Peculiar readings...please advise

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Mary O

Mary O

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Ok, so this is weird. 6 a.m. reading was 197, no insulin given. Nadir reading 240. 6 p.m. before meal reading 196. I don't think I should give insulin, but then I haven't given any insulin since 6 p.m. yesterday and only 1 drop.
 
Hi Mary, I would give Toes a little bit of insulin, just to bring him down a little bit more.
If it were my kitty I would go with 0.10U.
But I can understand (you just started out with this whole sugar dance) that you may not feel comfortable giving insulin. The 'rule' is for a new diabetic to not shoot below 200, and if you have more data on your kitty you can drop that to 150. But in this case it's so close to 200 I would just give a little bit.
What does your gut tell you?
 
My gut says not to, but primarily because I don't even know how in the world I would give such a small dose.
 
What kind of syringes do you use? You can give those micro doses with an U100 syringe, that works the best!
 
I am really confused now. It is U100 insulin needs. The first number of the needle is a 5 and there are 4 small lines above it. Yesterday I gave 1/2 between the first line and the top. I thought the 1st line was 1 unit.
 
See this picture I just made. The left one is the U100 syringe and the right one is the u40.
The left one goes up from 0 to 100 and the right one from 0 to 40. Can you see it?
image.jpeg
 
Yes it does excist but I will highly recommend you to switch to or u40 (for bigger dosing) or u100 (for small micro dosing such as 0.10 or 0.25)
 
Those are interesting numbers. We generally say that readings can be +/- 20%, so those numbers are all in the same range. Very close to 200 .

Up to you, Mary. It's overnight and if you want to skip, do. If you want to give some insulin, maybe try the drop(s) we discussed last night.

Info - did you give 0.25 last night or a drop?

The needles reflect the kind of insulin. PRoZinc comes in U40 strength; PZI can come in U100 strength or U40. What does your insulin say?
 
Hey Mary! Things are looking good for you! I think skipping was the right choice. In the end, no matter what advice we give here, you hold the syringe. You have to be comfortable. Overnight, I was always more conservative with the dose. Even if I set an alarm, I didn't want any surprises so I could get some sleep. :) Toes is looking really good...I'm interested in her AMPS!

I'm back to work tomorrow, so I'll be available here from about 5ish AM to around 6:30 AM Central Time. I know your shot is usually 6:30 your time, which is 5:30 my time. All this to say, if you post and I don't reply right away, know that I probably will. Depending on whether I wake up with my alarm or at my more normal 15 minutes early...I might be feeding the cats and obtaining the coffee, but I will surely be there pretty fast. :)
 
Rachel, I am even more perplexed than ever. This morning's reading was 92. I pulled out another strip and tested again with the same blood drip that was still on her ear (which I didn't know if I should do or if it was already too old) and it said 102. Either way, I did not give more insulin. Yesterday she ate a full can of Fancy Feast classic. 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening. Maybe this isn't enough food and that has something to do with her low readings? Also, I have a vet appointment at 9 a.m. this morning. They will want to know what her readings are, but since I have switched to the human meter I don't know if the readings will mean anything to them and they will ask why I switched to the human meter. On a positive note, Toes seems to be feeling well.
 
WOW! Okay, first I have to get this out of my system. GO TOES!!!!

First, it's fine to use the same drop of blood. Plenty of people do that when they can. And it was great that you immediately got another reading! That way you know for sure it was correct.

If the vet gives you a hard time about the human meter, maybe just nicely let them know that the strips are much cheaper? My vet encouraged me to use a human meter. In the end, it is your decision what to do. Don't let them give you a hard time about it. I know my vet gave me flak for not using prescription food and I just listened and then did what I wanted. :)

Food....I THINK most folks give a full can of FF (they're 3 oz right?). I used friskies and gave half a can in the AM and half in the PM since they were 5.5 oz. Maybe ask your vet about that? Just to be sure you're feeding the right amount for your cat?

Mary, I do want to draw your attention to one thing. LOOK at how far you've come! Just in a few days, you woke up, got a low reading, immediately retested, and knew not to shoot. You're doing a wonderful job and you're already learning what to do for Toes! She is so lucky to have you!
 
Thanks Rachel! It is just my nature to worry even though this is a good reading. She hasn't even been diagnosed for a week and now I already haven't had to give insulin in 36 hours. It just seems odd to me???
 
Great number!:D For food, how much does Toes weigh? Is she over or under weight? Many weigh their cats weekly to see of they are gaining or losing weight and adjust the food accordingly. @Bobbie And Bubba can tell you a formula to give you an idea on how much food Toes needs.
 
Who knows? Some kitties come in here and go OTJ in a few weeks. Some kitties take a long time to even get to regulation. It does seem nuts but I believe if you catch it early, just a little insulin can kick start the pancreas and pull them back in! Check out Ruby and Baco's SS. Baco was in high numbers for a bit and then BAM! One day, the numbers came down and now Baco is OTJ!
 
