Overwhelmed!

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Tucker

Tucker

Member Since 2018
I would sure appreciate some help, I'm so overwhelmed. Background: I'm an American, living in Australia with a cat diagnosed 2 months ago. Our vet is lovely and trying to help but I feel as if we are just taking shots in the dark. Tucker was put on Lantus and we were given the injector pens to use. He is currently taking 3 units twice a day (I only learned that small increases were possible by reading through your forums!) His blood sugar is all over the place (21.6 at pm last night, then 17 at midnight). We use the metric system so when I read people's posts they don't make sense because we aren't dealing in the same units and I'm confused with the charts...I'm out of my depth here. Our vet has advised us to NOT blood test Tucker but to just go by his behaviour. Example: If he does not eat all of his meal we are to give him 2 units instead of 3 units of Lantus. From the posts I've read this seems pretty haphazard. Tucker does seem happier and is very social and crying for attention. After 3 weeks of no accidents he suddenly wet all over himself and his bedding in the laundry room. It's so sad at night because he desperately begs to sleep on a bed as he has always done-but we can't trust he won't have an accident. I am a stay-home mom and am able to do the Tight Regulation to give our Tucky his best shot at a better life but I'm afraid I will mess it up and kill him. I found a 'Starting" page on this site and it was like "Give .25 to start with" and go from there.........but we are way way past that! Is there someone who can hold my hand through this because over on this side of the planet the protocol is to shoot first, (and a lot) and then see what happens.
 
I not experienced or knowledgeable, but I do know it's essential to test at home. Humans test, if this was your child, would you not test before you shoot, and just go by behaviour? Nonsense. I don't know who else is on tonight, it's 10 pm my time Pacific Daylight time. But, I do know that you will get some answers, there is info to read on the forums,the index sticky at the top of the list when you get into the Health Links/FAQs about Feline Diabetes forum. Hang in there, the people here are the best and know their stuff.
 
Idjit's mom said:
I not experienced or knowledgeable, but I do know it's essential to test at home. Humans test, if this was your child, would you not test before you shoot, and just go by behaviour? Nonsense. I don't know who else is on tonight, it's 10 pm my time Pacific Daylight time. But, I do know that you will get some answers, there is info to read on the forums,the index sticky at the top of the list when you get into the Health Links/FAQs about Feline Diabetes forum. Hang in there, the people here are the best and know their stuff.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. I'm looking at the link for making a home spreadsheet at the moment. It says there is a sheet specifically for people overseas who use the metric system but it appears to be the same as the one that someone in the US would use. This is where I start getting overwhelmed and think I'm not clever enough to help my cat! It appears to me that both spreadsheets for using Human Insulin have the BG levels across the top as 500+, 400-499 etc etc instead of the overseas one having the numbers be in the metric ranges of 0-3 etc etc. I'm so lost............
 
Tucker said:
Thank you for the reply. I'm looking at the link for making a home spreadsheet at the moment. It says there is a sheet specifically for people overseas who use the metric system but it appears to be the same as the one that someone in the US would use. This is where I start getting overwhelmed and think I'm not clever enough to help my cat! It appears to me that both spreadsheets for using Human Insulin have the BG levels across the top as 500+, 400-499 etc etc instead of the overseas one having the numbers be in the metric ranges of 0-3 etc etc. I'm so lost............
Click to expand...
This is the link I'm trying to use: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet.../template/preview?usp=drive_web&ouid={userId}
 
I had to have help setting that up, you are NOT hopeless my dear. It's a big change in your life, and you are taking steps to learn. Take a deep breath, you are going to be ok.
 
Tucker said:
After 3 weeks of no accidents he suddenly wet all over himself and his bedding in the laundry room.
Click to expand...

Was this just once? After 3 weeks of no accidents? I ask because one of the symptoms of severe hypoglycemia is loss of bowel/bladder control.

Your vet is wrong....Lantus does best when it's given at the same dose every 12 hours. One of the nice things about Lantus is that as long as your cat is willing to eat (not sick or something), it's usually safe to give even if they don't eat because the new shot doesn't usually start to "kick in" for 2-3 hours, so as long as they're willing to eat, you have 2-3 hours to get food into them.

