Question about dosing and job shift change...

SidneysMom

SidneysMom

Member Since 2019
So my husband and I have been working together to give Sidney his testing and shots. We started doing 6:30am and 6:30pm because my husband was working 8-5.
He's getting moved back to his shift of 9-6 for a month on Monday. We don't have the ability to "move" the shots by fifteen minutes because it cuts into my husband's leaving time, so what I was going to do was just either skip Sunday night's shot and move to the new time on Monday, or just do our regular shot time on Sunday night and start the new later dose time on Monday. Any ideas? Thanks.
 
Hi Jen
Looks like your SS is a few days behind. Are you still testing before all shots, and inbetween when you can?

So just to clarify the times. could you tell me the time you would give the Sunday night shot and the new time you want to give the Monday am shot please?
 
You have been skipping doses a lot (not sure why?), I would really like to avoid you having to skip again. It is really disruptive to the Lantus depot. If DH is not working Saturday, you can move back in time then too. You can move back 1/2 hour once per day, or 15 minutes a shot.
 
Yes, I am behind on my spreadsheet because I'm working like crazy. I'll catch up with that on Sunday.
Yes, I'm testing before each shot. In between when I can.
Sunday night shot, 6:30pm. Monday Morning shot, 7:30am.

As with regards to my not shooting a few times, it has been due to my vet, who didn't want me shooting under 15, and it was to be a temporary thing. A few times he was very close and being new to this, I skipped. If something went wrong I had no where to go over the holidays, as everything was closed. He gave me a reason as to why the 15 number, but honestly I didn't understand it. I also couldn't get my cat to eat one night and wasn't going to give insulin without food.

I will discuss with him (he's not in until Monday) about the new no shoot number, but until then, I'm following his advice regarding that, because he's not available until then. Hopefully we can straighten all that out next week. I'm not being lackadaisical regarding his insulin, but I didn't want to go against his advice regarding that particular thing.
 
On FDMB, we tell new people if’s oK to shoot over 200 (11.1). On this forum, we tell people that if they get a number under 150, to not feed, and post for help. With Lantus, the cycles are actually flatter, the lower the preshot. I don’t get the no shoot under 15. I wonder how well the vet actually knows Lantus? Your SS note says no shoot under 15 because of the UTI. That is totally the wrong thing to do. Infection/inflammation plus not enough insulin are two out of three in the formula for DKA, a life threatening and expensive condition to treat. Inappentance being the third. Are you testing daily for ketones? If so, please note the result in the spreadsheet, so we’ll stop asking.;)

As for eating, onset is not for a couple hours after shot time. You have that time to get food into Sidney. And worst case, you can usually do a half dose. Diabetic cats undergoing anesthesia, who are not allowed to eat, can normally get half a dose per vets. The injected insulin does more in the body than counter the carbs in food.
 
*Apparently* the vet knows about Lantus, as he deals with it regularly in his other practice. The other vet in this practice knows diddly about it, so I'm limited to Saturday, Monday and Tuesday to ask any questions because that's when the Lantus vet is in. Though I was limited over the holidays
I'm not trying to argue with you...please know that. I know the protocol for no shoot here is different, but I think the vet was concerned with our inexperience with testing, and didn't want us to run into a hypo situation over the holidays when he wasn't available, and was trying to make sure the no shot number was higher so we didn't end up in a bad situation, and from what I gathered, it was a temporary thing to get us through the holidays. At least that's my guess. And honestly, if he doesn't know better, I have no money to actually switch vets, so I'm stuck.
I test almost every day for ketones, but some days I miss due to not being able to get a sample. Sid finished his course of antibiotics, and I'd like to do another check to make sure its gone, but it's going to have to be through a home gathered urine sample, because I'm out of money for vet visits.
It's been very hectic regarding the holidays, and I am stressed out to the max right now over Sid. The past few days have been tough for me because I'm working almost constantly, and I'm battling bouts of atrial fibrillation because of my stress.
When that happens, I have to back off all of the obsessing over Sid, because I haven't been sleeping for worrying I'm doing every little thing wrong. And when the heart symptoms get bad, I don't want to end up in the hospital, and then Sid doesn't get insulin.
I don't think I've ever been so stressed out in a month, and it's been a challenge to learn how to test, learn how to give insulin, deal with my own anxiety and work, and the holidays on top of it, I'm just...exhausted. I've slept through my alarms because I'm so tired, and I never do that. Add the atrial fibrillation on top of it and I'm a mess.
I'll catch up with my spreadsheet on Sunday. But for now, I'm doing the best that I can. I guess it's not that great, but it's all I can do.
 
