Back on insulin, done with antibiotics

[shelaghc]

Jester will be thrilled once he realizes that I no longer need to put him in the cat in the bag (https://www.cat-in-the-bag.com/) to give him his twice daily antibiotic. (Crossing my fingers that he's completely on the mend.)

But now that he's eating more normally again, yesterday his BG jumped from AMPS of about 180 (w/out insulin) to a PMPS of about 290.


I didn't want to overdo right off the bat, so he got .5U. Weirdly, his BG barely moved - it hovered right around 290 for his +3 and +6.
AMPS today was 273 and he ate nearly a can of food once again.

Now if I can just get him to gain at least three pounds I can stop .
Heck, I'd take two pounds more on his skinny skinny frame.....

 

[shelaghc]

And we're already down to 209 for his pre-injection +11.

Still doing .5U but curious how long that might last.

@Djamila @Kris & Teasel @Rachel
I'm starting to teach the cat sitter how to give Jester his insulin. But I'm pretty sure he won't feel confident enough to do BG tests.

You all said you'd help me with figuring out a reasonably safe standard dosage for him to give to Jester for a weekend.
When should we start working on that?
I know this is too soon. I'm just a bit antsy.

 

[Rachel]

Remind me when you're leaving again? We don't want to decide on a dose too soon, as you know, because those needs change! Probably a few days ahead of time is enough. That way, we'll have recent data and can come up with some good suggestions. How long will you be gone? Just the weekend?

 

[shelaghc]

Remind me when you're leaving again? We don't want to decide on a dose too soon, as you know, because those needs change! Probably a few days ahead of time is enough. That way, we'll have recent data and can come up with some good suggestions. How long will you be gone? Just the weekend?

Memorial Day weekend - leaving on Friday after his AMPS and AM dosage.
Cat sitter is supposed to come a few hours later to give them all some food. Then in the evening at a pre-determined time for Jester's PM dosage.

This weekend he's coming over twice to practice giving the injection with me watching. I'm planning to have him draw the insulin while I'm there too. We have two dry runs coming up - next week I have to leave *way* early in the morning for work and would rather not give Jester his insulin so much earlier than usual. So I'll test him, feed him, and - if the sitter wants me to - set up the syringe in advance so he can come closer to Jester's normal time and give him his dosage.

Then one day the following week I have to be gone most of the day. That's the one where I'll test him before I leave, but Jim will give Jester both dosages - this time with no PMPS at all. Hell stop by in the early afternoon too to feed all three an extra small meal. I'll be home in the evening to get a mid-cycle or two.

Also I'm getting some "nanny cams" with two-way audio so he can consult with me in real time while I'm away.

 

[shelaghc]

Trying to decide if this weekend is too soon for a curve......

Jester's BG has been fairly flat now that he's back on insulin. While his +11 was down to 209 making me feel as thoughhis little body was beginning to react well after that bee-zarre set of numbers last night, his almost fasting +3 tonight went up to 244.

Since he's not asking for food after that +3, I'm thinking of doing an extra at +4. I got less than 5 hours of sleep last night and I really want to see if I can get a little bit more pate into him before I got to a slightly early bed (possibly even before 11:00! That's like 8:00PM for anyone else. *g*). And that would preclude even a +5.

 

[Rachel]

A curve couldn't hurt. Whatever data you can get is good data.

Yeah we can talk about a dosage more in the week leading up to your weekend off. I bet it's going to be great to get out of town for a few days!!! I think it's great that your cat sitter is going to come over a few other times. If he's nervous about drawing up the insulin dosage, remember that you can do the "test syringe" that you fill with colored water so he can compare before your weekend off!

 

[shelaghc]

AMPS 237 - if this is a trend, Jester's BG seems to be slowly coming down again on .5U.
In fact, if I had been able to stay awake one more hour last night - with his +4 of 200 - I might have even seen a nice blue number once again.

But I'll be patient.

Unfortunately, tonight I have choir and need to do everything about an hour in advance. So Jester gets a PMPS technically at +11, but his evening dosage will be early as well.

A curve couldn't hurt. Whatever data you can get is good data.

Technically, but if his numbers are still flat, I don't want to jump the gun.

I'm remembering the curve on February 10th this year when the entire day his BG hardly budged from the mid-200s, then went up to 446 for his PMPS. And that was when I had increased his dosage to 1.25u. It was pretty frustrating and disheartening.

 

[Tina and Gracie (GA)]

Re: Nanny cams- Do you have a smart phone? If so, you could download a FREE app which would allow you to real time pet sitter. He/she would need the app too, but it would be a cheaper alternative if you have a compatible phone.

I only suggest, as my pet sitter and I both have iPhones. My last visit away she was able to "Face time" me (Free live/real time video).

 

[shelaghc]

Re: Nanny cams- Do you have a smart phone? If so, you could download a FREE app which would allow you to real time pet sitter. He/she would need the app too, but it would be a cheaper alternative if you have a compatible phone.

I only suggest, as my pet sitter and I both have iPhones. My last visit away she was able to "Face time" me (Free live/real time video).

My cat sitter is *very* old fashioned. He doesn't even have a flip phone. *g*

But tbh, I like the idea of being able to see my kitties when I'm not around. I'll even be able to talk to them. *g*

And this camera isn't expensive at all. Just $20 per camera.