We also don't use the pen needles that come with the pens because they limit you to increasing and decreasing only by a whole unit. We do dose increases in .25 unit increments so we don't bypass what could be a "perfect dose" as well as keeping our kitties safer.

Home testing is the only way to really know what's going on with your kitty's treatment. There's no better feeling than knowing exactly what's going on inside your cat's body! We can give you all kinds of tips to help with learning. Here are a couple of good videos shot by other FDMB members


Keep asking questions!! We've all been where you are before and we know what it feels like, but soon, the whole thing will become as routine as brushing your teeth!
 
Chris has sent you the "world" link. The spreadsheet is not that hard. You will need to setup a google account if you don't have one yet.

Heavy urine flow often is a sign of an unregulated kitteh. It is essential to test at home. Many vets do not receive enough training on diabetes. "Just watching behavior" is lame and entirely insufficient. As an example, our Leo hardly ever has external signs during his hypos or during his super high BG (blood glucose).

Tucker is lucky to have you as his Mom! You are in the right place. We'll help you. So let's get away from "dose first then see what happens." We need you to test and then dose.
 
Also I was scared when Leo first got diagnosed and tested. That was 3 years ago.

Like Chris said, after a month or so, it will just become part of the daily routine.
 
I have been testing Tucker's BG to see if the shots are doing any good, but our vet told me that is just scaring me and as long as he seems happy I'm not to worry about his BG numbers. Only once did he have it in the 'good' range, other than that they have all been high to way too high. We are doing what I would consider 'blind dosing' from what I've read on this website...which is not acceptable to me. The problem is-what do I do now?? Tucker is hungry all of the time, last night he ate a can of Science Diet MD and was begging for more. He is drinking and urinating more than normal and is on 3 units of Lantus. I've gone out and bought the 100 size needles so that I will be ready to go if we do change his meds in smaller increments. It's 3:30 in the afternoon here in Australia, 9 hours after his last shot. I've not tested his BG today and I've been told to give him 3 units if he eats all of his dinner or give him 2 units if he does not. Where should I go from here?? (Thank you for trying to give me some confidence---but I'm not experiencing any of that at all!)
 
Last post for me tonight - it is 1:30am.

Yes, blind dosing is just dumb. We wouldn't do that to a human, so why would it be acceptable for our fur-kids?

To start with, test his during these times:
AMPS - A.M. pre shot, and there should be no food 2 hours prior
nadir - the 6 hour mark, aka AMPS + 6
PMPS - P.M. pre shot, also no food for 2 hours prior to this

Let's stay with consistent dosing for now. I can't really give you much advice without seeing some BG numbers. If you want to be safe you could give 2.0.

While many on the forum do NOT vary dose very much according to food intake, note that I do. But I also have 3 years of experience with Leo and his BG patterns. Consistency is really the key.

And remember this. Every time you test him or dose him, you are providing a dose of love to go with it. That will make him happier and healthier. It's a fact!:bighug:
 
I can't advise on dosing, but I do know you will be asked for what testing data you have. Hopefully you recorded on paper or have a record in your meter. There is info in the stickies at the top of the Lantus forum. At the end of my signature is a link for updated tips for new users. I see Jeff responded, good advice.
 
Thank you for your advice. It's only 4pm on Monday here--so I'll keep reading the site while the rest of you head to bed.
 
Yes, the time zone thing makes me nuts! There are scads of veterans during "our" daytime, I really hope you can connect. You are doing the right thing by testing, and you will find some answers in your reading. Get your signature set up, be sure to note Australia so others know about the time thing. Hugs, don't doubt yourself!
 
Lantus is a depot insulin. Meaning it creates a reservoir but it takes a few days. So kitty isn't getting the full amount you are giving yet. Normally Lantus is started at 0.5 units maybe 1.0 unit given two times a day (12 hrs apart). You hold the dose for 7 days unless when testing you get a low reading. Hunger and urine output will be high until kitty is starting to become regulated. I do think the 3 units to start is way to high and could have caused the incontinence you described.

Pick up a meter, it is essential if you continue to give that amount to home test regardless what vet told you. You want to prevent an overdose and home testing is the only way to do that.
 
