Hi! So just started home testing with Lionel, he was very high last week when we did a curve, and the vet put him up to 3 units of Lantus, I finally got a alphatrak 2, and I’m in Canada, I just tested before insulin and he is at 10.8, so I don’t know what to do??!? He usually has his insulin at 9:30 but this low # threw me off, and not really sure how it works as far as adjusting or holding off on dosage! Please help and thank you so much
With the holidays it can be pretty slow around here, Someone should come along soon and help. I cant help you with your question but You do what you feel comfortable doing. You can also stall, ( Don't feed wait 30 mins and then test again) then you can see if he is coming up.
Without any data to see how Lionel has been doing up till now it's difficult to give you a solid answer. Since you just started testing and are using an AT2, I would not shoot unless BG is over 11 mmol (200 US) and you are very close to that at 10.8 (194) so it's probably safe to do so but I would monitor Lionel through the cycle starting with a test at +2. Sandra suggested stalling so if you have not fed Lionel yet, just retest in 20 to 30 minutes and see if BG has come up on its own. ETA Please note that 3u of Lantus is a large starting dose and you may want to consider lowering that if your home testing is still a hit or miss proposition.
He was on 1 unit for about 3 months then brought up to 2 units, for about 3 more months and then I did a curve and found out he was only going down to about 16 at his lowest,21 at highest, so the vet brought him up to 3 units, last week, I noticed he was walking funny, that why we brought him in, I borrowed a metre yesterday to see how he was doing and first try this am before food and insulin was 10.8, he has bad teeth, trying to regulate him so that he can get them pulled, I decided to give him his insulin, cause I was already and hour n a bit late, but I fed him a whole can of food with it, going to talk to his vet at 8am tomorrow and will test again after 5-6 hrs to see what he’s at,
I would test him again at +2 as above to see if he is dropping at all and if he is feed him a bit more to keep BG from dropping too much. I would not wait till +5/6. Sounds like you have no data to know if today was a low or high start to the cycle so better to err on the side of caution.
Frank -- It would help us enormously if you could put at least a week or two's worth of data into the spreadsheet template that we use. We are very numbers driven -- just for the reason you're describing (i.e., change in numbers). This is the link to the spreadsheet template. It's also helpful since none of us want to provide fly by the seat of our pants guidance that could potentially harm your cat. A spreadsheet helps us to not give uninformed guidance.
I borrowed the meter for now and that template looks so overwhelming, and I don’t have that much data yet, just starting to home test, but I will look into this once I have everything
Most folks here use a human meter to keep costs down. Freestyle Lite is one popular with those of us in Canada but any human meter will work as long as the blood sample size is very small. If the vet suggests the AT2 meter, know that the strips are about $2 each which can quickly add up and they are not readily available at retailers. The Spreadsheet is easy to use and if you need assistance to set it up, we can help. HERE is info on how to use the Spreadsheet.
I'm in Canada too. When I told my vet that the AlphaTrak 2 strips were about $2.00 each he nearly hit the floor. He had no idea they were that expensive. The other vet in the clinic came in and said she had used human meters for 30+years because there were no pet ones back then. The vet said that most of the scientific information out there was done with human meters because there was no other choice. I know since I switched to Freestyle Lite meter and strips, it's been way easier on my pocketbook and less stressful because I can test more often now.
Lots of times you can get a free glucometer when you buy the test strips. Here is a link for Freestyle lite if that is the kind you want. I haven't been able to find Walmart's brand here in Canada that many on this forum recommend - these strips are very inexpensive. You might have better luck wherever you live.
