Newbie here.

[Trubleu & Gompers]

Hi, I’m Jess, and I’m new here with my kitty Gompers, I am do grateful to have found this site yesterday. Gompers is 11, lives in our household with other rescued kitties. He was diagnosed with diabetes six days ago.

Two months ago, Gompers received a steroid injection for asthma. I began noticing that Gompers was drinking copious amounts of water. He was also walking s bit stiffly, as though he was arthritic. I am very unhappy with myself that it took weeks and weeks before I put the symptoms together, but I hope that we still have a chance at a healthy outcome for him. I finally googled the thirst issue, and saw that Gompers ticked all the boxes for diabetes. I got him to the vet that day.

Gompers is getting 2 units of insulin 2x daily. He’s been cooperative with the shots, and I’ve been giving him lots of pets between so that he doesn’t associate touching with a needle jab. . He is slated for a “curve” visit at the vet tomorrow. It sounds expensive. I understand that I can do these curves at home, but I think having an experienced person do the first curve will make me more comfortable with the result.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the loads of information here. I have a lot of reading left to do.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Hi and welcome!

Don’t feel bad. It took me months with Minnie as well and many more months till I found this forum and stopped listening to the vets and finally got her regulated. But everything I learned with her diabetes made me spot Bobo’s within days. The back legs issue is called neuropathy and it’s a common side effect of unregulated diabetes, which Minnie also had, but it’s reversible once your cat’s diabetes is regulated.

If you’re willing to home test, you can cancel the curve. It’s not only expensive, but it’s also not very reliable when done at the vet where you cat is stressed and the bg will be elevated because of it. As a result, your vet may end up telling to raise the dose and it could be too much for your cat.

2 units is a high dose to start at. Is this the initial dose or was it increased? Most vets increase by full units while we recommend dose adjustments be done by 1/4 unit so you don’t speed right past the ideal dose. Can you please tell us what insulin he’s on and what food he’s eating?

Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments. With a diabetic cat you need:

• A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
• A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins.
• We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day.
• HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, signature and hypo box which you will need to be able to look after your beloved kitty properly

A word of warning though…don’t change the food you are feeding at the moment over to the low carb food until you are testing the blood glucose because a change over can drop the BGs by up to 100 points and we don’t want you to have a hypo on your hands.


We are happy to help you with setting up the spreadsheet, sorting out what food to buy, how to transition safely to a low carb diet, how to learn to home test and much more.


FOOD CHART have a look on this chart and choose foods that are under 10%.

You will also need some higher carb foods for that hypo box..information in the help us help you link.

This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB.

I'd encourage you to pick up a blood glucose meter as soon as you can. The reason to do so is that while it's fine to get your cat's curve at the vet's office, most of the time that cats are at the vet's office they are stressed. It's a lot of strange smells, strange sounds, and strange people. Cats don't do well with "strange." As a result, it elevates their blood glucose level. If the vet bases a dose on artificially elevated levels, there's a good chance that the dose will be too high. You'll be able to assess what your cat's blood glucose levels are at home under more normal circumstances. I'm hoping that you're already home testing since you've started giving insulin.

Like Ale noted, I'm hoping that your vet has started Gompers on either glargine, Prozinc or Levemir. These are longer acting insulins (vs Vetsulin or Novolin). They are recommended in the guidelines by the American Animal Hospital Assn. I've linked their guidelines should you want to take a look.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

I cannot tell you how helpful your post is to me, both with great tips and for the relief of support. You have given me the first hope! The thought that Gompers might gain better use of his back legs is wonderful. I have just ordered a bench for the foot of the bed so he can more easily navigate.

Yes, 2 units is what the vet ordered (and it is Prozink). I was told not to change his food yet. I did buy a glucometer and I’m so frustrated! It came today. I set it up, read the directions, prepared the lancet and a warm cotton ball, put a strip in the meter, and - Failure, miserable failure. After a half dozen tries and no blood (lancet set at 2), Gompers’s patience wore out, heavy tail flicking, so that was that. Maybe I’m doing this wrong: I stick the lancet in the handle and cock the shuttle. Whether I cock the shuttle or not, the pointy end sticks out. What’s the point of cocking the lancet if the point is already out there? Am I putting it in backwards or something?

I did start a log of his shots, behaviors, entries every few hours until bedtime. I’d love to transfer my data to a real deal spreadsheet.