Your next steps to help us and your kitteh:
- get a meter if you do not have one
- set up the spreadsheet, and post a link in your signature

For meters, there is a variety. This is often discussed in the main forum - just search it. The biggest cost with meters are the strips. For Leo I use Freestyle Lite strips in an Alphatrak2 meter. The strips work out to to about $0.25 each. I get them off of ebay.
 
I have tried to set up a spreadsheet and from my computer it appears to have posted?? Unfortunately, when I go to input on it the cells appear to be 'dead', so clearly I've done something wrong. I went out and got the meter our vet recommended the same day Tucker was diagnosed. It is a Freestyle Lite and I'm using the Freestyle Lite testing strips with it. I've been keeping track of his insulin on a calendar and although our vet has asked me to not check his BG, I have done some checks. We are using the Lantus pen. The box says: Lantus insulin glargine/100IU/mL.

Sunday 6am he had 3 units Lantus
21.6 BG at noon
16.3 BG at 3pm
6pm: 3 units of Lantus
He was very happy and social and VERY hungry and begging for food all day long. He ate a can of Science Diet MD for breakfast and dinner.

Monday 6am: 3 Units Lantus
5:45pm: BG 16
6pm: 4 Units Lantus
9pm: BG 16.4
12 midnight: BG 16.3
He was very social but starving and begging for food all day. He ate a whole can of Science Diet MD for breakfast and dinner and then had some more (under 10% carb) cat food. Because our vet had told us that if he ate a huge meal we should be giving him 4 units........average meal give him 3 units and if he didn't have much appetite go down to 2 units, my husband increased the dose to 4 tonight.

Tuesday 6am: 4 Units of Lantus (Per vet orders--if he eats a huge meal give him 4 units)
Noon BG: 16.3

Before you reply: I KNOW you are going to say increasing or decreasing in full units is wrong. That is what he has been told to do, but I'm going to ring the vet and discuss this protocol with her. She really does want what is best for our cat, but has not heard about the other ways of treating feline diabetes.
 
Hi @Tucker mum,
Welcome to the FDMB.
I am an Australian and live in Sydney. If there is anything I can help you with please tag me and I will be very happy to help.
It sound like you are testing the BSL so that is a great start. Don't take any notice of the vet when he tells you not to test the BSL. It doesn't hurt Tucker at all and it is the only way you can truly keep Tucker safe. You will soon get very used to taking the BSL and will know what the particular reading means. It takes time and you are in a steep learning curve at the moment. We were all where you are at the moment at the beginning of our FD journey and we all understand how you are feeling at the moment.

The reason Tucker is so hungry all the time is because his body is not able to utilise all the nutrients he is eating at the moment because of his high BSL. Once they lower he will not be as hungry. If he is begging for food, give him extra until he is more regulated.
What are you feeding him? Are you feeding Hills MD canned? All dry food available here in Australia is very high in carbs so stick to low carb canned. Fancy Feast classics is suitable and so are Wereva canned foods which are available at Petbarn. Here is a link to suitable foods available in Oz.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...anned-food-suitable-for-diabetic-cats.134090/

What type of glucose meter are you using?
What is Tuckers weight?
3 units is a lot of insulin to start with. I would advice to get some suitable insulin syringes (0.3ml U- 100 insulin syringes) and start over again with a lower dose and go up in 0.25 unit increments.

Am just reading yoUr post you have just posted. I'll post this then read the post. Am concerned about increasing the insulin to 4 units

Ask lots of questions ...there are no silly questions and we are all by happy to help..
If you find yourself unable to get help from anyone overseas because it is night there but day here, send me a PM and I will get it on my phone straight away.
 
I feel your frustration, My vet who is new to me and this forum have different views on some things, I have been following the group as I trust them more. It does help that I found out my ER Doctor brother had done research on diabetes on animals in Grad School, as well as had a cat of his own with Diabetes and he agreed with the groups decision when I had my first couples of OH CRAP what to do moments, I hate going against my Vet, I am Microsoft and Cisco Certified and been a tech at a couple of Fortunate 500 companies and it use to drive me nuts when I told friends to do computer things one way, and they said, "But I read on the internet" or "But my nephew said to do this" I always felt like saying that's fine, then stop calling me !!!!!! I was even thinking today that maybe I need to interview vets to find one with thinking that follows along with the folks here so we all can be on the same page.

