North Texas Senior Kitty

[Sanden]

My sassy, ever-mischievous part Siamese, all Tuxedo Chin-Chin is now my fellow diabetic. We are both on Lantus and while I'm a nurse? I have yet to test my little guys glucose out of fear of hurting his ears. He's getting his insulin twice a day, still demanding his treats, and refusing decent food.

Hoping to help out as I can here, perhaps donate some supplies to those having a tough time financially, and learn how to test Chinny's glucose as painlessly as possible.

I'm a nurse and full time Web portal developer for a large university system in Texas. I take insulin for steroid therapy needed for lupus.

Sanden

 

[Idjit's mom]

Hi and welcome to the board, Sanden and Chin-Chin. There is a wealth of information here about feline diabetes, and we sure do want to help you get started home testing. I have read that it doesn't hurt the cat's ears so much to test, as cats perhaps just don't like having their ears handled. But, it is critically important to test his BG to be sure it's safe to "shoot", to be aware of how the insulin is affecting him and to prevent a hypo. And the more you test, the easier it gets to get that little blood drop.

If you would, please create a signature that gives Chin-Chin's pertinent information with each post, here's a link: SIGNATURE

You can post questions in the Main Forum, and be sure to read the yellow tagged stickies at the top of the Lantus forum. Here are a couple of places that you can read about home testing:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm and http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
Most of our sugar cats have responded very well to home testing, especially with conditioning with treats. Some even run to the testing station when they hear the treat bag rattling or the testing kit come out!

 

[MilasDiabetes]

I am new too, but have lots of experience poking ears for blood Welcome, and i know your pain! it's frustrating every time, but it is so, so important. I sometimes have trouble with my girl because she has black ears and the blood doesn't always show up.

Mila is fussy but I have a window of time where she will just sit there grumpily. I usually have her between my legs on the floor and I sit on my heels so if she backs up, she can't escape under me. That's been helpful. But if I am taking too long then she darts. So I take comfort in knowing that she trusts me for at least a small amount of time. The trick is to just do it quick and be done! Afterwards Mila shakes her ear and will rub it, but within ~5 minutes she's over it. Especially if there is a treat involved.

Good luck it's so hard to hurt them but not doing it can hurt them even more.

 

[Squeaky and KT (GA)]

Welcome!

yet to test my little guys glucose out of fear of hurting his ears

Cats ears don't have the same nerve endings as humans - they don't hurt like you imagine. See this ear below? It's been used to test over 9.000 - yes that's NINE THOUSAND times. It hasn't fallen off yet... It's a little red as he'd decided to play 'let's go low' and had a few extra tests but it's usually not even red. I test at least 4 times a day.



I wouldn't give insulin without testing to be sure it's safe - he can't tell me but my meter does.

Again, welcome! Post any questions over in our main 'Health' forum, lots of people waiting to help.

 

[Sanden]

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, just took a snap of Chin-Chin, which incidentally is Mandarin for the traditional Chinese squeaky violin you hear in Chinese music. It fits my white chinned boy who has a set of lungs. He came to my rescue as an injured kitten intent on degloving his back leg requiring that he go to daily vet visits for aquatherapy and to be played with to keep his leg. He is very vocal, but loves watching cartoons and Bridezillas, go figure? So he demands TV, and being made into a purrito. He is 14, and very spoiled and animated. Let me work on his signature.

 

[JeanW]

Give low carb treats with - or immediately after - each testing/ear poke and your kitty will focus much more on the treat.

There's lots of tips here on testing - one thing that helps is to poke on the extreme outside edge of the ear. And always remember that ear pokes are so much better than not knowing what's going on inside with the BG level.

 

[Sanden]

Yesterday marked our first testing. A bit traumatic for us both, but with treats and tears I got it done. His glucose? A frightening 563. I gave him 1.5u of Lantus and his treats, a can of Fancy Feast grilled chicken which he shared with his bff Courage. This morning less trauma and no tears, his glucose was down to 344. Another can of Fancy Feast and a few treats, which incidentally are Temptations chicken. We're about to recheck his glucose again. He wants his treats now.

 

[JeanW]

Good job! Way to go on the testing. It gets much easier and less traumatic with time and practice.

Post in the Lantus forum on this board for expert help with this insulin and with dosing.

 

[Sanden]

Thank you.

Moving to Lantus board.