Jack 03/13 - AMPS 350, +3 150, +4 107, +5 73, +6 78, +7 90, PMPS 350

He went from 350 to 150 in 3 hours... of course this happens while I'm at my mom's and only have 11 strips on me to last until 5pm (managed to pack an empty bottle of strips instead of a new bottle) :/ I brought my bag of honey packs and oral syringes at least.

If I see him going too low I'm gonna take a drive to my place and pick up more strips.
 
Jack, Jack!
Did you give him a little snack at +3.
With the speed he has dropped at he may well bounce back up, but you never know.
AngelaMiao said:
of course this happens while I'm at my mom's and only have 11 strips on me to last until 5pm
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Is there a pharmacy nearer than your house where you can by some more to tide you over?
 
I gave him some freeze dried treats and he has wet food out at all times.

I'm currently using the ReliOn Prime that I got in the USA (I live in Canada). I'd have to buy a new meter and strips and the cheapest box of 100 to get the meter free is 85$

I'm gonna be changing meter and strips once I run out of ReliOn strips. I got a prescription for 300 strips but I already used the prescription and have the strips and meter at home.
 
+4 reading was 107

+5 was 73

Gave him more freeze dried treats (we free feed the wet food so I can't really use it as an extra food since it's already there).
 
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Nice +6 hope he surfs those greens a while for you.

When do you usually pick up the wet food?
Does he often eat in the latter half of the cylce?
 
I usually keep it available at all times. He eats about 2-3 cans of FF a day, sometimes 4 if his BG is high. He doesn't drink water much, so it's the only way I can guarantee that he's hydrated when his BG is high (I mix it with water). He often forgets to eat when he's in high numbers and just curls up in a ball on the bed.
 
He usually runs out before his first shot of the day, probably goes about 1-2 hours before I wake up (I hear him complaining at night). For the evening shot, the food is usually available.

Tried taking it away 2-3hrs before his evening shots but didn't notice a difference in preshot (did it for 5 days), it just made his +3s crappy and it got better as soon as I stopped (Feb 20-Feb 24). Couldn't try it in the morning because I give him his shot at 4-4:30am and he's usually working on the same can that I opened after his PM shot so I wanna make sure he finishes it. He eats more during the day because the dog stays in the basement while my BF is at work so he's calmer.
 
AngelaMiao said:
Tried taking it away 2-3hrs before his evening shots
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The reason to take food away before PS is to make sure that the number you are getting at PS is not affected by a food spike. When he's been in higher numbers, to be honest, it doesn't matter, but now he is getting into lower cycles more regularly it becomes much more important especially if you get to a cycle where he is green at PS, you need to be sure that it's not food influenced. I would encourage you to start taking food up at least two hours before the PS, for safety reasons.

AngelaMiao said:
just made his +3s crappy and it got better as soon as I stopped (Feb 20-Feb 24)
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I think that's just pure coincidence he was clearly bouncing from the green he had on the 23, cycle 5 was pm on the 25th and that seemed to be him trying to clear the bounce, but clearly you hadn't got to a good dose yet. That blue on feb 19 am also looks like that triggered a bounce and that led to those icky numbers, until he went green on the 23. I'm not just seeing icky +3 in the pm cycle but high flat cycles in that period triggered by those to lows I've just mentioned.



My comments below are for your consideration, I don't know if you will find it workable, but I do believe that it could help with managing his curve and flattening him out.





Some folk do free feed, but a lot (if not the majority) find that offering mini meals at key points in the cycle can be the best way to flatten the cycle and level off the BG, avoiding bounces.
I'll try and explain why the above can help.

Feeding in the latter half of the cycle, has the unwanted effect of raising the BG at shot time, basically even a small amount of food when the insulin concentration is waning has the effect of raising the BG more than the exact same amount of food in the early part of the cycle. This tends to lead to a high amps/pmps, which is counterproductive, because once your shot onsets it causes a sudden drop in BG and that in some cats comes accompanied by the subsequent bounce.
Lantus does best and yields the flattest cycles when it can latch on to lower numbers and result in a surf.
We can try and manipulate the curve with food by feeding at appropriate times so when insulin is in higher concentration we feed to counter act a fast drop, and when there is not much insulin in the system we withhold food so that we are not overloading an insulin depleted system with carbs and causing an unnecessary rise in BG.