One thing for sure, every day gets easier!!!!!! its been 10 days since my Princess was diagnosed and thanks to this place I am at least not a total wreck any more, My kitty and I still feeling like I am trying to get glucose readings with two left hands, but otherwise I am managing pretty well (-:
 
Tucker said:
I have tried to set up a spreadsheet and from my computer it appears to have posted?? Unfortunately, when I go to input on it the cells appear to be 'dead', so clearly I've done something wrong. I went out and got the meter our vet recommended the same day Tucker was diagnosed. It is a Freestyle Lite and I'm using the Freestyle Lite testing strips with it. I've been keeping track of his insulin on a calendar and although our vet has asked me to not check his BG, I have done some checks. We are using the Lantus pen. The box says: Lantus insulin glargine/100IU/mL.

Sunday 6am he had 3 units Lantus
21.6 BG at noon
16.3 BG at 3pm
6pm: 3 units of Lantus
He was very happy and social and VERY hungry and begging for food all day long. He ate a can of Science Diet MD for breakfast and dinner.

Monday 6am: 3 Units Lantus
5:45pm: BG 16
6pm: 4 Units Lantus
9pm: BG 16.4
12 midnight: BG 16.3
He was very social but starving and begging for food all day. He ate a whole can of Science Diet MD for breakfast and dinner and then had some more (under 10% carb) cat food. Because our vet had told us that if he ate a huge meal we should be giving him 4 units........average meal give him 3 units and if he didn't have much appetite go down to 2 units, my husband increased the dose to 4 tonight.

Tuesday 6am: 4 Units of Lantus (Per vet orders--if he eats a huge meal give him 4 units)
Noon BG: 16.3

Before you reply: I KNOW you are going to say increasing or decreasing in full units is wrong. That is what he has been told to do, but I'm going to ring the vet and discuss this protocol with her. She really does want what is best for our cat, but has not heard about the other ways of treating feline diabetes.
Click to expand...

I really am very concerned with your vet advising to increase Tuckers insulin to 4 units if he eats a lot. Most vets both here and overseas do not know a lot about feline diabetes. They simply do not get much training in this area and the training they do get is with dogs, that behave differently to cats. Vets have to learn about so many animals and all their diseases.
Sometimes too much insulin can look like not enough insulin when you look at the BSL.
We base the dose on the nadir ( the lowest point that the insulin drops the BSL) which is usually 4 to 6 hours after the insulin is given. Most vets base the dose on the preshot which does not take into account how low the insulin takes the BSL.......and that is where the danger lies. When a cat drops to 3 or 2.9 mmol, we take action to bring up the BSL and keep kitty safe. Vets say watch the cat and if it shows symptoms of a hypo then give it honey. The thing is that by the time a cat is showing symptoms of a hypo they are very low........I caught my cat Sheba's BSL at 1.3 once, and she had no symptoms except that she was very hungry, so if I had not caught her then, by the time she showed symptoms she would have been very very low which is dangerous.
I am not trying to frighten you at all because FD is a very manageable disease and cats can live for many years.....but we have had cats who arrive on this forum having taken the vets advice of increasing the dose in One unit increments and not testing and have suffered a hypo.
Going up in one unit increments is a lot for cats.
Most of us in the beginning, go through what you are going through wondering what to do....do we listen to the vet or to the forum. We are not vets but we have lived with FD Twenty four seven sometimes for many years and there are many very experienced people here. Our first priority is always to keep kitty safe.
It is completely up to you....you are Tuckers advocate and you must do what you are comfortable with . Trust your gut instinct.
No one will judge you. We only want to help you and Tucker on the FD journey.
This is the Lantus and Levemir page where everyone who uses these insulins posts each day. You will get a mine of information and support here.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/
 
