JenM said:
At home, he'll still have the feeding tube and will get subQ fluids (which I've done on both cats and dogs) once or twice a day. He wants me to check his bg half way between doses of insulin to see how low it goes. I think I might check before dosing too... but we'll see. I dont know that doing it every time is an option, with the regular insulin. 4 injections, plus 4 pricks sounds like one pissed off cat. So we'll see. Open to suggestions there....
...He's going to put him on 1.5u of regular insulin every 6hrs. So I'll be doing that at 6, 12, 6, 12... how would you all suggest I do the bg monitoring??
Do you know when he wants you to switch over from the R insulin to the Lantus? Or are you going to do it based on Tink's recovery progress?
You want to test before injecting the insulin just in case Tink is already low, so 4 injections = 4 pricks before shots + 4 pricks mid-cycle. Here's a page of
ear-testing tips to help you get started. Cats have less nerve endings in their ears than we do in our fingertips so it doesn't really hurt them. I test Michelangelo 10 to 20 times or more a day and at this point, half the time he's the one seeking me out for a test. What annoys them more than anything is being restrained. I wrote this up to help with
creating a conducive environment for ear testing that will not only help you with testing, but also with the tube-feeding (a lot of the techniques I used to get my part-feral Michelangelo to let me ear-test him I actually borrowed from when I had to figure out how to tube-feed my part-feral Patrick).
As for feeding only twice a day, this is not a good idea. You'll want to feed several small meals throughout the day, most especially at each shot time and possibly half-way between shot times if his numbers are low. You want to make sure you feed only a little bit at a time (don't overload the tube) and flush the tube with water after every syringe of food. You also want to stroke under Tink's chin in a downward motion to help trigger his salivary glands and stomach digestion since he's not eating through his mouth. This will probably be the easiest step out of everything else you're having to deal with. Food generally makes cats happy, even cats who aren't eating, and Tink will most likely be very accommodating. This also might give you a good chance to do ear-testing on him if you have an extra set of hands because Tink will be sitting relatively still while he's "eating."
JenM said:
I got a ReliOn Prime meter. Is that ok? I wanted to get the Confirm or Micro as some had suggested, but the strips were WAY more expensive (like $40 vs $9 for 50). Will it work? At first the vet was adamant that a human meter isn't calibrated for cats and dogs and I needed a pet meter... but then yesterday he said someone gave him a bunch of human diabetic supplies that he'd give me - so I think maybe the internist he's been talking to set him straight??
Yep, the Prime is fine to use. It does require more blood than the Confirm/Micro so you might want to look for larger gauge lancets labeled for "alternate site testing." Warming the ear with a rice sock is highly key when first starting out because it helps get the blood flowing. (Rice Sock: fill sock with rice, beans or lentils, microwave 10-25 seconds, test heat against forearm like a baby's bottle.) You also want to make sure you apply pressure directly after getting blood to stop the bleeding and reduce bruising because the first couple of weeks, their ears will look terrible! Once their ears "
learn to bleed," the bruising clears up and you won't even be able to tell that you test him.
JenM said:
With doing the sub Q fluids, he says I should give the insulin injection somewhere else, rather than in the scruff. He wants it in the muscle (which is odd, if the scruff is an option)... but he doesn't HAVE much muscle right now. Where's the best place to give it? I know he'll tell me where... but I want to hear your thoughts as well as I think this room has a lot more experience with FD than he does.
Here's a great diagram of
places to give injections on cats that might help. Most people shoot in the flank or scruff. You don't want to shoot the insulin into the muscle so I don't know why he's telling you to do that?? I give "flat" shots to Mikey because when he was first diagnosed, he was a 4.8 pound 6-month old kitten who had nothing to "tent" properly. What you do is lightly pull up on the fur/skin so you can see the "shot spot" clearly. Then, you want to slide the needle in at about a 20* angle, not so shallow that it pokes through the other side but shallow enough that you
don't hit muscle. You can practice this angle on a cut apple or potato that will allow you to "see" the needle through the skin/meat as if it were a cross-section.
Curled up on my lap snoring. Probably the best sleep he's had in a week. Spent a little time exploring. 