Glucose reading at 337, what is a good dose now...

Hello again, So I just checked BooBoo's glucose at it is now at 337, and was at 50 on thursday. I had been giving her 10 units twice a day per the vet which I was told by members here that it's too high of an amount. What do you all suggest I give her now?

 

PLEASE answer the following from the bottle of insulin:


Some vets have been known to dilute Humulin down to U-10.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This makes a HUGE difference in calculating the actual dose you are giving.


PLEASE read from the insulin bottle if it has been diluted down from
U-100 to some other dilution.

 

Stephani, a picture of N vial..http://www.1800petmeds.com/images/produ ... 93_420.jpg Is that what your vial looks like? Did the vet give it to you in a box and was there a sealed cap on top like in the picture? What time is she do for a shot?

Also, please remember to feed her at least a 1/2 hr before giving her N insulin. Please respond to Karen's question also and I wouldn't give her more than 2 units tonight which would be the first little line on that syringe. Did you also manage to buy Ketostix to test her urine for ketones?

 

Are you here ?

Please come back.

To answer your question: Please feed first, then give insulin 1/2 hour after she eats.

Assuming you have undiluted Humulin N at its original concentration of U-100,
then I suggest you give 2 units....NO MORE.

On your 1cc syringes, the little un-numbered lines are 2-units each.

Counting from the needle, the first little line is 0(zer0), then 2,4,6,8,10 (first numbered line).

So, to give two units, you would go to the second line from the needle. The First line is zero, then
the second line is 2 units.

It would then be a good idea if you could get a BG test about 2 hours after the insulin is given,
then again about 4 hours after the insulin is given.

This will give you an idea of how quickly the insulin is working, and how low she is going.

If you can't do that, be sure to keep an eye on her. Watch for any signs of hypo (low blood sugar).

 

Hi Stephanie
Yes I am in the Quartz Hill/Lancaster area. Where EXACTLY are you? It sounds like your doing the testing OK?? If there is something I can do would be willing to help. I use Levemir for my Buddy, so don't feel comfortable doing anything about dosing. But if everyone else can figure out what your using I will help where I can.
Jan/Buddy

 

bump

 

the insulin bottle says Humulin N NPH human insulin (rDNA origin) isophane suspension U-100... hope this is the info u wanted...

 

Hi Stephanie (Posted once before but you must have missed this)

Yes I am in the Quartz Hill/Lancaster area. Where EXACTLY are you? It sounds like your doing the testing OK?? If there is something I can do would be willing to help. I use Levemir for my Buddy, so don't feel comfortable doing anything about dosing. But if everyone else can figure out what your using I will help where I can.
Jan/Buddy

 

Thanx to everyone that helped! Just tested her after giving her 2units and she is down to 107 from 337!!!

 

how long has it been since you gave insulin?

 

Stephanie, you really need to answer as to what time you shot her tonight and how long it has been since then. Also, are you positive it was just 2 units and do you have enough test strips?

 

Stephanie,

The easiest way for us to help you with BooBoo and her blood sugar numbers is if you could post them to us like this.

AM PS ( morning preshot) 337

+2 (2 hours after shot) 107

+4 ( 4 hours after shot) #?

since we have members all over the world we use +1, +2, +3 for how many hours after you have given insulin to help us judge if BooBoo is droping like she should or is dropping too fast and we need to walk you through how to help her level out some.

We are still very concerned on how fast BooBoo went from that 337 to 107, since if it was early in the cycle she could be dropping too fast, if it was later in the cycle it may just be a really nice number.

Hun, you are going to find that the folks on this board are going to worry over BooBoo just like she was one of our own kitties. So until we can help you get her into good numbers all the time we are going to fret over her until we hear from you and know she is okay.

If you can come on here and post as you get numbers especially preshot numbers and +4 and +6 we will be able to help a little more. But congrats on becoming a card carrying member of the Vampire Club! You are well on your way of helping BooBoo have the best life possible as a diabetic.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

Ok, good.

This means you are using undiluted U-100 insulin in U-100 syringes.

