Hi, recently I just found out that my 16 years old cat got diabetes, so I'm new to this process, I've seen various videos of how to prick the cat's ear but some of them prick the ear right into the vein and some of them prick the ear between the exterior side and the vein, my question is, where should I prick my cat's ear to not cause any damage, it would be helpful to see some photos with the exact location of the poking, also I have one more question, I find it hard to stabilize its BG, the lowest it went was 190, my vet told me to give him the 40UI insulin every 6 hours, 2UI if it's >360mg/dL and 1UI if it's <360mg/dL but not lower than 160mg/dL, the thing is it's very unstable, every morning he's having somewhere around 600, my glucose meter shows the "HI" value instead of actual numbers, as far as I know the limit of the testing is 600, after 6 hours sometimes drops to 300, other times to 200, and sometimes even to 400, so I don't know why is this difference from a day to another given the fact that nothing changes, I give him the insulin at every almost 6 hours every day, the food he eats it's the same everyday, I'm feeding him with Royal Canin diabetic both dry and wet food, so I don't get it where the problem is.. Also, I've checked a few days ago 6 hours after the last shot of insulin, that was somewhere about 19:00/7PM, he had 366 at 7PM, and checked his BG at 00:00/12AM, he got 330, so, over night his BG increases alot and I have no clue what could cause that.
I have some questions about pricking the ear
- Thread starter Alex552
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squeem3
Very Active Member
Ideally you prick between the edge of the ear and the vein. If you hit the vein itself, no big deal. Most cats will get a hematoma from pricking but apply firm pressure to the ear with a tissue after pricking to help stop the bleeding and minimize a hematoma.
What is the name of the insulin?
I hope the 40 UI is a type. Do you mean 4 UI / units?
Wait.... you're giving insulin every 6 hours? Did the vet tell you this? Insulin is given every 12 hours for cats. There may be some rare exceptions.
Insulin works by lowering blood glucose levels so yes you should see numbers dropping when you test
A cat's blood glucose numbers vary every single day just like it does with Human diabetics.
The canned is better than the dry. Dry food keeps blood glucose levels too high. Before you ditch the dry food, get comfortable with testing your cat's blood glucose levels and understand how the insulin works for your cat. There may be better quality canned foods than the Royal Canin. What country are you in?
So PMPS (PM pre shot) 366 and +6 was 330. That's a nice drop Where are you seeing increasing numbers? A fur shot may result in increasing numbers.
Can you set up a spreadsheet and input all of your cat's blood glucose numbers? The instructions are here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/ FDMB members can better help you if you have a spreadsheet.[/QUOTE]
What is the name of the insulin?
I hope the 40 UI is a type. Do you mean 4 UI / units?
Wait.... you're giving insulin every 6 hours? Did the vet tell you this? Insulin is given every 12 hours for cats. There may be some rare exceptions.
Insulin works by lowering blood glucose levels so yes you should see numbers dropping when you test
A cat's blood glucose numbers vary every single day just like it does with Human diabetics.The canned is better than the dry. Dry food keeps blood glucose levels too high. Before you ditch the dry food, get comfortable with testing your cat's blood glucose levels and understand how the insulin works for your cat. There may be better quality canned foods than the Royal Canin. What country are you in?
So PMPS (PM pre shot) 366 and +6 was 330. That's a nice drop
Where are you seeing increasing numbers? A fur shot may result in increasing numbers.Can you set up a spreadsheet and input all of your cat's blood glucose numbers? The instructions are here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/ FDMB members can better help you if you have a spreadsheet.[/QUOTE]
Well, I just did that but by the hand, as using the prick pen it's kinda difficult to hit that small spot and it worked from the first try
It's Caninsulin 40UI/1ml
Well, I live in Romania so I guess the measure values are different from country to country, I meant to say 40 Units / 1ml of insulin
Wait.... you're giving insulin every 6 hours? Did the vet tell you this? Insulin is given every 12 hours for cats. There may be some rare exceptions.
