Smiffy's progress end September

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Looby & Smiffy

Looby & Smiffy

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http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/smiffys-numbers-lower-august-september.163681/page-3#post-1783884

Smiffy and I are in the UK. She is on Caninsulin and was diagnosed in April 2016.

As you will see from her spreadsheet she has very recently enjoyed some very nice blue numbers and for four or five days required now insulin:

This is what her Vet Roberta had to say about her spreadsheet and dosing at that point:

"Hi Mrs Smith,
That's all really positive isn't it! Fantastic work, you've both done brilliantly. I would agree with you that I would be nervous of giving insulin below 8, especially in the morning. My view would be that Smiffy is in remission if she manages to keep her BG below 12 (so below the renal threshold) without insulin. I would also prefer her blood glucose to remain above 4 ideally, I have seen cats hypo on 2.5-3. I think also that we have to take into account a little degree of sampling related hyperglycaemia (stress related) and differences between glucometers. I think the 'tight regulation' numbers are a little too tight for practical use if that makes sense? I would only give her insulin if her numbers are above 12, and keep a very close eye on her.
Absolutely brilliant news"

However for the last few days Smiffy's numbers have risen again (coinciding with a thunderstorm breaking the hot weather to damp weather and DH - her Daddy - going abroad for a couple of weeks).

The sliding scale that I have devised for her from experience and looking back at her spreadsheet is still in place but for the past couple of days her numbers have still stayed high which is out of character.

So it feels a bit as if I am starting all over again.

Thank you to Smiffy's regular friends for popping in to see her.

I will be posting a new thread for her more often now.

@Marje and Gracie @Marlena @MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi @JanetNJ @Louise1989 @HWright @Woodsywife @Squalliesmom @manxcat419

Thanks for your continued advice, support and encouragement (:
 
From @Squalliesmom :

"Honestly, where you have not given a shot, I probably would have gone ahead and given it, even if it was a reduced dose. However, I am NOT recommending you do this, that's just what I would have done.

If you look at Squallie's spreadsheet from a year ago, around this same time (late Sept), you'll see similarities in his and Smiffy's. I use a human meter so my numbers are lower but the pattern is similar. This to me is just a typical Caninsulin (Vetsulin, here) pattern. When we used it, we had lots of ups and downs, some brief and some frustratingly drawn-out. Small fluctuations will occur in cycles, no matter what insulin you use, and are normal.

You can also look at Squallie's ss just from this week: on a couple of occasions he has had numbers that are more than twice what he his numbers were the week, or even the day, before at the same time. I have given up worrying about the "Why?" of it and just reconciled myself to the fact that sometimes, it just happens. You'll go nuts if you always try to dfind a reason for it, believe me, I've been there, lol!
Bottom line: you are doing a good job with Smiffy, keeping her numbers in a good range and keeping her safe!"
 
From @Marlena and @Marje and Gracie :

Advice on dosing tonight - they concur:

"For tonight, if she stays in yellow numbers, I think shooting the 1u, as Marlena has suggested, is appropriate but please be sure and monitor her"

And @Squalliesmom this is interesting:

She is PMPS 11.2 (202) so she has come DOWN from her +7 number 12.8 (230) which is promising :) and shows signs of her pancreas working a bit I would say?

Am going to give her one unit provided she eats and do her +3 Nadir reading and possibly her +4.

So Smiffy's +3 tonight is 13.4 (241)! So she has gone up again from her PMPS!

First she shows signs that her pancreas is working by going down before her PMPS and then she goes up by her Nadir at +3? I could have given her 1.5 units .... unless of course she bounced before +3? Going to check the pen again ...... It works. This kind of result/trend is what I mean - so unlike her completley!

I have never had such confusing data from her before as I have done the past few days.

I am going to take a +4 reading now to see if she is still rising ...... no about the same at 13.5 (243).

Just took a urine sample and Smiffy is negative for keytones but she is showing a bit of glucose whereas 6 days ago there was no trace of glucose whatsoever so I suppose that confirms that she has been over the renal threshold in the last few days?
 
