? 1/25 Arya AMPS 268, +2 238, +4 189 (New here, first curve)

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

Hi Lovely people..
We tested Arya pre jab and she’s at 82. What do we do now?
Yesterday was a bit of a disaster as we were told to “aim for 180” by the vet and she was under that and we didn’t know what to do so we asked for a call from the vet but she didn’t call so we didn’t give her a shot then later her number was 410!
What do we do now?

Thanks in advance

Lisa

 

[Tyleete]

Hi and howdy! First off, putting this out that I am not an expert here. Both my diabetic cats went into remission in 2 months time. So I don't have lengthy experience.
Are you following the SLGS or TR method? They have different numbers to not shoot under.
With a history of keyetones, I personally would shy away from no insulin at all, as you really want to keep your baby from having ketones. If nothing else, you can always knock it down to what's referred to as a token dose of 0.5 units.
I believe even the TR said new to insulin no-shot is 90, but I would worry about the ketones.
Are you testing for those at home? If not, they have something called Ketostix. They're real cheap and easy to use. Sounds awful, but leave the top off the litter box, and once the kitty starts peeing, reach the stick behind and under the bum to get it in the steam. They can't stop once they start, so you're good there.
You also might see some bouncing when they hit good numbers. After being high so long, when they dip into more normal numbers one hour, it can send their bodies going... Whoa! What the heck is this!?!
And it has a reaction of kicking out more insulin, not understanding yet. My boy did that a lot at first. 80's, then 300+ in a few hours. It's frustrating to watch, but it's just what happens some times.
Is your kitty on a low carb diet? And do you have medium to high carb foods in case the numbers drop too low/hypo?
In case you haven't read it, this in my opinion, is the most important read in the whole site. It happens to some, and you never want to be caught without the proper tools and knowledge for such an emergency.
And in case you're question isn't getting any attention and you need answers quick, some go to the Facebook page. There's often more people around they're, especially in the pre-dawn hours.

 

[Allie & Gen]

For anyone who may need it, I'm linking your introductory post, which gives some background: ? - New member- introducing ourselves (dosing advice needed)

I think, if I'm reading your spreadsheet right, that you didn't shoot? While I'm also pretty new and cautious about giving dosing advice, I think that was a good call. 82 is very low for a preshot number, especially with a recently-diagnosed cat (so you don't have a lot of data to tell you what her system is likely to do).

How are things going with finding Arya appropriate food, by the way? I see from your signature that you're feeding a wet diet, which is great, but carb numbers make a difference (both in that they're better for her, and that a lot of advice here is best when partly based on knowing what is going into your cat's system food-wise).

I'll note that a lot of the more active members on this board are located in the US and Canada, so we're on fairly opposite schedules! I'm sorry nobody seems to have been around when you posted. I know that @Bandit's Mom, located in India, is often an excellent source of advice when much of the board is asleep. Tagging her for future reference. (I see that a member I'm not familiar with, who is in AUS, commented on your intro post. You may want to consider tagging her as well yourself, so she can find your post if you have a question and aren't getting a lot of response. I'm going to tag her too, in case she wants to pop in: @Bron and Sheba (GA) )

Let us know where Arya is when you wake up/test!

Also, I know you're taking in so much new information right now, and it's stressful and overwhelming! There are a few formatting conventions that will be helpful for us to quickly catch up/be helpful when you post to this forum, though don't worry if it takes you a little while to get used to it:

• Use the following format for your post subject line: [Date] - [Cat's name], AMPS [AM preshot number] - [question subject if you have one and are using a ? prefix] (you can see examples in most other posts here to give you an idea)
• {Good job using the ? prefix, by the way! that really helps!}
• Include a link to your previous post so we can get the context we need to be helpful
• Make a new post each day that you post, so the thread doesn't get too long

Welcome - I know this is all stressful and a lot! Sounds like your vet hasn't been the most help, either. I'm so glad you found us.

 

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

Hi and howdy! First off, putting this out that I am not an expert here. Both my diabetic cats went into remission in 2 months time. So I don't have lengthy experience.
Are you following the SLGS or TR method? They have different numbers to not shoot under.
With a history of keyetones, I personally would shy away from no insulin at all, as you really want to keep your baby from having ketones. If nothing else, you can always knock it down to what's referred to as a token dose of 0.5 units.
I believe even the TR said new to insulin no-shot is 90, but I would worry about the ketones.
Are you testing for those at home? If not, they have something called Ketostix. They're real cheap and easy to use. Sounds awful, but leave the top off the litter box, and once the kitty starts peeing, reach the stick behind and under the bum to get it in the steam. They can't stop once they start, so you're good there.
You also might see some bouncing when they hit good numbers. After being high so long, when they dip into more normal numbers one hour, it can send their bodies going... Whoa! What the heck is this!?!
And it has a reaction of kicking out more insulin, not understanding yet. My boy did that a lot at first. 80's, then 300+ in a few hours. It's frustrating to watch, but it's just what happens some times.
Is your kitty on a low carb diet? And do you have medium to high carb foods in case the numbers drop too low/hypo?
In case you haven't read it, this in my opinion, is the most important read in the whole site. It happens to some, and you never want to be caught without the proper tools and knowledge for such an emergency.
And in case you're question isn't getting any attention and you need answers quick, some go to the Facebook page. There's often more people around they're, especially in the pre-dawn hours.

