WHAT DO I DO????????

Ok- first time that I tried to test Akasha, it worked- got the blood easily and all good EXCEPT it reads 42. She ate exactly 2 hours ago- is there something that I need to do? She isn't acting funny, purring and rolling on my pillow... I am scared. Her normal dose of Lantus is 1 unit- I have only given her a half of a dose this morning and then again tonight right after she ate at 9:30... HELP- I am worried as this is the first home test that I have done.....

 

what time is this test? how many hours since the last insulin shot? and what insulin are you using

do you have any food with gravy in it? you need to give the cat a couple teaspoons of food and test again in 15 minutes

 

I'm assuming you're using a human meter. First, do you have a hypo kit ready yet? If not, do you have Karo syrup, honey, or other simple sugar in your pantry? Do you have some high carb foods?

Second, I would try to get her to eat a tablespoon full of regular food right now (unless someone suggests otherwise) and test again in 15 minutes. She might (hopefully) just be having an early, low nadir, but you might be in for a long night, so make sure you have coffee and plenty of test strips. We're here for you!

 

And belated congratulations on getting your first test! You'll be getting a lot more practice in tonight. ;-)

 

Oh Lantus 1 unit every 12 hours- only gave her half of her dose at 9:30pm though cos I wanted to test her

 

i just skimmed your other post and see that you do have a hypo kit at the ready - and have gravy lovers -

what you need to do is the following:

1- feed 2-3 teaspoons of gravy lovers
2- test 15 minutes after feeding
3- if bg remains the same or goes lower - repeat 1 and 2

you will need to follow this until you get 3 tests with rising numbers, you want to get him above 50 and keep him above 50 - and he needs to stay above 50 for the rest of the cycle

if he looks like he is getting full, then only feed the gravy - you can also start by just spooning the gravy and only giving that.

come tomorrow shot, BEFORE giving the shot, come to the board - and go to lantus forum to get guidance on how much to shoot and if you should shoot or skip.

if you do shoot, my recommendation is to shoot a reduced dose - 0.25 or 0.50 less than what you are shooting.

 

ok you shot 1/2 unit - please test NOW so we can see what is happening - NOW - DO NOT GIVE ANY MORE INSULIN - NOT UNTIL YOU GET GUIDANCE IN THE MORNING

 

If you just decreased her dose tonight, things may go a little easier for you. And! She just earned herself another dose decrease!

 

Shes eating right now- canned friskies beef and chicken pate dinner- highest content I had. I just bought a case of Friskies pate 3 flavors all low carb today- but had this other one that she is eating in the hypo kit. Will test her in a few- she is chowing down right now- lol- its all over her face- she is usually really prissy and that just doesn't happen.... will retest in a few- THANK YOU ALL SOO SOO much!!! Will be back shortly

 

dont' let her eat too much - or she will get too full and won't want anything later on and you may need to keep feeding her for several hours

when you test - please post the bg number and how many hours after shot - we are in different times zones and it will make it easier for us to understand and follow

so it will look like this

pmps 42 - 1/2 unit
+ 3 _____
+3.15 ____


etc -make sense

 

Can you please re-test? Sometimes, the first time you test you don't get enough blood. Likewise, this could be a goofy test or a bad strip. It's always helpful to re-test if you get an unexpectedly low or high number.

 

pmps 42 - 1/2 unit
+ 3 _47____

 

ok you need to give more gravy - just spoon out the gravy and feed that - as you may have to do this several times and you don't want him to fill up and not want to eat

1- give 3 2 teaspoons of gravy and add karo - if you don't have karo - you can use pancake syrup, jelly, even table sugar
2 - test in 15 30 minutes
3 - post the numbers
4 - repeat 1-3

we need to see 3 consecutive rising numbers and for safety sake - those numbers need to be above 70 -

does this make sense?

edited per what Marje said below

 

please take a few minutes now and read this - it clearly explains what you need to do and why and what we are trying to accomplish

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887

 

I have a little different approach. I would give her two tsp of HC gravy and I would add a drop or two of karo. It's too early for her to be this low. Even experienced lantus users don't typically shoot below 50.

She has earned a reduction for tomorrow so I suggest you abort this cycle....get her up with HC and karo. Also, i would retest in 30, not 15, minutes. It takes time to get from the spoon to the BG so give her a bit of time but not more than 30 mins.

Also, on the rising numbers, one or two that are rising without any food for an hour or so is usually fine. When you give HC gravy, food, or karo, when the HC wears off, the numbers can come back down on you. So you need to be vigilant tonight.

