How To Test Your Diabetic Cat’s Blood Sugar At Home
You can monitor your diabetic cat’s blood sugar at home using a glucometer — the same over-the-counter device used by human diabetics. Hometesting can save your cat’s life! For more information on this topic go to felinediabetes.com
Duration : 0:4:36
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
great video. cute …
great video. cute cat! xD
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Different scale …
Different scale pending on cat’s prob.
If it’s still up that high then an increase ’til it’s between 70 and 140.
Maybe another cc but keep checking until it’s leveled and your average will be known.
Fluctuates from quality to age of the insulin also.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My cat was …
My cat was diagnosed today with diabetes. Vet said start him on 3cc 2x a day. My question is when testing with a meter how do you take the reading and translate that into increasing or decreasing the insulin? What is the scale? Example: 330 reading could be 3cc 2x a day. Make sense?
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Marg – If possible, …
Marg – If possible, try administering the tests when your cat is drowsy or just waking. Do it when they’re sitting on a bed, sofa, chair rather than your lap, if that helps… Build in a reward component to the test ritual – a morsel of meat, teaspoon of yogurt, catnip, etc – something your cat will come to favorably associate with the tests… It gets much easier with practice (for you) and familiarity (for the cat).
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Hey, my cat won’t …
Hey, my cat won’t sit still… any tips? Also my cat’s veins are not on the rim… I actually have to stick in a little… it is hard to do if the cat isn’t just sitting there docile…
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Mark…excellent …
Mark…excellent video! Please consider producing more ‘how-to’ videos, i.e. administering injections, etc. This was way more helpful than all other vids I’ve watched, including Cornell University vids on feline diabetes. Thank you so much.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
This is a great …
This is a great video! Thanks! My cat has diabetes too… I didn’t know it was as common as it is…
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My diabetic cat, …
My diabetic cat, Buster (who looks like the cat in the video), has been receiving insulin for over four years. Thanks ONLY to testing! I wasn’t able to test the ear, but I the large pad on his back feet. Doesn’t bother him a bit. Cats are unpredictable when it comes to regulation, so testing WILL save their lives.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Simple if you …
Simple if you understand feline diet. Begin with an ideal feline diet: by Calories (not weight), about
6% from carbohydrate, 47% from fat, 47% from protein.
Then raise fat a little (not too much or you hurt the pancreas) and carbs a little (not too much or blood sugar goes out of whack). So try for perhaps
10% from carbs, 60% from fat, 30% from protein. That’s Wellness, for example. Google Janet & Binky’s list to find calorie analysis of most commercial foods. Good luck!
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Catch-22 with cat …
Catch-22 with cat food: Low carb for diabetes, yet for his renal disease, vet said low protein diet was best. Any suggestions?
Thanks! ~Carole
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Our 16 y/o Babycat …
Our 16 y/o Babycat was diagnosed yesterday with feline diabetes and we are now giving him insulin until the vet can test his dosage levels on Monday. Babycat’s blood sugar level was 500 POINTS OVER NORMAL. Is this an uncommonly high level? Should I be scared? I am also looking for the right cat food for him – we were appalled when we checked the labels of the so-called healthy dry food he’s eaten all these years. Mark, Thanks for this video. We’ll do this! ~Carole
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My cat has just …
My cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes, my brother is diabetic and has a monitor and lancets. I have been worried about my cats (Miffys) BSL as she is hungry all the time, I have a feeling that she my be too high. Thanks for the demo as I will check her level tomorrow.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Hahahahaha THIS IS …
Hahahahaha THIS IS AWESOME man keep up this awesome vids..
Good luck little kitty! you are lucky
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Do you test Buddy’s …
Do you test Buddy’s BG before every shot? And he still has gone hypo?
I just started my cat on insulin this week. He got ketoacidosis and spent 3 days in a clinic. It’s been a tough and overwhelming week for us both. He’s improving but is still very lethargic and way underweight.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Mark, thanks so …
Mark, thanks so much for demonstrating the home testing procedure. My 6-year-old cat, Stripes, was just diagnosed diabetic 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, my vet is supportive of me monitoring him at home, as well as initiating a raw chicken diet for Stripes. I figure, if my aunt could get off insulin bu losing weight, eating right, and exercising, Stripes has a shot at it if I get him off all the carby kibble, and feed him what nature intended him to eat. The vet agrees that it may just work.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My cat, Lucy, was …
My cat, Lucy, was just diagnosed as a diabetic. She is on Porcine insulin 2units qam & pm. Her reading last Saturday was 439! My vet does not believe in aggressive regulation. We are so worried.
After watching your video – I think I have the confidence to try it myself. Lucy gets so stressed out going to the vet.
Thank you for shedding light on a subject that is so foreign to most of us.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Hey everyone, it …
Hey everyone, it was 4 years ago this month that the cat featured in the video, Buddy, was diagnosed diabetic. He is a very happy, healthy diabetic cat! When he’s not hunting field mice, plotting to steal his companion cat’s dinner, or positiioning himself on my desk so that I can’t work, he gets his one unit of Lantus insulin twice per day after his blood tests. He throws us an occasional hypo which is why hometesting is so very important. Best regards, Buddy & Mark
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
No doubt, Jason! My …
No doubt, Jason! My other (non-diabetic) cat is a tasmanian devil. Treating a lap cat is a lot easier.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Interesting… I …
Interesting… I always wondered how some animals would react to testing and injections.
I bet some cats and dogs are hard to inject and test.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
My kittie pooky is …
My kittie pooky is also diabetic. I just found out 2 weeks ago. I noticed that if I held a small flashlight to the inside of her ear I could get a very detailed look at the patterns of veins. The light has to be right but this will help you know where your cats veins are. Hope this helps.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Stress can make a …
Stress can make a cats blood sugar rise, she should talk to her VET about getting something to take the stress out of the travel days
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I give the insulin …
I give the insulin shots when my diabetic cat is either eating his breakfast, or dinner. I put Merlin up on a small counter top, wait till he has started munching, pull up a bit of skin near his neck and slide in the needle. He is too distracted by food to object to the shots!
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Depending on your …
Depending on your machine and where in the world u are from.
im 22 and im a type 1 diabetic ( discovered 2 months ago ) our reading has to be between 4 – 8
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
for humans it’s …
for humans it’s between 90 and 130 I guess it’s the same for cats
September 18th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Okay, Mark, it …
Okay, Mark, it worked! Zarley didn’t sit still (he normally doesn’t like his ears touched anyway). Also, I made the mistake of using a lance-it pen (Zarley has long hair on his ears) and the clicking was driving him crazy as I attempted to “aim” it, so I used a lance-it as you showed in your video and it worked!! He flinched a bit (so I need to be more gentle next time, but I’ll learn). I tested him and got a reading!!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!