9/21, Bell, AMPS 56 +2 46 +3 57 +4 48 +5 49 +5.5 60 +6 61 PMPS 63 +1 69 +2 61 +3 64 +4 65

[Seth&Bell]

Yesterday

I believe this is the lowest I've shot

I was so mad at myself last night. I finally had Bell's appetite back, and I fed her a little at 1 AM, which she ate right up. Then I loaded her automatic feeder with food and stupidly decided leave another portion out in the feeder, thinking it would be there for her in an hour or so to eat (she was low). I could have programmed the feeder to hide that portion for an hour, but instead I just left it there, thinking Bell was going to sleep after her meal.

Well, Bell decided to gobble up that portion too. Then she proceeded to run around my apartment throwing up fancy feast all over the apartment. On carpet... So I spent the next hour cleaning that up. Got her to eat a small meal at 2 AM. Looks like she remained in the 50's all night/morning. Should be an interesting day.

Her appetite seemed great this morning and no more puking.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Bird crew clocking in early today:

 

[cecile & bella]

Congratulations for shooting that low!
Sorry about the puke. That's not a fun way to end the day! Why do they always have to choose carpet? I wonder if their archaïc brain thinks it has to be in grass to hide it. Who knows.
I love your photo! Are they sisters?

 

[Seth&Bell]

Thank you Cecile! I know! She sprints for the carpet everytime! Maybe it is some evolutionary thing, I've thought the same thing.

They actually aren't sisters. I adopted them both at different shelters a couple days apart. Blair was at the traditional "pound" and Bell had been living in a no-kill shelter for 2 years . I gravitate towards black cats because they seem to be passed over for silly superstitious reasons. My first interaction with her was to try to get her in my lap, which she proceeded to immediately hop out of and run to the giant kibble bowl and start eating .

They aren't best buds, Blair likes to be a bully while also being the biggest fraidy-cat I've ever seen, but they do tolerate each other well enough. That's about as close as they get

 

[Seth&Bell]

Blair is way more afraid of Bell getting insulin shots than Bell is . I have to now feed Blair in the kitchen because she is so weirded out when I give Bell her shot. Bell hardly even notices the shots these days.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Yesterday

I believe this is the lowest I've shot

I was so mad at myself last night. I finally had Bell's appetite back, and I fed her a little at 1 AM, which she ate right up. Then I loaded her automatic feeder with food and stupidly decided leave another portion out in the feeder, thinking it would be there for her in an hour or so to eat (she was low). I could have programmed the feeder to hide that portion for an hour, but instead I just left it there, thinking Bell was going to sleep after her meal.

Well, Bell decided to gobble up that portion too. Then she proceeded to run around my apartment throwing up fancy feast all over the apartment. On carpet... So I spent the next hour cleaning that up. Got her to eat a small meal at 2 AM. Looks like she remained in the 50's all night/morning. Should be an interesting day.

Her appetite seemed great this morning and no more puking.

Congratulations on your low AMPS. You’re so brave. And Bell is doing so well
Sorry about the 1 am puke on that carpet. Never a fun middle of the night event.

I hope today is much smoother with no antics or speed bumps. Safe surfing to Bell

 

[Seth&Bell]

Thank you Staci! I’m starting to get more comfortable with shooting low, but I’m trying not to get lax about it. She seems to do very well with the low shots as long as I can feed her small amounts throughout her cycle.

She sure seems right on the cusp of a dose reduction, but she puts up a nice wall at 50 and won’t give me the satisfaction (or sleep)

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Thank you Staci! I’m starting to get more comfortable with shooting low, but I’m trying not to get lax about it. She seems to do very well with the low shots as long as I can feed her small amounts throughout her cycle.

She sure seems right on the cusp of a dose reduction, but she puts up a nice wall at 50 and won’t give me the satisfaction (or sleep)

I hear ya on that sleep thing

Looking great in green. And you’re being very careful. Great work, Seth

 

[cecile & bella]

That is so funny that Blair is afraid of shots. Some cats have very weird reactions to things.
I love black cats. i had one growing up who looked exactly like Bell. We adopted Bella from a shelter too when she was 5 years old, and she picked us, she came right to us and sat in front of us and kept looking at us and closing her eyes and purring. So we did not even keep looking for the black kitten we thought we were going to adopt that daym, we found our cat
Here is my little black best friend from my childhood:

 

[Seth&Bell]

Omg! That looks just like a tiny Bell! I didn’t get a chance to know her as a kitten but I bet she looked just like that cutie. He/she even has the white patch on their chest

I looove the Bella origin story. I could not have resisted her little white mittens either

 

[cecile & bella]

Yes, she did have that little white patch. I was 4 when we got her, almost 17 when she died. Every time you post a picture I think it's her (her name was Caline).
We did not know Bella as a kitten either, but I imagine her little white mittens on mini-paws and she was probably very cute! As all kittens are, right?

