Still bouncing, then hypo, what do,I do

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Yes, please do check here before you give his shot. He’s reacting strongly to the insulin and his dose needs to come down. I think you said no one is around through the day to keep an eye on him, right? He might be in higher numbers through the day because of the rebound from the overnight lows.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, please do check here before you give his shot. He’s reacting strongly to the insulin and his dose needs to come down. I think you said no one is around through the day to keep an eye on him, right? He might be in higher numbers through the day because of the rebound from the overnight lows.
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My husband is there on wed and thurs, he’s gonna check him at +4 if you think that’s ok, if not he can check anytime, I’m sorry for not checking first, I will from now on
 
Bellasmom said:
My husband is there on wed and thurs, he’s gonna check him at +4 if you think that’s ok, if not he can check anytime, I’m sorry for not checking first, I will from now on
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That's great! Get a +4 test. Will your husband post it here or can you via your phone?
 
Bellasmom said:
BG218
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Good! He's coming down quickly from the red bounce number. Ask your husband to get a +6. The fact that he's coming down with ease suggests to me that the 2 u is too high but I don't think he'll dive into lime green through the day. I recommend dropping to 1 u tonight.

Also - low numbers will make them more insulin sensitive for a cycle or two afterward. That's contributing to the drop today as well.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Good! He's coming down quickly from the red bounce number. Ask your husband to get a +6. The fact that he's coming down with ease suggests to me that the 2 u is too high but I don't think he'll dive into lime green through the day. I recommend dropping to 1 u tonight.

Also - low numbers will make them more insulin sensitive for a cycle or two afterward. That's contributing to the drop today as well.
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214
 
Kris & Teasel said:
He's safe through the day today. I still recommend dropping to 1 u tonight and leaving the dose there through tomorrow.
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Ok thanks, it amazes me how much you know all about this, I sometimes get so confused as to why it changes so much and I want you to know all your help is truly appreciated
 
Bellasmom said:
Ok thanks, it amazes me how much you know all about this, I sometimes get so confused as to why it changes so much and I want you to know all your help is truly appreciated
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You're welcome! I've learned from others here on FDMB. I came here 18 months ago because I was clueless about how to deal with my very unpredictable cat. Many, many posts and lots of reading/spreadsheet studying later I'm starting to see some things more clearly. :smuggrin:
 
Kris & Teasel said:
You're welcome! I've learned from others here on FDMB. I came here 18 months ago because I was clueless about how to deal with my very unpredictable cat. Many, many posts and lots of reading/spreadsheet studying later I'm starting to see some things more clearly. :smuggrin:
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436 at +8
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Try 2 u again today. If possible get a test between +4 and +7.
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I gave 1u this am, he gets it at 630am so I wasn’t sure what dose, since it was lower this am than past cpl days I used 1u, I probably didn’t give enough since you said 2u today, I am trying but his does is so early in the am cause I have to go to work I wasn’t sure what to do
 
Bellasmom said:
I gave 1u this am, he gets it at 630am so I wasn’t sure what dose, since it was lower this am than past cpl days I used 1u, I probably didn’t give enough since you said 2u today, I am trying but his does is so early in the am cause I have to go to work I wasn’t sure what to do
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My husband can test today while I’m at work
 
Bellasmom said:
I gave 1u this am, he gets it at 630am so I wasn’t sure what dose, since it was lower this am than past cpl days I used 1u, I probably didn’t give enough since you said 2u today, I am trying but his does is so early in the am cause I have to go to work I wasn’t sure what to do
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No worry - you can always increase tonight. Have you tried testing his urine for ketones. That's important too and easier than you think. I'm pretty sure I gave you the how-to tips.
 
Bellasmom said:
Couldn’t test now, he heard beep on machine and hauled butt under bed, he’s never done that before, his paws must be getting sore and he is tired of getting stuck, my poor baby
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Don't push it. Maybe try later. With the 1 u dose he won't likely drop low.
 
Try for a before bed test tonight. I suggest one more day at 2 u tomorrow. Depending on those numbers I might suggest moving up to 2.25 u on Saturday. Did you get syringes with half unit marks?

If you're surprised by a yellow between 200 and 250 tomorrow AM, drop the dose to 1.75 u if you can eyeball it. It that worries you try 1.5 u. I don't think you'll have to do that but they can and do surprise us!
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Try for a before bed test tonight. I suggest one more day at 2 u tomorrow. Depending on those numbers I might suggest moving up to 2.25 u on Saturday. Did you get syringes with half unit marks?