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donnalea said:
Your posts have been a big help.
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I have just looked at Callie's spreadsheet and you are right Smiffy and Callie are quite similar :)

They seem to be at a similar stage now don't they except for Smiffy's most recent trend which is not to respond to her Caninsulin as much as she was for those four or five days when I deemed her too low to give a shot (nor as much as she has ever responded to it actually!).

I see though that Callie can run a bit higher at night as Smiffy is doing at the moment. You seem to have give Callie bigger doses than me. Smiffy has in the past been more sensitive to Caninsulin. It's interesting. Do you work to a sliding scale that you find works for Callie?

xxx
 
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@Squalliesmom I have just had a look at Squallies's spreadsheet and I can see the odd higher yellow number recently in his otherwise blue and green numbers.

I tried to scroll back to September last year but the spreadsheet wouldn't allow me to go back that far? Or am I missing something?

By the way I also use a human meter (: The Accuchek Aviva.
 
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Chris & China said:
remember, she's on Lantus now so it's hard to compare numbers
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For the sake of clarity, Squallie started Lantus in early March 2016.

When suggesting you take a look at his current ss I was not suggesting you compare the numbers, rather just see that the same types of unexpected rises and falls can interject themselves into your cats' "usual" pattern, regardless of what insulin you are using.
 
Squalliesmom said:
For the sake of clarity, Squallie started Lantus in early March 2016.

When suggesting you take a look at his current ss I was not suggesting you compare the numbers, rather just see that the same types of unexpected rises and falls can interject themselves into your cats' "usual" pattern, regardless of what insulin you are using.
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No I realise that thanks (:

I am concerned and more importantly bemused by her patterns just lately ie she is showing signs of her pancreas working and then she goes high and barely responds to the Caninsulin at night OR she has bounced before +3 in the evening .... would you have a look at her data I recorded in the post above and pop in to see us from time to time please if you have time?

What is your name - is it Lucy? (:

I have been called that lots of times and is one of my pet names (:

Thanks for your input so far (:

Smiffy was a not so encouraging but safe 14.6 (263) this morning. I have kept to the one unit which is her usual and highest morning dose I have ever given her.

On a AMPS of 14.9 (268) Smiffy has given me a +3 of 7.8 (140) before now so as I am not usually around for her morning Nadir I am reluctant to give her more than that.

@Marlena do you think I should still be keeping to the one unit at night or do you think I could start giving her 1.5 units again? What did you think about the data I recorded her in her post last night and my comments?

Thanks ..... I really want to get her back to these lower numbers again ....

She is completely off the Hill's m/d now but still has a dry breakfast and evening meal of a Porta21 Sensible but mostly Thrive Premium Chicken.

Tried to tempt her this morning on some Sheba but she wasn't having it! She will have a bit later when she eats with Pasha as she likes to show that she is Top Cat - it's a territorial thing and a jealous thing with Smiffy ..... she has to eat what Pasha eats! Pasha was not here this morning.
 
For the benefit of all Vetsulin/Caninsulin users who may be reading this thread, for safety reasons I feel obliged to post that Caninsulin/Vetsulin is not - repeat NOT - a suitable insulin for use with Tight Regulation Protocol. The appropriate insulins for use with the Roomp-Rand published TR protocol are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc.


Mogs
.
 
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Critter Mom said:
For the benefit of all Vetsulin/Caninsulin users who may be reading this thread, for safety reasons I feel obliged to post that Caninsulin/Vetsulin is not - repeat NOT - a suitable insulin for use with Tight Regulation Protocol. The appropriate insulins for use with the TR protocol are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc.


Mogs
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Hello Mogs,

I am so pleased to hear from you at this difficult time for you.

Please don't be concerned that I am going to dose Smiffy aggressively to get her numbers down but I appreciate your warning to others using Caninsulin/Vetsulin.

I know it has been a long time since we spoke, but as you are so experienced with Caninsulin/Vetsulin, I would really be grateful if you could advise me with Smiffy. She would love you to pop in and see how she is doing from time to time. If you have time to look at her spreadsheet, she had a period of really good numbers consistently below the renal threshold about a week ago and now they are elevated again.

