Vet appointment updates for Cadmium

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apollonia-artemisia

apollonia-artemisia

Member Since 2022
Hi everyone, today was Cadmium's 1 week post diagnosis check up. His numbers were looking better, except for todays AMPS results. Dry food is officially moved to kitty contraband for him. We discussed the importance of a consistent diet plan of same amount of breakfast + dinner each day at same time. [ETA: he did say a small snack in the mid afternoon would be acceptable, especially so if Cadmium has been more active and got the zoomies!] Plan is to keep his doses at 1 unit for now, to make sure that the high numbers were just due to me giving him the forbidden snack of dry food after his play session, or if he needs his dose to be increased. Vet requested that I do a glucose curve the next couple of days and to call/email with results. The goal for Cadmium is "to not spend many hours above 200, or to go below 75." He also has some sort of irritation going on with his lower eyelid and was prescribed steroid-free eye antibiotic ointment for that.

Also, the part that I found pretty interesting was comparing results over 3 separate meters. The vet's in clinic AlphaTrak 2 gave a glucose reading of 211, while the ReliOn Classic said 151, and my old AccuChek Guide Me said 204. All tested same time, with blood that welled up from the same ear poke! I might continue with the AccuChek, especially for whatever reason the ReliOn gave such a wildly different reading. However, the vet said the spreadsheet I've been keeping is really impressive, and that not many of the caretakers of diabetic cats he sees goes that far for their cats! He also said Cadmium is very lucky to have my partner and I to watch out for him, which made me feel a bit better about the missteps I took in his care.

Tagging @FrostD per your request!

ETA: AAAAA I AM SO HAPPY HE JUST HAD HIS BEST READING YET WITH THE ACCUCHEK METER!! At about +5.5 (put on spreadsheet at +6) he was 166!!!!
 
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Sounds like your vet is better than most we encounter, glad to hear it!

All meters are allowed 20% variance from lab values per FDA, so I'd hazard a guess that if you tested each about 3 times you'd end up pretty close. The pet meters do tend to read a little higher, but our dosing methods account for that when applicable.

If you want to follow the vets advice of "not below 75" I'd suggest adding "reductions below 75" to your signature so we know.

It's possible the eye issue may be raising BG a little bit, so you may see BG come down a little bit
 
FrostD said:
Sounds like your vet is better than most we encounter, glad to hear it!

All meters are allowed 20% variance from lab values per FDA, so I'd hazard a guess that if you tested each about 3 times you'd end up pretty close. The pet meters do tend to read a little higher, but our dosing methods account for that when applicable.

If you want to follow the vets advice of "not below 75" I'd suggest adding "reductions below 75" to your signature so we know.

It's possible the eye issue may be raising BG a little bit, so you may see BG come down a little bit
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I adore this vet and the clinic as a whole, it's why I still go there even if it means taking a Lyft there and back after moving away from that neighborhood. They also have pheromone diffusers and encourage bringing treats for the staff to give to help the animal feel as comfortable as possible. Cadmium's even gotten vaccines while sitting in my lap, because thats where he felt safest! And they don't turn him away either due to him being FIV+.

It was really odd that the variance seemed to get wider than it has been, do strips stop being as sensitive if they're exposed to cold temperatures? Earlier today the AccuChek and ReliOn were at least in similar ranges, not almost 60 points different.

As for the eye thing that was my thoughts too, that maybe his eyelid throwing a fit caused his sugars to spike and it'll even out as it calms down. Regardless, variables of infection and dry food should be ruled out. Does what my signature make sense by the way? Wanted to double check :)
 
You know I've never noticed a difference in temps but to be fair I've never really sat there and done a true comparison.

I would tweak it to say "Dosing per vet, below 200 as much as possible, reductions below 75" if you have enough room (I assume that's what your vet means - take a reduction below 75?). It just tells us that you aren't following our usual methods, but still gives us an idea of what your goal is.
 
FrostD said:
You know I've never noticed a difference in temps but to be fair I've never really sat there and done a true comparison.

I would tweak it to say "Dosing per vet, below 200 as much as possible, reductions below 75" if you have enough room (I assume that's what your vet means - take a reduction below 75?). It just tells us that you aren't following our usual methods, but still gives us an idea of what your goal is.
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Gotcha! Fixed now, I misunderstood wording (it's been a long day).

Looking at the manual and it says test strips need to be stored in a cool dry place in temperatures of 34-86° (1-30°C) and 20-80% relative humidity. It also emphasizes that it should be kept from direct sunlight, heat, and do not freeze. It explains that these methods of storing keep it from expiring before the date, and if they expire they're inaccurate! Googling says that yep, being in temperature extremes for 30 minutes or longer can make test strips inaccurate. It seems fine now that I'm back indoors, but its something to keep in mind...

Why the heck have none of my doctors told me this when I live in Minnesota?! Lol. Guess I learned something today!
 
Hi and welcome to the group, your kitty is adorable. My wife has a particular soft spot for orange tabbys!

your vet sounds great. My vet said the same thing about our efforts basically "wow, I have never ever known a cat owner to go to these lengths except maybe the occasional show-cat person"

I beamed.
 
