"Mini"
Blood Glucose Curves
A
blood glucose curve is periodic testing of the blood sugar levels
to see what effect the insulin is having. The values will ALWAYS
vary; you are looking for values outside of acceptable ranges, which
will be approximately 100-200 or maybe up to 300 depending on your
cat.
Once
you're getting fairly consistent results with blood glucose (BG)
levels, just spot check now and then (once or twice a week at one
or two times in his cycle that you feel will give you the most valuable
information). Or, of course, if your cat acts strangely and you
want to know if it's a hypoglycemic reaction.
If
your cat is well-regulated, (staying within the desirable range
of blood sugars), you only need to do a mini-curve once a month
or so.
A good mini-curve is:
- An
hour after eating, to determine how much of a postprandial (after
eating) rise in blood sugar is occurring.
- At
the expected time of insulin peak action, to determine the lowest
BG.
- Halfway
between (2) and the next injection, to determine how well the
insulin is controlling the BG.
- Just
before the next injection, to determine the duration of insulin
effectiveness.
There
is some information on working with blood glucose (BG) curves in
the "Diabetes for Beginners" section
of this web site.
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