4/4 Malki General Advice Regarding Dosage resolved thank you

miribluebeard

miribluebeard

Member Since 2021
Hi everyone, I'll preface this by saying I'm feeling very fragile at the moment so please be gentle with any constructive criticism or advice

Please see Malkis chart. I had wanted to do TR however some family things have arisen which mean I may be called away at a moment's notice (like drop everything and run type of scenario). While I won't be away longer than 6-12hours it does mean there's always a hovering possibility I won't be able to do a +3 and +6 check and could miss a hypo. Hence, if you see the last few days I have done token or reduced shots when her AMPS or PMPS have been low. I know Optisulin like Lantus shouldn't be chopped and changed, but I'm unsure of the best way to move forward. I don't want to underdose Malki and hamper chances of remission, but also don't want to place her in risk of a hypo.
I am still relatively inexperienced with managing lower figures like she's moved to recently.

Could I please have some guidance on what you would do in my position? Her spreadsheet is in the signature. Should I do a full day curve before making any changes? Do I drop to 0.5? Am I being over cautious? I appreciate all advice.
 
I suggest you follow SLGS. A reduction is earned by falling under 90. It’s better to drop the dose and shoot the same dose each cycle rather than jumping around because your insulin likes consistency. Doing so will make it easier to predict what might happen each cycle. Yes d drop the dose to .50. These numbers are really quite good.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I suggest you follow SLGS. A reduction is earned by falling under 90. It’s better to drop the dose and shoot the same dose each cycle rather than jumping around because your insulin likes consistency. Doing so will make it easier to predict what might happen each cycle. Yes d drop the dose to .50. These numbers are really quite good.
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Thank you. Yes, her numbers have been lovely mostly. So many greens! I was mostly scared that if I dropped once the extra in the depot ran out it would start creeping up again. I will print out and read the SLGS protocol again. I think my previous concern with that is she would drop down doses quite quickly to zero as she's had many under 90s and I read that we want to have them on insulin as long as possible to give the pancreas the best chance to heal. But I am still learning! Thank you again I really appreciate the advice.
 
You can prevent her dropping under 90 by feeding slightly higher carbs when she starts to get too low. You could actually do the same if you want to follow TR and set an auto feeder should you need to leave her when in the 50’s. People do follow TR and work full time. I will link a post on that for you.
 
tiffmaxee said:
You can prevent her dropping under 90 by feeding slightly higher carbs when she starts to get too low. You could actually do the same if you want to follow TR and set an auto feeder should you need to leave her when in the 50’s. People do follow TR and work full time. I will link a post on that for you.
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I had a look at that but my little girl is a peanut brain and will sometimes just go and lie on her little sofa and sleep when she goes low and not self regulate with food even if there is her favourite food out. She was never a huge eater (always picked throughout the day) and since her numbers have come down she will happily ignore food unless it's the exact one that takes her fancy that day (I have basically a buffet out for her most of the time now)
But I'll look into the feeders as maybe only having food out sporadically will encourage her to eat it when it's available.

This is the problem with being a helicopter mum to my cat haha Im over involved and need to chill out!
 
I agree with Elise...you aren't alone. And I understand family situations can be trying and stressful...and I think you're already on the road to a good plan. A slight dose reduction will allow her to have some higher numbers - don't fret about those just now - IF you should be called away and have to be gone all day you can give a reduced dose - and leave out plenty of food - hopefully she'll find a way to eat it - even High Carb is better than nothing - and most kitties will lick up that gravy - some are too lazy to do the chewing part...so just to ease your mind - emergencies happen! We're not all always able to hover over our kitties in the perfect way 100% of the time...things happen...and it looks like you're doing a wonderful job WHEN YOU CAN...so try to think of it as an unfortunate event that will take you away from Malki for up to a full day - and prepare as best you can.

Really, none of us know 100% of the time that we'll be home in time or be able to be at home ... no one ever really knows how the day will go...and there are things that are unexpected and unfortunate that might prevent the best kitty caregiver from getting home in time. It's just something that we work thru as best we can...is there a neighbor or anyone that could go in and check on Malki in the event that you're called out? That would be a challenge for me, but I might be able to find someone to go in and open a fresh can of food for Luci...but they're not going to check BG's or give insulin...so the best you can hope for is to try to get a back up to at least do that much...and then sort it out when you get home.

Sending prayers and vines that whatever situation you're going thru will be resolved soon.

Happy Easter to you as well :)
 
Sue and Luci said:
I agree with Elise...you aren't alone. And I understand family situations can be trying and stressful...and I think you're already on the road to a good plan. A slight dose reduction will allow her to have some higher numbers - don't fret about those just now - IF you should be called away and have to be gone all day you can give a reduced dose - and leave out plenty of food - hopefully she'll find a way to eat it - even High Carb is better than nothing - and most kitties will lick up that gravy - some are too lazy to do the chewing part...so just to ease your mind - emergencies happen! We're not all always able to hover over our kitties in the perfect way 100% of the time...things happen...and it looks like you're doing a wonderful job WHEN YOU CAN...so try to think of it as an unfortunate event that will take you away from Malki for up to a full day - and prepare as best you can.

Really, none of us know 100% of the time that we'll be home in time or be able to be at home ... no one ever really knows how the day will go...and there are things that are unexpected and unfortunate that might prevent the best kitty caregiver from getting home in time. It's just something that we work thru as best we can...is there a neighbor or anyone that could go in and check on Malki in the event that you're called out? That would be a challenge for me, but I might be able to find someone to go in and open a fresh can of food for Luci...but they're not going to check BG's or give insulin...so the best you can hope for is to try to get a back up to at least do that much...and then sort it out when you get home.

Sending prayers and vines that whatever situation you're going thru will be resolved soon.

Happy Easter to you as well :)
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Thank you so much. It's been great to hear two people now assure me that I'm doing the best I can haha. It's hard not to be tough on myself!
I don't have anyone who will do injections or BG checks (even hubby who is away most of the day actually hasn't done any shots or BG checks, he almost fainted when I checked his BG with the meter haha so his job is to prep her food and distract her while I do all the medical stuff.) But I do have cameras throughout the house to check on her with two way audio, and an automatic feeder with camera that's filled with diabetic dry for super emergencies only. I'm also looking into the wet food feeder that Elise suggested.

Thank you again, being able to talk to people in here has been such a godsend.
 
For those of us who are sole caregivers or who have had to use a petsitter when we were traveling, it's generally recommended to reduce the dose to insure that your cat is in safe numbers. I have a wonderful petsitter but she wasn't a "live in" sitter. In addition, my diabetic would have taken off her arm if she tried to test. (Given a shot wasn't a problem. Testing was something entirely different.)

If you know in advance that you'll be away, you can reduce the dose. If whatever is going on is time limited, treat it like a "vacation" and keep the dose at a slight reduction for that period. We all have to manage our cat's diabetes within the context of our lives.
 
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