NEWBIE looking for advice?

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MunchieMA

MunchieMA

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Hello! I am new to the forum as my sweet Munchie was just diagnosed Friday evening. I have been really anxious at home about his levels and worrying about inadvertently causing a hypo episode, so thankfully with the help from members on the Facebook page I went and bought a (human) testing kit and am now able to test his Blood Sugar level at home.
However, I naturally have questions!
I tested today at 12:30 pm and Munchie man ate his wet food breakfast at 6:45 am. His level was 366. He has only had 3 insulin doses of the prozinc so far. Is there a better time to test? a certain time that I should be checking? Also, I read somewhere that while using the human tester, results are a little lower than the animal testing kit, is there merit to that? His level was 411 at the vet Friday evening but I also read they could read higher there because of stress...

Also, we switched his wet food to some better, healthier options thanks to the nutritional chart sent to me on the FB page... but my vet told me not to make changes yet because she said if it drops too quickly we could be in trouble. I didn't want to NOT do anything so I switched his wet food and am now only giving him 1/4 a cup of dry food for the day (he used to just graze on it all day as desired). She was worried about rocking his world too much but he seems like he is adjusting well... he is acting like his usual self and is liking the new wet food ( I got his usual fancy feast brand but this time bought the chopped grill feast, and then I got the blue wilderness chicken recipe which is high protein, grain-free and only like 2% carb count I believe? and I also got some of the dave's brand which is 16% protein but I don't actually see a carb count here... it has no wheat or wheat gluten, no artificial flavors or coloring and is grain free.. Dave's pet food city is a chain in Massachusetts for those not familiar..)

I'm hoping these are better food choices but I'm contemplating just getting rid of the dry food entirely? I know my vet warned me not to make the food changes yet, but I think I would feel better doing this now that I can test at home but I'm just looking for some guidance please!!! Thank you for your help!
 
Welcome to you and Munchie! Can we know your name (or a name you want us to call you if you'd rather :) ). Let me try to answer your questions:
  • Testing. You always want to test before EACH shot. That way, you know that the number is safe to shoot on. We recommend new folks to not shoot under 200 on a human meter. Other than that, you want to get whatever mid cycle tests you can. As you gather data, you can often test less, but at first, you want to get whatever you can. Tests from +5 to +7 are really great as that is usually nadir (mid cycle) and the lowest point. BUT that can change from kitty to kitty, so ANY additional tests you can get will be great!
  • Human vs. Pet Meters. Pet meters do run a bit higher...but it really doesn't matter. You can use either one...as long as we know which one, it's fine! We learn to interpret the numbers from both meters, so we can help out either way. The 411 at the vet was almost surely from stress.
  • Changing food was fine! Just make sure you're testing as the new food could lower his numbers. Getting rid of the dry food is a great idea as long as you're comfortable testing...we've seen numbers drop over 100 points when they drop the dry! The vet makes sense about not wanting to do too much...is probably worried about the numbers dropping and doesn't want to overwhelm you. My opinion, though, is to go ahead and get him on low carb food because if you wait and get him regulated on insulin and THEN drop the dry...well you'll have to go through it all over again to get him regulated! Makes more sense to do what you can NOW so you can work on regulation on the food he'll be eating all along. That's what I did!
What other questions do you have for us? We'd be happy to help in any way we can!
 
Thank you!! My name is Julia- I suppose I forgot that part I tested before he had his dinner and he was down to 260, so I fed him and gave him his 1 unit of prozinc. I will not administer if it is at 200 or lower, that’s very helpful to know!
I was worried that dropping too much too quickly could hurt him, but is hat only if his blood sugar gets too low and he’s at risk for a hypo attack? I’ve been reading so much but I couldn’t find that info. I am testing with a reliOn kit from Walmart that was recommended for newbies in one of the posts I read.
My cat seems VERY happy, he hasn’t been this sweet and cuddly in weeks. He is actually smiling as he sleeps in my lap, I am hoping he is beginning to feel a little better
 