I ordered a case of Fancy Feast Classics Paté (thank you, those on this board for the tip!) to have on hand as soon as I get the word. I hope it won’t be to hard to gradually switch because he eats Fancy Feast already. All my kitties still graze dry food between wet meals, and it is Blue Buffalo Wilderness. Label:
Protein 40.0 % Min
Fat 18.0 % Min
Fiber 4.0 % Max
Moisture 9.0 % Max
Magnesium 0.14 % Max
Taurine 0.15 % Min
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* 0.5 % Min
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* 3.5 % Min

No mention of carbs.

I give Gompers his shot after he finishes his meal. He usually sleeps for several hours then. Is that normal? I know my kitties sleep a lot, but this is definitely linked to the shot. If he doesn’t look up when I move, I touch him physically. If it takes him a second to be alert, I give him two small treats, and he becomes more alert shortly thereafter. The evening shot seems to affect him less.
Wow, do I have a lot to learn. It is crazy, so much to know, so worried that my knowledge won’t catch up to his disease. I do not want to fail him.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

Welcome to FDMB.

I'd encourage you to pick up a blood glucose meter as soon as you can.Like Ale noted, I'm hoping that your vet has started Gompers on either glargine, Prozinc or Levemir. These are longer acting insulins (vs Vetsulin or Novolin). They are recommended in the guidelines by the American Animal Hospital Assn. I've linked their guidelines should you want to take a look.

Thank you very much! I have a glucometer now, but I can’t get any blood without torturing the cat. I need to figure out how to do this efficiently, and quickly. I am understanding, with thanks to this board, that this is the key (with more to discover) to proper regulation. He is indeed on Prozinc.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I don't know if you found our materials on home testing. This is a link to a number of resources on the topic. One quick point re. home testing. It usually takes a few weeks for your cat's ears to bleed more easily. The more you test, the more the capillary bed along the edge of the ear will build up. As a result, it's better to use a lancet that is wider (e.g., a 26 - 28 gauge lancet -- the lower the number the wider the needle). Once your cat's ears bleed more easily, you can switch to a thinner lancet (e.g., 30 gauge). The wider device may be a bit more uncomfortable but you will likely be more successful. It's also fine if you get a drop of blood and your cat tends to shake his head, to scrape the blood on to your fingernail.

I was not a fan of the lancing device. I freehanded with a lancet. Some people swear by the device. I felt like freehand gave me more control and I could actually see what I was doing.

So now the bad news... the dry food is 29% carbohydrate. That's in the sky high range. There are only very few brands of dry food that are low in carbs -- Dr. Elsey's and Young Again Zero Carb (which isn't zero carb but it's low -- about 5%). FWIW, most cat food manufacturers do not provide information on carbs.

Without testing there's no way to know if 2.0u is too much insulin. We suggest starting at a much lower dose. Do you have any idea what Gompers blood glucose level was at the vet's office?

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I always free handed too. You’re probably not getting enough blood. I liked free handing because I could control the pressure I was applying with the lancet. A few folks here have videos on their signature of how they tested.

Warming up the ear makes a huge difference as it helps the blood to concentrate in that spot. Most of us use an old sock we fill up with rice and nuke for 20-30 seconds. Check the temp on your hand first to make sure it’s not too hot then hold it agains the ear for a few seconds till it’s warm to the touch. You also want to give a low carb treat after each test attempt whether it’s a success or failure to build up positive association. I also used to sing a lullaby to calm both of us down. And aim for the sweet spot:

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

I would not make any food changes until you’re testing every day as he’s already on a high starting dose and it could drop his bg like I said earlier by as much as 100 points. From what you’re describing, the dose could be too much for him. What meter did you get? Is it a human or pet meter? Most of us use Walmart’s ReliOn Premier as it has the most affordable test strips.

If you need help setting up the spreadsheet, @Bandit's Mom can help you!

another thing about testing, you can always “milk” the ear to get more blood out when you only have a very tiny amount. It’s basically like popping a pimple only you’re doing it to get the blood out instead.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

I don't know if you found our materials on home testing. This is a link to a number of resources on the topic. One quick point re. home testing.
So now the bad news... the dry food is 29% carbohydrate. That's in the sky high range.