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Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
Hi and welcome to the group, your kitty is adorable. My wife has a particular soft spot for orange tabbys!

your vet sounds great. My vet said the same thing about our efforts basically "wow, I have never ever known a cat owner to go to these lengths except maybe the occasional show-cat person"

I beamed.
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Aww thank you!! He's also a very sweet boy. As my ESA, he helps me with my psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. He can tell when one is about to come on, and will cuddle with me by laying on my chest, which helps keep me relaxed and to help it end earlier. That's part of the reason why I'm very protective of him, and want to make sure I can do what I can to help him. Because I can no longer work due to my seizures, I have all the time in the world to keep an eye on him!
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Previous post
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...diagnosed-cadmium-orange.270768/#post-3017021
It's important to get a test in after his PMPS shot
Any way you can get a test in around +4 or +5 after PMPS you are missing half the picture :cat:
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I'll try to as soon as I'm able, his injection is pretty late and I keep meaning to but by that time I'm usually asleep! [shakes fist at sleep disorder]

Maybe one of the times I come in to check on him I'll be able to get him to let me test. After the vet tech used a larger lancet than the ones I use, he bled quite a bit. So now hes very adamant about not wanting to be tested, and I'm trying to regain his trust about it. It's why I'm not doing full glucose curve of every 2 hours just yet, more just as often as I can.
 
apollonia-artemisia said:
I'll try to as soon as I'm able, his injection is pretty late and I keep meaning to but by that time I'm usually asleep! [shakes fist at sleep disorder]

Maybe one of the times I come in to check on him I'll be able to get him to let me test. After the vet tech used a larger lancet than the ones I use, he bled quite a bit. So now hes very adamant about not wanting to be tested, and I'm trying to regain his trust about it. It's why I'm not doing full glucose curve of every 2 hours just yet, more just as often as I can.
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My vet used the marginal vein which is not necessary, but does bleed well so it is often used by vets. Unfortunately, it also causes some bruising of the ears and is much more painful than the "sweet spot" along the edge of the ear where the capillaries lie. I wonder if your vet uses the marginal vein as well?
 
Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
My vet used the marginal vein which is not necessary, but does bleed well so it is often used by vets. Unfortunately, it also causes some bruising of the ears and is much more painful than the "sweet spot" along the edge of the ear where the capillaries lie. I wonder if your vet uses the marginal vein as well?
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Yup, the tech aimed for the vein. He was very upset about it. He doesn't often meow from pain like that. When I test him, he will often give me an attitude and huff at me! Especially if I had to poke him multiple times, or needed to try again to get a big enough sample for the strip to register a reading :(
 
If Cadmium is a fan of treats, every time you test -- or even get close to being able to test (i.e., successive approximations to testing), Cadmium gets a treat. Hopefully, your kitty will associate testing with treats (or anything your kitty likes).
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
If Cadmium is a fan of treats, every time you test -- or even get close to being able to test (i.e., successive approximations to testing), Cadmium gets a treat. Hopefully, your kitty will associate testing with treats (or anything your kitty likes).
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Yeah, I'm trying to get him to associate testing with bonito flakes! Every time I attempt to test, successful or not, he gets a pinch of them :) And he's started running over when he sees the meter case because he knows what treat is included!

The AMPS/PMPS tests are the most difficult due to him being so squirmy and excited for mealtime. Other tests he's a lot more relaxed about. Plus, he only has one ear that works for testing- he lost half of his other one due to frostbite. It getting repeatedly poked at (often with repeated attempts too....) seems to make it sore rather fast. He's also not thrilled about someone touching his ears, but I'm trying to get him used to it. I do this by petting him lots, occasionally rubbing his ear(s) and give him lots of praise.
 
It sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. His ears will start to bleed more easily the more you poke. The capillary bed will build up over time. FWIW, I poked my cat in the same ear routinely and did so for 6.5 years. If he's squirmy at meal time, give him some treats first. The bonito flakes won't have any effect on his numbers given that you're going to be feeding and shooting immediately after.
 
Hey everyone, today before his breakfast and morning dose his glucose was 100. My vet does not want him to drop below 75 as mentioned, so I reduced his dose to 0.75 units from 1U, I'm just worried I might not have reduced it enough. At +4, hes at 88 and still acting awake and alert and definitely food motivated. Just in case to make sure his sugar doesn't go too low, I gave him a pea sized amount of nutri-cal gel and additional food. He started eating the can just fine, and will do regular check ins.
Is he already approaching remission? I'm going to update the vets tomorrow as soon as they open, and depending on his levels tonight I might skip that dose.

@Suzanne & Darcy I was recommended to tag you to see what you think of this. Also @Sienne and Gabby (GA) and @Diane Tyler's Mom as you've been helpful in the past!

ETA: back up to 106 after he ate! I'm keeping a very close eye on him to make sure he doesn't suddenly dip, especially because he is very newly diagnosed.
 
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I think your plan is good. Test him before you give him his dose; sounds like he’s not that severely diabetic. Consult with your vet tomorrow. If you do notice signs of hypoglycaemia give him some high carb food, if it’s severe then give him some corn syrup followed by high carb food once he perks up.
 
chuckstables said:
I think your plan is good. Test him before you give him his dose; sounds like he’s not that severely diabetic. Consult with your vet tomorrow. If you do notice signs of hypoglycaemia give him some high carb food, if it’s severe then give him some corn syrup followed by high carb food once he perks up.
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Sounds good to me. Yeah... he only started having symptoms about a month before his diagnosis, so maybe we were able to catch it pretty early. His glucose values from his checkup a year prior were also normal. We aren't sure if hes been prediabetic for a while- as he did have a distended abdomen ever since I adopted him- or 100% sure how long he has had full blown diabetes, but his insulin is really effective. He only started receiving insulin on 11/9!

Should I try to test his glucose every hour or would that be overkill?
 
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