NEW MEMBER Hi, Anyone here with a Juvenile Diabetic or a Complex Case?

PirateLuke

PirateLuke

Member Since 2026
Hi all,
My kitty is a complex case. He's a rescue, about 2 yrs old, never been overweight. He has had steroids in the past but only short courses. His symptoms started after he got a severe infection, which he had to have surgery to remove. His surgery was a month ago and 3 weeks after surgery his insulin sensitivity has increased so much that his glucose crashes fast and early on Prozinc, literally halving every hour in UK numbers like from 22mmol/l to 11 to 5 (US from 396 to 198 to 90), which it didn't pre-surgery.

He does still need insulin, because I took him off it for a day and his blood sugar was 26.1mmol/l (468) at its peak and 18 (324) at its nadir. But it's tricky. My vet wants him on much more insulin, but his drops are so quick it is scary. She just wants lower numbers. But she is not the one anxiously watching the screen every couple of minutes to see how much more it is going to drop.

No-one really understands why he has these blood sugar issues. It is really rare in a cat that has never been overweight and is this young.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or any tips if the drop is steep and early? I have been reading the boards and it seems like small snacks at +2 and +4 hours might help? Again, my vet only wants him fed twice a day.

Thanks!
 
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PirateLuke said:
Hi all,
My kitty is a complex case. He's a rescue, about 2 yrs old, never been overweight. He has had steroids in the past but only short courses. His symptoms started after he got a severe infection, which he had to have surgery to remove. His surgery was a month ago and 3 weeks after surgery his insulin sensitivity has increased so much that his glucose crashes fast and early on Prozinc, literally halving every hour in UK numbers like from 22mmol/l to 11 to 5 (US from 396 to 198 to 90), which it didn't pre-surgery.

He does still need insulin, because I took him off it for a day and his blood sugar was 26.1mmol/l (468) at its peak and 18 (324) at its nadir. But it's tricky. My vet wants him on much more insulin, but his drops are so quick it is scary. She just wants lower numbers. But she is not the one anxiously watching the screen every couple of minutes to see how much more it is going to drop.

No-one really understands why he has these blood sugar issues. It is really rare in a cat that has never been overweight and is this young.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or any tips if the drop is steep and early? I have been reading the boards and it seems like small snacks at +2 and +4 hours might help? Again, my vet only wants him fed twice a day.

Thanks!
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Yes. When are you feeding him? How many carbs (what percentage of carbs on a dry matter basis?) Is he on a low carb wet food diet? What is he eating and what is his feeding schedule. Feed him a good snack at +2 and another one at +4. When does his BG begin to drop after the shot? Are you using a Freestyle Libre? Those are not particularly reliable in the lower numbers (below 100 and getting closer to 50) so they need to be verified with an ear prick test.
 
And now… sorry this is out of order…. but welcome to the FDMB. I read your ppst and immediately went into problem-solving mode and forgot to say Welcome! I am sorry you have been struggling… and with such a young cat, too!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. When are you feeding him? How many carbs (what percentage of carbs on a dry matter basis?) Is he on a low carb wet food diet? What is he eating and what is his feeding schedule. Feed him a good snack at +2 and another one at +4. When does his BG begin to drop after the shot? Are you using a Freestyle Libre? Those are not particularly reliable in the lower numbers (below 100 and getting closer to 50) so they need to be verified with an ear prick test.
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Hi,
Thanks for replying. I'm in the UK, so he is eating Sheba Fine Flakes wet (1.9% carb) and Harringtons wet (2% carb). No kibble. I feed at 9am with Prozinc and 9pm with Prozinc. I give him snacks of the same food when he's crying for food at the moment as he's never been regulated.

Yes, the VBO seems to have been very successful. They removed a polyp and the infected material, and he has healed very well.

