vet in half hr, nervous! (post visit update)

I wish that I had known that insulin was needed last time I saw vet. I wouldn't have as much to anticipate. I'm nervous as heck, about if he knows enough to dose proper, if he will find something else wrong, or worse yet, say no insulin is needed, and I will end up having to watch Rhubarb in pain until the end.

I know I am worrying way too much. Having a migraine is not helping the rationality! Gah.

 

I don't know why you are nervous. You are Rhubarb's caretaker, you are in the driver's seat, you are paying the bills. If you don't think the dose is right, you have people here to ask. Don't anticipate anything else wrong, you are borrowing trouble that might not happen. I am no expert, but checking your spreadsheet indicates that some insulin is needed, so the pancreas can heal and get Rhubarb feeling better, and possibly into remission. If you are not getting the service you need, there is the option of another vet. If Lantus is prescribed, please hold off on getting a vial. Get information here about Marks Marine in Canada to get pens at reduced cost. Cats use such small doses and since Rhubarb is only in the yellows, he may not need to be on that long. Just hold off and check back here, talk to the experienced people then go forward.

 

Good luck at your appointment. I hope the vet knows what he’s doing, but if not, you still have us and we’ll help you figure it out! Hope your migraine goes away!!!!

 

Don't fret. It does appear from the home readings you've been getting that insulin is needed. Just remember you hold the needle so no matter what the vet says, you are in control of what you do at home and we are here to help you. You may be pleasantly surprised by your vet but if you have any concerns, just holler and we'll help you figure it out.

 

Oh cripes, sorry, didn't realize you are in Canada..doh! Insulin is more expensive here in US I think and many members order from Marks Marine to save $$.

 

I go to vet tomorrow I am in your worry boat too. Headache too! I feel for ya

 

This helped me today for my vet visit tomorrow, thank you I have been so nerve racked over analyzing the what ifs.

 

Thank you guys! I read quickly before going in and that helped me be a bit calmer.

I'm just heading home now and will post back here with the visit.

 

Insulins that work well for cats are Lantus, Levemir, BCP PZI and ProZinc. The first to are human insulins and are available at any pharmacy. The other two will be ordered through your vet.

 

Vet was impressed with the research I did, home testing and Rhubarb's diet change. I showed him my spreadsheet too. We discussed a lot and I think he will be good.

We decided to hold off on insulin for now, because Rhubarb has some dental infection. She goes in next week to get that cleared up. He says that the infection is likely affecting her glucose levels, and it is best to clear that up first, since she's clinically doing ok enough to wait. So get that done and continue monitoring her for a week, and then do followup visit. At that point he said he will do fructosamine test too.

One thing that concerns us is the discrepancy between our meters. As you can see in Rhubarb's sheet, her glucose dropped immediately with a new meter. Now there could be other things like her diet change that helped, but the values I got with my old meter and expired strips were more accurate it seems. His alphatrak read 21.2 iirc, and my freestyle light read 14.8 off the same blood drop. Does that sound like an acceptable difference between human and feline meters?

 

Yes that difference seems to be in the ballpark. All meters have variances and here in Canada, they can be 15% now but if you were using an old enough meter the variance could have been 20%. Some meters read slightly higher or lower than others at different BG ranges but all are within that variance allowance. Human meters will typically read lower than the AT2 meter your vet is using. I used the Freestyle and AT2 and your difference in readings doesn't surprise me at all. All the protocols here are written for human meters so all your vet needs to know is that using your human meter a normal BG range would be between 2.8 and 6.7 mmol whereas with the AT2 it is 3.7 to roughly 8.3 although IDEXX lab considers values up to 8.8 normal.

Sounds like a good plan from your vet and your proactivity with diet and home testing has obviously given you a good base on which to plan Rhubarb's care. Dental issues can definitely elevate BG so fingers crossed the dental care will take care of business.

 

Human meters always run lower than alpha meters. They are close together at lower numbers and farther apart at high numbers. So a 50 on a human meter might be a 70 on a pet meter.... Not much different... But a 300 on a human meter might be a 400 on a pet meter.