The Caninsulin/Vetsulin appears to be lasting pretty much the full 12 hours in Smiffy so her Vet and I have seen no real reason to change her insulin.

Smiffy has been doing so well for quite some time now and those few days when she was too low in BG for me to give her her shot (as I would not risk aggressive shooting as you have referred to) and now she seems to be back at square one ... well not quite - still in the yellow numbers but I don't know shy her numbers have gone up again. I even wondered if she has become less sensitive to Caninsulin. I am puzzled and would welcome you input.

Smiffy adores her Daddy and he has been away since the Thunderstorm and the change in weather so I am wondering if both these things have raised her BG?

@Marlena is giving me dosing advice where she can but she is very busy with her new job and with Rocky.

Hope Smiffy and I hear from you soon.

In the meantime, I am still sending you love and hugs for your loss.

xxxxLooby and Smiffy
 
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Smiffy is 15.3 (275) at +8 today - what is going on?!!!

@Marlena @Marje and Gracie @Alexi @Squalliesmom @MrWorfMen's Mom @JanetNJ @Capoo @KarenRamboConan



I think I have to go back to her 1.5 dose tonight don't you think?

I have tested the meter on myself and it read 4 so there is nothing wrong there.

I really need your help here.

Do you think it is possible that Caninsulin is not working for Smiffy anymore for some reason?

The the cartridge that I am using for Smiffy was changed during her good number and is only two weeks old so that is not the problem.

So tonight's dilemna is shoot 0.5 on the basis that she is bouncing or 1.5 her full dose to make an impact?
 
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First, I agree with @Critter Mom that tight regulation as we use it on the Lantus and Levemir board is not designed for Caninsulin.

I actually don't think her pancreas is sputtering. Her BG the last two days has been relatively flat. Remember that every meter can have a variance of up to 20%.

Since I haven't used Caninsulin before, I'm not qualified to give dosing advice on it. I haven't studied the action of the insulin to know what a reasonable "no shoot" number is and how lowmyou can safely shoot.

If it were me, I'd give some thought to one of the longer duration insulins. You could choose between Prozinc, lantus, or levemir.
 
Capoo said:
Lucille,

I really think it's time for you to get accustomed with the use of syringes, and to change of insulin.
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In addition, I saw this evening on FB that Smiffy is peeing outside her litter box . That's another sign of a non optimum regulation of diabetes, and another reason to change something:
- you can transition to all wet food, but it seems impossible, as you have mentioned in all of your previous posts,
- or to change of insulin. But in that case, you need to use syringe.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
First, I agree with @Critter Mom that tight regulation as we use it on the Lantus and Levemir board is not designed for Caninsulin.

I actually don't think her pancreas is sputtering. Her BG the last two days has been relatively flat. Remember that every meter can have a variance of up to 20%.

Since I haven't used Caninsulin before, I'm not qualified to give dosing advice on it. I haven't studied the action of the insulin to know what a reasonable "no shoot" number is and how lowmyou can safely shoot.

If it were me, I'd give some thought to one of the longer duration insulins. You could choose between Prozinc, lantus, or levemir.
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Yes I agree that the TR Protocal should not apply to Caninsulin so I have reassured @Critter Mom that I absolutely don't condone that.

A week ago I am sure there was evidence of her pancreas working - how else would Smiffy have stayed in lovely blue numbers for those five days? And also there are numerous days where Smiffy goes down after a shot and then up of course and then she has gone down again before her evening shot - doesn't that indicate a splutter?

She has often 'surfed' on her lower numbers for the duration of her daytime cycle which to me would indicate that the Caninsulin lasts the full 12 hours for Smiffy?

However, when she has had low numbers in the evening with or without a shot, she seems to 'bounce' by the time it is her preshot time? But that was reduced for that short period of tie and she was holding her low numbers.

