Testing glucose for the first time

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Thank you so much for the encouragement Linda it means alot, I was feeling really down. I will make up the kit and post emergency phone numbers to have on hand too. I made up a homemade Pedialyte solution and will get some into her today as well. I just tested her glucose and it's down to 13.2 her best yet! After testing I gave her treats and this time she didn't even run away, so I gave her a few more treats & cuddles, then celebrated by dumping out a bag of cat nip mice onto the bed! Lol J.J actually started rolling around on them and was being playful, really did my heart good to see.
 
I thought her dose from the vet ( 1 unit x twice a day ) seemed high for her being so tiny & dehydrated Alexi too! Plus she is on other medications and I'm nervous how they would affect the insulin. I felt better to air on the side of caution.
 
AHHHH! I can just picture her playing with her mice. Glad to hear she's spoiled! LOL! It sounds like she is already feeling somewhat better and that is music to my ears so I can imagine how happy it's making you!

You are doing just fine with her Jenn and it's important to celebrate those early successes because each step brings you closer to getting "comfortable" dealing with the diabetes and often folks get so overwhelmed they don't realize how much they have learned or how well they are doing.

Alexi's Cappucino has his lowest readings between 5 and 6 hours post shot. I would suggest you test again today around 4 hours post shot because some cats have their low point earlier or later than others so you really need to figure out J.J's response. The 0.5u is pulling her down a bit more today but she is looking good. You just want to make sure this dose is not going to take her too low.
 
Just tested her glucose again ( 2:30 pm ) and it's at 12.5 Tried the Pedialyte solution by syringe, did not go over well at all.
 
We tried filling out the spread sheet but not sure if it was done correctly, hoping someone can check it out and see. Thank you
 
Looks fine to me. Are you able to get a +5 and a +6 number today, I would test hourly now until you see the number start to rise so we can work out where her lowest point is.
 
Congrats again! The spreadsheet is accessible and looks great. Nice number too. She is going down at a nice even pace. I like the suggestion of testing at both +5 and +6 today just to see when her lowest point is. Let's see what she does.

You folks are doing great and J.J is so lucky to have you caring for her. She's in good hands. :D

I'm going to pop out to do a few errands and will check back in when I return. :)
 
Ok so J.J is on her way back up now. Don't be worried that she's a bit higher than she was this morning. That's normal in the early days as kitty gets used to a lower BG than they've been used to. We call it bouncing and you just have to ride it out for a few days to let her body get used to the lower numbers. The other thing is that when the infection is gone, J.J's BG may come down more on it's own so I'd hold the 0.5u dose for now.
 
So if I've done the math right then at 10:45 pm I should test her bg, then feed, wait 20 mins, then give her 0.5, wait 2 hours test bg, wait 1 hour & test bg again...yes?
 
Sounds good to me, if you get an unexpected pre shot number post again for advice. I am not going to be around as it is past 11pm here but will check back when I get up to see how you are doing.
 
Thank you Sharon, I owe so much of her improvement to you guys and this forum. I truly do not know what we would of done with out your support. It's crazy how little information we received from our vet. Since we live out in the country and the closest town is a hour away so vital to be prepared. Funny thing is I always worried for our 2 little girls Bella & Sophia I never thought about the cat. Now I know better. :)
 
Hi Jenn, Just saw the reading from about 6pm. Looking good. No surprises there. Do you have any particular time of day you would like to be giving J.J her shots on a regular 12 hour basis? We should try to get you on a schedule that's a little more workable for those 3 hour post shot tests as I'm sure you'd probably like to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Caninsulin is a little more forgiving with shot times as it often doesn't last a full 12 hours so I think you could safely move the shot back a bit tonight if you'd like to do that to get started toward what will become your usual shot time. All the testing we been having you do won't have to continue on a regular basis. You should continue getting tests before each shot and ideally another about 3-4 hours post shot for each cycle. So perhaps if you do shots at 7/7 or 8/8 those night tests won't be as much of a problem but that decision is entirely yours to make. I think you can skip the 2 hour test tonight and give you and J.J a break. The +3 hour test will tell you how the cycle is going ie. how fast and how much J.J is dropping. :)
 
That's fabulous news Linda. The 8/8 would be great! What time do you recommend for tonight then instead of 10:45, would i do it at 9:45 and the reduce it another hour tomorrow or is that to drastic?
 
