Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes.... (Australia)

[Daniela]

Hello everyone,

after Miro (european short hair, 11years old, desexed) lost in a few weeks 1.5kg we went to the Vet on Saturday and they did a "big blood test" and that showed Glucose 22.9mmol/l. That together with the fact that Miro was drinking more than normal and eating more as well we go the diagnose diabetes.

At the beginning we were shocked but then we started reading a lot about it. And now still a bit shocked but much better. I bought yesterday a Accu Check Nano and I'm doing hometesting to get a better idea about his results (with that my pharmaceutical education is very helpful).

A bit about us:
We (Daniela and Andreas) live in Melbourne (Australia) and have three boys. All brothers. 2 are 11years old (Miro and Gismo), one is 10 (Speedy). All desexed. All till now very healthy. Our cats get twice a day wet food and only a very little bit dry food before we go to bed. Till Sunday the got as wet food: Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Dine Desire, Wellness. We had to change from time to time because they are fussy and when it taste the same for a while they stop eating it. And as dry food Hills indoor or oral care.

With the diagnose on Sunday our Vet recommended a change to Hills Diabetic. Wet and Dry. Miro is accepting the dry food (its only a little bit at night anyway) but hates the wet food. So we changed yesterday the wet food to the wellness grain free. He knows it and loves it. So at the moment we have as wet food Wellness grain free and as dry food Hills diabetic. All three get the same food because separated the would not eat.

But that was not enough. Today we had to start with insulin. The Vet said we have to give him 2 Units Lantus twice a day.
The blood test we did last night (after we bought the meter) - 3h after feeding - was 18.8mmol/l
The blood test we did this morning (no food before) was 14.5mmol/l
I told the results the Vet but he said we have to start with insulin (injection today at 10am and 8pm and from tomorrow 8am and 8pm). With hypo in my mind we did a lot of testing today to make sure that Miro is ok.

What we have till now:
9am (before food): 14.5mmol/l
10am: 2 Units Lantus at the Wet
10.15am: Wellness Wet Food (he is always nibbler....)
11am: +1h 15.9mmol/l
12pm: +2h 13.5mmol/l
1pm: +3h 12.6mmol/l
2pm: +4h 12.9mmol/l
3pm: +5h 13.9mmol/l
4pm: +6h 14.0mmol/l
5pm: +7h 12.9mmol/l
6pm: +8h 11.5mmol/l
7pm: +9h 11.9mmol/l
7.45pm: Wellness Wet Food
8pm: 2 Units Lantus
9pm: +1 11.5mmol/l
next test will be 11pm before we go to bed.
He is in a good mood and very patient with the testing. Behaves like normal. Watching TV as normal and want to cuddle like always. So it looks like that he is fine.

So I hope that looks like a good start and I hope he will be ok....

Daniela

 

[misty1477]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Hi Daniela....Welcome to FDMB.

You are in the right place for answers to your questions (ask as many as you want) and help from the awesome members here.

Although I am not familiar with Lantus (my sugar-kitty is on ProZinc) or your numbers (I do not know conversion from your measurements to US ), I just wanted to welcome you and let you know that there are members here from other countries and Lantus-users that will be able to help you.

Please add Australia to your topic (by editing it) so other members know by first glance where you are from. You can also add info to your "signature" (Country/Insulin Type/Meter/Etc) by way of the "User Control Panel".

I will pop a post over to the Lantus board so someone there will know that you need help.

It is great that you are home-testing and indicated Miro's latest numbers in your post.

 

[Dr Schrodinger]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Hi Daniela,

Welcome! You have found the right place!

So Miro is continuing to eat the dry food? Dry food tends to be high in carbohydrates which will elevate blood glucose levels.

However, looking at what you have done so far, I have multiplied your values by 18, so our US cousins can understand them. I'm from the UK, and I use the same scale as you, but most people on this forum use the US system.

What we have till now:
9am (before food): 14.5mmol/l (261)
10am: 2 Units Lantus at the Wet
10.15am: Wellness Wet Food (he is always nibbler....)
11am: +1h 15.9mmol/l (x 18 = 286)
12pm: +2h 13.5mmol/l (243)
1pm: +3h 12.6mmol/l (227)
2pm: +4h 12.9mmol/l (233)
3pm: +5h 13.9mmol/l (250)
4pm: +6h 14.0mmol/l (252)
5pm: +7h 12.9mmol/l (232)
6pm: +8h 11.5mmol/l (207)
7pm: +9h 11.9mmol/l (214)
7.45pm: Wellness Wet Food
8pm: 2 Units Lantus
9pm: +1 11.5mmol/l (207)

Miro's numbers don't seem that high to me, for a newly diagnosed cat, anyway, and I am slightly concerned that the vet has started you off on 2 units of lantus. This seems like a high dose for the levels that Miro is showing. The lantus people will let you know more, though.