Insulin works by lowering blood glucose levels so yes you should see numbers dropping when you test
Yes, the vet told me to give him insulin every 6 hours as the BG is not dropping that good, like, this morning he had "HI" again, which is somewhere around 600 mg/dL, the vet told me to use the >360 2UI of insulin and <360 1UI of insulin, 2UI of 40UI insuline it's somewhere like 0.05ml in a 100UI syringe, unfortunately in my country I'm not able to find the 40UI syringes so I have to convert from 40UI to 100UI by multiplying the dosage with 2.5, so basically I have to give him 0.02ml of 40UI insulin, but have to put 0.05 in a 100 Syringe as the gradations are different
I give him 3 times a day the insulin because if I give him 2 times, in the morning at 7AM the glucose meter shows "HI" and at 7PM shows "HI" as well, so vet told me to check his BG every 6 hours in the day, and give him 2UI/0.02ml of insulin everytime his BG is above 360 mg/dL and 1UI/0.01ml if his BG is under 360mg/dL but higher than 160mg/dL
I live in Romania, I know that canned food works better but it's kinda expensive here, it's somehwere like 1.26 Euro per 80g, and that's kinda expensive in my country which the minimum wage is 400 Euros, vet recommended me Royal Canin for diabetic cats, both dry and wet food, I give him sometimes wet food as well but trying to reduce the costs as everything about this disease is pretty expensive here
So PMPS (PM pre shot) 366 and +6 was 330. That's a nice drop
I don't know how nice is that drop as it's in mg/dL, the normal values should be somewhere between 50 and 160 mg/dL, the thing was that a few days ago, on the last PMPS of the day he had 190 mg/dL, and on friday he had 366, the numbers are decreasing over the day, but everytime in the morning his BG is >600 mg/dL and that's why I don't know why it's happening, I don't let the food there over night, I just feed him after the insulin shot and that's it.
I mean, I know that everything under 300 it's in the "Yellow zone" if I'm not mistaken, but he mostly achieve the under 300 mg/dL close to the evening, also sometimes he got under 300mg/dL on PMPS of the 1PM and that's great, but it's not always like that
I'll try to do the spreadsheet as I have the values saved on glucose meter app on my phone, thanks for the reply.
Now you can see the variations of BG from a day to another I'm talking about
Later edit: I have done the spreadsheet at put it into my signature, I hope I understood well the values in the spreadsheet, also I had 3 days where I wasn't able to give him 3 shots because of my working schedule
I would also like to upload a photo of the treatment scheme that I'm currently using, it was made before the decision to give him 3 shots per day but I'm using the same scheme
"1 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 1UI two times a day
"2 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 2UI two times a day
I'm basically following the 1UI for <360mg/dL and 2UI for >360mg/dL but three times a day instead of two, also the vet told me his BG is under 160mg/dL to don't give any insulin
Later Later Edit: I also thought of giving him one day only canned food to see if it improves the BG over that day
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Also one more thing, I brought home a kitten two years ago, and if I'm not mistaken the diabetes could be based on stress caused by the kitten, because my old cat was never social and he is 16 now, the thing that I'm thinking about his BG fluctuations could be because of the stress? In the first year everything was ok, my old cat had 7kg and nothing to worry about his health, but since this winter he started to lose weight and drink more water, he was 3.7kg two weeks ago, as the vet told me, when he started to lose weight was the point where the diabetes hit his "body", so I'm wondering why passed 2 years with the kitten in the house and just only after 2 years to get diabetes from the stress? Also, I'm aware of the thing that he is at the average lifespan of a cat, and the age could be one factor for the diabetes but I was just wondering if his BG is "HI" every morning because of the other cat
Larry and Kitties
Very Active Member
I do not understand this statement. 0.02ml is volume, not not units and is independent of the type of syringe. In a U100 syringe 0.02ml would be 2 units. In a U40 syringe it would be 0.8 units on a U40 syringe. However, 2 units of a U40 insulin would be equal to drawing up the insulin to the 5 unit marking on a U100 syringe.
