? About AMPS Timing and Feeding

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Buffy-&-Cindee

Buffy-&-Cindee

Member Since 2014
Good morning. My husband feeds our cats when he gets up which is typically anywhere between 6:30 - 7:30 ( I rarely get out of bed before 8:00). He feeds Buffy only 1/2 of her breakfast at that time. When I test her at 9:00am her AMPS is normally above 250 but this is after she's eaten. This morning I tested her at 6:45am and her AMPS was 240 and that's after a "no shot" last night and no food yet this morning.

My question is: If she is consistently above 200 in the morning 2+ hours after eating and is also above 200 after fasting for 10 hours, is it safe for my husband to feed her entire breakfast early, and then for me to test and give her her AMPS an hour or two later without feeding her at that time also?

She's already overweight and I don't want to add to it by feeding her too much but she's clearly not a happy cat when she's only getting half of her breakfast first thing in the morning.

Cindee
 
Hi Cindee. This is my first time visiting your condo. I don't know anyone else using a +2 as a amps. Do you also feed and test 2 hours late at night as well ? I know with Max his onset can be anywhere between +2-3 and rarely sooner. He gets a pretty good food spike most days. I have no idea how to advise you but will be watching to see what others have to say.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Hi Cindee. This is my first time visiting your condo. I don't know anyone else using a +2 as a amps. Do you also feed and test 2 hours late at night as well ? I know with Max his onset can be anywhere between +2-3 and rarely sooner. He gets a pretty good food spike most days. I have no idea how to advise you but will be watching to see what others have to say.
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No, the rest of the day is normal. She eats 1/2 meal let's say around 7:00am then the other half at 9:00am. I test and shoot at this time. Her next meal is around 3:00pm. Her last meal is at 9:00pm, I test and shoot at this time.

I'm just trying to figure out what's the best way to be able to feed her the entire meal with the rest of the cats and not feed her again when I test her in the am. Maybe a low carb treat instead of a full on meal? Anyone know if that would work?
 
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Hi Cindee,

I don't know about Buffy, but Sami is a grazer and when I withhold food from her she gets upset and anxious and I think that could increase her blood sugar as well. When Sami was first diagnosed with diabetes the vet told us to feed only twice a day just before her shot. But this group believes that it is okay to feed throughout the cycle and only withhold food 2-3 hours before shot time to get a test with at least a 2 hour fast.

I have to also say that most people have told me that it is better to feed more during the early part of the insulin cycle rather than the later part, because the insulin is loosing the staying power by the end of the cycle. So you might be negating the insulin by feeding late in the cycle.

So here are two options that you might want to try.

Option 1:
Feed full meal at the time of the shot and leave any remaining food out for grazing until 2-3 hours before next shot time. If all your cats eat the same thing this might work well, but if they eat different food you might have to monitor a bit more closely.

Option 2:
Feed a partial meal at shot time and then provide additional food at +2, +4 and +6. So instead of getting one big meal Buffy would get 4 mini meals. I have been told that this is a little easier for the pancreas to handle.

Option 2 is how I feed Sami, but I feed even smaller meals right up until +9.5 - +10. I usually give her about a tablespoon of food at each mini meal. It seems to make her happy.

Hope that helps. I am finding that not only when, but also what I feed Sami effects her numbers.
 
Tina & Sami said:
Hi Cindee,

I don't know about Buffy, but Sami is a grazer and when I withhold food from her she gets upset and anxious and I think that could increase her blood sugar as well. When Sami was first diagnosed with diabetes the vet told us to feed only twice a day just before her shot. But this group believes that it is okay to feed throughout the cycle and only withhold food 2-3 hours before shot time to get a test with at least a 2 hour fast.

I have to also say that most people have told me that it is better to feed more during the early part of the insulin cycle rather than the later part, because the insulin is loosing the staying power by the end of the cycle. So you might be negating the insulin by feeding late in the cycle.

So here are two options that you might want to try.

Option 1:
Feed full meal at the time of the shot and leave any remaining food out for grazing until 2-3 hours before next shot time. If all your cats eat the same thing this might work well, but if they eat different food you might have to monitor a bit more closely.

Option 2:
Feed a partial meal at shot time and then provide additional food at +2, +4 and +6. So instead of getting one big meal Buffy would get 4 mini meals. I have been told that this is a little easier for the pancreas to handle.

Option 2 is how I feed Sami, but I feed even smaller meals right up until +9.5 - +10. I usually give her about a tablespoon of food at each mini meal. It seems to make her happy.

Hope that helps. I am finding that not only when, but also what I feed Sami effects her numbers.
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Thank you for the options. However, my problem isn't how many times to feed her but when to feed that morning meal. The rest of the day is a breeze. My cats have always been fed three times per day, so luckily we didn't have to make any changes there. We want to feed everyone at the same time to keep Buffy from feeling like she's being deprived. My husband says she's like a shark circling the kitchen looking for more food. The half amount obviously is not satisfying her. I tried getting up earlier so I can feed her along with the other cats but I am not and have never been a morning person and after about a week I felt horrible so we reverted back to my husband feeding her only half of her breakfast.

