Bouncing update. Time to change insulin?

[abrudney]

Hi all,

I posted over a week ago about Cherokee's bouncing. I am very grateful for all of your responses and guidance. I lowered his insulin dosage twice based on some low BG numbers. While he is no longer bouncing up into the 700s, his pre-shot numbers are fairly consistently in the 500s. His response to the insulin seems to be short lived and sometimes, still more dramatic than I would prefer. He is very thirsty but otherwise ok. I monitor for urinary ketones. I am seriously considering a change of insulin. Any thoughts or input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!!!
Allison

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

On the 20th of Oct. Cherokee dropped to 69 mid cycle during the day and then zoomed way up right after. 68 is your warning of the potential for a low BG event with your AT2 meter and I would have reduced the dose to 0.5u at that point in time. Some cats are just more bouncy than others and it looks like Cherokee is a bouncer. He dropped to 91 on the night cycle of the 25th and that is basically where I would have again considered reducing the dose. I also have to wonder if BG dropped lower again on the 26th day cycle between +5 and +11 given the sudden drop in pre-shot BG.
As counter intuitive as this sounds, I'd reduce the dose to 0.5u immediately and see if that doesn't improve numbers. I think the dose of insulin is too high and that is causing some lows you may not be seeing and then the ensuing bounce to higher numbers.

 

[abrudney]

[QUOTE="
As counter intuitive as this sounds, I'd reduce the dose to 0.5u immediately and see if that doesn't improve numbers. I think the dose of insulin is too high and that is causing some lows you may not be seeing and then the ensuing bounce to higher numbers.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Appreciate your reply. I can certainly try reducing even more. I believe some of his lows are attributed to days where he doesn't graze as much. (He gets 1/2-3/4 of his meal before insulin then grazes on the rest over the next few hours.) I will admit that it is difficult to be patient through this process. He has days where he is screaming at me to turn on the faucet for him. And, of course, I worry about the long term effects of hyperglycemia. Do you think I would have better luck with a different type of insulin? Will he continue to bounce on another type?

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Cats will bounce no matter what insulin is used although with some longer lasting insulins the bouncing might not be as pronounced. You aren't that far into this journey and I really think that the bouncing will calm down as numbers start to regulate better. I'd give the ProZinc a bit more chance right now. Regulating a cat is a marathon not a sprint and bouncing is just part of the process over which we don't have any control other than to work at finding the most appropriate dose.

 

[abrudney]

Cats will bounce no matter what insulin is used although with some longer lasting insulins the bouncing might not be as pronounced. You aren't that far into this journey and I really think that the bouncing will calm down as numbers start to regulate better. I'd give the ProZinc a bit more chance right now. Regulating a cat is a marathon not a sprint and bouncing is just part of the process over which we don't have any control other than to work at finding the most appropriate dose.

I will hang in there for a bit longer then. Only want to do what is best for him. He has been on prozinc since June, but I have only been doing strict monitoring since September...thanks to this group!