Home blood testing

My little Emmett is diabetic and I am giving him insulin shots twice a day.  I took him to the vet last week and his sugar levels were still high.  The vet increased the insulin amount and told me I could test his blood at home with my meter.  I saw a few videos of how to do it on their ear but its scaring the crap out of me to do it.  Emmett is great with his twice daily shot, and I don't want to take him to the vet every time I need to test his levels since it costs $55.  Any suggestions on getting over this fear?

What is it about it that's scaring you?  Are you afraid you're going to hurt him?  I'm surprised you can give him 2 shots a day and not be afraid of that.  My hat's off to you for being able to do that much.  I just have to ask, are those done intermuscular, or sub-q?  We just rec'd 100 insulin syringes for our Callie to give her a different medicine sub-q, but haven't given her any yet because we're not sure about it    Do you give the shots in the same place every day, or do you move them around so no callouses build up? 

Ok, so back to why you're afraid.  I'm guessing you need to use a blood glucose testing just like with humans and you need to do a little stick, just like with humans?  I would be afraid he's jump at the sound of the click when the little needle shoots out more than anything else.  It really doesn't hurt much.  I guess you need to just keep telling yourself you're helping him rather than hurting him.  And tell yourself that he's much better stress wise for him to do it at home vs drag him to the Vet, and tell yourself that by saving yourself $55 each time you do this, you can afford to give him better care all the way around if and when he needs it in the future

you could try it on yourself first -- on the side of the end of your finger. that's where the lancet is used for at home testing for humans. 

Are you feeding him dry food? The dry food will cause his blood sugar to be higher because of the carbs in it.

Creepyowl said:

 
My little Emmett is diabetic and I am giving him insulin shots twice a day.  I took him to the vet last week and his sugar levels were still high.  The vet increased the insulin amount and told me I could test his blood at home with my meter.  I saw a few videos of how to do it on their ear but its scaring the crap out of me to do it.  Emmett is great with his twice daily shot, and I don't want to take him to the vet every time I need to test his levels since it costs $55.  Any suggestions on getting over this fear?

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Home blood glucose testing doesn't hurt a cat at all It may seem like you're hurting the cat (sharp thing to poke at the skin to get blood, the cat's reaction, etc) but really, the cat is fine I tested my previous cat's blood glucose levels multiple times daily for 4 years. He didn't like it at first (what cat would) but he soon learned to hold still to get his reward afterwards. I could even test him while he was sleeping.

I wouldn't use a thin gauge lancet needle despite the thought that a thinner needle doesn't hurt. You simply won't get enough blood for a blood glucose test, even after warming the ear or paw up really well. I used 28 gauge lancet needles in a lancet device. Some people like to freehand the lancet without the device.

You can join the message board at FelineDiabetes.com for more tips on how to home test your cat and how to best manage the diabetes

He is really good with the insulin shot.  The vet showed me how to do it and its been pretty easy.  He purrs when I give him it.  I do test myself since I found out I was diabetic back in January.  I did try today.  Rubbed his ear and stuff, he kind of flinched when I poked him, but I couldn't get enough blood out of it.  I decided to step away and try again tomorrow.

Yes I am giving him dry food.  Its high in protein and low in carbs.  Its called Orjin.  I was told by someone to try Blue Buffalo.

Creepyowl said:

 
Yes I am giving him dry food.  Its high in protein and low in carbs.  Its called Orjin.  I was told by someone to try Blue Buffalo.

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The Orijin still has about 18% carbs.  A cat with diabetes needs to have lower carbs than that.  Canned is really the best way to achieve that.  And even then, not all canned is low in carbs.  Here is a food chart that lists foods and their dry matter percentages, but they aren't in alpha order, OR carb order.  Plus this list is of U.S. foods, and I see that you are in Canada.  I can also provide you with a list of U.K. foods, but don't have one for Canada.    http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm     However, this article can help you figure out the amount of carbs in any food you find:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

Creepyowl said:

 
He is really good with the insulin shot.  The vet showed me how to do it and its been pretty easy.  He purrs when I give him it.  I do test myself since I found out I was diabetic back in January.  I did try today.  Rubbed his ear and stuff, he kind of flinched when I poked him, but I couldn't get enough blood out of it.  I decided to step away and try again tomorrow.

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Are you warming the ear first? If not, do it because it will make the ear a lot easier to bleed. Make yourself a "rice sock": take an old sock and fill with uncooked rice or dried beans (maybe 1/4 cup or so), knot the end close, heat in microwave until very warm but not so hot that it will burn your hand or cat's ear after a couple of seconds (try 10 seconds and adjust as needed). Wrap the heated sock around the cat's ear for at least 30 seconds to get he blood flowing. Then hold the sock under the ear while you poke with the lancet on the furry side of th ear. Don't be afraid to firmly press the lancet against the ear to get a good poke. The sock will prevent your fingers from being poked. I made a small maybe 2 inch square cotton bag kind of like those catnip square toys but with uncooked rice instead of catnip.