So "2" on the syringe is a true 2-unit dose.



It looks like 2 units may be too much. You will need to get some
syringes that are smaller, so you can measure smaller doses.

We recommend 3/10 cc capacity, 30 or 31 gauge, 5/8" needle length, with
1/2-unit marks if possible. Syringes for U-100 insulin.

You should be able to get these at WalMart. (and way cheaper than from the vet).

Be sure it says on the box "1/2 unit marks" or something to that effect.
Some Pharmacists will insist no such thing exists and will try to sell you 1/2cc capacity, instead.

 

It really helps if you have a spreadsheet so we can see blood glucose levels and doses from the past when you have a question on dosing. If you want help setting one up, choose the little pm button at the bottom of my post and send me a message. If you are computer savvy, here are the instructions: Setting up a spreadsheet

 

It had been + 4 hours after she was 337 that she dropped to 107. I felt comfortable with that so I went to bed. I am about to check it now but very nervous as my husband was the one to check her yesterday, as I have been ill since yesterday. I saw that he just pricked her ear and when the blood came he just touched the reader to it and it gave us the number.

 

Where do i get the syringes? My vet is like a low cost place that isn't the greatest and that's why I am here trying to figure this all out. You get what you pay for and although she was diagnosed at a wondeful vert that would have gave us the full tx, we also could not afford it, so it was cut the cost and learn this ourselves basically. I am so so glad that the 10 units I was giving did not kill her! I have asked the vet for different syringes but they just give me what's on hand...

 

you can get them at walmart. some stated require a RX for syringes or you can order through hocks. clickable on this site and FDMB gets a little back for support of web site

 

Cool thanx! Also is it better to check the reading before or after a meal before I give her a shot? I know I have to feed a half hour before the shot, so just wondering about in the morning like should I check it, then feed her then if needed give her the shot?

 

That would be perfect- test, feed and wait, the shoot.

You are doing fine figuring all this out. It's complicated!

 

Thanx! For a while there I was just too overwhelmed and felt it was completely taking over my life. I had to take abreak, so in a way it was good that i was ill and had to leave it in my hubby's hands yesterday!!! Well wish me luc, as i am about to test her myself this time!!! I watched a google video and think I understand how to do it...

 

Hi,
I have posted twice but you must be missing them. I also live in the Antelope Vally, Lancaster area. Where approx are you??? It sounds like you pretty much have things under control now. All the advice your getting is from the "best"! But other than dosing, if I can help let me know.
Your doing great, soon you will be able to do this in your sleep!! LOL
Take Care
Jan/Buddy

 

Hi, we are in lake LA so 30 miles east of Lancaster or maybe less depending on where you are... So far so good, but now my other cat seems to be struggling with his urination process which was happening a few weeks ago right before we found out about our diabetic kitty, so I changed his diet but I stopped giving him the wet for unrinary isuues, so i guess I should go back to it. He did make 2 little pees in 2 different litter boxes so, oh joy! Now I get to watch 2 kitties all day long!!! Gotta love 'em!

 

You're doing great getting this all figured out, especially after the initial heartattack you gaves us all on those 10u..

But that is now ancient history. Yay! and we can get you back on the right path and the very first important step you have already made and that is home testing.

Now that we have you home testing...you may have already answered this but I have forgotten...what is BooBoo eating?

If she is getting any dry food at all that can be very hard on her because of the carb load as well as it is very dehydrating for a kitty.

Now I understand that you need to keep expenses down, and I can definitely relate there, as I'm a full time college student again ( at age 47) and my husband is a roofer, so winter money gets tight here.

We also have 9 non-diabetic kitties, 1 diet controlled diabetic and a 75 lb dog to keep in food. We feed all the felines what my diabetic Max is eating and that is just good old fashioned pate flavors of Friskies. I get our kitties food at either Walmart or K-mart, I really like our K-mart as they have started a cash back bonus program so about every couple of months it works out to about 24 cans of free kitty food! And we won't discuss the fight I'm having with my personal local Wal-mart...lol But either place are about the same in price and all my cats love the stuff. And even my non-diabetics have greatly improved on the diet change, I now have some of the softest kitties around. Even with my fur gang it still only runs me about $6/day to feed the troops. Which really does work out about the same as feeding them high quality dry and we aren't taking nearly as many trips to the vet's for various health issues. Including my one guy that has been on pred for years for food allergies suddenly had his allergies all go away after the diet change.