 

[Seth&Bell]

Thank you for sharing that, Cecile. I hope Bell reminds you of the good memories.

 

[Seth&Bell]

I just clocked Bell at 46 at +2. Yikes. She finally earned her reduction. I’ve fed and will measure again in a few

 

[tiffmaxee]

Congrats on the reduction! It’s early so I’d feed a little higher lc or mc.

 

[Heike & BInie]

Oh wow, Bell really wanted that reduction! Good catch! I hope she becomes steady in safe numbers soon. She has such nice numbers in such a short time! Amazing job!

The little bird watchers are really cute! Do they do these funny chirping sounds? Binie also likes to vomit on the carpet. Or bed. She chooses everything which is difficult to clean. She also likes to eat mice on the carpet. Yikes.... I threw out all of them and kept just one, I can wash easily.

Hope you have a nice saturday and Bell surfes safely!

 

[Seth&Bell]

Bell doesn’t eat anything besides the lc fancy feast… I fed her 1/4 can of fancy feast at the +2. I’m going to get a +2.5 here in a few. Would you advise to add a drop of maple syrup to a bit of food? Or see where she’s at the +2.5?

And thank you! She’s been dancing around the 50s at the 2.5 dose for a long while now.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Oh wow, Bell really wanted that reduction! Good catch! I hope she becomes steady in safe numbers soon. She has such nice numbers in such a short time! Amazing job!

The little bird watchers are really cute! Do they do these funny chirping sounds? Binie also likes to vomit on the carpet. Or bed. She chooses everything which is difficult to clean. She also likes to eat mice on the carpet. Yikes.... I threw out all of them and kept just one, I can wash easily.

Hope you have a nice saturday and Bell surfes safely!

Yes, they both make the chirping noise at birds! Thank you so much. Credit to Wendy on that for noticing the vet was giving me repackaged (and less effective) insulin.

 

[cecile & bella]

Yay! Congratulations on the reduction.

 

[Seth&Bell]

+2.5 was 65! So the food (without any syrup) is doing its job. This will probably drop again by +3 (or she may bounce). I'll get a +3 and reassess if I need to feed a bit more.

 

[Seth&Bell]

+3 was 57. Fed a tsp of fancy feast. Hoping we can control this curve with food throughout the day and not trigger a bounce.

 

[Alicia & Kit cat (GA)]

Congrats on the reduction! She heard you were really wanting one, and served it up for you!

 

[Seth&Bell]

Maybe she felt bad for me having to clean up her puke at 1 AM last night.

 

[Seth&Bell]

+4 was back down to 48. Fed 1/8 can of LC fancy feast. Will check at +4.5. Planning to feed another 1/8 can at +5, unless the +4.5 drops even lower and I need to feed earlier.

 

[Alicia & Kit cat (GA)]

She really wanted to stay low today!

Does she not eat anything but LC because that's all she's willing to eat, or because that's what you currently have? If she's willing, even having some higher LC food on hand can be useful to help to feed the curve. It also stays in their system longer than syrup or honey.

 

[Seth&Bell]

She's just super picky. I transitioned her straight from kibble (altho relatively LC kibble) to the fancy feast right after her diagnosis. I had tried every type of canned food when I originally got Bell and Blair, but they refused everything being the kibble addicts they are. When she started to lose weight, she really didn't have much appetite for the kibble and then actually did start eating the fancy feast (this was a small miracle). After she started eating the fancy feast, I tried a million different healthier canned food options, just because I know fancy feast isn't the best stuff. She refused everything. She even tips over her plate to let me really know . Oddly enough she has no interest in the kibble anymore and Blair has no interest in her fancy feast. This is great for me because I can control Blair's weight much better now, since she really put on pounds by stealing Bell's kibble when she stopped eating a lot.

Since I never had a period of her eating canned food without the diabetes, I never really had the opportunity to try a bunch of MC or HC food. I've tried the higher carb fancy feast variety when she got really low a few times, but she tipped those over as well . I never wanted to mess up her numbers by trying higher carb stuff. Now that she is consistently low, maybe it is time to really try again. Although, I don't want her to get a taste for the higher carb stuff and then turn her nose up at her regular LC food.

I bet I could sneak some of the gravy from a higher carb can into her normal food. Do you think that would be helpful?

I've been having success with just feeding the low carb food in very small amount very often when she drops low. And then always having syrup for emergencies, which I've only used once at the very beginning when I didn't know what I was doing and panicked . I do think you are right that getting her to eat higher carb stuff would at least help my sanity . Another tool in the kit...