newbies

[Hollydazzles]

Hello all!
I am a bit overwhelmed. . . Our kitty Domino was diagnosed about 2 weeks ago. She is on 1 u of Lantus every 12 hours. We have purchased, but not yet transitioned her to low carb wet food. I have tried several times but only been successful with a blood glucose test once. I want to move her to the wet food, but I don't really know how to make sure her blood glucose levels are okay. I'd like to do a curve tomorrow so we have a starting place before I start the move to the new food. Any advise is welcome! What should her levels be at the different points in the day? How do I know how much insulin to give, if I need to decrease the amount? I've read both lantus groups, but I'm still confused. Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

For new diabetics, we suggest if the test before shooting is less than 200, that you "stall", DON'T feed and post and ask for help. Make sure your subject line says something like "STALLING..NEED HELP!!" to get someone's attention. As you get more tests in and learn how your kitty responds, you'll gradually lower that number, but again, only after you have more data on your kitty

You're totally right that it's important that you can get tests in, especially if you're transitioning to low carb food. I wrote this up for another kitty awhile back, so I'm just copying/pasting, so please excuse the pronouns "he" and "him" ....LOL

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you. Take him there as many times a day as you can and just give his ears a quick rub and then he gets a yummy (low carb) treat. Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking him to hurt him...you're testing him to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside his body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure his ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well

Most cats start at between .5 and 1 unit of Lantus, so that's probably a pretty good starting point. Dose adjustments are made in relationship to how LOW the dose takes them, not the number you get before shooting, so it'll really help to get our spreadsheet going to keep track of your test results. Here's some information on "How to create a spreadsheet"

Normal Blood Glucose is between 50-120 and we hope to keep our kitties in that range as much as possible. If they drop below 50, that means they need a reduction in dose.

What else can we help you with?

 

[BJM]

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional assessments which may help you monitor his health, specifically the urine testing for ketones and glucose, monitoring food and water intake and output, plus dehydration checks and behavior observations.

 

[Hollydazzles]

Thanks guys! This morning I got her bg check done on the first try! We are doing a curve today to see how everything sits, and then we plan on transitioning her food over the next week and monitoring her bg before shots. I don't know what I would've done without this place and catinfo! My vet is the one who pointed me in the area of testing at home, but she didn't think I needed to test at all while changing her food! Of course she also prescribed food and told me to just go with it to be safe There is alot of misinformation!