Hi and howdy! First off, putting this out that I am not an expert here. Both my diabetic cats went into remission in 2 months time. So I don't have lengthy experience.
Are you following the SLGS or TR method? They have different numbers to not shoot under.
With a history of keyetones, I personally would shy away from no insulin at all, as you really want to keep your baby from having ketones. If nothing else, you can always knock it down to what's referred to as a token dose of 0.5 units.
I believe even the TR said new to insulin no-shot is 90, but I would worry about the ketones.
Are you testing for those at home? If not, they have something called Ketostix. They're real cheap and easy to use. Sounds awful, but leave the top off the litter box, and once the kitty starts peeing, reach the stick behind and under the bum to get it in the steam. They can't stop once they start, so you're good there.
You also might see some bouncing when they hit good numbers. After being high so long, when they dip into more normal numbers one hour, it can send their bodies going... Whoa! What the heck is this!?!
And it has a reaction of kicking out more insulin, not understanding yet. My boy did that a lot at first. 80's, then 300+ in a few hours. It's frustrating to watch, but it's just what happens some times.
Is your kitty on a low carb diet? And do you have medium to high carb foods in case the numbers drop too low/hypo?
In case you haven't read it, this in my opinion, is the most important read in the whole site. It happens to some, and you never want to be caught without the proper tools and knowledge for such an emergency.
And in case you're question isn't getting any attention and you need answers quick, some go to the Facebook page. There's often more people around they're, especially in the pre-dawn hours.

Hi Tyleete,

Many thanks for your reply. Very helpful. I need to really sit down and go through all of the pinned posts and take a good look at the methods. Initially we were following vet advice- which was 2iu (Arya is on 3.3 kilos) and only testing 4 hrs after shot, not prior. So we’ve learnt a lot from you wonderful ppl already… testing prior to shot (which obv is imperative and that shows with a number in the 80’s - we could have had a disaster!) We are now giving half the insulin that the vet told us to give.
We’ve tested her 3 times for ketones and she’s negative- does my sig show as “no history of ketones’ or as ‘history of ketones’.. should be NO HISTORY.
Well done on getting your babies into remission! I’m absolutely wanting that for my girl, they’re ALL special but Arya is extra special (she’s been through a lot)
Yes she’s on low carb fancy feast and I have the gravy for lows -
I understand that people aren’t here 24/7 waiting for posts from Aus - I’m not stressing too much- I don’t have FB- never had it-
Many thanks again - I’d love to hear more about your remission stories one day! Legend!!

Lisa & Lady Arya Stark xx

 

[Tyleete]

Hi Tyleete,

Many thanks for your reply. Very helpful. I need to really sit down and go through all of the pinned posts and take a good look at the methods. Initially we were following vet advice- which was 2iu (Arya is on 3.3 kilos) and only testing 4 hrs after shot, not prior. So we’ve learnt a lot from you wonderful ppl already… testing prior to shot (which obv is imperative and that shows with a number in the 80’s - we could have had a disaster!) We are now giving half the insulin that the vet told us to give.
We’ve tested her 3 times for ketones and she’s negative- does my sig show as “no history of ketones’ or as ‘history of ketones’.. should be NO HISTORY.
Well done on getting your babies into remission! I’m absolutely wanting that for my girl, they’re ALL special but Arya is extra special (she’s been through a lot)
Yes she’s on low carb fancy feast and I have the gravy for lows -
I understand that people aren’t here 24/7 waiting for posts from Aus - I’m not stressing too much- I don’t have FB- never had it-
Many thanks again - I’d love to hear more about your remission stories one day! Legend!!

Lisa & Lady Arya Stark xx

Bless you for never having Facebook. Wish I'd never listened to a friend & got on. That place is nuts. And while it's not me, so many waste so much time on social media.
Your ss does say ketones at the top.
As reading all the sticky threads? I've read them all a good 3-4 times. And I still had lots of questions. I felt like a toddler that still needed things explained even after. Many of us are like that, so just ask questions whenever you have them, and hopefully someone will get to them and be able to answer them. Make sure to use that red emergency tag at the top if it's urgent.
I don't blame you for cutting back to the 1 unit. 2 is a lot to start with. A nice, safe starting dose is 1. Seeing all the things that can go wrong, there's no such thing as being too safe.