 

please follow what Marje is telling you - she has more experience with this than I do......but please read the link I gave you about hypos.

thanks Marje for jumping in and helping!

 

To clarify, did you get the 42 reading two hours after you fed her and gave her .5u?

 

Yes, it read 42 two hours after she ate and had .5units

 

did you test her BEFORE you gave the shot?

 

Okay, so what you want to write is this:

PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47

 

Hello Akasha's bean,
You have found a great place to be tonite and you are in good hands.
Try to breathe...
read the replies... and ask questions....

Everyone wants Akasha to be safe. It's because of everyone here , like Marje, that my cat went into remission.

The friskies beef and chicken pate is a 5% so that's considered a low carb.

 

Any update? Can you tell me how many hours since the shot, your latest test result, and what you fed please? Thanks!

You're welcome Hiliary! It's helpful to me that you and Kay are also around....I'm helping two other members in LL as well. And Gracie is being a Lil Stinka ;-) :lol:

 

@Hilary The +2 was her first test ever. ;-)

 

She might be testing right now. If not, go test! :lol: ;-)

 

oh boy - ok - now i get it - definitely trial by fire!

after tonight, you will understand why it is so important to test before giving insulin - because my guess is she was low to begin with and especially when starting out, it would have been better to skip the shot

but what is done is done and now let's get her up and into safer numbers and safer for you to be able to go to bed too... ;-)


what time (real time) did you take the last test - this will help me know when to bug you again..... ;-)

and what is your name?

 

PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54

 

could you put what you've fed next to the test numbers....

it will help Marje know if you've added any syrup to the food... or changed any food....

 

ok small progress

follow the steps -

1- give 2 teaspoons of gravy and add karo - if you don't have karo - you can use pancake syrup, jelly, even table sugar
2 - test in 30 minutes
3 - post the numbers
4 - repeat 1-3

 

My name is Melissa
I fed her at 9:20pm est and gave her her shot at 9:30 pm est. The reason that I didn't test her before now is because the vet told me that she would prefer to do it, but after reading on here how important it is, I decided to take everyone's advice and go ahead and home test. The vet planned on me eventually home testing, but not yet. It was just bothering me not knowing where her bg level was, so I followed the advice here and did it anyway- now I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS- GOODNESS.
She ate the friskies chicken and beef pate- I do not have any gravy at the moment- thought I did, but it has disappeared??? I then added karo to it and she ate more. What else do I need to do?

 

Good....I'm glad the carbs are bringing her up. Since you don't have gravy, just give her two tsp of food with just a drop of karo and retest in 30. However, please post after the next test and before you feed after the next test. We might want to change strategy depending on where her BG is.

As a note, normally we would not be giving karo in the 50s because that is a normal number. But we don't know anything about your kitty or what her lantus cycles look like and she has droned a reduction with those 40s so we are just going to be cautious.

Doing ok?

 

At 57, I might hold off at the moment on more food or syrup (don't want her to get too stuffed if it's going to be a long night). Test again in 15 minutes to see if she's staying there. If not, feed a tiny bit more food and karo (and mush it with a little water so it's not too thick going down and absorbs faster), maybe a tablespoon or two :?:

Keep testing every 15 minutes till she starts rising without food or holds stable without food. Let us know. I'll be here for at least another couple of hours (I'm Pacific so it's only 10:30 for me).

ETA: Always listen to Marje first. She has lots of wisdom.

 

how is she acting? does she seem full or is she enjoying all the food you are giving her?

if she seems to be getting full then take one can of food add one can of water, mix it together, then take another dish and put two spoons of this mix into the new dish - add some karo, and feed this.

my concern is that you are going to need to do this for a while still and we don't want her to get too full and not want to eat, if that happens then you will need to syringe karo into her.

there are three of us posting and advising, and we are all essentially saying the same thing with small variations, try not to let us confuse you. just follow as closely as you can and you will be fine

 

I"m so glad you decided to test tonite. You probably have saved her life because you felt a need to find out what her bg was.

Welcome Melissa.!

 

Have you got another test result for us, Melissa?

You're doing great, btw! :thumbup You know, most people like to take their time learning this stuff instead of cramming it all into one night. :lol: ;-)

 

PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54
+5- 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry

I sent a whole post a second ago a long one and have no clue where it went!