Try the other ear if you don't get blood. Some cats only have one ear that will bleed well. You can try a paw pad. I have never tried this but you basically do the same thing as above but with one of the large pads on a hind foot.

Many cats will flinch at first but it's because of the click noise practially in their ear rather than from pain.

If you're using the lancet device, make sure that you know how to use it. Some brands don't work very well anyways. I used the AccuChek SoftClix with the matching 28 gauge lancets.

Creepyowl said:

Yes I am giving him dry food.  Its high in protein and low in carbs.  Its called Orjin.  I was told by someone to try Blue Buffalo.

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Dry food is a diabetic cat's worst enemy. It's like a Human diabetic eating junk and sugary foods. You need to feed your cat the "Catkins" diet which is low carb (under 10%) canned food. Here is info: http://catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes and http://www.felinediabetes.com/diet.htm You don't need any expensive fancy brand of canend food. Some of the Fancy Feast Classic (Gourmet) foods are low in carbs and fine for a diabetic cat to eat. My diabetic was fed mainly Nature's Variety Instinct and Innova EVO with a few other brands on occasion. There's a chart on Catinf.org that lists the carb content of many brands of canned foods. It's slightly out of date so be sure to join the FelineDiabetes.com message board to see what other members are currently feeding. The board has a lot of Canadian members and members from all over the world.

Many newly diagnosed diabetic cats who start on the right diet ASAP along with a good insulin go into remission pretty quickly, sometimes in just a week or two.

What insulin did the vet prescribe and what dose?

Anything with gravy, sauce or cheese will be higher in carbs. I've noticed that Fancy Feast classic, usually turkey and giblets is much lower in carbs, no grains and no carrageenan. You will need to ask the vet about adjusting the insulin as when they are on the canned food diet the blood sugar will not be as high, and will not need as much insulin. Please ask the vet about this before changing any food. Also it might be good if your cat was ever to have low blood sugar to have corn syrup on hand. Sugar water will work well too in a pinch. 

nansiludie said:

 
Anything with gravy, sauce or cheese will be higher in carbs.

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True but one does need to keep a few cans of high carb canned foods on hand to use in case of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose level). Gravy foods work great if the hypo episode is mild I've even used "junky" high carb (20% +) Science Diet canned. Corn syrup, honey, etc work well but the effect doesn't last very long. Here's a list of hypo symptoms and how to treat mild symptoms to the very severe (basically a trip to the vet or ER ASAP if you can): http://www.felinediabetes.com/hypogly.htm

nansiludie said:

 
 You will need to ask the vet about adjusting the insulin as when they are on the canned food diet the blood sugar will not be as high, and will not need as much insulin. Please ask the vet about this before changing any food. Also it might be good if your cat was ever to have low blood sugar to have corn syrup on hand. Sugar water will work well too in a pinch. 

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Yes, ask the vet before changing the diet from dry food to low carb canned. The simple change in diet can have a big effect on lowering blood glucose levels and less insulin may be needed. If your vet is one of those who insist that dry food is ok for diabetics, you can make the diet change yourself at home by closely monitoring blood glucose levels daily and slowly changing the food over. You may even want to reduce the insulin dose by half to prevent a possible hypo from happening until you are completely on the new diet. The FDMB board can help you do a diet change

I have an update on Emmett's health.

I tried to give him just soft food but he was starving to the point he was harassing me a couple of hours later, so I am sticking with his kibble.

I took him to the vet last week to get his blood tested and it was 2.6.  Yes I know that is too low, but it was 26 when I first took him in.  The vet was happy to see the change and Emmett was happy to get some treats from the vet after his results were revealed.

She lowered his insulin dose and the changes I am seeing in him make me so happy. 

He is drinking a normal amount, which is awesome.  The biggest change is his coat.  I didn't realize how poor it was until the improvements started showing.  He's softer, and the patches of thinning hair and filling in, and he doesn't have as much dandruff flaking off when I brush him.  He seems to have more energy and is spending more time on his window seat, I am thinking it was hard for him to jump up there with his back legs being weak so he hadn't been enjoying the view for a long time. 

The one thing I am wondering about are his back legs, yes he seems to be gaining strength in them, but he still is a little clumsy and doesn't stand or walk around for long periods of time, plus he doesn't hold his tail up like he used to.  Will that get better with his sugar levels being stable?

Since his kibble diet is working I'm not going to switch him to an all soft food diet, he gets a can of gravy lovers once a week.  I am to take him in next month for another blood test to see if everything is still good.

