Night before Vet/Insulin intro

[Caitlin M]

Hi All!
So I bought the ReliOn Confirm, a pack of 100 strips,100 lancets (alternate site) at 26g to start out with and the ointment with pain relief. I also got a notebook! My vet uses the Alpha Trak 2, so my plan is to bring mine in tomorrow and ask her to show me how to use mine and possibly test with both to see any difference in reading?
I was speaking about this whole forum yesterday and realized quite quickly that everyone here is amazing. I already appreciate and trust you all greatly. I'm apprehensive about my appointment tomorrow but feel ready to discuss leaving if she will not comply with my wishes. I have a few questions written down but want to know if anyone has suggestions for questions I should ask the vet? Also, as far as food, I went out and bought 3, 24 packs of Fancy Feast Classic. I have 2 boys and am planning to do 1 1/2 cans am & pm (3 cans a day). His brother is bigger than Pita anyway, but could probably lose a little weight to begin with (don't tell him)
I would love to know how many times I need to test his blood a day and what exactly should I be recording?
Also, how does she know what amount of PZI to start him off with? Is it based on the blood test from last week? I'm nervous about the dosage being wrong and having something happen before I do the BC 10-14 days after. Do people like PZI/what are overall experiences?
::Big sigh:: Ok, I will leave it at that for now and be back tomorrow to post how everything went and get down to the nitty gritty of officially starting everything! Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you all snuggle and smush your kitties with kisses <3

 

[Kris & Teasel]

possibly test with both to see any difference in reading?

The difference in readings tends to be larger when BG is higher and smaller when BG is lower.

anyone has suggestions for questions I should ask the vet?

One important one is whether she promotes home testing and will she be supportive of an owner who wants to take an active role in managing the kitty's diabetes treatment.

I would love to know how many times I need to test his blood a day and what exactly should I be recording?

Minimum would be twice a day before feeding and giving insulin (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if a dose is too high or not for the BG level and one other time near the middle part of a cycle or before bed to see how low the insulin is taking the BG.

how does she know what amount of PZI to start him off with?

Generally a dose of 1 unit twice a day is recommended as a starting dose. If your vet bases it on what the BG is at the clinic it could end up being too high because of kitty's stress-induced elevated BG.

One caution:
If your kitty is not yet transitioned to a canned low carb diet, it's safest to get this done before you start any insulin. Diet alone can have a substantial effect on BG levels.

 

[Caitlin M]

Thank you.

The difference in readings tends to be larger when BG is higher and smaller when BG is lower.

I guess i'll have to wait and maybe post my first BG results? I don't quite know what this means yet but I know I'll learn.

Minimum would be twice a day before feeding and giving insulin (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if a dose is too high or not for the BG level and one other time near the middle part of a cycle or before bed to see how low the insulin is taking the BG.

I'm assuming if I receive the PZI tomorrow I can start injecting on Thursday am. Therefore, I need to test his BG before I feed him in the am? If I test him in the am before I leave work, I won't be home until the 12 hour mark, so I can just test again then? Sorry, I'm sure the vet will explain all of this but it's still so confusing to me.

One important one is whether she promotes home testing and will she be supportive of an owner who wants to take an active role in managing the kitty's diabetes treatment.

Supporting my decision will be #1 for me and our further relationship.

Generally a dose of 1 unit twice a day is recommended as a starting dose. If your vet bases it on what the BG is at the clinic it could end of being too high because of kitty's stress-induced elevated BG.

One caution:
If your kitty is not yet transitioned to a canned low carb diet, it's safest to get this done before you start any insulin. Diet alone can have a substantial effect on BG levels.

I do not leave food out, only 2 feedings a day. He'd previously been eating wet food at night only- I had been giving them dry food in the am and then 1 can/1 scoop of dry in the pm. I started giving them only wet yesterday but they both love it.

I think my biggest fear is that I will somehow do something wrong in the first couple days and cause something bad to happen. But I also put a lot of pressure on myself.

