Actually, I’d like to see Cathie test when she gets back at +7. Then she can test at PMPS.You and Shaak can have a "pokey break" until PMPS tonight!
One thing I wanted to mention from our discussion earlier on bouncing vs duration (sorry...I had to run out so just left a quick comment) is that the reason I was asking Sue was because with a depot insulin, the caregiver (CG) is generally holding the dose. We are shooting, primarily, for the number we expect to see at the peak action of the insulin (i.e. nadir). So if we see the kind of cycle Shaak had last night and then get a pink AMPS, we aren’t changing the dose based on the preshot so we can wait and see how the next cycle or two play out.
However, with a short acting insulin like N, and even with a longer acting insulin like ProZinc or PZI, the CG can change the dose at PS to shoot a higher number down because they are usually looking more at dosing on the PS rather than the nadir. In that case, if the CG didn’t know if it was duration or bouncing causing numbers to go right back up, he/she would need to hold the dose longer to run a curve and see if it’s repetitive or not. Does that make sense? It goes back to the difference in how the insulins work.
Not exactly. When a cat has been undiagnosed and in higher numbers for a while, their body becomes used to those higher numbers as “normal”. Shaak probably feels pretty good at these higher numbers now although she is definitely consuming a lot of water. When you start insulin and the numbers come down to lower numbers....not even that low (e.g. yellow numbers are lower if the cat has been sitting in black and red numbers), then the liver pumps counterregulatory hormones and glucagon into the system to bring the blood glucose back up to what has become the new “normal”. That’s a bounce. Bounces can take up to six cycles to clear but if a dose is working well for a cat, they could potentially clear much faster.
Lack of duration is something you would expect to see in a short acting insulin more so than a long acting insulin because those insulins, like N, have no depot and are designed to be “in and out”. With lantus and levemir, hopefully, the CG gets the dose just right so it takes maximum advantage of carryover (duration lasting from one cycle into the next) and overlap (one shot is diminishing as the next one onsets). There is no carryover and overlap in the short acting insulins. This isn’t to say that lack of duration does not occur in the long acting insulins; it can and does especially if there are a lot of carbs involved in the cycle or a lot of feeding after nadir which puts the brakes on the insulin action/duration. But it’s definitely a factor in the short acting insulins.
Never worry about telling a vet you are home testing. Shaak is your cat, not hers. I think it’s too soon to decide if N is working for Shaak or not and we need to see what she does over a few cycles to even decide if she needs more insulin. One always has to be careful with increasing doses on the short acting insulins because if it causes the drop to be faster, it can trigger additional bouncing. The question more is whether you prefer to have her on a short acting insulin or a long acting insulin. The long acting insulins require more monitoring sometimes (if duration is good or the cat has a really late nadir), they are definitely more costly, they are less harsh, and they do have a better record for cats going into remission. But you have to consider the whole picture on what also works best for your specific situation. It’s hard to know how an insulin will work for Shaak without trying it. We used lantus for a year before we made the switch to levemir and Lev just was so much better for Gracie that I wish I had switched her much sooner. Some people find ProZinc or compounded PZI works better for their cat and their personal situation than lantus or levemir.
Because members usually indicate the insulin they are using in their signature line, you can always peek at different SSs and see how the insulin is working for that specific cat.
Is that just for a general data point, or are we looking for something in particular? 