You're doing really well with the testing. Lantus can last a long time in the body, so his levels might get quite low overnight.

Have you left food out for him to eat?

Juliet

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Welcome to FDMB! This really is the best place to get help with feline diabetes. You are off to a great start with giving shots and testing. Well done! How much does Miro weigh and what should he weigh? We usually recommend 0.25u per kg of body weight and hold that dose for 5 to 7 days and then decide if he needs more insulin. If he ever goes below 50 mg/dL = 2.8 mmol/l, then you should reduce by 0.25u.
Liz, Zener's other mom

 

[Daniela]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Hi Daniela....Welcome to FDMB.

You are in the right place for answers to your questions (ask as many as you want) and help from the awesome members here.

Although I am not familiar with Lantus (my sugar-kitty is on ProZinc) or your numbers (I do not know conversion from your measurements to US ), I just wanted to welcome you and let you know that there are members here from other countries and Lantus-users that will be able to help you.

Please add Australia to your topic (by editing it) so other members know by first glance where you are from. You can also add info to your "signature" (Country/Insulin Type/Meter/Etc) by way of the "User Control Panel".

I will pop a post over to the Lantus board so someone there will know that you need help.

It is great that you are home-testing and indicated Miro's latest numbers in your post.

Thank you very much. I added Australia to my topic and Miros spread sheet to the signature. I will add a the other information tomorrow - It's nearly 12as here....

 

[Daniela]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Hi Daniela,

Welcome! You have found the right place!

So Miro is continuing to eat the dry food? Dry food tends to be high in carbohydrates which will elevate blood glucose levels.

However, looking at what you have done so far, I have multiplied your values by 18, so our US cousins can understand them. I'm from the UK, and I use the same scale as you, but most people on this forum use the US system.

What we have till now:
9am (before food): 14.5mmol/l (261)
10am: 2 Units Lantus at the Wet
10.15am: Wellness Wet Food (he is always nibbler....)
11am: +1h 15.9mmol/l (x 18 = 286)
12pm: +2h 13.5mmol/l (243)
1pm: +3h 12.6mmol/l (227)
2pm: +4h 12.9mmol/l (233)
3pm: +5h 13.9mmol/l (250)
4pm: +6h 14.0mmol/l (252)
5pm: +7h 12.9mmol/l (232)
6pm: +8h 11.5mmol/l (207)
7pm: +9h 11.9mmol/l (214)
7.45pm: Wellness Wet Food
8pm: 2 Units Lantus
9pm: +1 11.5mmol/l (207)

Miro's numbers don't seem that high to me, for a newly diagnosed cat, anyway, and I am slightly concerned that the vet has started you off on 2 units of lantus. This seems like a high dose for the levels that Miro is showing. The lantus people will let you know more, though.

You're doing really well with the testing. Lantus can last a long time in the body, so his levels might get quite low overnight.

Have you left food out for him to eat?

Juliet

Thank you.
I will try to post both scales for the future....
Yes, our cats are getting a little bit Hills diabetic as good night treat. But just a half hand full for three cats. All other food is wet food. I hope he is not getting too low tonight. After a +3 of 4.2mmol/l (76) we gave a bit additional food and we will leave some food out for the night. Hope he will be ok. Is our first insuline night

 

[Daniela]

Re: Ok, Miro is diagnosed with diabetes....

Welcome to FDMB! This really is the best place to get help with feline diabetes. You are off to a great start with giving shots and testing. Well done! How much does Miro weigh and what should he weigh? We usually recommend 0.25u per kg of body weight and hold that dose for 5 to 7 days and then decide if he needs more insulin. If he ever goes below 50 mg/dL = 2.8 mmol/l, then you should reduce by 0.25u.
Liz, Zener's other mom

Miros weight is 4.3kg at the moment. He lost around 1.5kg in a few weeks. Normal for him is 5.6-5.7kg. The last test was +3 4.2mmol/l (76)

 

[Dr Schrodinger]

OK, so he's responding well to his insulin. If, at +3, he is already 'in the greens' (a normal BG number for a cat), then he may well sink too low. He's had 2 units, yes?

