New to home testing

Hello all - my fur baby is named Ginger, 12-16 yrs old, diagnosed mid March and the vet has increased the Prozinic up to 4 units twice a day. Just started home testing (finally got my first successful one this morning) and her number was 209. I had tested before her breakfast, which I am very slowly adding FF paté to her dry Glycobalance which I want to get her off of. I went ahead and gave her 3.5 units this morning and now her mid day testing just was 354. Just hoping to get some thoughts on how to navigate the transition with the food and hopefully eventually lowering the dose. Thank you!

 

4 units is a HUGE dose for only being diagnosed since March. Most cats should be started at .5 to 1U twice a day and then increases only in .25 unit increments.

Getting her off the Glycobalance should really help bring down her numbers as well as reduce her need for insulin. The sooner you can get it out of her diet completely, the better BUT it will be important for you to test fairly often to make sure she doesn't drop too low.

You need to always test before feeding/shooting and then get at least 1 mid-cycle test on the AM cycle and at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle. You need to find out how low the dose is taking her.

Would you please put some information in your User Id "Signature", so we can help you better. It will be attached to all your posts, once you do that. Directions for doing that are here in this link>>>>>> Editing your Signature, Profile, and Preferences

New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

Oh yeah...CONGRATULATIONS! on your first successful test!! Welcome to the Vampire Club!

 

Welcome Emily and yes congrats! Testing can be so intimidating to so many so you’re already off to a great start. I can’t help much because I’m not familiar with your insulin but you’re in great hands here! If you need tips about testing or neuropathy, then I’m your gal

welcome again!!

 

We really need to come up with a better club than vampires lol! personally I vote for breakfast club

 

Hi Emily welcome to the best place you can be and all the awesome members
What a beautiful kitty Ginger is

 

Hi Emily! Great to see you made your way over here. You've already had lots of folks chime in on your thread.

So one of my questions, is how fast you got to this 4U dose?
What was the starting dose?
What were the dose increases? Full unit increments?
What were the dose increases based on? Curves done at the vet? A single BG test number at the vet? Some other method?

How are Ginger's symptoms? Any improvements in the amount of her drinking (P/D), peeing (P/U), grooming, weight loss, purring, playing, appetite over the last couple of months?

You've already gotten some help from our FB group. Let's see if we can get you even more help on the message board.

p.s. I see that Perry Lane sent you directly to the Prozinc ISG group. This forum is the correct one for new members. Once you have a SS and Signature up and running, we can help you like we did Perry and her kitty Angel.

 

Hi Deb! Nice to be here

My Ginger was started at 1 unit Prozinc on March 5th (I’m sorry I think I had a typo and previously said March 15th. Then the vet had us come in every week, then two weeks and each visit we would come about 5-6 hours after last dose and she would get her BG. The numbers were in the 250s, and she still would be drinking ALOT and so much urine in the litter box (like fill up a whole target bag in 3 days) so the vet would increase the dose 1 unit. Then they went from 3 to 3.5. Then 4. A slight change in drinking and peeing but not much.

Her demeanor when she first went on insulin was not good, wouldn’t eat and lost weight, but that changed when she went up in dose, and she is somewhat active for her, but not running around and doesn’t want to play with her “brother”. She still is very meticulous with her grooming. However she isn’t as affectionate as she used to be, which I feel bad about because of all the poking and prodding.

Oh, and I set up the ID and signature last night I thought. I’ll have to double check it again.
Thank you!

 

I know your vet raised the doses too quickly and by too much insulin each time.
Plus the dry food is helping to keep Ginger's BG levels high.
Good that you decided to learn to home test.

How is that going by the way?
Do you have any more test data to share with us?

You will probably get some low numbers, as you transition to the wet food exclusively. We'll have to watch that closely, as we don't want Ginger to have a hypoglycemic episode. If Ginger does drop to low numbers, it's really important to ask for help to guide you through that. Anything under 99 mg/dL would be considered low.

Most people can walk you through a low numbers situation. But you do need to change your thread title, to alert people to what is going on. You might try to change the thread title now, so you know how to do that in the future. As you can imagine, I can't be here 24/7, but there should be other people on to help.

Yes, your "signature" is showing up at the end of your posts now Emily. Thanks for doing that.

