Would appreciate some guidance this morning

[G & I]

Goma ate ravenously last night as usual. This morning +9 bg was 271 but she is lethargic and I have had to coax her repeatedly to eat anything. I do not have a vet available for the next 4 days. I am due to give her the morning injection in about 2.25 hours but I guess my question would be...How much food do I need to make sure she eats if anything prior to injecting. Will perform the amps in approx. 2 hours from now (8:00 a.m JST which is 6:00 East Coast Time US). I understand no food no inject, but she has eaten a bit now and am getting ready to remove food.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Goma ate ravenously last night as usual. This morning +9 bg was 271 but she is lethargic and I have had to coax her repeatedly to eat anything. I do not have a vet available for the next 4 days. I am due to give her the morning injection in about 2.25 hours but I guess my question would be...How much food do I need to make sure she eats if anything prior to injecting. Will perform the amps in approx. 2 hours from now (8:00 a.m JST which is 6:00 East Coast Time US). I understand no food no inject, but she has eaten a bit now and am getting ready to remove food.

ProZinc is relatively slow in onset so she should be OK if she eats a tablespoon or two of food before her AM shot. It's great that you're finally seeing yellow!

 

[G & I]

ProZinc is relatively slow in onset so she should be OK if she eats a tablespoon or two of food before her AM shot. It's great that you're finally seeing yellow!

Thank you once again. From experience can anyone tell me what would cause this sudden change in appetite? Since I began all this eating was the last problem I had as she was always acting like she was starving. Now for the first time, not eating, and not showing as much interest. Is this a part of her body adjusting?

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Thank you once again. From experience can anyone tell me what would cause this sudden change in appetite? Since I began all this eating was the last problem I had as she was always acting like she was starving. Now for the first time, not eating, and not showing as much interest. Is this a part of her body adjusting?

Generally, the appetite diminishes when the BG is in a good range. You aren't there yet so the lack of appetite is something to monitor closely. If necessary you might have to syringe feed a wet slurry of her canned food. You also might have to tempt her to eat by offering higher carb food, canned salmon, tuna, sardines, etc. I'm not sure if you have urine ketone test strips yet. If you do, do your best to check her urine for ketones. If they build up they can make your kitty feel ill and not want to eat.

 

[G & I]

Generally, the appetite diminishes when the BG is in a good range. You aren't there yet so the lack of appetite is something to monitor closely. If necessary you might have to syringe feed a wet slurry of her canned food. You also might have to tempt her to eat by offering higher carb food, canned salmon, tuna, sardines, etc. I'm not sure if you have urine ketone test strips yet. If you do, do your best to check her urine for ketones. If they build up they can make your kitty feel ill and not want to eat.

UPDATE - Goma's appetite mysteriously reappeared. However - her AMPS is initially 193 - I checked again with another poke and strip and got a 224. My question now is inject or not?

 

[Kris & Teasel]

UPDATE - Goma's appetite mysteriously reappeared. However - her AMPS is initially 193 - I checked again with another poke and strip and got a 224. My question now is inject or not?

Excellent news about her appetite! That's a wonderful AMPS but a bit low for the amount of data you have. It would be a shame to skip a dose just as you're getting some traction. Try this: wait about 20 minutes without feeding and retest. If she's above 200, post for advice. You can repeat this stall/no food/retest up to an hour without it affecting your dosing schedule much. You're using a pet meter so it's safest to have her BG close to 250 before giving insulin.

If she gets to 200-ish but not close to 250, post here for advice. We'd likely recommend a reduced dose but how large depends on where she is BG-wise.

 

[G & I]

Excellent news about her appetite! That's a wonderful AMPS but a bit low for the amount of data you have. It would be a shame to skip a dose just as you're getting some traction. Try this: wait about 20 minutes without feeding and retest. If she's above 200, post for advice. You can repeat this stall/no food/retest up to an hour with it affecting your dosing schedule much. You're using a pet meter so it's safest to have her BG close to 250 before giving insulin.

If she gets to 200-ish but not close to 250, post here for advice. We'd likely recommend a reduced dose but how large depends on where she is BG-wise.

Okay - Will test in 20 minutes (About 8:40 pm East coast time)- She was just finishing some lightly cooked chicken that she loves. What type of high calorie food would I keep on hand. I have a bottle of Royal Canin Recovery Support Liquid that has 1kl per ml. Thought it may come in handy someday. One other question - When I take two bg tests back to back to verify that what I am seeing as true. Which should I post in the spreadsheet for everyone? Can I place the comment about this in the remarks as I have done on this occasion?