The nadir for lantus may come in a few hours time, so I would keep testing as he continues to drop & feeding him to prevent a hypo.

You may be in for a long night, I'm afraid.

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

Do you have karo syrup or honey? If he goes below 50, give him a two drops of honey with a teaspoon of food and re-test in 30 minutes. Don't give too much food because you may need him to eat later on so you want to keep him a little hungry. Great job!
Liz

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I love your terminology - desexed....in the US (I drive my European friends crazy saying in the US ;-) )

Anyway, in the US, we use the term spayed for female and neutered for male instead of desexed.....or the generic term fixed when an animal has been desexed as you call it....

If you are able to remove the dry food completely, I will bet you will start seeing much better BG numbers. Also, you don't need to spend the money to buy prescription food. It really isn't anything special, just expensive and doesn't do any more than regular food.

And don't believe the hype that dry food is good for dental care. It really isn't. The best correlation is it's the same as you eating pretzels or potato chips - it's tasty, but doesn't do anything to help your teeth. Only brushing the teeth help, and it's the same with cats. Never to late to start brushing their teeth, if you are interested in pursuing it.

The food you are feeding: Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Dine Desire, Wellness. Do you know if these are the low carb varieties? We don't have Dine Desire here, but basically you want to get foods that do not contain gravy or sauces, wheat, flour, peas, potatoes, rice, etc. (items that are considered carbs).

Have you seen the food chart? While it is mainly referring to US brands, you may find the Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Wellness that you use on the list and can see what the carb content is.

Here is a link to the food comparison chart.

www.catinfo.org - look on the right side of page - for Food Comparison Chart.

Also, you may find reading her website helpful, not only does she talk about dry food and why it's bad, she talks about using antibiotics, convenia shots, UTI's and more that you may find useful. At a minimum bookmark the link, so you can refer to it in the future.

Here is the same food chart list, but sorted a little differently.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=93005

 

[BJM]

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.

< 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L) {< 70 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Treat as if HYPO if on insulin
- At nadir (lowest point between shots) in a long term diabetic (more than a year), may earn a reduction.

< 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) {< 80 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- If before nadir, steer with food, ie, give modest amounts of medium carb food to keep from going below 50 (2.8).
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned.

50 - 130 mg/dL (2.8 - 7.2 mmol/L) {80 - 160 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- On insulin - great control when following a tight regulation protocol.
- Off insulin - normal numbers. (May even go as low as the upper 30s (1.7 mmol/L){60s for an AlphaTrak}; if not on insulin, this can be safe.

> 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {> 180 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed when following a tight regulation protocol.

200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) {230 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- no shot level for beginners; may slowly reduce to 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {180 mg/dL} for long-acting insulins (Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc) as data collection shows it is safe

180 - 280 mg/dL (10 - 15.6 mmol/L) {may be 210 - 310 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine.
- Test for ketones, glucose is too high.

>= 280 mg/dL (15.6 mmol/L) {may be >=310 mf/dL for an AlphaTrak}, if for most of the cycle between shots
- Uncontrolled diabetes and thus at risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis
- Follow your insulin protocol for dose adjustments
- Test for ketones; if more than a trace level of ketones, go to vet ASAP.

 

[Daniela]

OK, so he's responding well to his insulin. If, at +3, he is already 'in the greens' (a normal BG number for a cat), then he may well sink too low. He's had 2 units, yes?

The nadir for lantus may come in a few hours time, so I would keep testing as he continues to drop & feeding him to prevent a hypo.

You may be in for a long night, I'm afraid.

After the +3 4.2 we offered him a bit wet food and a bit dry food (luckily he has choosen the wet). The +4 went to 4.1 but the +6 was already back on 6.9. So the night was not too bad. This morning we started with a 11.8 so I gave the vet a call if I really should give him again 2 units. I'm waiting for the call back now....
Just got the call back. We decrease to 1Unit twice a day. Let's have a look how that works....

 

[Daniela]

Do you have karo syrup or honey? If he goes below 50, give him a two drops of honey with a teaspoon of food and re-test in 30 minutes. Don't give too much food because you may need him to eat later on so you want to keep him a little hungry. Great job!
Liz

Yes, we have honey and dextro-energy at home, but we were lucky. The lowest was 4.1mmol/l (73.8) :smile: Now the vet decreased to 1Unit twice a day

 

[Daniela]

I love your terminology - desexed....in the US (I drive my European friends crazy saying in the US ;-) )

Anyway, in the US, we use the term spayed for female and neutered for male instead of desexed.....or the generic term fixed when an animal has been desexed as you call it....

