1st Home Glucose Curve

Very nervous as I'm doing my 1st Home Glucose Curve today & have been having difficulty getting blood drawn. VanGogh only has one viable ear, so we use the foot pads. (Even vet has trouble) 1st vet curve last Monday at vet was 8 am til 6 pm with only meal breakfast before drop off. Numbers quite consistent. VanGogh is a male Maine Coon who should weigh #16-#18 & is now up to #8.4. He graciously entered my life as a stray June 11th, 2013. His previous "Guardians" must've thrown him away to slowly starve to death after diagnosis! How terribly cruel!!! As he is still so underweight, he gets fed at least 4 times per day. I run home mid day from work to also feed. Today I am home ALL day. Should I fed him as per our usual schedule or will that interfere too much with numbers?

How often is The Curve done? MOntly? Weekly? Thanx in advance for your guidance! confused_cat

 

Hey Renee....glad you made it here! Take you time and read everything you can here. Go to the other groups and read all the stickies about that insulin. I would gather you are on Lantus. There is alot of info there to learn and it can be daunting, but take it slow and be patient. We all start at the beginning and we are all here to help you out!

 

You could look into getting a timed feeder that has an ice pack in it to keep the food from going bad. Alot of people use them here. I just bought one and waiting for it to come in. I hope someone comes in soon to help with the curve.

 

VanGogh is currently on 1 unit of Lantus twice a day.

 

I have 5 other cats (all street strays), so not sure a timed food system would work!

 

Ahhhh, I know that all to well. I have 15 that I have either saved from the street or from a shelter. I am just going to try it by leaving Doogle (my sugar kitty) in my bedroom alone. I am currently unemployed so I dont need it now, but I may have to go out of town for the day. So thought I would try it. Bless you for saving the babies!!!!

 

When you do a curve, keep things similar to how you normally do them.

Feeding mini-meals does help spread out the pancreas' work load. In the absence of a timed feeder, you might try freezing half of the food at the previous shot time and put out both fresh and frozen. They can nibble the frozen as it thaws.

With multiple cats, it can reduce squabbling to use several feeding dishes and spread them out a bit.

 

Thank You! I "assumed" ( but you know how much trouble THAT can get you into!) that it seemed right to do things as I would normally. He's so thin, I was not relishing the fact of him having to skip meals. Every time I feed VanGogh, the other cats get a very small dish. . .most of them are too fat! But to leave ANY food out, VanGogh would be the last to get any. . .IF he got any, so I jut "police" food time! Have to do it anyway with the 5 dogs! I'm SLOWLY getting used to our new life routine. . .the 1st few weeks, I was looking at the clock every 10 minutes about 2 hours before shot time! . . .now I only look every 1/2 hour or so! lol! I set my iPhone alarm to go off every day to help me keep on time & to stop watching the clock like a crazy person! I'm soooo "lucky" that VanGogh is so mellow & lets me prick him multiple times to draw the blood. I've really been struggling with that! Shots are easy! I even finally was able to get 26 gauge lancets. ( Before I could only find 30) Hoping it will get easier & less stressful! Tho I am still very worried about being away 4 days at Thanksgiving. The 1st time I'm going away in 3 years, but my Uncle is very ill & I feel I MUST make this trip now. But I do have a nurse-in-training coming to do the shots! ANd her back up is her Mom. . .The Doctor! So chill Renee, chill. . .Thanks again for ALL the help here!

 

Welcome to the board!

How did the testing go? Got any numbers to share?

wendy

 

Thank you, Wendy for The Welcome! I'm having a VERY hard time getting enough blood to test, so we're still going to vet for "spot" checks, but only about once a week. My vet, who I love, tells me not to stress as VanGogh's numbers at this point are stable. .. but it is also VERY hard not to stress. (I've even tested myself to make sure I'm doing it right & CAN get a reading from my blood.)

I NEED to learn a new language! I see posts referring to +3, +12 numbers, etc & assume that reflects time or number of glucose test readings?

