Smiffy home testing

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Looby & Smiffy

Looby & Smiffy

Member Since 2016
@elizabeth & Bertie ... never thought you would see the day - did you?!!!

I have just tested myself and have got the hang of the meter now ... next is to try it on Smiffy .... I have a question though .... is there anywhere (here perhaps?) where I can download some blank curve graphs that are not too big (Smiffy's stuff is taking up half the space on our only table in our small house)? I have searched and looked on the Caninsulin forum but can't find anyting or if I google ...

I know I could just get some graph paper myself but just wondered if there was a small concise graph format for English readings that I could either download or buy?
 
Honestly - it is easy to use, you'll be fine. Follow the instructions for set up then put the link in your signature page - this means the rest of us can look at it if needed and you can easily find it again by clicking.

Then all you need to do is to put in the numbers you get and the insulin doses and it auto saves. You also get some pretty colours automatically which help you when you are monitoring - that's all that is needed. Use the mmol/l tab to enter the numbers and the spreadsheet does the rest. The curves are just the numbers you get at specific times in a single cycle. Once you have got the hang of testing you will be all set to do your first curve and we can have a look at it for you. I would start by doing pre-meal tests - these are AMPS and PMPS on the spreadsheet - the reward is food, then we can talk you through how to do a curve.

Have a look at mine - all I have done is put in numbers and fill in the comments at the far right, the spreadsheet did the rest.
 
Alexi said:
Honestly - it is easy to use, you'll be fine. Follow the instructions for set up then put the link in your signature page - this means the rest of us can look at it if needed and you can easily find it again by clicking.

Then all you need to do is to put in the numbers you get and the insulin doses and it auto saves. You also get some pretty colours automatically which help you when you are monitoring - that's all that is needed. Use the mmol/l tab to enter the numbers and the spreadsheet does the rest. The curves are just the numbers you get at specific times in a single cycle. Once you have got the hang of testing you will be all set to do your first curve and we can have a look at it for you. I would start by doing pre-meal tests - these are AMPS and PMPS on the spreadsheet - the reward is food, then we can talk you through how to do a curve.

Have a look at mine - all I have done is put in numbers and fill in the comments at the far right, the spreadsheet did the rest.
Click to expand...
I really don't understand how to use it Alexi plus I have got the same old problem back again since she came back from the Vet first before I can even begin to try to home test .... Would like @Elizabeth and Bertie to read this too ....... I can't remember if you were aware of Smiffy's suspected hypo the day before yesterday Alexi (details under another thread 'Smiffy's suspected hypo), anyhow this morning I managed to inject her after she had earn a fair bit of food - once again on the stairs near the top so back a few stages in terms of getting her to eat at her normal rating place plus she hissed a bit but not too bad .... I got the Vet to agree to let her eat a bit more as I thought the slimming diet she was on was making her miserable so left the biscuits out for her to graze ...she went back to them a few times but in the end didn't exceed her morning ration .... Later in the afternoon I put the bowl back in the cupboard (I had already topped it up for her evening meal) as I wanted her to be hugely enough for her evening meal for me her to eat and therefore be able to give her her shot .....

It came to mealtime this evening so I called out to both cats .... Pasha came running but Smiffy didn't 't show for a while then sh appeared at the top of the stairs (once again I have to point out that we have a tiny house and her feeding place is just next to the bottom of the stairs) ..... She wouldn't budge so I had to put her bowl of food at the top of the stairs .... I gradually got it to the third step from the bottom where she started to eat (I was singing to desires us both) but she just stopped eating and went back upstairs ..... I knew at this point that I would have to abort the shot bot still wanted her to eat something so took the bowl up to the bedroom and stroked her ... She hissed at me and refused to eat so I just brought the bowl back sown to her feeding place ......

