1/7 Chino AMPS=451, +3=401, +7=266, PMPS=484, +2=502, +4=500, +6=479

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Adrian and Chino

Adrian and Chino

Member Since 2016
Yesterday

I will be switching to TR tomorrow and increasing the dose from 3.25 to 3.5 units. Nadirs are mainly in the 300s, occasionally in the 200s. There is WAY too much red on his spreadsheet.

In other news, I really like these UltiCare VetRx syringes! I've drawn up 3 doses now with virtually no bubbles - just a tiny one on the plunger that was easily dislodged with a few flicks. Though they are more expensive than the CarePoint syringes with only 60 in a box.

One disadvantage: the cap has a very tight fit. Once I get the cans out, the cats start WAILING and they don't stop until I set the bowls down in front of them. It takes me a lot longer to measure a dose that falls between the markings, so I've started preparing the dose before I get the food out, but I bent the needle trying to get the cap back on and had to discard and start over :(
 
Good luck with the dosecrease, tomorrow.
Can you just put the cap part way on, just enough to cover the needle?
 
Yep, that's it. I had no idea that insulin syringes could be inaccurate, let alone that syringes from the same box can be off by different amounts! I just assumed there were quality standards for devices used to administer high-risk meds that are measured on a very fine scale... I found the ISO standards for insulin syringes (ISO 8537:2016), but I can't actually read them unless I pay $173.

Still above 400 at +3. The next check will be at +7. I only give them treats once or twice a week now, and even then, it's a small piece of freeze-dried chicken liver, or 2 freeze-dried shrimp that are smaller than my smallest fingernail.

Questions: Is it ever acceptable to feed treats instead of 1 tsp food or gravy when trying to keep the blood sugar from going too low? Or would it take too long for them to have an effect, since they're dry? What is the % range for MC vs. HC food?
 
I think the freeze dried all meat treats are 0% carbs, so I wouldn't use those to keep his BG up. If you're talking about a dry treat like Temptations, they may work eventually. I just think they probably would take longer to effect his BGs than some wet gravy from a higher carb food.
LC is under 10%. MC is 10% to about 15% to 19%?. And HC is usually over 20% carbs.
 
They left Chino's chart on the desk of a vet who wasn't in yesterday and won't be in until Monday... so hopefully I'll get his lab results on Monday. The most recent ones from the emergency clinic are in the spreadsheet.

Doodles & Karen said:
Most of use this chart to find the various foods.
Click to expand...

Thanks! The vet Chino saw had a list, but didn't have it with him at the time. They're going to fax that as well.

I also found a list that has information from 2014 and 2015, but the % carbs/protein/fat don't add up to 100... unless it's listing percent by volume rather than percent of calories: http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm
 
Adrian and Chino said:
I will be switching to TR tomorrow and increasing the dose from 3.25 to 3.5 units. Nadirs are mainly in the 300s, occasionally in the 200s. There is WAY too much red on his spreadsheet.
Click to expand...
As long as you don't see any blue, today or tonight, a dosecrease would be the way to go.
 
So yesterday, I wrote about the possibility of missing all of his nadirs because I haven't gotten a single +7. It was wishful thinking, because the lowest number on the SS is usually the +6 or the +8, but his nadir was actually at +7 today! An hour later, it went up from 266 to 301. There will be more +7 checks going forward.
 
Adrian and Chino said:
his nadir was actually at +7 today
Click to expand...
It just occurred to me that it could've been at +6. All I know is that he either hit his nadir, started coming back up, or was already going up when I checked at +7 :( I hate not knowing, but I can't bring myself to jab him with a needle for 3 or 4 hours in a row just to see which of 3 purple or yellow numbers is lowest.
 
The nadirs can change from day to day. If you move the tests around, eventually you'll be able to see with enough data, where he usually has his nadir. If you are doing TR, it looks like he could use a dosecrease starting tomorrow morning, depending on tonight's cycle. Dose threat!
You can probably hold off on testing until PMPS and then get a couple tests in tonight.
 
484 PMPS... 3 hours later, we're at 502. His fur didn't feel wet after the shot (I checked), but it does smell like insulin.

Question: I know the cycle count is supposed to start over after a furshot... but this would've been the 6th cycle with a dose increase tomorrow morning, and he REALLY needs the increase. Can I still move forward with the new dose tomorrow?
 
I would say in this particular case only....yes it would be safe for you to increase tomorrow. Any lurkers this is for Chino only since there are enough tests to warrant the increase.
 
Thanks. Looking at previous PM cycles, he went higher on 1/02 and 1/05 as well, and I know those weren't fur shots... so I'm hoping that this wasn't, either, and maybe I'll see a better number at +5. (His fur was wet the morning of 12/29.) I can't pick him up without feeling his spine, his ribs, his hip bones. It feels like we keep taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
 
Just realized that 502 was a +2! Not a +3. He's almost always higher at +2 from a food spike, which is why I had intended to wait until +3 to test. Will be getting a +4 in 10 minutes.
 
...no change. Wonderful. +4 was 500. Of the four previous PM +4s, 2 are higher than the pre-shot and 2 are lower. But tonight's PMPS was the highest since I switched to the human meter, and the first black number in the same time period. Urine still negative for ketones at this point.
 
Maybe only a partial fur shot tonight? You might want to indicate something on the spreadsheet to show a partial fur shot. I put something like FS? in the units column. For those of us looking at spreadsheet, it helps us give dosing suggestions if we know there might have been an issue with a particular shot.

Good luck with the dose increase. As for figuring out the nadirs, it becomes much easier when you start seeing lower numbers. They can vary a lot at higher numbers.
 
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