? Shot through fur. What to do?

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Cherie Hogan

Cherie Hogan

Member Since 2016
For the first time ever, I shot through his fur. Am pretty sure he got about 1 unit only as the rest clearly landed on my finger. Can I retest in about three hours and give him about 1 unit more?Am worried as he tested at 561 up from 282 this morning. I have read to NEVER give more insulin but if he continues to rise wouldn't it be safer to give him another unit rather than to let Riley go off the charts?

Thanks!
 
Finally I am meeting another person who feeds Young Again! It has been a lifesaver for me and Riley and my other cats. I free feed Young Again and also feed a variety of pate...Friskies, Fancy Feast, 9Lives, and Walmart Special Kitty. The Young Again has helped tremendously with his constipation and makes it easier for me when I leave for work.
 
Just to weigh in here, there have been times I thought for sure I gave Bubba a fur shot or a partial fur shot. AND, after a few hours, I saw the numbers coming down and knew that I had not given FS. Thank God, I did not try to give more insulin!!! We have a saying around here: Better too high for a day that too low for a minute.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Just to weigh in here, there have been times I thought for sure I gave Bubba a fur shot or a partial fur shot. AND, after a few hours, I saw the numbers coming down and knew that I had not given FS. Thank God, I did not try to give more insulin!!! We have a saying around here: Better too high for a day that too low for a minute.
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Thank you.
 
Cherie Hogan said:
I feed whenever they are hungry and leave Young Again down all the time.
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The diabetic one. How much wet food do you typically feed?

One thing I did (and you can clearly see it in my spreadsheet) is fed wet (3/4 of a can of ff classic) before each shot time, then free fed young again.

The other thing I did was test a lot... I got to really know, with very few surprises, exactly how my cat would react to each dose.
 
JanetNJ said:
The diabetic one. How much wet food do you typically feed?

One thing I did (and you can clearly see it in my spreadsheet) is fed wet (3/4 of a can of ff classic) before each shot time, then free fed young again.

The other thing I did was test a lot... I got to really know, with very few surprises, exactly how my cat would react to each dose.
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Initially, he was eating a large can of Friskies pate by himself sometimes a half a can at a setting. Plus he was constantly begging, drinking massive amounts of water and peeing four litter boxes full. I learned what the phrase being eaten out of house and home really meant. It was horrible. Then I discovered Young Again and what a relief! It helped so much with his hunger problem. Now he is pretty much back to normal. I feed pate first thing in the morning. He gets his shot about two hours later and he gets more pate. When I leave for work I leave pate down, he gets more 10 hours later when I get home, then his shot an hour later, more pate, and another dolop a couple hours later when I go to bed. It sounds like a lot but it's a couple of tablespoons or less each time and sometimes he eats just a little but then one of my cat's always returns to clean it up. Obviously, the two females don't eat near that much but do clean up what he doesn't eat.
 
Cherie Hogan said:
Sorry Julie...I'm still trying to figure where I should post/be/start, etc. BTW your Punkin and my Riley could be twins except Riley is missing his left eye.
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No worries, Cherie. It's fine. We'll just keep it here now.

When you feed him late in the cycle, right before his next shot, his insulin is close to its weakest point.

When you give a shot, some of it builds up in the body to slow release and some of it is used right away. Typically that results in a "curve" after the shot, meaning that the blood sugar drops over the next few hours, maybe 4-6 hours, then as that insulin wears off his blood sugar will begin to rise again until his next shot begins to take effect.

Feeding him at +10 means that there isn't much insulin left available to deal with the carbs from the food he's just eaten. That can act like a brake on the remaining insulin, and cause his blood sugar to zoom up until the next shot takes effect.

How cats respond to carbs is very insulin, but if I were you, I'd try to not feed him in the second half of the cycle - after +5/+6 or so - and see if that doesn't improve his numbers at preshot. Most people feed when they give the shot, and then give some smaller meals between then and +5 or so.

It helps to take notes on what you're doing with the food, so that you can look at it after a week or so and decide if it is helping or not. Some people put an * in the cell of the spreadsheet where they fed.
 
This morning he was fed just before preshot although the Young Again kibble is down all the time. Hardly any of that was gone this morning and his preshot was 587, much better than I expected after the fur shot last night. However, he peed all over the sun room floor and I have been struggling with this issue since before he was diagnosed with diabetes. It's how I knew something was wrong, that, and the night time howling. This is a cat that slept peacefully all night with his paws wrapped around my husband. No more. I got up this morning and now will spend an hour cleaning carpet and ceramic tile. Riley pees as much as me...always has. There are three litter boxes and they are cleaned multiple times a day so this upsets me. I know he is sick but I have rearranged my life for this cat and it seems we take one step forward and two steps back.
 
Cherie Hogan said:
This morning he was fed just before preshot although the Young Again kibble is down all the time. Hardly any of that was gone this morning and his preshot was 587, much better than I expected after the fur shot last night. However, he peed all over the sun room floor and I have been struggling with this issue since before he was diagnosed with diabetes. It's how I knew something was wrong, that, and the night time howling. This is a cat that slept peacefully all night with his paws wrapped around my husband. No more. I got up this morning and now will spend an hour cleaning carpet and ceramic tile. Riley pees as much as me...always has. There are three litter boxes and they are cleaned multiple times a day so this upsets me. I know he is sick but I have rearranged my life for this cat and it seems we take one step forward and two steps back.
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All of his kidney levels checked out ok? Do you have any copies of his latest labs? My ckd cat did similar things... Peeing out of the box and you long at night. Was ckd and high blood pressure.
 
I called the vet who had the records sent from the original clinic that made the initial diagnosis for Riley. No blood pressure test was done but two blood panels, x-rays, and thyroid tests. Everything normal except his blood sugar so that's good news. I also found out that the first vet prescribed Novolin which Riley was on for only 10 days before I took him for a second opinion and switched him to Lantus and found all you wonderful cat caregivers. My new vet said blood pressure tests are hard to give to an unhappy cat in a vet's office. Usually need to repeat several times to get a correct reading. I am going to hold off on this test until his blood sugar comes down a bit more. In the meantime, I'll use a baby gate to keep him out of the sunroom.
 
Cherie Hogan said:
I called the vet who had the records sent from the original clinic that made the initial diagnosis for Riley. No blood pressure test was done but two blood panels, x-rays, and thyroid tests. Everything normal except his blood sugar so that's good news. I also found out that the first vet prescribed Novolin which Riley was on for only 10 days before I took him for a second opinion and switched him to Lantus and found all you wonderful cat caregivers. My new vet said blood pressure tests are hard to give to an unhappy cat in a vet's office. Usually need to repeat several times to get a correct reading. I am going to hold off on this test until his blood sugar comes down a bit more. In the meantime, I'll use a baby gate to keep him out of the sunroom.
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They put a cuff on the back leg like humans and take 5 readings and average them. My zimmy has done it about 5 times.

It probably is related to the diabetes, just wanted to ask in case the kidneys were an issue
 
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Cherie,once he gets in better numbers the peeing outside the box will stop. We had a few times that Bubba did that too. Have you ever used Nature's Miracle. It is a really good enzymatic cleaner that neutralizes the urine smell. It works wonderfully.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Cherie,once he gets in better numbers the peeing outside the box will stop. We had a few times that Bubba did that too. Have you ever used Nature's Miracle. It is a really good enzymatic cleaner that neutralizes the urine smell. It works wonderfully.
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I like anti icky poo because it is scent free. :)
 
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