Tubz- Update w/Questions

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chuchunga

chuchunga

Member Since 2014
Hello everyone,
Still fairly new to this whole thing and I am not sure where I should be posting this? I cant figure out if I should post a new topic every time I have questions or should I be posting somewhere in a category? Please help. lol For now I will post here bc you guys have been so helpful.

Last Sat was our visit to the vet to compare my at home glucometer readings to the one the vet had. Mine runs about 58% lower than their meter. Making my relieon home meter normal ranges 50-150 on the meter. When I took him in he told me not to dose at that time because Tubz's numbers where in the normal range. He had eaten 1/2 can an hour before the visit. On the vets meter it was 185 and on mine it was 108. Later that night his number was 167 at dinner time (my meter) so I gave him a dose. FYI he is on .5 units of lantus and Friskies pate classic wet food.

Since then I have not had to give him a dose of insulin. All of his numbers have been between 88-132 on my at home meter testing him 4 times a day. ALWAYS before morning meal and evening meal but at other times as close to 3 and 6 hours after his first meal as i can.

He was diagnosed with diabetes on 3/14/2014 and we switched him to canned food that day. He had immediate changes in his symptoms within 48 hours. He no longer drank water all day long and flooded the litter box. His back leg neuropathy had started to improve. On 3/11/2014 we started him on Lantus .5 units twice daily. His glucose number at the first testing was 497, one week later after canned food only he was already down to 333, after a week on Lantus I am getting normal numbers. He is having normal 1-2 times a day urine outputs. No longer drinking at the water bowl. I even add a little water to his canned food. Seems to help him eat it easier and a little extra water never hurts.

My question is A) is it normal for cats to have this quick of a turn around? & if he does actually go into remission will i have to test his ear twice daily for the rest of his life? B) I seem to only get blood out of one ear. There is like a sweet spot that I am guaranteed to get a blood drop out of. I am putting some neosporin (sp?) on his ear at night. But can this cause long term pain or scarring? I dont see any scarring and he doesnt seem to mind me touching his ear or anything afterwards. Anything I should be looking for? C) We go in for our first blood curve panel on the 25th...I know that many cats will read higher numbers when at the vets due to stress. Should I trust my home glucometer? I dont want to be skipping doses that he actually needs but i know it is far worse to overdose him.

Thanks in advance for all your help.
Tubz's devoted mommy, Heather
 
A. -For some cats, yes absolutely, they can go into remission right away with just food changes. -If your cat goes fully into remission (14 days without needing insulin is the goal to call it remission) after that point you would just slowly test less and less... You know the symptoms now, be on the watch for odd behavior, excessive drinking/urination, acting starving, not grooming, etc.

B. You have to do whatever works for you, I also only test one ear, Frog will not even let me look at the other ear closely, but he has no problem whatsoever with me poking that one ear in very close to the same area every time. If I have time to do extra mid-cycle tests and he is willing, I try to move it off a centimeter or two, so as to not leave it sore, but otherwise he doesn't care. I was using the Neosporin at first, because he was getting redness and irritation every poke..... Now, I figured out that I just needed to change lancets... I changed brands and went to a smaller size (33g now and I get blood EASY because that ear knows what we are doing, lol) I don't see any sign of scarring or problems on the ear that does get 'abused'.

Here's the thing about the glucometer numbers. Don't expect that number to be 'exact' or dead on compared to a lab test, for instance. What it is tho, is a ballpark, so that you can see the trend. The glucometer readings are allowed to be within 20% of 'actual' ... it does not need to be precise. Just looking at the 'range' and yea, its going to be overall more accurate doing it at home, because going to the vet/being AT the vet can cause many cats to rise far above what it should be, their bodies go into 'fight or flight' mode and it starts releasing glucose (sugar) into the bloodstream to deal with the 'threat'
I personally would recommend doing the curve yourself if you can handle it... Vets tend to charge so much money for that, and it really isn't even accurate when you factor in that stress. Even cats that are 'calm' at the vet can rise, possibly due to smelling other animals and such.
 
We suggest using an inexpensive human glucometer with pet-specific reference numbers. One many of us use is the WalMart Relion Confirm, or Confirm Micro, which is also sold at American Diabetes Wholesale as as the Arkray USA Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini (same manufacturer - Arkray USA). It uses a tiny blood droplet and the cost is significantly lower for test strips (like $0.36 each).

Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *​
Examples of using the chart:

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
chuchunga said:
My question is A) is it normal for cats to have this quick of a turn around? & if he does actually go into remission will i have to test his ear twice daily for the rest of his life? B) I seem to only get blood out of one ear. There is like a sweet spot that I am guaranteed to get a blood drop out of. I am putting some neosporin (sp?) on his ear at night. But can this cause long term pain or scarring? I dont see any scarring and he doesnt seem to mind me touching his ear or anything afterwards. Anything I should be looking for? C) We go in for our first blood curve panel on the 25th...I know that many cats will read higher numbers when at the vets due to stress. Should I trust my home glucometer? I dont want to be skipping doses that he actually needs but i know it is far worse to overdose him.
Click to expand...

A) As Barb already said, this is absolutely possible. Many times, newly diagnosed cats only need a diet change and sometimes just a few rounds of insulin to get their pancreas working again.

B) I also only test Mikey mainly in his right ear because he doesn't really like me messing around with his left ear. We've been at this a year and a half with no scarring, no irritation, no problems. I pretty much can look at his right ear and it'll bleed for me. :lol:

C) As long as he's staying between 40-130ish on the human meter with the majority of numbers in the double-digits, then there's no need to worry about insulin. After 14 days of no insulin, a cat is considered OTJ (Off the Juice) and in remission. At that point, most people wean off the testing from twice daily to bi-weekly, then weekly, monthly, etc.... It's what you feel most comfortable doing and at the speed you desire.
 
Thanks for all your help,
If my cat does go into remission (14 days no insulin) and for some reason does become diabetic (or shall i say in need of insulin again) will the symptoms he had previous to diagnosis return quickly? For example the hunger, constant drinking and flooding the litter box? Or is it something that happens gradually? If I decide to test only weekly and his blood glucose is high for a few days will the symptoms return right away? The worst symptom he had was the weak bag legs and I certainly dont want him to stop walking again.

-Heather
 
You may notice the increase in thirst and urination first, as it is one of the ways the body tries to compensate for the excess glucose in the blood.

Check my signature link secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you may wish to make.
 
Hey there

Tips to stay OTJ

We say a cat is in remission if the cat can maintain BG levels for 14 days between 40-120 with most of that spent under 100. However, please keep in mind that once a diabetic always a diabetic.

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.
 
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