? 5/3 Dave AMPS 328, +2 308, +4 140, +4.5 86 +5 77, +6 52 - Dropping too fast?

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panda28

panda28

Member Since 2017
I am testing Dave for Jacquie while she is at school and he has dropped quite quickly from 308+2 to 140+4. A similar thing happened the other day and I fed him a sachet of high calorie food , but it wasn't probably the best thing to do. Should I give him a couple of spoons of food ? and if so high calorie or normal food. I am testing him again soon. Any advice would be great because I can't contact Jacquie right now


http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/5-3-dave-furshot-and-dose-increase.177322/
 
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Jacqui here, he's dropped again to 86 at +4.5. Mum's starting to worry, and wants to know if she should give some glucose.
 
He has dropped again to 77(+5) He was 86 (+4 1/2 but I didn't know how to put the results on the spreadsheet). I have given him a couple of teaspoons of high calorie food. Not sure what to do now, he is still dropping, but slower.
 
That is good that your giving small amounts of HC wait 15 to 20 minutes and test again if he is going up you can wait and not feed and test in 30 minutes.
If your cat is testing in low numbers and you are not getting a quick response to your post, there are several things you need to do. (Low numbers are under 50mg/dL or 2.8 mmol/L.)
  • Depending on how carbohydrate sensitive your cat is, feed approximately a teaspoon or less of gravy from high carb food or high carb food only. (If you have a cat with GI issues, using a couple of drops of syrup plus low carb food is an alternative.)
  • Test again in 15 – 20 min. Depending on the numbers, give more HC food.
  • Repeat the above steps every 15 – 20 min. until your cat tests in the 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) or above range for 2 consecutive tests. Continue to feed in small amounts to keep numbers in a safe range.
  • Test in 30 - 40 min. and repeat the test and feed process until there are 2 consecutive tests where numbers are stable or rising.
  • Test in an hour and follow the same steps
  • Hope this helps!
  • your doing a great job!
 
I need to add that 77 +5 is a safe number
He is surfing right along and that is what you want.
 
panda28 said:
Jacqui here, he's dropped again to 86 at +4.5. Mum's starting to worry, and wants to know if she should give some glucose.
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You did the right thing giving HC food. So far he's safe. Test after 20 minutes. If he's holding around the same number, don't feed, wait another 20 minutes and test again. If he's dropped again give another couple of teaspoons of HC food. Wait 20 min, retest.
 
He seems to have stopped dropping, the few teaspoons of food have slowed it down. I just tested him and he is 70 (+5 1/2).
 
panda28 said:
He has dropped again to 77(+5) He was 86 (+4 1/2 but I didn't know how to put the results on the spreadsheet). I have given him a couple of teaspoons of high calorie food. Not sure what to do now, he is still dropping, but slower.
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DebG said:
You would put 140 +4 in the same box put 86 +4.5
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Thanks for that, he is OK . I am still getting used to what to do when it drops suddenly and when to start worrying. Once he begins to slow I relax . I will fill out his spread sheet with the extra info, it will be helpful to use next time ,
 
Hi Jacqui and Mum,

Did you give 1 unit of insulin this morning.? Nothing is in the box.

One thing you could do to try to stop the big drops that seem to be happening at around +4 to +5 is give him some of his normal food at +4 to see if that slows the drop. It might be a bit of trial and error until you get it right but it is worth a try.
It is called feeding the curve and is one way of managing the drop.
I used to use it a lot with Sheba as she was a big bouncer and diver.
 
Bron and Sheba said:
Hi Jacqui and Mum,

Did you give 1 unit of insulin this morning.? Nothing is in the box.

One thing you could do to try to stop the big drops that seem to be happening at around +4 to +5 is give him some of his normal food at +4 to see if that slows the drop. It might be a bit of trial and error until you get it right but it is worth a try.
It is called feeding the curve and is one way of managing the drop.
I used to use it a lot with Sheba as she was a big bouncer and diver.
Click to expand...


He went back to getting his normal f1u this morning. It sounds like a good idea to spread his food out more.
 
panda28 said:
He went back to getting his normal f1u this morning. It sounds like a good idea to spread his food out more.
Click to expand...
I used to divide Sheba's morning food up into three equal lots and give it at AMPS, +3 and +5 and do the same at night. That way the food is more spread out and works well with the insulin and hopefully that might slow the curve for you. You might have to try slightly different times to fit in with how he responds to the insulin.
If Dave still drops low, then you can give some higher carb food or if you are home and can test, you could let him drop lower and see if he earns a reduction by going under 50. TR usually recommends you don't give HC until he drops under 50 but you need to be comfortable with that. Every cat is different and you need to know how your cat responds to food.
If he ever drops really low....under 50 or 40 and you have given some HC and it is not bringing him up, give him a drop of honey about the size of a big Smartie and that should bring him up. But honey only lasts about an hour so you need to be vigilant.
 
Wow, he sure recovered from that fur shot fast! Nice work, Team Dave, keeping him safe!

As was previously mentioned, we typically don't suggest HC food unless kitty is at 50 or under, but Dave was dropping fairly fast, early in his cycle, so it was probably a good choice here. Next time you might try to just give him LC and see if that slows him down at all (assuming one of you is available to monitor, in case it doesn't). Early on, this really is a game of trial and error, figuring out what works and what doesn't for your cat. It's great that you're putting notes in the comments section of the SS on what you did, so you have some guidelines for next time. And there will be a next time!
 
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