Please Help BG 135 PSPM do I give insulin?

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Babee's mom

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Just tested Babee and her pspm was BG 135. She hasn't been eating as much as normal lately. Do I give her insulin with that low number? She is on 1.4 units of Prozinc.

Thanks
 
I think everyone in PZI will advise you not to shoot 1.4u on a 135 BG. Do not feed your cat, try to wait to see if the BG will rise.
 
Can it be possible that the 135 may be elevated due to the food? If she were mine, I would not shoot. Shooting 1.4u into a 135 is something I would not do.
 
HI! Welcome to PZI! Sorry, if you have been here before I may have missed you. What is your name? I am Donna. My sugar kitty is Asher.

How long has your kitty been diabetic? Are you feeding all wet foods? How much insulin have you been giving Babee?

Everyone here recommends that you DO NOT shoot insulin if a cat is under 200. (This is advised to new people who do not have enough collected data to do so. You may see some people that have been here for awhile do this but this is not for new people to try. It can be very dangerous.)

That said you have some options. Here is a link that explains them:

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopi ... 24&t=32652

Basically you can skip the shot altogether, wait and keep testing until the cat goes above 200 (this may get you off schedule if you work tho), or shoot a reduced dose.
I am no dosing person, but some may be along later if you choose to hold off and shoot less later. It would be helpful to know some background on your kitty and what you have been doing.
 
Hi Donna,
Babee was DX in 2008 and she has been on 1.4 units for about 2 years. She is 10 years and had a bout of bad Pancreatitis in Oct of last year. She only eats canned Wellness and Merrick.

I just noticed that last few days she has been eating less. I usually don't test before shots but I did this time since she has not been eating as much. Everything else with her seems fine. Her urine and poop output has been less since the decrease in eating. I thought she was constipated so I gave her Miralax last night and she had the diarrhea this afternoon.

Could she be heading for remission? or should I be concerned about something else with the decreased appetitie?

Kelly & Babee
 
Hi Kelly,

My name is Kim and my cat's name is Kitty. Donna is giving you great advice, so I am going to let her continue to guide you. But, two points I would like to make. First, obvioulsy Babee is your cat and thus it is your decision whether you test her BG before dosing. But, it is extremely dangerous to give insulin without testing under any cirumstances----I think that is a fair statement. But, if you even think that your cat might nearing remission, it would be even more important to test. Think about it, if she is nearing remission, then that means she has low BGs-- and they are the most dangerous to shoot insulin into. You will never know if she is in remission or not if you do not test. Please consider testing before dosing Babee in the future. If you would test her and post her BGs we will be happy to help you and hopefully we can all witness Babee getting into remission.

Second, I think the meter you are using has created a lot of problems for some users within our group. Maybe Donna can give you more feedback on that also, as I think she was using it until recently.

Good Luck to you and Babee!

Kim
 
Thanks Kim, if you are still here, what is the deal with pancreatitis kitties and food and insulin? I was gonna suggest she ask you about that. Isn’t it a risk if they aren’t eating?
 
Don’t want to bombard you with all kinds of info at once Kelly ohmygod_smile

I agree with KIm on testing. We ALWAYS test before we shoot any insulin. You just never know when they may decide to go low, like now :-D
Basically we test before we feed our kitties, then feed, then shoot.

The meter issue Kim mentioned was with Freestyle Lite meters. I see you use the Freedom, which is different, but I don’t know if the same problems may apply. Basically sometime last year Freestyle changed the test strips for the Lite meters. I know they use a different enzyme than most of the other meters on the market too. Regardless, the Freestyle Lite meters were testing lower than other meters. Many of us thought we were regulated in good numbers, and in reality we were 30-100 points higher than we thought. many of us have switched meters now, I use the Relion Micro available at Walmart.
 
Yes, pancreatitis can cause the cat to lose his appetite.

Kelly, you said that Babee had a severe bout of Pancreatitis a few years ago. Does Babee seem to have any abdominal pain if you pick him up under his abdomen?

Truly, there are so many things that can cause a decrease in appetite--- pancreatitis, remission, ketones...all are possibilites, as is a healthy cat that is just eating less. Truly, I don't think ketones are a problem with the low BGs.

I would not shoot any BG under 200 and if Babee is not eating well and the numbers do rise to a level that is safe to shoot, you would need to shoot a reduced dose--- probably half a dose. The insulin works with the amount of food eaten. So, if Babee is eating less--he would need less insulin than normal.

It is really hard to give a lot of advice without any previous test data. It makes me very nervous!
 
Hi -

I'm Lu-Ann and my cat Grayson has been on insulin since Jan 13th... so i won't address what great advice you've already gotten. I do want to reiterate one thing, however: testing before you shoot.

Getting blood from Grayson is like squeezing blood from a turnip... it's a challenge to get it, and get enough! The first week following his diagnosis I practiced - over and over until he wondered what he had possibly done to deserve the abuse.. then I tried my other cats. Eventually I got to the point of successful testing. In this month or so, Grayson has had 8 times where he's been at a "dance marathon". Instead of 12 hours on a dose, his has lasted closer to 24. One night I came home to shoot him, and his number was 138. I knew that had to be wrong, he's usually in the 400s - but on the retest he was 125. Had I shot blindly, I"m not sure we'd still be here checking in.

Please test before dosing!
 
Thanks everyone.

Where can I find a meter that takes the same small amount of blood as the Freestyle meter? I have had the meter for 3 years. I also have an Alphatrak, but it takes so much blood and the test strips are hard to get.

I didn't give her any insuling tonight. I will test in the morning and go from there.

I am so worried about Babee not eating as much as usual. She is eating but a few bites here and there.
 
I bought the Relion Ultima at Walmart. My decision was based on the reports that the Relions worked well AND because of the economics of the strips. Because of Grayson's marathons (and my OCD tendencies), I"m testing A LOT. A box of 100 strips is $36. At the rate I've gone through them, it was a really good choice - and you don't need a lot of blood (remember, he's a turnip!).
 
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