Newbie - should I shoot?

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Blues Brothers

Blues Brothers

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Hi all,

I just joined and haven't had enough time to look through everything yet. However I have a new situation and I just wanted to check with you all whether or not I should shoot tonight. Jake just started insulin about two weeks ago - he is on one unit once per day which I have been giving to him in the evening after his dinner. I've been home testing but I have only tested after he eats before I shoot rather than what it suggests on the site that I should be testing prior to feeding him. I just tested him prior to feeding, and Jake's BG was 153 which is under 200, obviously. I tested twice and it's not going up. He was at the vet today for a BG curve so I don't know if that has anything to do with it being so low or maybe it's always this low. I wouldn't know since I haven't been testing prior to feeding him. I appreciate any help and suggestions as this is kind of overwhelming and unfortunately my vet is not too helpful regarding home testing. He looked at me like I was kind of crazy when I suggested even doing it.
 
Blues Brothers said:
Hi all,

I just joined and haven't had enough time to look through everything yet. However I have a new situation and I just wanted to check with you all whether or not I should shoot tonight. Jake just started insulin about two weeks ago - he is on one unit once per day which I have been giving to him in the evening after his dinner. I've been home testing but I have only tested after he eats before I shoot rather than what it suggests on the site that I should be testing prior to feeding him. I just tested him prior to feeding, and Jake's BG was 153 which is under 200, obviously. I tested twice and it's not going up. He was at the vet today for a BG curve so I don't know if that has anything to do with it being so low or maybe it's always this low. I wouldn't know since I haven't been testing prior to feeding him. I appreciate any help and suggestions as this is kind of overwhelming and unfortunately my vet is not too helpful regarding home testing. He looked at me like I was kind of crazy when I suggested even doing it.
Click to expand...

I forgot to add that he is also an IBD kitty, and he is on prednisilone twice a day. I have not given him his evening dose yet .
 
Hey! For new members, we suggest not shooting under 200. Have you fed yet? If not, you could test him again and see if he's gone up to 200. If not, I wouldn't shoot at that number.
 
Okay, wanted to get that in right away so you could get dosing advice. Now, on to other advice/info. :) I would suggest if you could to start testing before you feed him. You want to shoot on what his number TRULY is rather than a food influenced number. It shouldn't make a difference in your routine much as it means you still test just at a slightly different time.

Are you having a hard time with the testing? We can offer some great advice or suggestions if you need it.

A lot of vets think we're nuts to home test our cats. My vet luckily was all for it (she actually had a diabetic dog and told me I could home test and suggested a human meter...and then saw my SS and said I was doing fine and didn't really need her!). Our theory is you would never give insulin to a human baby without checking BG..so why would you for a fur baby?

What else can we do to help? This is super overwhelming at first, but we're happy to offer advice/support/a shoulder whenever we can!
 
Sorry, I just saw your second reply. I'm not having any issues with testing. Jake actually comes over for it and doesn't even notice the prick (I'm using 30 gauge rather than the larger lancets that came with the meter). I just didn't realize until today that I was doing it in the wrong order. My vet was very surprised when I brought my meter in today to do a comparison with theirs. After getting over the shock, he suggested I do some night testing as well, so it seems he's gotten on board with home testing. As far as help, I just need more time to read through all the info and make sure I'm doing everything. Jake was free fed dry food all his life, and has been on a "prescription" diet for the last year and a half. Before starting his insulin, I got him off the dry and am hoping eventually to get him completely on raw (right now he's doing canned and a little raw). I'm also getting him on a feeding schedule of morning, evening, and before bed.
 
Sounds like you're doing everything great then! I wish I could make more time...it would surely make all our lives easier! :rolleyes:

Well when you do find time, definitely read through our stickies. Check out the protocol and the beginner's guide first. And let us know as you read if you run into any questions!
 
The diet change could be influencing his numbers in a good way :woot:! I'll just post a few links I like to give to new members :)
Setting up your Signature with some information about Jake: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
Get a Spreadsheet (SS) going to track and share his BG (blood glucose) numbers, just need a Google account and if you need help, just ask ;): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
Understanding how to use the SS: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/

Additionally, for testing before feeding, we recommend the kitty has not eaten any food at least 2 hours prior to the Pre-shot (PS) test time. This helps give the true number like Rachel stated to make sure Jake is safe to receive insulin, rather than a food inflated number that could bring him much lower than we want :smuggrin:. Definitely, don't hesitate to ask us anything :bighug:
 
Thanks so much for the help. I will work on the signature and SS this weekend. So, here's what happened tonight. I fed Jake without thinking when I got home from work (I forgot to test before). So, I decided to wait two hours (more like an hour and 45 minutes) to test and shoot. I just tested, and he's 194 (this is a pet meter, by the way - "everpaw"). So I will not shoot and will wait and test again in a little bit. He hasn't gotten insulin in 48 hours now. He also ate completely raw today (Vital Essentials rabbit for breakfast and VE duck for dinner). My only question is, will I ever shoot below the 225-250 level for a pet meter? I will try to do my own BG curve this weekend as well.
 
You might shoot below that at some point. Basically, we say for new folks that they shouldn't shoot under 200 (or 220 on a pet meter). That's simply because they don't have the data to give them an idea of how low the cat might go. As they accumulate more data, we lower that no shoot number...it's always a bit of a gamble to do that, but if we have data saying the cat usually dropped roughly 100 points on 200, we can assume they'll do about the same on the same dose for a preshot number of 180...leaving them still in a safe number. We do have members here who shoot at VERY low numbers, but they have A LOT of data to back that up, they can monitor (and when they can't, they won't shoot at such a low number), and they are able to steer with food if needed.

There are other reasons to shoot under 200 (DKA, this is the second go-round with diabetes, etc).

So I guess the short answer is, yes, you very well might shoot below that, but you'll need some more data first. :)
 
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