Usually she would have come down ten minutes later to eat but she hasn't been down all evening and hasn't earn ..... This was all around her shot time at 9.30pm ..... It is now 3am and have just been up to see her to make sure she is ok and given her a head rub that she loves and no hissing but immediate purrs but she still hasn't been down looking for food so I have put the bowl away so that she will be hungry when it comes to meal and shot time tomorrow am at 9.30 ....
I'm not sure if she just didn't want the needle or if she has maybe picked up a little bug at the Vets? She has been fine all day even around her estimated nadir point as calculated by the vets curve at about four to five hours after her shot - she was outside lying in the garden talking too me and lying next to me with her toys etc ...

I am going to try the putting of a bit of wet food on the dry food again tomorrow to get her to eat so that I can inject her and try to get her confidence back again .... She only licks the jelly and leaves the meat but this trick worked a few days ago at the suggestion of the nurse to get her to eat for long enough for me too shoot her at eac mealtime .......

I wonder if this is just because she is pissed off after being at the Vet and having all the injections and pricks or if she has a little bug and just feels a bit off colour ..... She was fine at the Vets and after her shot this morning so don't think it is that she feels I'll on the Caninsulin .....

I now have to concentrate on just getting her to take her shots again so back to square one ..... No chance of doing her BG yet ..... I am not going to do it to her in her (my) bedroom as that is her sanctuary along with the Felliway diffuser in there (my bedroom is also tiny) ...

So today she has only eaten just over half her slimming allowance of food and only had one shot .... After I had got the Vet to agree to her earring bit more to make her happier ........ That's my Smiffy today!
 
Some days will be better than others, Looby.

You've done well to learn how your glucose meter works.
Now, if you need to know what Smiffy's blood glucose is, you have the means to find out. This is a great step forward.

I would suggest that you buy another box of test strips so that you have plenty available in case you need them in an emergency. Also, it will mean that you can do some more practice tests (on yourself or someone else (DH, maybe? ;)))...

Do be reassured that cats don't feel the tests like we do. Our fingers are extremely sensitive, but the edge of a cat's ear has very little sensation. (My cat doesn't actually seem to feel it at all...)
You may surprised to hear that some people actually find testing easier than giving insulin shots.

You've done well. And hopefully you can now build on what you've learned so far. :cat:

Eliz
 
Oh, and don't forget about 'alternative' monitoring methods.

Ketodiastix test strips will enable you to test Smiffy's pee for both ketones and glucose.
It is always advisable to monitor newly diagnosed cats (and those in higher numbers) for ketones. And in Smiffy's case (in the absence of blood testing) the urine glucose level may provide some useful information.

Crumpling clingfilm in the litter tray is a good way to catch a pee sample.

Eliz
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Oh, and don't forget about 'alternative' monitoring methods.

Ketodiastix test strips will enable you to test Smiffy's pee for both ketones and glucose.
It is always advisable to monitor newly diagnosed cats (and those in higher numbers) for ketones. And in Smiffy's case (in the absence of blood testing) the urine glucose level may provide some useful information.

Crumpling clingfilm in the litter tray is a good way to catch a pee sample.

Eliz
Click to expand...
I have got loads of test strips and 6-needle drum lancets and a box of diastrix .... missed Smiffy's shot last night but she was purring later ...... this morning she was purring but she ate with a little encouragement with a bit of jelly from a Felix pouch but she wouldn't eat the meat ... she hissed at me when I gave her the shot but she didn't lash out ..... she hates the needle so much ..... have weighed out her food again for tonight and put it on top of her food that she has left this morning so that she can graze today .... Pasha won't touch it I shouldn't think ... have started to give her zylkene - this is second morning in a row now ... the felliway seems to work but I am concerned that she spends all her time in my bedroom where the Felliway is and where she feels safe and where I am a lot of the morning .... she comes down with me and goes for a walk and goes out later .... I think she is really missing her Daddy still ......... I hope she has eaten enough now for the shot that I gave her .... this is really worrying but as you say I know how to home test now - did it three times to myself yesterday and it was easy ..... I think I will take the monitor with the strip in to her ear if that makes it easier ...... is 6.8 a low Nadir on Caninsulin after 4 hours ..that means her expected Nadir will be at about 2 today and I will be around for that ..... She will have been running high today though if I didn't give her a shot last night though won't she .....