The whole thing has been kinda complex because initially they wouldn't do the operation until his blood sugar was better (due to potential for DKA under anaesthesia), but it was also going to prove impossible to regulate him due to the infection. So we've been faffing about with increasing doses since late October 2025 until the hospital finally agreed it was more important to do the VBO as the infected tissue was very near his brain.

His BG never used to drop like this. The nadir was +6 previously and never very low and we went all the way up to 3 units of Prozinc. Then just over a week ago (3 weeks post-surgery), this crashing started happening at between +1 and +3 hours, and he was going all the way from very high to very low.

Yes, we're using the Libre. I know it can can have unreliable numbers, but it is good for trends. And that is what concerns me more than the actual number, which my vet doesn't seem to be listening to me about. It is surely not normal for the BG to just halve and halve again in the space of a couple of hours.

After 4 crashes at 3 units, 2.5 units, 1.5 units, and even 0.7 units, I took him completely off it for a day and token dosed the day after that until I could speak to the vet properly. Then we started back up at 0.5 units today.

We are over +2 hours since his evening Prozinc and he hasn't crashed yet. Although it usually happens on Day 2 after a dose reduction. 1st day stable but high numbers, then 2nd day *CRASH*.

I just got an automatic feeder that I can set for him to have a snack at +4 if he needs it as I will be asleep then, although I have my Low Glucose alarms on if anything serious happens. It's a bit tricky as I have another cat who is strictly on Hepatic food, although she's a "wobbly" cat, so hopefully wouldn't make it to his food before he does!

It's hard because this wasn't happening before, so I never had to stabilise him with food. I have been reading the boards and trying to learn.
Thanks,
Beth and Pirate Luke
 
PirateLuke said:
Libre. I know it can can have unreliable numbers, but it is good for trends
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Agreed. Very good for monitoring and for trends.

It’s super important for diabetic cats on insulin to be fed more often than just at shot times. That’s part of the falling BG problem. I always recommend to my new ProZinc users to give a small meal at +2 when the ProZinc usually onsets (starts to lower the blood glucose). That can be a little earlier for some cats — around +1.5 hours after the shot. It’s really really important. Then another small meal at around +4. Some cats need another one at about +6 hours after the shot, but not everyone and for some cats feeding much after nadir (lowest point in the cycle) will send their BG up more quickly. These small meals can be a few teaspoons of food or a tablespoon of LC wet food. This solves a lot of problems for “diving” cats and can really help smooth the cycles and prevent bouncing into a period of higher numbers following a rapid drop in BG.
 
And I do believe you about the change in how he is handling the insulin. Something has changed in his body. It could just be the clearing of the infection post-surgery. Did he ever have a symptomatic hypoglycemic event?

I just would highly recommend trying the snacks to help prevent diving. You have nothing to lose. Another thing is that the food you are feeding is quite low carb, which is good. However, some cats need a few more carbs and actually do better and give better numbers with a few more carbs (keeping carbs under 10 percent, of course.) Sometimes you need to experiment with giving a few more carbs (6-9 percent) at certain points in the cycle. For especially carb-sensitive cats, even going up to a 4 percent carb food is helpful. This is called “feeding the curve.”
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Agreed. Very good for monitoring and for trends.

It’s super important for diabetic cats on insulin to be fed more often than just at shot times. That’s part of the falling BG problem. I always recommend to my new ProZinc users to give a small meal at +2 when the ProZinc usually onsets (starts to lower the blood glucose). That can be a little earlier for some cats — around +1.5 hours after the shot. It’s really really important. Then another small meal at around +4. Some cats need another one at about +6 hours after the shot, but not everyone and for some cats feeding much after nadir (lowest point in the cycle) will send their BG up more quickly. These small meals can be a few teaspoons of food or a tablespoon of LC wet food. This solves a lot of problems for “diving” cats and can really help smooth the cycles and prevent bouncing into a period of higher numbers following a rapid drop in BG.
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I was always giving him snacks throughout the day before but not at particular times (he was eating eight 85gram sachets when he first got sick!) He's now only eating 4-5 sachets.

