Newbie Mom to this site

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself to this group. My name is Lisa, I am from Boston and my baby girl Bobbie was diagnosed with Diabetes in June. She is currently on 4 units of Lantus twice a day and is on a special diet. So far so good. She needs to lose a few pounds and we are working on that. The only big issue I am really still having is that she is still peeing outside her box on pee pee pads. I welcome anyone to reach out to me, especially any local Bostonians!!! I am always open to advice too, so please anything that anyone can offer is greatly appreciated

 

Welcome. How did the vet arrive at 4 units twice daily? That is a high starting dose.
Do y have only blood-glucose values for Bobbie? Most of us here check or kitties BG values before each shot.
What food are you feeding? If only a diet for a diabetic cat then it is not necessary and is expensive.

 

Yes. Welcome...

Please share more information and background.
There are lots of folks here who love to help others....
We think of It as paying it forward.

 

Hi Everyone

Thank you for the warm welcome. OK 4 units of Lantus. Well she started out at 2 units twice a day . After 2 curve testing they bumped it up to 3. The during a routine blood work visit they moved it to 3.5 units and 2 weeks ago with a conversation with my vet and with my Bobbie still peeing outside the box and increase water intake then moved it to 4 units twice daily.

We changed her over to the Science Diet MD. So far so good. She has lost a quarter of a pound. The Vet would like to see her around 11-12 lbs. She is currently at 15

When she first got diagnosed her number was in the high 400's. So far the lowest it has been was in the mid 200's.

Yes, I will be starting home testing as soon as the testing kit arrives at my house.

 

I'm glad you're going to start home testing, because those numbers she's getting while at the vet's office are influenced by the stress she feels from being there.

 

Is the Science diet wet or dry? Food plays a big factor in diabetes control and if she isnt controlled then she will be drinking and peeing a lot.. may not be able to hold it and peeing outside the box.

Wendy

 

Both wet and dry , but only because I have 3 other cats and each one is picky as to what they eat.

 

Hi Lisa and extra sweet girl kitty Bobbie and welcome to the FDMB.

Wink, that handsome tuxie to the right, is my sugardude. He has been diet controlled for almost 6 months now. We live north of Boston, in the Newburyport area. Welcome to a fellow Bostonian!

Please, let us know what other questions you may have.

 

Welcome!

Since you are home-testing and it sounds like they're already eating some wet, I would recommend getting rid of the dry and switching everyone over entirely to wet. There are some cheap options available for low carb (under 10 in Column C) wet food. Friskies Pâtés and Fancy Feast Classics might have flavors that appeal to all your kitties and it's perfectly safe to feed them all the same low carb.

 

Hi Lisa and sugarkitty Bobbie.

Lisa sent me a PM saying she was having some difficulties with testing, so I wanted to reply here in her post so other folks can give her suggestions I might not think of.

First a few questions.
Does she like to have her ears touched?
Are you giving her a treat every time to encourage her?
What size lancets are you using?
Are you warming the ears before or rubbing them to get the blood flowing?
Have you ever used a small flashlight from the inside of the ear to highlight the area you are aiming for?

One method we do, is to get our cat used to having there ears touched and rubbed. Do this frequently, a dozen times a day if you can manage it. No poking at this point. You are getting Bobbie used to a new experience. Give her a treat. Like freeze dried chicken or a tiny piece of cooked chicken as a reward.

Next step. Add getting the meter and lancet out, bring it close to her ear, but don't poke. If you are right handed, you want to hold her ear gently but firmly in your left hand as you approach with the right hand holding the lancet. Give Bobbie her treat.

Third step. Combine all the previous steps, but this time, poke the ear with something hard behind it to poke against. Some people use a pill bottle lid or a folded up piece of tissue or a cotton ball. Two pokes really close together, don't flinch back after the first poke and you should get a drop of blood to well up. You can milk the ear from the bottom up to your poke spot if needed. Sip up the blood with your test strip. give Bobbie a treat.

