Chloe at 22

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srk4cats

srk4cats

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It took me several tries to get a reading, when I got one it said 22. I put some honey on her gums and fed her. She seems okay. Wg=hat do I do?
 
Why can't I enter anything on her spreadsheet? Freaking out here! HELP!!

She's not eating her dinner. It's time for her insulin shot. Do give it to her? Should I give some Orijen treats I bought today? She likes those.
 
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OK, a few things:

1) I know it was hard to get that test, but try to get a re-test soon. You'll want one 20 mins after that 22 in any case, but also: the 22 may have been a meter error. Any time you get an out-of-the-blue number like that, best to re-test immediately to make sure.

2) Forget updating the spreadsheet for now, just tell us where you are in the cycle-- how long ago was the last shot, how much did you shoot.

3). Breathe!!!
 
I think it's been 20 minutes, so I'll retest her now.

No success. Tried 2 times. Not enough blood. I'm going through test strips and lancets like crazy. She cries out every time I poke her. Maybe I should just give her insulin injection?

Do I prick the inside or the outside of her ear?
 
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Crossing fingers it was a meter error!

When you get the new number, please do also let us know where you are in the shot cycle-- it's important information for us.
 
She gobbled up her Orijec treats. Chico ate her food. I don't think she like the Royal Canin. I'm going to give her Fancy Feast.

She's eating her FF with some gusto.
 
Have you gotten another test?

If she really is in the 20's, you should probably be heading to an emergency vet, depending on where she is in the cycle. We can't help keep her safe if we don't know what is going on.
 
So it is +11.50 for you. Please test again and post. And like Nan said, whenever you get a number at of the blue, really low or really high, retest it to make sure.
 
I am so glad she came up . I am not sure what is going on with that number of 22. I can only see today's numbers on your spread sheet. I don't know how she reacts to the ProZinc because I can't see anything beyond today. Are you available to test tonight? Do you have plenty of test strips and higher carb food? If so, I would shot but not anything over 1 unit right now until we can see more data. 22 is a super low number. Maybe it was a bad test strip. But, even then I wouldn't shot over 1 unit and track her numbers tonight and let's see how she dose on 1 unit.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
I am so glad she came up . I am not sure what is going on with that number of 22. I can only see today's numbers on your spread sheet. I don't know how she reacts to the ProZinc because I can't see anything beyond today. Are you available to test tonight? Do you have plenty of test strips and higher carb food? If so, I would shot but not anything over 1 unit right now until we can see more data. 22 is a super low number. Maybe it was a bad test strip. But, even then I wouldn't shot over 1 unit and track her numbers tonight and let's see how she dose on 1 unit.
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OK, I'll just give her 1 unit. The reason I don't have any data is because I'm just learning how to do this.
 
And now that her number is 149, go back to you thread title and take the 911 off so others know she is okay. If you need to put it up again, please do so. Eyes will be on you for help. We are here to help so keep asking questions and posting. You can post in the ProZinc Forum and the peeps there will help you with dosing. If you don't get any response,( the ProZinc forum is small), post here in the Health Forum like you did and peeps will help you.
Yong said:
No problem. I have to head off.

Please make sure to get a couple more tests tonight to see how she is doing.
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thank for tagging peeps for help Yong! :):bighug:
 
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I'm not going to be able to stick around much longer myself-- will you be able to test her in an hour or so to make sure she's still in the safe zone? Are other folks able to be around for that? I'm sorry I'm probably going to have to bail soon..
 
No insulin until she registers 151 BG or more. Continue feeding a small amount of low carb wet food, a tsp to tbsp. to start. You do not want to overfeed as you need your cat to continue to eat frequently, if necessary, for as long as the BG stays low (below 40/2.2). Test every half hour until the BG rises over 45/ 2.5. Food is not used to raise the BG it is used to provide needed fuel to the liver so it can do its job of normalizing the BG and protecting the brain.

Once treatment is started and the BG begins to rise never make the assumption that it will stay up, giving food will bring the BG up but it is very possible for it to fall again hours later. Testing frequently for several hours is important. Never leave an overdosed cat at a vet that does not have 24 hour care available for this reason.

If the cat is seizing and still able to eat on its own continue testing/feeding as necessary. A trip to the vet is warranted if seizures continue after food is given.