Without testing there's no way to know if 2.0u is too much insulin. We suggest starting at a much lower dose. Do you have any idea what Gompers blood glucose level was at the vet's office?

Thank you for all the information! I’ve been poring over the board, looking for more info on how to successfully get blood out of a cat’s ear.
Gomper’s glucose level was in the 400’s at the vet on Monday. I have an an appointment tomorrow, but I’m concerned: vet said it was fine to continue with the dry food and said that one was good because of the high protein. Maybe she meant that I shouldn’t change his diet before monitoring and assessing.
Another concern is that she started him on 2 units 2x daily, apparently out of step with what is proffered here. He is a big cat (17 pounds).
Gompers is generally eating only wet food, and doesn’t seem interested in grazing much.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

From my first post again here: Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments.

in addition, vets also get their information about nutrition from the big cat food manufacturers so they are biased in what they recommend. A dry high carb diet is not good for any cat, especially a diabetic cat. That’s like feeding your diabetic child a diet of biscuits, ice cream and sweets. Most human doctors know very little about nutrition so it’s not a surprised vets are the same or worse. I took Minnie to a nutritionist who you’d think would know better and she still recommended a prescription high carb food for diabetic management which is insane.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

You guys! I am so grateful to you for taking the time to write.
The meter I got is a human one. My vet mentioned a meter, but didn’t instruct me to get one, and I didn’t know that there were pet versions. The meter I have is a Keto/Mojo which maybe nobody else has heard of. Does anyone know of any issues with it? If I need to change meters, please let me know. I’m already in diabetes sticker shock, so in for a penny, in for a pound,

I can see the ear vein, but I didn’t know about the sweet spot, plus one vet video showed blood drawn in the middle of the inside triangle. That’s what I tried, without good results. Even with a warm wet cotton pad massage! Looking at the diagram of vessels in the ear, it’s no wonder that didn’t work.

There was advice that I could skip the curve appointment with the vet tomorrow and do it myself, but I’m going to take him in anyway and take the results with a grain of salt (that his readings may be higher because of the stress), but until I get a handle on the blood draw, it is more reliable than I am at the moment. I hate to stress him by taking him in, but it’s more important right now to get a set of successful well-spaced readings.

I will continue to try to get a reading every few hours for practice, and for whatever info I can give the vet tomorrow. I WILL learn this.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

The meter I got is a human one. My vet mentioned a meter, but didn’t instruct me to get one, and I didn’t know that there were pet versions. The meter I have is a Keto/Mojo which maybe nobody else has heard of.

Hi Jess and Gompers you couldn't have found a better group to join.
My cat has been in remission since 1-24-21 and it's all due from me taking the advice from the members here.That meter is fine , it measures both the glucose and ketones
I know that the test strips are expensive , and I'm pretty sure you need to buy different test strips ,one for the glucose and one for ketones

What you can do is keep it and just use it for testing ketones if needed and get the
Relion Premier Classic human meter from Walmart

Most of us use the Relion human meter
Here is the link for the meter and test strips so you don't have to search for them
Relion Premier Classic Meter at Walmart for 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103

The tests strips are 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197

Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with


P.S. don't let the vet tell you that you need the Alpha Trak Pet meter. The strips are expensive
Our numbers are based on human meters anyway

 

[Chrispooky12]

Another thing you can try along with all of the other great testing tips you got is after you've warmed his ear put a dab a of Vaseline where your going to poke it helps to bead the blood up on the ear. If the rice sock doesn't work for warming his ear, I use a warm wet wrung out folded up into a square paper towel to warm Panzer's ear. The rice sock didn't work with him, he thought it was a toy Sometimes it takes kitty's ear a bit to learn to bleed & also some kitty's one ear works better than the other. I always use Panzer's right ear & if you look at my spreadsheet you will see I test a lot! Keep trying you will be a pro in no time! I give Panzer boiled chicken as a treat after every test as well.

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Hi there and welcome to the group. I had Hendrick's first curve done at the vet as well because I i had not figured out home testing at that point. Failed time and time again and at one point I was pretty sure it was impossible. lol

but the people here like Diane, Sienne and many others are so wonderful with all their helpful tips and tricks. If I had to point to just a couple tips that really made a huge difference for me personally it would be the dab of Vaseline and really warming up the ears. We actually bought a USB-c rechargeable hand warmer device off Amazon and kept it in the test kit. Worked great.

