PMPS at 156. Skip dose?

[Susan and Timmy]

Timmy's PMPS was 156. I'm afraid to dose now. Guidance needed .

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

You should do what you are comfortable with, but I think that is a low number to shoot using Vetsulin. I would only do it if you knew you could stay up very late to monitor.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Possibly a reduced shot, but this is really outside my expertise, I don't know how to dose Vetsulin safely with Timmy getting into these lower numbers (which is overall a very good thing!!!!!).

I think at this stage it might be a good idea to start posting in the Vetsulin-specific forum. It's not super-busy, but there are enough experienced people there that you might have a better shot at getting timely and informed answers to your questions (sorry if this answer was late for you ) and also they might be able to give you some more detailed guidance going forward.

The goal is to get Timmy to be in better numbers overall, and he is definitely making moves to show that he is ready to do so , I just don't know enough to be able to help to get him safely there using this particular insulin. But I'm really happy to see him hitting blues regularly as he has been doing lately!

 

[Susan and Timmy]

Possibly a reduced shot, but this is really outside my expertise, I don't know how to dose Vetsulin safely with Timmy getting into these lower numbers (which is overall a very good thing!!!!!).

I think at this stage it might be a good idea to start posting in the Vetsulin-specific forum. It's not super-busy, but there are enough experienced people there that you might have a better shot at getting timely and informed answers to your questions (sorry if this answer was late for you ) and also they might be able to give you some more detailed guidance going forward.

The goal is to get Timmy to be in better numbers overall, and he is definitely making moves to show that he is ready to do so , I just don't know enough to be able to help to get him safely there using this particular insulin. But I'm really happy to see him hitting blues regularly as he has been doing lately!

Thank you for your reply. I am going to skip tonight's dose and see what his number is in the morning. I will start posting on the Vetsulin forum so I can get guidance as to the dosing. He is getting lower numbers, so I am happy, but the dosing is getting tricky for me.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Thank you for your reply. I am going to skip tonight's dose and see what his number is in the morning. I will start posting on the Vetsulin forum so I can get guidance as to the dosing. He is getting lower numbers, so I am happy, but the dosing is getting tricky for me.

OK, good-- gotta say, I am a relieved, even though I hate to see a skipped dose when he's making progress like this! But I think that's another thing about Vetsulin vs. Lantus (which is what I am used to), it is much more forgiving of skipped/changing doses.

 

[Steph&BigKitty]

I think you did the right thing. I know my boy drops like a stone with this vetsulin.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

I think you did the right thing. I know my boy drops like a stone with this vetsulin.

Thank you for the vote of confidence. I appreciate it so much!

 

[Steph&BigKitty]

I'm only about two weeks into my journey with my Big Kitty, and this website. BUT if there's one thing I learned so far it's never to risk a low BG. I've never experienced one, but I can imagine it's traumatic for human and cat both. Just curious how many units your Timmy is on? Kitty is on 1.5u and his numbers are all over the place. But I've seen him drop 200 only 3 hours after a shot. So I really really think you did the right thing. If it were me...No way would I be shooting!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Thank you for the vote of confidence. I appreciate it so much!

Skipping was the right thing to do.

 

[Mum of two felines]

I am glad you skipped. The no shoot number is 200. Have you transitioned him off of dry?

 

[Lisa and Smoky]

You did the right thing in skipping his shot. It's possible with vetsulin he might have had a hypo even with a much lowered dose. He might be a little higher in the morning. Please post for help with dosing if you need too. I'm glad you stuck with your gut feeling, you are keeping him safe.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

I'm only about two weeks into my journey with my Big Kitty, and this website. BUT if there's one thing I learned so far it's never to risk a low BG. I've never experienced one, but I can imagine it's traumatic for human and cat both. Just curious how many units your Timmy is on? Kitty is on 1.5u and his numbers are all over the place. But I've seen him drop 200 only 3 hours after a shot. So I really really think you did the right thing. If it were me...No way would I be shooting!

