? Newly diagnosed - question re numbers PMPS

Brittanyb5353

Brittanyb5353

Member Since 2020
Hi! My name is Brittany and I'm Bijoux's caretaker :) We're very new here and have been on Lantus for about 9 days now using my vet's recommended dose of 1 unit once a day (morning). I switched vets as my new one was more knowledgeable about feline diabetes and listened to a lot of the research I gleaned from this board (THANK YOU ALL!) like switching her over to wet food etc.

Anyways - long drawn out story short, we visited the vet today and she recommended we start doing shots twice a day of 1 unit each (others on this board had recommended similar but I was scared to do it alone). Today is supposed to be her first evening shot but her numbers are uncharacteristically low leading up to it so I'm a bit nervous to give her the shot in an hour when it is dinner time. Would someone be able to have a look at her spreadsheet (we're using freestyle libre right now to monitor) and give some advice? Is moving to twice a day /1 unit each shot going up too much right now??

Bijoux has also recently transitioned over to wet food and is now fully just eating tiki cat (sometimes with Halo pate mixed in but not always) - I'm just not used to seeing her numbers this low this late in the day so far.

Thanks!
 
Hi, I'm Liz! I'm new here too. Did you end up giving the shot?

I'm not an expert, but I would wait in a case like that. I'm jealous that you have the freestyle and can monitor her so well! In your situation you could wait, then decide if I wanted to give a full dose, a reduced dose, or just skip it.

Some people say don't feed in that case, so you can see how fast the glucose is going up. I usually panic and feed my cat a lot.

If you did give her a shot, just be sure to watch her numbers. One thing you look for is the direction - is her glucose going up or down? If she's low and going down, you can feed her some carbs. The big thing I would watch is how she's doing close to your bedtime.

I hope someone with more experience stops by to help you out. I'll be around if you need someone to talk to. I know how exciting and scary it is when the numbers start going down in the 100's.
 
Thank you for responding and helping! I did end up giving the shot as her numbers were going up, I just did a +1 reading and she's at 113 but i'm going to stay up for awhile and keep an eye on her and have some high carb food handy just in case. Do appreciate your insights and help!!! Also here if you need to chat to anyone about anything :)
 
Hi. You will need to stay up at least until +3 to make sure. I’d also get a +2. The combination of the food switch and dosing change might make for an interesting evening. Please post the PMPS number and each test you do in your subject so we can keep an eye on what’s going on.
 
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I'm glad someone with experience is helping!

Is Bijoux feeling good? My cat seems to feel great in the 200's, but not as good in the low 100's. I think he's not used to it.

Update - I just saw that she's down to 64. Did you give her honey/karo syrup? Wishing you the best if she's hypoglycemic.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Hi. You will need to stay up at least until +3 to make sure. I’d also get a +2. The combination of the food switch and dosing change might make for an interesting evening. Please post tge PMPS number and each test you do in your subject so we can keep an eye on what’s going on.
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Just checked her and it was 64 - I kind of panicked and gave her some (not a lot of fancy feast) and will check again in like 15-20m to see where we're at. She's otherwise acting pretty normal.
 
Ha, we were posting at the same time. I hope tiff will check in.

When my cat went to 64 I gave him some honey. But since it's easy for you to monitor her, feeding might be enough.
 
Brittanyb5353 said:
Just checked her and it was 64 - I kind of panicked and gave her some (not a lot of fancy feast) and will check again in like 15-20m to see where we're at. She's otherwise acting pretty normal.
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I had a feeling he would drop lower tonight. Feeding was good. Since it’s early in the cycle you might want to give a little mc. I would reserve hc for under 50. Kee tge amounts small as he needs to stay hungry.
 
SingsToCats said:
Ha, we were posting at the same time. I hope tiff will check in.

When my cat went to 64 I gave him some honey. But since it's easy for you to monitor her, feeding might be enough.
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Yeah we were cross posting heheh :) keeping my fingers crossed - uff I had such reservations about giving her the shot and now I'm feeling pretty bad. She seems fine symptom wise and is grooming herself right now so fingers crossed I didn't just throw off our progress.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I had a feeling he would drop lower tonight. Feeding was good. Since it’s early in the cycle you might want to give a little mc. I would reserve hc for under 50. Kee tge amounts small as he needs to stay hungry.
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Thank you tiff for checking back in - my first panic attack but gave her a bit of the fancy feast and she's grooming now - will check her again in 15-20 and see where we are. I feel so stupid right now, I should've held off the shot probably.
 
Don’t feel bad. You can control this with food. Next time you get a lower preshot number, don’t feed and retest in 20 minutes to see if he’s on his way up.

