ATTN Any Newbies not planning to Hometest

My Samson was diagnosed on October 1, 2011, and was still having very high numbers at the end of last week, when we had the last BG test at his vet's. He was at 3 units of Prozinc every 12 hours, and was continued at that dosage, to come back for another BG in 2 weeks.

Even though I was getting different numbers from the 3 glucometers I have, I was confused, but still testing. The high numbers continued over the weekend, and the first of the week. Then, Thursday morning his BG was low enough that I called the vet and told him I though it was going down, and he lowered the dose, and told me to bring Samson in this morning. His BG was up enough last evening to give the reduced dose, and this morning, too, but by the time I got him to the vet this morning, Samson's BG was down to 20 on the vet's meter. I had taken in the iPet meter the vet had gotten for me, and it read 70....but the vet was going by his and we started feeding that little boy like crazy.

He is not taking any insulin tonight or Saturday morning, and then I am to give him 1 unit each 12 hours starting with Saturday night, and back to the vet on Monday morning. I will not, of course, give him any injection without testing first,.

If I had been blindly giving the 3 units every 12 hours until late next week, which would have been when he would have been due to go in, Samson might have not made it to that appointment.

So.....like everyone on here says......TEST, TEST, TEST.

They can start needing a lot less insulin all of a sudden, and if you're don't know it, well.....

So, again, I'm ever grateful for having this forum.....

 

Any Newbie's think they can't afford to test?
Any Newbie's don't want to shop around for testing materials?
Any Newbie's think it won't actually be fun at times...and empowering...and wonderful to test?

Order your free Newbie Kit provided by the generous donations of the members of FDMB.

Yes I said FREE. It contains likely well over $100 dollars worth of stuff.
And somethings you can't put a price tag on.

You'll see when you receive it.

If you can afford something...you can always donate and help us.
Any amount from $1.00 on up.

Please check out the Newbie Kit site in this post below, the link.
Go to the web store (not really a store)
You will be charged 6.99 for shipping (priorty mail)
and one penny for the kit.
It .... just works that way.


Ask around.
Testing is the most empowering tool you have in treating and possibly going off insulin altogether.
Your cat WILL ALWAYS BE A DIABETIC but he/she may not need insulin for life. Just a proper low carb diet.

Lori
Missing Tom

 

Thank God Samson is ok
Please keep us posted

 

I really, really have to second hometesting.

There were several times where I would have given Merlin insulin but he was far too low to receive it. Including one time when he was in hypoglycemic range but had no outward signs or symptoms. He didn't receive insulin either time and both led to a reduction in his insulin.

As my vet told me when I told her I wanted to home test, your kitty will be so much better off when they are being tested at home. They don't have vet stress, and you can watch for trends that they might not necessarily see at the vet's office.

 

Yup. home testing is the key. No matter what they eat, no matter what the insulin, home testing is the ONLY way to really know what's going on.

 

last night i went to give Mousie's evening shot. i figured she'd be sky high because we got home at +14.5, plus i had stressed her out earlier by trying to pick her up. nope, her BG was ONLY 45! i could have killed her if i'd shot blindly. in 5 years of this dance i have not shot blindly since discovering a good vet and FDMB 3 weeks after her diagnosis. some people get complacent because they've "been doing this for a long time" and they "know" their cat. as long as a cat is on insulin, they should be tested before each shot. you never know when they're gonna surprise you

 

I've been thinking a lot about this since Louie was dx with diabetes...I would compare not testing b4 shot like driving your car with your eyes closed. oth equally dangerous...hard to react appropriately without the needed information... :idea:

 

Samson was pretty lethargic most of the day, but he is again interacting and looking bright eyed and happy now.