 

I'm doing ok- just worries me, but you guys are helping. So happy that I found this site. Here is the only info that I can give- her Fructosamine test showed 3 weeks worth of high bg levels. Not sure how high as the vet didn't say. Her last visit, curve, all day at the vet was 410 when she went in and only came down to 240 I think after her first dose of Lantus. She has only been on insulin for almost 2 weeks- this wednesday will be 2 weeks exactly. This whole issue really bothers me because she has a really high anxiety issue- she was in hurricane katrina when she was very tiny- she was maybe 2 months old. She was sent from Louisianan to Indiana and she was at the Humane Society for a month before I adopted her. No one wanted to adopt her because she was a nervous wreck, slept in her litter box in her little cage and didn't like to be held. When I saw her, I felt so bad for her that I had to adopt her. So, the hurricane caused her ptsd like issues and any slight thing stresses her out severely, especially going to the vet and thunderstorms. I am assuming that her readings at the vet are so high because she is so stressed when she goes. She didn't eat or use the bathroom the entire day of her curve at the vet- this tells me she was not comfortable and as soon as she got home she ate and went to the litter box. She is a special kitty- things are on her terms, but she is my constant companion and stays right by my side- on her terms!

 

There it is - lol. She seems sleepy now- is this normal? Usually, right now, I am asleep and she would be sleeping on me- so, it is way past her bedtime :lol:

 

Sounds like you are special for taking her in.... when no one else would.

Did you recently change her diet from dry food?

 

Her little tummy is happy from the food and the sugar... and it's her normal bedtime....

you can poke her while she sleeps....

 

Melissa

We don't usually use dry food when working low numbers. It takes a long time to kick in and then stays in the system a long time.

She's up enough that I'd like you to give her some LC canned food...a couple tsp...no karo, no gravy, no dry food. And then can you test and post in one hour? Take the time to sleep...just set an alarm and then post.

 

I changed her diet a month ago from friskies dry and 9 lives canned. I have 3 cats and they were free feeding, except in the mornings they would get 2 teaspoons of the 9 lives canned each, but only in the mornings. The vet told me to switch to Wellness Core original formula (dry) so we could try to get rid of the gluten and corn, grain- that is in friskies dry. They tolerated the switch to wellness really well, but they would cry for their wet food in the mornings. I had to stop free feeding too and would give them their dry food in the morning and then 10 or 12 hours later at night. I did all of this to try to control Akasha's bg without insulin, but it did not work. So, now we are at this point-

 

Will do Marje- thank you so much for helping me

 

So you have made the switch to wet completely....

I was asking if you had just done so in the last few days....

the food switch can drop their bg numbers by 100 immediately when you switch to an all canned diet.... and you said she stressed out easily....
her numbers at the vet were probably inflated by the stress....

 

i honestly believe that bg testing at the vet is just a waste of your money and puts undue and unnecessary stress on the cat - you saw that for yourself with yours and if your vet ever wants to do that again - just say no. now that you are an expert tester, you can share your spreadsheet instead - yes, we will show you how to do that later on - you can find the info in the tech forum if you want to jump start on it.

the fructosamine test is good to diagnose and if the person doesn't home test. which of course some people can't or won't do.

you are doing great.


have you read dr. lisa's site and her concerns about dry food - she explains it really well and the while you gave a better quality dry food, the problem is it is still dry food and that is probably why bg's were higher.

my guess is by feeding only canned food, you will see a huge drop in bg and possibly she won't even need insulin - sometimes just the food change alone is enough to kick start the pancreas.

http://www.catinfo.org

 

The +1, +2, etc... mean how hours after a shot (don't worry, we'll help you figure this out). So, to clear things up, here's when you've actually tested (please correct me if I'm wrong):

PMPS (9:30 EDT) - Unknown BG - .5u fed regular meal (dry??)
+2.5 (12 am) - 42 friskies beef and chicken pate dinner
+3 (12:30 am) - 47 food :?:
+4.25 (1:15 am) - 54 friskies beef and chicken pate dinner with karo
+4.75 (1:45 am) - 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry

Got a +5.25 (2:15 am) for us?

 

Hmmm....the board is acting strange. I posted and it's not on there.

You're welcome! We've all been in your shoes. My other post made the same points as Hillary. I would not pay for or put my kitty through the stress of a curve in the vets office. You are getting better info at home. I also wouldn't pay for another fruc test now that you are gathering real time data.

