New member, need advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
vrg0003

vrg0003

Member Since 2021
Hello all,

My 14 year old cat, Riley, was diagnosed November 1, 2021. After two curve tests, the vet has him on 3 units of ProZinc twice daily. He has been doing well with insulin when it was 1 unit and then 2 units. But since starting him on 3 units, he has been sleeping a lot throughout the day. He's responsive and alert, but he just wants to sleep all day and won't really play. He's usually more active throughout the day. Should I be worried about hypoglycemia or is this a normal reaction to an increase in insulin?

I haven't started home testing yet. My vet said it wasn't necessary yet because he's on a low dose. Riley really has a mind of his own and doesn't hesitate to tell me when he doesn't like what I'm doing so I think testing him will be pretty difficult especially because I live alone and I don't have anyone nearby who can help. If anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it.
 
Welcom.
vrg0003 said:
I haven't started home testing yet. My vet said it wasn't necessary yet because he's on a low dose.
Click to expand...
3 units is a low dose. My cat Wiggles has went low <50 on human meter with only 0.3 units of insulin. 3 units is high for starting only 1 month ago.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Welcom.

3 units is a low dose. My cat Wiggles has went low <50 on human meter with only 0.3 units of insulin. 3 units is high for starting only 1 month ago.
Click to expand...

So what do you think I should do? I bought a glucose monitor and I just tried it on myself but couldn't get enough blood.

The vet's office is closed and will be until Monday, so I left a message but won't hear back until they open.
 
Testing can be hard at first. What helps is warming the ears with a little sock filled with uncooked (not instant) rice, You microwave the sock for 5-10 seconds and apply that to the eat. Then yu backup where you want to prick and then prick with the lancet. I use a cotton cosmetic square, I find that works better than a cotton ball. Do not leave the rice sock in the microwave too long or you will burn the rice. After pricking and getting sample on strip compress the ear where you pricked with the cotton material.

I also apply a little vaseline to my finger and run across ear. It makes the blood bead up vice being drawn into the fur. Do not use too much vaseline since it can clog the end of the tst strip preventing blood from getting into the strip cavity.
 
Hi and welcome.
I would not call 3 units of insulin for a cat a low dose. Moving to 3 units if he was only diagnosed on Nov 1 is too much in my opinion.
I would definitely start home testing the blood sugar. If you live in the US you can buy a ReliOn premier classic meter for $9 amd 100 test strips for $27.88. you will also need some 26 or 28 gauge lancets to prick the ear and some cotton rounds to hold hehind the ear as you test and to dab firmly after the test.

I think in the meantime I would go back to the 2 units until you are testing and know what is happening. I would start testing now. Don’t wait to ask your vet. It is your choice to keep your kitty safe.
Did the vet ever mention ketones to you at diagnosis?
HERE is a link to home testing the blood glucose.
You need to test before every shot to see it is safe to give the dose and again during the cycle to see how low the dose is taking the BG.
HERE is a link to the Prozinc page….read the yellow stickies at the top of the page about using Prozinc.

Can you tell us what type of diet you are feeding …is it a low carb wet diet a. And are you giving snacks during the cycles as well as the preshot meal?
Please keep asking questions.
I’m going to tag @JanetNJ who uses Prozinc to help you
 
Last edited:
What made you go from 1 to 2 and then 3 units? If it was based only the curve results you should know even the most agreeable cat will have untrue numbers after being poked and prodded away from home all day. The answer is easy, you test twice every day and do all your own curves.
Everyone has their own bag of tricks for testing. I got my first cat up on a beach towel on the kitchen table where he had better traction, the light was better and eight other cats couldn't snoop around. For both cats I laid everything out in front of them, no big surprises. I also sang Mockingbird to the second. Get a ritual going, warm up their ears first, have treats or a reward handy. I also used a lower gauge lancet free hand. You think you're doing them a favor using a tiny lancet but when you're not getting any blood it's no fun, one hole and you're done. You'll feel a lot more in control and save whatever vets charge these days for curves.
 
Hi all, thanks for helping me out.

I bought CVS's generic glucose monitor because it was the only one that had testing strips available and it was cheapest. Do you think that will work well or would it be better to get the ReliOn?

He vomited at 5 today but has since perked up. I'm wondering if I should lower his insulin dose to 2 units or just skip a dose tonight? The vet didn't mention anything about ketones.

He is eating dry food at night and wet food in the morning. 7 am and 7 pm. Both are Royal Canin's Gylcobalance. 1/3 cup dry food at night. 1 1/2 cans wet food in the morning. No snacks at all because the vet said not to give any.
 