If you are able to remove the dry food completely, I will bet you will start seeing much better BG numbers. Also, you don't need to spend the money to buy prescription food. It really isn't anything special, just expensive and doesn't do any more than regular food.

And don't believe the hype that dry food is good for dental care. It really isn't. The best correlation is it's the same as you eating pretzels or potato chips - it's tasty, but doesn't do anything to help your teeth. Only brushing the teeth help, and it's the same with cats. Never to late to start brushing their teeth, if you are interested in pursuing it.

The food you are feeding: Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Dine Desire, Wellness. Do you know if these are the low carb varieties? We don't have Dine Desire here, but basically you want to get foods that do not contain gravy or sauces, wheat, flour, peas, potatoes, rice, etc. (items that are considered carbs).

Have you seen the food chart? While it is mainly referring to US brands, you may find the Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Wellness that you use on the list and can see what the carb content is.

Here is a link to the food comparison chart.

http://www.catinfo.org - look on the right side of page - for Food Comparison Chart.

Also, you may find reading her website helpful, not only does she talk about dry food and why it's bad, she talks about using antibiotics, convenia shots, UTI's and more that you may find useful. At a minimum bookmark the link, so you can refer to it in the future.

Here is the same food chart list, but sorted a little differently.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=93005

yes, desexed. That is really how it is called here in Victoria ;-) So why should I call it something else.....

As I wrote, the dry food is only a little hand full (which is around 1/4 hills cup) at night time for three cats. We never gave lots of dry food. We can't cut it off. We have to leave food out for Miro if he is getting too low. If we would do that with wet food Gismo would eat it all just because it is there. That is different with the dry food. Next morning there is always a bit left. I think sometimes we have to compromise....

We are not longer feeding whiskas (it was the 11+), fancy feast or dine desire. On Tuesday (before we started with the insulin) we changed the wet food completely to Wellness. Thank you for the link. I have seen the link to that chart in other posts and have already read it and the webpage (as I mentioned in my post - I did a lot of reading in the last days). And we googled a lot. That is why we changed to Wellness. It is low carb, grain free and he likes it. Yes I know, some of the fency feast are good as well, but that are the ones he doens't like. He would love to have the gravy ones but they are not good for him. A few years ago we tried to change to raw food, but it was not working. My cats have a strong mind and sometimes you have to meet half way.... So Wellness is at the moment the best option for us.

 

[Daniela]

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.

< 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L) {< 70 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Treat as if HYPO if on insulin
- At nadir (lowest point between shots) in a long term diabetic (more than a year), may earn a reduction.

< 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) {< 80 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- If before nadir, steer with food, ie, give modest amounts of medium carb food to keep from going below 50 (2.8).
- At nadir, often indicates dose reduction is earned.

50 - 130 mg/dL (2.8 - 7.2 mmol/L) {80 - 160 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- On insulin - great control when following a tight regulation protocol.
- Off insulin - normal numbers. (May even go as low as the upper 30s (1.7 mmol/L){60s for an AlphaTrak}; if not on insulin, this can be safe.

> 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {> 180 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- At nadir, indicates a dose increase may be needed when following a tight regulation protocol.

200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) {230 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- no shot level for beginners; may slowly reduce to 150 mg/dL (8.3 mmol/L) {180 mg/dL} for long-acting insulins (Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc) as data collection shows it is safe

180 - 280 mg/dL (10 - 15.6 mmol/L) {may be 210 - 310 mg/dL for an AlphaTrak}
- Any time - The renal threshold (depending on data source and cat's renal function) where glucose spills into the urine.
- Test for ketones, glucose is too high.

>= 280 mg/dL (15.6 mmol/L) {may be >=310 mf/dL for an AlphaTrak}, if for most of the cycle between shots
- Uncontrolled diabetes and thus at risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and hepatic lipidosis
- Follow your insulin protocol for dose adjustments
- Test for ketones; if more than a trace level of ketones, go to vet ASAP.

Thanks a lot for all the information. As agreed with our vet, we are using the Accu Check Nano. And till now, it looks like that it is working well

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

hello and welcome to the board!

The Wellness canned is a good choice as its low carb. How about trying the original grain free dry wellness instead of the hIlls as a snack? Its lower carb - you can return the hills dry to the vet as they have a take back guarantee.

