Please help get Finster back on track

Finster said:
BG at 0630 142. His appetite is much improved. He ate 1/2 low carb FF this morning :)
Not sure If I should give .5 insulin? Also I'm down to five test strips. Shipment is coming tomorrow.
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Uh oh about the test strips. I would not give any insulin but would test maybe once mid-cycle at +6 (doesn’t have to be exactly that.). If you had strips, I would say give .5 and monitor a bit. Well done yesterday! Today then his ears get a break, right?
 
The test strip thing is another reason why most people use WalMart’s ReliOn meters. $17.88 for 100 strips and most people can run to the store for them.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Uh oh about the test strips. I would not give any insulin but would test maybe once mid-cycle at +6 (doesn’t have to be exactly that.). If you had strips, I would say give .5 and monitor a bit. Well done yesterday! Today then his ears get a break, right?
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That makes sense...also I ordered two jars of strips so I have backup. and yes his poor little ears :(
Thank you again for all this support. I feel infinitely more capable to handle this crazy ride than I did just a few days ago.
 
BG 108. So crazy to me that he is in the 140's and then after eating a good breakfast falls to 108 6 hours later. I know 108 is still blue but not terribly high, right?
 
You signature should be where your spreadsheet is not on your profile page where you have it where it says information

When you get a chance it would be helpful to set up your signature
To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine
@Finster

You need to put the information you have which is
Gender:
Male
Lisa and Fin
AlphaTrak 2
Prozinc 1 unit twice daily
Diagnosis 27 June 2022
Fancy Feast Chicken & Tuna Flaked
Suffers with asthma
Uses Adavair inhaler twice daily

With your spreadsheet
 
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You said his poor ears from testing
I have read that many members use pure coconut oil, I have copied this from one of the members posts
just make sure the only ingredient is coconut oil (mine is solid at room temp and I would take an itty bitty dab and rub on his ears)
 
Have you read the 2 dosing methods for prozinc?
They will let you know when to adjust the dose
You need to pick one and add it to your signature and spreadsheet
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prozinc-dosing-methods.225629/
You add Up top on your SS where it says
Dosing Method (SLGS or TR):

@Finster

You might want to ask someone if you should stay with 0.5 units like @Suzanne & Darcy
suggested on the first page so you can shoot twice a day
Please be sure to read the 2 dosing methods
You need to be getting more tests in during the PM cycle
Maybe Suzanne can suggest a no shoot number for you
I can even tag Melissa
@FrostD to take a look at you SS

@Finster

I told Lisa her signature need to be put where her SS is listed not where she has has put in in information
Here it is
Gender:
Male
Lisa and Fin
AlphaTrak 2
Prozinc 1 unit twice daily
Diagnosis 27 June 2022
Fancy Feast Chicken & Tuna Flaked
Suffers with asthma
Uses Adavair inhaler twice daily

@FrostD

@Suzanne & Darcy
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Have you read the 2 dosing methods for prozinc?
They will let you know when to adjust the dose
You need to pick one and add it to your signature and spreadsheet
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/prozinc-dosing-methods.225629/
You add Up top on your SS where it says
Dosing Method (SLGS or TR):

@Finster

You might want to ask someone if you should stay with 0.5 units like @Suzanne & Darcy
suggested on the first page so you can shoot twice a day
Please be sure to read the 2 dosing methods
You need to be getting more tests in during the PM cycle
Maybe Suzanne can suggest a no shoot number for you
I can even tag Melissa
@FrostD to take a look at you SS

@Finster

I told Lisa her signature need to be put where her SS is listed not where she has has put in in information
Here it is
Gender:
Male
Lisa and Fin
AlphaTrak 2
Prozinc 1 unit twice daily
Diagnosis 27 June 2022
Fancy Feast Chicken & Tuna Flaked
Suffers with asthma
Uses Adavair inhaler twice daily

@FrostD

@Suzanne & Darcy
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Maybe the third times the charm? ;)
 
Finster said:
BG 111 at 5:00 pm. I'm throughly confused. He has been in the 140's in the evenings.
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Just keep doing monitoring with your few remaining strips (and tomorrow you will have more.). We will gather data. That’s good. Like I said, he may not need insulin or only a tiny dose to help him along. What I would like to know is: how is feeling and eating? How is his urination? Pooping okay? Happy? Playing? Does he seem normal?
 