 

PMPS - unknown - .5u
+2 - 42
+3 - 47
+4- 54
+4.5- 62 drop of karo mixed with regular friskies dry
+5.5-65- she hasn't ate anything else- she is not a big eater to begin with...she won't eat anymore food. She is acting fine- normal Akasha- ready for me to lay down so she can take her place on me some where-lol.
This site is acting up- it isn't showing what I post- have to post it 2 or 3 times before it shows up

 

Yeah, I've been getting some weird hiccups with the site too. Just keep trying to post and it'll eventually go through.

65 is fine for the moment. If her numbers stay like this for a bit without eating, I'd say you might be safe to go to bed soon.

Marje, do you think she should set an alarm for +6.5 (3:30 am) or should she test earlier?

 

Why don't you get some rest, don't feed, test her in an hour. I would strongly urge you to get another test before you stop testing tonight to be sure she is still rising.

For tomorrow, I would
- reduce her dose to .25u every 12 hours. Lantus is a depot insulin and these numbers can be the depot from the 1u talking even though you've shot twice at .5u but it's easier to take her up if the dose is too low then to risk it
- put together a Spreadsheet

You did great. Let us know if you have questions. If she comes back down, you know what to do

 

Thanks to you all!!!! You are all great. I will test again in an hour, if all is fine, then I will get some rest- I don't think I will be able to sleep until I know she is okay. I am going to call her vet first thing in the morning- she gets in at 9am. I will also test her in the morning before any shots or food- then after food before any shots, just to be safe. This really scares me. My father had diabetes and I found him in a coma one day. I did fine there, and some ppl may think I am a lil crazy, but Akasha is like a baby to me and she is just as important as any human to me. She is family, so if all is well, you may not hear from me again tonight, but I will def be back early in the morning to let everyone know what is going on. So, once again thanks to you all- you are awesome to the highest awesomeness!!! :mrgreen:

 

Good night!

 

I'm going to bed too...
but I just noticed the 911 is still up on your post....
you can go back to your first post on this thread and edit it off....

that way if you need attention again.... you can put it back on....

 

You did great tonight! :YMHUG: If you get a number under 200 tomorrow morning, don't shoot, don't feed, and post here first for assistance. (And you don't have to test before and after he eats before giving a shot. Just before is fine. ;-) )

Have a good night! I'll still probably be up for another half hour or longer, so I'll check back in on you before I go to bed. I-)

 

A'ight? I'm gonna go to bed now. I-) Sweet dreams, you guys, because we all have sweet kitties. cat_pet_icon

 

I just want to say that here in THIS forum, NOBODY thinks you're crazy for loving your baby

I hope all is well.

 

Just reading this morning...So GLAD you had FDMB ANGELS on your shoulder last night.
Melissa you are an AWESOME momcat ;-)

All my best to you and sweet little Akasha,
jeanne

 

Morning all... Akasha is being Akasha today. She is a little mad over all the testing from last night and this morning.
She didn't eat anything else last night/early this morning, I finally went to sleep between 4:30 and 5am. Her last reading was right before I went to sleep and it was 65.
Today:
9am- Fed 1 tablespoon of friskies chcken dinner pate- she wasn't really too hungry and only ate a small amount. She did however eat a small part of the boys dry Wellness Core, about 2 teaspoons. (Since that would be her normal morning meal, as I am just now starting the switch from dry to wet, she wanted the dry more).
9am- bg was 60. NO SHOT GIVEN.
I am waiting on her vet to return my call. She only works until noon today, it is 10:45am here presently. Should hear back soon.
I really, really want to thank everyone on this site for all their help and all the info that is provided. I am really new to this, but I have read so much on feline diabetes on here and it has helped me a tremendous amount. I would be so lost right now if it were not for all of your help. Last night was really scary and a BIG EYE OPENER for me. I am so happy that I decided to just check to see what her bg would be instead of sticking to my original plan which was to do my first home test in the morning. I was just so curious as to what her bg would be that I decided to do it and I am so happy that I did. Again, a huge thanks to everyone who was involved in helping me last night/early this morning- it means a lot to me to know that there are others who care about the well fare of my fur baby
I will be back on here when I hear from the vet.

 

Well you know what they say right..... curiosity SAVED the cat!

Melissa - you did great last night and handled it really well. Good call on not giving insulin this morning! Again you did the right thing.

For now, since you are so new to this process - use this simple rule of thumb - if the pre-shot test is under 200 DO NOT give insulin. We tell this to all newbies just starting out, as to keep kitties safe.