I think that would be a great plan.... even 9:30 should be fine if you see this in time to test, feed and wait the 20 minutes. There are times when shots get held up for whatever reason and depending on the insulin you are using, there are different methods of getting back on a workable schedule. Caninsulin is a little more flexible than some others so that makes it easier to get you onto a reasonable schedule.
 
Just part of the bouncing thing. It may be that she will need a bit more insulin but for now the best thing to do is dose her conservatively. It may also be that her insulin requirement will come down when the infection is cleared up. I'd rather be a little conservative than too aggressive and it take a few days and some data to see if it's bouncing or a need for more insulin. Besides, our kitties often run a little lower at night than they do in the daytime which is why getting those before bed tests are so important. You don't need to be scared at all. This is just part of the usual adjustment period we all go through.
 
I can't believe how well she is taking all this poking! I was laying down with her on my chest talking to her while she was giving me kisses, when Nick walks in & pinches the scruff of her neck to give her the shot & J.J just keeps on licking me like nothing happened. I can not believe that we even entertained the thought for one second of putting her down thinking to make her go through this would be so cruel. I would never in a million years thought it possible that she would be so cooperative & it would bother her so little. Thank god we played this by year.
 
Looking good, in terms of changing shot times I tend to move by 30 mins at a time, sometimes an hour if the last shot was late and the blood sugar is looking ok. I agree to hold the dose until we have more data - can you update your spreadsheet as I'm not seeing your latest numbers on there.
 
Sorry Jenn. I checked in a bit too early I guess and then nodded off. J.J seems to be having pretty smooth cycles without a very dramatic drop. Making shot time changes of no more than 30 minutes daily is true with the long acting insulins that have carry over from one cycle to the next. Caninsulin is an in and out insulin so there is a little more flexibility to back up shots a little faster as long as pre-shots tests are done to ensure it's safe to do so.
Monday if I were you, I'd test at +4 hours and again at +6 during the day cycle to get a little different view of J.J's cycle. As you get more data, you'll start to see a pattern for J.J and those patterns help make dose adjustment decisions. And as Alexi mentioned, when you have a second, it would be helpful if you can update the spreadsheet.
 
Thank you for the feedback. I updated the spreadsheet with this morning's number included, feed her and im just waiting now to give her insulin. This will be the first time i have had to inject the insulin ( up till now I have only done the bg & my husband has been the one to do the insulin injections, so I'm a bit nervous).
 
You'll be fine. If you find you need to distract J.J at all to do it, give her a treat or two. while you shoot. I'll check in with you later, have to go out for bit, but if you have any problem, just post using a "?" prefix and someone will be along to help. :)
 
No worries. We usually hold doses for a few cycles to see how they are working but the 1u last night seems to have been fine and she had a nice pre-shot this morning, lower than previously, so all you need to figure out is how low the 1u is taking her. One suggestion.....make dose changes when you can monitor if need be. I always wait until a day cycle to make dose increases knowing that if I happen to get a lower reading than expected at a mid cycle test, I will be awake and able to monitor more closely if need be.

It will be interesting to see how J.J does today. I will be out most of the day but will check in later.
 
ok that's quite a big drop from her pre-shot level, can you post the PM pre-shot level as her dose may need some tweaking.
 
Just checking in and Wow! Now that's a nice number but quite the drop which isn't all that surprising. Obviously you did just fine giving her the injection! Congrats! Another hurdle conquered! :D I'm guessing the infection is now starting to clear and her BG numbers are coming down and may go down more. You also switched her to an all wet diet and it takes a few days to see the full effect of that change too. J.J also had a lower pre-shot number this morning.

Did you by any chance get another reading later in the cycle?

J.J could have dropped even lower by +4 or 5 so I'd be a little leery of giving her the 1u tonight because we often find the numbers in the night cycle are lower than those in the day and you don't want J.J going too low especially at night. I'd be inclined to take her back to the 0.5u dose tonight, get a test in at +3 again to see how much lower that number is than the pre-shot test and be prepared to perhaps get another test in if she is dropping sharply. I think you could back her shot up another 30 minutes tonight to make getting post shot tests in. Please let us know what her pre-shot reading is tonight.

One last thing, if you can put readings into the spreadsheet as you do each test, it will make it easier for us to see how she is doing and to assist you if need be.:)
 
Ok just saw the 7.8 at +5 so I am not sure it's necessary to reduce the dose tonight but I say that with the caveat that if you give 1u and her +3 is down as much as today's cycle, I'd suggest getting at least a +4 test in too, just to be sure she stays safe overnight. The problem is that if the infection is clearing her numbers could be continuing to drop on their own. It's up to you whether you are up to possibly having a bit of PJ party with J.J tonight. The cycle on 1u today was beautiful but the aim is to keep her safe and you sane! ;) It will be interesting to see what her pre-shot number is and that should be part of the deciding factor here too.
 