I haven't experienced a hypo event either, thank goodness! I am terrified of them. Timmy was diagnosed on December 14, 2016. I was blind testing. I still can't believe I was blind testing! Yikes!! I have been here for almost two weeks. These people are amazing. They literally saved Timmy. I was at 4 units of Vetsulin twice a day. The guidance of everyone here helped me get him to a dose of 2 units twice a day, which now seems to be too high.

Big Kitty is really cute.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

You did the right thing in skipping his shot. It's possible with vetsulin he might have had a hypo even with a much lowered dose. He might be a little higher in the morning. Please post for help with dosing if you need too. I'm glad you stuck with your gut feeling, you are keeping him safe.

Thanks. I will be posting in the morning because the 2 units is too much and I'm not sure where he should be now.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

I am glad you skipped. The no shoot number is 200. Have you transitioned him off of dry?

He eats wet during the day. I am still leaving the dry out late at night, but I am feeding the wet food as late into the night as possible and then picking up the dry food early in the morning. It is slower than I would like. I was hoping to take this weekend and do the complete switch, but now with the low numbers over the past few days, I'm not sure how to adjust that dose. Oh how I wish I would have known to switch him to the wet food before I started the insulin, but what's done is done I guess. Now I just have to switch those last six or so hours at night without a hypo event.

 

[Lisa and Smoky]

Thanks. I will be posting in the morning because the 2 units is too much and I'm not sure where he should be now.

If it were smoky I wld give 1.5 or 1.75 units dependibg on what his AMPS is in the morning. You need to know that first before you can figure out what dose to give him. Lots of folks here who can help you out.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Glad everyone is in agreement!

That 176 at +3 was very encouraging, too-- maybe Davey is starting to get used to those lower numbers! He'll still probably bounce, of course, but in the past he's bounced almost immediately after the dose wore off, so it looks like he's starting to get some longer duration of the good numbers. The more he can stay in lower numbers, the more rest his pancreas is getting, and the better chance he has for the cells to heal and start producing their own insulin .

 

[JanetNJ]

Good call skipping. See, this is why we advocate home testing! If you had given 2U without testing at 156 he could have been in real trouble! So nice seeing that great blue preshot!!
Better to be a bit higher today than too low last night. In those red and black numbers I'd stick with 2 units. We want to see more blues. Under 150 is when he's in "healing" numbers.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Will be interesting to see what happens with the 1.5 today-- I definitely see the logic on sticking with 2U when he's so high this morning, but hoping Timmy has some more surprises in store with his response to insulin lately. He's doing great!

 

[Susan and Timmy]

Hi, I dosed Timmy 1.5 units, even though he was in the black this a.m. I knew I was not going to be home as much as I needed to be today to get a tighter handle on his numbers. After his drop over the last few days, I was afraid to give him 2 units if I wasn't going to monitor him as close as usual. And I am not sure of his appetite today, so I gave him 1.5 units tonight, even though he was in the pink.

I have reread the above posts. If he needs to stay under 150 for healing, then I think that I am backing off of his dose too soon and not giving his body a chance to get and stay in the healing range. So do I keep him at the 2 units and back off on an as PS basis or did that big drop mean it was time to lower? This has to be the sugar dance that everyone is talking about in the posts.

One really good thing that has happened is that Timmy has not flooded the litter box over the past 3 or 4 days. He is going normal. I can't believe it! Happy dance!

 

[Lisa and Smoky]

Sorry you didn't hear back from anyone.
Smoky was in red and black numbers for quite some time. I learned on here not to give a larger dose just because his BG was higher. I used to do that and all that happened was him dropping low and bouncing into higher numbers again.
He should be OK with a two unit dose if he is in high reds or black numbers.
It would be nice to get into lower numbers quickly but our sugar babies can't be rushed into that. Timmie's body needs time to adjust to the insulin so his liver doesn't panic and start pumping out extra sugar. Smoky was on vetsulin for 2 and a half months and then I switched to prozinc on Nov 23 which for him works well.