Today is a bit of a test. I fed her the entire meal at 6:45 and I got no complaints from her. I waited until 8:00 to see if anyone here had a similar situation and hopefully a solution. I couldn't wait any longer so knowing that her AMPS was 240 at 6:45 I felt it was safe to shoot without testing her again. I gave her a little bit of dehydrated chicken to eat and then shot. I'll test her at noon to see what her blood sugar is to be safe. Hopefully this will work for her.

If my husband can feed her (and all the others between 7:00 and 8:00, then it won't be a problem) I'll just know that her AMPS will always be high. If I see it going down "after" she's eaten, then I'll know to be vigilant. Now for a nap! LOL

I hope someone else has a similar situation they can share.
 
Is there some reason DH can't test in the morning before he feeds and then feed/shoot? That would solve the problem of having a food influenced number completely, as well as letting her have her entire meal along with everyone else

Seems like that would be the perfect solution

I'm NOT a morning person either I assure you! I've always been a night owl and when we first started this dance, I figured I'd just shoot at 11am/11pm and then I wouldn't have to worry about mornings at all! Well, that worked until the first PM cycle when China decided to take a nose dive and I ended up being up testing until 6am the next morning! As much as I'm used to being a night owl, that was a very very long night!

Eventually I switched her to a 6am/6pm shooting schedule because I found I can get up and test/feed/shoot within about 5-10 minutes and then go back to bed for a few hours...and at night, I can routinely get a +6 (since it's only midnight) and know that she'll be OK for the rest of the night if I want (or need) to sleep
 
Chris & China said:
Is there some reason DH can't test in the morning before he feeds and then feed/shoot? That would solve the problem of having a food influenced number completely, as well as letting her have her entire meal along with everyone else

Seems like that would be the perfect solution

I'm NOT a morning person either I assure you! I've always been a night owl and when we first started this dance, I figured I'd just shoot at 11am/11pm and then I wouldn't have to worry about mornings at all! Well, that worked until the first PM cycle when China decided to take a nose dive and I ended up being up testing until 6am the next morning! As much as I'm used to being a night owl, that was a very very long night!

Eventually I switched her to a 6am/6pm shooting schedule because I found I can get up and test/feed/shoot within about 5-10 minutes and then go back to bed for a few hours...and at night, I can routinely get a +6 (since it's only midnight) and know that she'll be OK for the rest of the night if I want (or need) to sleep
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LOL...that would be a perfect solution however, he can barely watch me do it without cringing and feeding her earlier messes up the rest of the schedule....my schedule. I may just have to move everything up an hour to 8am(feed & shoot) - 2pm (feed) -8pm ( feed & shoot) . No matter what I do, one of us is going to have a schedule change. I have a feeling it's going to be me. :-)
 
As long as hubby has fed by seven there's no problem with you doing the test and shoot at 9, the number won't be food influenced and it's not vital to feed with the shot with lantus. Only a minor adjustment for him to make sure he's up that little bit earlier some mornings ;)
 
Vyktors Mum said:
As long as hubby has fed by seven there's no problem with you doing the test and shoot at 9, the number won't be food influenced and it's not vital to feed with the shot with lantus. Only a minor adjustment for him to make sure he's up that little bit earlier some mornings ;)
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Perfect! Thanks so much. I wasn't aware of not having to feed with the shot when using Lantus. Our lives just got easier. I'm sure I can get hubby to feed her at the same time every day. He is a morning person. ;-) Buffy will appreciate being able to eat a complete meal along with her siblings.
 
I would like to add to Serryn's info. She is correct that it is fine for your DH to feed two hours before you shoot. Lantus is not like other insulins, Humulin R and Humulin N, Vetsulin, Caninsulin which all require there is food on board before you shoot because they onset almost immediately. Lantus onsets at/about +2 and so you definitely want her to have some food some time between AMPS and onset.

If you look at other SSs, you will see many cats will really dive early in the cycle. Many members feed at PS, +1, +2, and +3 to help slow those drops. Not all cats drop, but I do think it's wise for you to feed her something around her PS.

Also, feeding at 3, which is her +6, or after "might" slow down the effects of the insulin. Nadir varies by cat but usually about mid-cycle, the insulin starts to wane. Think of a car approaching a stop sign. The insulin action is the car and the stop sign is the next PS. If you slowly apply the brakes of the car, it will glide up to the stop sign. However, if you slam on the brakes (e.g. Feed the cat), the car comes to a screeching halt and doesn't make it to the stop sign. Does that make sense?
 
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Is there a problem with splitting her morning meal into 2 and him feeding her half and you feeding half? Feeding more often and smaller meals is actually beneficial and usually better for diabetics than just feeding them 2 big meals in a day.

We always split Cecil's - half with his shot and half when we were leaving or going to bed. With Chris we fed him 8 times a day at first to help flatten him out, down to 6 now. Anything less for him affects his numbers.

If there is not a problem with feeding her split meals, I'd go ahead and keep splitting up her food into smaller meals.
 
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