Newly diagnosed - pretty overwhelming in CMH

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absoblogginlutely

absoblogginlutely

Member Since 2013
So after a couple of weeks of finding out my 12 yr old, 10lb cat Basil had fleas, started to pee and poop outside the litter box twice a day, an infection from a flea bite and then a blood test, I found out Bas has diabetes. The vets said I had to come in and showed me how to give an injection, told me I should change his diet to wet canned food (from Purina indoor chow). I was told 4 units twice a day of Lantus. The prescription was phoned into Kroger.
Went to Kroger to pick it up and they wanted $15.99 for 100 of Kroger Ultra 0.3ml 316*5/16" syringes (50 day supply) and the Lantus, 100 units / mc vial, qty 10 - 125 day supply was $196 which was way more than I was expecting.
Thankfully this week the peeing and pooping outside the box seems to have stopped *cross fingers*

No mention was made of home testing and the only recommendation was "if he acts funny, walks weird or goes off his food, give him some syrup and then bring him in" didn't exactly fill me with confidence. I was surprised how quiet Basil stayed when I tried sticking him with the needle which gave me a bit of confidence - but we'll see if he behaves like that at home.

Is this cost reasonable? Any suggestions for cheaper places in Columbus without ringing round tons of pharmacies trying to find a decent price?

As it seems like home testing would be a good idea I've been looking at the options of meters but the relion confirm looks pretty good or it looks like I could get a free accuchek-nano?

My major concern on all of this is the fact that I have a pretty irregular schedule and am not home every day (I guess i'm going to have to adjust my schedules) but a typical weekend i'm probably only going to be able to do one of the injections

Is there a good chance he'll get better? will the food make a big difference and how do i know if i need to adjust the insulin level?
Any suggestions/comments - what else would I have to buy?
 
I am sure others will chime in, with tons of info to help, I only have a moment to post, but wanted to say 4 units of Lantus 2x a day is a HUGE amount, especially to start.
If you haven't stated insulin yet, I would recommend you DON'T give that amount to start, especially if you aren't home testing yet, it may kill him....seriously, that is way too much.
And yes, changing the diet will def help, many cats go into remission on diet only. Again, please DON'T give 4 units of insulin.
I sure others will be along to explain why and give you all the help you need.
 
Agree. We usually suggest new diabetics start at one unit twice daily, test at home and raise the dose slowly as the numbers dictate. It's much safer than starting at a higher dose, getting low numbers and trying to figure out how to adjust the dose downward.

Very few cats here are getting more than two units, and that dose was raised based on testing.

The ReliOn is a good meter and very inexpensive. It's the strips that are expensive with other meters; the ReliOn has very reasonable strips.
 
Hello and welcome to the board.

With a good insulin like lantus, home testing and a low carb canned food, many cats can go into remission.

You already have lantus which is great.. And I agree with the others on dose. 4 units is too much! Also it lasts up to six months if you keep it in the fridge (not the door) and don't shake or roll it, read this on handling.. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Home testing.. The relion confirm and micro are reliable and cheap.. Shopping list is below

Food- many of us here feed fancy feast classic pâtés, friskies pâtés or wellness grain free canned. They are low carb and cheap. I don't know if the purina chow is low enough carb.. It needs to be under 10% calories from carbs as fed. If in doubt, don't feed it

Let us know once you get the meter and we can give testing tips etc.


Wendy

Getting started shopping list
1. Meter ie Walmart Relion Confirm or Micro.
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
 
Welcome and by the way, you did a very smart thing by joining this site. The people on this board have a lot of experience that will benefit both you and your cat. I just joined recently as my cat appeared to have multiple symptoms of hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, which is sometimes fatal. The cause is usually an overdose of insulin. I'm testing now and I feel my cat is safer now with regard to insulin dosage. Our pets' needs change as their bodies change. They are dynamic beings just as we are.

Here's my take on it. Unless you can afford the time and money to drop off your cat at the vet like you drop off your dry cleaning, your cat will benefit from home blood glucose testing. This is basically what the vet does for a few days when your cat is first diagnosed and then what? You're at home flying blind. If your cat's blood glucose level changes you need to know what it is to know what dose of insulin is necessary AND safe. Otherwise it's $$$ to the vet to regulate your cat again. With a good diet and insulin therapy his needs will change, but you won't know that until he becomes ill, very ill sometimes. Then more $$$ to the vet to reregulate your cat. And so it goes. Not all cats survive this way of doing business either.

