Should I give my cat his insulin

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Calibonbons

Calibonbons

Member Since 2019
Hi All,
Newbie question for you. Should I give my cat his am shot of 2cc that the vet recommended even if his BG is 163 on an AlphaTrax2. For weeks I couldn't get his blood sugar below 289 and finally switched his food he hated anyways and I had to force him to eat. I went from Fancy Feast Pate & Trader Joes Tuna for cats to Trader Joes Tuna for cats with raw chicken. Another thing I did the last 2 days was allow him to eat 3-4 smaller meals since he was starving to death in front of me and I couldn't take watching him try and eat cardboard or anything he could chew. Yesterday he dipped to 80 in the afternoon so I was very concerned. I didn't get his normal 9:30 pm shot until midnight and I was nervous so I gave him the 1.5cc. I have a vet appointment tomorrow for another curve and just maybe finally my baby is getting on track. But I sure don't want his #s to jump to high again if I don't give him his am shot today. Do you think I should stick to the 1.5 and test again? Or test in a couple hours and if high then give him his shot. Man this stuff is hard to get down but I am so determined. Thank you!
 
When you're very new and there is a diet change and numbers are doing down quickly, it's best to skip or give a reduced dose.

If you get a chance, see if you can put together a spreadsheet, there is a link here for how to do it but I always forget where it is ..lol if you can't find it or if you have questions just ask , but it really helps to see a spreadsheet to help get an idea of how Spookie is doing with a certain dose.

It's very hard but hang in there, you're doing great!
 
Ok I did go with my gut and skipped his shot. I am glad I have a vet appointment tomorrow. I am hoping the vet allows me to come in each testing every couple hours so I can learn how to really do a curve at home and yes I know I need to do a spread sheet but have felt so lost with the #s and was focusing on getting my picky cruchy lover to eat wet food and gain some weight. The vet would like him closer to 17 pounds for his frame. I am sure me trying every FF flavor I could had something to do with not getting his numbers at a safe level. I listened and just gave him 2cc a day, and had been spot checking him and tried my own curve at home and kept feeling like I was failing. So I went back to what he seemed to do best eating and that is raw meat. I read so many things saying no dont feed them raw meat, but I cant help and think of how healthy my familes 17 year old barn cat is and she gets two small handfuls of dry food which I think the other new barn cat is eating. So basically Precious is eating more mice, birds and lizards and I swear is the healthiest cat I have ever seen. So taking a step back and getting my inside cats back to how cats have eaten for thousands of years. I do have to say my kitchen is a bit cleaner now too since I want to make sure things are super sanitary ;) And now darn it I am down to 1 test strip and ordered 50 for $70 with tax from Chevy.com. I dont trust how long Amazon has had them on a shelf to save the $20 bucks.

How do you feel the monitor you have works? If I am correct, it is a human meter right? I am at about 1k in vet bills/supplies since Feb. Curve tomorrow is $250 so I am worried about cost with the product I choose to purchase and I may want to switch.

Thanks!
 
I *love* this meter, it's a Relion Premier Voice and the strips are the same price as the Prime strips which are the lowest I've seen.


At the vet the other day her alphatrack one said 123 and mine said 110 so I feel like it's right in the range you'd expect a human meter to be.


It's only $15 for the meter. They are only $18 for 100 strips so it's much better to be able to test as much as you need, especially in a crisis, and be able to get them in the store without having to wait for them to be delivered. And you can still use the more expensive ones if you want to double check in certain situations.

Anyway, the Relion Premier Voice actually tells you averages for different periods like the last day, week, two weeks, month, two months.

And she talks to you lol, I like that cause I like to be able to comfort him and tend to stopping his ear bleeding and still know the result as soon as possible lol so I can tend to him and hear what the result is without having to watch it. :D
 
Hi there,

Saw your post and looks like you are new here. Welcome! Wanted to let you know would be best to post on the Prozinc forum to get some experienced Prozinc users to help with dosing, especially since you are transitioning food to lower carb.

Also copying @Idjit's mom if she had anything to add.
 
Hi and welcome to FDMB. I know this is very confusing and more than a bit bewildering when you first begin learning about feline diabetes treatment. Take a deep breath and know that each one of us stood in the same place, learned about diet, insulins & injections and home testing. You will too, it just takes a little time.
The AlphaTrak2 is a good glucose meter, I began with that one also. I ordered from Amazon and never had any problems with the strips. However, the cost of the strips was a hindrance, as well as having to order and wait for delivery. Some members use the Freestyle InsulinX strips instead and have had excellent results. I am going to tag a member who does this for further information. @JanetNJ
I did decide to change to the ReliOn human meter so that I could obtain strips from Walmart when I needed them, for less cost.
Changing the diet to a low carb diet is the best thing for Spookie, and if you wanted to feed him a raw diet, you can do that. I feed Idjit a raw diet with FoodFurLife EZ Complete supplement, to make sure he gets all the nutrients and supplements he needs. Visit the website and read about it: http://www.foodfurlife.com/
There is also a huge variety of canned food that is healthy, nutritious and low carb.
Julie is right, changing the diet to a low carb food is going to lower his BG, and it would be a great idea for you to post in the Prozinc forum so that the experienced users can advise you. They are terrific people and will help in every way they can.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/prozinc-pzi.24/
Read the Beginner's Guide to Prozinc, that's going to answer a lot of questions.

Testing: you are testing before shooting, good for you! It's critically important to do that before every singe injection. Then testing during the cycle, as you can, is very helpful. Dosing is based on the lowest BG point in those 12 hours, not the pre-shot number. If you aren't able to do a curve with a test every 2 hours, ok, not the end of the world. You test at different times of the day, into the evening as you can, day by day and fill in the "puzzle pieces", so you are getting an accurate picture of the BG range in the cycles between shots. You shouldn't have to pay $250 :eek: for a curve at the vet, which may not be accurate since vet stress can raise the blood sugar by quite a bit. And, in time, you will be able to do your own curves.

We use a fantastic spreadsheet to record all injection and testing data, get this set up and start plugging in the numbers:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/understanding-the-spreadsheet-grid.156606/
If you have any problems setting up, holler, we have members that can help.

You need to get this spreadsheet set up, enter the data so that the experienced members can advise you. If they can't see the numbers they can't tell what the insulin is doing & when, and they can't responsibly give an opinion. One or two numbers here and there just isn't enough data.

I am so impressed with how well you are doing, don't discount yourself at all. It's just a matter of learning the steps in this new "sugar dance", and we will help you along the way. :cat:
 
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