Hello, I found this site a few days ago and I think I read everything. I don't always retain what I read so I am sure I will ask questions. Felix is on prozinc but his glucose is still high and pretty flat. Meanwhile I am starting to increase his insulin ½U every 5th shot. We just came to 7 and I feel it is going to take a long time and many units more. I will introduce myself on the new member board. So glad I found you! Jean
Good morning and welcome to our forum! First off, we totally get the not retaining information thing. It's a LOT to learn and a fairly steep learning curve, so please ask all the questions you need. We all did when we first arrived here and we're more than happy to help you all we can! I'm going to post something Kris wrote for new folks on the board. She usually posts it, but she's been pretty busy lately and I wanted to get it to you. It's a pretty amazing guide, so please read through it and let us know what questions you have! Here's some info I put together for new members. It includes the testing routine we recommend, how to set up your "signature" so we have info at a glance, etc. Read it over a few times and ask a ton of questions! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It would help us if you set up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how: click on your name in the upper right corner of this page click on "signature" in the men that drops down type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using /glucose meter you're using/what he eats/any other meds or health issues he has. Another thing that will help us help you now that you've started BG testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. We can all see it and look at it before offering advice: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/ ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. Here's the basic testing routine we recommend: test every day AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if the planned dose is safe test at least once near mid cycle or at bedtime daily to see how low the BG goes (do what you can on work days) do extra tests on days off to fill in the response picture if indicated by consistently high numbers on your spreadsheet, increase the dose by no more than 0.25 u at a time so you don't accidentally go right past a good dose post here for advice whenever you're confused or unsure of what to do. This is useful: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/ ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. Here's an explanation of what we call "bouncing". It explains why a kitty's BG can go from low to sky high: BG goes low OR lower than usual OR drops too quickly. Kitty's body panics and thinks there's danger (OMG! My BG is too low!). Complex physiologic processes take glycogen stored in the liver (I think of it as "bounce fuel"), convert it to glucose and dump it into the bloodstream to counteract the perceived dangerously low BG. These processes go into overdrive in kitties who are bounce prone and keep the BG propped up varying lengths of time (AKA bouncing). Bounce prone kitty repeats this until his body learns that healthy low numbers are safe. Some kitties are slow learners. Too high a dose of insulin can keep them bouncing over and over until the " bounce fuel" runs out and they crash - ie., have a hypo episode. That's why we worry so much about kitties that have had too high a starting dose prescribed by the vet and the owner isn't home testing. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. Here are some tips on how to do urine ketone testing (VERY important if BG is high and kitty isn't eating well!): put the end of the test strip right in his urine stream as he's peeing slip a shallow, long handled spoon under his backside to catch a little pee - you don't need much put a double layer of plastic wrap over his favourite part of the litter box and poke some depressions in it too catch pee. Most test strips have to be dipped and allowed to develop for 15 seconds before viewing the colour change in very good light. Beyond that, all I will say is we're happy to have you and Felix here!
Rachel has already given you some great starting advice, so I'll just say welcome! Please post and ask questions as much as you'd like. We are all here to help.
If you'd like to set up a spreadsheet to share the numbers you're getting, here is a link to the one we use: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/ You can enter as much or as little of your data as you'd like. It does sound like you're testing at home from your first post, but if not let us know and we can help you get started.