First time round with George, because he developed a liking for dropping early in the cycle I fed at amps, then he got a snack at PS+1 +3 +5, some folk find PS+2 +4 +6 works better for them, and at the moment I'm feeding this time round and now he is well regulated ps +2/+3 +5/+6 ish, he's older now and not moving about much so he doesn't want to get up to eat as frequently as he used to, and the BG is behaving itself, flat green cycles, so I'm OK with that.

When we feed the regular meals/snacks in this way we may adjust it somewhat if the cycle requires it.
What do I mean by that?
Well let's say I'm doing a PS +1 +3 +5 regime, cycle looks active,
we're starting with a preshot that's 120, +1 is 100, I give him his snack and then check again at +2 (the lack of food spike at +1 indicating an active cycle and need for extra monitoring) +2 is 85, still a safe number, but numbers still dropping at quite a rate and we might not yet have onset, I would add in an extra snack here, just of LC and then check again at +3, I'm adding that extra snack so he has a little more carb on board as the insulin concentration continues to rise and thus counteract a sudden drop, in the hope we can get him to surf. +3 80, give him his regular snack which is due, and check him again at +4 or +5 .

I just thought that you might want to mull over feeding in this way since I believe it would help level Jack out, additionally it puts you in control of the food and making sure he is hungry when you need him to be. I like that you add water to his meals, I do that for George to, keeping them well hydrated helps keep their kidneys healthy. I use an automatic feeder to supply him with his snacks so that I don't have to be at his permanent beck and call.
If you decide to try some thing like this you would decide on your schedule, feed a main meal at shot time and then 3 mini meals in the cycle. You would divide up the amount of food you usually give and divide it up for the different meals.
For instance with george he gets
3 ounces at PS
1 ounce at +3
1 ounce at +6

You may want to take a look at this condo there's a discussion about manipulating the curve with food, I found Jills post #15 really helpful when we were starting out, and it's what prompted me to change the way I fed George.
Manipulating the Curve with food
Also in post #20 you'll see an explanation as to why feeding after nadir can be counterproductive.
 
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Thank you!! I don't mind trying that! Ill start that tomorrow! My bedtime is his +6 so it shouldn't be too big of an issue. I think I definitely need to learn how to use food to offset a bounce and today was a good example when he refused to eat more than usual.

Should I do this everyday or just the days that he's in good numbers? I worry about him starving when he's sailing 300s and he's lost 7 pounds in less than 3 months

PMPS was 350, same as AMPS. I think he's bouncing but on the bright side, today was the closest thing to an actual curve lol
 
AngelaMiao said:
Should I do this everyday or just the days that he's in good numbers? I worry about him starving when he's sailing 300s and he's lost 7 pounds in less than 3 months
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It's usually best to do it every day, that way he will get used to when food is being dispensed and will come looking for it. You can set your watch by George.

Try to feeding him the same amount but just split it up over the four meals per cycle, you'll probably find that if he hasn't eaten since +6 then he will be quite hungry by PS and will eat a good portion, George acts like he hasn't eaten in months at PS:rolleyes:.
Depending on how much he whines at you with the new regime, you may have to ease into it.
 
Well at least you should get some rest tonight, just saw that pmps, he dropped almost 300pts this cycle so it's no surprise he's bouncing. Hope he clears it soon.

How are relations with the dog coming along? Do you feel he's making any progress? Have you caught him sneaking a look at the dog through the gate again?
 
It's getting slightly better with the dog. He still hates her but he's gradually getting closer before freaking out and running. Dog only comes upstairs if my BF is there (follows him everywhere) and isn't super interested in the cat so I'm trying to get BF to watch TV in the bedroom more often so that dog can chill at the door (dog not allowed in the bedroom) so that Jack can roam around the room, get as close as comfortable and get used to seeing the dog around.
 
Sounds like you're making some progress. Don't rush it, and dont get discouraged we' found it to be a very slow process, with two of our cats, the third decided the dogs would be his best pals right from the start. (He was a stray we took in we suspect he was reared with dogs as a kitten)
 
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