Getting his diabetes under control will help with his hind leg weakness (also known as diabetic neuropathy). A lot of people also like to use methylcobalamin (methyl B12) because it is supposed to help with nerve regrowth. I believe there are now some formulations available just for cats. B12 is a very safe vitamin because it's water soluble so what the cat doesn't use is peed out but I would still recommend discussing it with your vet before starting it. Also you should check out the feline diabetes message board, I'm sure you could get more information about its use there. Good luck with him. I'm always happy to hear when a kitty is improving.

Creepyowl said:

 
I have an update on Emmett's health.

I tried to give him just soft food but he was starving to the point he was harassing me a couple of hours later, so I am sticking with his kibble.

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Unregulated diabetics need several small canned food meals every day to keep their blood glucose levels stable. A programmable timed feeder works great for this purpose. I used the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder for my diabetic.

Creepyowl said:

 
I took him to the vet last week to get his blood tested and it was 2.6.  Yes I know that is too low, but it was 26 when I first took him in.  The vet was happy to see the change and Emmett was happy to get some treats from the vet after his results were revealed.

She lowered his insulin dose and the changes I am seeing in him make me so happy. 

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Yikes! 2.6 mmol?? Did your cat have any hypoglycemia symptoms? For US members, 2.6 mmol is the same as 46 mg/dl. US measures blood glucose levels in mg/dl. The rest of the world measures in mmol.

Creepyowl said:

 
The one thing I am wondering about are his back legs, yes he seems to be gaining strength in them, but he still is a little clumsy and doesn't stand or walk around for long periods of time, plus he doesn't hold his tail up like he used to.  Will that get better with his sugar levels being stable?

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Yes but you should also consider giving methyl B12 (aka methylcobalamin). That will help with the hind leg problem (called neuropathy). This is the product most people on the FelineDiabetes.com board most often recommends: http://www.lifelinknet.com/siteResources/Products/Zobaline.asp Here are other brands: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/methyl-b12-for-feline-neuropathy.52025/

Regular vitamin B 12 will not help. It has to be methyl B12.

Creepyowl said:

 
Since his kibble diet is working I'm not going to switch him to an all soft food diet, he gets a can of gravy lovers once a week.  I am to take him in next month for another blood test to see if everything is still good.

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I'm not going into diet except to say that in my experience even a few pieces of low carb dry food will raise a diabetic cat's blood glucose levels too high. A low carb canned food diet is best for reasons more than just to keep blood glucose levels normal. Gravy foods should not be fed unless the high carbs are needed to raise blood glucose levels in a hypoglycemic cat.

Are you not testing blood glucose levels at home? It's easy to do once you get the hang of it and much more accurate than the numbers the vet will get (stressed out cats have artificially high blood glucose levels). Not to mention much cheaper to do at home than to pay the vet to do it.

I hope you have browsed around the FelineDiabetes.com web site and board for more info and tips on how to manage your diabetic cat There are many Canadian members there so you'll likely find a member or two who live in your area and could offer suggestions on everything you would ever want to know and then some.

Emmett has been doing great with his diabetes. Its been about a year since I started giving him insulin shots.  Only problem now is he is so fat.  OMG he is way too fat.  I'm afraid to weigh him, but he is having trouble getting through his kitty door.  I think its time I switched him to the canned food (so so gross) but since I've never fed him canned food on a regular basis I'm not sure how to go about it.  I want to feed him twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening when he gets his insulin shot.  Is one can enough for the whole day? 

An update on his legs, he is doing great. He sits funny now, more on his hip then his butt, but he is walking fine.  He is going to be 13 next month and getting older so he can't jump as well as he used to, but he is still managing to get to his window seat even if sometimes he doesn't make it the first time.

I just really need to get him to drop some pounds.

**Just weighed him.  18 lbs.  I think he needs to drop at least 4 lbs.

Slowly switch to canned food and keep a very close eye on the blood glucose level since a diet change from dry food to low carb canned food has a big impact on blood glucose levels. The insulin dose may need to be adjusted (most likely lowered) during the diet change.

Two meals a day isn't enough. Try 3 or 4. A diabetic cat needs to have mini snacks during the day (and maybe one or two during the night) to keep blood glucose levels stable. Kind of like how some Human diabetics need to snack on healthy foods throughout the day. One 5.5 can a day may be enough but some cats may need a little more than that.

Canned food will help with both the diabetes and weight loss. Stick with canned foods under 10% carb for the diabetes. For weight loss it's generally recommended to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. To reach 14 pounds, your cat needs to eat around 350 calories daily. First figure out how many calories your cat is eating right now. There are various dry food charts you can Google search for. Here's one chart that may have your cat's food listed: http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Dry_Food.pdf Then slowly reduce the amount of dry food while increasing the amount of canned. Try not to reduce calories too much during the switch. Don't make the switch cold turkey because that will affect the diabetes and your cat may develop fatty liver disease. Once your cat is eating mostly canned, start reducing calories slowly.

Were you able to join the FelineDiabetes.com message board? The members there can better help you with your diabetic cat and helping him to lose weight safely