Picky eating and glucose testing

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Nancy C

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So Sunday and Gus is home. He had a hypo episode yesterday which I thankfully recognized thanks to his behavior. He ate fine, took his shot fine (3 units of Prozinc) at 7:30am and then about an hour later he drank too much water and threw up. It was mostly water so I didnt worry. Went to my nieces horse riding lesson and lunch and came home at 1. Gus was on the living room floor limp as a noodle. I tried to get him to eat, he didnt want it, so i fetched my Karo syrup and rubbed it all into his mouth and off we went to see Dr. P. We got there and his BG was 18!!!! OMG!! So off he goes for IV glucose and a bowl of dextrose and water. He stayed overnight and I picked him up around noon today. He was quite frisky on the way home, alot of head bumping through the cage. He had some food when he got in and some water. I went out for about a half hour and came home to a little loose stool. So I tried to feed him again and he didnt want it. Spent a good amount of time walking around and now hes just resting on his sink. I attempted to test his BG but couldnt get enough blood. He growled at me so I didnt want to push it. He should be eating around 7:30ish EST. Doc said feed him, wait half hour to make sure he keeps it down then shoot. My questions, how much food is enough to shoot? Do I test BG before AND after food. What exactly is the number I want to see. I bought the REliOn Prime from Walmart. Im so confused about the testing and numbers. I dont want another hypo. And does anyone have experience with Prozinc? When should he start improving? The doc dropped his dose, do I test mid way between his next shot? Help!!http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/posting.php?mode=post&f=28#
 
First he needs to eat. Is there a treat you could give him - some cooked chicken or tuna? Sometimes, silly as it sounds, they will eat the wet food off your fingers and then start eating on their own.

Re the dose. Well. Definitely less than 3 units. :-D Are you heating the ear before poking? If you don't get blood the first time, you can do a quick second poke in the same place. When you can get a number, then we can decide on dose. If he is over 200, one unit might be a good place to start. It's much better to start low and increase slowly by small amounts as the numbers guide you rather than start with a big dose (like the 3 units) and have him hypo.
 
The Doc says he wants him to do the 2 units twice a day but if he throws up, am I supposed to just give him 1 unit? Im so confused because of everyone doing their own dosing. The Doc had him for a week trying to get his numbers right and at one point he was at 4 units. His BG was off the charts! I will try warming up the ear and sticking him again. I just found the picture online of the ear "sweet spot"hoping he lets me get some blood. I hate to stress him out further but I feel I am not being procactive enough. Off I go to test.
 
Ok, used the warm washcloth in a baggie trick....got a sample! He tested 118. He had a shot from the vet at around 8:30 and I brought him home at 12:30 where he had a little bit of food, maybe 2 tablespoons or so and a little bit of baby food. Its now 5:30pm est and he will be eating at 7. When should I test. I just want to get this right. I work all day and I dont want to come home to a limp noodle again!
 
yay! Congratulations on the test!

118 was how many hours since his shot?

You want to test before every single shot. If he is under 200 you want to come on here and ask for someone to walk you through it as shooting low is an art at first.

You also should aim for a midcycle test ( somewhere +5 to +7) every day if your schedule allows. Plus a before bed test ( 2-3 hours after night shot) to see what his nighttime plans are. If you work during the week and arent home mid-cycle then preshot and before bed test is good and do more testing at weekend.

Wendy
 
He had his last shot this morning around 8:30am est. So its been about 9 hours since his last shot. Normally he eats pretty good so Im hoping he does well with his dinner. So I should test before he eats and then before bed. I cant come home midday so I will go by your guidelines for BG testing.
 
Great! 118 is a nice number. So his shot should be about 8:30. Test him then and post. At some point you'll want to coordinate his eating, test and shot. The sequence is test, food and shot. Food raises bg levels and we want a number uninfluenced by food.

