the two hours before shot time, so the preshot test is not influenced by food. Most of use do the blood sugar test, feed, then shoot all within 10-15 minutes. Giving insulin while their head is in the bowl works for some.
 
Tosca said:
Hello everybody, I am happy to have found this forum. I am in Canada, and my adored cat Tosca, was diagnosed with diabetes 2 weeks ago. We went to the vet for a tooth infection, found the diabetes (325mg glucose, 479 fructosamin), and started insulin (completed first week), antibiotics (completed 2 weeks) in order to prepare for the dental surgery (coming in 4 days).
We got a freestyle sensor that Tosca was able to keep for only 4 days. She scratched off or licked, so it came off. However it gave us some data: Tosca stayed between maximum 400mg and minimum 200mg all the 4 days, and the veterinary with whom I shared the Freestyle data said that she has a " good glucose curve" and is not at risk for hypoglycemia at the current prescription, 1U Glargine every 12 hours.
I tried to get blood from the ear, following guideline from this forum, but I only managed 2 out of 6 trials.Her ear is already very red and I feel guilty and sad.
Tomorrow we will get her new freestyle sensor installed. I wonder what to do to keep it in place until the surgery at least? We bought a medical jacket to cover the body and therefore the sensor so she can't lick it but I don't know if it is a good idea. How do other people keep the sensor longer, ideally for 2 weeks? And what is the safest location to get it put on and last longer?
I am very worried for the dental surgery (general anesthesia) for cleaning and extraction of teeth. Is she safe with these levels (glucose 400max- 200min) for the surgery? The surgeon is a a dentist surgeon and I was told she will have her all technician to get supervised the whole surgery.
Thank you everybody for any thoughts or comments.
Click to expand...

We purchased a thunder vest and cut in shorter and cut the leg holes higher so it's a vest, rather than a bodysuit. It took a day or so for him to quit flopping over and not wanting to walk with it on, but he got used to it. Wesson can pull the sensor off in about 10 minutes if it is uncovered. Even covered we have only have one last the full 14 days. They usually start to lift around day 10 due to the fur starting to grow in a bit. But 10 days is a good amount of time to get some great data. Our vet puts it up high on the shoulder blade. It's hard with cats because they can reach everywhere ;) Good luck with the surgery!
 
Thank you for comments and ideas. We have now the freestyle sensor since yesterday, with a jacket that Tosca hates, but hopefully will keep freestyle in place at least enough so I can do the first glucose curve tomorrow. And I also managed to poke the ears twice (I used the warm medication bottle tip). I was very happy about it, after dreaming the whole night drops of blood on cat ears.. The problem I have with poking the ears is that I can't manage to do that before her meal, because she is agitated and hungry. I seem to be able to do this after she has at least a little portion (a spoon of food), and waiting for the next portion. Is that reading still valid?

The 2 times when I used Alphatrack I noticed that the data from freestyle shows 3 units lower than the data from Alphatrack. For example, Alphatrack shows 12 and freestyle sensor shows 9. From the two, which one is the most accurate?
 
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