MIMI 1/9 AMPS 114 (nervous about PS number..)

Mimis mom

Mimis mom

Member Since 2019
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From Yesterday’s Condo

Mimis mom said:
thank you everyone, I needed that.
Im just having a crappy few months. I am SO thankful Mimi made it out of ICU, but am still overwhelmed with the vet bill and worry if she gets sick again on any level, even am inexpensive one, how will I afford it.
Also, I have very little social life because I don't like to be gone from her for long, because I want to get tests, and two, because her time is 9:30 I don't go out because its just early enough and just late enough.. (I can't change it because my schedule makes me work till 8 or past some nights, and some days I leave for work at 9:30). I wish I worked 5 minutes from home. I do work only 15-20 but thats just long enough to make myself mad and possibly upset management for leaving. (I just have this feeling they'll think Im overdoing it and what I am doing is excessive because "their friends cat had diabetes and they never did the things I am doing and they turned out fine" blah blah blah. I might have to make up something just to get them to not ask questions- say she needs me to express her bladder mid-day, and I have to leave.
I could in the future try and do her shots at 8:30, but that means right after work I have to go home, and I sometimes like to do my grocery shopping, and Target runs around that time because its slower, and Im just not the kind of person to make special trips to do them.
My biggest thing, and I might post this in a separate condo on another forum is having someone else administer her shot, and test her BG, fill her auto feeder, and basically "be me" for even a couple of nights. I have tons of airline miles that I was about to use, then mimi got sick, and I put everything on hold. Just small trips like seeing my best friends in Denver, Colorado for a few days, or I used to live in San Diego and haven't been back in 7 years (sh..t) I haven't been on ANY trips in 3 years, or longer.
I really don't do a lot for myself, I am too worried and concerned with Mimi and Batmans well being, even more than my own at times.

How do you guys work with caregivers? what if the cat poses an "active cycle" and they need to hang around there to test for a while, and do all the things we do when they are dipping too low. I feel silly asking someone to just "live in my house while I am gone" .
Or other fears are "will they be able to get a BG reading? Will Mimi trust them to take it or will she be scared? Are they going to know how to give a proper subq shot and not a fur shot?" If something happened to mimi while I was away on these little "vacations" I so long to take, I will never forgive myself...
I don't even want to move because I don't want her to get stressed.
Why are cats so easily stressed? I wonder why biologically. Is it because they are always on edge because they are always looking for "prey"
What instinct makes them that way?
If you got this far down, thank you for listening to my incessant rambling.
Click to expand...

There are members here who are comfortable leaving their kitty with a petsitter and a half dose of insulin. In the 5.5 years Gracie was diabetic, one of us was always with her except for the two hour excursion here or there to run errands or maybe catch a movie when she was bouncing. We went from traveling outside the US a couple times a year and a very active social life to going nowhere and seeing our friends only when they could come here for dinner parties during which we had to often test. Or we might go to one of their homes if they lived close by but one of us would run home to test and feed. I just never felt comfortable leaving her in anyone’s care but ours. However, we are now back to traveling outside the US alot and we actually do hire live-in petsitters to stay with our cats as we are usually gone 2-4 weeks at a time. I do not feel odd having someone “live in my house while I am gone” because we’ve been very selective about who petsits for them and we use them several times while we are on overnights nearby many times prior to our trips where we leave the US. So....don’t worry about that. It’s more important that you find someone you are comfortable with and trust. One of our petsitters, who we did not find until after Gracie crossed, actually has dealt with diabetic cats, home testing, and insulin shots. Wish we had known of her sooner but I’m still not sure I could have ever convinced my husband to leave Gracie in anyone else’s care.

Hmmm.....I don’t find that my cats are easily stressed. They are pretty laid back (but active) and are very chill and sweet at the vet’s office. They purr nonstop. They travel really well.

Mimis mom said:
I know, Im actually impressed with how patient you are at compiling everything together and remembering it all. You're very organized and I almost wish Mimi had someone like you to take care of her. I fear Ill mess it up somehow.
Thank you for making the feeding thing a little simpler (sometimes I need to be talked to like a 5 year old)
Ill try that- leave her little snacks.
From looking at her chart, where would you say her nadir tends to land? Also, do most cats have mid cycle nadirs? I know ECID, but percentage wise lets say- do 80% of them have mid cycle nadirs, being the most common?
Click to expand...

I’ve never really done the statistics on whether most cats on lantus have mid cycle nadirs. Probably because it can change with duration and a multitude of other factors. But, more importantly, is it doesn’t really matter how many others nadir at mid cycle. I wouldn’t even think about it because your focus is on Mimi and what she does.

The challenge with identifying Mimi’s nadir is, during the day, you work and so you are often not there to test in that +4 to +7 range to see where she nadirs on days when she is not clearing a bounce. Likewise, at night, if you get a decent number that is safe to sleep, there’s not one following it to tell if she went a bit lower before she headed up. That’s not a criticism as you should sleep when you can and as soon as she is safe or if you can grab two hours. Just scrolling back, with the data you have, on non bouncing clearing days, it rather looks like she might be nadiring most often around +5. But....don’t assume that is always the case and also assume once you get past +5, she won’t drop. Because she will at some point.