 

[Sootyca]

Sky plumets on vetsulin/caninsulin. It makes dosing her a real lottery - without home testing she would be in real trouble. My vet has now come round to the fact that I do it and is happy for me to control her intake. She was on 1 unit for a while but wasn't responding well. As soon as she increased to 1.5 we have some blues creeping in - I love the blues but it is a worry. I would try to stick with the same dose for a while if you can - if you reduce to 1.5 keep it on that for a few days to see if he levels out.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

Sky plumets on vetsulin/caninsulin. It makes dosing her a real lottery - without home testing she would be in real trouble. My vet has now come round to the fact that I do it and is happy for me to control her intake. She was on 1 unit for a while but wasn't responding well. As soon as she increased to 1.5 we have some blues creeping in - I love the blues but it is a worry. I would try to stick with the same dose for a while if you can - if you reduce to 1.5 keep it on that for a few days to see if he levels out.

Hi, I was reading your signature and noticed Sky had hind leg weakness. In October/November 2016 Timmy was limping his left hind leg. We thought that since he was a big cat at that time, 15 lbs, that he jumped and hurt himself. We went to the vet, they did an X-ray, and it showed some arthritis, but they were thinking torn ACL. He was put on rest to give it time to settle down. Surgery was also discussed. During that time he was somewhat hiding in my closet, just wanting to be alone. It was thought that this was because he was hurting and needed time to heal, but he was still limping on that left hind leg. I now realize that it was the diabetes. A simple ear test would have shown that, and we would be further into Timmy's healing process. Ugh! Beating myself up over that one! The good news is that Timmy's limp is so much better and almost unnoticeable.

Thanks for the guidance with the dosing. The blues are great, but indeed a worry. As long as I am home and can monitor Timmy closely I'm okay with the blues, although as you can see from some of my posts, I freak out a bit.

 

[Susan and Timmy]

Sorry you didn't hear back from anyone.
Smoky was in red and black numbers for quite some time. I learned on here not to give a larger dose just because his BG was higher. I used to do that and all that happened was him dropping low and bouncing into higher numbers again.
He should be OK with a two unit dose if he is in high reds or black numbers.
It would be nice to get into lower numbers quickly but our sugar babies can't be rushed into that. Timmie's body needs time to adjust to the insulin so his liver doesn't panic and start pumping out extra sugar. Smoky was on vetsulin for 2 and a half months and then I switched to prozinc on Nov 23 which for him works well.

I gave Timmy 1.5 units today. He was mid-pink at 349. Both cats apparently boycotted the Glycobalance dry food last night. I get up many times during the night and just check on Timmy and he wanted wet food, so I gave them both some. Then early this morning Timmy opened my bedroom door, we have lever door handles, he just reaches up and opens the door and was actually asking for his wet food. The dry Glycobalance was barely touched by either cat in either bowl. So I guess the transition to wet has been completed. I'm scratching my head this morning because I was really scared to do the night transition to the wet food, and now it's done and he is safe. I guess it's Timmy's world, I just live in it and enjoy him.

So I guess I should stay at the 1.5 for a few more days and see where his numbers go. I'm home for most of this week so I can tightly monitor and test him. I am also looking at the different insulin forums and getting educated in case it is decided that I need to change him for better even coverage.

 

[Lisa and Smoky]

I agree with Sootyca's post above on holding the 1.5u dose for a few days to see where it takes Timmie. He might start having much lower BG's especially if he has stopped eating the dry food and is eating more of the wet food now. You could have to lower his dose when that happens. I am doing a sort of sliding scale dosing with smoky right now as his BG keeps changing so much.

 

[Lisa and Smoky]

Hoping you and Timmie are doing well..