? Weird First Day Numbers...feeling confused

Hi all -

Well, first day on insulin was a mix. Fine this morning, AMPS was 235, shot insulin (decided on .5u to start), and had a normal day.

At +6, tested again - James fought us a little - he read at 156.

Went for his PMPS - and it was awful. James fought us, we couldn't get his ear to bleed. Finally got the reading - and it was 100.

We did not give him insulin, clearly. We gave him his dinner. I'm watching him closely, and he's acting a little weird, but it's been a weird day for him. I have no idea what these numbers mean, and I'm not looking forward to doing this all again tomorrow.

Thoughts?

 

It'll probably get worse before it gets better, I'm sorry to say. BUT IT WILL GET BETTER. It takes time for his body to "learn" how to use the insulin. It'll get wonky and you'll get scared, but just take few deep breaths and remind yourself that he didn't get sick overnight, nor will he get well overnight.

If the ears give you too much of a fit, try the paw pads, they have very little feeling and bleed very easily. We've all been there, so try not get discouraged.

 

I wish I could help you but I don't use Lantus. Your best bet would be to post on the Lantus board, you can get a lot of good dosing advice there.

As for the testing, yes, it really will get better!

 

Good morning! How is James this morning?

 

@DTMFA , Bandit was just AWFUL the first two weeks of testing. I ended up in tears half the time, it would take me a half hour to get the test, he would growl at me and shake his head all over the place if I did manage to get a drop of blood. But, things absolutely will get better with more time and routine. Even if he's awful to you, make sure he gets a treat and you're doing the test in the same place each time. I eventually started wrapping Bandit up like a kitty burrito and placing him in a basket for each test. Once I lost the attitude, "Oh no, poor Bandit, it must be so awful for you to go through this test!" and gained the attitude, "You're getting this test, cat, whether you like it or not because it's the only way to save your life!!!" then his attitude changed quite a bit as well. I still had to wrap him up for a while, but the major resistance stopped.

Those numbers are great! Lantus needs time to build up a "shed" under the skin before it starts to work lowering blood sugar, so it's not likely that that lower PM test you got was because of the insulin--it's likely James was able to reach that number all on his own. It's very possible James will not need insulin or only need a very small dose for a short amount of time, which is fantastic! Sometimes you see cats go into remission very quickly once you change the diet to low carb canned. This is exactly the reason why home testing is so important--even though he's giving you numbers in a normal range at home, they would likely be much higher at the vet because stress can cause cat's blood sugar to increase by a lot--I've seen Bandit's BG go up over 300 points before just from vet stress.

That said, he may need some small doses of insulin for a short period of time, to give his pancreas a little boost. We call this "microdosing", and it helps cats that can nearly maintain normal blood glucose range on their own into remission. Microdosing can be a little tricky since the smallest syringes you can buy only go down as far as .5u, but it is possible to measure doses of .25u, or .1u. Scroll down towards the bottom of this Lantus Sticky to where it says "Pictorial guide using a U-100 syringe marked with half units", and there's some pictures that help you figure out where the plunger needs to be for those fine doses.

Please don't hesitate to ask for help! It's great that James is doing so well already! Keep up with the testing, it will get easier. The more tests you get, the better informed your dosing decisions can be.

 

Hey everyone @Squalliesmom and @Julia & Bandit

We took a "day off" yesterday. We tried to get James' morning numbers, but it wasn't working and we were so stressed. We got enough blood 3 times just to get error messages from the meter and waste strips. My husband and I decided for the moment that it wasn't worth it, and gave up for the day.

We aren't giving up completely, but if this is going to work, we need to be able to test James. We did give him lots of treats and love, and watched a few videos. We'll try again this week. We're also going to see another (hopefully better) vet who can maybe give us some tips.

Thanks all for checking in. We're still trying, taking it a day at a time.

Meghan

 

Hi Meghan, I know it can be terribly frustrating when you first start out, especially when kitty doesn't want to cooperate! Take a breather, regroup, and start fresh tomorrow. The more stressed you get, the more stressed he will be, too. Just keep the treats and lovings coming, it will help him understand that you don't want to do anything bad to him. Fingers and paws crossed that this other vet will be a good fit for you, too, that can make all the difference in the world.

Please keep us posted on James' progress!!!

Lucy

 

I found when I got error messages it was usually one of three things.

1) Not enough blood.
2) I put the test strip in too soon and it timed out. Solution: Put the strip part way in bit not until it beeps. Once you get blood, push the strip the rest of the way in and get the sample.
3) I didn't go at the blood at the correct angle. At first I went at it from the side and blood would go under the strip and not enough in it. I had better luck fron a 45 degree angle or from above. Try it on yourself to see what works.

I hope this helps.

 

All good suggestions! I have also gotten error messages for all those reasons, and also for not having the strip pushed in all the way for it to make proper contact.