Sonny got his first "home" dose

[SonnyB]

Sonny spent a half day at his vet today. After no 2nd shot yesterday, his morning number was 490. He was given 5 units, and an hour later, he was 430, 280 at 5 hours, 199 at about 10 hours, and 344 at just under 12 hours. I was afraid to give the whole 5 units, so I gave him 2.5 before dinner. Will check before bed and in the morning. Our vet will be there to check on another diabetic kitty and if we want to drop by, we can but don't need to. He spends the day there on Tuesday again. It took several tries to get the ear, but he was a trooper. Our vet showed us where on the leg to try, but we didn't find the right spot on our own. I might ask him to lightly shave the area that's a good hit.

 

[Blue]

Sonny spent a half day at his vet today. After no 2nd shot yesterday, his morning number was 490. He was given 5 units, and an hour later, he was 430, 280 at 5 hours, 199 at about 10 hours, and 344 at just under 12 hours. I was afraid to give the whole 5 units, so I gave him 2.5 before dinner. Will check before bed and in the morning. Our vet will be there to check on another diabetic kitty and if we want to drop by, we can but don't need to. He spends the day there on Tuesday again. It took several tries to get the ear, but he was a trooper. Our vet showed us where on the leg to try, but we didn't find the right spot on our own. I might ask him to lightly shave the area that's a good hit.

What insulin are you using? That dose of 5units is high.

I would continue testing on the ear; the ears 'learn' to bleed and before you know it, you will get a good drop on the first poke every time.

ETA: You are using humulin N insulin it seems. That insulin is not a very long lasting insulin for cats, so you may have better luck with a longer lasting insulin like Lantus, Levemir, or even PZI.

If you are already testing at home, there is no reason for you to take the cat to the vet for curves; it costs you money and the numbers will be influenced by stress most likely. Getting your cat regulated will not happen by leaving the cat at the vet for a day to do a curve ... and with still feeding dry food, you will still see high numbers. Once you switch over to all wet, you will not be needing as much insulin.

 

[SonnyB]

He's on Humulin N, and this likely won't be his maintenance dose. He's only been on it for 35 hours. There is certainly visible improvement, and his numbers, while still over 200 seem more stable. We will use the ears as long as it is comfortable for him. He scabbed quite a bit from the first one we did. I would like to have another option that is easy to hit so his ears don't get too sore.

 

[Blue]

are you poking free hand or using the lancet device? In the start, with lots of pokes and until you get the hang of it, and get the right depth with the device, you may see some scabbing. I think people put a bit of neosporin on the cat ear to heal it.

also, are you poking on the outside of the ear or on the inside of the earflap?
I get better luck on one of my cats by poking the outside of the ear on the tip, but the other one, with more fleshy ears gives better luck when I poke on the under side of his ears.

The 5u dose is definitely too high; you may want to stick with the 2.5u and aim for a more level curve, but you will see the numbers rising in the last 4hrs when the N insulin has worn off.

 

[BJM]

After getting your test, take a tissue and apply direct pressure to the area poked. This will reduce bruising and scabbing.

If you get some neosporin with pain relief ointment (not cream) and apply a dab a few minutes before testing, then wipe off to test, it will reduce the discomfort of being poked and help the blood bead up for testing. And help it heal.

 

[SonnyB]

great idea about the neosporin with pain relief prior to test. I'll have to pick some up. Thanks!

 

[SonnyB]

That's odd...I replied but the post doesn't seem to be here. We tried both with the device and just the lancet, and the lancet alone seems to work better. We did the furry side of the ear. Tried the inside and got nothing.

We're comfortable leaving him with the vet another day because he was not doing well when he was diagnosed on Thursday. He'd dropped a lot of weight, which we assumed was from his hyperthyroid. His numbers were very high (559) and he was a little wobbly and kind of staring into space. Our vet isn't one of those that creates reasons to charge you - in fact our initial bloodwork, including his thyroid numbers and checks on his kidneys, etc. was $110, including the office visit. All day yesterday and half a day today of testing was $80, including insulin. Our vet hates Humulin for cats, but since it seems to be working, and with that dose, he (understandably) wants to see him. I'm still not giving the full 5 units until I see his numbers steadily high at home. We'll see how it all looks before bed and in the morning. If he's steadily above 300, we'll increase to 3 or 3.5.

 

[Jenn & Baxter]

You should get a SS set up like all the memebrs to track your numbers. This will be helpful for you to see, members on the board to help you with dosing or anything else & will help your vet as well.

When did you give the PM shot? What time is bed? Why I ask is if your cat goes into hypo state & you wait say 7 hrs after the shot to test. Your cat could be in a hypo state & you not know. Cats dont have to have major syptoms. It can happen fast. I hope your vet talked to you about this. Mine gave me a hand out sheet. I also, researched it here as well. Its essential to test before a shot & a couple hours after a shot, then again at bed time for example.
5 units of any insulin is extremely high. It could be very dangerous if the cat is not being tested every hour.

Keep trying to test the ear. There are some really good YouTube videos you & your DH could watch to help you with testing. Make sure you always give extra love & a healthy treat afterwards. No crunchy treats they are high carb. The whole point is to get his BG down which can't happen if fed high carbs.

Jenn & Baxter
cat_pet_icon

 

[SonnyB]

Thanks. We are testing on the ear, but as our vet suggested, we will also learn another site. I tested him 4 hours after his dinner shot, (which was not 5U, but 2.5U) and he had gone from 344 to 237. He came out a few minutes ago, used the box and got a snack. He's comfortable and purring since we brought him home.

 

[Blue]

Being at the vet is stressful for most animals, and I know that both of my cats do not test normal at the vet office. For that reason, I know that vet curves are not natural.

One of my cats tests higher at the vet office and the other tests lower. Always.

I have always tested the cat before leaving for the vet, when we arrive at the vet, just before we leave the vet and then about 30min after we get home..... those test numbers are very telling.

For my cat that goes low at the vet, I got into the habit of taking high carb food because one time he went very low and I had to snap open a can and coax him to eat some gravy.

Even if the vet offered me curves for free, I would pass because of the stress caused on my cats. I see no value in a vet curve.... they test what 3 or 4 times in a day, so why can't you do those same 3 or 4 tests yourself, and at home?

the testing with the lancet free hand hurts more... try it on yourself.
Put a lancet into the device and poke your own thumb tip. Then, take the lancet out of the device and poke your thumb again free hand. The manual poke is slower and is inconsistent in depth, whereas using the lancet device is quick, and depth is constant because of how you have it set.

 

[Karen & Smokey(GA)]

That's odd...I replied but the post doesn't seem to be here. .

When you 'reply' always read the text after you hit submit. If another poster submitted while you
were typing, you will get a message that another post has been submitted, and do you still want
to submit yours. Then you will have to 'submit' again.

It will say something like "Another poster has replied...do you still want to post this ?"

instead of "Your post has been submitted successfully".

Annoying, yes. But if you know this could happen, you will not lose so many posts.