But we didn't want you changing her diet until you could home test as many of our kitties BGs will drop drastically on the diet change some up to 100 pts. So now that you can test her, now is the time to look at diet.

Just remember baby steps...You'll get there. Diabetes is a marathon not a sprint

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

Your not far at all! Just drove thru there yesterday. LOL I have 1 diabetic (Buddy) and 6 civies. So it is for sure a fun time. switching from the dry, will be the best you can do for all of them! Will keep watching to see how your coming along. Hang in there, it really does get easier at some point.
Jan

 

We are at 353. And that was more difficult than I thought it would be! So should I give 2 units now? It's been 18 hours again since her last shot and she was at 107 last when we tested at about 9 last night...

 

If she has eaten and you know she is going to keep the food in her tummy then go ahead and give her the 2u. Just try to get a spot check on her in a couple of hours...like +2 or +3 and let us know where she is at then. I'm going to be around all day so I will be popping back in, on and off to keep checking on you.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

She's also eating now. Also I tried to prick her ear on the very edge but it did not work, so i pricked her just on the ear with no hair around the part...

 

If she is eating right now give her about 1/2 hour and then go ahead and give her the 2u of insulin then try to recheck her again in a couple of hours. So about a +2 or +3 number that will tell us how much she is dropping on that dose.

In the beginning I couldn't get blood out of the edge of Max's ear either, so I found that pricking him right above that double flap near the base of his ear worked really well for us. But Every kitty is different so you just have to find a spot that works for you both. It isn't so much where the blood comes from just as long as you can get some before giving insulin. Now I just have to look at him funny with a lancet in hand and his ears bleed...lol So it does get easier.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

Stephanie, with most insulins, especially N, you need to shoot every 12hrs.if the test shows she needs insulin, and try and keep to that schedule. You never posted what time you shot her last night but she should have been given insulin this a.m., if needed, by testing and seeing what number she was at. AMPS means a.m. pre shot test. PMPS means her evening pm test number. You do not wait until she is up in the 300's and then shoot 18 hrs. after her last shot. Try and get Jan's phone number by pm and talk with her too....it helps.

 

We are feeding her Hills prescription diet m/d Weight loss- Low Carbohydrate - Diabetic Dry Food
I guess I need to get her some wet instead... So just the reg pate Friskies is what your saying? Or do I need to get the wet Hills presc. diet? Also i am having issues with my other kitties unrinary stuff, so i have been getting him the Friskies Special Diet. Can my diabetic eat that one too. i believe it is a classic pate as well...

 

if you take a look at Janet's charts, one of the first things to look at is the % of calories from carbs. Anything under 7-10% is fine for diabetics and any other cat for that matter. Not sure what urinary issues your other cat has but Dr Lisa has a great page of info at www.catinfo.org

 

Also I was unable to get blood from the edge of her ear so I had to do it on the inside where there was limited hair. Is that still ok?

 

Not sure what you mean by the inside. It is fine, anywhere along the edge of the ear. You don't want to poke in the main part of the ear. Here is a picture that may help: Where to poke

 

Just an FYI that you can poke either edge...

 

Ok, guess I was getting the edge ok then. I tried on the very tip of the edge like if u run your finger just along the tips... very hard to get blood that way!

 

Going to take her reading in 15 min, so that will be 3 hours after the shot was given at 11am... I will post it when i have it...

 

Can I help you get up a spreadsheet? It is getting really hard to figure out when you shot and what numbers are which. It is important for us to have a clear picture of what is happening so we can give you good advice on dosing.

Check your private messages - up in the left hand corner. It will say "1 new message".

 

Just got her reading 3 hours after 2 U and it's now 117 from 353. yay! i think this is good yes? And I am working on the speadsheet as we speak, or type, lol!