He seems more content. He is normally a pretty laid back cat. He is eating better than he has in days. He hasn't pooped today, but that not unusual on the LC food. No huge drinks from the water bowl and urination is normal. He seems in a better mood, not hissing and biting like he does about an hour post shot but does not have the energy that he has on insulin.
He's awake and alert, walking around the yard, jumping up on things but not playing rough with our other cat and not running around like he does for a bit when the insulin kicks in. I hope I'm being objective...of course I'm desperate for him to be better.
 
Finster said:
He seems more content. He is normally a pretty laid back cat. He is eating better than he has in days. He hasn't pooped today, but that not unusual on the LC food. No huge drinks from the water bowl and urination is normal. He seems in a better mood, not hissing and biting like he does about an hour post shot but does not have the energy that he has on insulin.
He's awake and alert, walking around the yard, jumping up on things but not playing rough with our other cat and not running around like he does for a bit when the insulin kicks in. I hope I'm being objective...of course I'm desperate for him to be better.
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Try not to worry too much. I do understand. You love him a lot and want him to be better. It sounds like he’s not doing badly but I really think we are on the trail of health for Finster. So gathering as much BG data as we can while he’s not receiving insulin will help decisions that will keep him safe. Hugs to you!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Also, put an NS in the cell for tonight and get one test a few hours after hos dinner, okay? Please if you can.
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BG 122 at 9:00 PM. Dinner was served at 5 but he has been grazing on the last little bit of it. He still looks good. Cleaning and chewing on his nails. Looks very comfy. I will check again at 0600.
 
BG 140 at 0630. No food since 8:00 pm. This morning he pooped & peed, normal, slept all night, normal, and even seems frisky this morning. We have rain here and it's finally cool so he is zooming around in the yard. I have one strip left. I will go to walmart to see if they have a human glucometer with test strips. I'm afraid Amazon won't deliver till this evening and I don't want to wait with one strip left. Should I give insulin this morning or wait to be sure I can find another glucometer?
 
Hopefully you waited. I would recommend one of the ReliOn meters from Walmart for sure. I would not be comfortable with insulin and only one test strip. Nice to hear about zoomies!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hopefully you waited. I would recommend one of the ReliOn meters from Walmart for sure. I would not be comfortable with insulin and only one test strip. Nice to hear about zoomies!
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Yep I waited. heading out shortly on my quest. He is doing well. Ate good and now resting. Not sleeping just lounging :) I think that's good.
 
You are not going to believe this BUT 12:30 BG 82. I used my last Alphatrak strip and it showed 82! He finished breakfast around 9:00 am. I'm not sure what is going on but he looks great.
 
How many hours since he ate was it that he got the 82? Had he been snacking at all? It's fine... I'm just wondering. Keep up the good work.
 
Finster said:
No food four hours prior to BG 82. I'm going to check it now as it's been 2 hours since he ate small lunch and it looks like we may lose power soon. Bad storms :(
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Also I picked up relion meter but in the mean time my alpha track came. I'm going to continue to use it unless you direct otherwise. I'm just used to the alphatrak, but I can figure the other one out if need be.
 
BG 106 +10 (NS). I"m going to serve dinner and monitor every two hours till I can't keep my eyes open. Does that sound like a good plan? Or should I test every hour? On a side note I go back to work on Wednesday :( Data will be limited during school hours.
 
BG 126 Pre-shot (NS) How cool is that? within one hour it dropped 27 points. I hope that's a good sign that his pancreas is working. I'll check it again in one hour.
 
Finster said:
BG 106 +10 (NS). I"m going to serve dinner and monitor every two hours till I can't keep my eyes open. Does that sound like a good plan? Or should I test every hour? On a side note I go back to work on Wednesday :( Data will be limited during school hours.
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Your plan is very good
 
Finster said:
Also He looks great. Zooming around the yard this morning, good appetite and he has gained back two ounces of the 5 he lost while he didn't have much of an appetite.
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128 BG +1 NS. I'll take it again in 1 hour. Hopefully he's in the green. Do you think this is headed in right direction? I'm feeding him 1 can FF LC but he doesn't eat it all at one time. I'm just making sure no food 2 hours prior to shot time. Is there any other guidelines I should follow concerning food intake? He is highest in the morning and that's with no food.
 