Yeah exactly, it equals to 5 units marking on a U100, but some syringes are marked with ml instead of Units, as I use now are marked from 0.10ml to 1ml, which means 1ml equals to 100UI and 0.10ml equals to 10UI, that means 0.05ml equals to 5UI, given that 0.02ml of 40UI means 0.05ml of 100UI. However, I'm drawing at the middle of 0 and 10UI on 100UI syringe.
I post this as a reference, I tested this by pumping 5UI from a 100UI when I had the syringe with the UI markings into this and went to 0.05ml
and yeah, it makes sense with the 0.02ml is the volume but if I draw 1ml of 40UI it's not the same as 1ml of 100UI, idk if it makes sense but however I'm drawing to 5UI in a 100UI syringe for 2UI of 40UI/1ml and 2.5UI for 1UI of 40UI/1ml, I use that rule of multiplication with the 40UI value * 2.5 to get the correct value in a 100UI syringe. Given the fact that I have to get *2.5 UI for a 100UI syringe, 0.02 * 2.5 equals to 0.05 which now makes sense, I hate the fact that I'm not able to get 40UI syringes in this **** country, as the veterinary is not that developed like in the west countries of Europe..
And as you said, "In a U100 syringe 0.02ml would be 2 units. In a U40 syringe it would be 0.8 units on a U40 syringe", yeah it would be 2 units if I would use 100UI/1ml insulin, but I'm using 40UI/1ml insulin in a U100 syringe, so that's basically 0.05ml in a U100 syringe equals to
0.02ml in a 40UI syringe.
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Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Take a look here might have low carb wet foods
that you can get and are not too expensive
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1J5JpMe6TDXrHq_aTl9hUtHy6Gs9oRBqlz4nPGKxtySA/pubhtml
Tap on this blue link
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help
If you need help setting up the spreadsheet just ask
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Thanks for your feedback, I've updated my signature
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
@Marje and Gracie
Hi Marje just wanted you to know the member is shooting insulin 3 times a day and using U-100 syringes to administer Caninsulin
Her post # 3
I would also like to upload a photo of the treatment scheme that I'm currently using, it was made before the decision to give him 3 shots per day but I'm using the same scheme
"1 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 1UI two times a day
"2 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 2UI two times a day
I'm basically following the 1UI for <360mg/dL and 2UI for >360mg/dL but three times a day instead of two, also the vet told me his BG is under 160mg/dL to don't give any insulin
Later Later Edit: I also thought of giving him one dayonly canned food to see if it improves the BG over that day and
the vet told me to give him insulin every 6 hours as the BG is not dropping that good, like, this morning he had "HI" again, which is somewhere around 600 mg/dL, the vet told me to use the >360 2UI of insulin and <360 1UI of insulin, 2UI of 40UI insuline it's somewhere like 0.05ml in a 100UI syringe, unfortunately in my country I'm not able to find the 40UI syringes so I have to convert from 40UI to 100UI by multiplying the dosage with 2.5, so basically I have to give him 0.02ml of 40UI insulin, but have to put 0.05 in a 100 Syringe as the gradations are different
I give him 3 times a day the insulin because if I give him 2 times, in the morning at 7AM the glucose meter shows "HI" and at 7PM shows "HI" as well, so vet told me to check his BG every 6 hours in the day, and give him 2UI/0.02ml of insulin everytime his BG is above 360 mg/dL and 1UI/0.01ml if his BG is under 360mg/dL but higher than 160mg/dL
Hi Marje just wanted you to know the member is shooting insulin 3 times a day and using U-100 syringes to administer Caninsulin
Her post # 3
I would also like to upload a photo of the treatment scheme that I'm currently using, it was made before the decision to give him 3 shots per day but I'm using the same scheme
"1 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 1UI two times a day
"2 UI de doua ori pe zi" means 2UI two times a day
I'm basically following the 1UI for <360mg/dL and 2UI for >360mg/dL but three times a day instead of two, also the vet told me his BG is under 160mg/dL to don't give any insulin