Once you have been testing and build up that spreadsheet, we will say, sure under 200 give insulin.

I said this last night, it is very possible that with the food change (and once you completely remove all dry food) that she may go into remission (OTJ - off the juice) and not need insulin, and/or only need it for a short period of time.

60 is a very nice normal non-diabetic number!

 

Another baptism by fire successfully negotiated! You did great.

I'll note that dry food can swell in the stomach and cause vomiting during a hypo, in addition to lasting a long time, which makes it something to avoid during hypo management.

 

So glad everything worked out okay last night! And Congratulations on passing your "Glucose Testing 101" crash course! Sorry it went down like that, but it sounds like you did great :smile:

 

Very good decision, Melissa, to not shoot this morning. And you and Akasha did super last night!

 

UPDATE: Akasha has stayed between 56 and 63 thru today. I do have to take her to the vet tomorrow and have a curve done, which I believe is to see what will happen when she is not at home- if her bg goes sky high again, then we know that stress is causing part of the issue. I also forgot to mention- pre Dx, I had taken her to be treated for her hair and she was given prednisone, which I know causes bg to go up in humans and animals (college has done me some good;-) This was over a month before she was Dx though, so it should have been out of her system by the time she was taken back to be rechecked. It was actually a series of issues that led to getting her Dx- first visit was for the hair loss issue, which her other vet had said was Contact Dermatitis twice before. Next, a week after the prednisone shot, she had a kitty cold (we think the stress of even taking her to the vet caused her immune system to go awol and she caught it at the vet). Anyway, she was given a shot of antibiotics, but no more steroids. When her next visit came up, the vet decided to check her bg because her hair was coming back, but she was still getting tiny sores which should have went away with the prednisone. Well, her bg was 360 that day. We went back 3 days later- the same. So, I switched from Friskies dry and 9 lives wet to Wellness Core Original Formula and went back the next week for the fructos and other tests- it came back at consistent with diabetes. This is when we did the curve and another test, which she was at the vet all day and her bg was at 410- she would not eat at the vet or go potty- which I assumed would be the case.
I seriously am thinking that her bg literally skyrockets when she is at the vet and I don't believe they will get an accurate reading... We shall see.

 

I just have to ask - why are you taking her to the vet to do a curve - if last night did not demonstrate it - you don't need to waste your money, let alone stress out your cat unnecessarily.

Seriously, read what you wrote - why stress her out? You know the vet will do that - it does it for most cats.

Maui received many steroid shots over the years as well as ate dry food. Those two things are what caused Maui's diabetes and even though she did not have a recent shot when diagnosed, she had enough over the years combined with dry to cause the problem.

Maui is what is called a transient diabetic - and I suspect given that you have normal BG's since you started testing that you too may have a transient diabetic - which simply means - remove all the things that can cause diabetes - dry food, steroids, etc and with a little (and maybe your case) no more insulin, she will be fine and in remission.

Yes it is very possible that she won't need insulin. now that doesn't mean you go back to old ways - no more dry food and if you do steroids - be sure you have a good reason to do it and understand it could make her need insulin again.

again, you don't believe it is useful - so really, why the vet visit curve?

if you want to part with a couple hundred dollars because I bet you that is how much it will cost - why not give that to me instead - Maui is going for a dental Thursday and I sure could use extra money to cover it! ;-)

 

I'm with Hillary.
Tell your vet no thanks on the curve. Save your money. Cancel tomorrow because you can't make it... you don't have to have an argument as to why.... pretend you'll re-schedule later.
The prednisone was a contributor to Akasha 's dx. And the short term use is probably why she's doing better already.

There are many kitties here with skin issues so I think you could post for help with that and learn many things to be more proactive for Akasha with your vet.
Give yourself a little more time to explore what's going on and take advantage of Atasha having fantastic bg values.
Time is on your side... :razz: ( why do I quote that song so often? :lol: )

 

I don't know why I didn't pick up on the skin issues as to what was going on.

anyway, Maui had skin issues all her life - itchy skin, pulling fur out, constant scratching and over the years the vets gave steroid shots, different shampoos, etc.

The vets and there were several never once asked what I was feeding or even suggested that her problems could be a food allergy.

it wasn't until the diabetes and I came here and removed the dry food completely that her skin issues cleared up and her fur became lush and soft and no more dandruff.

I don't know what the exact ingredient in the dry food that caused the problem and honestly no longer care. I just know she doesn't eat dry food any longer and won't have skin issues.

hope that helps.....