We cross posted again. I’m Elise. Max was my sugar cat and Tiffany his sister.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I had a feeling he would drop lower tonight. Feeding was good. Since it’s early in the cycle you might want to give a little mc. I would reserve hc for under 50. Kee tge amounts small as he needs to stay hungry.
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Any advice on what I do next? Just keep checking every 15-20m and make sure it starts trending upwards? I'll go back through the other advice on this board too while I wait - just wondering what else I can do if anything
 
tiffmaxee said:
Don’t feel bad. You can control this with food. Next time you get a lower preshot number, don’t feed and retest in 20 minutes to see if he’s on his way up.

We cross posted again. I’m Elise. Max was my sugar cat and Tiffany his sister.
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Nice to meet you Elise :) Sorry I was reading in a massive hurry while feeding the fancy feast. Thank you for the guidance here I really appreciate it and thank you for checking in.
 
Listen to Elise - don't feel bad or stupid. These are hard decisions to make.

You'll be able to take care of her, don't worry. I don't think you need to do anything yet, just watch and see how she does. She's grooming and feels good, that's a good sign. Her glucose will probably go up soon, then you can stop holding your breath. (Exhale :woot:)
 
Yes. Basically it’s rinse, lather, repeat. I think you are due for a test soon. I’d print out the sticky on hand,I guess low numbers. I’m here now but they ate good to have in case nobody is around in the middle of the night. Max and I had many pj parties and it felt good to have that in hand.
Once past nadir you need to go two hours without food to know it’s safe to stop testing.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Yes. Basically it’s rinse, lather, repeat. I think you are due for a test soon. I’d print out the sticky on hand,I guess low numbers. I’m here now but they ate good to have in case nobody is around in the middle of the night. Max and I had many pj parties and it felt good to have that in hand.
Once past nadir you need to go two hours without food to know it’s safe to stop testing.
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Thank you i'll take a look for it now and have it on my phone as we navigate tonight!
 
68, woo!

How late is it where you are? I've stayed up late a couple of times with my cat. He's really low key so it's hard to know if he feels bad. He's laying beside me right now, on his blankie.
 
SingsToCats said:
68, woo!

How late is it where you are? I've stayed up late a couple of times with my cat. He's really low key so it's hard to know if he feels bad. He's laying beside me right now, on his blankie.
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It’s 11pm here, so I’ll stay up for awhile with her and have a girls night minus the face masks and more me just staring at her worrying
We’re still in the 60s right now - just gave a little more food and will test again in a bit! How late is it where you are?
 
I'ts 10pm here. Did you add her picture, she looks so pretty!

Now I'm picturing your girls night, with both of you in curlers and painting your nails/claws!
 
SingsToCats said:
I'ts 10pm here. Did you add her picture, she looks so pretty!

Now I'm picturing your girls night, with both of you in curlers and painting your nails/claws!
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Hehe yes had to add a picture since Snickers looks so cute!
So far hanging in there going to test around 11:30 fingers crossed !
 
tiffmaxee said:
You haven’t hit nadir so yes you need to keep testing. I’ll check back in an hour. If you need help sooner tag me. You are doing great.
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We’re back down to 60. Just gave some more food and now we continue the cycle. She seems ok so far just chilling and still has an appetite - not amused Im hovering but we’re not at Nadir yet so getting worried.
 
Don’t worry. There’s not much difference between 68 and 60. Basically the same. You need to feed small amounts so you can guide with food.
 
tiffmaxee said:
That’s good. Are you feeding lc or mc?
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I mixed some fancy feast white meat chicken in gravy with halo spot's pate chicken. Her normal wet food these days is Tiki Cat and a little Halo mixed in. Should I be doing something else? Just giving her a little of the mixture every 15-20m.
 
It’s working. She’s surfing. Lots of healing time. I was just curious. Sounds like it’s mc which is what I’d do.

Your meter is a human one, right? The ss is showing lime green so wonder if I have that wrong.
 
tiffmaxee said:
It’s working. She’s surfing. Lots of healing time. I was just curious. Sounds like it’s mc which is what I’d do.

Your meter is a human one, right? The ss is showing lime green so wonder if I have that wrong.
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I'm using the Freestyle Libre right now which she's had on for the last 10 days now - it's the one that they implant on her and I can read on the app on my phone
 
tiffmaxee said:
That’s what I thought but when I saw 60 as line green instead of under 50 I was confused.
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:) I just used the spreadsheet as is so hopefully doing this correctly - still surfing in the 60s and think we'll be doing this for another couple of hours. appreciate it must be getting late for you, I do appreciate the help so much.
 
tiffmaxee said:
It’s only 9:45 here. I’m in California. You are handling this perfectly.