Later Later Edit: I also thought of giving him one dayonly canned food to see if it improves the BG over that day and
the vet told me to give him insulin every 6 hours as the BG is not dropping that good, like, this morning he had "HI" again, which is somewhere around 600 mg/dL, the vet told me to use the >360 2UI of insulin and <360 1UI of insulin, 2UI of 40UI insuline it's somewhere like 0.05ml in a 100UI syringe, unfortunately in my country I'm not able to find the 40UI syringes so I have to convert from 40UI to 100UI by multiplying the dosage with 2.5, so basically I have to give him 0.02ml of 40UI insulin, but have to put 0.05 in a 100 Syringe as the gradations are different
I give him 3 times a day the insulin because if I give him 2 times, in the morning at 7AM the glucose meter shows "HI" and at 7PM shows "HI" as well, so vet told me to check his BG every 6 hours in the day, and give him 2UI/0.02ml of insulin everytime his BG is above 360 mg/dL and 1UI/0.01ml if his BG is under 360mg/dL but higher than 160mg/dL
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As an update, I've updated the spreadsheet too, as you can see, today, 13.03.2024, in the morning he had >600, gave him 2UI, at 1 PM had 329, gave him 1UI, at 7PM had 297, gave him 1UI and I tested his BG again at 12AM, and his BG was 400, so something is wrong somewhere but I don't get it where
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
@Alex552
If you are using U-100 syringes to give Caninsulin can you please add that to your signature ,it's important members know that
Also take a look at my spreadsheet ,do you see mine has listed up too above the color codes
Diagnosed:
Current Insulin:
Dosing Method (SLGS or TR)
Meter
Your Spreadsheet doesn't have those listed, we actually need them to be on your Spreadsheet
If you are using U-100 syringes to give Caninsulin can you please add that to your signature ,it's important members know that
Also take a look at my spreadsheet ,do you see mine has listed up too above the color codes
Diagnosed:
Current Insulin:
Dosing Method (SLGS or TR)
Meter
Your Spreadsheet doesn't have those listed, we actually need them to be on your Spreadsheet
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The Spreadsheet template from the link you sent me for US to World conversion was made without those things listed up, if I'm modifying the spreadsheet the conversion from the US to World will glitch as the formulas are already made for the specific cells and will show #REF values.
LE: Nvm, I managed to add those thing without messing the formulas
Also, I've added the U100 syringes to my signature
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Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Another favor can you add Romania to your signature and add using U-100 syringes , maybe you can put that where you have Caninsulin next to it in those White squares
Are you still feeding the Royal Canin Dry ?
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Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
@Alex552
The Royal Diabetic dry is about 27% carbs too high for a diabetic kitty
Going to check and see how many carbs are in the wet ,be right back.
I'm trying to get some experienced members to help you .
I need you to add Wet & Dry after
Royal Canin Feline Diabetic in your signature
add using U-100 syringes to your spreadsheet , maybe you can put that where you have Caninsulin next to it in those White squares
The Royal Diabetic dry is about 27% carbs too high for a diabetic kitty
Going to check and see how many carbs are in the wet ,be right back.
I'm trying to get some experienced members to help you .
I need you to add Wet & Dry after
Royal Canin Feline Diabetic in your signature
add using U-100 syringes to your spreadsheet , maybe you can put that where you have Caninsulin next to it in those White squares
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Modified, also I thought of Hill's instead of Royal Canin, but Royal is what my vet recommended me so I think before changing his food I should talk with him@Alex552
The Royal Diabetic dry is about 27% carbs too high for a diabetic kitty
Go into check and see how many carbs are in the wet ,be right back.
