Smiffy's numbers lower August/September

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@Capoo and @Larry and Kitties this information might be worthy of a separate thread as there seems to be some debate about it?

I use an AccuChek Aviva so I can't relate to this data.

I am just going on the advice that it is the trend of Smffy's numbers that is important.

Yes I think this is worthy of a separate thread so please tag me on it as I would be interested to read further especially if anyone comes up with information about the AccuChek Aviva :)

In the meantime I would repectfully ask that we keep this thread to dealing with Smiffy's lower numbers in August and September as it is crucial stage of her progress if that is alright with you girls?

Thanks @Capoo for your continued support - looking forward to continueing Smiffy's journey with you along side us. I value your experience as you know and I think you have a connection with Smiffy (:
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Human meters typically read lower that pet meters but there is no conversion factor like the 30% your mentioned.

on 9-14-2014 I did two tests with my original AlphaTrak and my human Easy Gluco Plus meter. Both comparisons used same drop of blood from two different cats

Dulce OTJAT = 72

Easy Gluco Plus = 54The AT is 133% of the EGP value

The EGP is 0.75 of the AT

BadgarAT = 377Easy Gluco Plus = 331

The AT is only 113% of the EGP value

The EGP 0.88 of the AT
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I don't understand this data I'm afraid! Please see my post below ... thank you so much (:
 
Marlena said:
Looby, these numbers are essentially the same! But her PMPS is very good, looks like she is reacting well to the insulin, her pancreas is possibly kicking in.
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Thanks Marlena, her AMPS was the lowest it has been despite the fact that I didn't give her a shot last night so she has stopped bouncing as much for her AMPS.

She was 12.5 (225) this morning and at +4 she was 6.7 (121) so I am feeling confident in her dosing at the moment.

If her PMPS rises to around 10 (180) I will give her half a unit but if she is below 10 (180), I don't think I need to give her a shot. Maybe I will once her AMPS is looking similar each day and she is not bouncing.

I am feeling sure that her Caninsulin is lasting the whole 12 hours or her pancreas is doing a little something now.

@MrWorfMen's Mom have you been on vacation? Not heard from you for a while? Hope no news is good news (:
 
@Marlena @Alexi

Smiffy is a nice 9.2 (167) PMPS tonight and she was 7.3 (131) +4 today so she has not risen too much today (think partly because she had a wet lunch?).

I am not going to give her a shot tonight.

I could be bold and give her half a unit but she is not eating much (full up on wet food at lunch time!) but I think she might go down a bit too much.

Any thoughts people?
 
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Looby & Smiify said:
@Marlena @Alexi

Smiffy is a nice 9.2 (167) PMPS tonight and she was 7.3 (131) +4 today so she has not risen too much today (think partly because she had a wet lunch?).

I am not going to give her a shot tonight.

I could be bold and give her half a unit but she is not eating much (full up on wet food at lunch time!) but I think she might go down a bit too much.

Any thoughts people?
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Looby, you are so good with this now!
You could do 2 things: skip the shot or give a smaller dose (0.5) if Smiffy eats well and you can monitor. Your night time is a better one for keeping an eye on Smiffy so if you confident you can still give her 0.5 on this number. After testing her at PMPS you could have done another test without giving any food in half an hour and see if she's raising - this is another trick to see if you going to be safe.
So I'm afraid it must be your decision and it's difficult. Depending how you feel about being a bit more brave with this.
I'm so busy at the moment trying to catch up on my social life and have good time before I go back to work on 1st September so I did not realise you tagged me.
But the progress you're making is great and you seem to be so experienced.
Well done.
Hugs to you, Smiffy and Pasha.
Marlena & Rocky:)
 
Marlena said:
Looby, you are so good with this now!
You could do 2 things: skip the shot or give a smaller dose (0.5) if Smiffy eats well and you can monitor. Your night time is a better one for keeping an eye on Smiffy so if you confident you can still give her 0.5 on this number. After testing her at PMPS you could have done another test without giving any food in half an hour and see if she's raising - this is another trick to see if you going to be safe.
So I'm afraid it must be your decision and it's difficult. Depending how you feel about being a bit more brave with this.
I'm so busy at the moment trying to catch up on my social life and have good time before I go back to work on 1st September so I did not realise you tagged me.
But the progress you're making is great and you seem to be so experienced.
Well done.
Hugs to you, Smiffy and Pasha.
Marlena & Rocky:)
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She bounced back up to 15.6 (281) this morning which is such a shame so I might risk the 0.5 unit tonight even if she is around 10 (180) and then test again shortly after as you suggest (:
 