Now that the infection and post-surgery inflammation has cleared up, his sensitivity to insulin has obviously increased. I am guessing that is why we never had this issue before.

I can stay home tomorrow and see what his BG is doing at what +hours so I can plan his snack times for the future if I'm not in all day.

At the moment, he would still go crazy and cry if he didn't get anything in the afternoon (unregulated still), although I fast him for the 2 hours before his evening shot.

Would it be worth getting a slightly higher carb food for the post-shot snacks, like 3-4%? Because he is just free-falling so hard and fast and I'm not sure if 1.9-2% would take him out of that.

Thanks for your help!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And I do believe you about the change in how he is handling the insulin. Something has changed in his body. It could just be the clearing of the infection post-surgery. Did he ever have a symptomatic hypoglycemic event?

I just would highly recommend trying the snacks to help prevent diving. You have nothing to lose. Another thing is that the food you are feeding is quite low carb, which is good. However, some cats need a few more carbs and actually do better and give better numbers with a few more carbs (keeping carbs under 10 percent, of course.) Sometimes you need to experiment with giving a few more carbs (6-9 percent) at certain points in the cycle. For especially carb-sensitive cats, even going up to a 4 percent carb food is helpful. This is called “feeding the curve.”
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Oh you just pre-answered my question! :) He is VERY carb sensitive now. He's never had a symptomatic hypo, but I've "rescued" him from diving numbers with 4oz 25% food because I couldn't stay up all night and it was obviously just going to continue tanking. His BG shot up.

I will have a look at slightly higher carb food for his snacks and get some tomorrow.
 
Pirate Pip sends greetings to Pirate Luke! We actually do call him a pirate. Here he is:
1771372767652.jpeg
 
Well, the timing of the first snack is just because that is a typical onset time for ProZinc. The next snack around +4 is just kind of a good time to do it because most cats are still dropping but haven’t reached nadir yet. This schedule works well for many cats, but it is very customizable for each cat. You don’t have a spreadsheet so I can’t be more specific.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well, the timing of the first snack is just because that is a typical onset time for ProZinc. The next snack around +4 is just kind of a good time to do it because most cats are still dropping but haven’t reached nadir yet. This schedule works well for many cats, but it is very customizable for each cat. You don’t have a spreadsheet so I can’t be more specific.
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I only use the Libre, which there isn't a spreadsheet for.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is wild!
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Yes, definitely not normal. But vet seems to think it's fine, which is weird as they are a very good vet (literally Royal College of Vets, London)
Suzanne & Darcy said:
How did Luke lose his eye? He’s adorable!
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He was found on the streets as a kitten with his face and eyes so badly infected they had to take one out. He's the sweetest boy.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
You are an amazing cat mum!
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I'm actually emergency fostering Pirate Luke as the owner was going to PTS due to all the expensive surgery he needed (she didn't even know about the diabetes!), and I couldn't let that happen. My wobbly CH girl is my forever cat. My pirate boy may turn out to be foster fail, who knows. But I can't even think of rehoming him until we get his diabetes under control.
 
PirateLuke said:
I'm actually emergency fostering Pirate Luke as the owner was going to PTS due to all the expensive surgery he needed (she didn't even know about the diabetes!), and I couldn't let that happen. My wobbly CH girl is my forever cat. My pirate boy may turn out to be foster fail, who knows. But I can't even think of rehoming him until we get his diabetes under control.
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I am so glad he has you.
 
Good morning, hope that you rested well last night, just saw the SS numbers in, thank you, could you go to the Spreadsheet at the top and fill in the beige slots, where it says Insulin, put ProZinc , where it says Meter put Libre this way we are all on the same page.
 
CORKY said:
Good morning, hope that you rested well last night, just saw the SS numbers in, thank you, could you go to the Spreadsheet at the top and fill in the beige slots, where it says Insulin, put ProZinc , where it says Meter put Libre this way we are all on the same page.
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Hya,

It is showing up on both the US and World sheets on mine. I'm not sure why you can't see it. I put Prozinc in column E and Libre in column L.