I'm trying to get some experienced members to help you .
I need you to add Wet & Dry after
Royal Canin Feline Diabetic in your signature
add using U-100 syringes to your spreadsheet , maybe you can put that where you have Caninsulin next to it in those White squares
As I'm seeing Hill's Dry for Diabetic is having 14.2% carbohydrates
or even Purina Pro Plan D/M
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Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
I did a search on our site and found that the Pro Plan DM WET it 6% carbs
I'm going by what some of the members said on our site
Posted by 4 members
Regarding Pro Plan Veterinary Diet DM is actually listed on Dr. Pierson’s spreadsheet,with 6% calories from carbs.
Here is another post I found
Purina Pro Plan DM wet is low carb at 6%
So this would be ok
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Where do you see this
And do you have any infos about the dry one?
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Let me look
I have found it on their site
Hope it's ok to leave links here
https://www.myhillsvet.com.au/products/cat-food/pd-md-feline-dry
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Purina Pro Plan DM Dry is 18% carbs.
Well, still better than 27% I guess, I'm having some friend that had a old diabetic cat and he fed it with Hill's and told me that it was pretty good, idk why my vet recommended me Royal Canin, I had a urinary problem with the other cat and he recommended me Hill's Urinary Care treatment for 1 month and it worked really good and as far as I know, he is sponsored or working with Hill's as I'm seeing in his medical office only ads from Hill's, so I guess I'll take a walk tomorrow to his office to ask him about changing to Hills, as Hills is having the lowest carbs if I read it well on their site
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Yes it's fine to leave a link , you're right it does say 14.2 % carbs on an as fed basis
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Also, I want to try the dry food because the wet food here is pretty expensive, I've checked the Purina Pro Plan D/M wet food and one pouch is 1 euro, given that they recommend to feed the cat 2 pouches a day, that's 2 euros a day and 60 euros a month, for me at least it's pretty expensive, also I could try to give him mixed dry and wet Purina to be less expensive tho.
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Because most vets just go by what the reps say about the dry foods , Almost all dry foods are not suitable for diabetic cats
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Sounds better to me than feeding the Royal Canin
Yeah I know that but my net worth is somewhere around 500 euros/month so yeah.. I think the best practice to be not that expensive but to not eating only dry food is to mix them as they recommend 1 pouch and 35 grams of dry food / day, so I though to feed him with 35 grams in the morning on the insulin shot and the pouch after the last shot, at 7PM
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Try looking at this site
This link UK Cat Food List lists foods also available in Europe. You want foods with carbs less than 10%.
Maybe you can find one here that you can afford
This link UK Cat Food List lists foods also available in Europe. You want foods with carbs less than 10%.
Maybe you can find one here that you can afford
Thanks, I'll take a look, also I have a question, I'm able to mix one brand of wet food cat with another brand of dry food cat? I bought around 25 pouches of Royal Canin to have them around just in case, or I should feed him with those pouches alone?
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Yes I don't see why not
Also take a look at this link ,they list a lot of information ,
They list meters also maybe one if them will be cheaper for you to use ,especially the test strips
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/
I don't think it's the case, the tests for accu chek in my country are somewhere about 20 euros per month as I'm giving him three times a day the insulin, so It's not that bad, even if it will happen to reduce the dose to 2 shots/day it will be more cheaper
Larry and Kitties
Very Active Member
Also when you specify that you are using U100 syringes with a U40 insulin you should specifically state this in the top of SS and indicate if you are giving true X units of U40 or you are drawing up the U40 insulin to the X mark on the U100 syringe. This will avoid misinterpretation of the dose being given.
So.. it's a better idea to write next to "caninsulin" that is 40UI/1ml and in the cell with Using 100UI Syringe to specify that I'm giving 5UI mark on 100UI Syringe?
