2/2 | Moose | PMPS = 82, +1.5 = 59, +2 = 27, + 2.5 = 34, + 3= 39, +3.5 = 47, +4 = 51, +4.5 = 77

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Moose (GA) & Rae

Moose (GA) & Rae

Member Since 2017
Good morning, kitties & beans! :cat:

Link to yesterday's condo.

Moosey was very happy to see my this morning, weaving in and out of my legs like we was slalom skiing as I went to let the dogs out to pee. He's still upset at my BF for not feeding him this morning. He doesn't care that he's on a specific schedule, he just wants the yum yums!

I did not shoot again this morning...3 NS mornings in a row. He nadirs early in the cycle, and I'm not able to be home at that time to check.

Tomorrow is Saturday though, so no work schedule to impede a morning shot and checks throughout the day! I will be performing a full curve tomorrow to see how Moose is handling the .5. After last night, it seems as though he is handling it pretty well, but I did not get as many tests as I should have (the sleep fairies took me away...)

I mentioned this in my last thread, but wanted to post here as well. Does anyone have any tips/tricks for balancing late night checks to make sure that kitty is in the safe zone and their work schedule? I'm really struggling with staying up as late as I need to in order to ensure that Moose is surfing safely. I think I will push Moose's shot time up to the earliest time possible (in 15 increments) so that it will give me extra time for checks before I have to be in bed.

Hugs to all kitties & beans! Have a safe and happy Friday! TGIF! :D
 
Hi Rae , a lot of peeps here that work will drink a large glass of water before going to bed so they have to get up a pee. Or just set an alarm for when you think you will catch the nadir.

Glad it's Friday and you can get some more data this weekend. :cat:
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hi Rae , a lot of peeps here that work will drink a large glass of water before going to bed so they have to get up a pee. Or just set an alarm for when you think you will catch the nadir.

Glad it's Friday and you can get some more data this weekend. :cat:
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Good morning Bobbie!

Great idea about drinking water, and the alarms! Thank you! I'm hoping that the data this weekend will be very informative.
 
From yesterday's post:

Moose & Rae said:
I think I am going to move Moose's shot time up (in 15 min increments of course) to the earliest possible time that I can give it (5:30pm, as I leave work at 5pm) in order to give me a few extra hours to check before I need to be in bed.
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I think this is a really good idea, especially given that Moose (so far) has been an early-nadir kind of guy.
 
Nan & Amber said:
From yesterday's post:



I think this is a really good idea, especially given that Moose (so far) has been an early-nadir kind of guy.
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That is the plan then! :D I'm curious to see how moving his shot time up will influence his PM numbers, since there's usually 1.5 hours from dinner time until shot time. Once I move the shot to 5:30pm, it will be "test, feed, shoot" like it is in the AM.
 
Another question for the day:

Whenever I shoot, I always notice a bubble in the insulin which I feel is affecting the dosage because the bubble is occupying the space where the insulin should be? I always "tap/flick" the needle several times to release the bubble, but it stays put usually (or gets a bit smaller). Any suggestions?
 
@Moose & Rae

Here's my pro-tip:

Once you've drawn your dose (plus whatever excess you're comfortable with), withdraw the needle. With the tip pointed straight up, give the barrel a good thwack with your finger to bring the bubbles to the top.

This next part is counter-intuitive, but it works. I promise. Now, pull back on the plunger to draw in more air. It doesn't have to be much. The equivalent of a few units should be sufficient. This does two things. First, it sucks any liquid still in the needle into the syringe and clears the airway for the next step. Second, for reasons I can't explain, the larger air space helps the bubbles to coalesce.

Then, slowly depress the plunger to expel the air pocket. Once you get a drop of liquid at the needle tip, you should be free of any bubble issues.
 
AZJenks said:
@Moose & Rae

Here's my pro-tip:

Once you've drawn your dose (plus whatever excess you're comfortable with), withdraw the needle. With the tip pointed straight up, give the barrel a good thwack with your finger to bring the bubbles to the top.

This next part is counter-intuitive, but it works. I promise. Now, pull back on the plunger to draw in more air. It doesn't have to be much. The equivalent of a few units should be sufficient. This does two things. First, it sucks any liquid still in the needle into the syringe and clears the airway for the next step. Second, for reasons I can't explain, the larger air space helps the bubbles to coalesce.

Then, slowly depress the plunger to expel the air pocket. Once you get a drop of liquid at the needle tip, you should be free of any bubble issues.
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Oh wow, thank you so much! I will definitely try that tonight!

I do have another question...do you have to draw in any excess? It that extremely important? I haven't been, because insulin is expensive and I can't imagine squirting any of it out onto a tissue...(it seems wasteful?) but if it's super imperative that I include this step then I will.
 