For a seizing cat that cannot/will not eat apply a small amount of syrup or honey to your finger and massage it into your cats gums or into the soft tissue of the anus if the seizures put your fingers at risk in the cats mouth and take your cat to the vet immediately. Ask your vet for Valium to stop your cats seizures and once the seizures have stopped for the vet to tube or syringe feed low carb wet food. Request that no IV glucose be given as this will put the cats liver back to sleep and you will have to detox the cat afterwards. You will need to ask for help on this forum for how to start insulin again after using syrup or honey when dealing with low BG as there will be an increased risk of hypo and doses will need to be reduced.

Try to remain calm, in most cases your cat will behave normally other than begging for food and looking at you wondering "what's up with you."

Remember so long as you have been feeding low carb wet food only symptoms of clinical hypo, like seizures, are extremely rare.

Good luck.
 
Nan & Amber said:
I'm not going to be able to stick around much longer myself-- will you be able to test her in an hour or so to make sure she's still in the safe zone? Are other folks able to be around for that? I'm sorry I'm probably going to have to bail soon..
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I will be only be around for another 3o mins of so. If you need more help after that, continue to post in Health and put the 911 back in the title if you need it. My guess is that she will bounce up from being in a really low number and you will be okay tonight but, that said, continue to test her at about +2 and before you go to bed tonight to make sure she is safe.
 
Chris & China said:
Went back and read just a little of your history

Is it right that you've only been on insulin for about 2 weeks?

And are you feeding ONLY low carb canned food now?
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She was diagnosed on January 6th and has been on insulin since. I've been feeding her Royal Canin like the vet said. I took her in for a glucose curve on 2/24 and her results were: 409, 501, 304, 279, and 326. They told me it was really bad and upped her Prozinc from 2 to 2.5 units. Since then I found this place and have been learning bit by bit. The glucose meters really confused me. I've gotten such wonderful tips and advice from all of you, but I'm still learning. I know the numbers now I just need to understand the chemistry.
 
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Bernie said:
No insulin until she registers 151 BG or more. Continue feeding a small amount of low carb wet food, a tsp to tbsp. to start. You do not want to overfeed as you need your cat to continue to eat frequently, if necessary, for as long as the BG stays low (below 40/2.2). Test every half hour until the BG rises over 45/ 2.5. Food is not used to raise the BG it is used to provide needed fuel to the liver so it can do its job of normalizing the BG and protecting the brain.

Once treatment is started and the BG begins to rise never make the assumption that it will stay up, giving food will bring the BG up but it is very possible for it to fall again hours later. Testing frequently for several hours is important. Never leave an overdosed cat at a vet that does not have 24 hour care available for this reason.

If the cat is seizing and still able to eat on its own continue testing/feeding as necessary. A trip to the vet is warranted if seizures continue after food is given.

For a seizing cat that cannot/will not eat apply a small amount of syrup or honey to your finger and massage it into your cats gums or into the soft tissue of the anus if the seizures put your fingers at risk in the cats mouth and take your cat to the vet immediately. Ask your vet for Valium to stop your cats seizures and once the seizures have stopped for the vet to tube or syringe feed low carb wet food. Request that no IV glucose be given as this will put the cats liver back to sleep and you will have to detox the cat afterwards. You will need to ask for help on this forum for how to start insulin again after using syrup or honey when dealing with low BG as there will be an increased risk of hypo and doses will need to be reduced.

Try to remain calm, in most cases your cat will behave normally other than begging for food and looking at you wondering "what's up with you."

Remember so long as you have been feeding low carb wet food only symptoms of clinical hypo, like seizures, are extremely rare.

Good luck.
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Although it is (hopefully) academic now, I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with some of this advice. I would always, always take a seizing cat to the vet, immediately. Hypos can progress extremely rapidly, and a seizing cat is already at the brink of coma and death. It isn't worth the risk to try to handle that situation at home. I also do not agree with refusing IV glucose while at the vet. In a serious hypo event, time is of the essence, you can worry about fine-tuning the recovery later, the important thing is to keep the cat safe and alive.
 
Bernie said:
No insulin until she registers 151 BG or more. Continue feeding a small amount of low carb wet food, a tsp to tbsp. to start. You do not want to overfeed as you need your cat to continue to eat frequently, if necessary, for as long as the BG stays low (below 40/2.2). Test every half hour until the BG rises over 45/ 2.5. Food is not used to raise the BG it is used to provide needed fuel to the liver so it can do its job of normalizing the BG and protecting the brain.