Always give Bobbie a treat, successful test or not.

Let us know how that works.

We don't aim directly for a vein. There is a little capillary rich area, dubbed "the sweet spot" where you should try to poke her ear to get the blood. Diagram here.

This document gives lots of wonderful tips and tricks for ear testing.

This document talks about getting your cat more comfortable with the testing process, written by a member with a feral diabetic kitten. Ear testing psychology

 

While you work on blood glucose testing, there are some Secondary Monitoring Tools you may wish to use to assess how your cat is doing.

 

I met with Lisa at her home today and reviewed the home testing process. I showed Lisa how to use all the supplies and brought a box of "alternate test site" lancets I had to spare. Bobbie does not like to have her ears touched, didn't like the flashlight to highlight the ear that I showed to Lisa so she could see the vein, did not like the warmed rice sock, really needs 2 people right now to get the testing done.

So for now, Lisa will be trying for one test a day at this point, and work up to 2 tests a day, one before each shot over the next couple of weeks. This is her plan. We'll see what develops along the way and see if Bobbie gets easier to test.

We were able to get a reading at +6 of 139, which Lisa said was the lowest she had ever seen for her Bobbie Girl!

I suggested that until Lisa gets better at testing and gets more BG tests, that her cat Bobbie should stay on the Hill's M/D food for now. Yes, it's higher carb then we like to see but it's a compromise for now. She also has one of her civies (non-diabetic cat) that is a dry food addict and will only eat dry food and not touch the wet at all.

I explained about the shoot/no shoot threshold of 200 that we like new members to use. Lisa knows to skip the shot for now if the BG is <200, until she gathers more test data. Unfortunately, Bobbie looks to be a stubborn one, needing 2 people right now for testing.

Bobbie is on Lantus, 4U BID, has 4 other kitty roommates, loves to play in the sink with a little running water, doesn't seem to care for any food treats, she is a good jumper, loves to purr, let me pet her a tiny bit, and is a sweetie when not being tested. She was really funny, playing in the water dripping from the sink faucet. That may become her treat /reward for accepting the testing. We'll have to see. ;-)

 

How does Bobbie feel about her feet being touched?

Wendy

 

I have never tired testing from her foot, so I would no clue where to start. I do have to say the ear has been a struggle for me . Both my husband and I are both trying to test her with the ear. My husband is holding and I am doing the poking. I feel so bad I poked so many times , but no blood. What am I doing wrong? I am using the flashlight to find the vein and still nothing ..

I also have been trying to get her used to the rice sock warmed up. I have been rubbing that over her face and ears a few times during the day . HELP!!!!

 

Try three times and if unsuccessful, try again later. Don't forget the treat.

Are you using the tool or freehanding the lancet?

Wendy

 

You want to be aiming the lancet at the area highlighted in this diagram.

Some ideas:
1. Maybe, try poking from the inside edge of the ear.
2. Try the opposite ear. Sometimes, one ear bleeds better than the other.
3. leave the rice sock on Bobbie's ear for at least 30 -45 seconds. Don't know if she'll let you do it for that long. I know she's squirmy.
4. give it time. Be patient. It will take practice to get the blood drop.
5. two quick pokes really close together. You need to barely move the lancet to the second spot as you poke. Don't flinch, or you won't get the 2 poke spots close enough together.

I talked her through both methods, using the lancing pen, and freehanding. I showed her the freehanding method. Didn't think Bobbie would like the noise of the lancing pen going off.

You can try clicking the lancing pen by her ear, getting her used to the sound it makes. Then maybe try the lancing pen. It may work easier. ECID (Every Cat is Different)

 

If you absolutely must get blood, you may aim for the vein. Just be prepared to apply pressure to stem the bleeding as it can be profuse.

What size lancets are you using? The ones that come with the meter are usually super fine. You may find that 26 or 27 gauge lancets increase your success rate.

 

I brought her some 26 gauge Relion lancets when I went to teach her to home test. I told her to put the other ones away for now.