? 04/09 Fat Albert AMPS 176, +2 112, +4 54, +5 97, PMPS 85 - Skipping PM Shot +3 162

Marc & Jen

Marc & Jen

Member Since 2018
I was expecting AMPS to be higher as I could hear him eating dry food in the morning before I got out of bed. He is transitioned over to 3 full cans of FF classics per day and eating around 1/4 cup dry food (leaving out 1/3 cup between our two cats) and we will eliminate the dry food sometime next week. I will be working from home for some of the day today so will be able to get a few more readings throughout the day
 
+2 112 is the lowest we've ever seen him (I mean we've only been home testing for a few days). Should we be concerned he dropped so low so quickly? I have to head out to an appointment but will be back in 2 hours to test again. He is having a small wet meal right now and I have out dry food for him still.
 
When Bear goes close to the lime level I feed him a small amount of HC and retest in 20 minutes to see if he has risen.
The objective is to keep him surfing in green without giving him too many carbs that raise his BG too high.
 
Bear & Lora said:
When Bear goes close to the lime level I feed him a small amount of HC and retest in 20 minutes to see if he has risen.
The objective is to keep him surfing in green without giving him too many carbs that raise his BG too high.
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Ok I'll retest in 20 mins, may have given him too much HC food, but we shall see. It appears as if with the new diet, 5 units is probably way too high and we'll have to dial it back.
 
You don't have enough data to pinpoint where his Nadir is at.
Bear's Nadir is usually around +4.5 but I have seen many kitties that Nadir late in the cycle like +7 or +8.
Since he is still eating dry food Start Low Go Slow SLGS is the method you would use and he has earned a reduction. :)

The blue and green level BG are the levels cats Pancreas can heal.
 
Bear & Lora said:
I'm going to tag a few people because I will have to go soon but I will stay until someone else can help you.
@Wendy&Neko @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @Marje and Gracie @Bobbie And Bubba
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Thank you!!! At +4.5 he is now at 83. I'll miss the +6 due to a meeting but otherwise I'll continue to monitor hourly throughout the day hopefully he stays in a safe range.

I am happy that he has earned a dose reduction! We are using the pens and can only change the dose in full unit increments.
 
Fat Albert's BG will be influenced for two hours so if he hasn't reached his nadir the lowest the insulin will take him his BG can drop again to a low #,
It is important to retest him when his BG doesn't have any food influencing it.
Then you will know his insulin is waning and he is safe.
 
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Also since many cat's go lower at night it will be very important to get a PM +2.
Even though you are going to take a reduction in the PM Fat Albert still has a Depot which continues to give him smaller amounts of insulin along with his PM shot.
That is why Lantus gives less dramatic rises and drops versus Prozinc. :)
 
Bear & Lora said:
Also since many cat's go lower at night it will be very important to get a PM +2.
Even though you are going to take a reduction in the PM Fat Albert still has a Depot which continues to give him smaller amounts of insulin along with his PM shot.
That is why Lantus gives less dramatic rises and drops versus Prozinc. :)
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Ok good to know and yes, we'll get a +2 tonight for sure and see if we can maybe get a couple other readings tonight. His BG has come up a bit again and I'll get a +6.5 after my meeting.

I'm more so concerned for tomorrow when I won't be home to monitor him.
 
I would leave some food out for Fat Albert since you are leaving.
I absolutely got to go but I will come back later to check how things are going.
You definitely should get some needles with half unit markings, it has been a must to regulate my Bear.
Increasing or decreasing by one unit to achieve regulation is hard to do.
 
Good job catching those lower numbers today. Looks like he was safe, but just barely. Typically we give high carb food at below 50.

The second Sticky Note on insulin and syringe info lists which syringes you should get and why. Basically you want the u-100 3/10cc syringes. The Sticky Note lists brands available in the US, elsewhere it’s either BD Ultrafine or BD Microfine that have half unit markings. While you are out shopping, you might want to pick up some high carb wet food too. Someting with carb % over 15 is good to have on hand for days like today.