Also I've noticed today that the food actually might be the problem as he ate in the morning more than usual and at 1PM his BG was 534, he didn't ate anything after the shot at 1PM and at 7PM he was at 346mg/dL, I gave him one pouch of wet food this evening to see if it improves over the night
Diane Tyler's Mom GA
Very Active Member
Just so you have this
I strongly recommend doing just two shots a day. We'd also need to see some tests between 4-6 hours after the preshot test, so we have an idea how low Caninsulin is taking him. I suspect the dose is too high.
If a cat sees too low a number, one they aren't used to, or numbers drop too fast, they do what we call a bounce. Here is the definition:
Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).
If a cat sees too low a number, one they aren't used to, or numbers drop too fast, they do what we call a bounce. Here is the definition:
Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).
Well, I checked his BG at 12AM today, after 6 hours after the last shot that was at 7PM, I gave him one pouch of Royal Canin wet for diabetic and guess what, dropped from 346 to 249, never happened this, actually happened otherwise, either it did increased as you can see in the SS either decreased but with a 30mg/dL, so I guess the problem was the dry food from Royal Canin, I'll take a walk tomorrow to the vet to discuss this with him as well, also, my vet recommended me to give him 3 shots as long as his BG is still increased, like if I check his BG in morning and is over 360, give him 2 shots, if I check his BG at 1PM, give another shot only if it's either over 360 for 2 UI or over 160 for 1UI, some days I gave him 2 shots, as you can see. I tried in the beginning to give him only two shots but the glucose meter did not saved the results so I could not add them to the SS and wasn't succesful, he had "HI" in the morning and "HI" in the evening, that's why we increased the dose to 3 shots only if it's needed, if his BG is under 160, no shots for him. He told me never give the shot "blind" without checking his BG and his BG never dropped under 169, only twice, one day at home he had 84 and one day at the vet when he dropped him to 51 somehow, but that's the only time when it happened, maybe after I change from dry to wet food and either change the royal canin dry to hill's, he will need only 2 shots or maybe only 1 per day, we'll see I guess, but as far as I've seen, after I gave him wet food his BG actually dropped really good
Also, forgot to mention, his pancreatic function is good as the blood test results shows that, my vet told me that the Diabetes could be because of stress, age and he was pretty fat before and also was way too sedentary as I live in an apartment, I guess he got stressed by the little one but I couldn't leave him in the streets as well, I'll wait till morning to see if his BG is again "HI" or it's actually better after the wet food I gave him at the last shot
Also, I check is BG every 6 hours during the day, like today, I checked his BG in the morning and had "HI", that's somewhere bigger than 600mg/dL, at 1PM after 6 hours, he had 534, couldn't let him with 534 for the rest of the day, so I had to give him a shot, but I hope it will go down after changing the food and going for more wet food
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Yup, thanks, already have it but I use the 2.5*actual 40UI dosage, like 2UI in a 40UI * 2.5 means 5UI in a 100UI syringeJust so you have this
So, coming with an update, I changed the vet and the new one did some more blood tests which results that the cat could possibly not have diabetes but pancreatitis instead, his glucose and fructosamine were almost to the normal values, so he will offer me an glucose meter for animals to check his curve in the next days to be sure that it's not about diabetes, idk if pancreatitis is treatable but I don't have more informations about it yet, gonna take a walk to the vet in a hour to check with him as well, but I hope it's somehow better than having diabetes
Lots more on pancreatitis here: A Primer On Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is fairly common in diabetic cats, and can cause diabetes.
You don't need a pet glucose meter, or need to pay for it's test strips.
Pancreatitis is fairly common in diabetic cats, and can cause diabetes.
You don't need a pet glucose meter, or need to pay for it's test strips.
Thanks for the answer, actually the BG it's pretty difference from one GM to another, on the pet one it shows 474 and on the human one 333, it's a pretty big difference.