I was educated in the early days by @Elizabeth and Bertie not to let Smiffy's Nadir on Caninsulin fall below 5.6 and I am fairly sure that she gave me a guideline of no shot below a preshot reading of 10 (my computer will ALL my notes on Diabetes etc was lost when it crashed a week or so ago - gutted!). I HAVE given Smiffy a shot when she has been 10 or a bit lower (only in the morning) but only 0.5 unit and it has proved to be OK. @Louise1989 suggested one night that I do a test an hour before her shot (when she was getting her nice blue numbers) to see if when I tested her for her PMPS she was rising or falling and that helped me determine whether to give her a shot or not so that was useful.

I just don't understand why her numbers have gone up so much since the Thunderstorm (you can see that spike on her SS and I made a note of the storm) and now the only common denominator seems to be that her BG has gone up since DH has been away and she misses him. She is really well in herself - just as well as she was when she had the low numbers and all the clinical signs are still good.

I understand that you can't give dosing advice on Caninsulin so of course that is fine (:

I will see how things go and discuss whether a change of insulin is in Smiffy's best interests when I see Smiffy's Vet Roberta in the middle of October. There is the option of changing to Glargine (Lantus) or ProZinc but I think the more likely is Glargine. We have not considered it or rather ruled it out because Smiffy has made such great progress on Caninsulin - it really is just the last few days since DH has been away and I am very bemused by it .... wondering if that is really enough to upset her BG.

I think if she is still in the higher yellow numbers tonight I will (unless otherwise advised) give her a 1.5 unit dose and test her at +2 (to see if she drops quickly before a bounce) and then at +3 and +4. Or maybe I will stick to one unit for one more night but test her at +2 to see if she drops.

Thanks for your comments and I take them all on board (:
 
One other thing to add: to use a tight regulation protocol with Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc, she must be eating a low carb canned or raw diet.

I would also be using a form of the insulin where syringes can be used. Pen needles are not for cats and do not allow the micro dosing we often do.
 
Looby, it is difficult to say why Smiffy's numbers are not going lower.
Just few days ago she was on a smaller dose of 0.5 and she had lots of blue numbers.
As I said to you earlier on when Rocky was like that I couldn't figure out what was going on with him and therefore decided to change his insulin, Caninsulin did not seem to work.
You could try to give Smiffy a lower dose of 0.5 as what we see could be bouncing, give it for 3 days and see what happens. Don't increase the dose to 1.5 at this stage
This is the best I can come up with at the moment.
I'm very upset and stressed myself as Rocky seems to be having cystitis again so back to worry and lots of drugs to keep him comfortable.
My brain is not working properly.
 
Capoo said:
Lucille,

I really think it's time for you to get accustomed with the use of syringes, and to change of insulin.
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Well Smiffy has done so well on Caninsulin so far, Smiffy's Vet and I saw no need to change her insulin but it is definitely something that I will discuss with Roberta the next time I see her. As I have just told @Marje and Gracie, our options would be for Glargine (Lantus) and less likely ProZinc.

I won't repeat what I have just written to @Marje and Gracie naturally but in short I am really wondering if the fact that DH is away is responsible for this sudden change to higher numbers since her lovely progression to the period where she required no insulin at all. As @Critter Mom suggested in her post and I agree, I will not dose aggressively with Caninsulin to push Smiffy's numbers into the green 'normal' range. Roberta (her Vet) and I were rather hoping that her little pancreas would do that for herself as it was clearly keeping her in the 'blues' for those five days.

As I say, if things don't change in the next few days nor when DH is back, then there may have to be that discussion with Roberta (:

Thanks for popping in @Capoo (:
 
Looby,

Please show a little respect and stop tagging me. As I have repeatedly advised I do not wish to participate on your threads.


Mogs
.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
One other thing to add: to use a tight regulation protocol with Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc, she must be eating a low carb canned or raw diet.

I would also be using a form of the insulin where syringes can be used. Pen needles are not for cats and do not allow the micro dosing we often do.
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I really do have a fear of using a syringe with Smiffy ...... I am so scared of not getting her dose right for several reasons - my own human error, the dull lighting in our house and my not so good eyesight and just the way we are set up here but I would be willing to give it a go of course if it was the only solution.

Wet diet is a sticking point for Smiffy - tried again this morning .... have been trying for months ..... she is just one of those cats that is not going to have it! She has a little as a snack but nothing like enough for a main meal ... I have read the documents as to how to make the transition .... I am limited too by my illness to a certain extent and am really doing my best. But I will have the conversation with Smiffy's Vet if things don't improve.
 
