Hermione's first curve

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ShipsCat

ShipsCat

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Today was my first day off work since Hermione was diagnosed, so I tried to do a full day curve.

Unfortunately I fell asleep part way through - I work nights so her AM shot/test is actually when I get home from work. If you good folks would take a peek at her numbers when you have a chance I would really appreciate it.

I DID catch her in one of her brothers' food dishes eating their kibble, so I think that may be causing her continued high numbers. I bought some Evo to put in her dish so hopefully she doesn't feel the need to raid her brothers' food for a snack. She gets a can of Fancy Feast twice a day with her insulin, but my cats are used to grazing while I'm at work.

My vet told me to reduce her insulin by .5 (from 3 to 2.5) since she was finally below 500.
 
The insulin is working - she is dropping, but yes, very high. Can you get everyone on low carb wet? It's good for them all -'and maybe stop them from being diabetic. You can leave the low carb out during the day for them to graze on. Or could everyone eat Evo?

If you can figure out the food issues and keep her on all low carb, it should make a big difference in her numbers.
 
Thanks Sue!

I feed Nature's Variety Instinct dry and all my 5 cats are on the skinny side of healthy so my vet was surprised by Hermione's blood sugar. I'll be mixing a little Evo and wet into all their kibble, but I have two older cats who refuse to touch wet food.

I'm hoping her numbers continue their downward trend!
 
Hermione's BG is still way too high, but she's grooming again! That's a BIG happy for me, since not grooming was her only change in behavior and what sent me to my vet.

She liked her new Evo a little too much and gobbled down the handful I put in her dish, so I think she may have hit up her brothers' dishes again. But it's not 500+ again, so I'll take my small victory. I'm still working on a better feeding situation, and will be ordering Young Again to feed my brood. It won't be much more than feeding them all Evo and will keep my two older wet-food refusers happy.
 
ShipsCat said:
Hermione's BG is still way too high, but she's grooming again! That's a BIG happy for me, since not grooming was her only change in behavior and what sent me to my vet.

She liked her new Evo a little too much and gobbled down the handful I put in her dish, so I think she may have hit up her brothers' dishes again. But it's not 500+ again, so I'll take my small victory. I'm still working on a better feeding situation, and will be ordering Young Again to feed my brood. It won't be much more than feeding them all Evo and will keep my two older wet-food refusers happy.
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Not grooming was one of the things that brought me to bring my cat to the vet too... she was soooo oily it was gross. her fur is beautiful now. My cat's name was originally Hermione when I adopted her. :)
 
JanetNJ said:
Not grooming was one of the things that brought me to bring my cat to the vet too... she was soooo oily it was gross. her fur is beautiful now. My cat's name was originally Hermione when I adopted her. :)
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That's cool that your kitty's name used to be Hermione! I'm hoping that my Hermione's bg numbers will someday look as good as your darling's!

Speaking of which, the switch to Evo seems to be a failure. She's happier, grooming well and even groomed her litter brother (which she hasn't done since she was diagnosed) but her AM & PM ps numbers are back in the 500s. The Young Again Zero arrives Thursday, so until then I'm going to try to keep her happy with a couple of snacks of canned food so she doesn't go eat her siblings' food. My youngest cat will push her away from her dish if I leave canned out - he is a gobbler and eats faster than anyone else - and then she'll definitely go eat the forbidden kibble.

If only my two oldest cats would eat wet food this would be so much easier...
 
ShipsCat said:
That's cool that your kitty's name used to be Hermione! I'm hoping that my Hermione's bg numbers will someday look as good as your darling's!

Speaking of which, the switch to Evo seems to be a failure. She's happier, grooming well and even groomed her litter brother (which she hasn't done since she was diagnosed) but her AM & PM ps numbers are back in the 500s. The Young Again Zero arrives Thursday, so until then I'm going to try to keep her happy with a couple of snacks of canned food so she doesn't go eat her siblings' food. My youngest cat will push her away from her dish if I leave canned out - he is a gobbler and eats faster than anyone else - and then she'll definitely go eat the forbidden kibble.

If only my two oldest cats would eat wet food this would be so much easier...
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The change often happens slowly. It's hard to have patience when you just want them in lower numbers. I stupidly didn't home test the first two months.... When I finally did it was clear the dose she was on was just not cutting it. She was in the 400's and 500's. So I'm sure she was in those numbers for preshot for two months. Then we found the breakthrough dose and finally made traction. I will say, I didn't see any blue mid cycle numbers until the second day of her young again fee sample. That told me right there it was what I needed. I have not had one 300 reading since starting the food, and now a few weeks in I haven't had any 200's in almost two weeks, and she's taking about a quarter of the insulin dose she was on a month ago.
 