The last time I bought Lantus (June, 2013) it was $140 and change at Costco. I use a Relion Micro glucometer because I find it easier to work with it one handed if I need to and it needs very little blood to do the job. $15 at Walmart. $35 for 100 test strips. $6 for 210 lancets. These are probably the best deals out there right now.

Good luck with your cat. He'll do well I'm sure.
 
Hi....Welcome to FDMB. We are all here to help you. :smile:

As others have indicated, home testing is very important. Another point about having a vet do testing....your kitty will be stressed out (most of them are) when visiting the vet. Their "stress" will raise the bg numbers and vet will raise dose based on numbers they got. When you go home and use that dose when kitty is calm, dose is way too much.

I am not too familiar with your insulin...my sugarkitty uses ProZinc.


...but a typical weekend i'm probably only going to be able to do one of the injections
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Would you please give us more details on this? I might be reading too much into it, but if Basil will only be getting ONE shot over the weekend, that concerns me. Did you mean that YOU personally would only give one injection and SOMEONE ELSE would be doing the other ones? If so, I hope they will be testing Basil also.
 
Changing food and adding a huge dose of insulin at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

The starting dose for Lantus is this:
The lower of current weight OR ideal weight
Converted to kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2)
Multiplied by 0.25 and rounded down for safety.

An 11 pound cat (5 kg) would start at 1 unit.
 
Thanks for the great welcome and advice from everyone. Saturday we went to Walmart and got the Relion Confirm meter with 100 strips. After I checked out I saw all the adverts for the Prime at the checkout where all the carrier bags are. It also had the added benefit of the strips being even cheaper - -$9 for 50 but it does require more blood. Seeing as though I have no idea of the difference in size between a .3 and a .5 blood sample I figured I'd stay with the smaller blood requirement but this meter may be of use to other people who are strapped for cash - I couldn't believe that some of the other strips are $100+ for 100 strips.

I hope to be getting the insulin tomorrow with injections starting Tuesday so fingers crossed everything goes well. I'll be looking up to see how to do the tests, an expected "good" number and how often to do the tests. Also getting 2 strays that were dumped on our doorstep spayed tomorrow so it's going to be really busy looking after the cats.

Just clarification on the whole unit/dosage thing - I'll be getting the .3ml syringe and when i was with the vet he was talking about pulling back the syringe to 4 (units i think) (which taken twice a day, with a 10ml vial gives me 125 days which is what kroger confirmed the lenght of prescription would be) - so thats where I think the 4 units is but I could be wrong. I will confirm with the dosage at the pharmacy but it sounds like 1 unit is a much better idea than the potentially overdosing 4 units?

Andy
 
absoblogginlutely said:
...Just clarification on the whole unit/dosage thing - I'll be getting the .3ml syringe and when i was with the vet he was talking about pulling back the syringe to 4 (units i think) (which taken twice a day, with a 10ml vial gives me 125 days which is what kroger confirmed the lenght of prescription would be) - so thats where I think the 4 units is but I could be wrong. I will confirm with the dosage at the pharmacy but it sounds like 1 unit is a much better idea than the potentially overdosing 4 units?
Andy
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Go with the 1 unit calculated, particularly if you are going to be home-testing and need to make diet changes.
 
Welcome Andy and Basil :-D I am so glad you found this place so quickly! You are in very, very good hands here as the members on this site are actually "in it" and they know what they're talking about. I had a lot of questions coming here and I've had my scary moments, but I was never alone and questions asked are always answered (and quite thoroughly I may add :-D ).
Good luck at the vet!
 
I would recommend you take a couple of tests today before starting insulin to see where he is at. Heres how : https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Then once you start shooting I usually recommend 3-4 tests a day

- always before the shot - this is mandatory as you don't want to shoot when too low. As a newbie this too low number is 200 but is reduced over time once you have the data to know if its safe.
- mid cycle - 5-7 hours after morning shot depending on your schedule. This is to see how low he is going. The low point "nadir" is what you base dose changes on since you don't want him dropping too low (under 50).
- before bed (2-3hours after Pm shot) to get an idea of what his overnight plans are. If this number is less than the pre shot test number you may want to set the alarm for a test a few hours later as this implies an active cycle.

