Hi. I have had Ali on PZI for the last year, and he started at 2 units, then the vet reduced it to 1.5. He had been doing quite well until recently. The onset is not happening somedays until about 3 hrs and then some days the insulin seems to do its job and some days not. Here are the numbers from yesterday:
630am BG 356, gave 1.5 units
925am BG 347
1259pm BG 119
623pm BG 233, gave 1.5 units
906pm BG 316
1239am BG 272
This morning his PS at 620am 329, gave 1.5 units.
On 8/16 I only did a few tests:
640am 290, gave 1.5 units
1108am 257
624pm 359, gave 1.5 units
Does this warrant an increase? He seems to maybe be stuck.. I am doing another curve today
Welcome to FDMB! I’m going to move your thread to Main Health as all new members need to start there so we can help you get started with how this forum works.
This (click on blue) post will help you with that including instructions on how to do a spreadsheet and your signature block so we have important information about Ali.
But to answer your question, it’s difficult to see what he is doing with just 2 days of data. I’m assuming you’ve been tracking his data for much longer. Have you been following any kind of specific method of regulation or has the vet just been telling you when to increase and decrease?
When you say he’s been doing “quite well”, what do his nadirs (lowest BG in a cycle) look like? Often times, vets are more supportive of letting cats’ nadirs run higher than we suggest here. Understandably, they can’t be with you 24/7 and want to be sure kitty is safe but we can help with getting Ali in normal BGs longer and safely.
On this site, we have two methods of regulation which assist you in determining when to increase and reduce the dose and by how much. You don’t have to jump into that today. I’d rather see a spreadsheet with some data over a few weeks so we can see his trends and make a strong recommendation for you.
Sometimes onsets and nadirs move around and sometimes duration changes. There can be a variety of reasons for this. Also, diabetic cats can do what we call “bouncing” which means the liver responds to lower numbers or fast drops by releasing extra counterregulatory hormones which drive the BG up for a few cycles. Without seeing what his cycles and trends have looked like recently, it’s hard to say if he’s bouncing or if he needs additional insulin.
The post I linked has the instructions for creating and using the spreadsheet. If you need any help, please send me a private message by clicking on my username to the left and then “start a conversation” and I can get some basic info to help with the spreadsheet.
Again, welcome. There is a bit of a learning curve but there’s always someone around to help and usually many members who will po in to help and support you. Please let me know if you have any questions.