Its amazing how long just a tablespoon of dry can hang around in a cats system (over 24 hours) and can spike the blood glucose a lot. Just that one tweak to wellness dry may be enough to bring him down into normal levels..and if you can wean him off the dry you might even see remission

It will be good to see how this 1 unit dose goes. The key to Lantus is consistent dosing as it is a depot insulin and takes a few days to build up to normal levels in a cats system (or drain out) before you see the impact of a dose change so I am glad you reduced the dose as really the 2units hadnt kicked in fully!! i would hold this dose unless he drops under 50 in which case I would reduce immediately by 0.25 units. And as a newbie I wouldnt shoot under 200 for now until you have enough data to know how he will behave! If in doubt come on here and ask.

Maybe read this protocol: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

keep us updated!

Wendy

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hello Daniela and sugar kitty Miro and welcome to the FDMB! I see you have already received a lot of suggestions.

ECID. Every Cat Is Different. You need to find what works for your cat. If that is a bit of dry food left out at night, then that is what you should do. We just suggest it is a low carb dry food.

Glad to hear your vet decreased the Lantus dose to 1U. That is the starting dose our protocol would have suggested, based on Miro's weight.

Since a cat is more than a set of numbers, how are the 5 P's peeing, pooping, purring, preening, playing and his appetite?

 

[Daniela]

hello and welcome to the board!

The Wellness canned is a good choice as its low carb. How about trying the original grain free dry wellness instead of the hIlls as a snack? Its lower carb - you can return the hills dry to the vet as they have a take back guarantee.

Its amazing how long just a tablespoon of dry can hang around in a cats system (over 24 hours) and can spike the blood glucose a lot. Just that one tweak to wellness dry may be enough to bring him down into normal levels..and if you can wean him off the dry you might even see remission

It will be good to see how this 1 unit dose goes. The key to Lantus is consistent dosing as it is a depot insulin and takes a few days to build up to normal levels in a cats system (or drain out) before you see the impact of a dose change so I am glad you reduced the dose as really the 2units hadnt kicked in fully!! i would hold this dose unless he drops under 50 in which case I would reduce immediately by 0.25 units. And as a newbie I wouldnt shoot under 200 for now until you have enough data to know how he will behave! If in doubt come on here and ask.

Maybe read this protocol: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

keep us updated!

Wendy

Hallo Wendy,
thank you for your post.
We changed the dry food yesterday and till now he likes the Wellness dry food
I'm not sure how it goes with the lantos... Mostly the level is coming down (it's still a bit a up and down), but the morning data are going up and up and up. And we have no idea why :-(
Daniela

 

[Daniela]

Hello Daniela and sugar kitty Miro and welcome to the FDMB! I see you have already received a lot of suggestions.

ECID. Every Cat Is Different. You need to find what works for your cat. If that is a bit of dry food left out at night, then that is what you should do. We just suggest it is a low carb dry food.

Glad to hear your vet decreased the Lantus dose to 1U. That is the starting dose our protocol would have suggested, based on Miro's weight.

Since a cat is more than a set of numbers, how are the 5 P's peeing, pooping, purring, preening, playing and his appetite?

Thank you for your post

We have three cats and yes, ECID

Yesterday we changed from Hills Diabetic dry food to the wellness dry food. at the moment he likes it.

The 5P's:
peeing: more then the other two, but not "running to the toilet all the time".
pooping: normal
purring: normal
preening: normal
playing: a lot
appetite: more than he had as he was healthy

And he puts on a bit weight again
But we are not sure about the data. Most data are going down slowly but the morning result is going higher and higher and higher. And we have no idea why :-(

 

[Deb & Wink]

Looks to me like Miro is going really low at night. That causes his body to panic, release counter regulatory hormones and pump the numbers back up to what the body considers normal. We call it a bounce.

Like last night, he dropped to 85 at +3 and probably dropped even lower by +6. Would it be possible to set an alarm and test around +5 to +6 at night? Thinking that Miro may actually have gone low enough to have earned a reduction, but we don't know for sure.

That looks to be at least a partial explanation for what is going on.

The clinical signs, those 5 P's, are looking very good! Remember, Miro is more than a set of numbers.

If it is no0t possible to get a mid-cycle test at night, you might want too consider dropping the dose down to 0.75U anyway and see how it goes.

 

[Daniela]

Looks to me like Miro is going really low at night. That causes his body to panic, release counter regulatory hormones and pump the numbers back up to what the body considers normal. We call it a bounce.

Like last night, he dropped to 85 at +3 and probably dropped even lower by +6. Would it be possible to set an alarm and test around +5 to +6 at night? Thinking that Miro may actually have gone low enough to have earned a reduction, but we don't know for sure.