I managed my cat's diabetes all on my own for 6.5 years. It really doesn't take more than you since your kitty trusts you. In addition to the technical skills which I'm confident you can develop quickly, there is one other aspect that will help. Treats! Many of the members here use freeze dried chicken or other protein as a treat. Every time you poke Riley's ear, whether you successfully get a drop of blood or not, give Riley a treat. You want the testing process to be associated with a reward. I used my kitchen counter as Gabby's testing spot -- it was a good height and there was good lighting. (Well, that said, I would pretty much test her anywhere if I needed to!)

If you're having a hard time getting a drop of blood there are two things to consider. First, it takes a while for the capillary bed along the ear to develop. The more you poke, the more the bed will develop. The other factor may be that. you're using too thin of a lancet. You would want a 28 gauge lancet. The lower the number, the thicker the lancet. Once Riley's ear bleeds more easily, you can move up to a thinner lancet. Alternatively, if you poke in two spots that are very close together, you will likely get enough blood. I'd encourage you to get some test data. We increase doses by 0.25u so increasing by 1.0u may mean your cat's numbers are dropping lower than you know. (Although, I just saw what you're feeding Riley so it may be unlikely that numbers are dropping but testing is the only way to know for sure.)

Well, both of the Royal Canin foods, especially the dry, are high in carbohydrates. The canned food is 14% carb which is what we consider medium carb (MC). Low carb is below 10% and most people here feed their cat around 5%. There is nothing special in RC food. In fact, most member feed their cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies pate style food. This is a chart with nutritional information, including carb percentages. You have lots of choices.

If Riley is lethargic, I'd get some Ketostix to test his urine to make sure ketones aren't present. You can get these at any pharmacy.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
What made you go from 1 to 2 and then 3 units? If it was based only the curve results you should know even the most agreeable cat will have untrue numbers after being poked and prodded away from home all day. The answer is easy, you test twice every day and do all your own curves.
Everyone has their own bag of tricks for testing. I got my first cat up on a beach towel on the kitchen table where he had better traction, the light was better and eight other cats couldn't snoop around. For both cats I laid everything out in front of them, no big surprises. I also sang Mockingbird to the second. Get a ritual going, warm up their ears first, have treats or a reward handy. I also used a lower gauge lancet free hand. You think you're doing them a favor using a tiny lancet but when you're not getting any blood it's no fun, one hole and you're done. You'll feel a lot more in control and save whatever vets charge these days for curves.
Click to expand...
Yeah the increase was just based on the vet's recommendation. I figured the vet would account for that? But I'm not sure.
 
That's my point, every cat is so different there is no way to account for it. I've had cats that like the car but Nigel would actually jump in and prance around the vet. Despite that his numbers were just a mess, we tried twice and then I just did it at home. They get stressed and their numbers go nuts.
 
I'm gonna have to wait until tomorrow to try to get a test result. I just tried and he was squirming and kept folding his ear closed so it was impossible to get any blood. I think he's stressed now so I'm going to try again tomorrow. How do you get them to stop folding their ears?
 
Sorry, one more question. How late do you typically give the insulin after they eat? I'm always worried about him throwing up his food before he's had time to absorb it and you can't take back an insulin dose.
 
You feed then give the insulin straight away with prozinc. You don’t need to wait. It takes a couple of hours for the onset of insulin so you can always feed again.
Do you have a hypo kit set up with high carb food and honey or karo in case of low numbers?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You feed then give the insulin straight away with prozinc. You don’t need to wait. It takes a couple of hours for the onset of insulin so you can always feed again.
Do you have a hypo kit set up with high carb food and honey or karo in case of low numbers?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have karo syrup on hand.

Tonight he ate his food but didn't finish it, which is odd for him. Now he is hiding. I hope he's just stressing about me trying to get his blood earlier and it's not something more serious. I gave him only 2 units tonight.
 
vrg0003 said:
Yes, I have karo syrup on hand.

Tonight he ate his food but didn't finish it, which is odd for him. Now he is hiding. I hope he's just stressing about me trying to get his blood earlier and it's not something more serious. I gave him only 2 units tonight.
Click to expand...
That’s good you have some Karo if needed. That can be rubbed on the gums if needed.
Just offer him the rest of the food a bit later and also give him a snack a couple of times in the next 6 hours.

Sienne mentioned getting some Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy if Riley is at all lethargic to test for ketones. I agree. I would get some in the morning and test the urine. It’s a simple test. If there are any ketones showing I would tell the vet.
 
vrg0003 said:
How do you get them to stop folding their ears?
Click to expand...
Getting a sample was the big surprise for me and probably a lot of other members. Injections were easy. I never used a lancet device, it's just what I got used to and I never knew they existed at first. If he keeps folding his ears down try a small piece of paper towel behind his ear so it doesn't feel like you're poking through thin air. The blood can come from either side if you make a mistake. My policy was get the sample first, apologize later. It's almost always going to hurt, trust is the number one thing.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top