@MommaOfMuse @Marlena @MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi

Change of treatment:

Smiffy is 9.9 (180) PMPS so I would normally not give her a shot but I am going to try the half a unit on her and see if that gives her the 'booster'she needs to get her AMPS down for tomorrow morning :).

She is 9 (162 ) at +3

Let's hope it makes a difference for tomorrow morning .....
 
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@Marlena@JanetNJ

Didn't really work the "booster" shot from last night ... Smiffy's BG is AMPS 16.6 (300) so she has really bounced which is what I was trying to adjust!

However her +4 was a nice 6.8 (122) but then she has bounced (I think rather than the Caninsulin running out as it is unusual of late) back up to 12.7 (229) this evening so I have given her one unit and I will test again at +3 or +4 to see if that does the trick ....
 
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@Marlena @JanetNJ @MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi @Squalliesmom

Smiffy's PMPS is 8 (144) tonight which is not that much different to what she was at +4 7.3 (131) today so I am confident that either the Caninsulin is lasting the full 12 hours for her or that her pancreas is starting to splutter a bit.

I don't think I need to give her a shot tonight - I think 0.5 units might make her drop too much.
 
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Didn't give Smiffy a shot last night because she was 8 (144) but she bounced up to 14.9 (269) this morning.

This evening she is 9.1 (164) so I am going to give her half a unit to see if I can get that bounce down .......
 
I think this this is a good move. You can always stall and test again in half an hour without giving food to see if this number goes up.
 
Looby, when you have a pre shot number which is too low to shoot you can do another test (without giving food) in half an hour or even an hour to see if this number is actually going up. That my help you decide if you want to shoot at all and if you do what dose.
 
Breakthrough for Smiffy - she is only 11.9 (214) this morning AMPS ...... have given her one unit as usual and now hoping she doesn't drop too low today!
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Breakthrough for Smiffy - she is only 11.9 (214) this morning AMPS ...... have given her one unit as usual and now hoping she doesn't drop too low today!
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Looby, this is nerve wracking but it shows that you're really in control.
As long as you're monitoring her and keeping an eye making sure she eats that should be absolutely fine.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
@MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi

Hey, Smiffy is getting some really good numbers now!

This is where it gets a bit scary ..

She is so well in herself these day :)

Tell me what you think.

Haven't heard from either of you for a while so I hope all is well or that you are enjoying lovely summer holidays?
 
I've been concentrating on getting Cappuccino settled on her Prozinc, which suits her really well. Those numbers are looking good, if you can get rid of the dry altogether you may be able to bring her numbers down even more. Have you got syringes?
 
Alexi said:
I've been concentrating on getting Cappuccino settled on her Prozinc, which suits her really well. Those numbers are looking good, if you can get rid of the dry altogether you may be able to bring her numbers down even more. Have you got syringes?
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Hello!

I have tried to look at Cappuccino's spreadsheet but for some reason I can't scroll down - seems to happen with some spreadsheets - have no idea why!

Well I am so glad that Prozinc is working well for her ....

Yes the wet food is still an issue for Smiffy .... she will have it as her lunchtime snack but refuses it at any other time of the day and with such good numbers I am loathe to make her hungry so that she eats it as I don't want to miss a shot.

I have got syringes but don't feel I need to use them yet but when I see Roberta her Vet in October I am going to ask her to show me how to use them.

Smiffy is keeping in the blue numbers for most of the day so the Caninsulin seems to be lasting for 12 hours and she has even gone down during the day for a second time so possibly I am hoping a little spluttering of her pancreas.

I am giving her a half unit now in the evening if she is around 10 (180) whereas before I would skip a shot on that number but it seems to bring her 'bounce' down so that her AMPS is getting a bit lower now.

But if she is only around 8 (144) in the evening then I don't give her a shot.

