? New to this and worried.

I’m Carol. This is my first post. My Keiffy was diagnosed on 10/30. Vet prescribed 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. I have just started checking his levels at home. Vet checked it this morning. He was 68 three hours after his morning dose. They have asked me to check 4 hours after his meal and insulin for the next couple of days. He was 206 tonight before his dinner. Just checked 4 hours later and he is at 58. He acts fine. Is actually a little playful but I’m worried about that huge drop. Is that normal? Does insulin work that fast and then the numbers climb again?

 

Ok so your dose is way too high. The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day. I don't know why your vet said 2. So glad you are testing and caught that. Are you using a pet meter (alphatrak) or a human meter?

 

Alphatrak

 

To answer your question yes the number is higher at the preshot and then goes down with insulin.


Do you have high carb food you could feed? Your cat had 3 hours left to potentially drop and is already low

 

Ok so this is more serious. Your cat is in hypoglycemia. Do you have some high carb gravy food or honey on hand? You've got to get that number over 68.

 

Definitely have honey.

 

And I have chicken shreds in gravy

 

Normal range on an alphatrack is 68-150. You want him back up in the normal range.

 

Ok so a couple spoonfuls of the gravy food. Test again in 20 min. If it goes down again give a little honey.

 

Your cat is low but not scary low. My concern just is that ProZinc doesn't usually peek until hour 5-7 after shot, so he could go into dangerous numbers if it goes lower.

 

Thank you. May I assume the gravy is the most important part he should eat? He tends to lick it all up and go back later for the shreds.

 

Yes it's the gravy that will help boost the numbers the most. I'd give him like 1/2 a can. Is it Friskies?

 

Yes. Friskies.
I feel pretty lucky. I’ve been giving him the same dose for a month. I wonder if this has been happening all the time and I didn’t know.

 

I'm really kind of shocked your vet didn't tell you to lower the dose this morning when he was only 68 at hour 3. He may have been quite low this morning as well.

 

Going forward, if it were my cat I would lower the dose to 1... And we usually advise new people not to shoot if the preshot test is under 200.


It's just about time for another test. Let me know what it is when you are able to do it.

 

Doing it in a few minutes. Waiting until my son can help me. Keiffy isn’t fond of the ear prick yet.

 

Woohoo!!! 104!

 

Thank you so much!! I will not be giving him 2 units again.

 

Oh good. Perfect number!!!! Well done, Carol. Your cat is lucky to have you. BTW Carol is my mom's name. I've always loved that name. You don't hear of many people named that anymore. In 21 years of teaching the closest I've come is a Carolyn.

 

You may have noticed we all have links to a spreadsheet in our signatures. Now that your are testing it would be cool if you created one. If you have difficulty, someone here can help you set one up. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

 

I’m so grateful for your help. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Lol!
I know I have a lot more to learn. I feel like I’ve had a crash course the last few weeks but still have a lot more to learn.
You’re right about the name - I rarely meet anyone named Carol.

 

Good decision! I know it doesn't sound like going from 1U to 2U is a big deal, but it's a 100% increase in the dose! That's like a human going from 30U to 60U....there's a whole lot of "in between" doses!

We recommend dose changes in .25 unit increments

 

Well we are here for you every step of the way.

 

Welcome Carol!

Scary but you were in good hands with Janet. I’m not sure if anyone mentioned, but when you test prior to giving insulin, make sure Keiffy hasn’t eaten for at least 2 hours so the number you get is not food influenced. Test, feed, shoot in that order. If you can also try in addition to get a midday test it would be helpful to start to get a sense of when his nadir is, lowest point in a 12 hour cycle.

You mentioned he’s not a fan of testing. Are you giving him a low carb treat immediately after each test to build positive association? And warming up the ear so it’s easier to get the blood out? This is the sweet spot when the easiest part of the ear to get blood from

 

Good job with handling your kitty's numbers today!

Please take a look at this post on helping us to help you. It will provide information on how to get started here -- most importantly setting up a spreadsheet and your signature.

There is also a Prozinc forum and you may want to read over the sticky notes at the top of the forum.

The chicken shreds in gravy -- what brand of food is it? Tiki brand is mostly shreds in a type of gravy but it's very low carb. It's helpful to know what the brand of food you're using is.

 

Friskies, according to an earlier post above. (Flavour not mentioned.)


Mogs
.

 

@Critter Mom - thanks, Mogs. I'm just wondering about the carb count. Either way, it did the job.

 

Hi Carol. Sometimes us older members take certain things for granted like "give him honey" without mentioning how that's done or how much. I just put a little blob on my fingertip and rubbed it on the gums. How much honey is another matter, it's not exactly syringe friendly and "blob" isn't too scientific is it?
One of our golden rules. There is no such thing as a stupid question here.

 

I actually do put it in a needless syring when I have to give it. I gave .3ml last time I gave it. It was a lot less messy then honey all over her fur trying to avoid it. Lolll

 

Forgot about my massive collection of enormous syringes and expired meds above the oven. A truly useless place to put a cabinet unless you're 8' tall.

 

I had a bath towel in my hypo kit. Whenever Saoirse was running in the lower part of the normal range it would be ceremoniously laid out on the sofa 'just in case'.

I only needed to give Saoirse honey just the once (thankfully).


Mogs
.

 

Hi all. I think we have had a good week. Thanks to everyone for helping last Saturday during our little scare. Keiffys dose was reduced to 1 unit twice a day (my decision, not the vets). Finally talked to the vet yesterday and he agreed I shouldn’t shoot if he was below 200. Keiffy has had no insulin since yesterday morning when he was 206. Since then he was 189 and 174 at the 12 hour marks and 142 four hours after the 174. I haven’t been able to check him every two hours with my work schedule but my goal this weekend is to set up a spreadsheet and a signature finally. Anyway just want to say thanks again. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions for us going forward.
Carol and Keiffy

 

At first, it's common for us to tell you that if the Pre-shot test is under 200 you should stall, DON'T feed and test again in 20-30 minutes. Using that time to post here with a good clear subject line (like "STALLING! NEED HELP!") will usually get somebody's attention.

If the number goes up, we'll usually suggest you go ahead and shoot (depending on how much it went up) but if we do suggest you shoot a lower PS number than you're used to, we have a tradition here that the person who suggested you shoot will remain online and available to watch for your updates for as long as necessary to make sure both you and kitty are OK. We do not leave you alone!!

As you gain more experience and data, that "stall point" can start to come down. Some of us with enough experience, data and a good understanding of how our insulin works in our cats, will shoot anything over 50 (on a human meter)

If you never shoot under 200, you're chances of getting him into remission are drastically reduced. Vet's don't always understand those of us that are willing to "do the work" and test our cats enough to make sure they're safe so they tend to let cats stay "just a little bit sick" rather than risk a hypoglycemic crisis (but as long as you're able to test and have plenty of supplies, YOU are in control of his blood glucose)

It will really help if you'll go ahead and fill out your "Signature" as soon as possible. That way we don't have to keep asking the same questions over and over (which is important in case of an emergency). If you want some help with the spreadsheet, feel free to send me a private message by clicking on my name and choosing "start a conversation". It only takes me about a minute to set up once I have some information