Some other critical things for me to get the hang of home testing were:

• using a headlamp magnifier thing (jewler's headlamp) so I could SEE what I was doing
• singing a song to Hendrick (The Hendrick Pokey...you can hear it in my video below in my signature haha)
• Purebite or Wholelife freeze-dried turkey or chicken. To this DAY, over a year after he went into remission Hendrick will still go to the "pokey spot" and sit and look at me all hopeful that he is getting a BG test. Why? Because after the test came the freeze-dried treats. Conditioning is key.
• orientation of the lancet: lancets have a beveled tip. This is where the jewler's headlamp was super-helpful. Before poking, I would look closely at the tip and orient it properly so the pointy end is down, and therefore the pointy part makes contact with the surface of the ear first. At a 45 degree angle is ideal.

Closeup of lancet tip with pointy part down:

Good luck and I'll see you around the forums. I'm no expert like Sienne just a layperson who is trying to pay it forward about a year after my cat went into diabetic remission.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

Thank you! And please, your advice - and everyone’s here, is of huge value to me, and all advice I trust. The Vaseline is the one thing I haven’t tried yet. I appreciate the tip on the bevel for the lancet and the info on treats, and there are some freeze0dried treats on order. (He already gets a treat after his shots and after my lousy attempts to get blood.) I got that for the needles, but not the lancet. Also the headlamp is a great idea. I tried a small flashlight under the wet cotton pad, but between the holding the pad, the light, the lancet and the cat, I can say it was a lot better in theory than in execution. I do feed him in the brightest spot in the room so I can better see for the shot.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

Relion Premier Classic Meter at Walmart for 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103

The tests strips are 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
P.S. don't let the vet tell you that you need the Alpha Trak Pet meter.

Thank you! Diane & Tyler! And congratulations to you both for being in remission. I hope to follow in your footsteps. Thats a ton of good information. I took your advice and bought the Relion meter and set it up tonight. The size of the lancet is helpful, and I will try until I master it. I appreciate the links, too. I am trusting the advice of each of you, wonderful kitty parents that you are, as there is little information coming from the vet.

Speaking of the vet, she left me a message after her curve to move his dose from 2 units to 3, as his numbers were still in the low 400’s. I called her back, alarmed at a 50% jump in his dose, especially after I read here that the dose is usually moved by 1/4 units. She adjusted it to 2.5 instead.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Thank you! Diane & Tyler! And congratulations to you both for being in remission. I hope to follow in your footsteps. Thats a ton of good information. I took your advice and bought the Relion meter and set it up tonight. The size of the lancet is helpful, and I will try until I master it. I appreciate the links, too. I am trusting the advice of each of you, wonderful kitty parents that you are, as there is little information coming from the vet.

Speaking of the vet, she left me a message after her curve to move his dose from 2 units to 3, as his numbers were still in the low 400’s. I called her back, alarmed at a 50% jump in his dose, especially after I read here that the dose is usually moved by 1/4 units. She adjusted it to 2.5 instead.

Glad you got the Relion meter. It would be really helpful if you would set up our spreadsheet so the members here can see Gompers numbers in case you might have a question .
Ask her to send you the curve so we can see it
Post it here . I'm not sure if the experienced members would agree with upping the dose by 0.5 units.
I'm going to tag Bhooma for you to set up your spreadsheet for you ok?
@Bandit's Mom

Can you please set up your signature
Tap on the blue link
Here is the link so you can set up your signature and spreadsheet
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.

The signature is at the end of everyone's post in gray ,information about our cats

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

This is what I was saying. I wouldn’t raise it at all until you’re home testing. Right now you have no idea how low the dose is taking your cat.

I used to hold the flashlight in my mouth lol

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Trubleu
Jess
Please take Ales advice @Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) about the dose until you start testing Gompers .
We adjust the dose by how low our cats are dropping the BG number it's called the nadir

Just to show you about the Spreadsheet
Don't be nervous about the spreadsheet
About the spreadsheet
AMPS - means AM Pre Shot the first test you take in the AM ,you need to withhold food 2 hours before testing so it's not food influenced

Units is where you would put how much insulin you gave
+1 is one hour after giving insulin if you were to test then that's where you enter his _BG number
+2 two hours after giving insulin. ditto
+3 and so on until you get to PMPS - PM pre shot withhold food 2 hours before testing