@Moose & Rae

Drawing in excess insulin is not important to getting rid of bubbles, no. If you're to the point where you know how to draw just enough insulin so that you hit your dose line after expelling the bubble, then keep on doing that :) If your dose happens to end up a little short, you can always revisit the pen or vial to draw the rest.
 
AZJenks said:
@Moose & Rae

Drawing in excess insulin is not important to getting rid of bubbles, no. If you're to the point where you know how to draw just enough insulin so that you hit your dose line after expelling the bubble, then keep on doing that :) If your dose happens to end up a little short, you can always revisit the pen or vial to draw the rest.
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Oh I see! It's more of a "tool" to get to the correct dosing. Never thought about it that way, but it makes sense! I'm always on my mark, so it doesn't sound like something that I need to implement (but maybe as I get into the really fine doses, I might!)

Thank you for the explanation :)
 
This goes along with something discussed on my thread earlier. Do the markings on the syringe take into account the amount of insulin in the needle? This would only slightly affect the amount being given, but when you are down to small doses, it could have an impact.
 
Lannie McVern said:
This goes along with something discussed on my thread earlier. Do the markings on the syringe take into account the amount of insulin in the needle? This would only slightly affect the amount being given, but when you are down to small doses, it could have an impact.
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Good question and I'm curious about that as well. Until @AZJenks mentioned it, I had not even thought about there being insulin in the syringe after drawing. It hadn't even crossed my mind.
 
Moose & Rae said:
Good question and I'm curious about that as well. Until @AZJenks mentioned it, I had not even thought about there being insulin in the syringe after drawing. It hadn't even crossed my mind.
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This is interesting. And, I used to use the longer needles, which were also a tiny bit thicker than the shorter needles.
 
Dyana said:
And, I used to use the longer needles, which were also a tiny bit thicker than the shorter needles.
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How I came to even think about this was because in the photo guide for finer dosing it talks about how much is in the needle and how much is in the syringe. They were using 8mm in the guide, but I use 6mm, so I wasn't sure if I needed to take that difference into consideration.
 
Sad to say, I doubt the syringe manufacturers are concerned enough with accuracy to have even thought of this question, let alone take it into account. What you'll notice if you start to compare a lot of syringes side-by-side is that even the markings on the barrel are not consistent, and that's going to throw things off by a lot more than the volume inside the needle itself. That's why a lot of folks have gone to calipers or else a sample syringe with colored water, it's just too hard to get a consistent amount of insulin at the tiny doses otherwise.
 
29 gauge likely holds more insulin in the needle because it's a larger needle (31 being the thinnest would hold the least amount of insulin.)

I've been using the 29 gauge (thickest) because that was just what they had available at walmart in the 30 cc 1/100 (and I just bring a picture of the box/ripped off box top with me each time that I go so that I know exactly which ones I purchased previously.)

Hmm, so I wonder if 31 gauge (width) w/ 6 mm (length) needle would be the *most* accurate because the needle is the thinnest and shortest, so it holds the least amount of extra insulin.

Just talking typing out loud....
 
PMPS = 82

Kind of oddthat the PMPS ended up being the same as the AMPS...the meter did say there was a low battery warning so I changed it right after.

Anyway, since I didn't shoot this morning that allowed me to start his new shot time of 5:30 right away. Let's see how it goes tonight!

@AZJenks - I ended up with a little bit of a bubble, but it was better. I think that I just need to perfect the method! Thank you again for the advice.
 
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Moose & Rae said:
Kind of oddthat the PMPS ended up being the same as the AMPS...
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We call that Bookends! Bubba has had that a few times.

Good luck wit the cycle! I can't see past this year on your SS ( Jan 17th) perhaps that is when you started tracking the BG's, so I am unsure if this is the lowest you've ever shot. If it is, start with a +1 and +2 test to get an idea of how the cycle will play out.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
We call that Bookends! Bubba has had that a few times.

Good luck wit the cycle! I can't see past this year on your SS ( Jan 17th) perhaps that is when you started tracking the BG's, so I am unsure if this is the lowest you've ever shot. If it is, start with a +1 and +2 test to get an idea of how the cycle will play out.
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Bookends, I like that! lol.

Thank you! I was tracking BG's previously for a few years, but I was not as organized with them (did not know about the spreadsheet and was only checking every few months per my vet...) My vet has all of the past curves. But I don't remember ever shooting this low...the numbers were usually around 100-300 if I recall correctly.

I missed the +1, but I can do a +1.5 if that is helpful, and then a +2 (or +2.5).
 