Gabi & Stela
Member
I believe Zoohit also operates in Romania and they usually have the best deals on pet food. The more you buy, the cheaper it usually gets, but even if you don't buy the biggest pack it's still relatively cheap when compared to prices elsewhere. From what I gather, Smilla wet food has surprisingly high meat content and is definitely on the cheaper side. Based on which flavor you pick, you can get anywhere between 2% - 6% carb. I believe the ones that come in cans are the best value for money (they even have 800g cans). Even if you don't pick this one, I'd definitely recommend checking the website.
The two types of meters are farther apart in higher numbers, but both 474 and 333 say "too high". The action I'd take with either number is the same. The meters are much closer in lower numbers where it counts.
I understand that but it could lead in a misleading the dosage of the insulin as I need to give him 1UI if <360 and 2UI if >360
Larry and Kitties
Very Active Member
To me an increase of 1 unit, especiall when going from 1 to 2 units is too large of a dose change. Looking at yiur SS yo are frequenty alternating between 1 and 2 units. I would try a dose of 1 ½ units and then increase/decrease by ¼ units as necessary
Gabi & Stela
Member
What do you mean it could be misleading? Are you planning to switch between the two? If you stick to readings from just one meter I think you should be ok.
All numbers here are based on human meters as it was the only option available back then. While it's true the numbers on pet vs human meter cannot be compared nor converted, there's no need for that. It's also true that technically, the human meter is not showing the exact BG number as there is a physiological difference between human and cat blood, but the point isn't so much to see what the exact number is but rather to observe the trends and patterns and be ready to take action when the number is too low (no matter what meter you test with, you treat hypo the same way).
Also, the test strips for pet meters are INSANELY expensive. Where I live, I can get a pack of strips for like 12€ but if I wanted to buy the same amount for a pet meter, it would cost 70€. Even if money wasn't an issue, it's hard to justify paying so much when the cheaper option is just as good.
Well, the thing is that I have to give him 2UI if over 360 and 1UI if under 360, after further testing I realized that only the first time was that big difference between the GMs, the next 3 tests that I made using the same blood droplet resulted in a difference of 30 up to 50 mg/dL so actually it's not that big difference and as you said the outcome is the same, yeah I know about the prices of the pet GMs tests so I think I will continue with the human GM, it's weird that his BG is big almost all the time but he is not showing it, I mean he is playing, eating normally so idk, I will take a visit to the vet today as well to talk to him to see if it's actually diabetes or pancreatitis
Yeah I know but the leaflet of the caninsulin tells me to give 1UI if under 360 and 2UI if over 360, the thing is that the first vet recommended me to give him 3 shots/day because his BG was high, I'll take a visit today to the new vet to see what's to do next, he did him a few more blood tests than before, and the glucose and fructosamine were almost in the normal parameters, he told me that by looking at the fructosamine results he wouldn't say that my cat had high BG for a long time or even having diabetes but instead he did some tests for the pancreatitis and the results were pretty high so he told me that could cause the BG increase, also the UREA and BUN were pretty high as he told me could be a start of kidney failure or could be that high because he lost alot of weight in the last 6 months, like from 7kg to 4.3kgs and told me that the high results of those 2 tests could be because he is using his proteins from the body but the fPL2 was 26.5 ng/ml as the normal values are under 3.5 ng/mL so that's why he thinks it's pancreatitis, also he thinks it's chronic pancreatitis instead of acute as his BG is pretty high for over a month, he told me if it was actually acute the cat wouldn't survive that long, also one thing he noticed after the blood tests he told me that could be an inflammation of the pancreas as the blood tests show no signs of an infection, also his UREA and BUN are lower than the first time when I ran his blood tests a month ago but the ALT is much higher
As an update, I've updated the blood tests results in SS as I have more results than before, also I would like to quote my vet when he called me about the results: " the blood test results are not terrible for its age but could be a sign of pancreatitis", also I've updated the signature as well with his new food. Also, I would like to note that the blood tests were taken after I gave him the insulin, as the visit to the vet could be stressful for the cat, that's why the GLU could be that lower
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