Afraid my cat might go into a hypo!

BooBoo is already at 87 and I only gave her the shot 2 hours ago. Previous #'s have shown lower at the +4 mark from the Humulin N and now I'm afraid she could go real low at +4! Is there something I can do to make sure she does NOT go into a hypo?

 

Just tested her again and now at 103... Weird. I hope she is gonna be okay. Now I gotta stay up all night again. Guess that wet food really works! I gave her dry today too, so i kept it at a little under 2U at her PM shot, but i def know tom to test 1st (have been since home testing anyway) and to give her 1u in the am...

 

I rubbed a pea sized amount of Karo on her gums just incase and I will retest in a few and I have the hypo paper handy too...

 

edit to add: whoops. I thought you had already started her on Lantus...

So you do not have a pre-shot number before giving the 2U?
Give her high-carb wet food if you think she will continue to drop (squeeze out the gravy if you can - that's where most of the carbs are). Get at least 3 steady or rising BG #s in a row (~30 min apart) and it should be safe to go to bed. I don't know BooBoo's history or what Humulin dose you were using, but perhaps you should start at 1U Lantus for now until you get a better handle on how she reacts to it.

I'm on the east coast and it's ~2 am (zzz), but hopefully some of the west coasters are around and can keep an eye on you and BooBoo tonight.

MJ&Donovan

 

I had pricked her ear so many times last night that I wanted to give her a rest. i did it this morning before the AM shot, but not for the PM, and I really really should have and now I know that even if she is hating me for pricking her ears then oh well, it's only to make sure she is safe and okay and I am not purposely trying to hurt her!

Definitely gonna start on 1u of Lantus as soon as I get it and no more than that. Just retested and got 121. So this is what i have so far... +2= 87 & 103 right after, +2 1/2=96, +3=121. I am so hoipng we are in the clear, and I was giving Humulin N... btw, thanx for getting back to me, I am very new at all this!

 

hey there. i just woke up (on the couch) and decided to take a peek on here as i was heading to bed but i'll stay up with you for a bit longer.

humulin peters out pretty quick so at +4, test again and see what you get. if it is about the same or is up from the 121, you can probably call it a night. if it's down at all, more than just a few points, then you will have to test again at +4.5 or +5, depending on how down it is.

k, so test again at +4, post, and we'll go from there. i'll be waiting with you

 

Just got a nice read of 154! I think we are in the clear!!! I will never give a shot without checking BG 1st! Does everyone always check first for the rest of the time that the kitty is on insulin? It makes me feels so bad cause sometimes I have to poke 3 times just to get 1 read, and when I am doing it this often or every hour that could be like 9 times in 3 hours! Yikes!!! Thank you sooo much for staying up with me. I'm thinking we can both go to bed now! :smile:

P.S. Will her ears get infected? i have some Polysporin that I can rub on them...

 

looks good and yeah, i think you can go to bed.

and yeah, in nearly 5 years now i would never give a shot without a number first. if Mousie is being a brat and won't sit still or power is out or whatever, i skip before i shoot without getting a number first because it's that time you think "ah heck, it will be ok" that she throws a number under 100 at me

not saying that there aren't some who do that though or who have done it, shoot without testing, only to have a hypo on their hands soon after. i just don't think it's worth the risk though

the pricking will get better as the days go on. you have to work out your routine and her ears have to learn to cooperate with you. normal stuff this early in the dance.

 

oh, just saw the polysporin question. total brain fart at the moment, is that like neosporin? if so, you can use it. and barring her rolling around in bacteria immediately after you pricking her, or you using dirty lancets, she shouldn't have to worry about her ears getting infected

 

Yeah, polysporin is better than neosporin my doctor told me after I punctured my foot really bad and had to use it while it was healing...

Cool. Just wanted to make sure. This is such a crazy ride this whole diabetes thing. We have a precious life in our hands and we have to make sure that they are well taken care of! Kinda stressful, but I'm hoping it gets easier!

 

yep, like having a baby in the house
it does get easier. i could do it in my sleep anymore really

fwiw, lantus is a bit tough in the beginning as there's a lot to learn but the ride is much smoother on it than this N.

 

Well thanx for the headz up. i am gonna def start low and check that BG! Hoping I will get her on a nice regimen before I start school again. And btw, I do have a 3 year old too! Not quite a baby, but I've been there not too long ago! =-)

Thanx sooo much, i really appreciate you being there for BooBoo and I. Guess I'll be going off to bed now, exhausted!

 

Goodnight

 

Yikes Glad Cindy and Mousie were around last night to talk you through what could have been a very scary ride. But now you see first hand why we push home testing so hard. It really is the only true way to know if your kitty is safe on insulin or not.

Now, once your Lantus arrives you are going to have to forget everything we have just taught you about working with N, well except the part about home testing, that you will need to keep doing.

And I'm so glad you were home testing before changing her diet because as you see it can really drop their BGs and fairly quickly. With my Max he was only on Lantus about 2 weeks before going OTJ (off the juice or insulin) as we say here, with just the diet change and a little insulin. But even though he hasn't been on insulin now for a little over 2 months I still test him at least once a week, just to keep an eye on him. It really does get so much easier once you get into the swing of things.

