So very new to this

C

Chez

Member
Chez
Hi everyone!

My baby was diagnosed 3 days ago and put on pzi I recieved my blood monitor in the mail today and although I'm taking him to the vet in 2 days for them to show me how to do it I decided to give it a whirl and tested myself. I got a reading of 247 before food (about 10 hours since his last meal) I fed him and checked it again it rose to 312. I gave him his injection because honestly I didnt know what to do.. Was this right??? I'mslightly nervous I'm going to screw this all up.
 
Welcome! So glad you took the plunge and started hometesting! We always test before feeding, then feed and give the shot. Then whenever possible get a few tests midcycle to see how low the dose is taking your kitty. The shots should be 12 hours apart. What dose are you giving?
 
Great job getting a reading so soon! It's normal for numbers to go up after feeding, it's called a food spike. Did you give insulin at the right time and not just in the middle a cycle?
 
Welcome! Sounds like you did just fine! The general beginning guideline is that it is safe to give the injection when the pre-shot level is above 200. If you are up for it, the next step could be to try to get a test about halfway between shots, so you can see how the dose affects your kitty.
 
Welcome chez and wow did you grab the bull by the horns. Great job!! It will be very helpful to get some mid cycle tests to see how low your baby goes in order to figure out dosing going forward.
 
He's on 3 units 2x a day (I use u-40 syringes) his shots are 12 hours apart so I'm doing 630 am and 630 pm because that works the best with my work schedule. How long after he eats should I test and give the shot I think that's where I'm getting flustered. Also I took away his dry food about 2 weeks ago when I started to notice how much he was peeing but he seems so hungry all the time and it makes me sad that I always want to leave something out for him to snack on during the day. The vet said I caught this early so I'm hopeful he's going to be alright. His name is Wimbley btw he's 11 and my first baby so this all makes me so upset. Thankfully he's such a good boy (for me haha) so he's letting me prick and poke him without a fight!
 
Oh I just read to test before feeding, is that because the numbers aren't accurate after feeding? Ok so I already messed up this morning my cats woke me up at 530 am to eat lol and I was too half asleep to think about testing him before feeding. Another question (I'm sorry ) my cats kinda are the bosses around here so they wake me up, I feed them but it's too early to give the shot so what I've been doing the past 2 days is once it's time for the shot I give him a little tuna and the tuna juice that seems to calm him so I can give it to him and he has a little something in his belly. Is that ok?
 
That's right! :) The plan is to test, feed, and then shoot. You're testing first to make sure his numbers are high enough to need insulin (over 200). If he has eaten within the past two hours of testing his numbers will be inflated due to food so you won't be able to tell if he's actually high enough for insulin, so the snack at 5:30am isn't a good idea if you're shooting at 6:30. I know it's hard though!

If the number is high enough you want to feed and then shoot. ProZinc allows you to feed/shoot at the same time, so as long as he's got an appetite it's safe to shoot while he's eating. You should technically test, feed, shoot all within 15 minutes. :)
 
Thanks! I'm so overwhelmed hopefully I'll get the hang of this. This is my 3rd day giving injections so it's a lot to learn/take in... My one cat (not the diabetic) is such a loud crier that I'm afraid he's going to wake up my son so I've just been giving in to his early morning demands but I guess I just taught them that if they cry loud enough they get what they want... Ugh how do I break this so that I can get into a better test, food, injection routine??
 
It’s tough I also have 2 kitties that used to free feed. It takes some adjusting but they are now both on a 12 feed schedule. I would like to feed more but little will eat till there is no more food all day everyday so I had to regulate both. You are doing great so far. The most important thing for accurate numbers is no food 2 hrs before test/shot time.
 
You may consider an auto feeder that you can put food in for your kitties during the night so they won't pester you, but again you wouldn't want it providing food within two hours of shot time.

I have read that to get cats to stop pestering you at night/early morning is to 100% ignore them when they start meowing for a solid two weeks and by then they'll have it figured out. I can't confirm this though.
 
A couple of things:
First, welcome! I'm sorry you have to be here, but this is a great place and you'll get lots of help and support around here :bighug:

Second, it's fine to leave wet food out for your kitties to eat if they like to graze. The only reason you need to feed just twice/day is if they will scarf it all down like Little does. And even then, if your schedule allows, you could just break the food into smaller meals and give them throughout the day.

Finally, three units is a really big starting dose, and that concerns me. Vets have a very bad habit of recommending dosing like they do for dogs. But that completely doesn't work for cats. So please be working on getting some mid-cycle tests as much as you can so we can make sure your kitty isn't being overdosed. If you can set up the spreadsheet we use here, it's the easiest way to figure out if the dose is appropriate or not. Here is the link: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
I work so it's almost impossible to get a mid day number except on weekends. I take him on Saturday 7 hours after his morning dose so maybe then theyll check and lower his dose?
 
Chez said:
I work so it's almost impossible to get a mid day number except on weekends. I take him on Saturday 7 hours after his morning dose so maybe then theyll check and lower his dose?
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Try to get a few tests after shot on Saturday so the vet has some info to go on.
 
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