+1 same as you do for AM cycle

We don't give times because we are all in different time zones that's why we use the + numbers



You can look at any members spreadsheet to see what it looks like, it's at the end of everyone's signature just tap on it


Learn how YOUR kitty is responding to insulin:

• Onset - the length of time before insulin reaches the bloodstream & begins lowering blood glucose
• Peak/Nadir - the lowest point in the cycle
• Duration - the length of time insulin continues to lower blood glucose
• How to do a Curve - a simple explanation

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I suggest you set up your hypo kit in case you need to bring Gimpets BG up
For your Hypo kit
Med and High Carb food and some honey/karo



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 in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans with magic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart. Doesn't have to be Fancy Feast just an example about the med and high carb foods


https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-

10% and under is low carb
11% -15 is medium carbs.

16- 24 is high carb.
from The Official Lantus, Levemir & Biosimilars Slang Dictionary MC =11=15% and HC is usually 16-24%

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Thank you! And please, your advice - and everyone’s here, is of huge value to me, and all advice I trust. The Vaseline is the one thing I haven’t tried yet. I appreciate the tip on the bevel for the lancet and the info on treats, and there are some freeze0dried treats on order. (He already gets a treat after his shots and after my lousy attempts to get blood.) I got that for the needles, but not the lancet. Also the headlamp is a great idea. I tried a small flashlight under the wet cotton pad, but between the holding the pad, the light, the lancet and the cat, I can say it was a lot better in theory than in execution. I do feed him in the brightest spot in the room so I can better see for the shot.

oh yeah I forgot to mention that like many others, I had to ditch the lancet device and go freehand. It was the only way it was ever going to work with Hendrick because that lancet device, with it's loud CLICK sound -- right in the ear no less --- startled him and made him twitch jump. I never succeeded using it, but it has worked for others.

 

[Trubleu & Gompers]

more thanks all around, Ale and Bobo, Hendrick Cuddleclaw, and Diane and Tyler!
Got my Glucose panel numbers from the vet.
He was at the vet from 7:50am to 5:00 pm. I got 4 glucose readings, a urine culture (negative), and a bill over $400.
Food and shot given at 7:45 am.
8:00 am: 359
10:00 am: 422
12:50 pm: 416
2:30 pm: 423

I made a hypo kit.
I added a signature.
I tried to add the spreadsheet to the signature on my iPad, but wound up adding a raw link instead of the nicely of our names/link. I’ll try to correct it.

Another bout with the lancet and meter. Tried well more than a dozen times over an hour before his PM meal, finally trying his patience. I got blood a few times from his ear, but not enough. Tried a foot pad, but Gompers wasn’t having it AT ALL. I wept in frustration and gave him his meal on time. Will try for the hour after dinner.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

more thanks all around, Ale and Bobo, Hendrick Cuddleclaw, and Diane and Tyler!
Got my Glucose panel numbers from the vet.
He was at the vet from 7:50am to 5:00 pm. I got 4 glucose readings, a urine culture (negative), and a bill over $400.
Food and shot given at 7:45 am.
8:00 am: 359
10:00 am: 422
12:50 pm: 416
2:30 pm: 423

I made a hypo kit.
I added a signature.
I tried to add the spreadsheet to the signature on my iPad, but wound up adding a raw link instead of the nicely of our names/link. I’ll try to correct it.

Another bout with the lancet and meter. Tried well more than a dozen times over an hour before his PM meal, finally trying his patience. I got blood a few times from his ear, but not enough. Tried a foot pad, but Gompers wasn’t having it AT ALL. I wept in frustration and gave him his meal on time. Will try for the hour after dinner.

Hi Jess A curve should be done every 2 hours ending with the PMPS test
So the insulin was given at 7:45 AM
To make it easier that 359 you should put that in the AMPS cell on your spreadsheet
The BG of 422 should be put in the +2 cell
The BG of 416 should be put in the -5 cell
The 423 should be put in the +6 cell like this 423 @+6.5 and then you will need to color that in manually

Lantus usually doesn't kick in until 2 hours after giving the shot
So you would test 2 hours after the **** and put it in the +2 cell
Just keep trying with the testing
Can you put in the remarks section that the curve was done at the vets office
You need to put when he was diagnosed in your signature please, just like you have it on your spreadsheet
@Trubleu & Gompers

I'm going to tag a prozinc user to see what thinks about raising the dose by 0.5 units instead of 0.25 units
@Suzanne & Darcy

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi, I’m Jess, and I’m new here with my kitty Gompers, I am do grateful to have found this site yesterday. Gompers is 11, lives in our household with other rescued kitties. He was diagnosed with diabetes six days ago.