Luckily, Pirate Luke hasn't been tanking today, but that has been a pattern where we will have a few cycles of stability (albeit in high numbers) and then drop early and fast.

My 3.1% carb food has arrived so I feel more comfortable now with manipulating dives and increasing doses. I don't want to be feeding him 25% carb food again to bring it up, which is what I had to do last time as it's all I had and he was tanking way earlier than Prozinc's peak action at about 6+ and lower carb food wasn't helping.
 
We can’t see that info in the SS we see it in the signature up top, but anyways, I’m glad you got the 3.1% carb foods if you see a dive, is easy to raise the BG by giving 2-3,tsp of food every 1/2 hour until Pirate stabilizes remember 50-120 is a great BG and I am sure it will be difficult at the beginning to see those numbers but if he reaches the 60’s follow the instruction, we do not want to give high carbs or honey unless under 50 and that would be 1/2ml of it, if you have a syringe is better to give without a mess in his mouth(no needle of course) just post us if 1 hour before shot you feel uncomfortable with the BG We can guide you thru shot time
 
I've tried putting the info in columns F and M as well to see if you can see that. I can't put it exactly in the beige box because that's where the Fx spreadsheet Function is. If I type after into that cell, I *think* it will screw up the UK to US conversion.

Thank you for your support. It has been a stressful week! I mean, it's excellent that Pirate Luke's insulin sensitivity has returned, but the sudden change in his glucose patterns after insulin has been scary to deal with, especially as the two main vets dealing with him haven't been around, so I have had to deal with vets who didn't know much about his operation and recovery and were looking at his numbers thinking they were fine because they were "in range".

And although they can look at the Libreview which charts his glucose, they can only see the high and low within an hour. So the vet said he's between 12.7 (228.6) and 4.6 (82.8) within an hour; that's fine. What they do not see, and I tried to explain, is that in *real time*, he tanked from the high number to the low number within the space of 15 minutes and was going lower at 3+ and I couldn't just stay up all night to see if he'd be alright or not!

Yes I really want to avoid "saving him" with super-high carbs or honey, which will mess up his numbers (and he might have bounced back, who knows), but I couldn't risk it at 2am. The 3.1% carb food and an automatic timer has put my mind more at ease at leveling out steep drops and hopefully increasing the dose back up again. I will look at his patterns over the coming days to see where his onset and nadirs actually are and where he might need help to surf the drops more smoothly.
 
I suspect the insulin sensitivity is a result of the infection having been controlled. Any source of infection or inflammation causes blood glucose to be elevated. Once the infection clears, there's a risk of the insulin dropping the numbers. We've seen this with cats recovering from UTIs and even after having dental work done especially if the cat has bad gingivitis.

I agree with what Darcy noted. I would consider feeding your cat more than twice a day. It's more a matter of spreading out the meals over several hours. My cat had an early nadir. In order to offset the dive into low numbers early in the cycle, I fed her at shot time and the rest of her meal was portioned out at +1, +2 and sometime +3. You can tailor the installments based on your cat or what you're observing. Spreading out the food bolsters the numbers so you're not seeing big drops and sharp rises. It gives you a flatter curve.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
I suspect the insulin sensitivity is a result of the infection having been controlled. Any source of infection or inflammation causes blood glucose to be elevated. Once the infection clears, there's a risk of the insulin dropping the numbers. We've seen this with cats recovering from UTIs and even after having dental work done especially if the cat has bad gingivitis.

