Help with a Curve at Home

[fourcatmom]

Hi all - I need to do an insulin curve. Looked on site and online and know how to do one (mechanically speaking) but need to know if I should withhold food during the 12-hour timeframe of the curve. Sophie usually eats at 6 am (with her first injection of the day), then 2pm, then 6 pm (with second injection) then 11 pm. I cannot withhold the 11pm feeding or she will keep me up all night. However, I could deny her the 2 pm feeding but I'd never hear the end of it. This was much easier with my 9-year-old son years ago when he was diagnosed! Thanks!

 

[Sharon14]

You don’t have to withhold food during the curve. You want to treat it like any other day so you can see how she responds.

 

[CandyH & Catcat]

second the motion, go with your usual schedule, what you're looking for with the curve, is what is usually happening during the cycle -- I just did an at-home curve and I kept on feeding Catcat his usual mini-meals that I give during the first half of the cycle (he's on Vetsulin which tends to bottom him out quickly) -- vet was pleased to see the curve

 

[Sharon14]

How did your curve go?

 

[fourcatmom]

Thanks to both of you for the replies! I have not done the full curve yet...need a day when I will be home all day and that may be Thursday. Did testing yesterday at 6 am before shot, 2 pm, 6 pm, and 11 pm. Sophie is good for testing and I'm using both my AlphaTrak2 and Relion meters (because I may go back to Relion because of the cost). Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

You don’t have to withhold food during the curve. You want to treat it like any other day so you can see how she responds.

Hi Sharon, I just happened to be searching Vetsulin, I always thought you had to with hold food during a curve test. I am using Vetsulin

 

[CandyH & Catcat]

Hi Sharon, I just happened to be searching Vetsulin, I always thought you had to with hold food during a curve test. I am using Vetsulin

seems to me the vets do not feed during a curve, AFAIK the vet only fed Catcat the one can of food she had me bring, so Catcat hit nadir pretty hard, one of the reasons we agreed to reduce the dosage at that point -- (see the second spreadsheet I posted with the vet's curve)

my feeling though, for practicality, it makes sense to feed the way you normally would, to see how the BG trends during that cycle -- particularly if you're on one of the "fast acting hard hitting" insulins, if you withhold food where you usually wouldn't, you could wind up in hypo, maybe not see it right away

makes me wish they could hook up one of those continuous-recording patches to a cat for doing curves .. maybe someone will invent one

that will tell you how your cat is doing under your management -- to my mind, a lot more valuable

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

seems to me the vets do not feed during a curve, AFAIK the vet only fed Catcat the one can of food she had me bring, so Catcat hit nadir pretty hard, one of the reasons we agreed to reduce the dosage at that point -- (see the second spreadsheet I posted with the vet's curve)

my feeling though, for practicality, it makes sense to feed the way you normally would, to see how the BG trends during that cycle -- particularly if you're on one of the "fast acting hard hitting" insulins, if you withhold food where you usually wouldn't, you could wind up in hypo, maybe not see it right away

makes me wish they could hook up one of those continuous-recording patches to a cat for doing curves .. maybe someone will invent one

that will tell you how your cat is doing under your management -- to my mind, a lot more valuable

Hi thanks for the info, next time I do a curve , I'll feed him in the middle of the day like I usually do. His curve tests were done at home, but my vet said try not to feed him . I think I'll feed him next time I do one

 

[CandyH & Catcat]

guess you could always do two curves, one under your normal routine, one "for the vet" with no intermediate food

if there is any major difference between them, that's also good info to know

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

guess you could always do two curves, one under your normal routine, one "for the vet" with no intermediate food

if there is any major difference between them, that's also good info to know

Yes that's a thought

 

[Sharon14]

Hi Sharon, I just happened to be searching Vetsulin, I always thought you had to with hold food during a curve test. I am using Vetsulin

I’ve never used vetsulin, but I still say feed as usual, only withholding food for the two hours Preshot. I tested enough throughout the day that I never really ran a curve. I also used a small spoon of food as Colin’s test treat, so he had tiny meals throughout the day. He was a large cat and had acromegaly, so was starving all the time

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I’ve never used vetsulin, but I still say feed as usual, only withholding food for the two hours Preshot. I tested enough throughout the day that I never really ran a curve. I also used a small spoon of food as Colin’s test treat, so he had tiny meals throughout the day. He was a large cat and had acromegaly, so was starving all the time

Thank you