 

That is a good but steep drop. 117 is a nice number. Humulin usually hits pretty fast and hard, which is why we don't like it very much. We figure it probably doesn't feel very good to drop 200 points in 2 hours.

But I would test again in 30 minutes to make sure she doesn't go a lot lower. You start to worry when they are in the 40s and 50s. That is getting too low and then you would need to intervene.

 

It was actually 3 hours that I tested her after the shot... I will try to retest at 2:45. She totally hates it tho, way worse than the shot!

 

Wondering if the spreadsheet i posted came up okay...

 

There isn't anything in your signature. When you have the spreadsheet up on Goggle, you have to choose publish. Then copy the url that comes up (it has pub in it as compared to cc which is your personal copy) Paste the url with the pub in the url into your signature.

 

Like others have said take a look at Binky's list and I feed the Friskies regular pate flavors from that list. The actual flavors we feed here are Turkey and Giblets, Mariner's Catch, Mixed Grill, Salmon dinner, etc.

Not sure what urinary problems you are having with the other kitty, but everyone should be able to eat the same as BooBoo. I know here it was the easiest for us to just shift everyone to canned.

117 is so much better than 353. but you may want to check her again in a few hours to see if she is going to go lower. What you are watching for is that she doesn't slip any lower than the high 40s and be still going lower. It still scares me to think how low she was going on 10u if you are seeing this much of a drop on just 2u.

Insulin works much better if you can give it every 12 hours. A cat's body burns through it faster than a human does, so if she is only getting it once a day, then she spends 12 hours feeling great and another 12 hours back into the high numbers again, feeling icky again.

What you may want to try tomorrow is this....Test her, feed her, wait 1/2 hour after she eats and give her 1u....test a couple of times during the day, then about 11 hours later, test, feed and then at +12 from the morning shot give her another 1u and see how she does on that.

You can always up a dose if it isn't enough, but you can't take it back out of the cat after you have given it if it is too much. That is why we like to "start low and go slow"

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

I am gonna test in 15 mins and see where we are...

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key ... utput=html

 

Nice job on the spreadsheet! That will help so much when you want advice. Now we need to get it into your signature so it comes up each time. Go to User Control Panel and choose Profile, then edit signature. Paste the url right there by your name and your kitty's name and choose submit.

 

Are you still using the 1 cc syringes that hold 100 units? I haven't seen anyone mention that those are marked in 2 unit increments and I'm wondering if you actually gave 2 units or 4 units today. Personally, I would have recommended starting over with a dose of 1 unit BID, especially since you're working with a harsh insulin and Boo has probably been in chronic rebound. I can't understand why there was a recommendation of 2 units and what that was based on.

Please check your syringes carefully and make sure that you know how to read the dosage on them.
http://www.medexsupply.com/images/RTT-10211.jpg

 

I used the side that said 5 and counted down the lines til i got to 2. i'm sure it was 2 units not 4... Also what is meant by 1 unit BID? It's the BID I don't understand...

 

B.I.D. is one shot twice a day...S.I.D= single shot a day, T.I.D is three shots a day.

So 1u b.i.d. would be giving her one unit of insulin given twice a day 12 hours apart.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

BID means twice daily. Here is a glossary for all of our weird terms: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15885

 

Tested 45 mins later and we are now at 95. So it has now been 4 hours since the shot and I have read that Humulin N has a peak at 4 hours, so that is where we are now. Should I expect the next read to be higher the next time?

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key ... utput=html

 

Although every cat is different, we would probably see the number headed up soon. All the numbers you are getting today will be a great help tomorrow. It is nice to be able to predict (at least a little bit) what the insulin might do.

 

Not all cats peak at +4 on N so she may go lower. What time is her next shot due....I believe it is 11 p.m.? Please test her in another hour to see where she is and then please, please post tonight before feeding her and let us know what her number (bg) is.

You also said you counted down from the 5 on the syringe but unless that syringe has 1/2 unit markings on it, the 1cc syringe has marks of 10, 20, 30, etc. Can you please take a good picture of your syringe and post it?

