WHAT DO I DO????????

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akashasmom

Member Since 2013
Ok- first time that I tried to test Akasha, it worked- got the blood easily and all good EXCEPT it reads 42. She ate exactly 2 hours ago- is there something that I need to do? She isn't acting funny, purring and rolling on my pillow... I am scared. Her normal dose of Lantus is 1 unit- I have only given her a half of a dose this morning and then again tonight right after she ate at 9:30... HELP- I am worried as this is the first home test that I have done.....
 
what time is this test? how many hours since the last insulin shot? and what insulin are you using

do you have any food with gravy in it? you need to give the cat a couple teaspoons of food and test again in 15 minutes
 
I'm assuming you're using a human meter. First, do you have a hypo kit ready yet? If not, do you have Karo syrup, honey, or other simple sugar in your pantry? Do you have some high carb foods?

Second, I would try to get her to eat a tablespoon full of regular food right now (unless someone suggests otherwise) and test again in 15 minutes. She might (hopefully) just be having an early, low nadir, but you might be in for a long night, so make sure you have coffee and plenty of test strips. We're here for you!
 
And belated congratulations on getting your first test! You'll be getting a lot more practice in tonight. ;-)
 
i just skimmed your other post and see that you do have a hypo kit at the ready - and have gravy lovers -

what you need to do is the following:

1- feed 2-3 teaspoons of gravy lovers
2- test 15 minutes after feeding
3- if bg remains the same or goes lower - repeat 1 and 2

you will need to follow this until you get 3 tests with rising numbers, you want to get him above 50 and keep him above 50 - and he needs to stay above 50 for the rest of the cycle

if he looks like he is getting full, then only feed the gravy - you can also start by just spooning the gravy and only giving that.

come tomorrow shot, BEFORE giving the shot, come to the board - and go to lantus forum to get guidance on how much to shoot and if you should shoot or skip.

if you do shoot, my recommendation is to shoot a reduced dose - 0.25 or 0.50 less than what you are shooting.
 
ok you shot 1/2 unit - please test NOW so we can see what is happening - NOW - DO NOT GIVE ANY MORE INSULIN - NOT UNTIL YOU GET GUIDANCE IN THE MORNING
 
If you just decreased her dose tonight, things may go a little easier for you. And! She just earned herself another dose decrease!
 
Shes eating right now- canned friskies beef and chicken pate dinner- highest content I had. I just bought a case of Friskies pate 3 flavors all low carb today- but had this other one that she is eating in the hypo kit. Will test her in a few- she is chowing down right now- lol- its all over her face- she is usually really prissy and that just doesn't happen.... will retest in a few- THANK YOU ALL SOO SOO much!!! Will be back shortly
 
dont' let her eat too much - or she will get too full and won't want anything later on and you may need to keep feeding her for several hours

when you test - please post the bg number and how many hours after shot - we are in different times zones and it will make it easier for us to understand and follow

so it will look like this

pmps 42 - 1/2 unit
+ 3 _____
+3.15 ____


etc -make sense
 
Can you please re-test? Sometimes, the first time you test you don't get enough blood. Likewise, this could be a goofy test or a bad strip. It's always helpful to re-test if you get an unexpectedly low or high number.
 
ok you need to give more gravy - just spoon out the gravy and feed that - as you may have to do this several times and you don't want him to fill up and not want to eat

1- give 3 2 teaspoons of gravy and add karo - if you don't have karo - you can use pancake syrup, jelly, even table sugar
2 - test in 15 30 minutes
3 - post the numbers
4 - repeat 1-3

we need to see 3 consecutive rising numbers and for safety sake - those numbers need to be above 70 -

does this make sense?

edited per what Marje said below
 
I have a little different approach. I would give her two tsp of HC gravy and I would add a drop or two of karo. It's too early for her to be this low. Even experienced lantus users don't typically shoot below 50.

She has earned a reduction for tomorrow so I suggest you abort this cycle....get her up with HC and karo. Also, i would retest in 30, not 15, minutes. It takes time to get from the spoon to the BG so give her a bit of time but not more than 30 mins.

Also, on the rising numbers, one or two that are rising without any food for an hour or so is usually fine. When you give HC gravy, food, or karo, when the HC wears off, the numbers can come back down on you. So you need to be vigilant tonight.
 
please follow what Marje is telling you - she has more experience with this than I do......but please read the link I gave you about hypos.

thanks Marje for jumping in and helping!
 
akashasmom said:
...it reads 42. She ate exactly 2 hours ago...I have only given her a half of a dose this morning and then again tonight right after she ate at 9:30... HELP- I am worried as this is the first home test that I have done....
Click to expand...
To clarify, did you get the 42 reading two hours after you fed her and gave her .5u?
 