I keep saying it but my computer really hates this site .... I have to wait so long for everything to happen - it drives me mad and yet when I posted the post above last night on my iPad it was so quick but there are lots of things that I can't do on my iPad which is why I don't use it until the evening ..... I am doing other things on the computer so Facebook is really fast and so much easier for me .... see you there later perhaps ...... thanks for the encouragement yet again and the daily cartoons ... do you see the ones that I post?

I hope Smiffy is going to be OK - she didn't eat a huge quantity of food ... it is good that she is not ravenous like she used to be before she was diagnosed though so I take it in some ways as a good thing but I don't think she has lost any weight ....

More later no doubt . xxx
 
Looby & Smiify said:
is 6.8 a low Nadir on Caninsulin after 4 hours
Click to expand...
No, not too low for a nadir. But that number was from the curve done at the vets, I think (?). Numbers are often higher at the vet's clinic because of the cat's stress. But also it's likely that your vet wasn't using a human meter to test Smiffy's blood glucose; and that '6.8' that the vet got may well register lower on a human meter. (So, a '6.8' at the vet might, say, be a '5.8' on your meter.)

Looby & Smiify said:
She will have been running high today though if I didn't give her a shot last night though won't she .....
Click to expand...
We can't know what her blood glucose level was like before her shot this morning.

Caninsulin is what we call an 'in and out' insulin. The effect is not accumulative. It usually does it's stuff and is out of the system 12 hours later, after which the blood glucose will remain high until the next insulin shot. So a skipped shot shouldn't ordinarily affect what happens in the following shot/cycle.

Eliz
 
Looby, if Smiffy is at all 'off her food' I strongly recommend that you test her pee for ketones.

Unregulated diabetic cats are often pretty hungry - unless there are other health issues affecting the cat's appetite...
.
 
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Looby, if Smiffy is at all 'off her food' I strongly recommend that you test her pee for ketones.

Unregulated diabetic cats are often pretty hungry - unless there are other health issues affecting the cat's appetite...
.
Click to expand...
She's on her food again today .... have let her have some snacks uninterrupted with the needle and now I have put it away so that she is hungry tonight .... I put a little bit of felix with jelly on for the next few days which attracts her to the biscuits but she doesn't eat the meat but just licks it but it does the trick .... She ate well this morning and as I say was interested in her snacks today so I think it was just post Vet problems .... she is not drinking as much and now peeing so much and seems to know when she has had enough to eat ... enjoyed her snacks ... see how it goes tonight ..... singing helped me so I hope it helps her ......... So she is safe not to have a shot if she is really stressed about it .... last night I decided that I would prefer her to hvae her food rather than stick a needle in in the bedroom as that is her favourite place next to the Felliway difuser!!! She has been out today and talking to me but still misses her Daddy who has just told me out of the blue that he is not back on Wednesday now but on Saturday!!!! So cross with him ....

I have lost a stone - yes a stone since Smiffy was diagnosed ... looking out for her every day as and when I can .... have the diastrix but not looked at how to use them .. the sugar shows up after 30 seconds doesn't it and the ketones after 15 seconds but I don't know what ketones mean? That's my next learning curve ....

Will wait til I can inject her twice a day again with not too much stress and then I will practice a sugar test on her ....

What do the diastrix strip shows to save me going through the lenghty instructions ........ there were four manuals with the AccuChek meter and in the end it was so simple!!!

The Vet by the way uses an AphaTrak meter .....

So as I say next learing curve the pee sticks!!!
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Looby, if Smiffy is at all 'off her food' I strongly recommend that you test her pee for ketones.

Unregulated diabetic cats are often pretty hungry - unless there are other health issues affecting the cat's appetite...
.
Click to expand...
I just tested myself for blood sugar and I was 4.1 so now I am going to see if that is within the normal range for humans!!!
 