If you're surprised by a yellow between 200 and 250 tomorrow AM, drop the dose to 1.75 u if you can eyeball it. It that worries you try 1.5 u. I don't think you'll have to do that but they can and do surprise us!
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Yes I got syringes with half units, and no, no yellow this am
 
Bellasmom said:
Keep 2 tonight then?
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I prefer to start a new dose in the AM on a day I can monitor. Your choice, though. You can increase tonight but make sure to get a before bed test. Sometimes they can have an initial “excited” response to a new dose and then they settle down.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
I prefer to start a new dose in the AM on a day I can monitor. Your choice, though. You can increase tonight but make sure to get a before bed test. Sometimes they can have an initial “excited” response to a new dose and then they settle down.
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Tomorrow is fine, I will be here with him all weekend, I just wanted to be sure, thanks
 
Is there a glucose meter that works well and the strips aren’t so expensive, these strips cost me around 46.00 for 50, I see what you use and also quite a few people use relion, is that one pretty good
 
Bellasmom said:
Is there a glucose meter that works well and the strips aren’t so expensive, these strips cost me around 46.00 for 50, I see what you use and also quite a few people use relion, is that one pretty good
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Yes, most of us use a human meter because the pet meter strips are SO expensive. The ReliOn Micro and Confirm from Walmart are popular because the need only a tiny blood drop to give a reading. They read lower but we can help you with that.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, most of us use a human meter because the pet meter strips are SO expensive. The ReliOn Micro and Confirm from Walmart are popular because the need only a tiny blood drop to give a reading. They read lower but we can help you with that.
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Can’t recheck, he ran under bed and WILL not come out, should I be worried, he ate quite a bit
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, most of us use a human meter because the pet meter strips are SO expensive. The ReliOn Micro and Confirm from Walmart are popular because the need only a tiny blood drop to give a reading. They read lower but we can help you with that.
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He was really picky at eating this am, I opened up 4 different flavors of fancy feast and he really didn’t want any of them, he ate Stella and chewys and wanted orijen dry, he meowed and meowed, guess I’m gonna go get something different for him, I’ve tried Dave’s, nope, friskies, he picks at, I think he just wants his old life back where he can have what he wants, he doesn’t understand. I do feed my other cats dry and wet, I tried taking away the dry food from everyone and I didn’t have many cats eating
 
It's very frustrating when they're picky eaters. I have to go out now for a couple of hours. Do what you can and I'll check in later.
 
Make notes on the right side of your SS about what and how much you fed to get his BG up. It’ll be good reference for the future.
 
Have I given you this link before? http://catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Here are a number of tips I've read on FDMB about transitioning or making wet food more palatable to fussy cats:
  • crush up some kibble that they like and put it on top of wet food
  • add tuna water (plain water, not oil) to wet food
  • shake parmesan cheese on the wet food
  • buy some Fortiflora from your vet (a powdered probiotic to help with digestive problems) and sprinkle a little on the wet food - most cats really like it.
Some people resort to Young Again Zero kibble that can be bought online. It's very low carb. Another low carb kibble is Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein.
https://www.youngagainpetfood.com/zero-formula.html
https://www.drelseys.com/clean-protein/
Both companies will send you a free sample if you contact them. Dr. Elsey's makes a canned version of Clean Prtotein as well.
 
New plan for the next few cycles: drop back to 1 u.

He's dropped too low twice now on the 2 u dose. The higher numbers have been inflated from bouncing. I based the suggestion to increase to 2.25 u on those numbers. That they were bounce-inflated wasn't immediately apparent after 20 Feb but now seems to be the case. He's also more insulin sensitive from those lime green numbers.

If 1 u seems too low after a couple of days it can be slowly increased. You can see, I think, how tricky it is to get a good dose range when the dose has been too high resulting in very low numbers that make him insulin sensitive at the same time as they cause him to soar into high pre shot numbers. You'll get there ...
 
I see the dark green on your spreadsheet. That's a lovely number. Did it take a lot of intervention with dry food and homey to get him there?

Your thoughts on y suggestion to drop to 1 u?
 
Bellasmom said:
We are 480 right now, I don’t understand why it goes from 1 extreme to the other
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The highs are a rebound in reaction to the low numbers you've had. We call it bouncing. Here's something I wrote a while ago to explain it:
  1. BG goes low OR lower than usual OR drops too quickly.
  2. Kitty's body panics and thinks there's danger (OMG! My BG is too low!).
  3. Complex physiologic processes take glycogen stored in the liver (I think of it as "bounce fuel"), convert it to glucose and dump it into the bloodstream to counteract the perceived dangerously low BG.
  4. These processes go into overdrive in kitties who are bounce prone and keep the BG propped up varying lengths of time (AKA bouncing).
  5. Bounce prone kitty repeats this until his body learns that healthy low numbers are safe. Some kitties are slow learners.
  6. Too high a dose of insulin can keep them bouncing over and over until the " bounce fuel" runs out and they crash - ie., have a hypo episode. That's why we worry so much about kitties that have had too high a starting dose prescribed by the vet and the owner isn't home testing.
So: insulin dose is too high --> BG drops too low --> kitty's body tries to protect itself by putting glucose into the bloodstream, getting it from a stored form in the liver --> BG shoots up too high.

I hope you drop the dose to 1 u tonight so we can get him settled.
 
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