In the morning just one unit brings her down to around 7.3 (131) these days so I don't think I should give her one and a half units in the morning.

The lower carb dry mixed with the m/d and her wet lunch seems to have brought the numbers down.

She is like most cats and really picky! The other day she wouldn't eat any wet at all the little monkey (:

Good to hear from you and that Cappuccino is doing better on the Prozinc. How different is it to Caninsulin? I know nothing about it ...
 
Looby, as cats become more regulated you could see them eating less because their body isn't using the stored up fat and calories to fuel his body. So is Smiffy eating like a normal cat without diabetes?

When Smokey was running constantly in the 300's to 400's he ate 10+ ounces a day. Now he eats 7-8 ounces a day.
 
Woodsywife said:
Looby, as cats become more regulated you could see them eating less because their body isn't using the stored up fat and calories to fuel his body. So is Smiffy eating like a normal cat without diabetes?

When Smokey was running constantly in the 300's to 400's he ate 10+ ounces a day. Now he eats 7-8 ounces a day.
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Hi there!

Smiffy has been eating less for some time now - almost as soon as I started her on insulin but just recently even less so you are right and of course that means she is getting the energy that she needs from less food now so that is a good clincal sign (:

Glad to hear Smokey is better than he was ... just gong to look at his spreadsheet .... oh I can't scroll down to see his numbers ..... but great he is better.

He is a bit of a trooper isn't he bless him?
 
Just when it was going so well, Smiffy's PMPS is 12.6 - the highest it has been for several days now - where did that come from?

We didn't go for a relaxing walk today and sit in the garden as it was raining ... that usually brings her number down
 
Looks like Smiffy is doing pretty well these days Looby! I'm sure she was just pouting about missing her walk. :D I have been MIA but I'm back. I had a family issue crop up a few weeks back (premature "adopted" grandchild arrival)....long story that had me running my butt off helping with babysitting and then when that fire drill was over, in my not so infinite wisdom, I decided to do some "techie" stuff with my computer and unfortunately, sent it on a vacation and me incommunicado until a couple of days ago.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Looks like Smiffy is doing pretty well these days Looby! I'm sure she was just pouting about missing her walk. :D I have been MIA but I'm back. I had a family issue crop up a few weeks back (premature "adopted" grandchild arrival)....long story that had me running my butt off helping with babysitting and then when that fire drill was over, in my not so infinite wisdom, I decided to do some "techie" stuff with my computer and unfortunately, sent it on a vacation and me incommunicado until a couple of days ago.
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Good to have you back (:

Life does that to you every now and then!

Hope things have settled down a bit for you now?

My DH decided to install all the updates on my computer (a fairly old now Mac) on my Birthday and I begged him not to but he did it anyway and my Mac just crashed! I had to set up a paper version of Smiffy's spreadsheet and I felt as if my arm had been cut off .... I got out a really really old Mac and could just about use the simple version of Facebook on it so didn't fel completely cut off but really did miss it ...

Fortunately we have a one-day-fix computer repair shop in our village and I got my Mac back the next day ....

So how is Menace doing? Menace is a girl? She is young to be Diabetic poor thing ... will she still not eat all wet food? That is if your signature is up to date?

Yes Smiffy is dong well but higher numbers today I think because there was a bit of tension in the house hold yesterday between DH and I - eek ..

I think she is a sensitive soul (:

Are you on the Facebook page? What is your name there ..... if I should know that forgive me ... there are so many names to remember ..

Lovely to hear from you again (:
 
Looby & Smiify said:
So how is Menace doing? Menace is a girl? She is young to be Diabetic poor thing ... will she still not eat all wet food? That is if your signature is up to date?
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Menace is a little girl like Smiffy. She was only 4 yrs old when diagnosed and she will be 6 in Oct. And no sadly, I don't think I will ever get her to eat canned food. I have been trying to transition her since she was 10 weeks old when we adopted her. At this point, I sometimes think the white coat brigade will come to carry me off for still trying when opportunities of excessive hunger present themselves!
Looby & Smiify said:
Are you on the Facebook page?
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No I'm not on the Facebook page. Not much of a Facebook user for anything!

