At home Glucose curve

Hi,

So after 2 unsuccessful trips to the vets due to stress and being told different things from different vets (one told us to up his insulin, another said the results were inconclusive), we're finally being allowed to do a glucose curve at home. I suggested this after the first trip but was told to bring him in. We now have a new vet which has agreed that it's better to do the glucose curve at home and is putting together everything we need, so we're ready to go on Wednesday.

I'm just after some advice on doing a glucose curve at home really, what to expect, tips, tricks or anything that might be useful as we've never done this before

 

Good decision! Home testing is the best way to keep your cat safe and find the ideal dose. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

 

Hi, and well done, you!

Can you tell us which insulin you're using?
And what are you feeding your kitty at the moment?

At its simplest a glucose curve involves testing before the insulin shot, and then testing every two hours for 12 hours.
But if you're using a shorter/faster acting insulin like Caninsulin/ Vetsulin or Novolin it can be helpful - if possible - to do tests hourly until you're past the nadir (lowest blood glucose) of the cycle.

Just feed the kitty as you normally would, because you're hoping to see how things are on a 'typical day'.
And be sure to reward kitty for every test (or attempted test if the test isn't successful).

A curve can be very useful for finding out when the insulin starts working ('onset'); how fast the blood glucose is dropping; when the lowest blood glucose of the cycle is (blood glucose 'nadir' or insulin 'peak'); and how long the insulin lasts in the kitty's system ('duration').
Be aware though that what you see will just be a snapshot of that day, and there will always be some variation from day to day.

How are you getting on with hometesting generally? And is your kitty OK with testing?

Eliz

 

Definitely a fantastic decision and I'm so glad you found a vet who agrees with you! Eliz gave you the gist of the process. I can only add, if you haven't already, pick up some Neosporin ointment with pain relief. It's good to put some on the ears to help ease any discomfort from the multiple tests done on a curve day.

 

That's good news for you. You'll become an expert at sampling blood in no time. Really, the first few days can be challenging, but after that it becomes pretty routine.

Janet has produced that expert video - it is very nice. Make sure to use a padded paper towel on the back side of the ear so you don't poke yourself. (Ask me how I know....)