Two months ago, Gompers received a steroid injection for asthma. I began noticing that Gompers was drinking copious amounts of water. He was also walking s bit stiffly, as though he was arthritic. I am very unhappy with myself that it took weeks and weeks before I put the symptoms together, but I hope that we still have a chance at a healthy outcome for him. I finally googled the thirst issue, and saw that Gompers ticked all the boxes for diabetes. I got him to the vet that day.

Gompers is getting 2 units of insulin 2x daily. He’s been cooperative with the shots, and I’ve been giving him lots of pets between so that he doesn’t associate touching with a needle jab. . He is slated for a “curve” visit at the vet tomorrow. It sounds expensive. I understand that I can do these curves at home, but I think having an experienced person do the first curve will make me more comfortable with the result.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the loads of information here. I have a lot of reading left to do.

@Suzanne & Darcy

Jess said in post #16
Speaking of the vet, she left me a message after her curve to move his dose from 2 units to 3, as his numbers were still in the low 400’s. I called her back, alarmed at a 50% jump in his dose, especially after I read here that the dose is usually moved by 1/4 units. She adjusted it to 2.5 instead.

His cat. Started with 2 units and the first curve was done on 10-3 at the vets office
Jess just started testing today 10-4 but is having trouble getting enough blood

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

more thanks all around, Ale and Bobo, Hendrick Cuddleclaw, and Diane and Tyler!
Got my Glucose panel numbers from the vet.

When you want someone to look at your post you need to put the @ sign first then put in the first 3 letters of the person you want to tag
A drop down will come down and you tap on the person you want to tag, when you are done and hit post you should see that in blue then you will know it worked

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Hello there! Gompers is so cute! You’ve gotten a lot of good starter advice to go on so far — and from some of my favorite people, too. I will be happy to help you with ProZinc. While I would not recommend increasing the insulin dose in a newly diagnosed cat by half a unit, if you are going to follow the vets recommendation, I think that, since Gompers nadir (lowest point in the cycle) is above 200, that it may be okay, provided you can test him at home. I’ve been reading about your testing saga and I can relate. I cried so many times when learning to test, and told myself that I would never be able to do this home testing. But I kept on trying because I was determined to be able to give my boy the best and safest care possible.

Honestly, I would like to see you hold the 2 unit dose for a little while and then we would have a better idea of what is going on. When did he actually start insulin? How many days ago?

 

[Hendrick Cuddleclaw]

Another bout with the lancet and meter. Tried well more than a dozen times over an hour before his PM meal, finally trying his patience. I got blood a few times from his ear, but not enough. Tried a foot pad, but Gompers wasn’t having it AT ALL. I wept in frustration and gave him his meal on time. Will try for the hour after dinner.

omg I can relate so hard. I was so distraught back in the beginning when I was trying and failing over and over. Really wrecked me. Just like you, at one point my wife and I decided well, this ear thing ain't working let's try a paw pad, after all that works great for some people! Hollllllly moly. Soooooo much worse lol. Hendrick was definitely not going to let that EVER happen.

There is another key thing I forgot to mention -- it is called "milking" the ear. Right after the poke, when I see a tiny blood droplet forming, I quickly massage up the ear, gently, towards the poke spot -- almost like you would with a tube of toothpaste, with both thumbs and forefingers. This gentle squeezing usually causes the droplet to grow in size enough for a BG test. The milking definitely tries Hen's patience though. He doesn't like it one bit.

There is a definite learning curve where at one point, I did not know how big a droplet I needed, but over time I grew to where I could recognize on sight whether or not I had enough blood for a BG test with my particular meter (as some meters take more or less blood than others)

Make sure to always give Gompers a treat whether you succeed or not. Another good thing to do, conditioning-wise, is to have Gompers come to whatever spot in your house that you've designated as the testing spot, spend some time massaging and warming his ears (like 1-2 minutes), just like you would for a BG test. But then don't test, just give a treat. Do this a few times a day if possible.