+1.5 = 59

At first I thought Moose was showing signs of confusion, but I think he was just looking for invisible things in my closet lol.

Should I give gravy now, or wait? I'm pretty sure < 50 is when you start giving HC gravy, correct? I'll check him again in 30 min.
 
Moose & Rae said:
+1.5 = 59

At first I thought Moose was showing signs of confusion, but I think he was just looking for invisible things in my closet lol.

Should I give gravy now, or wait? I'm pretty sure < 50 is when you start giving HC gravy, correct? I'll check him again in 30 min.
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Yes, I would try a tsp of gravy and boost him up a bit as it is young in the cycle to be that low.
 
Moose & Rae said:
first I thought Moose was showing signs of confusion, but I think he was just looking for invisible things in my closet lol.
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The first lower numbers that Bubba got he seemed quite confused too. And considering that there is a 20 % + /- meter variance, don't discount your observations of Moose. Give a tsp of gravy and see where he is.
 
Moose & Rae said:
Thank you @Bobbie And Bubba. Tsp of HC given (wasn't sure how to just get the gravy since it had been in the fridge, I'll try a room temp one next time so that I can pour out the gravy.)
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I guess the gravy gets thicker when in the refrigerator? If it's off the shelf, you can pop the top off and use it as a shield and just let some of the gravy trickle onto a dish. Test him again in 30 minutes to see what the gravy did for his numbers. I forget if I mentioned this to you before, but I like to put the number and the HC in the same cell and then when I retest record that as well. It will help you to know what the different carb foods do to his numbers for the next time.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
I guess the gravy gets thicker when in the refrigerator? If it's off the shelf, you can pop the top off and use it as a shield and just let some of the gravy trickle onto a dish. Test him again in 30 minutes to see what the gravy did for his numbers. I forget if I mentioned this to you before, but I like to put the number and the HC in the same cell and then when I retest record that as well. It will help you to know what the different carb foods do to his numbers for the next time.
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Yes it does. I already had an open can of the HC that I had put in the fridge, so the gravy had thickened up. I will definitely do that next time with the room temp HC!

Just about to test him now. Added the 1 tsp HC to the same cell at the +1.5 :)

He is acting normal now though. Decided to bat his jingle ball around and I dangled some strings for him, in which he promptly attacked and rolled around on the floor "fighting" with it. :p
 
And. these are for you! The Coveted Balls of Steel ( BOS) for shooting your lowest pre shot ever!

upload_2018-2-2_19-36-17.png
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
With that low this early, just gravy and karo, you don't want to get him full so he won't eat.
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I gave gravy + Karo....

Won't want to eat? Haha, I'm sorry but I do have to laugh! Moose is hungry 24/7. Has never turned down a meal and is always begging for food!

But I do understand what you're saying, because it's going to be a long night of many HC gravy feedings. I can just never think of him as being "full" because never acts like he is! (Or he is like me and will still eat even if he's not hungry, ha.)
 
I am so happy that Moose is part hog, ( I mean that lovingly as Bubba is too and it works in our benefit for times like now.

So, he has earned another reduction! And even .25 could be tricky. As I said in an earlier post, he could be the poster kitty for no dry food and LC food. If you want to you can abort this cycle and load him up with HC to bring him up so that you aren't up all night as he has made his point.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
I am so happy that Moose is part hog, ( I mean that lovingly as Bubba is too and it works in our benefit for times like now.

So, he has earned another reduction! And even .25 could be tricky. As I said in an earlier post, he could be the poster kitty for no dry food and LC food. If you want to you can abort this cycle and load him up with HC to bring him up so that you aren't up all night as he has made his point.
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Haha, we are lucky to have such good eaters! My heart goes out to those whose kitties struggle to eat :( I wish that I could give them even a quarter of Moose's appy...

I'm prepared to be up all night. I don't have to work tomorrow and had drank some late afternoon coffee just for the occasion. But if it is better for me to abort the cycle then I will! Whatever is best for my boy.
 
Moose & Rae said:
Haha, we are lucky to have such good eaters! My heart goes out to those whose kitties struggle to eat :( I wish that I could give them even a quarter of Moose's appy...

I'm prepared to be up all night. I don't have to work tomorrow and had drank some late afternoon coffee just for the occasion. But if it is better for me to abort the cycle then I will! Whatever is best for my boy.
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It's a caregiver choice at this point.
 
Let's see what the next test is. Last Neko was in the 20's I gave her two large drops of karo and that's all she needed. ECID.
 
+ 2.5 = 34

He's purring, but seems very subdued. He doesn't normally put up too much of a fight when I prick him, but he does usually struggle a little. This time he didn't struggle at all.
 
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