Hello Akasha's bean,
You have found a great place to be tonite and you are in good hands.
Try to breathe...
read the replies... and ask questions....

Everyone wants Akasha to be safe. It's because of everyone here , like Marje, that my cat went into remission.

The friskies beef and chicken pate is a 5% so that's considered a low carb.
 
Any update? Can you tell me how many hours since the shot, your latest test result, and what you fed please? Thanks!

You're welcome Hiliary! It's helpful to me that you and Kay are also around....I'm helping two other members in LL as well. And Gracie is being a Lil Stinka ;-) :lol:
 
oh boy - ok - now i get it - definitely trial by fire!

after tonight, you will understand why it is so important to test before giving insulin - because my guess is she was low to begin with and especially when starting out, it would have been better to skip the shot

but what is done is done and now let's get her up and into safer numbers and safer for you to be able to go to bed too... ;-)


what time (real time) did you take the last test - this will help me know when to bug you again..... ;-)

and what is your name?
 
ok small progress

follow the steps -

1- give 2 teaspoons of gravy and add karo - if you don't have karo - you can use pancake syrup, jelly, even table sugar
2 - test in 30 minutes
3 - post the numbers
4 - repeat 1-3
 
My name is Melissa
I fed her at 9:20pm est and gave her her shot at 9:30 pm est. The reason that I didn't test her before now is because the vet told me that she would prefer to do it, but after reading on here how important it is, I decided to take everyone's advice and go ahead and home test. The vet planned on me eventually home testing, but not yet. It was just bothering me not knowing where her bg level was, so I followed the advice here and did it anyway- now I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS- GOODNESS.
She ate the friskies chicken and beef pate- I do not have any gravy at the moment- thought I did, but it has disappeared??? I then added karo to it and she ate more. What else do I need to do?
 
Good....I'm glad the carbs are bringing her up. Since you don't have gravy, just give her two tsp of food with just a drop of karo and retest in 30. However, please post after the next test and before you feed after the next test. We might want to change strategy depending on where her BG is.

As a note, normally we would not be giving karo in the 50s because that is a normal number. But we don't know anything about your kitty or what her lantus cycles look like and she has droned a reduction with those 40s so we are just going to be cautious.

Doing ok?
 
At 57, I might hold off at the moment on more food or syrup (don't want her to get too stuffed if it's going to be a long night). Test again in 15 minutes to see if she's staying there. If not, feed a tiny bit more food and karo (and mush it with a little water so it's not too thick going down and absorbs faster), maybe a tablespoon or two :?:

Keep testing every 15 minutes till she starts rising without food or holds stable without food. Let us know. I'll be here for at least another couple of hours (I'm Pacific so it's only 10:30 for me).

ETA: Always listen to Marje first. :-D She has lots of wisdom.
 
how is she acting? does she seem full or is she enjoying all the food you are giving her?

if she seems to be getting full then take one can of food add one can of water, mix it together, then take another dish and put two spoons of this mix into the new dish - add some karo, and feed this.

my concern is that you are going to need to do this for a while still and we don't want her to get too full and not want to eat, if that happens then you will need to syringe karo into her.

there are three of us posting and advising, and we are all essentially saying the same thing with small variations, try not to let us confuse you. just follow as closely as you can and you will be fine
 
Have you got another test result for us, Melissa?

You're doing great, btw! :thumbup You know, most people like to take their time learning this stuff instead of cramming it all into one night. :lol: ;-)
 
PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54
+5- 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry

I sent a whole post a second ago a long one and have no clue where it went!
 
I'm doing ok- just worries me, but you guys are helping. So happy that I found this site. Here is the only info that I can give- her Fructosamine test showed 3 weeks worth of high bg levels. Not sure how high as the vet didn't say. Her last visit, curve, all day at the vet was 410 when she went in and only came down to 240 I think after her first dose of Lantus. She has only been on insulin for almost 2 weeks- this wednesday will be 2 weeks exactly. This whole issue really bothers me because she has a really high anxiety issue- she was in hurricane katrina when she was very tiny- she was maybe 2 months old. She was sent from Louisianan to Indiana and she was at the Humane Society for a month before I adopted her. No one wanted to adopt her because she was a nervous wreck, slept in her litter box in her little cage and didn't like to be held. When I saw her, I felt so bad for her that I had to adopt her. So, the hurricane caused her ptsd like issues and any slight thing stresses her out severely, especially going to the vet and thunderstorms. I am assuming that her readings at the vet are so high because she is so stressed when she goes. She didn't eat or use the bathroom the entire day of her curve at the vet- this tells me she was not comfortable and as soon as she got home she ate and went to the litter box. She is a special kitty- things are on her terms, but she is my constant companion and stays right by my side- on her terms!
 
