? Newly diagnosed - Wet spot when giving injections

I am glad to hear he is doing better. I know you are beating yourself up about this, but you know you would never intentionally harm your baby, it was an accident. I can tell by your posts, your concern and diligence that you love him very much and you are a great cat mom.

I would def talk to the vet about the tech. First of all, she gave him a shot twice when she thought it was a fur shot. That was so wrong.

And yes, they should be very explicit about the dosage when it's so small and actually show you where the mark is on the syringe. You hand a person a syringe, who is probably in a panic about giving shots anyway, and the syringe goes to 30. The average person is going to assume the syringe is appropriately sized for the dosage. Like when you get antibiotics, the dosage on a oral syringe is usually a full or at least half of the syringe they give you. So I can absolutely see how you could think 10 was the right amount. Nobody would naturally think it's just this teeny amount in an oversized syringe.

My Mom did the same thing when her cat was a kitten. They sent her home with antibiotics and instructions to give the .2 cc of meds. Well of course my Mom thought it was 2 not .2. It was a 3cc syringe. She did that for a week, I forget how we discovered the mistake, but they def should have pointed out to her the small dosage, especially she was an elderly woman. Her kitty was okay but she felt just terrible.

I was just saying to my husband the other night, they should make some even smaller syringes, they could be just be really super skinny, and just go up to 5 or 10 instead of 30. Think of how much easier it would be to dose in a super skinny syringe like that, the lines of demarcation would be so much clearer and you could even have quarter marks.

Anyway, please forgive yourself, and take care of yourself, you are both in my thoughts and prayers.

 

I haven't not received any notifications on this thread! Oh my goodness, so glad Teddy is OK now. Going back to catch up on the thread.

 

Regarding potassium, it's my understanding that happens if the kitty is not eating. I'm not familiar with vetmedin. Lasix robs potassium but Enalapril increases potassium which is the ACE Doodles takes. Knock on wood his potassium levels have been good. I would not give a potassium supplement without your cardiologists recommendation. Too much potassium is just as bad as not enough.

 

Yes. Good idea.

I gave him that dose 4 times. 3 times as a single morning dose and once (yesterday) as a 2nd evening dose. My first 2 times I got fur shots so he didn't get the whole dose. Also the vet tech gave him that double dose once. I was so upset about the fur shots since I thought he didn't get a whole dose. That's when I joined fdmb.

 

Thanks Karen. Very helpful input regarding the potassium. He hasn't been eating as well the last couple of days. Now I know why. Hopefully when he starts eating again he will be ok.

 

I'm soo sorry Cheryl Since he got that dose 4 times it could take what we call 4-6 cycles for the depot to drain ( so 48-72 hours). Most likely a little less but since it's an overdose I personally wouldn't give him any insulin for a minimum of 3 days regardless of what your vet says. I've had vets steer things very wrong with Doodles and until I found FDMB (unfortunately 5 months into his FD). It's a miracle my Doodles is still alive today and wouldn't be without this board.

 

I was very concerned about potassium so my last visit with Doodles cardiologist we discussed it in length. He's the one who told me that low potassium only happens when they are not eating. I'm going to look up some info on Vetmedin.

 

Hi Karen,

I just got home from the hospital. He is staying there another night. They already gave him a dose of insulin tonight.

 

Well they are vets so hopefully they will watch him closely. Keeping you and Teddy in my thoughts and prayers. Hope you can get some rest and please keep us posted.

 

They probably want to monitor another day since giving insulin to be safe.

Rest up for when he gets home. Did he eat?

 

Thank you, Katiesmom. That means so much to me.
My Teddy is my little love. I have had him since he was 5 weeks old we've been together since thick and thin. He's a great kitty. I so appreciate
the hugs and prayers. You all understand like no one else can.

 

I'm just catching up - what an ordeal for you. Not the first time I've heard of someone giving 10 units instead of one. One of the vets at the clinic Neko goes to told me a story of one of his soon to be ex-techs showing a client how to give 2 units - and it was actually 20. That cat was "lucky" and had a high dose condition, so survived a month on too high a dose.

Cats that are overdosed can be subsequently very sensitive to insulin. Once you get Teddy home, you will have to make sure you are home testing.

 

I'm so happy that Teddy could handle this whole episode. The doctor seemed to think he would recover fully. I now need to be very careful and alert to his heart issues. I know this has been really bad for his CHF.