If you haven’t got syringes by tonight, you will have to shoot 4 units as it’s no longer safe to continue shooting 5 units. Don’t worry if his numbers shoot higher tonight, that’ll just be him bouncing.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Good job catching those lower numbers today. Looks like he was safe, but just barely. Typically we give high carb food at below 50.

The second Sticky Note on insulin and syringe info lists which syringes you should get and why. Basically you want the u-100 3/10cc syringes. The Sticky Note lists brands available in the US, elsewhere it’s either BD Ultrafine or BD Microfine that have half unit markings. While you are out shopping, you might want to pick up some high carb wet food too. Someting with carb % over 15 is good to have on hand for days like today.

If you haven’t got syringes by tonight, you will have to shoot 4 units as it’s no longer safe to continue shooting 5 units. Don’t worry if his numbers shoot higher tonight, that’ll just be him bouncing.
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I realize high carb food is usually only necessary below 50 but he dropped so suddenly and we are still so inexperienced! It was scary but I did have FF grilled with gravy on hand so I just went for it. He seems to be doing well now and not quite so lethargic and I should be able to get hourly readings for the rest of the afternoon. Based on the SLGS method, we probably should have only shot a fraction of of his dose this morning since his AMPS were between 150 and 200. I know this is just a guideline but since we don't have good historical data I'm thinking we should definitely be following this in the future?
 
With SLGS, there are two sections on shooting lower numbers. The first starts “in the beginning”, the second starts “with experience”. Eventually, once you have the data to do so, you can shoot over 90 when following SLGS. But for now, you are still in the beginning of gathering data.

No worries about overcarbing FB when you see low numbers. We all do it at first. Just take notes of what you fed and how much and when, I wrote in in my Remarks section of the spreadsheet. Part of what you will be learning now is how carb sensitive FB is and what it will take to bring him up.
 
Thank you all for your support! It's absolutely amazing and we'd be very lost without it and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it :)
 
I think the reason FA dropped so quickly is because his AMPS was food influenced.
We don't feed our cats two hours prior to the preshot test.
When cats have eaten within two hours of their test their BG is artificially inflated which isn't their true BG #.

As an example FA's BG without any food influence could have been say 145BG.
Then when the before shot food influence wore off and his after shot meal food his BG dropped. (This is only speculation.)

As far as making sure Bear isn't food influenced for his preshot, I was fortunate because my husband leaves for work at 5:30AM two and a half hours before Bear's preshot so he would pick up any food left over.
Now I use a timed feeder to portion Bear's meals overnight and it is programmed to change to an empty slot 2 hours before his preshot.
 
By the way you have made remarkable progress in a short amount of time.
I am so impressed! :D

On your other thread Wendy placed a link in comment #22 on how to work full time and manage a diabetic cat.
It is highlighted blue, just click on it.
I think it can help you.
 
Bear & Lora said:
By the way you have made remarkable progress in a short amount of time.
I am so impressed! :D

On your other thread Wendy placed a link in comment #22 on how to work full time and manage a diabetic cat.
It is highlighted blue, just click on it.
I think it can help you.
Click to expand...

Thank you :) It's been quite a rollercoaster over the last few days and I can't believe how good he's being and allowing me to test him so frequently! It was lucky that I was home today but tomorrow I'll have to go into the office, so we'll have to be more careful when checking his AMPS (if it is fairly low again) and deciding what dose to give (and yes I've been reading though the link regarding working full time with a diabetic cat :)).

With regards to his AMPS this morning being affected by food - that is a very good point! Once we fully eliminate dry food (waiting until next week since I'll be out of town one night this weekend/a couple nights next week for work) we won't have to worry about that so much but I will take that into consideration up until then.
 
After FA's dip down to 54 earlier this morning and I fed him some HC food, he has stayed in the 70-100ish range. PMPS was 85 so we are skipping the PM dose. Even though dry food was left out today I don't think he actually ate any of it.
 
Jen you did well today, the first lower green number definitely raises anxiety levels. :)
Since FA is new to having so many tests in one day I recommend putting some Neosporin plus on his ears.
I put some on Bear's ears today after 8 tests.
It definitely makes Bear's ears feel better.
 
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