11/9 Ivy Amps 125, +3 139, +6 137, +9 161, Pmps 188, +3.75 54 Libre

Staci & Ivy

Very Active Member
11/8/24
Amps 125 Libre

Well, another wild ride yesterday with lower cycles than her norm.
Still trying to figure out why she may be requiring less insulin and why her normal higher carb foods aren’t bringing her up when needed.
Marje and Wendy‘s comments yesterday, made me start thinking that maybe since we are treating the hyperthyroid condition with methimazole, perhaps some insulin resistance that she had is being reduced :bookworm:
I guess there’s no real clear answer. We just have to react to what’s going on.
We’ve given several reductions lately and we’ll have to see how the depot balances once everything settles to see how she’s really doing on a dose.

I feel like I need to give her a little bit higher than her normal carbs since she seems to be on a wild ride until we find the right dose. I need her to be a little bit more stable so I don’t have to be feeding her so much to keep her from diving too low.

We are supposed to go out to dinner tonight, but I’m not sure that I will be comfortable doing that. I will have to see how she does during the day. Usually, when I go out, I give her 12.5% food and that keeps her a little higher while I’m out. However, since that food is not really holding her up lately, I feel like I can’t count on it to do the job and keep her elevated for a few hours in the early part of her cycle :banghead:

Hope everyone has a common boring day and safe surfing:cat:
 
Hi Staci,

oh wow, another low cycle at night. :facepalm: So behind this difficult to handle situation there might be good news, that her health improved and she needs less insulin.

I understand it is difficult to leave her at home tonight without something that works for sure. If Binie is dropping and I can't stop it I sometimes give her these pill pockets. The ones I bought at the vet are 50 % carb and a few little pieces always bring her up. Maybe that is something your son could giver her, if she is going too low? Binie would kill for them so I know, they are going in. I would feel insecure too, to leave the house. Is it far? Can you come back, if your son can't handle the situation or if he is not home?

Hope besides all that you can relax a bit today! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
gah! another long night, hope you are getting naps in. Ivy is looking like she's back in the comfortable blues today, but I know she likes to keep you on your toes....
 
Hi Staci! Wow, Ivy showed you nice numbers yesterday, I know you prefer her higher but it's still good to see her do that. Did you get any test on the Contour to see where she is?
I always wonder if food can only bring them up so much, I mean, it's something to take a cat back into safe numbers when they are very low, but if she is around 75-100 to start with, will it get her much higher than that to use 12.5%? I guess if you used something with grains or starch, it might, but I would not want to. Sorry, I am just thinking, no real help for you!
I hope you can get time off tonight :bighug:
 
Oh boy. Ivy kept going last night :eek:
You must be exhausted - it is hard to take care of FD as is, but on top of that, such wild nights in a row!
I did wonder about what Wendy said about the T4 level - maybe the increased dose is helping her hyperthyroidism and bringing her BGs down altogether.
You will see the level in 2 weeks so you get a better idea then.
In a meanwhile, I hope you can get some rest! Can't go on like this, Staci.
I really hope Ivy will be stable enough so you can enjoy your dinner out tonight! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Hi Staci,

oh wow, another low cycle at night. :facepalm: So behind this difficult to handle situation there might be good news, that her health improved and she needs less insulin.

I understand it is difficult to leave her at home tonight without something that works for sure. If Binie is dropping and I can't stop it I sometimes give her these pill pockets. The ones I bought at the vet are 50 % carb and a few little pieces always bring her up. Maybe that is something your son could giver her, if she is going too low? Binie would kill for them so I know, they are going in. I would feel insecure too, to leave the house. Is it far? Can you come back, if your son can't handle the situation or if he is not home?

Hope besides all that you can relax a bit today! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
Hi Heike,
Well, as you know, I started down this rabbit hole yesterday and I ended up going to a pet store near me and bought a bunch of Friskies cans.
They were the only ones I could find that were 20% and above, based on the calculator you sent me yesterday.
I stood in the store and punched in data for about an hour. I couldn’t find any other brands that came up to over 20%.

I hate the thought of using Friskies or any other crap brands for Ivy, but I try to remind myself that it’s only in an emergency and it’s not her daily diet.
If we go tonight, we are about 20 minutes away and of course I have the Libre so I can watch her.

Hoping she will be stable. She’s been so today, but that means nothing about tonight. We shall see:rolleyes::facepalm:
Hope you and Binie had a great day and I hope she’s feeling better today.
Hope you’re having a relaxing evening.
Thanks for all your help as always.
:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Hi Staci! Wow, Ivy showed you nice numbers yesterday, I know you prefer her higher but it's still good to see her do that. Did you get any test on the Contour to see where she is?
I always wonder if food can only bring them up so much, I mean, it's something to take a cat back into safe numbers when they are very low, but if she is around 75-100 to start with, will it get her much higher than that to use 12.5%? I guess if you used something with grains or starch, it might, but I would not want to. Sorry, I am just thinking, no real help for you!
I hope you can get time off tonight :bighug:
Hi Cecile, I know it looks great on her spreadsheet. Just not great for my sleep.
I did try to test her with the contour last night, it was around 11 or 12 o’clock and she was really fighting me. Plus my exhaustion was probably not a great match for her so she got poked about six times and I kept getting error messages, “not enough blood” and she was biting and scratching me, so I had to just give up and feed her so that wasn’t the most fun late night around here.