Hi I just took her before supper shot & it was 17.5 I also updated the spreadsheet. Just going to feed her so I can start timing her for her next insulin dose. brb
 
Just noticed that you posted the same time as me, lol. Please at the risk of sounding stupid can you explain what caveat means, thanks. I have no problem doing a post 4 hr read if that helps then I will be glad to.
 
So she's a tad higher than this morning so If you are able to stay up IF she were to drop sharply by +3 you could give her the 1u. If you want to play it safe and or not be staying up tonight beyond the +3 test, do you think you could draw up 0.75u? It's your call Jenn and either option is fine.

OOPs we just cross posted again! Caveat just means a warning with conditions attached to it and apparently you are Ok with possibly staying up so decision is made?
 
Yes I am fine to stay up. So I will draw up 1 u then & give it straight away. Tonight will give me a chance to try and find some food for her that's available here in Canada, she really does not seem to like the Wellness. Thank for explaining what that meant. And I just learned how to put the numbers into the spreadsheet myself, so I won't have to wait for Nick to be home to do it. :)
 
I figured there was a good reason for the lack of spreadsheet updates! You are learning a lot of stuff these days and doing a great job at it! :D The learning curve definitely slows down very soon. Did I give you this LINK for food options before? The other option of course is Fancy Feast pates. There are other options like Tiki Cat, Hounds and Gatos, Boreal and Weruva which are available at Global pets but they are considerably more expensive. I can't think of any others off the top of my head but then I am the pet parent of a kibble addicted sugar who tries to bury any soft food as if it were her waste and 5 yrs of trying to get her on a canned diet has been one failure after another. :banghead::blackeye: There is also info HERE but some of these brands may be US only.

I'm feeling a little perkier tonight so will try to stay up to see what J.J's +3 reading is. If she stays around the same numbers as today or a bit higher, then I think it's safe to skip the +4 reading. If she has dropped more than she did today, then I'd get the +4.
 
Just did her +3 it was 6.1, thank you so much for the kind words & support you have been such a blessing through all this craziness. I have praised you & others who have help guide me through this to my friends and family so many times that now when my oldest daughter calls home to check on J.J she asks " What does Linda say? " Lol We live about a hour away from London in one direction or a hour to Port Huron in the other direction, so I'm sending hubby to the states side since there are more options for J.J there he should be able to pick up a assortment since my choice of Wellness did not meet her paw of approval! Lol Thank you for the link too!
 
Until she was diagnosed with the diabetes & I started doing research I never knew that some cats would actually prefer dry food over wet, but then again I thought the food she was on was good for her too because it was high in protein. So ya learn something new everyday, right now in my case tons of new things every day! But it truly is getting better ( as long as nothing happens to my notebook or tablet). If you are up & think I should do another read I will. :joyful:
 
You are quite welcome. It's my pleasure to be able to help a little but I am just passing on the support I got when my journey started. That 6.1 is looking good but I think getting a +4 would be a good idea as she has dropped a tiny tad more than this morning. She's nowhere near any worrisome low numbers but we don't know exactly how much more she might drop so just to be extra safe (and I admit to being very conservative) I would get that +4. The early days of trying to understand your kitty's patterns will make things easier in the future.
 
I have been in your neck of the woods many many times while driving to Mackinaw and/or Wisconsin. Handy being able to hop across the border to pick up stuff but beware that you cannot bring pet food across the border without having the animal who will consume the food with you. :arghh::banghead: If they catch you it will be confiscated. Last year I was considering having some exceptionally low carb kibble shipped from the states but they told me there was a possibility that they wouldn't be able to ship it up here much longer due to changes in our pet food import laws. I switched Menace over to another low carb kibble that was available here only to have that company suddenly decide to stop doing business in Canada. I looked into the possibility of running over to Niagara Falls NY to pick up that low carb food which is how I found out about this absurd regulation. Pitiful that we are supposed to have free trade and have such stringent rules for pet food/supplements. I understand wanting to keep our pets safe but I think this is taking that concern a little over the top.:rolleyes:
 
Wonderful. It looks to me like the 1u is the right dose for her right now. She is on her way back up and you can go catch some much needed sleep. She is doing great! You just need to keep an eye on her in case her insulin need does drop more in the coming days as the infection clears. Sweet dreams!
 
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