Also I agree - start on 1 unit and see how that does (unless he drops under 50 which is a decrease). Read the stickys on this forum to get an idea of how to dose etc and ask us if you have questions! http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

Wendy

PS how is the food transition going? Is he on low carb food now? I am not sure the Purina chow is low enough if you want good regulation or remission!
 
Well today I broke out the meter and lancing tool
I'm using the pen without the cap on as that doesn't look like it would work on humans let along on cats.
Warmed the ear up by giving him rubs and then tried to poke him to get some blood. Each time he flinched and I didn't get a single drop of blood out of him.
After 5 times I gave up for the night. I'd like to see a youtube video of someone testing a cat who has never been tested before as the ones on youtube are obviously used to it (which is a hopeful sign but not helpful when your cat hasn't watched the video himself ;-)

so as i'm not even drawing blood i'm wondering if i'm even doing it in the right place.
should it be pricked on the inside of the ear, the outside or along the edge? I was doing the edge and it's hard to see that edge and it didn't seem to work so i'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong? I know it should be on the vein bwtween the tip and the curvy bit but not sure on which side or am i mistaking the vein area?
 
I found the lancing tools easier to use without the pen, just used my hand with lancing tool and poked the upper outside ear (see attached picture). Hold a cotton ball or tissue on the inside and poke from the outside in a couple of times. Then you just gently squeeze the ear from the bottom up and voila, blood! You'll have to hold his ear and head if necessary to get the right spot. You can wrap him in a towel like a burrito if he fights you too much. :mrgreen: You really need to master this quickly, you can't be shooting him blindly not knowing what his readings are. Stay calm and the cat will stay calm too. Just breathe....
 

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Hi! With my cat I never found that rubbing did much to warm the ear. I use a little bottle that used to hold spices or something, and fill it with hot water from the tap (not too hot to hold in your hand comfortably). Then I hold that inside the ear for a bit before trying to draw blood. Maybe that would help? Keep it up - I think testing seems practically impossible to everyone at the start, but before you know it you'll be a pro.
 
two attempts, two pricks and one wiggly cat this morning - still no sign of blood when I prick from the outside in. I was checking that photo and seem to be doing it in the right place. Held the rice sock on his ear for about a minute and nothing.
Wonder what he's made of if it's not blood ;-)

Will try again tonight.
 
Don't worry....once Basil's ear "learns to bleed" you will surely know he is made of blood....you will wonder where it all comes from. :smile:

It takes a little patience....we were all in your 'paws' in the beginning. Be calm and he will be calm.

Hope you are giving him low-carb treats and lots of cat_pet_icon every time you try to test...whether you get blood or not. He will link the 'pokey-poke' with a reward and eventually even come right up to you when he sees the meter in your hand. :smile:

I don't use the lancet tool either. Have more control doing it free-hand + the 'click' near some kitties' faces scares them.

Hope your next pokey-poke episode goes well. :-D
 
Did you look through the tips link i gave you? what size lancet are you using? generally the ones that come with the meter are too fine for newbies..

Wendy
 
One thing I've noticed too is that while I'm squeezing the ear for blood to appear on the outside, there's already a good deal of blood on the inside of the ear. Run your finger along the inside and see if there's blood. Good luck!
 
I got some blood! Never thought I'd be happy to say that.
445 was the reading - whatever that means. He did eat a little bit about an hour ago but after a little struggle I was able to get a sample.
 
Thats pretty high. Could be two causes

- Is he still getting dry food? Or the Purina chow?
- He could be bouncing from a low. Sometimes the cats body will drop low and the liver panics and causes the blood sugar to rise (too much) to compensate. It does that for up to 72 hours.. then the cat comes back down again to possibly another low. Hence "bouncing". Only way to know if through testing.

Can you get another test later today? Maybe 3-5 hours from now?

Wendy

PS are you testing his urine for ketones?
 
Thanks Wendy - this is still on dry. I didn't have the list of "approved" wet foods when I was at Petsmart lastnight so I haven't got any yet. Hope to do that tomorrow/Wednesday.
You also mentioned a bigger lancet - would I get those from Walmart? Not sure if I saw those or not.
I'm feeling a lot better now that I'm making a little progress but it's still a lot to take in.
The other two cats that we got spayed took up a lot of time last night trying to coax them out of the woodpile they hid in after I brought them home to recuperate - been busy!

