? Home Testing Question

Hi Everyone!
-I joined the forum yesterday, and for my first time testing, I, with time and patience, have so far managed to test my Sophia twice today. I'm going to try again before she gets her food and insulin shot tonight.

When first consulting my vet about the home testing, he said ideally 4-6 readings with in a 12 hour period would be good. As I've mentioned before, I've only managed twice so far and will be trying for a third time within the next hour. So, I was wondering, even though 'many' readings is ideal, how many is too little or not enough? I know I can test her a bit after she's had her food and insulin at 7 tonight (her schedule has been 7-8am and 7-8pm), but I haven't really found info online about home testing frequency. Also, how often do you test your cats in a week? Is there a set number? Will once a week potentially be enough for my cat or is this last question more of one I should ask my vet? - also, I just want to share that I kinda trust his word on the matter a bit more than other vets I've dealt with because he informed me that he also has a diabetic cat at home.

Thanks in advance!

 

The experts here will weigh in, but minimally we must test before each shot of insulin! That's how we keep our cats safe. I'm a newbie and it's hard sometimes, but this is the one rule I know to never break. Welcome and good luck!

 

I don't think there is a set number. Every cat is different (ECID) you will see that here a lot. When you are just beginning, the more data you have, the clearer the picture of how the insulin is affecting your cat, the better. At the least, a test before every insulin injection to be sure it is safe to do so. Then a midday test, and as many as you can get in during the day, or into the nights as you can. This will indicate the "nadir", the lowest level of blood sugar in the system. The dose of insulin is determined by that nadir, not the pre-shot value. A curve is testing every two hours, and costs $100-$150 at the vet, it's a day at the vet for the kitty with raised BG values from stress. It's good to do that once a week when you are starting out, if you can. Once a week only testing is not good, if that's what you meant. At least until kitty is into remission.
I know this all seems like a lot, and it is..but the testing, insulin injections and diet changes become more routine. One thought for you, most prescription canned foods are still too high in carbs, and expensive to boot. There are many alternatives of low carb wet food and you can look through the Food Chart to see the compilation of canned food with protein, fat, phosphorus, carb levels and calories. CHART
Dr. Lisa Pierson has a wonderful site: www.catinfo.org and Dr Pierson recommends " start with protein minimum of 40, fat maximum of 50, carb max of 10, and for cats with kidney issues....phos less than 300.
Many of us use Fancy Feast classics and Friskies pates, but there are many other brands of wet food that are more than acceptable.

 

@Molly and Sammy Thanks for the info. That's really good to know!

@Idjit's mom In your experience with testing Idjit, how many hours before and after insulin is good/reasonable for readings? 1 hour before doesn't seem to work for Sophia. Since she gets her food at the same time, she's not as focused so close to feeding time I'm discovering. Also, it's best I test her every day minimally before her insulin is what you mean, correct?
I also don't feel like I'll be able to switch her to store bought food yet since I have a whole case of the prescription food to go through and wouldn't know what to do with it otherwise. We all know how expensive that stuff can be :\ But I've also come across that food chart in my research on how to read the labels of pet food. I've yet to fully go through it because it seems a bit overwhelming, you know? And this may or may not be a silly question, but looking at the can labels, how can I tell which part is showing me the number of carbs?

 

I test my insulin-dependent diabetic cats almost before each shot. I say almost because I missed testing Nala the first morning after she arrived (she arrived 13th of September of this year as an untreated diabetic). Nala was just too pissed off to be restrained for testing so she only received 1/2 unit. With any of my cats I very seldom test between shots. I have only test Nala once between shots so far.

 

@Larry and Kitties Sophia definitely doesn't like being restrained and will get upset pretty quickly, so I completely understand about Nala. For testing, I've been laying a fleece blanket on my lap (she loves those types of blankets) and letting her just about freely come to me and giving her little bits of treats through the whole process. She's pretty food motivated, thankfully for me. This is also why I give her the insulin during meal time. She's eats about half or so before receiving her shot, and since I'm behind her doing it, it's been working out so far.

 

I hate to admit this, but I am not the best one to ask for experience in the testing time business. Idjit went OTJ so fast, we still didn't have a clue as to what we were doing! We struggled hard with testing, Idjit was not cooperative and I nearly had to beat DH for not controlling Idjit when he held him as well as I wanted him to It got better, but it really took time.
However, I have been reading and trying to learn ever since. Absolutely test before every injection. Test, shoot, feed in about 20 minutes.
We got up at 6 AM, tested, then I fixed food for Idjit and his injection. I took the food, and the syringe to my room, put the food on the bed so I didn't have to stand on my head to inject, and while Idjit was scarfing, gave the shot. He never blinked an eye. Our vet had Rxd 1 U, 1X day, which I learned was wrong, we were trying to find 1/2 U marked syringes and Idjit BG just kept going lower with the happy diet change. I was advised here to test more often, and I tried, but I needed old man here to help and he was out wandering around in old man land, so that's there. It was rather like a Keystone Cops movie.
Test as much as you can. I don't know if you work outside the home in the day. But, if you do, maybe test 1 hour after AM shot, then as soon as you get home, then again PM shot, and again before bed. The more times you test the better, within reason. Fill in times that you couldn't do during the week on weekends. And try to do a curve.
And...you will be told this, as many tests you can get in the nighttime cycle. Cats go lower at night, for reasons only they know and it's good to see what's happening if you can. I have read that it's like a puzzle, filling in the pieces.
The vet food, take it back. We did, and got a refund. Look on the packaging to see if the kind you have is guaranteed. Just say, she didn't like it. They can't prove it.

 

@Idjit's mom I do work during the weekday, so that's a good suggested schedule to try and go by. As for the vet food, I'm not sure if I would be able to return/refund it. I got it off of Chewy, and their return policy doesn't include prescribed foods :/ Also, I took a look at the can and it says "manufactured and guaranteed by...", would that be the same thing you're talking about?

 

Actually, I have been reading lately how great Chewy is with returns.
Oh, I am looking at the food chart and if it's the Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet DM it's only 6 carbs, so that's good.