I DID IT!

Well, actually, WE did it because Sake deserves a lot of the credit. I successfully did my first bg test at home, all by myself! THIS time, (unlike the last time, using the towel on the bathroom floor, which was an EPIC FAIL,) I got all of my supplies together, and warmed up one of those hot/cold packs, and I let her sit on my lap like she always does. I did everything just like I was supposed to do and we got our first pre-food, pre-shot reading of 112! She hasn't eaten since 7:00 am this morning, so I think this is a pretty good #, right?

My Cat-In-the-Bag carrier is arriving tomorrow, but I wanted to give it one last try w/o it. I'm so proud of us! And of course, I gave her a nice freeze-dried pure salmon treat afterward.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my glee with everyone

 

Congratulations!

That is a great number-- in fact, I wouldn't recommend shooting with a number like that (at least not at first, before you have more data on how she responds to insulin). If you haven't shot yet, can you stall for a little while and answer a couple questions?

What kind of insulin? What dose?

 

Yay! Congratulations. That is a low pre-shot number. Is that with a human meter? I'm with Nan, that sounds like a possible 'no shot' number to me.

 

Thank you! She was originally put on 2U/12 hrs of Lantus about 2 weeks ago, and her numbers went from 318 down to 93 that first week, so the Vet reduced the amount to 2U/12 hrs. She's been on that amount since Sat night. She only eats wet food now, and it's all very low carb, and high in good, quality proteins, so I know that has made a big difference as well, and am hopeful she will not need to be on the Lantus for much longer.

 

That's using the Reli-On Prime.

 

That should be 2U/24 hrs; not 12 now.

 

Did you shoot? If not, please don't!

Does this mean her last shot was 24hrs ago????

 

That was supposed to be a 24; not a 12. Forgive me if I'm repeating myself. I'm new to the whole forums thing.

 

Yeah, her last shot was around 7:15 pm last night, while she was having her dinner.

 

OK, if she's in normal numbers (50-120 on a human meter) without insulin for 24hrs, do not shoot. She may very well be on the fast track to remission, and it could be dangerous to add insulin onto a possibly-working pancreas, especially in a relatively large dose.

She probably will still need some insulin eventually, but at a much lower dose. Once-per-day dosing is unusual in cats (they have too fast a metabolism for insulin to be effective more than 12hrs), so (once she is showing higher BG numbers) I'd go with twice-daily dosing of maybe 1U, or possibly even less. But see how she does in the next day or two.

Very exciting, she's doing great! And, I'm so glad you got that test in!

 

When should I test her again? Sometime tonight, after she's eaten? The Vet said that she would have put her on 1U/12 hrs, but supposedly the Lantus pen doesn't "work well" (I think she meant dispense well, but it was the tech that relayed the message to me,) so I'm not sure. I'm really nervous about not giving her any insulin at all tonight, since she's been on it for almost 2 weeks now...

 

Well done you.

 

Are you using the needles that come with the pens? That does restrict you to full-unit dosing, and I am not surprised the mechanism doesn't work great for small numbers. Most of us here that use the pens use them with separate syringes (with half-unit markings) that we poke directly into the top. It allows for very small doses.

If she's never had ketones or DKA, it will be safer to skip tonight's dose. If you were to shoot, you would have to be able to monitor for several hours, possibly all night, to make sure she wasn't going too low (hypoglycemic). What we've seen happen all too often is this: cat is on a high dose but doesn't need it, the cat's body has counter-regulatory mechanisms to release glucose when it goes low so everything seems fine-- until the counter-regulatory mechanisms are exhausted, and there's a crash.

I would skip, and just get maybe another test in a few hours to see if she's gone up, and then re-assess tomorrow morning.

 

I agree with Nan. No shot tonight.