Our no shoot number is 200 for new diabetics. If he is 200 or under, wait 20 minutes with no food and retest. You want to be sure he is rising and over 200. Even if he is a little higher tonight, I would be cautious. Some cats are sensitive to insulin after a hypo. It is better to shoot less, test and gradually raise the dose over time than risk a hypo. You can always increase the dose next cycle; you can't get the insulin out of the cat once you shoot.
 
I have to leave for work tomorrow at 7:30. Are there rules to moving his shots back? I would ideally like to feed him at 6:15-6:30 then shoot half hour later and that way I can watch him before I go to work. So youre saying I should test him first then feed him and then depending on the BG number give him his shot. Can I feed him at seven and do the shot at 7:30ish? Will that cause alot of problems?
The Doc said I could move him around a bit as long as the shot is within 10-12 hours. That being said, what is the number Im looking for when I test tonight? And thanks for all your help.....
 
I was thinking 8:30 would get us close to far enough from the food tonight (we generally think 2 hours after food and the number is clear). It is best to switch times 30 minutes a cycle until you get to where you want. So the earliest you could test and shoot tomorrow would be 8am. You could feed him at 6 am and the number shouldn't be food influenced. Would that work? Then tomorrow night you could try 7:30 pm. (this is all dependent on whether he has high enough numbers to shoot)
 
so youre saying i may not have to shoot tonight? Im soooo overwhelmed right now. So I test him and if he is under 200, I need to wait 20 minutes before feeding him then test again. Hes acting normally today so Im pleased with that. I asked the doctor if I should test and he said I could but it wasnt necessary. I feel like Im more in control of the situation by testing.
 
Let's see where he is tonight and then talk.

The testing really helps. If you know what his levels are, you don't have to worry about whether he mght be too high or too low. That's the first step. Then you'll find as you get numbers and put them in your spreadsheet (if you want me to set one up for you, I'd be happy to) you'll be able to look back and see what happened with his numbers for a specific dose. That will help you figure out whether he needs more or less insulin. It's all about collecting and analyzing data. And we'll help.
 
Where would I find the spread sheet? Cant I just record his numbers? Im not really a charting kind of person. I think that might be easier for me to manage.... Ive recorded when he ate and his shots this am (which was at the Vets) and the test at 5:45 in his notebook. Ill continue to do so.
 
The spreadsheet is for us to see what the dose is, what the BG numbers are, see if you need another test somewhere, see whatever comments you might make for the day like what type of food and how much you are feeding.

With the information on this standard format spreadsheet, you can get dosing advice from us. If you are not interested in that, then no need to create a spreadsheet for us to view. There are also ways to list the numbers directly in your post. That gets very hard to do as more days pass and you get more history.

The spreadsheet is one way for us to help you help your cat better. Sue and Oliver offered to help you set up a spreadsheet.

Definitely keep the handwritten log. It's the best way to keep track of what is going on and make changes.
 
Here's the spreadsheet directions

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

It's a great tool. It's color coded so you can see patterns at a glance. And it can be added to your signature so it updates every time you add data and we can all access it. You can also send it to your vet.

It helps so much when you need advice on a dose. We can look at it and see the history of doses and numbers and be able to give you good advice fast.
 
I'd say you get to skip tonight. The good news is that you'll be able to relax for the rest of tonight and set whatever schedule you need tomorrow am. It's possible that he will be high tomorrow but it will be partly because he will have been 24 hours since his last shot. Even if high, i'd be careful and lower the dose.
 
how high is high? am i shooting for numbers between 100 and 200? Not having his shot tonight wont damage him? Id rather not have him hypo again. The Doc didnt mention anything about skipping doses. What am i looking for tomorrow morning. Test when I get up. Feed then shot.
 
You don't want to shoot tonight because it is under 200. Shooting anything at 127 might cause another hypo.

Here are some ranges:

A regulated cat is in the mid 200s at preshot and in double digits (but above 40) on insulin. 200-300 are pretty normal ranges for beginning diabetes. 400-500 are high numbers.
 
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