Just looking at your spreadsheet.... I saw you reduced to 2.5 when the preshot was in the 400's. I would suggest sticking with 3 when her ps is in the 400's ... You want to try to push her into the lower numbers. :) don't be nervous about seeing lower numbers... It's what you want to see. If after a week or two 3 is not bringing her down enough bump it up a bit as long as you are home to monitor.
 
I'm excited to hear Young Again made such a difference for your cat! I have two elderly crunchy addicts who refuse to eat wet food but it's obvious carbs are not Hermione's friend.

The reduction to 2.5 once she was below 500 was my vet's advice. I misunderstood her, she wanted me to do that if Hermione dropped when I was going to be at work and before I could do a curve. She told me I should have kept it at 3 since I was there to monitor her. I feel kind of dumb about that....
 
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ShipsCat said:
I'm excited to hear Young Again made such a difference for your cat! I have two elderly crunchy addicts who refuse to eat wet food but it's obvious carbs are not Hermione's friend.

The reduction to 2.5 once she was below 500 was my vet's advice. I misunderstood her, she wanted me to do that if Hermione dropped when I was going to be at work and before I could do a curve. She told me I should have kept it at 3 since I was there to monitor her. I feel kind of dumb about that....
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All we can do is take our best educated guess. always better to err on the side of caution, especially in the beginning. :)
 
ShipsCat said:
Removing the kibble is a HUGE difference! Today her pmps was 314! I gave her 2.5u on my vet's recommendation and am taking the night off work to monitor her.

Hopefully this is the start of better numbers! All that black and red was concerning me.
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ShipsCat said:
Removing the kibble is a HUGE difference! Today her pmps was 314! I gave her 2.5u on my vet's recommendation and am taking the night off work to monitor her.

Hopefully this is the start of better numbers! All that black and red was concerning me.
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That's awesome!!!!! Big difference. :D!!!!
 
Well, the better numbers didn't last. Her AMPS was 554 - I'm not sure if it's a bounce or if she snuck into the kibble while I wasn't looking :( She was looking good until I relaxed and watched a movie, then she had a BIG jump at +9 1/2 hrs. I gave her a handful of the freeze-dried salmon bits she gets for treats before I started watching tv in hopes she wouldn't get hungry. She gets them every time I test her blood, so I'm pretty sure they weren't the culprit.

I'll be monitoring her closely again just in case.

I can't wait for the Young Again Zero to arrive so I can take the forbidden kibble out of the equation!
 
ShipsCat said:
Well, the better numbers didn't last. Her AMPS was 554 - I'm not sure if it's a bounce or if she snuck into the kibble while I wasn't looking :( She was looking good until I relaxed and watched a movie, then she had a BIG jump at +9 1/2 hrs. I gave her a handful of the freeze-dried salmon bits she gets for treats before I started watching tv in hopes she wouldn't get hungry. She gets them every time I test her blood, so I'm pretty sure they weren't the culprit.

I'll be monitoring her closely again just in case.

I can't wait for the Young Again Zero to arrive so I can take the forbidden kibble out of the equation!
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They can be sneaky like that. Haha. She'll get back down. It's a marathon not a sprint.
 
JanetNJ said:
They can be sneaky like that. Haha. She'll get back down. It's a marathon not a sprint.
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It's only been a week and I already feel like I've run a triathlon! Just when I was disheartened by her big spike Hermione had her first blue numbers at +5! Then I had to stay up to check her every hour again to make sure she didn't end up in hypo territory since her bg went from 554 to 164 in 5 hours. After a low of 129 at +7 she's headed back up, so now I feel safe to grab a few hours of sleep before her regular shot. At least the Young Again arrives today so carb-laden kibble shouldn't be a problem anymore.

I'm really glad she's such a good sport about having her ears stabbed! She knows nice freeze-dried salmon treats accompany the stabbing, so now as soon as I get the testing kit out of the closet she comes running.
 
You have found the magic - a treat she loves!

That is a steep drop but glad it stayed in a safe range. I would imagine you are in for a good sized bounce for next preshot
 
Ahhhh the treats! I remember when I first arrived and people told me their cats come running to get tested...I didn't believe it! But it's true. Gypsy always came running for her test when I just rattled the box of lancets!
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
You have found the magic - a treat she loves!

That is a steep drop but glad it stayed in a safe range. I would imagine you are in for a good sized bounce for next preshot
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Yes, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be as cooperative with0ut the food reward!

