New Member with Home BG Testing Question

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april_sd

april_sd

Member Since 2014
Hello!

My name is April, and about a week ago my cat Madison was diagnosed with diabetes. Our vet put her on 2 units of Lantus every 12 hours. She's still on her old (high carb) diet, but I plan to switch her gradually. This forum has been incredibly helpful and informative during what has been a stressful few days.

My DH and I have just started testing her glucose levels at home before her injections. (We're using the Reli-on Micro.) So far Maddy has been adjusting well. While she seems to have no clue when we give her the insulin injection, she does notice the ear prick with the BG test. I know that many people use antibiotic ointment with pain relief. Do people also alternate ears or the location on the ear during home testing? I'm probably being overly concerned, but her ears just seem so little for all those pin pricks.
 
Hi April and extra sweet kitty Madison and welcome to the message board.

Yes, alternating ears is a good trick, as is using almost the entire edge of the ear and moving up and down along that edge for the various pokes.

The ears will form more capillaries over a period of several weeks, and it gets easier to get blood for the BG (blood glucose) tests.

Have you seen these 2 links on ear testing?

The How To's of Ear Testing.

Ear testing Psychology (ETP) or how to get your cat to accept the process better by member Kpassa.

Are you giving treats of some kind with the ear pokes? That can be food like freeze dried chicken or any pure meat, or praise, hugs, ear scritchies, brushing. Something your cat really likes.

Also, warming the ear is key, with a rice sock or by rubbing.
 
Thank you for the tips and references, Deb!

I've been alternating ear, but I'll start moving up and down the edge so that I'm not just poking her in the same spot.

For now I've mostly been rewarding Maddy with pets and kisses, but once I get appropriate treats I'll start giving her those. So far I've been rubbing her ear before to warm it up, and I haven't had a problem getting enough blood.
 
Hi April and welcome. I see that you just started testing. It took me about 1 1/2 months to get to that point. I was going to my vet for tests at around 6 or 7 hours after lantus. It is important to test then to get the nadir, lowest point in the 12 hour cycle as that is how dosing for lantus is decided. It would be great if you could get a test between 5/7 hours in the cycles when you can be home. I do put neosporin antibiotic ointment with pain relief on Max's ear daily. I invite you to join the lantus tight regulation forum which is where I go to for help with dosing lantus.

Elise
 
Thanks, Elise!

I was able to get some tests in today around the nadir. Maddy goes back to the vet tomorrow for a follow up after her diagnosis. Hopefully, the home testing data will be helpful.
 
Hi April. Lucy is looking good. You only need to get one test between +5-7. It looks like fir now her nadir is at +6 . I would test randomly between +5-8 , just one of them each day when possible. If you can get a test in at +2 or 3 at night it will give us an idea of whether she will have an active night cycle. When I did that I learned that Max tends to have a much lower nadir at night. It is quite common. Had I not learned that he might have gotten more insulin than he needed at some point.
 
Thank you for checking in, KPassa!

Maddy is doing well. We were out of town for the weekend, but our sitter was able to get pre-shot BG tests in and to administer her insulin. Now that I'm back, I'm planning to get some nadir and +2/3 numbers over the next few days. Maddy has been crankier about the testing, but now we have freeze-dried chicken and I'm hoping that a pre-test and post-test treat will make her a little sweeter. :lol:

Our vet was impressed with the home testing data. He's willing to monitor her and adjust insulin dosage based on reviewing her spreadsheet, so that will cut down on visits. However, he does want us to increase her dose of Lantus to 2.5 (and eventually 3) units twice a day. I''ve been holding off on that because her pre-shot numbers have already been a little lower (167-234), and we haven't even fully switched her to a low carb diet.
 
Since you are still in the middle of the diet switch, I think it could be dangerous to raise the insulin dose at this point. Please, keep your kitty safe and watch those BG levels.
 
Hi April. Your instincts are really good. I've seen several cats go into remission on food alone since Max became diabetic in November. So I would not want to raise her dose at this time either. I've noticed that most raise the insulin when necessary in .25 rather than .50 increments. Max actually gets even smaller increases and decreases as small changes make a large impact with him. I'm not a dosing adviser but just wanted to let you know what I have seen here. Once again, please stop by and post on the lantus tight regulation forum and you will have more eyes on your ss (not to say that those here aren't just as expert but people tend to not post daily on the main board like we do on the insulin forum). Welcome back from vacation. You were lucky to have someone to test and give insulin while you were away.
 
I think you're right about not increasing the insulin dosage, Deb and Elise.

Maddy got diagnosed while we are cat sitting my mother's cat for a couple of months. Both cats were eating high carb dry food. Since we'll be back to a single cat household in a few weeks, I've held off on taking away the dry food so as not to affect the other cat's diet. Right now, Maddy gets some Fancy Feast Classic before her shot and freeze-dried treats. She's still eating some of the dry food too. Once Maddy is only on low carb food, I think even her current dosage (2 units of Lantus) might be too much. Once I get some more nadir BG levels, I'll have a better sense of how she's doing. I'll post to the tight regulation group to get a some advice about dosing before I start that step of the diet transition.
 
Once Maddy is only on low carb food, I think even her current dosage (2 units of Lantus) might be too much.
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Yup, we think that way too. It's why we think you are safer for now to keep Maddy at the lower dose.
 
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