8/24 Blaze AMPS 324, +2 235, +3 190, +4 255, +9 334, PMPS 365, +2 260, +4 270

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Yes it's big but not quite as big as last night. Whether that is the snack or the lesser dose or a combination.....not sure. Perhaps a snack at +1 going forward would slow things more. It's a matter of trying food times/amount/carb levels out to see what works. Let's see what BG is at +3 today.
 
@MrWorfMen's Mom Okay I will test at +3 and see where he's at. I ordered a new timed feeder for wet food so that will help with giving him snacks when I'm not home on work days. I have to leave around 10:15 to get to a bridal shower at 11 so I will be gone for a few hours and won't be able to test until later this afternoon.
 
Yes! He's moving in the right direction. It just will take time for his body to get used to the lower numbers again so that he doesn't zoom back up again. But you've seen that he's acting like he's feeling better, and that's the best sign of all that what you are doing is helping :cat:.
 
Actually that is fantastic! Congrats on the first BLUE number. :DNow given that Blaze is only at +3 and you have to go out shortly, I suggest you give him another bit of food medium carb if you have it or add a 1/8 tsp of honey or karo to low carb to make it medium carb and retest the little monkey again between +3.5 to +4. Nadir, lowest point with Novolin can be up till +5 so we just want to make sure he's staying steady before you leave.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Actually that is fantastic! Congrats on the first BLUE number. :DNow given that Blaze is only at +3 and you have to go out shortly, I suggest you give him another bit of food medium carb if you have it or add a 1/8 tsp of honey or karo to low carb to make it medium carb and retest the little monkey again between +3.5 to +4. Nadir, lowest point with Novolin can be up till +5 so we just want to make sure he's staying steady before you leave.
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Yay!! I was thinking the first blue number is good but wasn’t sure if he was dropping too quickly. So happy to see blue! :cat:

I just put out some Friskies paté, I don’t know if that’s medium carb or low carb? If it’s low carb, I will mix some Karo syrup. He’s sunbathing right now in a little patch of sun on the floor coming through the window :D

I need to leave the house around 10:30 (+4) so will grab a test before I leave and post it!
 
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Love the pics! :joyful:

I'm pretty sure the Friskies is low carb so I'd add a little karo or honey to up the carbs and slow him down just in case he isn't at nadir yet. Then also leave some low carb out for him to munch on in your absence.
 
Okay he’s eating some LC food with the 1/8 tsp of Karo syrup now!

Also, I took away dry food yesterday morning, is that okay?
 
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Ok he is in lower numbers now so probably not as hungry. Let's see what his BG is now and if need be you can always leave out a bit of dry food.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Ok he is in lower numbers now so probably not as hungry. Let's see what his BG is now and if need be you can always leave out a bit of dry food.
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Okay +4 is 255. That's a bummer, he didn't stay in the blue very long at all:banghead:

He ate a little bit of the LC food w/ karo syrup before I tested. Should I put that away now and just leave out some LC wet food?
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
True confessions....probably jumped the gun with the karo however wasn't taking chances with you having to go out. Next time the blue will last longer!
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Ya I was a little worried seeing his first blue number an hour before I had to leave! Didn’t want him to drop lower when I wasn’t home to monitor him so I appreciate the Karo syrup advice. Hopefully we can see longer blue numbers later after pm shot or possibly tomorrow.
 
Given the nice cycle Blaze had today I think I'd stick with the 0.5u tonight regardless. He may be higher at PMPS thanks to that lower BG today or he may surprise us again! In any event even at +9 his numbers are trending a bit lower today so PMPS may not be as high as last night. I wonder if that's a sign the dry food is totally out of his system because it takes a few days off the kibble to really see the results. Don't want to chance chasing numbers overnight if he is trending down.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Given the nice cycle Blaze had today I think I'd stick with the 0.5u tonight regardless. He may be higher at PMPS thanks to that lower BG today or he may surprise us again! In any event even at +9 his numbers are trending a bit lower today so PMPS may not be as high as last night. I wonder if that's a sign the dry food is totally out of his system because it takes a few days off the kibble to really see the results. Don't want to chance chasing numbers overnight if he is trending down.
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Okay 0.5U for tonight sounds good, then I can test a couple times after and then get some rest (fingers crossed). I was only leaving small amounts of dry food out during the week, but leaving less and less each day and took it away completely yesterday so maybe it’s out of his system, or almost out.
 