Sharon14 said:
Great number!:D For food, how much does Toes weigh? Is she over or under weight? Many weigh their cats weekly to see of they are gaining or losing weight and adjust the food accordingly. @Bobbie And Bubba can tell you a formula to give you an idea on how much food Toes needs.
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She was 11.5 pounds last Tuesday when she was diagnosed. She had been overweight pretty much all of her life but lost quite a bit of weight recently, which was one of the reasons why I took her in to the vet. She does have quite a bit of dandruff and her coat is not nearly as nice. I am hoping this will improve now that she is being treated.
 
Who Hoo! I agree. She may be one of the lucky ones that with diet and a little bit of insulin goes into remission. Lovely normal range number this morning with no insulin present.

I am with Rachel. First, mention to the vet that you have been carefully monitoring her numbers (and in the process, saving her from several hypos) with a meter you can afford. You know it will not read exactly with his pet one (we know pet meters read a little differently than human ones but because we are looking at ranges and patterns, it works out fine) You could take along your meter and test it on the same sample of blood he does to see the variance and then tell him you can work with that. (And maybe tell him you ran out of the AT strips when you really needed them to avoid low numbers and that they can't be bought over the counter)

My kitty is not diabetic and weighs 11 pounds and is not very active (not burning off many calories). I He gets two cans of Fancy Feast daily.
 
I just got back from the vet. The vet said Toes must be in that small percentage of cats who goes into remission shortly after diagnosis and can be controlled with diet change alone. She had no ketones, no glucose in her urine and her reading on their glucometer was 162. All very encouraging and I'm not complaining or mean to sound ungrateful. However, I have spent $1300 in the past week at the vet and I am just wondering if we should have tried controlling with diet before putting her on insulin, which led to her going hypo without me having any experience, buy 2 different glucometers and all kinds of supplies/insulin, etc. Anyway, I will continue to monitor her closely but hopefully she is indeed in remission and will continue to be controlled on the diet change.
 
There is no way to know. Sometimes a harsh hypo throws them into remission; sometimes they only need a little bit of insulin and a diet change.

So we consider a cat in remission if they range from 40-120 off insulin for 2 weeks. Fingers and paws crossed for good numbers!
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
There is no way to know. Sometimes a harsh hypo throws them into remission; sometimes they only need a little bit of insulin and a diet change.

So we consider a cat in remission if they range from 40-120 off insulin for 2 weeks. Fingers and paws crossed for good numbers!
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Okay, good to know. How many times a day do you think I should test. I just tested at +11 and she was 110.
 
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You might test a couple times a day. It is possible that she will need a few tiny doses every once in a while in this process - if she gets in the 200 range.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
You might test a couple times a day. It is possible that she will need a few tiny doses every once in a while in this process - if she gets in the 200 range.
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Toes was at 192 this morning. I think she might have gotten into some of the dogs hard food last night. I will test her again at +4.
 
Hi Mary, I hope you see Toes slide down and the dry dog food can sure play havoc on the numbers. Fingers and paws crossed that she comes down by +4 .
 
Ugh, +4 was 253. I keep the dry dog food on the floor of my pantry. Someone must have left the door open last night and this morning when I got up a hole had been chewed through the bottom of the bag. I have 2 cats and I was hoping Toes wasn't the one who chewed through and possibly did not have any of the food, but I don't know for sure. When do you suggest I test again? And should I wait until the before dinner feeding to give insulin if it is above 200?

I will definitely put food up from now on!!!
 
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I'd wait till tonight. If it was the dry food, then she might drop later. If she is still above 200 tonight, maybe a drop?

Don't get discouraged. If it wasn't the food, she may just need a little help from insulin. This usually isn't an either/or thing. Sometimes they have good numbers for awhile and then their pancreas takes a rest. So it needs some insulin to help out.

Time will help.
 
I know it's disappointing. But remember if it is the dry food, this shows you that it can really mess her up!

If it's not, like Sue said, it might just be that the pancreas need help. Toes is showing that she can go OTJ and that's great!
 
Oh that is really frustrating, I can imagine that. Hopefully Toes numbers are great again the next cycle.
:bighug:
 
So yesterday before p.m. meal Toes was 173, so I did not shoot. This morning before a.m. meal she was 248, so I gave a drop. This is the first amount of insulin I have had to give since last Saturday. Still cautiously optimistic about her going OTJ.
 
Those are still great numbers! Hopefully it was just the dry food and you won't need insulin tonight. Toes is doing wonderful!
 
Okay, so +9 she is up to 239. I am thinking her before dinner check is going to be above 200. Would you give another drop or would you give more?
 
Rachel said:
Yep, that should be fine. :) I'm sorry she's got some higher numbers, but just remember that she's done well so far and is still not in terrible numbers.
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Rachel, when you have a chance will you look at Toes spreadsheet and tell me if you think I should be doing anything differently. Thanks!
 
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