Meet Lola!

Hey everyone. I'm relatively new to the DM game, my best friend Lola was diagnosed on 12/23/15. She almost didn't make it through her initial ordeal, as she had also developed severe hepatic lipidosis, along with heart disease, and was severely dehydrated, anorexic and ketonic... After tapping our savings with just three days at the animal hospital, I brought Lola home for care via a feeding tube.... Which she survived on for three weeks before she was well enough for it to come out..... Now...with lots of prayers and love, she is home and we take it day by day. We've been doing the sugar dance for awhile now, and she is picky as hell with food, so the entire ordeal has been a carefully managed struggle. You can learn more about the effort to save Lola at gofundme/savelola....I was very blessed to have a lot of luck crowd funding for her expenses.

So here I am, just deciding to start monitoring her BG here at home. I've bought a glucometer, and seven pricks, 3 strips, and two error msgs later, I've given up trying til later. Any advice would be welcome!

Also, Lola became hypoglycemic a few days ago, briefly, which was strange because it was after a week of having LOWERED her insulin, AND she was spilling sugar in her urine so vet thought it was okay to administer it.... Mommy knew better, took her for the check, she was at 57. After a normal blood panel we are thinking I may have gotten a defective pen this month. I use the Lantus Glargine Solostar... Has anyone had any problems with it dispensing accurately??

I know this is a lot of info, so for now, enjoy this photo!

 

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Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

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Hello and welcome to you and Lola.

Here are some links about home testing that will hopefully help you improve your technique:

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injecting tips (check out the ear diagram to see the best place to get blood samples)

With regard to accurate Lantus dosing, many members here use 0.3ml U100 demi insulin syringes (they have half-unit markings) to draw up and administer insulin doses from the Lantus pen cartridge (essentially using it as a mini-vial of insulin) instead of using the pen. It is a much better method for accurately administering the very tiny doses that most cats need.



Mogs
.

 

Hello Lola and Lola's Mommy!
Welcome to FDMB

Eliz

 

Mogs,

Thanks for responding! Actually that is EXACTLY what I have adopted since her episode on Tuesday...vet gave me a few syringes, unsure about the efficacy of trying this, due to him being a little old school and unaware of the pen altogether. Proud to say it was actually my suggestion, as it just made sense. Since I was worried about the calibration, this is more foolproof, unless there is something wrong with the insulin itself. I'm so glad to hear this has worked for others... Especially considering the cost disparity... From what I can gather, my cost for the actual insulin would be around $288, whereas the solostar is only 86$, with far less expiration waste.

Still haven't had any luck with the testing. Tried last night, no blood. Yesterday I actually yielded some but the machine couldn't read it. What brand of home glucometers do you recommend, should I decide my device is a bust? It's a CVS ADVANCED (ha) model.

For now, Lola and I are enjoying watching the rain through the screen door, a rare treat for us Cali girls.

 

Hiya,

Glad to hear you're on the case with using the cartridge as a mini-vial.

I must apologise - I didn't link the pages properly in my previous post. Here they are again (working, this time - My own girl has had a rough time of it lately and I'm very, very tired.)

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injecting tips (check out the ear diagram to see the best place to get blood samples)

I use an Alphatrak pet glucometer but most people here use human meters with an appropriate reference range for cats. Popular meters (in the US) are Relion Micro and Relion Confirm, both of which only need a tiny blood droplet. The Relion Prime is another popular meter; it has very reasonably priced test strips but it needs a slightly bigger blood sample. I'm tagging @Jeanne & Dottie because I think she uses a CVS meter and she might be able to give you some tips.

WRT insulin prices a lot of members here get a written Rx from their vets and order it from Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada; it is much cheaper from them. Details about how to do this are here. Currently they're offering 5 vials for $149.99 (shipping is $25).


Mogs
.

 

Yup, the CVS meter is really great. Economical, too, and you only need a teeny drop of blood. I was shocked at first at just now small a sample was needed.

Hint: Buy extra batteries no matter what meter you buy. I think the worst thing in the world would be to have a dead meter when you need it most. I'm obsessive about having back-ups for everything, especially since we live in snow country...test strips, lancets, cotton balls, you name it. I even bought a second meter...a Reli-on...just in case CVS had any issues down the road. (Not that it has... It just can't hurt to be prepared for Mr Murphy and his danged law. ) Even though Dottie is now OTJ, I will feel more secure knowing I have everything ready in case she slides backwards. Mark expiration dates visibly on everything that needs it, too.