How long can a cat be in a hypo state without serious issues?

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Ali and Gem

Ali and Gem

Member Since 2021
Hello,

I have been working from home since Gemma was diagnosed in May. I have to return to the office next week and I'm terrified about not being home to keep an eye on her. She's gone hypo three times since her diagnosis, usually at +6 or +7. I am planning on taking my lunch later in the day to come home and test her, but let's say she goes hypo and I don't get home to check on her for an hour or two, will she be okay? How long can a cat be in a hypo state before there are serious side effects?

Thank you!
 
Have you looked through this "Is TR possible with a full time job?" thread? It's about Lantus, but there are some good ideas for any insulin.

Alison Finnman said:
let's say she goes hypo and I don't get home to check on her for an hour or two, will she be okay? How long can a cat be in a hypo state before there are serious side effects?
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There's no pat answer. It would depend on how low she went and her individual reaction to being low. Some cats can show no signs and have no issues even in the 30's where others may start to show symptoms in the 50's.
 
With that 47 today you need to reduce by 0.25 units,
Anything under 90 you need to reduce by 0.25 units
Can you please update your SS
You can also get a timed auto feeder while your at work
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
With that 47 today you need to reduce by 0.25 units,
Anything under 90 you need to reduce by 0.25 units
Can you please update your SS
You can also get a timed auto feeder while your at work
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Thank you for the response! I just updated the spreadsheet, we're having a much better day. She doesn't usually drop that low and we skipped a shot the other night so I was wondering if that had something to do with her low number today? Still reduce dose? Some days she doesn't get low at all! I feel like this is such a roller coaster and I'm so uncomfortable leaving her home all day. I suppose I'm going to have to "let go" a little and trust that things will be okay.
 
If you are indeed switching between meters you'll want to stick with the same one ... ReliOn runs lower than Alphatrak so it is more difficult to recognize patterns when you're mixing the two.

Some people put out medium carb food if they suspect they'll drop a little lower than usual and they can't be there to monitor.

As for the dosage, definitely drop by .25u, perhaps more.
 
Panic said:
If you are indeed switching between meters you'll want to stick with the same one ... ReliOn runs lower than Alphatrak so it is more difficult to recognize patterns when you're mixing the two.

Some people put out medium carb food if they suspect they'll drop a little lower than usual and they can't be there to monitor.

As for the dosage, definitely drop by .25u, perhaps more.
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Thanks so much Elizabeth, I'm glad you saw this ♥:bighug::bighug:
 
Panic said:
If you are indeed switching between meters you'll want to stick with the same one ... ReliOn runs lower than Alphatrak so it is more difficult to recognize patterns when you're mixing the two.

Some people put out medium carb food if they suspect they'll drop a little lower than usual and they can't be there to monitor.

As for the dosage, definitely drop by .25u, perhaps more.
Click to expand...
You all are AMAZING. I can't believe the support of this group. I really want to switch to the Relion, so we've been using both to get a feel for the difference. But I get more and more nervous to switch because I feel like it's less accurate...I hope I'm wrong. What tips do you have for making the switch? Just "do it"? What's the no shoot number on the Relion? I know it's 200 for the Alpha. Updated my spreadsheet for last night's numbers and this morning. I did not see this last night so we did 1U this morning. We will drop by .25 tonight and see how that goes. Luckily I'm home the rest of the week to keep an eye on her but dropping the dose will help with some peace of mind next week when I'm gone all day.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Thanks so much Elizabeth, I'm glad you saw this ♥:bighug::bighug:
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Thank you so much for tagging the "experts"! I did not see this before her AM shot, I should have checked :( we did 1 U this morning but will drop to .75 tonight and tomorrow. I'm home all day to keep an eye on her.

Anyone have some good suggestions for medium-carb food? That's a great idea and will help me feel better next week when she's on her own most of the day.
 
Alison Finnman said:
Thank you so much for tagging the "experts"! I did not see this before her AM shot, I should have checked :( we did 1 U this morning but will drop to .75 tonight and tomorrow. I'm home all day to keep an eye on her.

Anyone have some good suggestions for medium-carb food? That's a great idea and will help me feel better next week when she's on her own most of the day.
Click to expand...



Food chart
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
For your hypo kit you can get the following and also look at the food chart

Have some honey on hand also


med and high carb food on hand in case he drops too low and you need to bring his BG up to safe numbers

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs




Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Or any other ones from the food chart, I gave the link above
 
Thank you! I've got the FF Gravy food on hand for hypo, I'll have to check what flavors I have and see if they fall in to the medium carb category. I have stopped feeding her the Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken but perhaps that would be a good option to leave out during the day while I'm at work? That's not super low carbs and not super high, correct?
 