 

Not quite sure where my camera is, but I can tell you that the 1st syringes the vet gave me only had 10, 20, 30, and so on, but the newer syringes that I've been using have 10, 20, 30, etc. on 1 side and 5, 10, 15, etc, on the other side all measured in units... Had to be 5. doesn't make sense that it would not add up and I checked it is all measured in units on this syringe.

 

I will for sure test her at 4 again. I have to get on some sort of regimen with her before I start school again in Feb!!!

 

So far her #'s seem to be around the same as yesterday. So hopefully this is a good sign...

 

Stephanie,

Your spreadsheet is not showing up in your signature. Can you edit your signature and put that url in it? Then every time you post, everyone can see exactly where you are and what is happening.

 

Okay, then you did just fine. Are the new syringes you got still marked up to 100 or just up to 30?

 

They are still marked at 100, they are the newer ones that they gave me last week and they gave me lots of them, so being broke now, I'd like to continue using them until i can get a script form them for the other ones and I'll get 'em at Walmart. Let's see if my sign. is now working...

 

You are Almost there (I am sorry this is so complicated.....and it is hard. We know - we all had problems the first time.)

It is showing up in your signature now but the url has extra stuff in it. It needs to start with https and end with html. Somehow you got extra urls in there, so it doesn't take us to the spreadsheet. It was correct back in your thread when you first posted it; it just wasn't in your signature.

 

Woohoo!!! Got it in there!!!

 

Fantastic! :RAHCAT :RAHCAT :RAHCAT

 

dancing_cat Yay for the spread sheet your doing great!

Mel, Max & the Fur Gang

 

I wanna put a pic of BooBoo on my Avatar so u all can see her but it says file size to big even tho i keep making it smaller! Help!!!

 

I don't know how to do the picture. I had to have help. You can post on the Tech forum and someone will help: viewforum.php?f=6

 

Got it!!!

 

I can help with the picture I think, at least I can tell you how I did mine.

What I did to get Max's picture up is I opened it in the Paint program. Then on the top tool bar it say image, click that and you get a drop down menu select the option that says "stretch and skew" that is where you can resize the picture...It needs to be very tiny to work as an avatar.

You want to reduce ti down so that it is no more than 90 pixels by 90 pixels. Once you have it reduced to where you want it then remember to save it as the new littler size. I usually rename it at this point so when I go to upload it as my avatar I know which is the little one and which is the full sized one.

If you have any problems you can send me a PM (private message) and I can give you my email address then email it to me, and I will shrink it for you and email it back so you can put it up. As we would all love to see BooBoo's lovely little face.

Mel. Max & The Fur Gang

 

Never mind you got it...Yeah! Oh what a lovely little girl she is.

Mel, Max & The Fur Gang

 

She's beautiful. :YMHUG:

 

You're doing great........we see a SS and we see a picture of one cute little tiger kitty cat_pet_icon

 

So now 5 hours later she is at 142. I hope this is good. So at peak i guess she went down to 95 and an hour later she is at 142...

 

That sounds pretty normal for Humulin N.

Now you can relax until right before her next shot time...then it starts all over again...Test, feed, wait shoot.

Mel, Max and the Fur Gang

PS. You are catching on fast, give yourself a pat on the back.

 

Thanx! You all suggesting I get that reader is the best advise ever!!! And way cheaper! They wanted $255 at the vet and said that was at their cost even, but apparently you don't need a fancy shmancey test! Thank you all sooo much!!!
flip_cat

 

If you ditch the dry food and start canned food, you will very likely have to reduce the dose
again. 1 unit or less 2x/day.

Try to get some smaller syringes.

3/10 cc, 30 or 31 gauge, 5/16" needle, with 1/2 unit marks.

 

I told my hubby about the food thing and earlier and I told him that would be my concern that we would have to lower the dose if we switch to wet food. I have also contacted the vet and they told me they would write me a script to get the syringes at the walmart pharmacy...

 

Stephanie, CA people will correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think you need a script for syringes in CA.