Well, when we look at the data for the last few days, it does look like maybe he needs just a little insulin support. My preference would be to start with quite a low dose and work your way up slowly. His numbers, as you know, are not bad at all. He’s off all oral steroids now and is on an all low carb diet, right? I would even start as low as .25 units and gather data. We don’t have much data on how he did on .5 units. I’m going to tag another person to look at Fin’s spreadsheet too. He never seems to get very high at all even with no shot. @FrostD when you get a chance, I would also like your opinion on Fin’s spreadsheet and dose.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well, when we look at the data for the last few days, it does look like maybe he needs just a little insulin support. My preference would be to start with quite a low dose and work your way up slowly. His numbers, as you know, are not bad at all. He’s off all oral steroids now and is on an all low carb diet, right? I would even start as low as .25 units and gather data. We don’t have much data on how he did on .5 units. I’m going to tag another person to look at Fin’s spreadsheet too. He never seems to get very high at all even with no shot. @FrostD when you get a chance, I would also like your opinion on Fin’s spreadsheet and dose.
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That's correct, LC wet food and occasional freeze dried chicken breast. Tomorrow I start back at work and I would like to wait and try the .25 when I will be home to monitor. Do you think it is worse to wait until Saturday when I can do a 12 hour curve? Or should I go ahead and start ASAP?Thank you so much for your help!
 
Finster said:
That's correct, LC wet food and occasional freeze dried chicken breast. Tomorrow I start back at work and I would like to wait and try the .25 when I will be home to monitor. Do you think it is worse to wait until Saturday when I can do a 12 hour curve? Or should I go ahead and start ASAP?Thank you so much for your help!
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just treats not the whole chicken breast :)
 
Finster said:
That's correct, LC wet food and occasional freeze dried chicken breast. Tomorrow I start back at work and I would like to wait and try the .25 when I will be home to monitor. Do you think it is worse to wait until Saturday when I can do a 12 hour curve? Or should I go ahead and start ASAP?Thank you so much for your help!
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And I don’t really see a whole lot of harm in waiting until the weekend. I say this because Fin’s numbers are not horrible to begin with. I’m okay with that and you say he is eating well and is acting happy.
 
Sorry hectic week over here.

Definitely wait til the weekend!

I would actually start with something like 0.1U. Very close to non-diabetic numbers on an AlphaTrak. It's basically just a hair's width of insulin in there, depending on the syringe, the plunger might be in line with the back end of "0" mark.

0.25U is probably ok as well if you'd rather try that, just be sure you have hypo kit either way. We don't want him below 68 on your meter.
 
Yes. I agree with a very small dose. Best to start small and work up only if necessary. His numbers are so close to normal — it really scared me how the vet had prescribed 2 units.
 
FrostD said:
Sorry hectic week over here.

Definitely wait til the weekend!

I would actually start with something like 0.1U. Very close to non-diabetic numbers on an AlphaTrak. It's basically just a hair's width of insulin in there, depending on the syringe, the plunger might be in line with the back end of "0" mark.

0.25U is probably ok as well if you'd rather try that, just be sure you have hypo kit either way. We don't want him below 68 on your meter.
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FrostD said:
Sorry hectic week over here.

Definitely wait til the weekend!

I would actually start with something like 0.1U. Very close to non-diabetic numbers on an AlphaTrak. It's basically just a hair's width of insulin in there, depending on the syringe, the plunger might be in line with the back end of "0" mark.

0.25U is probably ok as well if you'd rather try that, just be sure you have hypo kit either way. We don't want him below 68 on your meter.
Click to expand...
FrostD said:
Sorry hectic week over here.

Definitely wait til the weekend!

I would actually start with something like 0.1U. Very close to non-diabetic numbers on an AlphaTrak. It's basically just a hair's width of insulin in there, depending on the syringe, the plunger might be in line with the back end of "0" mark.

0.25U is probably ok as well if you'd rather try that, just be sure you have hypo kit either way. We don't want him below 68 on your meter.
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No worries and thank you for your help! Tomorrow I will give the tiniest amount and monitor every hour or two. Yep I'll have hypo-kit on stand by :) Thanks again!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Today’s cycle looks very good for a start. Nothing dramatic and he even hit our beloved green. I think it’s a fair start. How did you measure that amount of insulin? What do you think, Melissa @FrostD ?
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I put the plunger in-between the .5 and the zero line. It's tricky and not exact but I'm too nervous to give the full .5 just yet. I'll try and get two more checks in tonight.
 
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