That looks to be at least a partial explanation for what is going on.

The clinical signs, those 5 P's, are looking very good! Remember, Miro is more than a set of numbers.

If it is no0t possible to get a mid-cycle test at night, you might want too consider dropping the dose down to 0.75U anyway and see how it goes.

Ohhh, of course I will get up tonight (+6) and will do a test. It would be great if he would be ready to reduce...
I had to buy new syringes yesterday.... we use at the moment the BD Ultra Fine II (0.5ml / 50 Units for U-100).... that is what we got from the vet.... it's already very hard to do 1 Unit with it, so we went to the pharmacy to buy smaller ones..... they said they don't have smaller ones.... could that be? May I ask what syringe you use, because I have seen that you had a very low dose as well.

 

[Deb & Wink]

I live in the US, so there are 3/10 cc insulin syringes available with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel. I don't believe these are available in Australia. It makes it a bit easier to get those 0.25U increments. Some people also use calipers to measure the dose.

Bottom line, you try to be consistent on the measuring of the dose, no matter what syringes you use. You do the best you can.

You don't have to test every night at +5 to +6, but if Miro seems to be especially lower at +2 to +3, it may be worth it to set the alarm for a later night time test. We hate to ask people to do this, but sometimes, it provides some very useful information.

I did this set the alarm and get up to test for my foster cat Wink, and would do it for another sugarkitty when needed.

 

[Daniela]

I live in the US, so there are 3/10 cc insulin syringes available with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel. I don't believe these are available in Australia. It makes it a bit easier to get those 0.25U increments. Some people also use calipers to measure the dose.

Bottom line, you try to be consistent on the measuring of the dose, no matter what syringes you use. You do the best you can.

You don't have to test every night at +5 to +6, but if Miro seems to be especially lower at +2 to +3, it may be worth it to set the alarm for a later night time test. We hate to ask people to do this, but sometimes, it provides some very useful information.

I did this set the alarm and get up to test for my foster cat Wink, and would do it for another sugarkitty when needed.

I had a look at the internet and it looks like that we don't have that syringes in Australia :-( Ok, I worte an email to BD today, to ask for help. Maybe there is a chance to get them....

And even if we would have to get up each night we would it. We would do everything for our cats.

 

[Daniela]

I live in the US, so there are 3/10 cc insulin syringes available with 1/2 unit markings on the barrel. I don't believe these are available in Australia. It makes it a bit easier to get those 0.25U increments. Some people also use calipers to measure the dose.

Bottom line, you try to be consistent on the measuring of the dose, no matter what syringes you use. You do the best you can.

You don't have to test every night at +5 to +6, but if Miro seems to be especially lower at +2 to +3, it may be worth it to set the alarm for a later night time test. We hate to ask people to do this, but sometimes, it provides some very useful information.

I did this set the alarm and get up to test for my foster cat Wink, and would do it for another sugarkitty when needed.

I had a look at the internet and it looks like that we don't have that syringes in Australia :-( Ok, I worte an email to BD today, to ask for help. Maybe there is a chance to get them....

And even if we would have to get up each night we would it. We would do everything for our cats.

Ok, he is really too low. I will test him tonight, but +3PM is already 3.7 That is the lowest we had till now. I hope he is not going into a hypo tonight. At the moment he is eating his Wellness dry food.

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Can you get another test at +4? If he hits 2.8 we will need to start bringing him up.
Wendy

 

[Daniela]

Can you get another test at +4? If he hits 2.8 we will need to start bringing him up.
Wendy

Sorry, I didn't see the message in time :-( I did the +6 and that was 11.8mmol/l. His second peak is always higher then the first one. I'm not sure if he really dropped lower then the 3.7mmol/l because after the +3 he was eating quite a lot. Could the first PM-peak cause a bounce?

 

[Deb & Wink]

Yes, the first PM peak or nadir, could definitely cause a bounce.

Not all kitties nadir in that +5 to +7 hour time frame. My Wink liked an early nadir at around +4, sometimes +3.5. ohmygod_smile

 

[Daniela]

Yes, the first PM peak or nadir, could definitely cause a bounce.

Not all kitties nadir in that +5 to +7 hour time frame. My Wink liked an early nadir at around +4, sometimes +3.5. ohmygod_smile

ok, so Miro has maybe an early nadir. That would match. He always does what he wants ;-) I called the vet this morning, to ask if we could try to reduce, but she is not in yet. So I have to wait for a call back