Once treatment is started and the BG begins to rise never make the assumption that it will stay up, giving food will bring the BG up but it is very possible for it to fall again hours later. Testing frequently for several hours is important. Never leave an overdosed cat at a vet that does not have 24 hour care available for this reason.

If the cat is seizing and still able to eat on its own continue testing/feeding as necessary. A trip to the vet is warranted if seizures continue after food is given.

For a seizing cat that cannot/will not eat apply a small amount of syrup or honey to your finger and massage it into your cats gums or into the soft tissue of the anus if the seizures put your fingers at risk in the cats mouth and take your cat to the vet immediately. Ask your vet for Valium to stop your cats seizures and once the seizures have stopped for the vet to tube or syringe feed low carb wet food. Request that no IV glucose be given as this will put the cats liver back to sleep and you will have to detox the cat afterwards. You will need to ask for help on this forum for how to start insulin again after using syrup or honey when dealing with low BG as there will be an increased risk of hypo and doses will need to be reduced.

Try to remain calm, in most cases your cat will behave normally other than begging for food and looking at you wondering "what's up with you."

Remember so long as you have been feeding low carb wet food only symptoms of clinical hypo, like seizures, are extremely rare.

Good luck.
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Thank you. I'm going to print this out. I haven't seen Chloe have any seizures. I love the way you guys keep telling me to test every few hours. It's very hard on me because Chloe cries every time I prick her ear. Practice makes perfect. I don't give up easily. I lost 2 cats last year and don't intend to lose another one any time soon.
 
srk3cats said:
She was diagnosed on January 6th and has been on insulin since. I've been feeding her Royal Canin like the vet said. I took her in for a glucose curve on 2/24 and her results were: 409, 501, 304, 279, and 326. They told me it was really bad and upped her Prozinc from 2 to 2.5 units. Since then I found this place and have been learning bit by bit. The glucose meters really confused me. I've gotten such wonderful tips and advise from all of you, but I'm still learning. I know the numbers now I just need to understand the chemistry.
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Royal Canin dry or canned? I know the dry isn't particularly low in carbs, not sure about the canned. If she's been turning her nose up at the Royal Canin and going for (low carb) Fancy Feast, that might be causing her insulin needs to go down a lot, and might explain her low numbers today. Even if the 22 is an error, you also got that 108 at +11 according to your spreadsheet, which is pretty low for this stage of insulin treatment.

I think going to 1U tonight is a good move. Let's see how she does on this.

One more food question: does she have food available to graze on in the overnight, or does she just get schedule meals?
 
One thing I would like to add, you do not need to go to the vet for curves. The reason: 1. It is expensive and you can do it at home 2. The numbers the vet is getting during those curves are inflated because of cat stress. If you are doing the curve at home where Chloe is more comfortable, the numbers will be a truer reading of what is happening and then a dose that is too high wont be recommended. That could be why Chloe was put on a too high of a dose.

And as Nan said, if she is eating the FF Classic which is lower carb, instead of the Royal Canin , her insulin needs could now be lower. I am so glad that you are testing her. You are a good bean momma! :)
 
Nan & Amber said:
I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with some of this advice. I would always, always take a seizing cat to the vet, immediately. Hypos can progress extremely rapidly, and a seizing cat is already at the brink of coma and death. It isn't worth the risk to try to handle that situation at home. I also do not agree with refusing IV glucose while at the vet. In a serious hypo event, time is of the essence, you can worry about fine-tuning the recovery later, the important thing is to keep the cat safe and alive.
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I totally agree!!! When a cat is seizing, it's not the time to take chances.....other than getting some Karo/honey/syrup on their gums or into the anus, the only thing you should do is get to a vet and let them take over
 
Nan & Amber said:
Royal Canin dry or canned? I know the dry isn't particularly low in carbs, not sure about the canned. If she's been turning her nose up at the Royal Canin and going for (low carb) Fancy Feast, that might be causing her insulin needs to go down a lot, and might explain her low numbers today. Even if the 22 is an error, you also got that 108 at +11 according to your spreadsheet, which is pretty low for this stage of insulin treatment.

I think going to 1U tonight is a good move. Let's see how she does on this.

One more food question: does she have food available to graze on in the overnight, or does she just get schedule meals?
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She liked the dry, and the wet at first. I was told to not let them graze. The other issue is that I have 2 other cats. I don't worry so much about Fuzma, who is on a diet with special protein for her skin. She doesn't get into the others' food. But the kitten will eat anything and finishes off their leftovers. I fear he is overweight now. If I leave out regular food for him, I suspect Chloe gets into it at night and then throws up. In my profile pic, Chico was still a kitten and Chloe used to play with him. But now Chloe is only about 9 pounds and Chico is already at 14 lbs. He still wants to play, but she's not so interested now and I discourage it.
 