PS Basil doesn't think much of this "National Cat Day" ;-) https://twitter.com/NationalCatDay
 
The dry is probably keeping him high. Heres a list of approved foods :http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94685 But pretty much any Friskies pate, or fancy feast pate is good.

You want to transition gradually over a week to avoid diarrhea.

I don't think you can get 27g or 28g lancets in walmart ( i live in Canada so not sure though) but you might be better trying walgreens or somewhere like that or the ADW link above.

Wendy
 
absoblogginlutely said:
I got some blood! Never thought I'd be happy to say that.
445 was the reading - whatever that means. He did eat a little bit about an hour ago but after a little struggle I was able to get a sample.
Click to expand...


Welcome to the "Vampire Club" !! And just in time for Halloween. :smile: :lol:

I agree with Wendy regarding dry food possibly keeping him high and transitioning to low-carb wet food.
 
Thanks for the shopping list Wendy - I knew I had seen it somewhere.
I was able to get another test from Basil last night - 478 so it had even got up a bit more. He seemed to be a bit more accepting of the process last night so there is hope!
Today I'll be shopping for new food - the good thing is he eats anything and loves fruit - he comes running whenever a banana is cracked open in the house (although I guess that may have to change!).
Hopefully i'll get another blood reading this morning and then I'll be able to give him his first injection tonight too.
Update: 550 this morning and it took about 5 pricks before i got blood
 
Try three pricks and then try later. Remember to always give a treat too - even if no blood. That will make it easier to test him .

Definitely no banana.

Wendy
 
Well his numbers tonight (after his first meal of friskies) wet up from 478 to 539 at around the same time last night (plus an hour) and i'm ready to givethe first injection.
The prescription said 4 units which we seem to agree is literally overkill so I'm going to do one unit as recommended.
I have a 3/10ml syringe so I'm only fillng up to 1 right?(silly q but i don't want to overdose my cat


Update: Well the injection went easier than I thought but it's still nerve wracking. Wait 1hour for the next test and then 3 hours right? He's going to really love me tonight.
 
If curving, you do either every 2 hours or every 3 hours.

About 2 hours after eating, the glucose often spikes from food.

A before bed test - you want to be sure its OK for you to go to sleep and there aren't any clues your cat may need intervention.
 
Good job on the first shot! Yes 1 unit is a very small amount in the syringe - the first or second small marking depending on whether you have 1/2 unit markings or not.

A few things:

Lantus is a depot insulin (read this http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581) and takes a week to start to build up in the cats system. You don't want to change dose at this point unless he drops under 50.

I usually recommend 3-4 tests a day instead of curves.. but it depends on your schedule:

- always before the shot - this is mandatory as you don't want to shoot when too low. As a newbie this too low number is 200 but is reduced over time once you have the data to know if its safe.
- mid cycle - 5-7 hours after morning shot depending on your schedule. This is to see how low he is going. The low point "nadir" is what you base dose changes on since you don't want him dropping too low (under 50).
- before bed (2-3hours after Pm shot) to get an idea of what his overnight plans are. If this number is less than the pre shot test number you may want to set the alarm for a test a few hours later as this implies an active cycle.

Wendy
 
Thanks guys - the shots and tests are getting slightly easier to do although this morning I went through 4 strips before I got a real reading as I didn't get enough blood and then used it before the meter was ready. However my numbers are going down a bit. Tonight we're down under 300 - I think I have a long way to go before I worry about being under 50 though ;-)
 
Don't you hate that? Make sure the ear is real warm and then when you see blood, start milking it. hold the ear firmly below where the blood is coming up and it kinda acts as a dam to help the blood well up.

Dont assume he isn't going lower - you aren't getting mid cycle tests so he could well be dropping into blue or even green during the day. Rememeber how lantus works - the lowest point of the cycle is 6 hours after the shot. Of course in the first week this might not happen but never assume it isn't unless you are testing! :) :

Example of an active Lantus cycle:

+0 - PreShot number.
+1 - Usually higher than PreShot number because of the last shot wearing off. May see a food spike in this number.
+2 - Often similar to the PreShot number.
+3 - Lower than the PreShot number, onset has started.
+4 - Lower.
+5 - Lower.
+6 - Nadir/Peak (the lowest number of cycle).
+7 - Surf (hang around the nadir number).
+8 - Slight rise.
+9 - Slight rise.
+10 - Rising.
+11 - Rising (one of the quirks of Lantus/Levemir: some cat's blood glucose numbers dip around +10 or +11... not to be confused with nadir).
+12 - PreShot number.