Alison Finnman said:
Thank you! I've got the FF Gravy food on hand for hypo, I'll have to check what flavors I have and see if they fall in to the medium carb category. I have stopped feeding her the Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken but perhaps that would be a good option to leave out during the day while I'm at work? That's not super low carbs and not super high, correct?
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In think the carbs for the Dr Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken Dry is 4.32 %
Or you can get an auto feeder and set certain times for it to open, unless you have another cat that will get into it. Found this on their site

Don't forget to put today's date on your SS


What are the carbohydrate amounts in the kibble?
Dr. Elsey’s cleanprotein Kibble Carb Values (Dry Matter):

Chicken – 4.32%
Salmon – 8.77%
Turkey – 8.7%
Rabbit – 8.66%
Duck – 8.77%

Note that some nutritional percentages reported are only estimated values, and are indicated as such as (est). Each cat food manufacturer is required by law to publish a Guaranteed Analysis, which defines each product’s maximum values of fiber, moisture and ash in addition to the minimum values of protein and fat contained within. Exact nutritional percentages are not available and hence all calculated values (including carbohydrate percentages and calorie amounts) are determined using these minimum and maximum published values and therefore may differ from actual values.

Anything under 90 you decrease by 0.25


the "take action" number on a human meter is under 50 which means you have to feed him
Found this that one of our members posted

60 or higher: LC (0-10% carb) + test in an hour
50-59 : MC (11-15% carb) + test every 30 minutes
49 or below: HC (>16% carb) + test every 15-20 minutes and then for two hours after the lowest number appeared until they start going up

 
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JanetNJ said:
I agree, lower to 0.75
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Thanks for replying
@JanetNJ
She wants to know what her no shoot number should be?
Also she asked if she can just switch to the Relion meter , right now she is using the Alpha Trak , she sometimes uses both ?
I told her any reading under 90 to decrease by 0.25
Thanks Janet

EDIT Elizabeth @Panic already answered this for Alison
 
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Yes, no shoot number for Prozinc is 200 to start. As you get more data you want to lower that no-shoot number. You can peek at other peoples' spreadsheets and see how they lowered that number with experience and data. You can switch to ReliOn cold-turkey, just make a note in your spreadsheet or I think @Bandit's Mom can change it?

For ReliOn, "normal" in cats is 50-120. As you are feeding dry and using the "Start Low, Go Slow" dosing method, 0.25 unit dose decreases are given every time they drop below 90.
You do not want her going under 50 at all, that's when you need to break out the high carb food. For medium carb, I would stick to 13-15% FF Gravy Lovers on the catinfo chart.

Alison Finnman said:
But I get more and more nervous to switch because I feel like it's less accurate...I hope I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Human meters have been used on cats a lot longer than pet meters have been around. :) All the info you see on this site is in reference to human meters, not Alphatrak. The no-shoot number for Alphatrak might actually be higher than 200, but we don't tailor much here to accommodate Alphatrak so I can't say for certain.
 
Panic said:
Yes, no shoot number for Prozinc is 200 to start. As you get more data you want to lower that no-shoot number. You can peek at other peoples' spreadsheets and see how they lowered that number with experience and data. You can switch to ReliOn cold-turkey, just make a note in your spreadsheet or I think @Bandit's Mom can change it?

For ReliOn, "normal" in cats is 50-120. As you are feeding dry and using the "Start Low, Go Slow" dosing method, 0.25 unit dose decreases are given every time they drop below 90.
You do not want her going under 50 at all, that's when you need to break out the high carb food. For medium carb, I would stick to 13-15% FF Gravy Lovers on the catinfo chart.


Human meters have been used on cats a lot longer than pet meters have been around. :) All the info you see on this site is in reference to human meters, not Alphatrak. The no-shoot number for Alphatrak might actually be higher than 200, but we don't tailor much here to accommodate Alphatrak so I can't say for certain.
Click to expand...
@Panic
Thank you so much Elizabeth :bighug::cat:
 
Alison Finnman said:
have stopped feeding her the Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein Chicken but perhaps that would be a good option to leave out during the day while I'm at work? That's not super low carbs and not super high, correct?
Click to expand...
You said you will be returning to the office next week and are afraid of her going hypo
You can get an auto feeder and set it to open certain times and put the wet food in it
You said you are going to take a late lunch so you can test her, that's good
It's up to you if you want to leave the Dr Elsey's chicken kibble out for her,but you said you stopped feeding it , but it would be an option .