Critter Mom said:
Looby,

Please show a little respect and stop tagging me. As I have repeatedly advised I do not wish to participate on your threads.


Mogs
.
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Oh sorry Mogs .... really I am ..... I just wanted to make sure that others knew that I had taken in your advice and you too ... my appologies again ....
 
Looby & Smiffy said:
Well Smiffy has done so well on Caninsulin so far, Smiffy's Vet and I saw no need to change her insulin but it is definitely something that I will discuss with Roberta the next time I see her. As I have just told @Marje and Gracie, our options would be for Glargine (Lantus) and less likely ProZinc.

I won't repeat what I have just written to @Marje and Gracie naturally but in short I am really wondering if the fact that DH is away is responsible for this sudden change to higher numbers since her lovely progression to the period where she required no insulin at all. As @Critter Mom suggested in her post and I agree, I will not dose aggressively with Caninsulin to push Smiffy's numbers into the green 'normal' range. Roberta (her Vet) and I were rather hoping that her little pancreas would do that for herself as it was clearly keeping her in the 'blues' for those five days.

As I say, if things don't change in the next few days nor when DH is back, then there may have to be that discussion with Roberta :)

Thanks for popping in @Capoo :)
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I'm afraid that the "blue numbers" you're targeting are still in the range of beta-cells damage, and not in the healing range.
 
Marlena said:
Looby, it is difficult to say why Smiffy's numbers are not going lower.
Just few days ago she was on a smaller dose of 0.5 and she had lots of blue numbers.
As I said to you earlier on when Rocky was like that I couldn't figure out what was going on with him and therefore decided to change his insulin, Caninsulin did not seem to work.
You could try to give Smiffy a lower dose of 0.5 as what we see could be bouncing, give it for 3 days and see what happens. Don't increase the dose to 1.5 at this stage
This is the best I can come up with at the moment.
I'm very upset and stressed myself as Rocky seems to be having cystitis again so back to worry and lots of drugs to keep him comfortable.
My brain is not working properly.
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Oh poor Rocky - that must be terrible for him and very painful and horrible for you to watch too ....

OK I will just give her a half and test her again at +2 tonight to see if she goes down before she bounces up again - does that sound like a plan?

Hugs to Rocky and you (:
 
Capoo said:
In addition, I saw this evening on FB that Smiffy is peeing outside her litter box . That's another sign of a non optimum regulation of diabetes, and another reason to change something:
- you can transition to all wet food, but it seems impossible, as you have mentioned in all of your previous posts,
- or to change of insulin. But in that case, you need to use syringe.
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She has been peeing outside her litterbox for over a year! Long before she had Diabetes! She is really fussy about her litter!
 
Critter Mom said:
For the benefit of all Vetsulin/Caninsulin users who may be reading this thread, for safety reasons I feel obliged to post that Caninsulin/Vetsulin is not - repeat NOT - a suitable insulin for use with Tight Regulation Protocol. The appropriate insulins for use with the Roomp-Rand published TR protocol are Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc.


Mogs
.
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Please, allow me to interject... for the benefit of those reading this thread, for safety reasons it should be noted the appropriate insulins for use with the Tight Regulation Protocol with Lantus or Levemir for Diabetic Cats are Lantus or Levemir.

This particular protocol is not for use with ProZinc or PZI. My understanding is some experienced members are currently working on an advanced guide for Prozinc/PZI users which will hopefully include help for those wishing to tightly regulate their kitty when using ProZinc/PZI as well as other advanced methods for regulation. Watch for when it's posted in the Prozinc / PZI Forum!
 
@Jill & Alex (GA) - I know that in some of the Roomp-Rand publications they mention Prozinc hence my referencing their work above. Thank you very much, Jill, for catching the inaccuracy in my post and also for sharing news with us about about developments for Prozinc users.

Mogs
.
 
