CHKING BG LEVELS GETS EASIER

When Riley was first diagnosed with DM I was sent home from the vet with instructions to give him 2 units of Prozinc and change his diet to WD RX food. They told me it didn't matter if it was soft or hard. They even said I could give him the hard treats.( WD food is not good for diabetes first of all, especially dry food and second of all they never asked me to test his blood glucose which is crazy)

Well Riley was miserable the first week and I decided to take matters into my own hands. I got online and started asking questions.

I read about the importance of taking your pet's BG levels before giving insulin. Why not, people do it. I called the vet and asked if I could check Riley's BG myself and they said, "Yes you can but you need a SPECIAL one for cats only and it has to be ordered". I said "O.K. I'll check on that" It was 100.00 and who knows how much the lancets and strips were.

So I watched a few videos with people using regular human glucometers (on cats ears) and I went to Sams club got a glucometer, 50 test strips and 100 lancets for 30.00. They made it look so easy getting blood from a cats ear but it was a nightmare. (for me)

I can't tell you how many times I poked my poor baby in the ears. Sometimes 6 times in one ear before I would just give up and cry my eyes out. I had 3 anxiety attacks and I normally only have 1 a year. I want everyone to know that over the last 4 weeks It's got alot easier.

What works best for me is the sock with the rice in it. I heat it for 30 seconds and apply light pressure to both sides of his ear right where I'm gonna be taking blood. Not on the whole ear just that spot. At first he hated it but he got used to it. Now he just lays down and lets me do it and get it over with.

Giving a low carb treat is great so they come to get it taken.

The heat really makes a huge difference getting the blood flow going. Also over time I read their ears just learn to bleed a little easier. Lastnight it just came flying out of his ear like crazy.


I still don't like doing it but I know it's very important. I think it hurts me way more than it hurts Riley.

Is it wasn't for me taking his blood glucose levels he possibly could have died twice from hypoglycemia so its very very important to take the blood glucose test at home. Nobody has time or the money to keep running your animals to the vet and get them tested for their sugar or ketones. Plus taking them to the vet just raises their blood glucose levels and then the vet may recommend a stronger dose of insulin that is not the correct dosage. I think this is what happened to me with Riley.

 

As I go through and read it again I had to edit a few things to make a little more sense I was trying to type up something real quick when my daughter was screaming in my ear.

 

What a lovely post, Dana.

 

Wow, reading this it was like you were describing how I felt with Jelly. She was recently diagnosed back in June, and I was so terrified to home test her, I felt, like you horrible when I had to test her over and over, but kept telling myself I have to do it for her otherwise she could get real sick giving her insulin without testing. I would get panic attacks and I think Jelly could feel i was stressed. Now its getting easier and she knows when its time to check her BG, she loves getting her treats!

You are a good owner! Because you are right, we want to do everything in our power to help our sugar kitties however it can get really expensive taking them to the vet and having to by the special food and or testers from them. I keep saying this over and over but this forum is a blessing! I have learned so many tips/tricks and trades from this site

I agree with @Elizabeth and Bertie such a lovely post!

 

You sound just like me, Dana! Rusty got diagnosed early July, and I haven't been back to the Vet since.
Had all the schooling I needed right here on this site!
There's videos re: BG testing and insulin injections. And everyone on here will help, but it seems you're already doing great!
Keep us posted on how Riley's doing!

 

Taking care of our sugar babies takes patience and some courage. I'm fairly new to all this but if there's one thing I've learned it's that managing Diabetes in the feline is just like cooking. You gather your ingredients, measuring carefully, bake and when you open the oven there's a duck in there instead of the cookies you expected. LoL. Lately I've had a lot of "ducky days". You've found a great place to help you refine your recipe. Dont hesitate to ask lots of questions. Remember that knowledge is power.