Starting insulin this weekend

J

Jess092

Member
Hi everyone! My cat was diagnosed one week ago. We started with a diet change, and she will be starting insulin this weekend. At first we thought it would Lantus but we’ve confirmed it will be ProZinc.

Tomorrow afternoon we see the vet in mid afternoon for her to show us how to give the shots- they will use saline solution for the demonstration. Then, she said we can start insulin the next day, Sunday morning.

That is the part I’m slightly confused about- is there any reason it is better to start in the morning rather than the evening? Why wait till the next morning? Do we need to wait between her getting the saline demonstration shot and the first insulin shot?
 
Hi Jessica and sugargirl Buddy.

Have you read the newly revised "Sticky" documents at the top of the Prozinc ISG forum?
There is lots of good information contained in those documents that will help guide you in your journey with diabetes.

Do you have some questions for us?
 
I don't know if there's a reason to start in the morning rather than evening. I do know you need to keep the doses 12 hours apart. Have you started home testing her blood glucose levels at home? When she starts insulin, I can't tell you how much safer she will be if you home test. What dose are they starting her on? Some vets start with too high a dose, as my vet did.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Hi Jessica and sugargirl Buddy.

Have you read the newly revised "Sticky" documents at the top of the Prozinc ISG forum?
There is lots of good information contained in those documents that will help guide you in your journey with diabetes.

Do you have some questions for us?
Click to expand...
Thank you! I read the guides, they were very helpful! We did our first shot this morning, and now it’s a little less intimidating!!
 
Juls and Billy said:
I don't know if there's a reason to start in the morning rather than evening. I do know you need to keep the doses 12 hours apart. Have you started home testing her blood glucose levels at home? When she starts insulin, I can't tell you how much safer she will be if you home test. What dose are they starting her on? Some vets start with too high a dose, as my vet did.
Click to expand...

Yes, we are home testing! We started with a week of diet change only and tracked her numbers, and now we are testing and doing insulin. We decided to start her on a half unit. The vet suggested 1 unit but ultimately we would rather start low and see the impact and assess. We are brand new at this and it has been intimidating. I was really scared of hypo incidents so I think starting low is the right option.
 
Good job on getting some signature set up in your user id signature.

If you get our standardized, color coded spreadsheet setup, it's a great way to track the BG tests you get. Lots of people find it helpful.
Many people even find it's a great tool to share the readings with their vet.

How to's are here with a template you copy and step by step directions and pictures for setting up using a pc, tablet, or smartphone.
FDMB Spreadsheet Instructions

What the columns mean is here:
Understanding the Spreadsheet/Grid

We talk in + hour format here, since we live all over the world.
+1 is 1 hour after the insulin shot, +2 is 2 hours after the insulin shot, etc.

Recording other information such as food fed, behavior of your cat and such can be done in the Remarks column on the spreadsheet (SS).
There is even a tab on the SS for "labs" if you get lab work done.
 
@Jess092 ….if you need help with the spreadsheet, feel free to send me a PM and I'd be happy to set it up for you.

Just click on my name and choose "start a conversation" so I can get some information! It's absolutely no trouble at all!
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
@Jess092 ….if you need help with the spreadsheet, feel free to send me a PM and I'd be happy to set it up for you.

Just click on my name and choose "start a conversation" so I can get some information! It's absolutely no trouble at all!
Click to expand...
Hi Chris! Thanks so much for the reminder and your help! I am not super tech savvy but luckily for me my boyfriend set up the spreadsheet, and I’ve just added the link to the profile! Hopefully it works!
 
Jess092 said:
Hopefully it works!
Click to expand...

Good job!!

One tip...most of us are in the US so we look at the US tab. If you enter anything other than digits in the cells, it shows up as "error" on our side, so like in the +8 and +11, instead of putting a " - ", just leave it blank.

You also really don't need to test every hour. Always get the Pre-shot tests and then one cycle do a +2, +5, +8 and another cycle do +3, +6, +9 (or anything like that)

There will be times when you will need to test more often (like every 30 minutes if he's running too low) but for now, might want to give his ears a little break when you can.
 
Buddy has a spreadsheet!!!!! Very nice Buddy.

As Chris said, you don't have to test quite so often, except in certain low number circumstances.

If you let us know a bit about your work and life schedule, we could make suggestions on other times to test.
Always test at pre-shot. Both AM and PM.
And then get a few tests to see when the nadir, onset and duration is for your cat.

Nice to do a bit more testing in the beginning days, when you cat has just started insulin.

Curve on the weekend or a day off. That is testing from one pre-shot time to the next pre-shot time, taking a test every 2 hours.

What else may we help you with? Let us know. Happy to help with whatever you need.

p.s. yes, the profile signature link to the SS is perfect!
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
Good job!!

One tip...most of us are in the US so we look at the US tab. If you enter anything other than digits in the cells, it shows up as "error" on our side, so like in the +8 and +11, instead of putting a " - ", just leave it blank.

You also really don't need to test every hour. Always get the Pre-shot tests and then one cycle do a +2, +5, +8 and another cycle do +3, +6, +9 (or anything like that)

There will be times when you will need to test more often (like every 30 minutes if he's running too low) but for now, might want to give his ears a little break when you can.
Click to expand...
Thank you! We won’t be testing as much going forward- I was just a very very nervous mama the first day!!! I’m sure buddy is very annoyed at me! We have toned it way down on her second day. I love you so much and I just didn’t know how the insulin would affect her, so I went in the direction of overdoing it! I am going to try to calm down a bit, haha.
 
Jess092 said:
I am going to try to calm down a bit, haha.
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We are used to nervous, anxious, fearful, forgetful, panicking, stressed out cat caregivers.

Mindfulness breathing exercises. I highly recommend them.

Deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release, clear your mind of all other thoughts and think about your breathing only, deep breath, hold, clear your mind, release,................................

Works for me too, as I'm trying to help all the anxious members here.:)
 
Deb & Wink said:
We are used to nervous, anxious, fearful, forgetful, panicking, stressed out cat caregivers.

Mindfulness breathing exercises. I highly recommend them.

Deep breath, hold, release, deep breath, hold, release, clear your mind of all other thoughts and think about your breathing only, deep breath, hold, clear your mind, release,................................

Works for me too, as I'm trying to help all the anxious members here.:)
Click to expand...
Thank you! I am trying! It’s been a crazy month- we were supposed to leave for a three week trip in April, but in the last few weeks we found out buddy has diabetes and that I have to have gallbladder surgery before flying, so we are cancelling and adjusting our plans! It’s been an adventure, haha!
 
Yuck! Surgery for yourself as well as learning Buddy was diabetic must have ramped the stress levels to max.

5 of the big life stressors, and you have 2 of them going on. Illness for yourself, illness for a loved one, Buddy.

Hope things take an upward turn for you both soon.
Cancelling vacation plans does not sound like fun, but you do have to take care of yourself and after surgery, you probably wouldn't feel much like traveling and flying for a while.

Hope you can do some trips closer to home for now. Connecting with nature always helps me, even if it's only looking out my window at tonight's sunset.
 
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