I agree with what Darcy noted. I would consider feeding your cat more than twice a day. It's more a matter of spreading out the meals over several hours. My cat had an early nadir. In order to offset the dive into low numbers early in the cycle, I fed her at shot time and the rest of her meal was portioned out at +1, +2 and sometime +3. You can tailor the installments based on your cat or what you're observing. Spreading out the food bolsters the numbers so you're not seeing big drops and sharp rises. It gives you a flatter curve.
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Thank you. Yes, looking at his numbers today, so far Pirate Luke had his nadir (16.6mmol/ 298.8 mg/dl) at +3.5 hours. Today I have just fed him when he is hungry all 1.6-2% carb because he didn't tank. That carb level briefly affects his numbers a little but not much. I gave him a double breakfast because he wanted it so maybe that's also why he didn't tank.

He's only on 0.5 units and needs more, but dropping the dose to this amount and actually looking at the patterns without risk of severe drops has been so helpful! And getting some slightly higher carb food in (3.1%) has given me peace of mind.

The vet wanted me to feed him twice a day to "see what the insulin was doing" and not to worry about the massive drops. But seeing as he has never DKAd, I feel it was a much better idea to lower the insulin until I could see the patterns in what the food AND the insulin was doing without freaking out.

The difficulty with my current vet is communication issues. They are very good vets but I have heard different things from the 2 vets I've been dealing with and their peers who aren't directly on his case. One vet suggested (after consulting with Internal Medicine) that Glargine might be better for him because he is always high between Prozinc doses. But when I saw the other vet (my regulars weren't in and it was too long to wait), they said "no" to it and now I have to wait until Monday to speak to my actual vet.

We are on Day 2 of 0.5 units and the vet told me to stick at the same dose for 5 days, but he was up to 3 units before I had to massively reduce because that was tanking him. Amounts of even 0.7 units was tanking him. But now I know where his nadir currently is and how to manage that, I'm wondering whether to just increase after 3 days. I don't want him higher than necessary for too long, even though his clinical signs are actually decent today (much less crying for food, comparatively moderate polyuria, seems relaxed and happy).

It is a shame there is not better communication and explanations from the vet. I can not just give him high doses and watch him tank. It is too stressful after all we have been through already with the surgery. I might just email them even if we don't speak until Monday. They wanted him on 1 unit after a reset anyway, which I refused to do because the 0.7 units was tanking him. But now I know WHY and know what to do about it, I feel much better about a higher dose.

Sorry for minor rant.
 
I can see your numbers in your spreadsheet just fine. Let’s give it a few days with the new food/feeding to make sure he isn’t going to tank. I am not sure that a 3.1% carbohydrate food is going to be enough carbs to keep him from diving, since he is such a diver, but we can try. I am thinking you may need to try to find some carbohydrates that are more like 6 to 9% carbohydrates. I have had many cats who have needed something in that range at certain points in their cycle.
 
I can see why your veterinarian wants those high numbers to come down. That is very hard on his body. I would give it a few days and then we can talk about doing an increase in the dose to .75 units. What do you think?

Oh, and you will be able to find me over on the ProZinc forum, but if you tag me over here, should also see it.
 
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PirateLuke said:
Thank you. Yes, looking at his numbers today, so far Pirate Luke had his nadir (16.6mmol/ 298.8 mg/dl) at +3.5 hours. Today I have just fed him when he is hungry all 1.6-2% carb because he didn't tank. That carb level briefly affects his numbers a little but not much. I gave him a double breakfast because he wanted it so maybe that's also why he didn't tank.

He's only on 0.5 units and needs more, but dropping the dose to this amount and actually looking at the patterns without risk of severe drops has been so helpful! And getting some slightly higher carb food in (3.1%) has given me peace of mind.

The vet wanted me to feed him twice a day to "see what the insulin was doing" and not to worry about the massive drops. But seeing as he has never DKAd, I feel it was a much better idea to lower the insulin until I could see the patterns in what the food AND the insulin was doing without freaking out.

The difficulty with my current vet is communication issues. They are very good vets but I have heard different things from the 2 vets I've been dealing with and their peers who aren't directly on his case. One vet suggested (after consulting with Internal Medicine) that Glargine might be better for him because he is always high between Prozinc doses. But when I saw the other vet (my regulars weren't in and it was too long to wait), they said "no" to it and now I have to wait until Monday to speak to my actual vet.

