? Dosing advice ASAP

heavenlydogs

heavenlydogs

Member Since 2026
Hi
I posted my previous and first thread. I found the forum information on ProZinc. I had missed that when I read everything at least I thought I read all the importance stuff. So now I'm confused. At this point should I not shoot under 200? It would be missing a dose as I need to stay within shooting 9 to 10 time frame. Recap January 30th she fell hypo which at the time I didn't know she was that low I'm using AlphaTrack3 meter and didn't realize 68 was hypo. The vet lowered her dose to 1 unit from 2. It hasn't been 6 cycles yet so I shouldn't lower or change? She's 128 this AM. Been in the blue since adjustment. She's eating well feeling well now. Thank God 😊
Thoughts?
Thank you

New member
 
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Hi! I like the blue preshot numbers a lot. I can’t really answer about a specific no shot number because there are no mid cycle tests. If you had at least one mid cycle test for each cycle (one a.m. cycle and one in the p.m. cycle) we would know how low the doe is taking her. Does are based mostly on the nadir and not on the preshot number. We do give some consideration to the preshot number but it’s not really useful until we know how low a dose is taking her with that specific preshot number. Does that make sense? I don’t know if shooting a 128 with 1 unit of ProZinc is taking her below 68.
 
heavenlydogs said:
It hasn't been 6 cycles yet so I shouldn't lower or change?
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You lower the dose any time a reduction is earned. Raising the dose is usually done after 14 cycles (7 days) when following SLGS, which is a good place to start for newly diagnosed cats. After that, if a cat is on an all wet diet and one mid cycle test a.m. and p.m. can be obtained, I like the MPM method.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hi! I like the blue preshot numbers a lot. I can’t really answer about a specific no shot number because there are no mid cycle tests. If you had at least one mid cycle test for each cycle (one a.m. cycle and one in the p.m. cycle) we would know how low the doe is taking her. Does are based mostly on the nadir and not on the preshot number. We do give some consideration to the preshot number but it’s not really useful until we know how low a dose is taking her with that specific preshot number. Does that make sense? I don’t know if shooting a 128 with 1 unit of ProZinc is taking her below 68.
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Thank you. I skipped the shot this AM to be safe. When should I test again?
 
heavenlydogs said:
Thank you. I skipped the shot this AM to be safe. When should I test again?
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Well since we don’t have data to know how low it might have taken Whiskey, that was okay. I probably would have recommended shooting .5 units this morning as long as you could get a test or two to try and catch the nadir. Then we would be able to see if half a unit is good, or not enough insulin or a little too much. The idea of the “no shoot below 200” thing is for new members who don’t have a whole lot of data on their spreadsheet yet. It’s recommended that you post for help when your first shooting numbers below 200 to get some assistance with deciding upon a dose. The goal is to shoot lower numbers as you gather the data on how low the dose is taking the cat. So you can — over time — shoot, lower numbers and still keep the cat in the safe range.

As for today, since you skipped the shot, you can just get one test somewhere in the middle +4 or 5 or 6. I don’t know where you are in the cycle right now, but just try to get one test to give us an idea of how high he’s going with the skip shot — hopefully not too high. It will be okay because it won’t be hard to get him back on track.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well since we don’t have data to know how low it might have taken Whiskey, that was okay. I probably would have recommended shooting .5 units this morning as long as you could get a test or two to try and catch the nadir. Then we would be able to see if half a unit is good, or not enough insulin or a little too much. The idea of the “no shoot below 200” thing is for new members who don’t have a whole lot of data on their spreadsheet yet. It’s recommended that you post for help when your first shooting numbers below 200 to get some assistance with deciding upon a dose. The goal is to shoot lower numbers as you gather the data on how low the dose is taking the cat. So you can — over time — shoot, lower numbers and still keep the cat in the safe range.

As for today, since you skipped the shot, you can just get one test somewhere in the middle +4 or 5 or 6. I don’t know where you are in the cycle right now, but just try to get one test to give us an idea of how high he’s going with the skip shot — hopefully not too high. It will be okay because it won’t be hard to get him back on track.
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She was only 125 this afternoon! I'm so glad I skipped AM shot. Maybe she's in remission? Food change was enough? I'll test tonight at her insulin time but will only give shot if it's over 200 or half like you mentioned before?
Thank you 😊
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well since we don’t have data to know how low it might have taken Whiskey, that was okay. I probably would have recommended shooting .5 units this morning as long as you could get a test or two to try and catch the nadir. Then we would be able to see if half a unit is good, or not enough insulin or a little too much. The idea of the “no shoot below 200” thing is for new members who don’t have a whole lot of data on their spreadsheet yet. It’s recommended that you post for help when your first shooting numbers below 200 to get some assistance with deciding upon a dose. The goal is to shoot lower numbers as you gather the data on how low the dose is taking the cat. So you can — over time — shoot, lower numbers and still keep the cat in the safe range.

