Skully thread 💀 🫶

[skullknight237]

Hi! This morning is our 7th cycle after our very low reading +49. Advice was to beware fast drops. I fed him a tiny amount of gravy lovers into his wet food this morning. He’s been less interested in his dry food so I’ve been watching closely, trying to be careful of carb count. Can I anticipate these post bounce drops by feeding the HC food right away, or only use the HC in response to low readings?
Is there a risk in too much HC food in these next few cycles post bounce?

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hi! This morning is our 7th cycle after our very low reading +49. Advice was to beware fast drops. I fed him a tiny amount of gravy lovers into his wet food this morning. He’s been less interested in his dry food so I’ve been watching closely, trying to be careful of carb count. Can I anticipate these post bounce drops by feeding the HC food right away, or only use the HC in response to low readings?
Is there a risk in too much HC food in these next few cycles post bounce?

I’m seeing sixth cycle after the 49. He’s due to clear the bounce and all these flat yellows could precede it. Plus his +2 was almost the same as his AMPS so that could also signal activity this cycle or the next.

Ideally, he’d be slowly coming off the dry while you are increasing the low carb food. We do advise managing the curve with food but he might be a little early in the process to know whether he’s going to be a diver like he did the other day. Certainly on bounce clearing cycles, they can get very active. And when you see that coming, you can up the carbs.

We don’t really suggest feeding HC habitually but, instead, suggest the highest LC you can find which is 10%. That could help. It can also be advantageous to feed minimeals Preshot through +3 and perhaps frontload PS and +1 with a little bigger portion of 10% and then a little smaller portions at +2 and +3. Just remember food feeding changes can take a bit if time to see the results.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Hi! This morning is our 7th cycle after our very low reading +49. Advice was to beware fast drops. I fed him a tiny amount of gravy lovers into his wet food this morning. He’s been less interested in his dry food so I’ve been watching closely, trying to be careful of carb count. Can I anticipate these post bounce drops by feeding the HC food right away, or only use the HC in response to low readings?
Is there a risk in too much HC food in these next few cycles post bounce?

We save the HC Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers food for managing low numbers like the lime green you had the other day. It’s definitely good to feed small amounts of food early in the cycle. As Marje was saying, we don’t know if he is a diver yet (tending to drop sharply in the beginning of the cycle.)

 

[skullknight237]

Plus his +2 was almost the same as his AMPS so that could also signal activity this cycle or the next.

Certainly on bounce clearing cycles, they can get very active

Can you explain activity here and what signal you mean?
I am following that feeding recommendation regarding timing and amounts. He doesn’t usually clear his plate so I’ve been sitting on the floor with him trying to convince him to eat at these intervals. I wasn’t separating HC and high LC in my head, but I’ll go check the list again to pick some high LC. Thank you both again.
You’ll notice on my sheet that we used a human meter for one test. I was waiting on alpha test strip delivery, now I have 100.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Can you explain activity here and what signal you mean?

When diabetic cats drop too fast or too low, the liver panics and releases counterregulatory hormones which drive the BG back up.

When those clear out, which takes up to six cycles, we call it “breaking a bounce”. Ways we can tell if perhaps a bounce will break is a string of flat yellow numbers (and sometimes flat blue) right before the bounce breaks.

When the bounce breaks, the BG starts higher and then quickly drops throughout the cycle. If the drop is big (50 mg/dL an hour or more) or fast, it can trigger another bounce. This is a very typical in the early months of FD but some cats never quit bouncing.

Another signal a bounce might be breaking is high, flat numbers followed by a high number (often pink) and then the bounce breaks. We call this the “high before the break”.

Finally, quite often with insulins that onset at +2 (PZ and Lantus), if the +2 is similar to or lower than the PS, the cycle might be an active one so that’s just a “pay attention” signal.

 

[skullknight237]

. If the drop is big (50 mg/dL an hour or more) or fast, it can trigger another bounce.

Would you say what we are currently seeing tonight trigger a bounce? Would you call it a fast drop?

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Would you say what we are currently seeing tonight trigger a bounce? Would you call it a fast drop?

Hard to say. After the last blues, it didn’t. It took the drop, which was fast and went low, to trigger one.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Nice string of blues last night! It looks like he nadired around +4. That’s pretty typical of cats new to ProZinc. But he didn’t do a dramatic jump up from that

Why use the Alpha Trak? Those strips are so expensive and don’t provide any advantage over the human glucometer.

 

[skullknight237]

Nice string of blues last night! It looks like he nadired around +4. That’s pretty typical of cats new to ProZinc. But he didn’t do a dramatic jump up from that

Why use the Alpha Trak? Those strips are so expensive and don’t provide any advantage over the human glucometer.