Did the implant bother Bijoux at all?
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Thank you so much. The implant didn't really bother her as much as I anticipated. She grooms around it now and then but has gotten pretty much used to it. I will say day 1 when it was put on she was NOT pleased with me when we got home and gave me the business for awhile but it's been so useful/reassuring thus far. I was nervous/scared about the shots and had to learn by watching through the vet's window and youtube videos - I think I would've been too overwhelmed having to also test her; I know I've got to learn this week as we're almost done with this implant.
 
70! :woot:

I'm really interested in the Freestyle Libre, I don't think any vets around here use it. I think doing a glucose test is more intimidating than giving a shot. But once I learned to do a test, it wasn't hard.
 
SingsToCats said:
70! :woot:

I'm really interested in the Freestyle Libre, I don't think any vets around here use it. I think doing a glucose test is more intimidating than giving a shot. But once I learned to do a test, it wasn't hard.
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Yeah I was surprised such a thing existed! Definitely makes the initial transition on this journey easier (and I'm sure so helpful for the humans it's meant for too!). Learning to do the glucose test is my homework this week - I got an alphatrak2. Would love any tips/tricks you have - i definitely get more stressed out than bijoux and that riles her right up.
 
I used a human meter. The strips for pet ones are so much more expensive. I had special treats that I gave after each test. I tested in the bathroom sink which was a perfect height for me. Having a testing spot helps. I used that bathroom for meds as well so gd knew the rest of the house was safe. Actually Max adjusted to testing much better than I did. I wasn’t going to test but my wonderful vet eased me into it. Seeing a 60 at his office made me realize I would give to do it. I used terumo needles instead of lancets. You will have to get used to not having tests every hour, lol.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I used a human meter. The strips for pet ones are so much more expensive. I had special treats that I gave after each test. I tested in the bathroom sink which was a perfect height for me. Having a testing spot helps. I used that bathroom for meds as well so gd knew the rest of the house was safe. Actually Max adjusted to testing much better than I did. I wasn’t going to test but my wonderful vet eased me into it. Seeing a 60 at his office made me realize I would give to do it. I used terumo needles instead of lancets. You will have to get used to not having tests every hour, lol.
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Haha yeah that last sentence is what scares me most I think - having this ability to just hover my phone over her shoulder has been so nice but I know we can't do this forever. That's a great tip! Right now we're doing shots in a special spot with a treat because I felt like I was making her scared of meal time trying to give her the shot when she was going back for seconds in the morning lol. So now we're going to find a special testing spot too.

She's at a 73 right now - should I stay up awhile longer and keep checking her?
 
:bighug:Bijoux, Bijoux, rah rah rah! (That's the closest I could get to a cheerleader smiley.)

Brittanyb5353 said:
I definitely get more stressed out than bijoux and that riles her right up.
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I read an article that said cats process language the same way we do. It suggested talking to cats as if they can understand you. They don't understand all the words, but they understand what we mean.

We always put Snickers on the desk to test him. He loves towels, so we put a towel on the desk. It also keeps him from sliding around, that seemed to upset him.

I talk to him cheerfully and tell him how easy it's going to be. He still hates it. :rolleyes: My vet showed me how to do it, she just uses the little lancet, she doesn't put it into the pen/device. She also stuck it all the way through the ear. I cringed! But it's quick and it works. Once it's done, Snickers is fine. I don't think it hurts for more than an instant.
 
SingsToCats said:
:bighug:Bijoux, Bijoux, rah rah rah! (That's the closest I could get to a cheerleader smiley.)



I read an article that said cats process language the same way we do. It suggested talking to cats as if they can understand you. They don't understand all the words, but they understand what we mean.

We always put Snickers on the desk to test him. He loves towels, so we put a towel on the desk. It also keeps him from sliding around, that seemed to upset him.

I talk to him cheerfully and tell him how easy it's going to be. He still hates it. :rolleyes: My vet showed me how to do it, she just uses the little lancet, she doesn't put it into the pen/device. She also stuck it all the way through the ear. I cringed! But it's quick and it works. Once it's done, Snickers is fine. I don't think it hurts for more than an instant.
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Thank you for all this!! I’ll definitely try the towel thing as well as talking to her - right now I’ve been singing while giving shots which seems to help us both :)
 
We’re at an 83 now, I haven’t given her food since 12:45 but going to keep watch. She’s currently snoozing on her banana like her photo. Been a long day for her.
 
tiffmaxee said:
As long as she stays up without food food an hour I think it’s fine. Technically the rule is two hours but I think she will be fine.
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Im going to test again in a bit but we’re doing ok without food so far...fingers crossed! Going to give us both some rest before we’re up at 7:30 to do this all over. Any advice going into tomorrow’s shot? I’m kind of gun shy now.

12:37am: 59
12:57am: 70
1:17am: 76
1:37am: 84
1:59am: 84
 
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