Capoo said:
But, with Caninsulin, you cannot target the healing range safely.
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I think you can PROVIDED the cat owner is available to test often. I was fairly aggressive with my dosing on vetsulin, but only because in the summer I was home to test 5-6 times a day and could predict with fairly good accuracy exactly what her result would be at each dose with very few surprises. Any time I COULDN'T be there to test I dosed conservatively. I was able to get my cat into those healing ranges and eventually into remission. This would not have been possible though had I not obsessively tested her every day.
 
Right so @Marlena @MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi @JanetNJ @Louise1989

this is Smiffy's recordings tonight:

So she PMPS is 13.5 (243) which has come down from her 15.3 (275) that she was at +8 so surely that indicates some pancreas activity?

Now I am going to give her a 0.5 unit shot and test her again at +2 to see if she comes down before she bounces up again ....

+2 Smiffy is 14.7 (265)!

If that is a food spike it is on very little food.

I will test her at +3 too .... so she is 16.2 (292) at +3 so that shows me that I will definitely give her her full dose tomorrow night and that her numbers are not bounces on a big drop after her evening shot.
 
My kitty, Gracie, spent weeks on end in healing numbers but that didn't mean her pancreas was working. It meant the dose I was giving her at that time was working to get her and keep her in healing numbers.

Never say never but I'd be surprised if the change in her numbers is due to your DH being gone. Things change. I try not to over analyze it if the cat is healthy. Sometimes, they need more insulin on a dose that recently worked well. And, again, I am not that familiar with Caninsulin.

Also, know that insulin absorption can vary up to 50% from shot to shot. There is a lot at play that can affect numbers.

More likely, the change in her numbers is due to the pen needles. Pen needles aren't accurate for small doses or doses in between 0.5u increments. Usually for long-term remission, it's better to take the dose down into smaller increments than 0.5u before stopping insulin. In fact, syringes aren't that accurate and that's why I developed the post on Dosing with Calipers. I would imagine lighted magnifying glasses or headlamps are available to you as is the lighting table I used so that should help with lighting and eyesight. It can make a difference in some cats to dose this way with syringes especially for microdosing.

It's up to you whether you leave her on dry food but it does limit your approach if you switch to Lantus or Levemir. In over six years on this board, I've seen a rare cat that couldn't be transitioned if you do it correctly and slowly. I've also seen cats almost immediately go off insulin once they were switched off a dry diet to a LC canned diet. That would certainly be worth it to me to attempt it again slowly. Some members even crumble the dry on the canned as a topper or mix it in and slowly decrease the dry while increasing wet. There are a lot of freeze dried whole meat treats (LC) that can be used as snacks or crunchies.
 
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Marje and Gracie said:
My kitty, Gracie, spent weeks on end in healing numbers but that didn't mean her pancreas was working. It meant the dose I was giving her at that time was working to get her and keep her in healing numbers.

Never say never but I'd be surprised if the change in her numbers is due to your DH being gone. Things change. I try not to over analyze it if the cat is healthy. Sometimes, they need more insulin on a dose that recently worked well. And, again, I am not that familiar with Caninsulin.

Also, know that insulin absorption can vary up to 50% from shot to shot. There is a lot at play that can affect numbers.

More likely, the change in her numbers is due to the pen needles. They aren't accurate for small creatures. In fact, syringes aren't that accurate and that's why I developed the post on Dosing with Calipers. I would imagine lighted magnifying glasses or headlamps are available to you as is the lighting table I used so that should help with lighting and eyesight. It can make a difference in some cats to dose this way with syringes.

It's up to you whether you leave her on dry food but it does limit your approach if you switch to Lantus or Levemir. In over six years on this board, I've seen a rare cat that couldn't be transitioned if you do it correctly and slowly. I've also seen cats almost immediately go off insulin once they were switched off a dry diet to a LC canned diet. That would certainly be worth it to me to attempt it again slowly. Some members even crumble the dry on the canned as a topper or mix it in and slowly decrease the dry while increasing wet. There are a lot of freeze dried whole meat treats (LC) that can be used as snacks or crunchies.
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Thank you Marje for your time and comments :)

Well I can't do very much whilst husband is away as I can't get to the Vets on my own so the best I can do for the time being is to follow my instincts with the Caninsulin and see how things go over the next few days ... husband is back at the end of the month. And give Smiffy as low a carb diet as I can and keep plugging away at the wet food. I tried the opposite way of doing it this morning and put some wet on top of her dry in attempt to try something different to putting the biscuits on top of the wet :) But she turned her nose up at it.