Great! We were using it originally because it was the first thing our vet told us to buy. Three weeks from starting his insulin we will do a curve to show her results. My idea was to continue getting the data in the format she asked for. I have the human meter and will definitely switch, I just didn’t want to go against her I guess? I suppose we could just use the AlphaTrak for the curve data she asks for. I wasn’t too sure how weird it would be to switch between the two.
So I’m not super stuck to using it, but I have a lot of strips at the moment!

 

[skullknight237]

Finally, quite often with insulins that onset at +2 (PZ and Lantus), if the +2 is similar to or lower than the PS, the cycle might be an active one so that’s just a “pay attention” signal.

So this bit of info would apply to our data today so far? The +2 was the basically the same as the AMPS. Is the insulin here just not yet in effect?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

So this bit of info would apply to our data today so far? The +2 was the basically the same as the AMPS. Is the insulin here just not yet

It could be, but could be a bounce. Can you get another test mid-cycle today? That will tell us more.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Great! We were using it originally because it was the first thing our vet told us to buy. Three weeks from starting his insulin we will do a curve to show her results. My idea was to continue getting the data in the format she asked for. I have the human meter and will definitely switch, I just didn’t want to go against her I guess? I suppose we could just use the AlphaTrak for the curve data she asks for. I wasn’t too sure how weird it would be to switch between the two.
So I’m not super stuck to using it, but I have a lot of strips at the moment!

I understand that! And you have 100 strips now… so might as well use them. Some people I have worked with have done that…do use the AT for curve data sent to the vet. No worries.

 

[skullknight237]

It could be, but could be a bounce. Can you get another test mid-cycle today? That will tell us more.

We work M-F during the day, so we won’t be getting that data often. That’s why we do our insulin at 5am, so we can get a +2 at least before we leave. If the reading was cause for concern one of us would stay behind. Would there be any other signals of something dangerous we could see at +2? Other than the green reading.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

We work M-F during the day, so we won’t be getting that data often. That’s why we do our insulin at 5am, so we can get a +2 at least before we leave. If the reading was cause for concern one of us would stay behind. Would there be any other signals of something dangerous we could see at +2? Other than the green reading.

I just got home from my work day and need to grab dinner. I’ll be back in an hour or so to respond. Thank you.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

We work M-F during the day, so we won’t be getting that data often. That’s why we do our insulin at 5am, so we can get a +2 at least before we leave. If the reading was cause for concern one of us would stay behind. Would there be any other signals of something dangerous we could see at +2? Other than the green reading.

If you see a +2 that’s quite a bit lower than the pre-shot number at +2 then he probably will be going down further. It will be helpful for y’all to gather as much data as you can on the weekend for the daytime cycles. This is how you will learn his patterns.

Looking at your spreadsheet for the evening cycles so far, it doesn’t look like he is a diver.

Will you use an automatic feeder to dispense mini meals during the Monday through Fridays when you’re at work?

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I’m sure Marje will have some very helpful information.

 

[skullknight237]

Will you use an automatic feeder to dispense mini meals during the Monday through Fridays when you’re at work?

my feeding routine so far: AMPS I make him a serving of wet and convince him to eat as much as he’s interested in. We have been trying a different flavor every day and I’m recording notes. I will give him a churu. He then has the dry food available and often takes a few bites. At +2, I either make a new serving of wet food or refresh it to try to make it more appealing. I can usually convince him to eat either wet or dry at this time. I never walk away without having him eat enough. We leave the house with the wet and dry food available. The past few days we have gotten home from work with the dry food empty, so we are hoping he finished that earlier in the day. When we leave the house our kitten has access to the food as well.
This seems to me close to the mini meal recommendation, would you think? I also have read of the freezing portions, but I would think that’d make a meal for way later in the day.
Since he isn’t always interested in the wet, it can be difficult to have him eat at intervals. He’s very excited for me to be on the floor with him, he always smells everything. He stays sitting right next me but sometimes just isn’t feeling that flavor. We really have only been trying new wet flavors for a week now. He’s getting to know the routine.
If you think an automatic feeder is a good idea still then I would seriously consider it.
I would like specifically the rfid types if we are getting fancy to guard from the greedy little baby. This wouldn’t be the rotating wet food one, I didn’t find any that had both features. I found one rfid one with an ice pack thing.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

my feeding routine so far: AMPS I make him a serving of wet and convince him to eat as much as he’s interested in. We have been trying a different flavor every day and I’m recording notes. I will give him a churu. He then has the dry food available and often takes a few bites. At +2, I either make a new serving of wet food or refresh it to try to make it more appealing. I can usually convince him to eat either wet or dry at this time. I never walk away without having him eat enough. We leave the house with the wet and dry food available. The past few days we have gotten home from work with the dry food empty, so we are hoping he finished that earlier in the day. When we leave the house our kitten has access to the food as well.
This seems to me close to the mini meal recommendation, would you think? I also have read of the freezing portions, but I would think that’d make a meal for way later in the day.
Since he isn’t always interested in the wet, it can be difficult to have him eat at intervals. He’s very excited for me to be on the floor with him, he always smells everything. He stays sitting right next me but sometimes just isn’t feeling that flavor. We really have only been trying new wet flavors for a week now. He’s getting to know the routine.
If you think an automatic feeder is a good idea still then I would seriously consider it.
I would like specifically the rfid types if we are getting fancy to guard from the greedy little baby. This wouldn’t be the rotating wet food one, I didn’t find any that had both features. I found one rfid one with an ice pack thing.