Next step is to setup our standardized, color coded spreadsheet and link that into your "Signature".
Directions on how to do that are here, and include instructions for pc, tablet and smartphone setup. There is a template you copy, so you do not have to "reinvent the wheel".

• FDMB Spreadsheet Instructions
• Understanding the Spreadsheet/Grid

If you do get some low numbers, having that SS (spreadsheet) for us to view is going to be very important.

 

Thank you!

Yes I would like to start the spreadsheet today, hopefully will have that up later today.
Home testing has not gone very smoothly, but I’m still hopeful!
The first, Wednesday, I got enough blood for all 3 tests (pre am shot/mid day/pre pm shot), however yesterday I could get enough blood, and I tried everything. Cuddles, blankets, lots of treats, rice sock for 30 sec/1 minute, massaging the ears, applying pressure, applying Neosporin, charger/no charger, singing, etc. So she went yesterday with no reading, however I did go down in dose from 4 to 3 last night and she seemed much more friendly and like herself last night.
Then this morning got a bit dicey, she bite me and hissed, but after giving her lots of treats (plain chicken pieces), I started giving her her food and was able to get a good amount of blood and a reading! Woohoo!
Her reading was 219 this morning, after 3 units of Prozinc last night, and she ate about 2/3 the Glycobalance dry last and 1/3 FF pate.
And it is amazing how much less water she is drinking and her urine output is getting normalized too since she has started the FF just two days ago!
I did give her 3 units of Prozinc this morning after her breakfast. She seems good, but hopefully I can continue to go down in dose.

 

This is great news!!! And yes some days are more of a challenge than others. If I don’t have the right padding behind her ear it’s a challenge to keep her still. Also if she’s in a different spot than usual, I’m very glad you’re working through it all and not being discouraged. All good news!

I believe even with Prozync we try not to go down in dose too often and too fast. We try to stay with the same dose for 6 cycles (a cycle is 12 hours) or 3 days at least to give kitty’s body time to adjust and show you how it’s going. Also, we recommend going down or up by .25 units not full units. Stick with 3units for now for the next 6 cycles unless the numbers change a lot in which case ask us for help. Try to get a midday reading today at +6 or +7 to see how low she’s dropping. And next time you decrease, if the numbers tell you to, you should go down to 2.75. Is this right @Deb & Wink or is prozync any difference?

 

@Emily C Do you have any more BG test numbers you could share with us in your reply? Such as that +6/+7 test that Ale suggested?

Yes, well with the food change from dry high carb to wet low carb, Emily C may have to lower the dose very rapidly. That food change alone can make a HUGE difference in the BG levels and that means the dose needs to be decreased as rapidly as the BG numbers tell us.

Prozinc should be held for 6 cycles, (each cycle is 12 hours) UNLESS the BG levels drop < 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) at any point in the cycle. Then an immediate 0.25U reduction needs to be taken ASAP. With the next dose of insulin in fact.

Yes, a food change to low carb wet <10% carbs like the Fancy Feast from the high carb RC Glycobalance dry (29-32% carbs) can make a dramatic improvement in the symptoms.

Ginger is getting her water intake from her wet food now, so she doesn't need to drink as much water as she did when she was eating the dry food. Better for her diabetes, but better for her kidneys also, to be eating the wet/canned food.

Next decrease in the dose for Ginger would be a 0.25U decrease, just as Ale said. So confirming that would be down to 2.75U.

Prozinc dose adjustments are also USUALLY made in 0.25U increments, with a small dose of insulin like Ginger is on. But there are exceptions, there are ALWAYS exceptions. For instance, higher dose kitties >6U need dose changes in 1U increments sometimes. Prozinc kitties that are on the MPM dosing protocol need to do 0.5U increases if the nadir is > 200 mg/dL.

 

Thank you! I love following your explanations because I always learn a ton. It’s like a continuing education class in feline diabetes

 

Future career, as a diabetes educator you think? NOT!

I kind of always saw learning about treating Feline Diabetes at home, as a intensive college level crash course. You know, one of those "learn all you need to know in 4 weeks or less."

 

@Deb & Wink
Hi!
Yes, her BG numbers today were 217 pre am shot/ 271 +6 hours/337 pre pm shot

Should I still go down to 2.75 with the 337 pm shot (which I’m not sure I can, the syringes I were given only are in whole unit marks, I have only ever done half changes)?