Looby & Smiify said:
I just tested myself for blood sugar and I was 4.1 so now I am going to see if that is within the normal range for humans!!!
Click to expand...
Yes, that's perfect. ;)

Looby, urine testing is simple. And you can practice this on yourself too. :rolleyes:
You just dip the end of the strip into a little bit of pee, and time for 30 seconds. Half way (15 seconds) through you see what the ketone measurement is. At the end of the 30 seconds you see what the glucose measurement is.

Ketones are waste products that can build up in the bloodstream when the body uses fat for fuel rather than glucose. In diabetics this can be extremely dangerous if the build up of ketones gets too high. It can result in a serious and potentially fatal condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which alters the blood chemistry of the body.
Anything above a 'trace' reading for ketones is a reason for a vet visit ASAP.
This is why it's important to test for ketones.

'DKA' is also very expensive to treat...

Eliz
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Yes, that's perfect. ;)

Looby, urine testing is simple. And you can practice this on yourself too. :rolleyes:
You just dip the end of the strip into a little bit of pee, and time for 30 seconds. Half way (15 seconds) through you see what the ketone measurement is. At the end of the 30 seconds you see what the glucose measurement is.

Ketones are waste products that can build up in the bloodstream when the body uses fat for fuel rather than glucose. In diabetics this can be extremely dangerous if the build up of ketones gets too high. It can result in a serious and potentially fatal condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which alters the blood chemistry of the body.
Anything above a 'trace' reading for ketones is a reason for a vet visit ASAP.
This is why it's important to test for ketones.

'DKA' is also very expensive to treat...

Eliz
Click to expand...
OK so keytone have to be a trace for a good reading - what about the glucose reading?
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Yes, that's perfect. ;)

Looby, urine testing is simple. And you can practice this on yourself too. :rolleyes:
You just dip the end of the strip into a little bit of pee, and time for 30 seconds. Half way (15 seconds) through you see what the ketone measurement is. At the end of the 30 seconds you see what the glucose measurement is.

Ketones are waste products that can build up in the bloodstream when the body uses fat for fuel rather than glucose. In diabetics this can be extremely dangerous if the build up of ketones gets too high. It can result in a serious and potentially fatal condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which alters the blood chemistry of the body.
Anything above a 'trace' reading for ketones is a reason for a vet visit ASAP.
This is why it's important to test for ketones.

'DKA' is also very expensive to treat...

Eliz
Click to expand...
Smiffy is grazing food today and looking bright and rolling in her cat nip and killing her toys!!! Not going out much but it is hot today and there is a little person making noises next door ..... she is obviously not off her food but no veratious hunger either so I am happy with that - good clinical signs ....
 
Looby & Smiify said:
OK so keytone have to be a trace for a good reading - what about the glucose reading?
Click to expand...
The ketone reading should be 'negative'.
If there's a trace reading it means there are ketones in the bloodstream. Anything higher than 'trace' is a reading for a vet visit ASAP. Even with just a trace reading you may want to call your vet and ask advice.

Ideally, there should be no glucose in the urine. But all diabetic kitties with glucose above the 'renal threshold' will be spilling glucose into their urine. The darker the patch on the strip, the more glucose in the urine.
Urine glucose tests don't equate to blood glucose tests. They really tell you how much glucose the cat is losing in it's urine since the last time it peed.

Eliz
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
The ketone reading should be 'negative'.
If there's a trace reading it means there are ketones in the bloodstream. Anything higher than 'trace' is a reading for a vet visit ASAP. Even with just a trace reading you may want to call your vet and ask advice.

Ideally, there should be no glucose in the urine. But all diabetic kitties with glucose above the 'renal threshold' will be spilling glucose into their urine. The darker the patch on the strip, the more glucose in the urine.
Urine glucose tests don't equate to blood glucose tests. They really tell you how much glucose the cat is losing in it's urine since the last time it peed.

Eliz
Click to expand...
If I get the chance to do it I will let you know what happens and you can tell me what you think ... do you need a lot of urine or just enough to cover the two colour squares .... I imagine that the blue sqaare is for glucose and the brown square is for the ketones>
 
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