I really just want to make sure that I do have some thing in the house for those times where she does go lower and I want to bring her higher, so that’s what started this whole conversation.
And it’s interesting now that I think what I’m finding is that perhaps The data is outdated and maybe the formulation I was trying to use is really only 14%, so it’s so close to the food that I make it wasn’t really moving the needle for her. There are so many factors aren’t there??
I hope you and Bella are having a peaceful weekend
 
Oh boy. Ivy kept going last night :eek:
You must be exhausted - it is hard to take care of FD as is, but on top of that, such wild nights in a row!
I did wonder about what Wendy said about the T4 level - maybe the increased dose is helping her hyperthyroidism and bringing her BGs down altogether.
You will see the level in 2 weeks so you get a better idea then.
In a meanwhile, I hope you can get some rest! Can't go on like this, Staci.
I really hope Ivy will be stable enough so you can enjoy your dinner out tonight! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
Hi Kit, Can you believe this whole debacle? On top of exhaustion now I have the issue of making sure I have what I need in the house to make sure I can pull her up if she goes low.
What a crazy week this has been on so many levels. I will be glad to put this week behind me.

You’re right, we will see in two weeks when I have lab work done where things are.
The way that I read Wendy‘s comment was that perhaps since we are medicating her for the thyroid condition that perhaps we have broken through some glucose toxicity and she doesn’t require as much insulin:bookworm:
I think you and I might have read it two different ways ;)

Anyway, thanks for the good wishes and I hope you are having a peaceful weekend and Mikan is feeling much better today:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
gah! another long night, hope you are getting naps in. Ivy is looking like she's back in the comfortable blues today, but I know she likes to keep you on your toes....
It’s been wild, Seth. I need some calm badly. If I hadn’t had the urgent need to run to the pet store today. I might’ve gotten a little nap in, but that was not to be. Hope you and Bell are having a peaceful weekend :bighug:
 
Hi Heike,
Well, as you know, I started down this rabbit hole yesterday and I ended up going to a pet store near me and bought a bunch of Friskies cans.
They were the only ones I could find that were 20% and above, based on the calculator you sent me yesterday.
I stood in the store and punched in data for about an hour. I couldn’t find any other brands that came up to over 20%.

I hate the thought of using Friskies or any other crap brands for Ivy, but I try to remind myself that it’s only in an emergency and it’s not her daily diet.
If we go tonight, we are about 20 minutes away and of course I have the Libre so I can watch her.

Hoping she will be stable. She’s been so today, but that means nothing about tonight. We shall see:rolleyes::facepalm:
Hope you and Binie had a great day and I hope she’s feeling better today.
Hope you’re having a relaxing evening.
Thanks for all your help as always.
:bighug::bighug::bighug:

Hi Staci,

yes, it is really difficult to find something around 20 %. And of course it is crap. But it's a compromise and not her daily diet. It's like letting your children eat at McDonalds now and then... 20 minutes away sounds good. You can always go home if she drops under a certain number. But I hope you don't have to and you can relax a bit and have fun.

I send you many hugs! :bighug::kiss::bighug:
 
Hi Staci,

yes, it is really difficult to find something around 20 %. And of course it is crap. But it's a compromise and not her daily diet. It's like letting your children eat at McDonalds now and then... 20 minutes away sounds good. You can always go home if she drops under a certain number. But I hope you don't have to and you can relax a bit and have fun.

I send you many hugs! :bighug::kiss::bighug:
Thank you, Heike, I appreciate all your support. I’m hoping I can relax tonight and have a glass of wine and everything goes well. I sure could use it after this week.

I know you’re right, that I have to focus on the fact that it’s not her steady diet and I try to do the best by her by cooking for her to try to give her the best possible and healthiest meals that I can.
So that’s why it’s so painful for me so I have to feed her something that costs $.80 a can. That just tells me it’s not the highest quality food possible :banghead::banghead:
I hope you are having a very good sleep by now. Hugs to you and Binie and sweet dreams :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I hope you can enjoy your evening, and night!
You need it :bighug:
Thank you! Headed home. Tried a place I’ve been trying to get to for months but had to cancel as Ivy was too low a few times. It was really good.
And nice to get out once a week!! (Since I work from home remotely, it’s a nice escape!) :bighug::bighug:
 
The way that I read Wendy‘s comment was that perhaps since we are medicating her for the thyroid condition that perhaps we have broken through some glucose toxicity and she doesn’t require as much insulin
Not quite, I didn't mention glucose toxicity. Glucose toxicity is just one form of insulin resistance. Many things can cause insulin resistance - kidney disease, heart disease, pancreatitis, infection, inflammation such as pancreatitis, acromegaly, hyperthyroidism. Controlling any of the above can reduce the insulin resistance, meaning she reacts better to the insulin she is getting. Thus possibly less insulin needed.
 
Not quite, I didn't mention glucose toxicity. Glucose toxicity is just one form of insulin resistance. Many things can cause insulin resistance - kidney disease, heart disease, pancreatitis, infection, inflammation such as pancreatitis, acromegaly, hyperthyroidism. Controlling any of the above can reduce the insulin resistance, meaning she reacts better to the insulin she is getting. Thus possibly less insulin needed.
Thank you for clarification, Wendy.
 
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