 

Hi Emily, To "Tag" someone you want to type @Deb&Wink My tagging never works but thats the way you do it.
I figure this is a dosing question you need to know right away, so tagging helps.
Good Luck!
j.

 

Thank you! Third day on here and still learning

 

@Deb & Wink

You need to get the half unit syringes for sure, but I don’t think it’s the same as mine for your insulina. I get mine at Walmart it’s the fastest way otherwise you an order them online. What type are you using now? U100 or U40?

 

I don’t think your tag worked...

 

Thanks Ale.

 

Thank you - good catch!

 

I just got what they gave me at the vet’s office, U40

 

lol I know it didnt work just setting Emily up for tagging.

 

Those numbers are high enough so I think you should stay at the 3U dose for now.

Insulin syringes with 1/2U markings are very useful for measuring those smaller dose changes. ADW diabetes is only one place I know of that carries U40 syringes with 1/2 unit markings.
You can use U100 syringes with a U40 insulin, by using a conversion chart, but that can get confusing. Let's keep it simpler for now, and have you keep using the U40 syringes with your U40 Prozinc insulin.

For now, you need to "eyeball" or guesstimate the smaller 0.25U doses the best you can.
The key is being consistent from one dose to the next. Like I said, do the best you can.

Some people make a "reference syringe" with an old used syringe. To do that, take some colored water or juice, draw it up to what you think the 2.75U dose should look like in your U40 syringes. Mark the reference syringe well, with come tape or something, so you don't accidentally inject your cat with your colored water/juice solution. Save that reference syringe to compare to the dose you draw up.

p.s. @jt and trouble (GA) rarely spells other members user names correctly. That is why she has so much trouble, not to be a punster about it! To tag someone, you put the @ symbol followed immediately by the member's name that you want to tag. As you start to type the name, a list will come up. I happen to be the first Deb in the list.

Use the tagging sparingly. We get really busy and can't always reply to posts as quickly as you may want or need us to. So sometimes, it's better to change your thread title, to get more eyes on your thread.

 

I love this idea of a reference syringe. I’m having a hard time getting the .25 dose. Going to steal it ha!

 

If you do use a reference syringe, it helps to over draw the insulin a tiny bit. Then you twist the plunger slooooowly, to push out a drop or two of excess insulin. Takes some practice. So practice.

And remember to move the insulin plunger up and down the length of the insulin barrel a couple of times, before you draw up your insulin dose. That is so that you will distribute the syringe lubricant. It makes it easier to move the plunger, so it doesn't "stick" on you.

Be sure you don't have your finger on the top of the plunger as you do that little twisting motion, or you will push out ALL your insulin dose. Voice of experience talking here.

 

I do the up and down thing. Somehow figure that out because it was hard to pull the insulin if I didn’t do that first. I’ll try it the twist. Did your entire kitchen smell like insulin?

 

I meant neither one worked yours or hers

 

Lantus smells like bandaid adhesives to me and a lot of other folks.

Finger on end of plunger was done while I was taking care of someone else's diabetic cat.

Not sure what Prozinc smells like. Haven't been around anyone that uses that insulin in their cat for a long time.

 

I understand that and dont use the tags often. I'm sorry.

 

Don’t be sorry silly willy I’m happy to be your tagger anytime maybe you can be my spell check?

 

What in the world are you apologizing for Jeanne? The fact that we are going to have bitter cold and rain changing to snow over night, in New England in MAY!!!!!! Nope, don't think you have anything to do with that happening.

Yes, Ale needs a spell checker. There is one built in, but you still have to click on the misspelled word and select it from a list. I am one of the worlds worst touch typists, especially when I'm tired like now. I have to go back and "Proofread" what I wrote to make sure it makes sense.

You can be my proofreading editor Jeanne. How about that?

 

My problem is not actual typos it’s the stupid cell phone auto correct that changes perfectly fine words to ones that make no sense. I just typed every and it changed it to very. Every time I type gave it changes it to have LOL and I do type too fast. Again, Miss No Patience over here. Of course, feline diabetics has been the worlds greatest teacher when it comes to that ha!

 

@jt and trouble (GA) is our wonderful greeter and "lift your spirits" guide here in Feline Health.

 

I know!

I vote for Big Girl’s Pants Club?