Gizzy's bouncing

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StephF and Gizzy

StephF and Gizzy

Member Since 2016
Hi! I'm here with a kitty who has numbers that are all over the place. He was given up to my vet by his family for not using the litterbox and for aggression during testing. I have seen no issues with his litterbox nor aggession. The only problem I'm having is in regulation. I'm not sure what to do with him. I'm looking for someone to guide me.
Thanks!
 
Hi Stephanie,
I'm sure the Lantus experts will weigh in eventually. Stating the obvious:
  • Your data is missing for a few days. Do you have it recorded elsewhere?
  • You have some really good numbers at both 2 u and 2.5 u but 2.5 u seems to be a bit better. It's possible that a dose of 2.25 u (eyeballed on the syringe) would be best.
  • You skipped the shot at a BG of 55 but, with guidance/guts/using TR could probably have given it.
Please tell us what you feed Gizzy and whether you've looked at the info stickies to think about which protocol would work best for you. How long you keep a dose and at what BG you drop the dose will depend on the protocol you select. If you feed any dry food at all you'd have to go with SLGS.
 
I have missing data because we were in a motorhome with 5 other pets and the rest of the family was not careful about food. I didn't think it was of any value to poke him knowing it was going to be wacky. I continued on his regular dose. This morning I gave him 2.25U and he is at 215 @ +4. I have started reading stickies. I'll check into protocol in depth tonight.
Thanks!
 
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Hey Stephanie! Glad to see you made it over here!!

For now, let's hold the 2.25U dose and see how Giz does on that......since you're feeding low carb canned and able to test, there's no reason you can't do Tight Regulation. That allows us to change the dose every 3 days (if necessary)

On TR, if he drops below 50, he'd earn a reduction in dose

It is important to get a "before bed" test on the PM cycle too.....most cats go lower at night so it's important to know he'll be safe overnight. Also, without those PM tests, you're missing half the data on Gizmo....and it may be the half that's most important!

Hang in there! It takes a special person to take on a "tough case", so hopefully with everyone's help, we can help you to get Giz better controlled!
 
PM as in middle of the night? I'm doing 10 am and 10 pm shots. Should I change those to earlier times so I can get one before bed? If so, how do I go about changing the time? Also, in the sticky it said to feed smaller meals throughout the day. Right now I'm doing 3/4 can am and pm with tuna at +6. Also with testing more often I'm giving him a bite of tuna each time.
 
StephF said:
I'm doing 10 am and 10 pm shots.
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If you want to stay at 10/10, you'd want to at least get a test at midnight (+2)....that +2 test can be a lot like a crystal ball that lets us know where they might be going later in the cycle. (For some cats, the +3 is better....ECID)

If the +2 is about the same as the Pre-shot, it's usually a pretty normal cycle...gradually going down to nadir and then gradually back up to the next Pre-shot

If the +2 is higher than the PS, it can signal the beginning of a bounce....those are usually the cycles where it's safe to take a break from testing and get some sleep!

If the +2 is lower than the PS, that's your "early warning" that he might be going a lot lower later in the cycle so those are the times when you would need to test more often.

StephF said:
Should I change those to earlier times so I can get one before bed?
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That's what I did.....I absolutely despise mornings so when we first started, I thought "well, ok...every 12 hours....I can do that at 11/11".....which was fine until China went low at night and I ended up being up until 6am testing! Those wee morning hours are tough on us old people....LOL

So I bit the bullet and changed her to 6am/6pm.....I can get up and Test/Feed/Shoot at 6 and usually go back to sleep (heck, these days I don't even fully wake up)....it's a lot easier on me because I can get a lot of tests during the day and at night, I can easily test up until +6 (midnight) without any problem.....that way I know China's safe

StephF said:
If so, how do I go about changing the time?
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You can change your shot times by 15 minutes per cycle, or 30 minutes once a day until you're on the schedule you want to be on

StephF said:
Right now I'm doing 3/4 can am and pm with tuna at +6. Also with testing more often I'm giving him a bite of tuna each time.
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That's fine, but yes, most of us feed multiple small meals because they're easier on the pancreas than feeding 2 large ones. The only time it's really important for you to not feed is the 2 hours preceding Pre-shot times.

Now some cats do best if they get the majority of their carbs before nadir....while others can eat all the way up to +10 without problems.....it's another one of those ECID things that you will have to learn about Giz (Every Cat Is Different)
 
Wowza. This is a whole lotta info! Need to go back and read it again. Thank you so much! I'm feeling really hopeful at this point. It's so nice to have support!
 
StephF said:
Do you have a tough one too?
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Oh gosh, I sure do! I'll trade you your yellows and blues for my reds and blacks! Mine's what they call a "bouncer" and as of yet, very unregulated on Lantus, however, he's only about a week in.

Your numbers actually look pretty darn good. With more data and some fine-tuning of the dosing (with the help of these wonderful folks), I'm sure you'll be seeing more of the nice blues and dark greens!
 
I'm very hopeful at this point. He had a good day today for the first time in a while. Almost 400 ps tonight though. We've got this! These people are so dedicated to supporting us.
 
I'm not sure if I should start a new thread for this or not. Would someone mind looking at Gizzy's spreadsheet and advise on my next step? He's a bit lower than his norm this morning. Thanks!
 
StephF said:
I'm not sure if I should start a new thread for this or not. Would someone mind looking at Gizzy's spreadsheet and advise on my next step? He's a bit lower than his norm this morning. Thanks!
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It's helpful to make a new post every day with the day's numbers (adding them as they come!) You would title the post with the date, the cat's name and the most recent BG #'s along with the time frame they were received. They call these daily posts your kitties "condo" and when you start making them daily (or at whatever interval you'd like) you'll also include the link from the previous day's post so that people can back read if they need some more info on previous conversations. As the day progresses you can go back and update your title to add any new glucose readings.
________________________________________________________

For example, today your post title would read: 3/31 Gizzy AMPS 123; +3 96 (dosing advice needed)

The content of the post would just be your thoughts for the day, your concerns, updates, questions. So you could say something like "I'd love some feedback on Gizzy's numbers today, he's a bit lower than his norm. Any feedback appreciated!

Yesterday's post: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/gizzys-bouncing.175528/#post-1929695

Hope that's helpful! :)
 
Very helpful! Thank you! We will be gone tomorrow from just after his AM dose for about 10 hours. I'm a little concerned about him being this low today then leaving tomorrow, he won't have any snacks throughout the day. Do you have any thoughts?
 
StephF said:
Very helpful! Thank you! We will be gone tomorrow from just after his AM dose for about 10 hours. I'm a little concerned about him being this low today then leaving tomorrow, he won't have any snacks throughout the day. Do you have any thoughts?
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You could just leave some food out for him to eat when he feels like it, guessing you don't have a timer
 
StephF said:
I don't have a timer. Are those only for dry or wet too? I think I saw one on the for sale list here. I'll go look. Thanks!
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You can use the ones that open a door or an opening with wet food with out a problem you can either just leave the food there if it's only a few ours or freeze it and place the frozen pice inside and it will slowly melt so that when the feeding time comes it will be ok

Just don't use the ones that measure the amount and automatically serve it because those are for dry food only
 
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