What is the best time of day to test an OTJ cat?

[JenElliot]

My sweet boy Mali has been OTJ for about 3 weeks now. He's not the easiest cat to test so I'm only testing him about once every other day now. I was wondering if there is a particular time of day that I should be testing him? Right now I usually test either before eating or a few hours after eating. He's a grazer too (eats some at mealtime, then continues to pick until it's gone or until the next meal) so I think that keeps his numbers pretty stable. But I'm curious if there's a "best time" to test an OTJ.

 

[janelle and Nomad]

I would try to test around the same time you usually did when he was still getting injections. If you test him before eating as much as possible, you can be more sure you are getting a true reading. Some cats get a rise of BG after eating some other members call a food spike. My cat Nomad is nolw what I would describe as semi-OTJ. I only give him insulin now if his preshot number is 130 or more. Riight now I still test him twice a day at the same times right before his meals.

Each cat is different and because of his other conditions my cat will probably never be completely OTJ. I plan on cotinuing to test him at least once a day. Other members who have cats in remission still test them once a week.

There is a sticky here some place on cats in remission that may give you more guidelines on how frequently to test when a cat is OTJ.. I am glad you and your kitty have made it to the honeymoon !!!

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

I try to vary my times of day so that I am seeing a snapshot of different parts of her day. That way I am not always testing in one spot and missing some strange action in another part of the day.

 

[drjsiems]

I test Jake about one time per month about three hours after he eats (kind of opposite of when he had active diabetes). That is about the amount of time it takes to tell if his pancreas is working (and has "kicked in") and I get the best more accurate numbers.

Judy