General advice and SS look over? A little long...

[Haylee&Tigger]

I am so confused about Tigger's numbers. It seems like bumping him up raises his numbers. His nadirs are between the +4 - +6 hours after shot. But sometimes thats not always where the lowest number is... They are extremely wacky and sometimes where I expect his lowest number to be isn't the case and I think there was even a day where it was a preshot number that was his lowest for that day, although still high numbers

I increased the amount of food we feed because I have always just eyeballed it, but since even before his diagnosis he gets so meowthy (ya know like mouthy but for kitties ) when he's hungry so I would just feed him. Once he started to lose weight and I could tell for sure, is when I took him to the vet and he got his diagnosis. He has never been a meowthy kitty so it was a little strange when he did it but I just assumed it was because he was on dry food and switched to canned and he LOVES it ALL. Even on insulin he is still super meowthy and eats as if he has missed years of meals. Another reason I increased his food intake is because we definitely WERE under feeding him.

Edit to add: Could he possibly have hyperthyroidism? He had the symptoms when I initially brought him to the vet except for "lethargic/unusually active". To me, he's normal, he's always been a lazy kitty with the occasional "zoomies". Since giving insulin the PU/PD has definitely calmed down. So perhaps not... but still a thought.

I read in the Modified PZ Method "Occasionally we see cats who need the dose held longer than the recommended 3-6 cycles because they are very prone to diving BG numbers or bouncing." I'm thinking Tigger falls into this category and wanted to get a second opinion. Perhaps when I make dose changes I should keep him on the dose for longer than the 7 days I usually do. He's gotten some lower numbers in the 100s heading the right direction but those seem rare now.

I have also had some more time to read through some stuff and have decided to switch him to FF. I didn't realize it was actually more affordable. Still learning!

I was wondering if someone could give Tigger's SS a look over and give me any advice/opinions/referring links/anything?

I also want to express my gratitude for this website and the members in it. I honestly would not have been able to do any of this without this site and its massive bank of info, even from other members questions. My vet was absolutely no help whatsoever and if I had went with the initial dose he gave me, my kitty would have probably passed from hypoglycemia honestly. I don't even have the words to explain how much this place has helped me to learn this life changing dilemma I faced where I thought my kitty was going to live a much shorter life because of how much weight he was losing. It was scary and I had to read fast at first just to get the basics. Thank you all so much for everything

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Hi Haylee I will tag a few members , most likely no one is around right now, so hold on until tomorrow
@Wendy&Neko

@Bron and Sheba (GA)

@Deb & Wink

@Marje and Gracie

Thank you ladies

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I think you've held this dose long enough. If you hold doses too long, something called glucose toxicity starts to set in. It sounds worse than it is, but it does mean his body gets used to higher numbers and the numbers drift upwards. The solution is more insulin. You've held the dose 19 cycles, which is a lot longer than suggested, even with the slow method of dosing. And I wouldn't try fattening the dose next time, do the full 0.25 units increase. Most cats don't need fat and skinny dose change, unless you are just trying to tweak what is already a pretty good dose. You aren't there yet with Tigger.

Also, don't worry about bouncing, that is extremely common and perfectly normal with a newly diagnosed cat. Tigger's numbers don't look any different from most cats new to insulin. The numbers will settle down when you get closer to a good dose.

As for your question on hyperthyroidism - was there a test for T4 on the blood work that diagnosed him as diabetic? I would think there should be.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I think you've held this dose long enough. If you hold doses too long, something called glucose toxicity starts to set in. It sounds worse than it is, but it does mean his body gets used to higher numbers and the numbers drift upwards. The solution is more insulin. You've held the dose 19 cycles, which is a lot longer than suggested, even with the slow method of dosing. And I wouldn't try fattening the dose next time, do the full 0.25 units increase. Most cats don't need fat and skinny dose change, unless you are just trying to tweak what is already a pretty good dose. You aren't there yet with Tigger.

Also, don't worry about bouncing, that is extremely common and perfectly normal with a newly diagnosed cat. Tigger's numbers don't look any different from most cats new to insulin. The numbers will settle down when you get closer to a good dose.

As for your question on hyperthyroidism - was there a test for T4 on the blood work that diagnosed him as diabetic? I would think there should be.

Thank you Wendy

 

[Haylee&Tigger]

I think you've held this dose long enough. If you hold doses too long, something called glucose toxicity starts to set in. It sounds worse than it is, but it does mean his body gets used to higher numbers and the numbers drift upwards. The solution is more insulin. You've held the dose 19 cycles, which is a lot longer than suggested, even with the slow method of dosing. And I wouldn't try fattening the dose next time, do the full 0.25 units increase. Most cats don't need fat and skinny dose change, unless you are just trying to tweak what is already a pretty good dose. You aren't there yet with Tigger.

Also, don't worry about bouncing, that is extremely common and perfectly normal with a newly diagnosed cat. Tigger's numbers don't look any different from most cats new to insulin. The numbers will settle down when you get closer to a good dose.

As for your question on hyperthyroidism - was there a test for T4 on the blood work that diagnosed him as diabetic? I would think there should be.

Oh! I don’t know where I read to hold a dose for 7-14 days then thank you for that tidbit, I will keep that in mind for future changes! I just checked his bloodwork from the vets and it does have T4 on the bloodwork and he measured at 1.5 on a scale from .8-4 . On the low side but in range so I’m guessing that’s fine.?