I'm loving Smiffy's numbers these days. It's quite possible that her pancreas is helping out a bit, more some days than others but still a good sign. :)
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Menace is a little girl like Smiffy. She was only 4 yrs old when diagnosed and she will be 6 in Oct. And no sadly, I don't think I will ever get her to eat canned food. I have been trying to transition her since she was 10 weeks old when we adopted her. At this point, I sometimes think the white coat brigade will come to carry me off for still trying when opportunities of excessive hunger present themselves!
No I'm not on the Facebook page. Not much of a Facebook user for anything!

I'm loving Smiffy's numbers these days. It's quite possible that her pancreas is helping out a bit, more some days than others but still a good sign. :)
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She has not eaten much today - just a bit of lower carb dry this morning before her shot (AMPS 13.1 (236)) of one unit and then a bit of wet just after her +4 reading and not eaten much tonight.

Good sign or low because she has not eaten much?
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Good sign or low because she has not eaten much
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There's n way to tell for sure but given that she has had other days when her +4/5 and PMPS have been very close, perhaps noting her food intake in the comments column would help you see if it's food or something else that's keeping her numbers down. This whole diabetes thing is one big puzzle and much of the time it is guesswork to know what is going on so tracking food intake if it differs from day to day can be helpful. I don't track food for Menace unless she has one of her excessive hunger hissy fits not associated with a high or low reading because her food intake, timing and appetite have thankfully been very consistent.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
There's n way to tell for sure but given that she has had other days when her +4/5 and PMPS have been very close, perhaps noting her food intake in the comments column would help you see if it's food or something else that's keeping her numbers down. This whole diabetes thing is one big puzzle and much of the time it is guesswork to know what is going on so tracking food intake if it differs from day to day can be helpful. I don't track food for Menace unless she has one of her excessive hunger hissy fits not associated with a high or low reading because her food intake, timing and appetite have thankfully been very consistent.
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Ok I will start to make food notes (:

Menace sounds like quite a character - can't believe you still try to get her to eat wet food! Do you think that is why she is still Diabetic? I just had a look at her numbers and they seem to be all over the place! Any reason why?

Thanks for the advice (:
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Ok I will start to make food notes :)

Menace sounds like quite a character - can't believe you still try to get her to eat wet food! Do you think that is why she is still Diabetic? I just had a look at her numbers and they seem to be all over the place! Any reason why?

Thanks for the advice :)
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Smiffy has already bounced up to 11.1 (200) at +3 from her 7.9 PMPS
 
Yes Miss Menace can be a bit of a challenge but I am over the moon that she is now on 6-7.5u (seem to be having a hard time breaking through that glass ceiling:() as opposed to the 16u she was on. It's really not much different dealing with her than any other cat except for the dosing and somewhat more frequent surprises which can be scary. The worst part is the periodic sleepless nights so sometimes I just have to let her run a bit high so I can recharge my batteries. I keep hoping I can get her dose down a bit more and am sure her diet has something to do with her stubborn numbers. It may seem like utter madness to keep trying to transition her to canned food, but I keep hoping that one day, hunger will override her stubbornness. I'm not totally crazy....I managed to get my geriatric guy off his kibble at age 16 and I never thought that would happen either! ;)
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Yes Miss Menace can be a bit of a challenge but I am over the moon that she is now on 6-7.5u (seem to be having a hard time breaking through that glass ceiling:() as opposed to the 16u she was on. It's really not much different dealing with her than any other cat except for the dosing and somewhat more frequent surprises which can be scary. The worst part is the periodic sleepless nights so sometimes I just have to let her run a bit high so I can recharge my batteries. I keep hoping I can get her dose down a bit more and am sure her diet has something to do with her stubborn numbers. It may seem like utter madness to keep trying to transition her to canned food, but I keep hoping that one day, hunger will override her stubbornness. I'm not totally crazy....I managed to get my geriatric guy off his kibble at age 16 and I never thought that would happen either! ;)
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I noticed that Menace's numbers are better recently (:

I don't think you are mad - I keep trying with the wet food and reduced carb dry food!

I am like you, if I am not going to be around for Smiffy's Nadir then I would prefer to err on the side of safety for her.