It isn great you are testing for ketones, and hopefully all negative. It could be the vet was concerned about numbers coming down as the antibiotics dealt with the infection. My vet didn’t know about Lantus, so I got to teach her a few things. Also the first client to home test, first diagnosed cat with acromegaly and IAA, first to get stereotactic radiation therapy. Thankfully she liked to learn. If you like that vet, and they are willing to work with you, that is worth a lot.

And most of us totally get how stressful the first couple months with a diabetic cat are.:bighug::bighug: You are hearing this from someone who faints at the sight of blood and has lie down for bloodwork and looks away from injections. I also had a cat that wasn’t responding to insulin, plus would kill for food, raided the kitchen counters. I freely admit I obsessed too. But you do what you do because love Sidney and want him better now. What really helped me was finding time for me. Whether it was an hour walk in the woods, going out on the water for a row, just getting away and keeping active but away from feline diabetes for a while. Most important, you don’t have to get it all correct right away. Every mistake is a chance to learn. My mantra to myself was - every cycle is a do over.
 
I totally get how you feel about the atrial fibrillation as I suffer from it as well and it can be very debilitating. And I agree, the last thing you want to do is end up in hospital with it.
Mine is now under control but stress and fatigue can trigger it.

Im really glad you are testing for ketones most days as that is important especially if you skip some shots. Don’t forget to put the results in the remarks column of the SS.
I agree with Wendy that skipping when there is any sort of infection or inflammation present is not a good idea because of the risk of DKA.
If you are ever unsure about anything, post and ask for help.
I also wonder how much you vet knows about feline diabetes.

I wish I could help you reduce your stress.
You have come a long way with Sidney so pat yourself on the back. Just remember we all make mistakes in life, that is the way we learn. Not that I think you have made any mistakes.... it is all a steep learning curve in the beginning and that can be stressful. No one is going to judge you here.
:bighug:
 
I'm trying to look at it that way...every cycle is a do over. It's a good perspective, because the past few cycles have been terribly challenging. He's starting to hate testing and fighting me on it, even with treats and singing and pets. He's fighting me on the insulin shots, even though I do it while he gets a little bit of food with a lot of special topper. It seems like it was easier and now it's getting more difficult. I'm not sure why, exactly, but that's the way. His ears were really bothering him so I started the antibiotic ointment and only did AM/PM tests to let them heal a bit. I'm just really, really tired. I wake up every two hours to check on him, so I'm not getting great sleep. Thanks for the kind words. The vet I have is all for home testing. I don't agree with everything, but he knows it's been a challenge for us and I think he's trying to be kind and go slow. There's room to work with him, for sure.
 
Oh, man it sucks. And when I am under a stressful load, I have to be extra careful. I have to try and nap when I can and hydrate, and honestly, step away from the worry. My other cat is dealing with stress urinary conditions because he feels neglected that I'm focused on Sid. I have been using a ton of Feliway spray and giving him pets and loads of water and attention to make sure it doesn't escalate. So I'm going a little bonkers between the two of them. He's taken to not eating well unless I sit in the room and pet him. So I'm trying to be mindful and spend time with him and love on him too. Sadly with everything going on, I've been a little lax on that the past few days. I'm trying to get to a point where I can test Sidney without my husband helping. It's NOT going well. So the days I have Sid here by myself, I make sure he's eating, I'm monitoring him for any signs, etc. I know that if I worked outside the home I wouldn't be able to do mid cycle tests so I have to be kind to myself regarding that. We've been trying to do our bedtime tests and then daytime mid cycle tests when when he's off. It's just a lot.
 
So regarding the shot time change, can I just move his shot an hour later for his Monday morning dose?
 
Moving later is not a problem. You could see slightly higher numbers. Another option with less impact is to move the shot half an hour Sunday night, then the remaining half hour on Monday.
 
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