Hi Bron, Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, being over here has made it a bit tricky. In April Tucker had a couple of days of huge accidents that absolutely flooded my sofa. The vet did a BG test that was 24 and diagnosed FD. She had me buy a meter for emergencies, a box of Lantus pens and some urine test strips. Tucker started out with 1 unit of Lantus for a week and it did not change his BG levels so it was increased to 2 units, then 3 units, then to 4. In mid May he had a couple of days of feeling really bad and some vomiting so our vet took him from 4 units back to 2 units. The weird thing was the day he was vomiting? He had 4 units that morning and was very sick, vomiting at noon. I tests his BG at 1:30 and it was 9.8 (the best it had ever been since diagnosis), at 5:30 it had climbed back to 17.6. Our vet had us knock him back from 4 units that morning to 2 units that night--which now I am reading could be a dangerous jump? That is where she gave us the rule that if he didn't eat a full meal we were to give him a smaller dose. So the next morning he ate less than normal so we gave him 2 units at 6am and at 9am his BG was 9.1. By dinner time it had climbed to 22.4, he ate well so we gave him 3 units lantus. Since then we have been giving him 3 units but with the giant increase in appetite and a BG of 21.6 at noon my husband has increased him back to 4 units. Can you see why I'm so confused?!?!

Our vet keeps telling me to not worry about the BG numbers and stop testing but just use his appetite and behaviour as a guide. I stood there patting a very happy and purry, cat on the weekend, who had eaten well and watched him totally lose his bladder all over the picnic table he was standing on. My husband says that Tucker has been an indoor cat and is very sociable so having to lock him in the laundry at night and out of the house during the day is robbing him of his quality of life. I have to do something to save this boy.

Food: When first diagnosed our vet sent us home with the Hills Prescription Diet MD Dry food for diabetic cats. After finding this group we have taken away ALL dry food. Tucker was getting the Fancy Feast Classics, but we were told the protein 'meal' and primary meat in the chicken flavours being pork was not nutritionally great. So now we have swapped over to Hills Prescription MD wet food. CORE wet food and also the Weruva Best Friends For Life cans. Tucker weighed 6.5 kilo a year ago and now he weighs 5 kilo. He is currently at the back door begging to come inside and begging for food. I know if I give him food I'll increase his BG level...I'm at a loss.
 
So if Tucker had 4 units of Lantus at 6am and his nadir was BG 16 (500 in US terms), what would you do with his evening dose?
 
Oh my gosh........I have no idea. Honestly, I feel as if I lost about 50 IQ points when all of this started...
 
I think you're risking a possibly tragedy if you continue with the 4U dose until you have some more data on how Tucker is really doing.

If Tucker were mine, I'd back down to 3U for now and give the same dose at AM and PM and start gathering data.

IF his Pre-shot level is under 11, Stall, DON'T feed and post for help. Test again in 20-30 minutes. Knowing if his blood glucose is rising or still falling will help know what best to do.

You don't have to worry so much about how much he eats...as long as he's WILLING to eat you usually have 2-3 hours before the shot starts to "kick in".

Lantus craves consistency.....every time you change the dose, you disrupt the depot ...the depot is (for lack of a better way to describe it) like a timed release medication......but the depot has to be full and "releasing" the amount of insulin that corresponds to the dose.

If at any time, he drops below 2.8, that means the dose is too high and he needs a reduced dose.
 
Tucker said:
Hi Bron, Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, being over here has made it a bit tricky. In April Tucker had a couple of days of huge accidents that absolutely flooded my sofa. The vet did a BG test that was 24 and diagnosed FD. She had me buy a meter for emergencies, a box of Lantus pens and some urine test strips. Tucker started out with 1 unit of Lantus for a week and it did not change his BG levels so it was increased to 2 units, then 3 units, then to 4. In mid May he had a couple of days of feeling really bad and some vomiting so our vet took him from 4 units back to 2 units. The weird thing was the day he was vomiting? He had 4 units that morning and was very sick, vomiting at noon. I tests his BG at 1:30 and it was 9.8 (the best it had ever been since diagnosis), at 5:30 it had climbed back to 17.6. Our vet had us knock him back from 4 units that morning to 2 units that night--which now I am reading could be a dangerous jump? That is where she gave us the rule that if he didn't eat a full meal we were to give him a smaller dose. So the next morning he ate less than normal so we gave him 2 units at 6am and at 9am his BG was 9.1. By dinner time it had climbed to 22.4, he ate well so we gave him 3 units lantus. Since then we have been giving him 3 units but with the giant increase in appetite and a BG of 21.6 at noon my husband has increased him back to 4 units. Can you see why I'm so confused?!?!