Did you feed her something after getting that 64 @+5 today and test again?
I would get as many tests in as you can before you have to go back to work for both cycles

What time do you test ,feed and give her the insulin ?
What time will you be home to test her at lunch time, @+what 6, or 7?
Only asking because you said she's gone hypo 3 times since her diagnosis

If you ever plan on not feeding any more kibble at all , you can then remove it from your signature. :cat:
 
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Bandit's Mom said:
Yes I can :)
Let me know when you make the switch to ReliOn and I'll make the necessary formatting changes to your spreadsheet.
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So this is the part I was curious about and almost just started a new spreadsheet formatted for Relion. Do the color ranges change? What is the no-shoot number for relion? What is the hypo number? This is part of the reason I haven't switched over, I wasn't sure what the new "numbers" would be!
 
Alison Finnman said:
So this is the part I was curious about and almost just started a new spreadsheet formatted for Relion. Do the color ranges change? What is the no-shoot number for relion? What is the hypo number? This is part of the reason I haven't switched over, I wasn't sure what the new "numbers" would be!
Click to expand...
I should read all my replies before responding...looks like these questions have been answered today!
 
Panic said:
Yes, no shoot number for Prozinc is 200 to start. As you get more data you want to lower that no-shoot number. You can peek at other peoples' spreadsheets and see how they lowered that number with experience and data. You can switch to ReliOn cold-turkey, just make a note in your spreadsheet or I think @Bandit's Mom can change it?

For ReliOn, "normal" in cats is 50-120. As you are feeding dry and using the "Start Low, Go Slow" dosing method, 0.25 unit dose decreases are given every time they drop below 90.
You do not want her going under 50 at all, that's when you need to break out the high carb food. For medium carb, I would stick to 13-15% FF Gravy Lovers on the catinfo chart.


Human meters have been used on cats a lot longer than pet meters have been around. :) All the info you see on this site is in reference to human meters, not Alphatrak. The no-shoot number for Alphatrak might actually be higher than 200, but we don't tailor much here to accommodate Alphatrak so I can't say for certain.
Click to expand...
This is great, this is helping me feel better about switching. I can use Alpha as a back up.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
You said you will be returning to the office next week and are afraid of her going hypo
You can get an auto feeder and set it to open certain times and put the wet food in it
You said you are going to take a late lunch so you can test her, that's good
It's up to you if you want to leave the Dr Elsey's chicken kibble out for her,but you said you stopped feeding it , but it would be an option .

Did you feed her something after getting that 64 @+5 today and test again?
I would get as many tests in as you can before you have to go back to work for both cycles

What time do you test ,feed and give her the insulin ?
What time will you be home to test her at lunch time, @+what 6, or 7?
Only asking because you said she's gone hypo 3 times since her diagnosis

If you ever plan on not feeding any more kibble at all , you can then remove it from your signature. :cat:
Click to expand...

I did feed her 1/2 can of FF pate after her low reading and I've been giving her small meals at +4 and +6 (usually). Two of her hypo incidents seemed to happen later, at +7 ish which I thought was when her insulin would be starting to wear off. Some days it seems like her BG rises after her shot and then drops, but two weeks ago she was hypo at +3, I'm not sure what happened there but I guess that's what we want to move toward, lower numbers at +2,3,4,5 and then start rising at +7,8,9 etc?

Shot time is at 7 AM/PM, I'd really like to get a +4 (11AM) and a +7 (2PM) test so I'm going to see if I can run home for two short breaks during the day to get those tests in. We'll see. If I am not able to do that (per my boss) I will try to get home at +5 or +5.5 and hope for the best. I am going to order an automatic feeder, I think that will give me some peace of mind, and giver her a snack late morning and early afternoon when I come home for test time.

I am so aggravated that I have to go back to the office, worried, stressed. It's been really good to be home with the cat so I can make sure she's okay. The good news is that in the last couple of weeks she's gained about pound and her tummy issues have cleared up. She's in better spirits, drinking a normal amount and using her litter box a normal amount. I just don't want to backtrack on the progress we have made because I can't get good testing in during the day.

This is all very helpful, I still can't believe how much support is here in this group. I would be so lost without you all!
 
Alison Finnman said:
should read all my replies before responding...looks like these questions have been answered today!
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Hi Alison when ever you read something that someone responded to please hit the word like on the right hand side so we know you have read it. On your SS you put that you fed her @+5 when she was 64 in the wrong line, you put it in the line above
I have never had a problem with the Relion, I love it.
I also used the Alpha Trak in the beginning, those strips are ridiculous
Tyler is now in remission thanks to the members here, they are all wonderful
Don't forget to update your SS for tonight,
You did shoot 0.75 tonight correct?

You might want to go back and read some of the replys we all posted in case you missed something :cat:
 
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