We are on Day 2 of 0.5 units and the vet told me to stick at the same dose for 5 days, but he was up to 3 units before I had to massively reduce because that was tanking him. Amounts of even 0.7 units was tanking him. But now I know where his nadir currently is and how to manage that, I'm wondering whether to just increase after 3 days. I don't want him higher than necessary for too long, even though his clinical signs are actually decent today (much less crying for food, comparatively moderate polyuria, seems relaxed and happy).

It is a shame there is not better communication and explanations from the vet. I can not just give him high doses and watch him tank. It is too stressful after all we have been through already with the surgery. I might just email them even if we don't speak until Monday. They wanted him on 1 unit after a reset anyway, which I refused to do because the 0.7 units was tanking him. But now I know WHY and know what to do about it, I feel much better about a higher dose.

Sorry for minor rant.
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Don’t worry about expressing your frustrations here! I am glad you are so thoughtful about all this, and determined to help him. If he’s having his nadir at 3.5 then just move the food up a little earlier— it sounds like you did that today.
 
We can always "fast track" the dose if necessary. I do think having a handle on the numbers now that the infection has cleared makes sense.

Also, keep in mind that nadirs can and do move around. The nadir may most often be at around the same time but don't assume the nadir will always be at the same point in the cycle. Cats hate to be predictable!!
 
And instead of just giving him the straight 25% carbohydrate food, if you need to Steer his numbers, you could add just the tiniest bit of that 25% carbohydrate food to his regular low-carb food and just mix it up and give it to him like that. It’s not very scientific in terms of the fact that we won’t know the exact percentage of carbohydrates that you’re giving him, but it could be a lot better than shooting him to the moon with his blood glucose numbers — at least until you have perhaps a few more carbohydrate options available.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I can see your numbers in your spreadsheet just fine. Let’s give it a few days with the new food/feeding to make sure he isn’t going to tank. I am not sure that a 3.1% carbohydrate food is going to be enough carbs to keep him from diving, since he is such a diver, but we can try. I am thinking you may need to try to find some carbohydrates that are more like 6 to 9% carbohydrates. I have had many cats who have needed something in that range at certain points in their cycle.
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I have been going through the UK LC food spreadsheet and ordered some 4.3% today as well. I will look at getting a range of %s before raising the dose. He does tend to tank after a few cycles, not immediately, so I will see what happens after PM dose.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Don’t worry about expressing your frustrations here! I am glad you are so thoughtful about all this, and determined to help him. If he’s having his nadir at 3.5 then just move the food up a little earlier— it sounds like you did that today.
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Thank you. This place is a godsend and I appreciate all your help!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And instead of just giving him the straight 25% carbohydrate food, if you need to Steer his numbers, you could add just the tiniest bit of that 25% carbohydrate food to his regular low-carb food and just mix it up and give it to him like that. It’s not very scientific in terms of the fact that we won’t know the exact percentage of carbohydrates that you’re giving him, but it could be a lot better than shooting him to the moon with his blood glucose numbers — at least until you have perhaps a few more carbohydrate options available.
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Yes I can do that if he's really rocketing down!
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
We can always "fast track" the dose if necessary. I do think having a handle on the numbers now that the infection has cleared makes sense.

Also, keep in mind that nadirs can and do move around. The nadir may most often be at around the same time but don't assume the nadir will always be at the same point in the cycle. Cats hate to be predictable!!
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Thank you! Yes, this is what shocked me. He went from having his nadirs at +6 to +3.5. And his BG just rocketed down in a way it hadn't before. This is why I just had to take him off the 3 units. I am glad the insulin resistance has obviously cleared post-surgery but I felt very stranded as to what to do with my vet not being in.