Thank you for that. The biggest thing that concerns me is him having dry available after nadir because it will really affect his duration.

The auto feeder is a good idea as you could set it up where he’s done eating by +6 but you could leave some LC freeze-dried treats for him after nadir if he gets hungry.

 

[skullknight237]

Would you advise the increase in dose to 1 unit soon? @Suzanne & Darcy

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Would you advise the increase in dose to 1 unit soon? @Suzanne & Darcy

Under Start Low Go Slow, you should have held the dose a full 7 days which would have been through tonight. However, it looks like he didn’t have but a nadir or two between 90-149 so an increase to 1u “might” have been fine depending on what he might have done tonight on 0.75u.

Now that you’ve increased, you’ll hold the dose 7 days unless he drops below 90.

Sound good?

 

[skullknight237]

Hello! Here’s an update. Skully is happy! He’s eating a lot less dry food. We have been trying a different flavor of FF pate everyday and I have marked the carb count for each one. Since he’s taking less carbs from the dry food I’ve been worried about him dropping. I’m usually having him eat the foods with around 10% carb. I worry he will have a meal where he eats a lot less carbs and he will have a drop. He’s had some blue PS numbers, is that a good thing? Those number make me nervous. @Suzanne & Darcy @Marje and Gracie

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

His spreadsheet is looking pretty good to me. I would say that blue preshot BGs are a very good thing as long as you are monitoring the cycle. Are you planning to cut out all dry? Since he is still currently eating some dry you should reduce his dose if he drops below 90. Are those all Alpha Trak readings?

 

[skullknight237]

His spreadsheet is looking pretty good to me. I would say that blue preshot BGs are a very good thing as long as you are monitoring the cycle. Are you planning to cut out all dry? Since he is still currently eating some dry you should reduce his dose if he drops below 90. Are those all Alpha Trak readings?

Yes we plan to cut out all dry. Yes all alpha trak. Makes sense! We are weaning the carbs. He has unpredictable preferences when it comes to the wet food, it’s been interesting. Thanks!

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I would really like to see some test data a little later in the cycle when he does have those blue preshots. You probably went to work? Can you try to het a later mid-cycle test if he has a blue preshot when you are at home?

You are doing great!

 

[skullknight237]

I would really like to see some test data a little later in the cycle when he does have those blue preshots. You probably went to work? Can you try to het a later mid-cycle test if he has a blue preshot when you are at home?

You are doing great!

We are home Saturday and Sunday so we will collect some good data.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hello! Here’s an update. Skully is happy! He’s eating a lot less dry food. We have been trying a different flavor of FF pate everyday and I have marked the carb count for each one. Since he’s taking less carbs from the dry food I’ve been worried about him dropping. I’m usually having him eat the foods with around 10% carb. I worry he will have a meal where he eats a lot less carbs and he will have a drop. He’s had some blue PS numbers, is that a good thing? Those number make me nervous. @Suzanne & Darcy @Marje and Gracie

He’s looking much better. The blue numbers are super. If you get one at PS that is 150 or below, don’t feed him but post and ask for help.

Great job!!

 

[skullknight237]

Hello! Plenty of data collected this weekend. We have a very pretty Saturday and then Sunday morning he said f this kibble and dropped. I am thinking we will work the kibble out completely very soon and settle on a good dose. I’m not making any big changes this week though because of the bounce. We have found at least 6 or so flavors of FF that he likes but we are still trying some new ones. Some meal times it feels like he doesn’t like anything. I hope we complete this food transition soon so we can be well regulated.
@Suzanne & Darcy @Marje and Gracie

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Hi there. He is looking pretty good.

Remember when you are managing low numbers (like when he went into lime green on August 9) you only need to give small amounts of HC food at a time. I noticed he ate half a can of FF Gravy Lovers, and later he didn’t want to eat more. It only takes a teaspoonful of HC to help raise the BG. In case you will be managing low numbers for several hours. You want to avoid filling up your cat with too much food because then Skully won’t want to eat, and your options for raising BG will be limited to Karo/honey. It’s better to give a small spoons of HC at a time.