I will also be very alert to the insulin sensitivity. I bought the alpha trek meter (it arrived yesterday) since my vet said it was more accurate. Not sure if I believe that, but it was a small price to pay to get her on board with my home testing and home curve tests. She wants to instruct me on how to use it today when I go to see Teddy.

Thank you for all the tips and help. I can't wait to have him back home.

 

Cheryl, glad to hear the good news. I started with the Alpha Trac. When tested with outside labs it was spot on. When compared to the vet it was very close, although vet reading was usually higher due to stress.
I bought my strips here as they can not be purchased in a store and vet charged a lot. You have to be careful and not run out of them.

https://www.countrysidepet.com/coll...phatrak-2-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strips

Once I realized how many I go through I switched to a human meter.

 

One of the biggest "problems" with the AlphaTrack is the availability. If you suddenly realize you are about out of strips, you can't get any quickly. Do keep a backup human meter just in case - besides, the strips are much cheaper. My vet uses the OneTouch human meter and said it compared very favorably with lab test results, so she was fine with me using a human meter. Our protocols and dosing methods here use values from human meters cause that's what most people use.

I hope Teddy comes home soon.

 

Good News! Teddy is home! He looks great! No wobbly legs and clear eyes. Right away he ate and drank water, he just chilling' on the couch. The best Ive seen him in a while.

Yes, I bought a stand-in meter at CVS (TrueTrack) to use while I was waiting for the Alpha Tek to get here. I plan to keep that as my back up. If the alpha Tek gets too pricey, I can go and get the Relion that is highly rated.

Today I ordered a box of the strips for the Alpha Tek on Amazon and I got it - same day! I'm going to set up a reminder to check regularly and order before I get low. I read somewhere that the strips from one of the other meters work with this one and they look exactly the same. Is that true?

 

Some have used other strips but it is not recommended. Why use strips calibrated for human blood in a meter used for animals and vise vera. Best to stick with the appropriate strips for each particular meter. So glad Teddy is home. Hope you can get the spreadsheet set up and join the Lantus group. Extra scritches for your boy.

 

OK. Sounds smart. Thanks for reminding me about the spread sheet. So much has been happening. Teddy looks pretty tired now. Poor boy. Not eating his medicine. They said he was very upset when they were getting him ready to go home. It doesn't look like they consistently gave everything, so I'm going to put in a syringe for him tonight.H needs his heart meds.

 

If you need help with the spreadsheet let us know. Good luck with the meds and sure teddy is just wiped out.

 

I think I'm going to be pretty nervous about low blood sugar for a long time. Thank you.

 

Post in Lantus group tomorrow. Give an introduction there are wonderful people there. Try to get some sleep

 

So glad he is home. I bet both of you are wiped out. Did you check with the doctor about the syringes?

One thing to be aware of. Human meters tend to read lower than the AT meter. So want to stick with one meter consistently.

Looking forward to see what you get in the morning.

 

Many AlphaTrak uses use FreeStyle stips. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/freestyle-lite-tests-strips-with-alphatrak-meter.36206/

 

I wouldn't trust this for my cat and it's been debated many times.....not recommended.

 

I was worried about him all night I think I slept about 1.5 hours. He seems low energy and a little wobbly at times, but ate well. The alpha trek doesnt seem to work very fast. The human one I used was immediate. I pricked him once already and the machine gave me nothing. I pricked my self and it worked but very slowly. He ate some food this morning. Am I supposed to test before or after food? I don't want to give him insulin until I test him.

 

I like my Relion better too for the same reason and it requires less of a blood sample. Still have my AT as a back up. You Test, Feed, then give insulin. T/F/S as we call it.

Please start a new thread over in Lantus & Levemir Land http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/. There are so many people there to support and help you besides Paula and I.

 

ok. I will move over there. one last thing? He supposed to get his insulin in a few minutes and he's already eaten. I know its the wrong order but can i still test him? I don't want to give his dose if he is too low.

 

As long as he just finished eating not to long ago. Did you test before he ate?

 

No. I tried but it didnt work.

 

Last post here. His BG was 241 and he had eaten about 15 minus ago. Starting the thread in the Lantus area.

 

Then it's fine to shoot. I'll be back in a bit..can you help Paula?

 

Sorry didn't get this, been dealing with family issue. I will check LL.

 

All is well Paula.