I am happy to raise more quickly with having this place for guidance and close monitoring. I have some days I can't be home much post-shot coming up though, so I don't want to increase the doses on those days for sure.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I can see why your veterinarian wants those high numbers to come down. That is very hard on his body. I would give it a few days and then we can talk about doing an increase in the dose 2.75 units. What do you think?

Oh, and you will be able to find me over on the ProZinc forum, but if you tag me over here, should also see it.
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I can't go up that fast especially as I have some commitments coming up where I won't be home, but I am definitely happy to slide up to it as per the modified PZI protocols rather than waiting 5 days.
 
@Suzanne & Darcy @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @CORKY

For reference, this is what we had on 0.7 units on 15th Feb. Number at early nadir was 6.3 UK/ US 113.4 before I intervened with a whole 8oz can of 25% carb food, which is why I refused to give the 1 unit the vet wanted me to and instead restarted at 0.5units.

We were in decent numbers but it was WAY too fast of a drop for me to leave him like that, especially when it was nowhere close to 6+ and I just expected it to keep dropping! :nailbiting:
 

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PirateLuke said:
I've tried putting the info in columns F and M as well to see if you can see that. I can't put it exactly in the beige box because that's where the Fx spreadsheet Function is. If I type after into that cell, I *think* it will screw up the UK to US conversion.

Thank you for your support. It has been a stressful week! I mean, it's excellent that Pirate Luke's insulin sensitivity has returned, but the sudden change in his glucose patterns after insulin has been scary to deal with, especially as the two main vets dealing with him haven't been around, so I have had to deal with vets who didn't know much about his operation and recovery and were looking at his numbers thinking they were fine because they were "in range".

And although they can look at the Libreview which charts his glucose, they can only see the high and low within an hour. So the vet said he's between 12.7 (228.6) and 4.6 (82.8) within an hour; that's fine. What they do not see, and I tried to explain, is that in *real time*, he tanked from the high number to the low number within the space of 15 minutes and was going lower at 3+ and I couldn't just stay up all night to see if he'd be alright or not!

Yes I really want to avoid "saving him" with super-high carbs or honey, which will mess up his numbers (and he might have bounced back, who knows), but I couldn't risk it at 2am. The 3.1% carb food and an automatic timer has put my mind more at ease at leveling out steep drops and hopefully increasing the dose back up again. I will look at his patterns over the coming days to see where his onset and nadirs actually are and where he might need help to surf the drops more smoothly.
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yes we can see it on the SS;)
 
PirateLuke said:
@Suzanne & Darcy @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @CORKY

For reference, this is what we had on 0.7 units on 15th Feb. Number at early nadir was 6.3 UK/ US 113.4 before I intervened with a whole 8oz can of 25% carb food, which is why I refused to give the 1 unit the vet wanted me to and instead restarted at 0.5units.

We were in decent numbers but it was WAY too fast of a drop for me to leave him like that, especially when it was nowhere close to 6+ and I just expected it to keep dropping! :nailbiting:
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Just so you know, it’s not about the volume of food but the carb percentage. Just a teaspoon of 25 percent should definitely raise his BG. It’s important when managing lower numbers that we don’t get the cat full (and unwilling to eat) in case there is a long stretch of time that you need to keep giving HC food to raise/sustain BG. If you give a spoonful at a time, you can (especially with your Libre) see the effect. And you will be able to see if it’s dropping back down and feed a little more. If we fill him up, and he won’t eat, and the BG drops back down, then your options are limited to honey or corn syrup put in his mouth.
 
PirateLuke said:
I can't go up that fast especially as I have some commitments coming up where I won't be home, but I am definitely happy to slide up to it as per the modified PZI protocols rather than waiting 5 days.
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Wow. No!! I am so sorry. That is what I get for dictating into my phone and not checking what it wrote. I meant increasing to .75 units. Not an increase to 2.75 units! That would be crazy!! I am talking about an increase of on a quarter of a unit!

It’s possible if he stays in pink numbers that we may want to consider increasing to 1 unit. It depends upon if his diving is more under control.
 
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