Our vet keeps telling me to not worry about the BG numbers and stop testing but just use his appetite and behaviour as a guide. I stood there patting a very happy and purry, cat on the weekend, who had eaten well and watched him totally lose his bladder all over the picnic table he was standing on. My husband says that Tucker has been an indoor cat and is very sociable so having to lock him in the laundry at night and out of the house during the day is robbing him of his quality of life. I have to do something to save this boy.

Food: When first diagnosed our vet sent us home with the Hills Prescription Diet MD Dry food for diabetic cats. After finding this group we have taken away ALL dry food. Tucker was getting the Fancy Feast Classics, but we were told the protein 'meal' and primary meat in the chicken flavours being pork was not nutritionally great. So now we have swapped over to Hills Prescription MD wet food. CORE wet food and also the Weruva Best Friends For Life cans. Tucker weighed 6.5 kilo a year ago and now he weighs 5 kilo. He is currently at the back door begging to come inside and begging for food. I know if I give him food I'll increase his BG level...I'm at a loss.
Click to expand...
Hi Tucker's Mum,
I do completely understand everything you are going through. :banghead:
It is hard in the beginning but it is great you have found this site.
Firstly I would let Tucker back into the house if he is an indoor cat. Being shut outside when he is not used to it will stress him out and stress can raise the BSL. If he's starving give him some more food. He needs lots of TLC at the moment...just like you:bighug:

Tucker said:
So if Tucker had 4 units of Lantus at 6am and his nadir was BG 16 (500 in US terms), what would you do with his evening dose?
Click to expand...

You really have to decide if you are going to start over again and stick to a lower dose for at least three days and see what it does to the BSL. Chopping and changing will not solve any problem.
You said that Tucker was 9.1 then he shot up to 22.4, that is because he is BOUNCING from being at a low number when his body is not used to low numbers any more and he feels more comfortable in high numbers.....crazy I know. But his body says help!.......I am too low, I must save myself ....and his liver releases glucose and hormones to save him and his BSL shoots up. This is a very common thing that happens especially in newly diagnosed FD cats. Once the cats gets used to being in more normal numbers again thebouncing should lessen. Some cats bounce a lot...Sheba was a bouncer....and some settle down quickly. Every cat is different ECID.

I am going to tag @Wendy&Neko. Hopefully she is still around...
Also @Chris & China to see what they think you should go back to if you want to start again.

IMPORTANT. Just one thing......the urine test strips you said you have....do they also test for ketones? If they do could you test his urine to see if he has any ketones. That could help determine what dose is given. If they don't test for ketones, could you go out to the chemist and buy a bottle of KETOSTIX which test for glucose and ketones?

I have to go out and collect kids from school but I will log in later to see if Chris or Wendy have looked in. If not I will help you.
Bron
 
One thing I did notice when I was going through the steps to do his spreadsheet was that when I got to the page that said "Publish to the Web" the box to click for "Automatically update when changes are made" was at the very bottom of the screen. I didn't know/could not make the dialogue box move up to see if there was an 'enter' box underneath that dialogue box. I guess I need someone to hold my hand on how to do the spreadsheet. Honestly, I've never felt so inept.
 
Another wrinkle in the fun is called "bouncing"

Bounces happen when 1. they drop too low, 2. they drop too quickly, 3. they drop into numbers their body just isn't used to anymore (or any combination of all 3)

I see Bron has covered it so I won't repeat any more, but bouncing is normal.....it's just frustrating!!….but the more time you can get Tucker into those "good numbers", the sooner his body will learn that it's OK to be there and (hopefully) stop bouncing so high and so long
 
I have done some ketone testing and it has come up negative each time.
I'm trying to get my head around what Chris is saying re. going to 3 but 'stalling' if his pre-shot test is below 11. If his pre-shot BG is under 11 and I give him a 3 unit shot.......wouldn't that bring his BG level even lower if I withhold food at that time? Sorry for being so lame at this==but I'm truly trying to figure out what you are saying and having trouble with it.
 
If his Pre-shot is under 11, DO NOT GIVE insulin and DO NOT feed.

Post here with a subject line that says something like "STALLING...NEED HELP!"