I don't seem to be able to get people to understand that Smiffy won't eat wet food as a main meal and that I am not equipped to use syringes .... I feel really pressurised to use the syringes and as if there is no support for me and Smiffy if I don't use them .... I will ask Roberta her Vet to show me how to use them but I am really reluctant as because of the way Smiffy is and the way I am and the house set up, it would just be too much to rely on syringes .... I feel pressurised and inadequate for having to keep tell people and I can really explain my situation clearly without going into detail I prefer to keep to myself .....

I am hoping that I can get Smiffy into remission (that would be the cherry on the cake) by using the pen.

She is +4 6.4 (115) despite her bounciing last night on her preshot number of 7.9 (142) when I didn't give her a shot because she didn't eat.

Congratuations on getting your older cat off dry food (:
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Yes Miss Menace can be a bit of a challenge but I am over the moon that she is now on 6-7.5u (seem to be having a hard time breaking through that glass ceiling:() as opposed to the 16u she was on. It's really not much different dealing with her than any other cat except for the dosing and somewhat more frequent surprises which can be scary. The worst part is the periodic sleepless nights so sometimes I just have to let her run a bit high so I can recharge my batteries. I keep hoping I can get her dose down a bit more and am sure her diet has something to do with her stubborn numbers. It may seem like utter madness to keep trying to transition her to canned food, but I keep hoping that one day, hunger will override her stubbornness. I'm not totally crazy....I managed to get my geriatric guy off his kibble at age 16 and I never thought that would happen either! ;)
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Me again!

I have had this suggestion from somebody on Facebook and just wondered what you think:

They have suggested that if Smiffy's PMPS is too low for me to give her a shot then if her +3 that night is high enough (as it was last night at 11.1 (200) to give her a shot (ie half a unit) to try to counteract the bounce that she is getting in the morning. Then go back to her normal shot time the next day. I thought about doing this last night but Smiffy had had no tea so it would not have been a good idea would it? She might have plummeted over night! But if she WERE to eat in the evening after a low preshot number (too low to shoot) would you then give her a late shot at around +3 as suggested?
 
You could try a 0.5 units if you are able to monitor and she has access to food overnight, she doesn't tend to drop very far and ideally you need to even up those AMPS and PMPS so you can shoot twice a day. Depends if you can stay up to +5.
 
Alexi said:
You could try a 0.5 units if you are able to monitor and she has access to food overnight, she doesn't tend to drop very far and ideally you need to even up those AMPS and PMPS so you can shoot twice a day. Depends if you can stay up to +5.
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I can stay up til +4 definitely? She has not eaten a lot?
 
Alexi said:
You could try a 0.5 units if you are able to monitor and she has access to food overnight, she doesn't tend to drop very far and ideally you need to even up those AMPS and PMPS so you can shoot twice a day. Depends if you can stay up to +5.
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Ok so she ate a bit more and I tested her again (half an hour after PMPS) and she was 8.8 (159) so I have given her 0.5 units ..... ohhhh I hope that was the right thing to do! Will report back ....
 
@Alexi

Gave her 0.5 units and unless I gave her a furr shot, she is now 10.2 (180) at +4.

Will be interesting to see if she can hold that number until tomorrow's AMPS (:

Thanks again .....
 
Interesting that Smiffy went up after the 0.5u last night although it wasn't by much. Better AMPS today but still not down as much as the PM numbers. I'd keep trying to shoot those lower PMPS readings to see if Smiffy will level out a bit more.
 
@Alexi @JanetNJ @MrWorfMen's Mom @Marlena

Smiffy was 12.3 (221) this morning so gave her one unit .... now at +4 she has gone down to 4.7 (85) which might have been lower at +3 but I was not here !

Do you think that is because of the dose last night or beacause she didn't eat much this morning?

She is eating her wet lunch now!
 
It could have been due to her not eating much earlier on.
you have given her that dose before and she was fine, as long as you check her, feed her (no honey as yet), test her she should be ok.
Lets see what happens next.
I'm here to hear you.
Fingers crossed.
 
85 is a good number. As she gets more regulated the same dose will gradually bring the numbers into a better range. This is what you WANT to see. Don't let the green scare you. Especially since you are using a human meter. You still have a good cushion to go lower.
 
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