I had a horrible time in the beginning with him and getting his ears to bleed for me, now we are in such a routine that it now takes him longer to eat is treat than it does for me to test his ear...lol. And I think I have done it in my sleep once when I found him whisker deep in a pot of spaghetti that got left out on the stove.

If you haven't already before your Lantus arrives go over to the Lantus support group and read and reread all the stickies there, it will give you a great understanding on how that insulin works. It is very different from Humulin N, but the other upside besides being much easier on BooBoo's system, we also have a lot more people that have been using it for a long time that can help you finding that perfect dose and hopefully shortly we will get to throw BooBoo an OTJ party. At least we always hope we can with every kitty that comes here. While the goal is regulation we always cross our fingers and paws that we will see the announcement that each extra sweet kitty gets to go into remission.

I thought maybe a couple of pictures of Max would make you feel better about the journey you and BooBoo are on.

This was Max 2 months ago when he first arrived at my house, he had been on Lantus only about a week when I got him after being dxed at 485, he had been shaved because he had been so sick he couldn't groom himself and was full of mats. He was skin and bones at 10.5 lbs.



This is Max 2 months later he had been OTJ about a month and a half when this was taken and his weight was up to 13 by this time and as of today he is almost 15 lbs which is just about perfect for him because he is a very tall and long kitty.



If you look at his ears you can see they are just as lovely as they were the first day I laid eyes on him. So it does get better not only for the kitty momma but for the kitty too!

Mel, Max and the Fur Gang

 

You may have to go down to 1 unit and you may even not have to give insulin. By removing all dry and feeding only wet, the way BooBoo is responding she may go off insulin (OTJ) before you even get the Lantus. I would stick with the N even if you get the Lantus just to see what wet only does to her numbers.

As for always testing before shooting......7+ years with Mishka.....4 years with Hope (OTJ now)......Vinnie(OTJ).......even though I have a good idea where Mishka might be I just cannot bring myself to shoot without a number first. Just not worth the risk of what could happen.

 

Wow, Max is so handsome! Just had to say that. :mrgreen:

 

Max is handsome! Thanx all. I just fed BooBoo her wet food. Will test in a half hour and see what we get... =-) Also how much canned food and how often? She just ate a whole 5.5oz can...

 

Thanks for the compliment on Max, yes I think he is very handsome! He has quite a story as well. My first sugarcat Muse was a Katrina rescue but by the time we learned she was a diabetic she had so much else wrong with her that she didn't make it. So when Venita contacted me about another Katrina kitty that was sitting in a vet office on his last 24 hours to live of course we agreed to take him. Poor guy had already lost 2 homes, once in Katrina, and then later his previous home when his owner had to go into a nursing home due to dementia. So while at first he was only suppose to be here as a foster,however, it was almost decided on the way home from the airport that if he would have us, that this was a forever home, he was just that sweet. Well it didn't take long and he had us wrapped around his very soft little paws.

As far as food goes Max eats 2 (5.5 oz) cans of food a day. Since at the moment we are having some issues with him and a couple of my other cats he stays in our bedroom so I just put his food down first thing in the morning at around 7am and then again about 7 pm but if his dish gets empty I will fill it sooner.

With the rest of the kids since they can get along to eat with each other they get fed basically 4 times a day, 7am, Noon, 7pm and then a snack before we go to bed around 10pm this allows me to at least sleep until the 7am feeding as I have 3 full blown Siamese males and one little boy that from the way he talks has ot have some siamese in him as well.

But for BooBoo, until she is well regulated and gained back any weight she might have lost let her eat whenever she wants she will probably need the extra food for awhile. I know when Max first got here he was trying to eat me out of house and home, as he would chow down on 3-4 cans by himself. But now that he is OTJ he eats about the same as my other furry kids. The bigger boys (16 lbs, 18 lbs, and 17 lbs) eat about 2 cans a day, and the little girls (7-10 lbs each) eat from a 1 to 1 1/2 cans. So it works out to for 10 cats of various ages and size to 16 (5.5 oz) cans of food a day. Walmarts pet dept. loves me...lol

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

Yeah BooBoo loves to eat. She loves ALL the wet food so far I have given ger and last night when I thought she was gonna hypo it was really hard to get her to eat the dry again! Anyway, she used to be really large (very chubby) before the diabetes and last weighed, she was down to 7lbs. She feels a little heavier now so maybe we're up to 8. I guess Okay so I can do up to 4 times a day then? I am switching over all my cats to wet, per what i have read since joining this forum. I have another on a special urinary tract diet because just found out he had crystals, and I have one more siamese mix that looks like he is at a risk for diabetes, he is so big! Guess he needs less, and one who is very active and still in his kitten phase, so he could prob do 4 times like BooBoo. I've been needing to seperate them to make sure they don't each each others special foods!

 

Stephanie, you can ear test your other cats also if you wonder about any of them. If you get a chance, please remove the 911 now also.

 

She is at 396 now at +12 I'm thinking just the 1 unit now of Humulin N right? I can always go higher next dose to 1 1/2 if need but from last nights worry, I am think just 1... What do u all think? Or should i go with 1 1/2?