You've indicated you plan to start testing today or tomorrow. We strongly suggest testing before every shot to ensure it is safe to give insulin so if you are waiting for the meter to arrive, you may want to hold off until Thursday to start insulin particularly if you work during the day and will not be around to monitor on Wednesday. If you have changed your cat's diet to low carb food, testing before each shot is even more important because diet change can sometimes have a significant lowering effect on BG. We also recommend testing mid cycle to see how low the insulin dose is taking kitty's BG whenever possible.
If the meter arrives today, you could practice testing in preparation for giving insulin tomorrow.
In the meantime, I'm going to ask you to do a bit of homework so that the folks here on the board can help you in the best way possible.
At the bottom of our posts, you will see some light grey text called a "Signature". This is where we put information about our kitties and ourselves so that anyone assisting you has pertinent information to ensure you get the best help possible. It also means we won't keep asking you for the same information over and over again.
To set up your signature, click on your screen name up in the upper right hand corner of your screen. A menu will drop down and on the left side you will see Signature. Click on Signature and you will get a text box to type in. Include your cat's name, age, sex, date of diagnosis, any other medical conditions including history of DKA, the type of insulin, the type of glucometer you use, diet and any dietary issues. You can also include your general location and your name and a link to your spreadsheet (info on this below).
The signature can only be 3 lines long so abbreviations are fine and info can be separated with "|" or semi-colons. When you are finished entering your info, scroll down and click on the button Save Changes.
The other bit of homework is to set up the spreadsheet. It's easy to use and it lives on Google Drive and is viewable by anyone with the link. You will need a Google account and if you are using a tablet or phone, you will need to have Google drive and Google sheets installed on your device. The instructions for setting up the spreadsheet are
HERE and
THIS document will explain how to use it. Once this is set up, you will need to add the link to your signature.
If you need any assistance with setting any of this up, just holler and we'll get you sorted.
