Sorry, more questions...

[Nuriel]

So, Aries has gotten to the point where the vet is going to leave her at 3 units of ProZinc twice a day. Today level this morning was at 521, then went down to 360, then 246, finally back up to 256. Is this a standard arc? The vet wasn't concerned about it, so I'm assuming it is. The 246 is still a bit higher than her target level, but the vet said to leave her insulin where it is.

So, here are my questions, I'm two weeks away at this point from her next vet visit as well as her Fructose (??) test. I bought a home test kit, but so far I have chickened out every time I try to test at home. I'm either afraid of hurting her, or of messing up. I've done a lot of reading on how to do it, I just haven't been able to get my courage up. Does anyone else have this much trouble with it??

Next, when she originally got her diet, the vet said to give Aries 1 can (5 0z) and 1/8 cup of dry food. If I eliminate the dry food, how much more can food do I add. I want to make sure I am giving her the proper amount of food.

Finally, my last question involves the timing of shots. I am currently giving her one shot at 7am, then a second at 7pm. The problem has came up that periodically, I have a night job where I won't be home at 7pm to give a second shot. what is the best way to handle this. I don't really have anyone else around to give it in my absence. Is there a better way to schedule these shots? I don't want to have to wait until 930pm to give her second shot, and I wasn't sure if I were better off giving it to her at 545pm before I leave for work. Any suggestions?

 

[breayle and jake]

Well I can tell you first off that everyone here is going to tell you to get your courage together and check her at home. It is also very dangerous to give kitty a shot without checking Blood Glucose first. Also, they're going to tell you to get a spreadsheet together, a ton of testing strips and a lot of patience.

Most people here do at least five tests a day it seems, most even more. If you're home at a certain time all the time make that your dose schedule. Have it fit around yours so her shots are as clean timed as possible. How much you feed kitty depends on weight. My cat weighs about 11lbs and eats about 12oz + of cat food a day. He's also always been a bit of a pig

A nice place to start with your questions:
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/faq.html
http://www.felinediabetes.com/DrLynneFoodList.pdf

Also, here's a good video to show you how to give kitty a BG test!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8

Here's a cheap monitor, and strips:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Ultima-Blood-Glucose-Monitor/3555238

 

[Karen & Smokey(GA)]

Uhhhhh.....most people here test twice per day if giving insulin twice per day.

Test before every shot to determine if it is safe to give insulin.

Most here run a curve (tests every two hours) once per week or every two weeks.

Newbies are often advised to test before every shot, and also try to get some spot check
tests in if you can. Different times after the shot. This is to try to learn when the insulin
peaks in that particular cat (when BG is lowest).

I don't think there are many here who routinely test 5 times per day, every day.

 

[Nuriel]

Aries weighed 11 lbs her last vet visit. So far today she has eaten about 5 oz. her appetite hasn't been as good lately. She has had a hard time adjusting to the not having dry food out all the time for her to eat.

thanks for the links and advice everyone. I will try once again tomorrow to test her blood level.

 

[Anonymous]

hi there, if you are still on line there are video's here that show beautiful testing of people from this actual board...step by step, let me know if your around and i'll get them for you.
edit to add: oh i see you got them! that should help.

 

[Seattlebrian]

Welcome,

I had quite a bit of trouble with testing the first dozen or so times I tried. Some things to keep in mind.

#1) make sure the ear you are testing is good and warm. A warm ear will increase the blood flow in the ear making it easier to get enough blood to test. If your cat is a cuddler, you could burry one ear against you so it warms. Otherwise, you could massage or try a warmed rice sock. (I did the sock).
#2) Use the lancing pen that hopefully came with your testing kit. When starting it was much easier for me to push a button on the pen, than to hold a lancet in my hand and poke. The pens are meant for people's fingertips, so you might have to adjust to the deepest setting to get through the fur to kitties ear. The needles are incredibly small and will heal up within seconds. This isn't always a good thing if enough blood didn't come out (see #1). How much you will need will depend on your meter.
#3)Take the time to watch the video showing how to test, and look at the famous "kitty ear target zone" picture. Then rewatch it again after you have tested a couple times.
#4) hold that ear tight. nothing is more frustrating than finally getting that first drop of blood to show up and kitty shakes their head and it goes flying.
#5)use the meter on yourself once or twice using your fingertip. This will give you an idea how much blood you need, how to put in the strips right, how long before you know you have a good test, etc, without having to hold a squirming kitty.

As for how often to test, you always want to test before a shot to make sure the kitty isn't already really low. It is also helpful to get a shot when they reach their lowest point (nadir). But not everyone can test 3-4 hours after injection because of work. So do what you can. The more tests you do, the more information you will have, and the better you can "dial in" your cat's insulin needs.