I will have to speak to Roberta (Smiffy's Vet) about her most recent trends. It's great that I can send her Smiffy's spreadsheet and discuss it with her on line

I am really tired now so I am going to leave Smiffy for tonight and not stress her with any more testing and start again tomorrow with a smile on my face.

Thanks again :)
 
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And remember that cats are very attuned to their owners stress... Try not to stress or be tense over minor fluctuations. Be positive and upbeat around her so she feels at ease as well.
 
JanetNJ said:
And remember that cats are very attuned to their owners stress... Try not to stress or be tense over minor fluctuations. Be positive and upbeat around her so she feels at ease as well.
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Yes I am feeling really down trodden and inadequate but in fact I have done a great job with Smiffy when I think about it .... she was a very sick baby when she was first diagnosed - I thought she was dying and she spent all day under the chair in the bedroom and hissed at me for several weeks after she was diagnosed and now she is a happy beautiful coat and loving puss cat back to her old self now .... even this afternoon she was in the sun with me rolling around and having a ball in the grass so I should not be so hard on myself!

There are lots of good indications in her spreadsheet that I have to remember.

So dust myself down and go back to dosing her according to my instincts and not to bash myself up about her diet that is actually much better than it was a few weeks ago when it was just Hill's m/d.

I will give her full doses tomorrow to see if I can't get those numbers back down again. I am still convinced that Caninsulin (Vetsulin) works for her and lasts the full 12 hours.

So onwards with positivity.

Thanks Janet (:
 
Marje and Gracie said:
I did see that. But she should have been on insulin then....she wasn't even in healing numbers.
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I agree that over 150 I would have given a small dose, esp since it's a human meter. A reading of 180 could easily be like a 220 on my alpha track. She isn't using needles though which is limiting what she can dose.
 
Looby & Smiffy said:
Just a though @Marje and Gracie - did you realise that I got those really good blue numbers without insulin for five days? Just a thought :)
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But I thought that TR Protocol was dangerous with Caninsulin/Vetuslin as Critter Mom said .... that is why I didn't give her insulin to push her dangerously low .... Elizabeth Campbell said not to let her Nadir go below 5.6 on Caninsulin ..

Smiffy was 16.2 (290) last night at +3 and she is the same this morning at her AMPS so she has held that number for 9 hours even though it is a high one. Surely that would indicate that there is some pancreas activity and/or the Caninsulin/Vetsulin lasts the full 12 hours for Smiffy.

There are a lot of cats that are held in numbers between 8 (144) and lower than the renal threshold on insulin that are not suffering any further damage to their bodies. Elizabeth's Bertie must be the most renowned example of this and I know of others.

I will discuss everthing at length with Smiffy's Vet Roberta and in the meantime I will dose Smiffy to her sliding scale to try to get her back to those nice blue numbers.

Thanks for your help and time ..... I promise I am taking it all on board - just playing my own Devil's advocat if you like (:

I will no matter what keep Smiffy well now that she is back to her old self from being limp and thinking that she was dying back in April!
 
JanetNJ said:
I agree that over 150 I would have given a small dose, esp since it's a human meter. A reading of 180 could easily be like a 220 on my alpha track. She isn't using needles though which is limiting what she can dose.
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I will give her the lower dose next time she is in lower numbers as you suggest Janet .. in the evenings only when I can test her .... I can't risk it in the mornings as I am not around for her Nadir as I have explained lots of times ..... that is my illness and there is little I can do about that in the short term.
 
Looby & Smiffy said:
I will give her the lower dose next time she is in lower numbers as you suggest Janet .. in the evenings only when I can test her .... I can't risk it in the mornings as I am not around for her Nadir as I have explained lots of times ..... that is my illness and there is little I can do about that in the short term.
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Sounds like a plan.
 
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