She didn't go as high as I thought she might for her PMPS, it was 430. I chickened out and gave her 2.5u because I should to go to work tonight. I'll check her in 2 hrs before I leave, and if she's at a decent number I'll be able to come back at lunch to check her again. Obviously if she's looking like she might go low again I'll stay home.
 
Well the Young Again seems to be a success! Hermione loves it, and her numbers were down when I came home from work so I don't think she raided the others' kibble.

I'll be putting all my cats on it after I use up the bag of Evo. Hermione prefers the Young Again when they're side by side, so as long as I don't let her bowl get empty that should be the only thing she grazes on.
 
Well, I don't know if it's the Young Again or just a good day, but Hermione's AMPS was 224!!!!

Since I'm super paranoid I lowered her dose to 1.5u and will be monitoring her like crazy tonight
 
Nice number! This cycle will be a good indicator of whether the 1.5 is enough for that level preshot or whether she needs a bit more. Remember, it's all data gathering...
 
Well 1.5 was definitely not enough at this point in her sugar dance.

She went up to 324 with her post-shot Fancy Feast meal and stayed in the 300s. I fell asleep before I could get a nadir test but she was 395 at PMPS, so back to 3u. But I would rather err on too high than have a hypo, especially on a holiday weekend ;)

I'm feeling so much less overwhelmed, and I've been reading in the forum a lot. Everyone here is so supportive and helpful! Thanks for being here for us new people!
 
Hermione's PMPS is nice at 214 but she's just a little punky. She didn't come running for her ear stab and she's picking at her food :(

I'll be keeping a close eye on her.


Update: she threw up most of her food and a big hairball. The downside of her renewed grooming, I guess. I've offered her another can of food and she's picking at it
 
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Thanks! I've been losing sleep about her numbers and the other night had a dream I was testing her blood sugar - I thought it was real until I checked my paper log and her ss and there wasn't anything recorded lol

And after the feeling punky scare a few hours ago we have a lovely blue 117!
 
Another green, another bounce.

Had some nice green at +7 last night, now we're back in the black at 514 for AMPS. Just riding that sugar rollercoaster...
 
I am thinking that's good! If you look at Tempests SS I got one bounce to black but held the same dose instead of upping it, then I got a pink number for her pmps and reduced the dose and got really good results from there on. You could try that for a couple of cycles at the 1.75 that gave you the green numbers last night? But ask @Sue and Oliver (GA) to make sure as I'm no expert.
 
It is always a quandary whether to go back up for the bounce or lower the dose. Let's see how the cycle looks. It could be a higher flatter cycle because of the green or she could drop lower. I'd monitor and see. I like your dose for the yellow preshot last night.
 
Still highish at 350 for PMPS. I really wanted to do a +6 test this morning but fell asleep and slept through my alarm :( All this testing plays havoc with my sleep!

Thanks, Sue! I thought about going to 2, but being paranoid I went for 1.75 - which seemed to be perfect.

She's feeling great, grooming everyone like she used to and watching tv on the couch with us!
 
Except now at +8 she's at 179. I didn't take a nadir test because she was so high. Now I'm sorry I didn't.
 
Thanks Rachel!

295 at PMPS. This is the closest we've had our AM & PM ps numbers! It's likely a coincidence but I'm still really happy to not see those wild swings. I wonder where she'll be at nadir?
 
Looks like she's holding pretty steady around 300. She was 285 at +5 and 302 at +10.

I'm thinking 2.5u is a good place to stay for a bit? 300ish is still high, but no wild swings today.
 
Yeah, I think you could stick with it for a few cycles. If it doesn't get her as low as we want, you can always up it a bit in a few. :)
 
Well, the best laid plans....

She went up to 424 at AMPS so I gave 3u. Now she's 348 at +6. I guess she's not on a plateau after all.
 
That's what I was thinking, I'm SO glad to have an experienced person double check me!

I wimped out a little bit & gave her 2.25u on her 247 PMPS, I'm headed to work in a little while and am paranoid about her while I'm gone. I love the 1/2 unit marks on my syringes!
 
371 at PMPS, gave her 3u.

I'm wondering if I should try holding her at 2.5u for a few cycles to see if she's more stable on a steady dose? My vet had me on a bit of a sliding scale from the start, which has been tweaked by input from you knowledgeable people.

I'm probably just being impatient, and Hermione is acting like her old snuggly self (with the exception of bad hairball day!) so obviously thing aren't terrible right now..... ;)

What do you all think?
 
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