That's an expected drop but less than it has been so that is good. But that might also be a bit of a bounce from that first blue today too. I'd get that +4 just to be sure Blaze isn't dropping too much. At +4 you can feed him again and you can leave a little food out overnight. He's doing better but still isn't getting the duration he needs but that will be dealt with when you change over to Lantus. For now he's doing fine. :)
 
@MrWorfMen's Mom Alright, we will grab a test at +4 then and I will post again:) Novolin definitely kicks in quickly and does not last very long for Blaze, just like everyone says. Looking forward to Lantus for many reasons. Thank you Linda.

I have a question unrelated to tonight, whenever you get a chance to respond. Blaze has an appointment on Friday for me to drop him off for bloodwork, I'm assuming they will test his BG (which will most likely be high due to Blaze hating car rides and vet visits) and I'm thinking they will be checking his liver inflammation and pancreas as well. Do I tell the vet I reduced his doses? She wanted him at 2U twice a day on Novolin and had told me I don't need to test his BG at home, which as soon as I found this forum, reduced his dose to 1U and then to 0.5-0.75U and started home testing.

When picking up the new prescription form for Lantus last week, the vet told my fiance we should never skip a dose (we skipped after 289 BG at PMPS) and tried to push prescription food.

Just curious how I should go about dealing with this vet and what I tell her about Blaze's current dosing. I will have to board him at the vet from 9/18-9/30 because I'm getting married and honeymooning in Maui, but I'm afraid she will not follow my current dosing while he's boarded there.
 
Honeymooning in Maui...I think you need some company Sarah. Promise I won't bother you and hubby, I will just don my lei & muumuu and go do my thing! Beach boys, look out!
 
Re: conversation with the vet, you can show her the spreadsheet and tell what you have learned about Novolin. You can also state that you skipped a shot to be able to keep Blaze safe, because you had no idea just how much the Novolin was affecting him and didn't want to take any chances. Same with the reduced dose, tell her what bouncing is, just in case vet doesn't know the finer details of feline diabetic treatment.

Perhaps instead of boarding, since they don't seem to know too much about FD (not testing, raising the dose so much, so fast) and you are worried about this, what about hiring someone to come in, and care for all three cats? And do what you want done. They could join the membership and ask for help if needed. Just a thought.

The wedding too???? oh boy...wedding cake, luvin' it!!
 
On the testing front, my go to question for any vet who suggests you should blindly shoot insulin into your cat is to ask them if they would inject a baby with insulin without knowing if it was safe to do so. Blaze is your baby. Your vet needs to appreciate that and should IMHO not argue with the logic of home testing. What you do at home is your business and you can always use the nod technique......nod in agreement and then carry on with testing.

On the dosing front, I'd be up front with her. It may be that Blaze would have been fine on the 2u she prescribed BUT she also prescribed food that was considerably higher in carbs than a diabetic should be eating. Tell her you were changing diet to lower carb food and were just being cautious given you are at work during the day and couldn't monitor him so you started off at a lower dose to ensure his safety.

And telling you to never skip a dose is a recipe for disaster. I'm betting that if you ask your vet when the onset of Novolin is, when nadir usually occurs and how long it lasts through the 12 hour cycle, she won't be able to answer those questions. Put her on the spot. Let her know you've done your homework and let her squirm at bit. There are a lot of vets out there who don't have a lot of experience or knowledge about treating diabetic cats. Prescribing Novolin, no testing recommended, telling you to never skip a shot and a diet that is very high in carbs all tell me your vet, who is probably great for most things, is not up on current practise for feline diabetes. Vets get precious little training on diabetes and it covers multiple species. You'd be surprised how many vets treat cats like small dogs and the two are totally different. If they don't have a lot of diabetic cats in their practice, they don't have any reason to keep current. They also aren't hands on caregivers. You hold the needle and deal with this 24/7 therefore you need a partner not a dictator for a vet.

Not sure if that helps or not but I wouldn't be afraid to stand my ground with the vet and negotiate a partnership with her. You care for Blaze's diabetes and she deals with any other problems. If she isn't going to be at your beck and call 24/7, then she has to allow you to make some decisions to keep Blaze safe and you sane.
 
Yes he's fine. Not much action ....he's gone up a tad or maybe that's just meter variance but he's obviously not dropping. Call it a night! Tomorrow if AMPS is high enough and you can monitor, you could try the 0.75u again.
 
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