Good job on the small snacks at +6 and +9. Just be sure they are small and very LC as in zero carb if you can. That’s why I like freeze dried chicken treats.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
From Yesterday’s Condo



There are members here who are comfortable leaving their kitty with a petsitter and a half dose of insulin. In the 5.5 years Gracie was diabetic, one of us was always with her except for the two hour excursion here or there to run errands or maybe catch a movie when she was bouncing. We went from traveling outside the US a couple times a year and a very active social life to going nowhere and seeing our friends only when they could come here for dinner parties during which we had to often test. Or we might go to one of their homes if they lived close by but one of us would run home to test and feed. I just never felt comfortable leaving her in anyone’s care but ours. However, we are now back to traveling outside the US alot and we actually do hire live-in petsitters to stay with our cats as we are usually gone 2-4 weeks at a time. I do not feel odd having someone “live in my house while I am gone” because we’ve been very selective about who petsits for them and we use them several times while we are on overnights nearby many times prior to our trips where we leave the US. So....don’t worry about that. It’s more important that you find someone you are comfortable with and trust. One of our petsitters, who we did not find until after Gracie crossed, actually has dealt with diabetic cats, home testing, and insulin shots. Wish we had known of her sooner but I’m still not sure I could have ever convinced my husband to leave Gracie in anyone else’s care.

Hmmm.....I don’t find that my cats are easily stressed. They are pretty laid back (but active) and are very chill and sweet at the vet’s office. They purr nonstop. They travel really well.



I’ve never really done the statistics on whether most cats on lantus have mid cycle nadirs. Probably because it can change with duration and a multitude of other factors. But, more importantly, is it doesn’t really matter how many others nadir at mid cycle. I wouldn’t even think about it because your focus is on Mimi and what she does.

The challenge with identifying Mimi’s nadir is, during the day, you work and so you are often not there to test in that +4 to +7 range to see where she nadirs on days when she is not clearing a bounce. Likewise, at night, if you get a decent number that is safe to sleep, there’s not one following it to tell if she went a bit lower before she headed up. That’s not a criticism as you should sleep when you can and as soon as she is safe or if you can grab two hours. Just scrolling back, with the data you have, on non bouncing clearing days, it rather looks like she might be nadiring most often around +5. But....don’t assume that is always the case and also assume once you get past +5, she won’t drop. Because she will at some point.

Good job on the small snacks at +6 and +9. Just be sure they are small and very LC as in zero carb if you can. That’s why I like freeze dried chicken treats.
Click to expand...
I think once I get Mimi a little more regulated I’ll feel better leaving her but right now she’s my main focus!
She went up PMPS- back in the sun ☀️
Do you think she’s bouncing from getting low and her body is still not used to it? I guess it’s good we don’t see 300s and above
 
Mimis mom said:
I think once I get Mimi a little more regulated I’ll feel better leaving her but right now she’s my main focus!
She went up PMPS- back in the sun ☀️
Do you think she’s bouncing from getting low and her body is still not used to it? I guess it’s good we don’t see 300s and above
Click to expand...
Definitely looks like a bounce. She might have come down some today.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
so you are often not there to test in that +4 to +7
Click to expand...
what about getting a +4 to +7 number at night time to make up for the day time? Do kitties eventually get more predictable in their cycles the longer they have the disease- like their body is getting used to all of these things happening.

Im so happy the last 2 days her nadir has been green though! Swim that swim MIMI!
 
I don’t see a condo for 1/10 so I’ll lost here.

Mimis mom said:
I have done tests after her PS number, but I guess I don't do them as much at night time at +1. Should I get a +1 PS AM or PM every day?
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If you think the +1 gives you data you need, test then. If it looks like she’s clearing a bounce at preshot and you have to leave, you probably want to get a +1. If the times you’ve tested at +1 show she always gets a food spike, then it’s probably not that helpful to get unless, as said above, she’s dropping going into PS.

Mimis mom said:
I actually saw in the past she did drop a couple of times all the way up until her next dose. Do you think that had to do with the dose simply being too high for her?
Click to expand...
Dropping from one preshot to the next is indicative of a bounce clearing.

Mimis mom said:
what about getting a +4 to +7 number at night time to make up for the day time? Do kitties eventually get more predictable in their cycles the longer they have the disease- like their body is getting used to all of these things happening.

Im so happy the last 2 days her nadir has been green though! Swim that swim MIMI!
Click to expand...

Cats often have different cycles at night than during the day so there’s no real “making up” for missed tests. Any time you can get data that is helpful to see patterns, you learn something but I wouldn’t just arbitrarily test. Once a cat becomes more tightly regulated, they can be one more consistent.

I’m not going to be on the board until 1/20 so if you need help, please be sure you tag someone but I won’t be on to respond to any tags.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
I don’t see a condo for 1/10 so I’ll lost here.


If you think the +1 gives you data you need, test then. If it looks like she’s clearing a bounce at preshot and you have to leave, you probably want to get a +1. If the times you’ve tested at +1 show she always gets a food spike, then it’s probably not that helpful to get unless, as said above, she’s dropping going into PS.


Dropping from one preshot to the next is indicative of a bounce clearing.



Cats often have different cycles at night than during the day so there’s no real “making up” for missed tests. Any time you can get data that is helpful to see patterns, you learn something but I wouldn’t just arbitrarily test. Once a cat becomes more tightly regulated, they can be one more consistent.

I’m not going to be on the board until 1/20 so if you need help, please be sure you tag someone but I won’t be on to respond to any tags.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks Marje! Have a good time with your friends, we’ll miss you!
 
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