Help me interpret results

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I read the post you linked...thank you for that and welcome to this forum :)

First, I need to be quite honest that you are missing half your very important data by not getting any tests at night after her preshot. Cats will often go lower at night and it’s possible she is going lower and then bouncing up during the day thus potentially why she’s rising after her shot. Without some evening cycle data, we won’t know.

To that end, if you could even get a +2 and a before bed test, it would be very helpful.

Once we can see if she is going lower or if she’s not and the dose is just not enough, we can better advise you. I read that you are concerned about increasing the dose. Please correct me if I’m wrong but it sounds as if the vets had you increase it too much and her BG dropped too low?

We do relatively small increases here in this forum so that we don’t bypass a good dose and risk overdosing. But you must also do some testing. My suggestion is to try and get at least one more test in during the day, if possible, and the two tests I suggested at night for a few cycles so we can then see if she needs an increase in insulin.

If she does need more insulin, she needs what she needs and by not increasing the dose if she needs it, you are putting her at risk for glucose toxicity (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/feline-diabetes-and-glucose-toxicity-links.62944/). My hyperlink function is not working right now on my tablet so Justin click on the blue link

My philosophy has always been “don’t get attached to a dose”. :)

You’ve already been given info about DKA so I won’t go over that again. But we are happy to help you figure this out and get her into better numbers if you are willing to fill in some of the “pieces of the puzzle” on the SS.

I also saw you ask what BG is too low to shoot. In this forum, most members, once they have data and experience dealing with green numbers, shoot everything above 50 as long as they have supplies and are available to test. However, for members without data, we ask that, starting out, if you get a 150 or below a try shot time, that you don’t feed, but post and ask for help and someone will walk you through the options. Be sure your subject line says, for example, something like “3/27 Pretty Girl PMBG 140 stalling, need help shooting lower” that catches the eye.

I’ll be happy to check back later and answer any questions you have.
 
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Thank you for your reply and all the helpful info. I will test at night too - didn't understand that was so important.

Is there a thread here already about bouncing? I've suspected something like this for a long time but didn't have a name for it or know much about it.
 
Bouncing is the liver’s natural reaction to lower numbers. It’s possible our kitties are diabetic for a bit before we k ow it and the liver gets accustomed to those higher numbers. When the insulin starts to bring the BG down, not even low but lower than what it is used to, then it and and the pancreas react by putting counter regulatory hormones and glucagon I to the blood and thus raising the BG.

It can take up to six cycles to clear that excess glucose out of the blood. The other thing that can cause bouncing is a fast drop in BG.

Here is an interesting discussion in bouncing. Ha...my hyperlink worked that time!
 
Marje and Gracie said:
Bouncing is the liver’s natural reaction to lower numbers. It’s possible our kitties are diabetic for a bit before we k ow it and the liver gets accustomed to those higher numbers. When the insulin starts to bring the BG down, not even low but lower than what it is used to, then it and and the pancreas react by putting counter regulatory hormones and glucagon I to the blood and thus raising the BG.

It can take up to six cycles to clear that excess glucose out of the blood. The other thing that can cause bouncing is a fast drop in BG.

Here is an interesting discussion in bouncing. Ha...my hyperlink worked that time!
Click to expand...
Thanks for this info. I will read the thread you linked.
 
JeanW said:
Her BG was lowest of all when she hadn't had a shot in nearly 3 days.

What gives?
Click to expand...

How do we explain this?

Edited to add - that I know well it still was not very low but close to 200 points lower than she was 3 hours after today's shot.

Is it likely that now 5 hours later her BG is much much lower??
 
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When you consider that every meter can have up to a 20% variance, she’s actually pretty flat. The lowest number I see for her on a day you didn’t shoot is 444 which is not that much lower than 512.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
When you consider that every meter can have up to a 20% variance, she’s actually pretty flat. The lowest number I see for her on a day you didn’t shoot is 444 which is not that much lower than 512.
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The preshoot number is 398 after not having insulin for most of 3 days.

Now 6 hours after the test/feed/shoot rather than being at a low it has climbed to 521. Any ideas why?
 
JeanW said:
The preshoot number is 398 after not having insulin for most of 3 days.

Now 6 hours after the test/feed/shoot rather than being at a low it has climbed to 521. Any ideas why?
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Ah yes, I see that now. Thank you!!

First, I’m going to say that it’s still high so it doesn’t matter. It isn’t like she dropped to 90 with no insulin. ;) But, it is important to answer your question because you are in a learning mode.

When we raise the dose or restart insulin, you can often see a rise in numbers for 24+ hours from new dose wonkiness which could explain the reason her numbers went up after you restarted insulin.

It’s possible that she is just high and flat because she needs more insulin. It is also possible that her best dose is a little less than 1u and once you restarted insulin, it dropped her lower and she bounced and hasn’t cleared it yet (remember it could take up through six cycles to clear). We don’t have the data to know.

That’s why it’s important to grab those extra tests. You might feel there is no need to test because she’s high but she might not be staying high. My own Gracie could be 350 at AMPS, 50 at mid cycle, and 380 at PMPS. If I hadn’t tested her, I’d have never caught the low number and I would think she needs more insulin. That is very common with newly diagnosed cats whose liver is still getting used to lower numbers.

As far as 512 at +3 and 521 at +6, you almost can’t get any flatter than that at those high numbers. Those are the same number.
 
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