MunchieMA said:
Thank you!! My name is Julia- I suppose I forgot that part I tested before he had his dinner and he was down to 260, so I fed him and gave him his 1 unit of prozinc. I will not administer if it is at 200 or lower, that’s very helpful to know!
I was worried that dropping too much too quickly could hurt him, but is hat only if his blood sugar gets too low and he’s at risk for a hypo attack? I’ve been reading so much but I couldn’t find that info. I am testing with a reliOn kit from Walmart that was recommended for newbies in one of the posts I read.
My cat seems VERY happy, he hasn’t been this sweet and cuddly in weeks. He is actually smiling as he sleeps in my lap, I am hoping he is beginning to feel a little better
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So glad he's feeling better! Kudos to you for learning how to home test right away. Forget the dry. He doesn't need it. Make sure to have a can of two of high carb gravy lovers food on hand in case you run into low numbers and have to steer up.

If you want to see how quickly he's dropping it's a good idea next time you are home for the day to do a curve. That's a test every 2 hours for 12 hours. It will show you when it kicks in, when he hits the lowest (called nadir), and how long it lasts. Generally ProZinc usually peeks 5-7 hours after injection.
 
MunchieMA said:
I tested before he had his dinner and he was down to 260...I am testing with a reliOn
Click to expand...

Hi Julia. 260 sounds like a good PMPS to me considering Munchie just started insulin. My cat Mogee was diagnosed and started Prozinc nearly two months ago and he is rarely that low PS.

I also use the Relion Confirm from Wal-Mart, strips are way less than the pet meters and everyone here is great at interpreting and helping with numbers. It is great that you are testing at home, it only gets easier.

I think it is great that you are considering dropping the dry altogether. I wish I would have when I found all the great people on this forum who told me to do so. I waited over a month and a half before taking Mogee off his "prescription" diet my vet swore by (Royal Canin Glycobalance). He was hardly ever below 200 and now he sees those numbers regularly.

Before switching to all wet Mogee was on 6 units of Prozinc, twice a day. Once I switched to all wet, he went instantly down to 2-2.25 units, twice a day. If I would not have switched his diet he would probably be at about 7 or 8 units, twice a day.

The first day of the switch, after being a month amd a half in, Mogee gave his best BG since diagnosis, 83. Since then, he has been giving great numbers. Lots of blue's and a few green's.

It sounds like you're off to a great start and everyone on here will only make things easier along the way
 
What does blue/ green mean? I’m going back to the vet on December 1st so I have been writing down the results to bring in for that appointment. The test said f -4 before the numbers, do you know what that means?
I enjoyed reading about your Magee, sounds like you’ve been in your journey for a bit and your efforts are paying off! I’m hoping for the same outcome
 
MunchieMA said:
What does blue/ green mean? I’m going back to the vet on December 1st so I have been writing down the results to bring in for that appointment. The test said f -4 before the numbers, do you know what that means?
I enjoyed reading about your Magee, sounds like you’ve been in your journey for a bit and your efforts are paying off! I’m hoping for the same outcome
Click to expand...

F-4 is just the code of the test strips. If you look at the test strip container it will have a box that says code "_____." I believe it is to make sure the strips and meter are on "the same page."

Sorry, the blue and the green refer to BG levels and the "spreadsheet." Anything between 50-100 is green and between 100-200 is blue. There is a link to my spreadsheet below in my signature. There are also links in the main health forum detailing how to set up a spreadsheet, which I highly recommend. It didn't take me too long and it was all new to me.

You are on the right track finding this forum as I said. Everyone here has helped me tremendously. Mogee probably wouldn't be doing as well if it weren't for this forum. Don't ever be afraid or hesitate to ask any questions.

I am rooting for you and Munchie!
 
MunchieMA said:
What does blue/ green mean? I’m going back to the vet on December 1st so I have been writing down the results to bring in for that appointment. The test said f -4 before the numbers, do you know what that means?
I enjoyed reading about your Magee, sounds like you’ve been in your journey for a bit and your efforts are paying off! I’m hoping for the same outcome
Click to expand...
The blue /green he's referring to is the color coding we use in our spreadsheets. Click on some of the spreadsheet links in our signatures and you'll see.

This is the link to a template
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
I was just going to say, I am surprised Janet hasn't commented on this yet! She has the SS link readily available! She is great and super helpful!
 
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