Wendy
 
Well Bas is doing pretty well, he actually jumps up for the tests but I am pretty sure its the treats talking. His am readings are stable around 360 but his night readings are all over the place with tonights being 123 which seems very low for him but he is behaving like normal.
He hasn't peed outside the box since I started and his water intake has shrank drastically now he's on the wet food which makes the litter box a much nicer experience to clean.
 
Thanks Wendy - He's been on Friskies pate now for a couple of weeks. This I think has made a big difference as far as his bathroom habits at least - he's drinking less now and peeing and pooping less and inside the litter box now which is really great news.
I think the numbers are still high - the morning ones seem to be pretty consistent and least, but the evening ones tend to vary quite a bit. I was thinking of increasing the dose a bit now that he's been on it for a while. Bumping it up to 1.5 units - possibly even two (considering he was initially prescribed 4 which seems to be totally overkill)
I was surprised on Saturday when it dropped as low as 123 - first time it had gotten anywhere near that low.
 
Hi, you are doing well on the testing. Usually we only increase by .25U, too big a step up and you could miss a good dose. Since you got down to some nice blue numbers and had to skip, it is even more important not to go up too fast.

Here's the deal w/ Lantus. A little of each shot is used to build up a reserve in the body. When this "depot" is full, some goes into the reserve and some goes out at every shot. Every time you change the dose or if you skip a shot (and you skipped 2 in a row) the depot can take up to 3 day to readjust. Right now you are still rebuilding the depot from those 2 skipped shots.

Changing the shot time by more than about 15 minutes can effect the depot too. An early shot can act like a dose increase (you are adding more insulin before the last dose was used up) and a late shot will cause the depot to drain a little extra and thus act as a dose decrease. It can be a real pain, but Lantus really works best w/ consistency.
 
For an analogy to help conceptualize this (which you may or may not need), imagine a funnel and pouring water through it. If you pour slowly enough, the water just runs right through. If you pour too fast, the funnel fills and overflows. If you pour a bit fast, then back off a tad, you'll have a pool of water in the funnel with water going in and out smoothly.

Another analogy is walking up a downward escalator. Go too slowly, and you're back at the bottom. Go too fast and you climb to the top and get off. Go a smidge fast and then slow down just a tad, and you'll be able to keep to a specific height on the escalator.
 
Thanks for the help everyone - typically my Monday - Friday is more consistent on timing as I test before and after work - the weekends are just a lot harder to be as consistent with due to being away or active.
I'll drop him down to 1.25 units for the rest of this week/next and see how it goes on that
 
So tonight I take his reading and last week I thought 123 was low...tonight he's at 65. Now I know this is a good number (after all the spreadsheet is green!) but I'm not sure if this reading is accurate or too low. I'm going to take another test in a few minutes. He's not had his shot yet tonight (Its a bit later than normal as I ended up working late) but it does mean I can give him another shot 12 hours time before work. Should I even give him a shot when the numbers are this low?
 
absoblogginlutely said:
Should I even give him a shot when the numbers are this low?
Click to expand...

No, there's no need for one (and, as I'm sure you know, there's plenty of potential for it to be dangerous). His numbers are looking better and better :-D
 
One suggestion my vet gave for getting blood (probably the only GOOD suggestion they've given me, lol) is to fold the ear. Of course I do it gently and carefully - and I hope it wont cause any damage... I always worry about hematomas developing as I've had a couple indoor pets get those without any significant trauma to the ear. Anyway, folding it makes it easier to poke on the edge, and to see the blood droplet. It also kinda gets the hair out of the way. It's been working pretty good for me (most of the time at least). Tink has black fur and skin... so it's really tough to see. I actually had to shave his ears, as he has huge ear tufts and even if I could SEE the blood, the hair prevented it from forming a good droplet, which then made it so the strip wouldn't pull the blood in.

I use the ReliOn Prime, just because the strips were a fraction of the price of the others. It does require a bigger sample, almost twice as big really - but it's still a pretty small drop.