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

I think my biggest fear is that I will somehow do something wrong in the first couple days and cause something bad to happen. But I also put a lot of pressure on myself.

Me too I'm sure other members felt this way at the beginning too. Luckily, we are not alone

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Totally understand the nervousness, believe me, we have all been there! To cut back on that, I'd suggest not starting the shots on a day when you have to be gone for 12hrs. Do you have any non-work days where you can do more testing, on the weekend or another day? Or, you could do the first shot at the nighttime schedule, when you can (by sacrificing sleep) stay up late if need be. Just a thought. And that's in addition to Kris' excellent point about finishing the transition to the 100% low-carb diet before starting insulin-- you don't want to delay insulin too long, but another couple of days is fine.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Re meter readings:
Your human meter will read lower overall than the pet meter your vet uses. You'll have to learn what number range is too high, too low or good on your human meter and forget trying to imagine what they'd be on a pet meter. Some people get around it by buying a pet meter and its $$$ strips strictly for doing a BG curve that the vet wants to see. They use a human meter the rest of the time.

I mentioned not starting the insulin until the only food provided is the canned low carb Fancy Feast. If he's still getting some dry, his BG could be higher because of that and the insulin dose you're giving, although good if dry food is available, could end up being too much once there's no dry food being fed. If your kitties like the wet food, switch both to that diet and after a couple of days, start your kitty's insulin.

Re testing schedule:
It might look something like this:
AM: test, feed, give insulin (no food 2 hours before this test)

PM: test, feed, give insulin (no food 2 hours before this test)

Before bed: test again

Days off: extra tests in the 3 to 7 hours post AM shot to get more data on the insulin dose's effect.

The main thing to be wary of is giving too much insulin and risking a hypo. If BG is too high for a bit that's not a huge problem. The way to keep your kitty safe is by getting that testing routine going.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Some of us here test a lot, some less. If you click on the links marked "spreadsheet" or "SS" in a lot of our signatures, you'll see one of the most useful tools on this site, a standardized spreadsheet where we can enter all the data for our cats. We put them in the signatures for other members to read, making it much easier for others to answer questions, etc.-- the whole blood glucose history of the cat is right there! You'll probably want to set up a spreadsheet for Pita (basic instructions are found in the "Health Links/FAQ" forum [Edit: whoops! Rather, the "Tech Support" forum-- sorry!]), but for now you can just spend some time clicking around to get an idea of how people test, what kinds of information they collect, etc. You'll probably notice that those of us who comment a lot on this site tend towards the "testaholic" end of the spectrum , but there's a big range.

 

[Caitlin M]

You are all god sends! Thank you! Yes, I just started to give them both wet food only, (Tuesday night) so I'll continue to do that. As of right now, I believe will start the Insulin on Saturday when I can be home. That gives another 3 full days of wet food only and I can maybe do a couple practice BG tests before I start to actually record and give shots. Plus side-I work at a school so this Friday is my last day until February 27! I'm not happy he was diagnosed, but I believe everything happens for a reason, so I am very happy to have all that time off where I can start to focus on understanding and practicing. I found that spreadsheet last night and will definitely set it up tonight. And as I said before, I think I'll have to start testing and ask you all what the numbers mean for the ReliOn meter!

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Love this plan!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

You are all god sends! Thank you! Yes, I just started to give them both wet food only, (Tuesday night) so I'll continue to do that. As of right now, I believe will start the Insulin on Saturday when I can be home. That gives another 3 full days of wet food only and I can maybe do a couple practice BG tests before I start to actually record and give shots. Plus side-I work at a school so this Friday is my last day until February 27! I'm not happy he was diagnosed, but I believe everything happens for a reason, so I am very happy to have all that time off where I can start to focus on understanding and practicing. I found that spreadsheet last night and will definitely set it up tonight. And as I said before, I think I'll have to start testing and ask you all what the numbers mean for the ReliOn meter!

Your mind set is excellent and that's more than half the battle! We're here to help as you go forward.