As for today, since you skipped the shot, you can just get one test somewhere in the middle +4 or 5 or 6. I don’t know where you are in the cycle right now, but just try to get one test to give us an idea of how high he’s going with the skip shot — hopefully not too high. It will be okay because it won’t be hard to get him back on track.
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She was only 125 this afternoon! I'm so glad I skipped AM shot. Maybe she's in remission? Food change was enough? I'll test tonight at her insulin time but will only give shot if it's over 200 or half like you mentioned before?
Thank you 😊
 
That is very encouraging! I wonder what her PMPS will be.

She’s not in remission yet, but let’s hope she is headed that way! A cat in remission will be in almost all green numbers (50-99) all the time with very infrequent low blue numbers no higher than 120. And this would be without insulin for 14 days before we could confirm remission. But I am very very happy to see today’s numbers and progress. I am optimistic!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is very encouraging! I wonder what her PMPS will be.

She’s not in remission yet, but let’s hope she is headed that way! A cat in remission will be in almost all green numbers (50-99) all the time with very infrequent low blue numbers no higher than 120. And this would be without insulin for 14 days before we could confirm remission. But I am very very happy to see today’s numbers and progress. I
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is very encouraging! I wonder what her PMPS will be.

She’s not in remission yet, but let’s hope she is headed that way! A cat in remission will be in almost all green numbers (50-99) all the time with very infrequent low blue numbers no higher than 120. And this would be without insulin for 14 days before we could confirm remission. But I am very very happy to see today’s numbers and progress. I am optimistic!
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is very encouraging! I wonder what her PMPS will be.

She’s not in remission yet, but let’s hope she is headed that way! A cat in remission will be in almost all green numbers (50-99) all the time with very infrequent low blue numbers no higher than 120. And this would be without insulin for 14 days before we could confirm remission. But I am very very happy to see today’s numbers and progress. I am optimistic!
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Should I skip again if she's under 200?
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is very encouraging! I wonder what her PMPS will be.

She’s not in remission yet, but let’s hope she is headed that way! A cat in remission will be in almost all green numbers (50-99) all the time with very infrequent low blue numbers no higher than 120. And this would be without insulin for 14 days before we could confirm remission. But I am very very happy to see today’s numbers and progress. I am optimistic!
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She was 155 I gave her half
 
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I was busy all morning with medical stuff for my son. Be sure to get some tests today so we can use that information for future cycles. How’s it going so far?
 
heavenlydogs said:
She was 155 I gave her half
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you really need to start getting at least what we call a “before bed test.” That could be a +2 or a +3? I don’t know your shot time.

Without night test data we only have half the picture. We need both day and night data. Many cats have a pattern of dropping a little lower at night.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
you really need to start getting at least what we call a “before bed test.” That could be a +2 or a +3? I don’t know your shot time.

Without night test data we only have half the picture. We need both day and night data. Many cats have a pattern of dropping a little lower at night.
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She was 101 at 4 pm. She had her 0.5 at ten AM.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Good. Next time try for a +4. I think she is having her nadir a little earlier than +6. But thank you, that is good information.
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Hi @Suzanne & Darcy I'm not really sure what to do next. We brought her to our lake cabin with us since now she can't be left home. She's spent time here before during lock down 2020 we were here for three weeks. She was more stressed then I expected and didn't eat much the first day and her levels were under 200 so I didn't shot. I figured if she's stressed enough not to eat her numbers might be stressed induced higher. She ate today much better. We're going home tomorrow and I'm sure she'll return to normal feeding routine. If she continues to hovers around 150 should not shoot?
Thank you
 
heavenlydogs said:
Hi @Suzanne & Darcy I'm not really sure what to do next. We brought her to our lake cabin with us since now she can't be left home. She's spent time here before during lock down 2020 we were here for three weeks. She was more stressed then I expected and didn't eat much the first day and her levels were under 200 so I didn't shot. I figured if she's stressed enough not to eat her numbers might be stressed induced higher. She ate today much better. We're going home tomorrow and I'm sure she'll return to normal feeding routine. If she continues to hovers around 150 should not shoot?
Thank you
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Hi there! That sounds like us. We’ve taken our cats to our lake cabin more times than I can count over the years. Cats with kidney disease who need daily fluids and care, cats who are diabetic and recovering from DKA, cats with heart disease requiring quite a few meds, foster kittens who were too little to leave with a pet sitter (they’re the ones who always have the most fun!) Right now we are back to another cat with kidney disease and another one with multiple issues and meds that I have to spend a lot of time just getting to eat! I do hope you enjoyed your time away anyway.

I would like to see you shoot .25 units if she is in the 150 or less range, but you would really need to get a mid cycle test or two or it won’t do us any good to shoot the reduced dose — we won’t get any information to determine if that was the correct decision.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hi there! That sounds like us. We’ve taken our cats to our lake cabin more times than I can count over the years. Cats with kidney disease who need daily fluids and care, cats who are diabetic and recovering from DKA, cats with heart disease requiring quite a few meds, foster kittens who were too little to leave with a pet sitter (they’re the ones who always have the most fun!) Right now we are back to another cat with kidney disease and another one with multiple issues and meds that I have to spend a lot of time just getting to eat! I do hope you enjoyed your time away anyway.

