What to do when they don't eat when they should?

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myla

myla

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Hi all! Hope you are all having a great evening. We are!
I have a question about whether I have been doing my pre shot BG test correctly.

Purrcie gets his shots at as close to 11:00 AM and 11:00 PM as I can get.
I do his pre shot BG test at 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM. He usually eats somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00, which gives him at least an hour or more for the food to settle in before his shot.

Am I doing this right?

Also I can't always get him to eat when he should. What do I do about his shot then? I know not to give it without food on board, but I'm trying to educate myself in preparation for the switch to Lantus which requires getting shot times pretty close.

Thanks for the help!
Myla and Purrcie
 
Hi,

You do need your bg test before food on board.
Only problem with your feeding and shooting an hour later, is that the bg test is basically a +11 one, not amps or pmps (morning pre shot, evening preshot) so your numbers aren't a true reflection of the cycle.

Usually, it is test, feed shoot-all one after the other (after +12)

It is important to get food on board, because bg's could drop suddenly with insulin on board.
Also-how well you know your cat. Mine could be fussy. Might get a couple of teaspoons in her, so would hoot, because I knew she would be back withing 10-15 mins for more.

Tricks-warm food for 10 secs in microwave (low heat)just enhances the smell to get those taste buds tingling! Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.Couple flakes of tuna.Sometimes even giving a treat first reminds them they are actually hungry and want to eat.

Lantus is an excellent choice. As it is a slow acting insulin, the effcts on bg aren't seen until 1-2 hours after the shot, but dosing is very much dictated by not only nadir, but also the preshot number (cos sometimes it can be too low and you need to hold off until numbers climb or give a BCS-smaller dose)

Good luck
 
It's always been my understanding that the preshot test should be right before the shot so you are knowing the number you are shooting. I always took the syringe with to the testing spot and tested, dosed, and then fed.
 
So one says test, feed then shoot pretty much all at once in that order and the next person says test, shoot and then feed.
On the yahoo group one fellow says he feeds, waits an hour then does the test and shoots based on that number.

I was testing an hour before feeding and then waiting another hour to give the food time to settle and then shooting, but that must not be right either.

So what is best? I'm getting confused.

Thank you all so much for all the feedback.
 
If your shot times are 11am/11pm, then do not give any food between 9-11, or for the 2hours before your shot time.
If you feed, the numbers are artificially affected.
Your pre shot must be no earlier that 15min before your shot. A great deal can happen in 2hours, so your pre shot at 9 tells you nothing about what the BG value is at the time of the shot. For all you know, the number could have gone very low and you should not give a shot.

So, 2hours before shot, remove all foods. At 15min or sooner, test and record the pre shot BG then give shot and put foods down.
 
Ditto what Gayle said.

Vesta gets a mini-meal at +9 from the last shot. We then test at +12, and shoot and feed at the same time. The food distracts her from getting the shot, works like a charm! We're on lantus as well (just barely! One drop bid! Almost off the juice for good! anti-jinx).

I've put all my trust into this board with handling Vesta's diabetes. It's worked out very, very well for us. Welcome, and good luck! Hope to see you around Lantus land!
 
Myla,

the main thing is to get that test just prior to giving insulin (+12)

Whether you feed first then hoot
or hoot then feed
or hoot and feed at the same time
is down to you, and you knowing your cat. There was no way I could ever inject my cat at the same time she ate-ECID (Every cat is different)

What your trying to ensure is that your cat eats.If you hooted and they wouldn't eat-you have to go to work-what do you do? Leaving fuds down but you could still really whittle whether they would be o.k.

Also as has been said -no food the 2 hours before getting your preshot-then you have a real bg reading.
 
Not to further confuse or go against protocols, but thought I'd tell you how it worked in my house.

My girls are all grazers, they used to eat dry food, and now are 100% wet food. When I was doing the dance with Maui and teaching her to eat wet food, I would feed her with a spoon, so I guess she had meal times.

As she and the others learned to eat the mush, I would set out food in the AM and PM (replenish on occasion) and let them eat when they wanted (I still do this now). So, while I tried not to feed Maui 2 hours before test/shot time, it didn't always work out that way and her BG's weren't comprised as a result.

Hope this helps.
 
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