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Okay - Will test in 20 minutes (About 8:40 pm East coast time)- She was just finishing some lightly cooked chicken that she loves. What type of high calorie food would I keep on hand. I have a bottle of Royal Canin Recovery Support Liquid that has 1kl per ml. Thought it may come in handy someday.

If she's willing to eat her regular food along with some chicken, no need to add anything different. It's when they won't eat their usual that you have to tempt them with anything and not worry about carbs.

Note that when you retest the result could be influenced by the chicken she just ate. That's why the technique is to stall without feeding, then retest. We can work around it this time - chicken is low carb.

 

[G & I]

If she's willing to eat her regular food along with some chicken, no need to add anything different. It's when they won't eat their usual that you have to tempt them with anything and not worry about carbs.

Note that when you retest the result could be influenced by the chicken she just ate. That's why the technique is to stall without feeding, then retest. We can work around it this time - chicken is low carb.

My apologies - Her initial injection time wasn't until 10:20 am (8:20 pm east coast) so I was feeding to be sure I could inject. Then I read your post.
I'll learn...just not as fast as I apparently need to.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

My apologies - Her initial injection time wasn't until 10:20 am (8:20 pm east coast) so I was feeding to be sure I could inject. Then I read your post.
I'll learn...just not as fast as I apparently need to.

No problem. Just do that extra test now - or soon - and post the result. Once I see it I'll suggest what dose to give.

 

[G & I]

No problem. Just do that extra test now - or soon - and post the result. Once I see it I'll suggest what dose to give.

BG is now 328 .

 

[Kris & Teasel]

BG is now 328 .

OK. That is now going to be your AMPS for your SS. Put the 193 in the +11 box for last night's data. You can give the full dose of 2 u with this BG level. I suggest a test at +2 to see what's going on. If that +2 test is significantly lower it can mean that the rest of the cycle might be a bit more "active" - ie. BG might drop more than you've seen so far. If +2 is higher or about the same as AMPS the cycle will likely be calm.

 

[G & I]

OK. That is now going to be your AMPS for your SS. Put the 193 in the +11 box for last night's data. You can give the full dose of 2 u with this BG level. I suggest a test at +2 to see what's going on. If that +2 test is significantly lower it can mean that the rest of the cycle might be a bit more "active" - ie. BG might drop more than you've seen so far. If +2 is higher or about the same as AMPS the cycle will likely be calm.

Thank you so very much for being there for Goma and I. Have given her usual injection and will test again in 2 hours. Is it safe for me to go out for an hour but less than 2?

Hope you and yours have a safe, healthy, uneventful New Year. New Years eve day here now.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Thank you so very much for being there for Goma and I. Have given her usual injection and will test again in 2 hours. Is it safe for me to go out for an hour but less than 2?

Hope you and yours have a safe, healthy, uneventful New Year. New Years eve day here now.

You're welcome! We all had help when we arrived here. Yes, it's safe for you to go out. I hope she continues to eat for you - so very important!

Happy New Year's Eve to you!

 

[Djamila]

It's great to see Goma getting some blues and yellows! Kris has given you some great suggestions tonight for how to handle those surprisingly low PS numbers that pop up once in awhile. The stalling technique will quite often allow you to shoot the full dose which is ideal. You're doing a great job of taking care of Goma! And yes, you can safely go out for a couple of hours. Prozinc doesn't usually kick-in for a couple of hours, so the +2 is really the first time you're likely to see a response, and often it's after that. Happy New Year!!!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

And don't panic if she throws out some high numbers again. It's rarely a smooth transition down to consistently good numbers.

 

[G & I]

You're welcome! We all had help when we arrived here. Yes, it's safe for you to go out. I hope she continues to eat for you - so very important!

Happy New Year's Eve to you!

She is eating again as we speak and I'll leave the food out for her. I had initially thought I found an emergency vet service here but after reading reviews of what others have experienced am not comfortable. So I am literally - on my own - with this. You all have been a blessing.

 

[G & I]

And don't panic if she throws out some high numbers again. It's rarely a smooth transition down to consistently good numbers.

Got it - I'll try to limit my usage of the panic button..

 

[Kris & Teasel]

She is eating again as we speak and I'll leave the food out for her. I had initially thought I found an emergency vet service here but after reading reviews of what others have experienced am not comfortable. So I am literally - on my own - with this. You all have been a blessing.

Well, you're not really on your own. You have FDMB and I dare say we can be more helpful to you than most vets.

 

[G & I]

Well, you're not really on your own. You have FDMB and I dare say we can be more helpful to you than most vets.

You are so right in all areas. As you also suggested, her +2 reading was very high again at 524 as posted on ss. Will be checking her again in a few more hours after you all are sound asleep. Not panicking since you already warned me.