HI from Smokey and her servant Dhana

HI from Smokey and her servant Dhana.
I'm a spayed female 13 years old and have just been diagnosed with diabetes. I spent three horrible days at the vet and he sent me home with Vetsulin and instructions to take 3 units twice daily. My person is doing pretty well at giving my insulin shot but she is trying to get up her nerve to test my blood glucose. Apparently the glucometer only required .1 micro litres so hopefully the jab for my blood won't hurt too much.

 

Nice to meet you! Your kitty looks just like mine!

I do want to say that starting with 3 units is a really high starting dose. I would recommend testing at home as soon as possible or reducing the dose to make sure she doesn't drop too low. Have honey or Karo syrup and some high carb gravy food on hand just in case. Most cats start at 1 unit and only raise a half unit at a time as needed.

Home testing is a lot easier then you would think. Did your vet show you how?

 

Thanks for the welcome JanetNJ
We just did our first BG test and it went so well - blood drop on first try!! Just looking for conversion table from human glucometer values to feline. Also need to setup my spreadsheet, signature etc.
Cheers, Dhana (for Smokey )

 

There is not a conversation table. The numbers are further apart the higher they are, and know the time to try to treat for hypoglycemic events on a human meter is 50.

 

What a pretty girl!

 

Thanks

 

Welcome Smokey and Dhana from a fellow Canadian.

I agree with Janet that 3 units to start is a very high dose and would caution you to test Smokey around 1.5 to 2 hours post shot to see how fast her BG is dropping so you can intervene if the need should arise. It sounds like the dose of insulin was determined by Smokey's BG numbers at the vets, which means they were very likely influenced by stress which can raise a cat's BG by as much as 5mmol and sometimes more which frequently leads vets to prescribe too much insulin.

All the reference numbers on this site are based on use of human glucometers unless specifically indicated otherwise. While 2.8mmol (50 in US BG measure scale) is deemed to be a warning for you to intervene because BG is heading too low, with Vetsulin (Caninsulin here) which can cause BG to drop sharply early in the cycle, I would suggest you set your low warning number somewhat higher such as 5mmol at least until you get more data on how Smokey is reacting to the insulin.

If you need any help setting up your spreadsheet, just holler and we'll get you the assistance you need. Please come join us on the Health Forum HERE with any and all questions you might have. We look forward to getting to know you and your sweet Smokey better and assisting you any way we can.

 

Thanks for the welcome and info! I did start a thread on the health forum.
Cheers, Dhana.