I would like to see you shoot .25 units if she is in the 150 or less range, but you would really need to get a mid cycle test or two or it won’t do us any good to shoot the reduced dose — we won’t get any information to determine if that was the correct decision.
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Hi. She ate well overnight and this morning. Comfortable with the cabin in time to go home. Lol. Hopefully next time she's comfortable. She was 137 this AM. My U-40 syringes doesn't have half marks. I see they make those do they make quarter increment ones? I could just eye ball it today and get readings today however a hour car ride might cause stress increases.
 
These are better for fine dosing.
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Or you can really make finer dosing adjustments by using U-100 syringes and use a conversion chart.
 
heavenlydogs said:
Hi. She ate well overnight and this morning. Comfortable with the cabin in time to go home. Lol. Hopefully next time she's comfortable. She was 137 this AM. My U-40 syringes doesn't have half marks. I see they make those do they make quarter increment ones? I could just eye ball it today and get readings today however a hour car ride might cause stress increases.
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Anyway, what I was trying to say was that you really should try to obtain some U-40 syringes with the half unit markings. Then you eyeball between the zero mark and the half unit mark for a .25 dose.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Let me know how things go today.
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Oddly her glucose stayed the same 120 taken right before leaving cabin and a couple hours after returning home. She ate her dinner well. Acting totally normal. I checked her urine for the first time and ketone were dark purple! Do you think it's because she didn't eat dinner or over night Thursday and only a little Friday? See picture of check up strip. I caught urine in the tidy breeze kitty tray.
 

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That is strange. You say she’s eating normally now? No lethargy? I would try to get another sample and catch it mid-stream. I am wondering if it has anything to do with the Breeze litter tray. How many seconds did you count before reading the color? Hopefully that is a one off and when you recheck it will be normal.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is strange. You say she’s eating normally now? No lethargy? I would try to get another sample and catch it mid-stream. I am wondering if it has anything to do with the Breeze litter tray. How many seconds did you count before reading the color? Hopefully that is a one off and when you recheck it will be normal.
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Yes she acting totally normal. Happily ate dinner. Catching her peeing is going to be tricky her box is hooded and she's very private. She'll stop if I even walk in the room. She never real grew out of being feral. She was a feral cats kitten that I found badly injured we think she got up in a motor to get warm. Found her new year eve in a snow bank on the side of the road. I read going with out food can make ketones high in urine. It takes a couple days to return to normal. Or hopefully it's a one off. I'll retest later. I was going to test my dog. He's easier to get a free catch. Then I'll run it through the litter see if that's changing the reading.
 
Yes. Skipping food can increase ketones, but they should go down pretty quickly with food and hydration. Ketones can fluctuate a lot throughout the day/evening. Add a little water to her food to make it more soupy if she will eat it.

I got a blood ketone meter (a Nova Max Plus) so that I didn’t have to stalk him to the litter box. It works just like a BG test except with special test strips. I also liked having a numerical value for ketones and not trying to interpret colors.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. Skipping food can increase ketones, but they should go down pretty quickly with food and hydration. Ketones can fluctuate a lot throughout the day/evening. Add a little water to her food to make it more soupy if she will eat it.

I got a blood ketone meter (a Nova Max Plus) so that I didn’t have to stalk him to the litter box. It works just like a BG test except with special test strips. I also liked having a numerical value for ketones and not trying to interpret colors.
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She's been totally normal until today she vomited breakfast. Otherwise she's acting normal. Should I withhold the shot she was 143. I'm trying to get another urine sample to test.
 
Ah darn. I wish I had seen this earlier. If there’s a chance she has ketones then you don’t want to skip shots. Ketones can form when there’s not enough food, not enough insulin, and of course infection or inflammation (which hopefully is not in play here.)
 
I don’t like it. Are your ketone strips old/expired by any chance? I really think she needs to have her ketones checked by the vet — only because if she really does have high ketones the consequences are so serious.
 
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
And what is her blood glucose now?
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
I don’t like it. Are your ketone strips old by any chance? I really think she needs to have her ketones checked by the vet — only because if she really does have high ketones the consequences are so serious.
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Ok. I'll call vet tomorrow morning. I'm not sure how much I trust those strips. It said dog had a bladder infection and his pee was perfect at vet. The only thing that made me nervous was her vomit this AM.
 
heavenlydogs said:
Yep there dated 1/2025. I never thought they'd expire.
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Okay. So I would go to a pharmacy and get some KetoStix today. That’s probably what it is. They’re just expired! They do expire because the chemicals in them that detect the ketones degrade over time. And those are 13 months past their expiration date. I feel relieved because I was worried about her.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Okay. So I would go to a pharmacy and get some KetoStix today. That’s probably what it is. They’re just expired! They do expire because the chemicals in them that detect the ketones degrade over time. And those are 13 months past their expiration date. I feel relieved because I was worried about her.
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Hi
I went to two pharmacy they were out so I have some coming from Amazon tomorrow morning. She's been really good today. More playful. Thank you again for all your help.
 
Whiskey has come close to earning a reduction the past two days with those green BG numbers. So I would definitely have held the dose longer. She’s seeing good numbers at mid-cycle.
 
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