There it is - lol. She seems sleepy now- is this normal? Usually, right now, I am asleep and she would be sleeping on me- so, it is way past her bedtime :lol:
 
Melissa

We don't usually use dry food when working low numbers. It takes a long time to kick in and then stays in the system a long time.

She's up enough that I'd like you to give her some LC canned food...a couple tsp...no karo, no gravy, no dry food. And then can you test and post in one hour? Take the time to sleep...just set an alarm and then post.
 
I changed her diet a month ago from friskies dry and 9 lives canned. I have 3 cats and they were free feeding, except in the mornings they would get 2 teaspoons of the 9 lives canned each, but only in the mornings. The vet told me to switch to Wellness Core original formula (dry) so we could try to get rid of the gluten and corn, grain- that is in friskies dry. They tolerated the switch to wellness really well, but they would cry for their wet food in the mornings. I had to stop free feeding too and would give them their dry food in the morning and then 10 or 12 hours later at night. I did all of this to try to control Akasha's bg without insulin, but it did not work. So, now we are at this point-
 
So you have made the switch to wet completely....

I was asking if you had just done so in the last few days....

the food switch can drop their bg numbers by 100 immediately when you switch to an all canned diet.... and you said she stressed out easily....
her numbers at the vet were probably inflated by the stress....
 
i honestly believe that bg testing at the vet is just a waste of your money and puts undue and unnecessary stress on the cat - you saw that for yourself with yours and if your vet ever wants to do that again - just say no. now that you are an expert tester, you can share your spreadsheet instead - yes, we will show you how to do that later on - you can find the info in the tech forum if you want to jump start on it.

the fructosamine test is good to diagnose and if the person doesn't home test. which of course some people can't or won't do.

you are doing great.


have you read dr. lisa's site and her concerns about dry food - she explains it really well and the while you gave a better quality dry food, the problem is it is still dry food and that is probably why bg's were higher.

my guess is by feeding only canned food, you will see a huge drop in bg and possibly she won't even need insulin - sometimes just the food change alone is enough to kick start the pancreas.

http://www.catinfo.org
 
akashasmom said:
PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54
+5- 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry
Click to expand...

The +1, +2, etc... mean how hours after a shot (don't worry, we'll help you figure this out). So, to clear things up, here's when you've actually tested (please correct me if I'm wrong):

PMPS (9:30 EDT) - Unknown BG - .5u fed regular meal (dry??)
+2.5 (12 am) - 42 friskies beef and chicken pate dinner
+3 (12:30 am) - 47 food :?:
+4.25 (1:15 am) - 54 friskies beef and chicken pate dinner with karo
+4.75 (1:45 am) - 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry

Got a +5.25 (2:15 am) for us?
 
Hmmm....the board is acting strange. I posted and it's not on there.

You're welcome! We've all been in your shoes. My other post made the same points as Hillary. I would not pay for or put my kitty through the stress of a curve in the vets office. You are getting better info at home. I also wouldn't pay for another fruc test now that you are gathering real time data.
 
PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54
+4.5- 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry
+5.5-65- she hasn't ate anything else- she is not a big eater to begin with...she won't eat anymore food. She is acting fine- normal Akasha- ready for me to lay down so she can take her place on me some where-lol.
This site is acting up- it isn't showing what I post- have to post it 2 or 3 times before it shows up
 
Yeah, I've been getting some weird hiccups with the site too. Just keep trying to post and it'll eventually go through.

65 is fine for the moment. If her numbers stay like this for a bit without eating, I'd say you might be safe to go to bed soon.

Marje, do you think she should set an alarm for +6.5 (3:30 am) or should she test earlier?
 
Why don't you get some rest, don't feed, test her in an hour. I would strongly urge you to get another test before you stop testing tonight to be sure she is still rising.

For tomorrow, I would
- reduce her dose to .25u every 12 hours. Lantus is a depot insulin and these numbers can be the depot from the 1u talking even though you've shot twice at .5u but it's easier to take her up if the dose is too low then to risk it
- put together a Spreadsheet

You did great. Let us know if you have questions. If she comes back down, you know what to do :-D
 
Thanks to you all!!!! You are all great. I will test again in an hour, if all is fine, then I will get some rest- I don't think I will be able to sleep until I know she is okay. I am going to call her vet first thing in the morning- she gets in at 9am. I will also test her in the morning before any shots or food- then after food before any shots, just to be safe. This really scares me. My father had diabetes and I found him in a coma one day. I did fine there, and some ppl may think I am a lil crazy, but Akasha is like a baby to me and she is just as important as any human to me. She is family, so if all is well, you may not hear from me again tonight, but I will def be back early in the morning to let everyone know what is going on. So, once again thanks to you all- you are awesome to the highest awesomeness!!! :mrgreen:
 
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