There's nothing special about the "Glycobalance" foods (except the price)

If Chloe and Chico will eat Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground, there's no reason you can't feed both of them the same food.

The idea of "twice a day" feeding went out with the dinosaurs too....the newer protocols say it's better to feed multiple small means instead of 2 big ones....and it usually makes the cat a lot happier!!

Both my civvies were overweight when China was diagnosed (they were free fed dry)....when I switched everybody over to low carb canned, they actually lost the extra weight. They did have to learn to eat at more "scheduled" times (there's not food left down all day) but they adjusted. Now, if they don't finish theirs by the time China's done with hers (I feed her in a different place since I'm testing/shooting), it gets picked up....they learn to eat it when it's there!!
 
srk3cats said:
She liked the dry, and the wet at first. I was told to not let them graze. The other issue is that I have 2 other cats. I don't worry so much about Fuzma, who is on a diet with special protein for her skin. She doesn't get into the others' food. But the kitten will eat anything and finishes off their leftovers. I fear he is overweight now. If I leave out regular food for him, I suspect Chloe gets into it at night and then throws up. In my profile pic, Chico was still a kitten and Chloe used to play with him. But now Chloe is only about 9 pounds and Chico is already at 14 lbs. He still wants to play, but she's not so interested now and I discourage it.
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Chico is beautiful. Practice does make it better. :)
 
srk3cats said:
She was diagnosed on January 6th and has been on insulin since. I've been feeding her Royal Canin like the vet said. I took her in for a glucose curve on 2/24 and her results were: 409, 501, 304, 279, and 326. They told me it was really bad and upped her Prozinc from 2 to 2.5 units. Since then I found this place and have been learning bit by bit. The glucose meters really confused me. I've gotten such wonderful tips and advice from all of you, but I'm still learning. I know the numbers now I just need to understand the chemistry.
Click to expand...

I'm just getting around to this and I wanted to say that I agree with the others on the Royal Canin. There is a list of foods that you can check out, try to pick a canned food that has 10 carbs or less
Food Chart
I think a lot of us feed Friskies Classic Pate because the ingredients aren't the absolute worst and because at least where I live it's only .49 cents for a 5.5 ounce can.
The curves that you're having done at the vet's office are a complete waste of both time and money. Your vet can't get any useful numbers because your cat will be too stressed out and none of the data can be relied upon so you might as well just go into your bathroom, put your money into the toilet and flush it. I know that this is all still pretty new to you but with time you'll get the hang of it just know that you kind of have to grab the bull by the horns and do this yourself, hands on I mean. There are wonderful people here that will guide you along the way but the curves need to be done by you and you need to choose a good food. And finally understand that the people here know more about feline diabetes than most vets you'll ever meet.

As far as getting a blood sample from the ear, a good method for a beginner is to make a sock filled with rice. Get a long sock and put about a 1/4 cup of rice inside of it. Wrap a hair tie (one without metal) around the bottom and make it really tight so that no rice can fall out. Make sure that there's no rice hanging around in the leg of the sock lol and then you're set. Now when it's time to test you'll put the sock into the microwave for about 8 to 10 seconds, times will vary depending on your microwave. You can test the temp by putting it up next to your own ear or over your eye to make sure that it's not too hot. Now that the sock is WARM you'll want to just use the sock to stoke the outer half of the ear, do this for about 30 seconds. This will cause the ear to get warm and pinkish / redish, pulling blood into the area and now the ear is ready to be poked. Place the sock under the ear, on the part toward the outside edge and poke the area toward the top half, so more toward the tip of the ear. You should get a good sample. If you don't then perhaps you are aiming too far out and are not actually poking the ear so try again and aim closer in next time.

I hope this helps. I'm about to make a video about how to do this. I'll post it when I'm done.
 
My goodness! What a stressful night you've had. Please do get a test in the morning before shooting and let us know . I usually hang out in the prozinc forum but I'll try to check fornyou in health too.
 