Anyway, The Vet test showed ( 7:45 am at home received 1 unit Lantus.)

8:30=139. 9:30=92. 10:30=107. noon = 148. 2:00 = 198. 4:00 225. 6:00 = 237. Which topic do I need to research about the + numbers. . .or just a general sugar kitty dictionary!? I did learn Sugar Kitty & OTJ! Hope THAT happens!!!

 

Okay, I'm so excited! Did "Blood test" & got enough blood on the 1st try! (111 reading with 1 unit Lantus given at 7:40 am) I do attempt every day, but still plan on vet visit tomorrow for moral support & to be safe!!!

 

Good job and welcome to the vampire club

Those numbers are very good - what food are you feeding?

Ok so first we advise newbies not to shoot under 200 until they have the data to know how the cat will behave. We therefore advise 3-4 tests a day

- always before the shot - this is mandatory as you don't want to shoot when too low. As a newbie this too low number is 200 but is reduced over time once you have the data to know if its safe.
- mid cycle - 5-7 hours after morning shot depending on your schedule. This is to see how low he is going. The low point "nadir" is what you base dose changes on since you don't want him dropping too low (under 50).
- before bed (2-3hours after Pm shot) to get an idea of what his overnight plans are. If this number is less than the pre shot test number you may want to set the alarm for a test a few hours later as this implies an active cycle.

Yes the +3 etc is the number of hours since the shot ie +3 is 3 hours after you gave the shot)

Wendy

PS I will find a chart that talks about what BG levels you are looking for . Meanwhile i would read this : http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

 

YAY! I'm getting better at getting the blood sample! Thank god VanGogh is The Best patient!

He gets his test/injection at 7:45 am & pm. I give injection while he is eating. He's fed the canned Friskies low in carbs that I got off Binky's page I believe. He also gets 10-12 dry pieces of Wellness grain free or the diabetic dry from vet mixed in only if he will not eat. He gets 3-4 small meals per day. . .at least til he gets to his "proper" weight!

Tues Oct 8 at 7:10am = 163. Wed Oct 9 8:55 am = 111. Fri Oct 11 7:29 am = 129 (So only 1 was taken after shot as I could not get that precious droplet!) 129 today before shot seems like a good number before injection?

We are keeping our vet appointment today anyway as I want to get an accurate weight on him, as he was a stray Maine Coon who shoudl've weighed #16-#18 & was only #6.2 when I rescued him. Last weight was up to #8.4!

Thanks for the links. I will read after our vet visit today as I'm now off to work, then to vet right after at 5:00! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

 

Great!

Maybe try freeze dried chicken topping instead, Some cats are very sensitive to carbs and even 5-10 pieces of kibble can spike them for 24 hours - like my Bailey. Taking him off kibble might be enough to bring him more into normal range. Normal cat range is 50-130.

You arent shooting right now right?? We dont advise newbies shoot under 200.... If you are shooting (which I hope you are not) its very important to get tests during the day to check he isnt dropping too low.

How long has he been on the insulin?

Wendy

 

VanGogh has been getting 1 unit of Lantus twice a day. 7:45 am & 7:45 pm. He's been on Lantus since September 16, 2013. I talk with vet every few days, but she doesn't seem concerned that he's getting insulin without the prior checks. . . which has worried me, but he's showing no symptoms. We've been seeing vet at least once a week & did the one BG Curve, & keep in contact via phone. After only 3 Insulin injections, he started to finally act like a cat. Been hard knowing if he's "acting himself" as I only rescued him June 11th, 2013 & don't know his purrsonality well, but he is now a shining, loving cat! Now he's even cleaning himself & playing. . .albeit a very little play! He is SUPER lovable! Now that I'm finally able to get the droplet, I WILL be checking before each injection! Still makes me cry to think his previous owners probably threw him away because he was sick! But he's here now & being loved & taken care of to the best of my ability & I hope to get better at all this! Again, I am sooo lucky that he is soooo good!