 

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

G’day!
Ahhhhhh riiiight… I thought did changed it.. obviously didn’t save it- thanks for pointing out that it still said YES for ketones!
We’re doing the 2hr testing today, breaking my heart, poor little chicken is bruised and bleeding and hates us
Thanks for your support… it’s invaluable

 

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

For anyone who may need it, I'm linking your introductory post, which gives some background: ? - New member- introducing ourselves (dosing advice needed)

I think, if I'm reading your spreadsheet right, that you didn't shoot? While I'm also pretty new and cautious about giving dosing advice, I think that was a good call. 82 is very low for a preshot number, especially with a recently-diagnosed cat (so you don't have a lot of data to tell you what her system is likely to do).

How are things going with finding Arya appropriate food, by the way? I see from your signature that you're feeding a wet diet, which is great, but carb numbers make a difference (both in that they're better for her, and that a lot of advice here is best when partly based on knowing what is going into your cat's system food-wise).

I'll note that a lot of the more active members on this board are located in the US and Canada, so we're on fairly opposite schedules! I'm sorry nobody seems to have been around when you posted. I know that @Bandit's Mom, located in India, is often an excellent source of advice when much of the board is asleep. Tagging her for future reference. (I see that a member I'm not familiar with, who is in AUS, commented on your intro post. You may want to consider tagging her as well yourself, so she can find your post if you have a question and aren't getting a lot of response. I'm going to tag her too, in case she wants to pop in: @Bron and Sheba (GA) )

Let us know where Arya is when you wake up/test!

Also, I know you're taking in so much new information right now, and it's stressful and overwhelming! There are a few formatting conventions that will be helpful for us to quickly catch up/be helpful when you post to this forum, though don't worry if it takes you a little while to get used to it:

• Use the following format for your post subject line: [Date] - [Cat's name], AMPS [AM preshot number] - [question subject if you have one and are using a ? prefix] (you can see examples in most other posts here to give you an idea)
• {Good job using the ? prefix, by the way! that really helps!}
• Include a link to your previous post so we can get the context we need to be helpful
• Make a new post each day that you post, so the thread doesn't get too long

Welcome - I know this is all stressful and a lot! Sounds like your vet hasn't been the most help, either. I'm so glad you found us.

Thanks for the great tips! Now that I’m not blubbering 24/7 I might be able to take in the information a bit better!
When the number was low we waited until a few hours later when it had risen and we gave her a shot then.
She’s on fancy feast pate. Bought Ultimates too but she won’t eat that.
Thanks for tagging other members for me.. that’s useful for me to know who might be available to help..

Thanks again

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I'm trying to figure out one of your comments on the spreadsheet, something about more insulin given at 8pm last night? We tend to talk in terms of + hours, or how many hours after the shot as we are all around the world. Are you saying you gave a 0.5 unit shot at +16 (ie. 4 hours after normal shot time)? If so, it's best to record that in the +4 cell for last night, instead of just in the Remarks column.

Also, does that mean you gave 1.0 unit at your normal time this morning? Was that 8 or 12 hours after last night's shot?

It's really important to not shoot that close together, we try to stick as close to 12 hours apart as we can. Otherwise you can bet overlapping nadirs. It could also explain the day long drop of numbers you are currently seeing into today's PMPS.

 

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

Ah ok.. thanks Wendy. Yes we gave her half a dose (0.5) 4 hours after she was due then 1iu 8 hours later. We need to try to keep it in sync with a 4am shot for during the working wk. what do you suggest in that situation where she’s tested at below 80 prior to injection?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

what do you suggest in that situation where she’s tested at below 80 prior to injection?

Skip the shot since you have to stay on schedule. You can move Lantus/glargine shots around 15 minute per shot or 1/2 hour once per day. That gives you a little wiggle room, especially on a weekend, to move the shot time, but not a full 4 hours.

Did you get a later test after that 72 tonight? She could be telling you that even 1.0 units is too much. Typically for a cat her weight, 1.0 units would still be a high starting dose.

 

[Lisa & Lady Arya Stark 🦋]

Skip the shot since you have to stay on schedule. You can move Lantus/glargine shots around 15 minute per shot or 1/2 hour once per day. That gives you a little wiggle room, especially on a weekend, to move the shot time, but not a full 4 hours.

Did you get a later test after that 72 tonight? She could be telling you that even 1.0 units is too much. Typically for a cat her weight, 1.0 units would still be a high starting dose.

Hi Wendy- again many thanks- I can see how I’m coming across as naive (because that’s exactly what I am ) We didn’t test again after the 72 as it was bedtime and we are getting up at 4am each day with Arya- I feel awful saying that- I wish I could stay awake 24hrs watching her. She’s a feral too (wildcat parents) so she doesn’t like being watched or fussed over and frequently disappears on the few acres she has to call her garden)
Ok.. several people have said give her 0.75iu… (we spoke to the vet last wk, who had advised 2iu previously-she said give her 1.5iu but we opted to try 1)
We are going to start on 0.75 this evening.
Now that my head is spinning a little less and I’ve grasped a little of the terminology I will sit down tomorrow and have a really good read through the WONDERFUL information that this forum provides.