Sieden said:
I'm just getting around to this and I wanted to say that I agree with the others on the Royal Canin. There is a list of foods that you can check out, try to pick a canned food that has 10 carbs or less
Food Chart
I think a lot of us feed Friskies Classic Pate because the ingredients aren't the absolute worst and because at least where I live it's only .49 cents for a 5.5 ounce can.
The curves that you're having done at the vet's office are a complete waste of both time and money. Your vet can't get any useful numbers because your cat will be too stressed out and none of the data can be relied upon so you might as well just go into your bathroom, put your money into the toilet and flush it. I know that this is all still pretty new to you but with time you'll get the hang of it just know that you kind of have to grab the bull by the horns and do this yourself, hands on I mean. There are wonderful people here that will guide you along the way but the curves need to be done by you and you need to choose a good food. And finally understand that the people here know more about feline diabetes than most vets you'll ever meet.

As far as getting a blood sample from the ear, a good method for a beginner is to make a sock filled with rice. Get a long sock and put about a 1/4 cup of rice inside of it. Wrap a hair tie (one without metal) around the bottom and make it really tight so that no rice can fall out. Make sure that there's no rice hanging around in the leg of the sock lol and then you're set. Now when it's time to test you'll put the sock into the microwave for about 8 to 10 seconds, times will vary depending on your microwave. You can test the temp by putting it up next to your own ear or over your eye to make sure that it's not too hot. Now that the sock is WARM you'll want to just use the sock to stoke the outer half of the ear, do this for about 30 seconds. This will cause the ear to get warm and pinkish / redish, pulling blood into the area and now the ear is ready to be poked. Place the sock under the ear, on the part toward the outside edge and poke the area toward the top half, so more toward the tip of the ear. You should get a good sample. If you don't then perhaps you are aiming too far out and are not actually poking the ear so try again and aim closer in next time.

I hope this helps. I'm about to make a video about how to do this. I'll post it when I'm done.
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What an excellent video! I tried testing again this morning with no success. Then I decided to go back and use the lancet propeller. I had quit using it because the sound made me (and Chloe) jump. Her ears are now all bruised. I should have looked at this video first. I got blood out of her ear, but I think I wasn't collecting it properly because I got an E-13 error message. Anyway, after struggling for 10 minutes, I went ahead and gave her breakfast. I fed her the wet Royal Canin in chunks. I've learned to separate her in my bedroom or else Chico will be in our faces. I let her alone for about 10 minutes. She was on the bed, but hadn't eaten much. Chico zoomed in and finished it off for her. Now he won't eat his dry food. But that's another issue. I will make a rice sock today and play with the lancet propeller. I'll try again around noon.
 
Sieden said:
I'm just getting around to this and I wanted to say that I agree with the others on the Royal Canin. There is a list of foods that you can check out, try to pick a canned food that has 10 carbs or less
Food Chart
I think a lot of us feed Friskies Classic Pate because the ingredients aren't the absolute worst and because at least where I live it's only .49 cents for a 5.5 ounce can.
The curves that you're having done at the vet's office are a complete waste of both time and money. Your vet can't get any useful numbers because your cat will be too stressed out and none of the data can be relied upon so you might as well just go into your bathroom, put your money into the toilet and flush it. I know that this is all still pretty new to you but with time you'll get the hang of it just know that you kind of have to grab the bull by the horns and do this yourself, hands on I mean. There are wonderful people here that will guide you along the way but the curves need to be done by you and you need to choose a good food. And finally understand that the people here know more about feline diabetes than most vets you'll ever meet.

As far as getting a blood sample from the ear, a good method for a beginner is to make a sock filled with rice. Get a long sock and put about a 1/4 cup of rice inside of it. Wrap a hair tie (one without metal) around the bottom and make it really tight so that no rice can fall out. Make sure that there's no rice hanging around in the leg of the sock lol and then you're set. Now when it's time to test you'll put the sock into the microwave for about 8 to 10 seconds, times will vary depending on your microwave. You can test the temp by putting it up next to your own ear or over your eye to make sure that it's not too hot. Now that the sock is WARM you'll want to just use the sock to stoke the outer half of the ear, do this for about 30 seconds. This will cause the ear to get warm and pinkish / redish, pulling blood into the area and now the ear is ready to be poked. Place the sock under the ear, on the part toward the outside edge and poke the area toward the top half, so more toward the tip of the ear. You should get a good sample. If you don't then perhaps you are aiming too far out and are not actually poking the ear so try again and aim closer in next time.

I hope this helps. I'm about to make a video about how to do this. I'll post it when I'm done.
Click to expand...

Excellent directions! I wonder if you're a teacher or a writer. I especially like the tip about using the Sharpie.
 
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