 

Yeah, I'm using those needles. I did read that about people using separate syringes for the pens, and figured that would probably be me eventually. No, she's never had DKA or ketones. When she was initially diagnosed with diabetes about a month ago, her starting level was 364. I couldn't do the appt for another 5 days, but just switching her to the better food I've giving her brought her down from 364 to 318, and that was before we even started the Lantus. I'm going to feed her now, and try to re-test her in a few hrs. I can try to test her again before she eats tomorrow morning, but I will be at work for 8 hrs, so that's what worries me about not giving her any insulin at all--that something horrible would happen, and I wouldn't be there to help her in time

 

The only immediate risk to going without insulin is development of ketones, and it's not that high a risk if she's never had them, is eating well, and doesn't have other major health challenges. Other than that, high BG numbers can cause organ damage, but it's over the course of months/years. Too much insulin, on the other hand, can kill very quickly. Some info from the "Health Links" forum:

How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!

 

NOW, I have a problem I was having trouble doing another test because I was trying to use her other ear, so the first one wouldn't get too sore, and I couldn't get to it very well, thus, I couldn't get enough of a droplet & got an error message, and the droplet clotted up before I could get any more out of it after inserting a fresh strip So I was reading that one person was able to get her cat to do well if she did while the cat was eating, so I gave her a teeny bit of food, but couldn't get her to stop moving her head while eating, so again, I couldn't get anything--not even a drop this time, and the poor cat has been poked by the lancet at least 3 times, and is not happy. And NOW, if I'm even ever able to get another sample from her tonight, the number will be messed up because she just ate that food. Plus, I'll be lucky if she even relaxes enough to come sit beside me on my couch so I can try again tonight... This is infuriating

 

Here's something I wrote up for others for testing...maybe it'll help you too! (substitute "her" for "him")

It can be really helpful to establish a routine with testing. Pick one spot that you want your "testing spot" to be (I like the kitchen counter because it's got good light and it's at a good height....it also already blocked 2 escape routes due to the wall and the backsplash) It can be anywhere though...a rug on the floor, a table, a particular spot on the couch...wherever is good for you.

Take him there as many times a day as you can and just give his ears a quick rub and then he gets a yummy (low carb) treat.Most cats aren't objecting so much with the poking..it's the fooling with their ears they don't like, but once they're desensitized to it and learn to associate a certain place with the treats, they usually start to come when they're called! Or even when they hear us opening the test kit!

You also have to remember...you're not poking him to hurt him...you're testing him to keep him safe and understand what's going on inside his body. There's just nothing better than truly understanding what's going on inside your kitty's body and with this disease, the more knowledge you have, the more power you have against it. The edges of the ears have very few pain receptors, so it really doesn't hurt them. Also, if you're nervous and tense, it's going to make your kitty nervous and tense too. As silly as it might seem, try singing! It forces you to use a different part of your brain!

It's also important to make sure his ear is warm. A small sock filled with a little rice and microwaved or a small pill bottle filled with warm water (check temp against your wrist like you would a baby bottle) works well

For new kitties, using a heavier gauge lancet is also really helpful. A 25-28 gauge lancet pokes a bigger "hole" than a 31-33 gauge lancet does, so look for "Alternate Site testing" lancets that are usually a lower number

Finding the right "treat" will be a great help too! Freeze dried chicken, bonito flakes, little pieces of baked chicken...whatever low carb treat you can find that he really enjoys will help him to associate the testing with the treat! China's Achilles heel was baked chicken, so I'd bake a piece, chop it into bite sized pieces, put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest to use as needed. It didn't take long for her to come any time I picked up the meter!

It takes about 15 minutes before food gets broken down and into the bloodstream so don't panic if she's just eaten a little.

Most cats have 1 ear that bleeds better than the other!! China's "bleeder" is her left ear....I'd have better luck getting blood from a rock than her right ear. A little Neosporin ointment will help heal up those pokey spots

 

Thank you. That is very helpful. I just tried again, and got another drop, but it wasn't quite big enough before I scooped the strip under it, so it was another fail. I'm just going to have to make sure I get one in the morning, and let her ears heal up overnight. I can't stay up any longer trying to make this happen tonight...

 

congratulations!

 

You can also scoop the drop onto your nail and then let her go if she's squirming