Test again in 20-30 minutes....If the number goes up (without the influence of food), that's a pretty good sign that the last shot is wearing off and it'll be safe to shoot at that time....but the first few times you shoot a lower number, we want someone here to be watching out for you.

We have a "rule" here….if someone agrees to stay with you when you shoot a lower number than you're used to, they will stay online as long as necessary to make sure you are safe (or find someone else to take over if they HAVE to leave)
 
Unfortunately, I do have to get offline now....I'm having surgery in the morning and have some things I need to get done (as well as trying to get some sleep at some point...LOL)

@Bron and Sheba should be able to help explain more

And don't worry! We've all been there and understand how your head spins with "too many new things"

Makes you think of those old pinball machines
th
 
I like that there is a rule about keeping kitties safe. I'm just confused because of the pre-shot being under 11 being dangerous. I thought the idea was to get a cat down to the normal range of around 5, so wouldn't a cat being at 11 (295 US) be ok? (I am not trying to be disrespectful, just asking questions to get a better understanding.) I'm lost.
 
Tucker said:
so wouldn't a cat being at 11 (295 US) be ok?
Click to expand...

Yes....but until you fully understand how your cat responds to both food and insulin, it's not safe.

As you gather more data on Tucker, you'll gradually learn to shoot lower and lower numbers. Those of us with enough data on our cats will shoot anything over 50 (2.8)

And 11 is only 198 in US numbers
 
You are getting great advice from others. Hang in there. It gets easier.

Kudos on getting the spreadsheet started. A few of us are tech nerds (I'm a computer security dude). So it may seem easy to us, but it can be challenging to get started.
 
Ok, I will decease his dose to 3 units for the next week and gather information. How often should I be testing his BG while we are trying to gather data?
 
Hi Jeff, I wish I was a tech nerd-I'm hopeless! I see the "Tucker's Spreadsheet" on the bottom of my posts but I can't get the cells to fill with data so I must have done something very wrong!
 
Three years ago when Leo first got diagnosed, our vet said "keep him safe". That is our goal here. I agree with Chris to dose low until we have a pattern of high BG. Then we will raise the dose.

Yeah, Chris is amazing. She is going for eye surgery tomorrow, but taking time here to help. :bighug:
 
Always before shooting

If possible, at least 1 test mid-cycle on the AM cycle (like 5-7 hours after the shot)

On the PM cycle, get at least a "before bed" test to make sure he's going to be safe overnight (or if you need to set an alarm)….depending on your shot time and when you go to bed, the "before bed" test is usually 3-4 hours after the PM shot

Of course if you can get other tests in at other times, all the better! There's no such thing as too much data!
 
There are 2 ways to see the spreadsheet.
- we can see it as "read only", but we are not logged in
- you can see it as "read and write" - in that mode you would be logged in.

Make sure you are logged into google in the same browser session. It should let you edit the cells. Part of my day job is adding and modifying google email users into our company.
 
Ok, thank you! I'm still totally confused, but gathering data? I can do that! I've never done a 'before bed for safety' shot........so now I'm wondering just how much risk I've been putting Tucker in. Also, I'm so lame I have to scroll up every few minutes to see if I have an 'alert' to see if a new reply has come through.......that is less than tech-saavy...that is borderline computer disabled.
 
I'll let @JeffJ help you with getting into your spreadsheet

Don't worry....it's a lot to try to absorb and your brain is just on "TILT".....try to remember one thing at a time and we'll be here to help.

It was about 6 months before I felt like I understood what was going on well enough to make my own decisions on China....and I still verified my decisions with the "pro's"!!

Good luck and hopefully I'll see you (better!) tomorrow after my eye surgery!!
 
OK! So for anyone watching this space this is what I think I am going to do. I'm going to adjust Tucker down from 4 units twice a day to 3 units. Eating is not an issue, he was chewing on a cardboard box a few minutes ago so I know he is hungry and in 3 hours he will eat a large meal. I will test his BG level pre-shot (appx 3 hours from now) and will test his blood again before bedtime. In the meanwhile, if Jeff can help me sort out my spreadsheet that would be helpful, but I don't know if I'm that capable.
 
Well, you only have this one thread. For now you could just do a "refresh" in the browser.
 
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