I made a rice sock for warming too. It seems to help quite a bit.
 
thanks - he was low again tonight (30) but then as he's not had a shot, back in the morning he's reasonably high again although it's lower than it has been.
Its nice to see him not drinking all the time - thats probably the biggest change I've noticed (along with the resultant decrease in litter box usage). I figure what i'm spending on food and meds is offsite by the cheaper litter requirements - lol.
The sock makes a big difference in getting the blood out of him. I still struggle occasionally to get anything out of his ear - some days he just won't bleed.
Also some days he just won't eat the canned food - he's definitely not as fond of this as the dried - and my other two abandoned cats don't like it as much as the gravy versions we started them on either - but they'll have to live with what they're given ;-)
I'll try folding the ear - also thought about shaving his side so I could do the injections there and know that i'm getting into the skin - he's so furry, sometimes its hard to know i'm not just hitting fur but I dont feel any wetness after (but then again it's hard to see exactly where the shot was and 1ml is not exactly a lot of liquid in the first place.
 
yikes! 30 is way too low and in hypo territory. I am glad you skipped. Also anything under 50 means the dose is too high and an immediate dose decrease of 0.25 units is required! Heres the protocol fyi http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581. I would reduce to 1 unit and hold that for a few days to see how it goes.

Given he did drop so low though, you can expect high numbers (bouncing- see below) for up to 72 hours. This will clear and then you can really see how the new dose does.

Wendy

Bounces - what are they and is my cat doing them?
When a cat isnt regulated, the blood glucose has probably been high for a while. As the insulin starts to take effect and numbers start to come down, the liver has to learn to adjust to the lower numbers. We call this "liver training school". But before it relearns that low numbers are ok, when the BG drops to a number lower than the liver is accustomed, or if BGs drop low, or if the BG drops suddenly, the liver”panics” and reacts by releasing counterregulatory hormones and glucagon. This drives the BG back up. This is what we call a "bounce". Bounces can take up to 72 hours to clear so we are generally careful about increasing doses during the bounce. Once the bounce clears, then you can see the "real" numbers and determine if the dose needs to go up or down.
 
Thanks Wendy - I had no idea about the bouncing - I figured something was happening as I skipped on the low numbers and so his high numbers would be really high as he had skipped a shot. I'll drop him back to 1 unit for the next few days and see how he does. When he was down at 30 he seemed no different than normal - certainly wasn't displaying any hypo signs that I've read.
 
They don't always display hypo signs until they are having seizures. or go for a snooze but you can't wake them up because its actually a coma. and develop brain damage. You don't want it to get that far.

Anyway lets hold this dose for at least 6 cycles after that skip and try and get some mid cycle tests in. We need to see how this new dose is doing before re-evaluating and its important to give the depot a chance to build up again since you drained it with that skip.


Wendy
 
First Hypo

Title changed:
First hypo tonight - couldn't find him anywhere when i got home. eventually found him under the couch throw. Took his reading at 34.
Picked him up, took him to the food and he immediately started to eat which i guess is a good sign.
 
EEPS! We use the candle to mean a cat has passed. Is he OK?

If he's still going, break out some high carb food or get some Karo/honey/sugar syrup and give him a teaspoon or two, using an oral syringe if necessary. This will get his glucose up quickly. (Do NOT use dry food - when it expands after scarfing it triggers vomiting and it takes too long to raise the glucose level)

Re-check his glucose in about 30 minutes.
 
yikes! agree with BJM. post the next number you get in 30 minutes after the last one k. will keep my eyes open for you.

is kitty acting ok?
 
Sorry for the scare folks.I didn't realise that was the meaning of the candle. Basil seems to be doing ringleader in the evening. I gave him some treats, then some friskies with gravy and he ate it all up and came back for more. Much more like his usual self. I did also give him some honey on his food. He is also at a more respectable 100 tonight so will see how he does tomorrow.
 
Oh thank goodness! In the reference ranges below, see the link for handling a HYPO, so you have a protocol to follow if he goes low again.

Also, he's earned a dose reduction of 0.25 units, regardless of insulin.

* * * * * * * * * *​

Here are some glucose reference ranges used for decision making using glucometers. Human glucometer numbers are given first. Numbers in parentheses are for non-US meters. Numbers in curly braces are estimates for an AlphaTrak.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]
 
Thanks BJM - i'm hoping the reduction to .75 is a good sign? Not sure how easy it is to do a 1/4 of a unit - those markings are already pretty close together ;-)
 
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