8/10 Karamelle AMPS 229 +2 187 +3 139 +4 136 +6 98 +7 104 +9 135 PMPS 196 +2 272

[JoM]

8/9 Karamelle AMPS 67 +3 209 +4 280 +7 282 +9 385 PMPS 358 +2 358 +6 120 +9 20 +9.75 37 +11 226

Well I missed the drop early am. I did see it dropped quite a bit at +6, but hoped it would even out. No such luck. So Ive reduced the dose again. Still no idea whats happening in these early am hours and why its dropping.
I tried the FirstMate food @Wendy&Neko recommended at +9 (when she dropped to 20) but checking in about a half hour later shed only come up marginally to 37, so I gave her some honey. Then at +11 shes 226! Again, that seems like an unusual jump, even for honey, unless the wet food didnt register right away and it was from a combo of honey and food. But then shes still up at 229 at AMPS when all that should have worn off by then. It had been 3 hours since the food and about 2 since the honey at AMPS.
Im baffled!
To top it off, all along I thought maybe something like happened in Dec/Jan was happening again and I thought it was caused by the UTI and the low B12. But I looked it up and all the info I found says that low B12 and infections causes raised BG, not lowered BG. So now Im really confused.
Anyway, we trod on.....

 

[JoM]

I made an appt with the vet today, not the last guy I saw but the original vet who owns the office that she saw initially when she was diagnosed with diabetes. Her snorting hasnt gone away with the drops and her BG is just wacky. I want to get his thoughts. Granted he told me to ask you guys a few times when I asked him questions so I dont expect much but you never know.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

I made an appt with the vet today, not the last guy I saw but the original vet who owns the office that she saw initially when she was diagnosed with diabetes. Her snorting hasnt gone away with the drops and her BG is just wacky. I want to get his thoughts. Granted he told me to ask you guys a few times when I asked him questions so I dont expect much but you never know.

Do you ever retest those numbers? Do you have a back-up meter you can try? I’m going to try and spend some time today looking at her SS and trying to figure out what is going on.

i’m glad you reduced.

Do you think she would eat from an auto-feeder? I think we’ve discussed this but don’t remember. I’m just wondering if you can set it up for several feedings when she’s tending to come down early morning with a little higher LC if it might help.

 

[JoM]

Do you ever retest those numbers? Do you have a back-up meter you can try? I’m going to try and spend some time today looking at her SS and trying to figure out what is going on.

i’m glad you reduced.

Do you think she would eat from an auto-feeder? I think we’ve discussed this but don’t remember. I’m just wondering if you can set it up for several feedings when she’s tending to come down early morning with a little higher LC if it might help.

No I havent retested any of the numbers. I do have an extra meter so I can try that. They are the same kind of meter, but they do give slightly different readings.
The problem with the auto-feeder is that I have another cat that was always trying to get into her food (even tho his food is the same). Hes stopped now because I had the microchip bowl set up with an intruder alert. So if shes eating and any other cat tries to push her out of the way, the feeder will just close suddenly. It worked well and he doesnt even try to get into her food anymore. But if the auto-feeder opens and she doesnt eat it right away, Im pretty sure my other two greedy cats will find it and eat it (especially since its yummy wet food) and Id never know, unless of course I set up a spy camera, which I can do. I just dont think it will work so I probably wont buy one.
I should have known it would drop when I got the 120 reading at +6. I should have tested earlier than +9 for the next test.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Sorry the First Mate didn't work well enough for Karamelle. Even though Neko was fairly carb sensitive, I always reached for the syrup for anything under 40. HC wet food worked enough to get her up from the 40's.

Good luck with the vet visit.

 

[JoM]

Do you have a back-up meter you can try?

Just took a +3 reading with both meters using the same blood bubble. The one I use is on the right with the correct time. As you can see they differ.

 

[JoM]

Sorry the First Mate didn't work well enough for Karamelle. Even though Neko was fairly carb sensitive, I always reached for the syrup for anything under 40. HC wet food worked enough to get her up from the 40's.

Good luck with the vet visit.

Well, I should still be able to use it since she seemed to like it.

 

[JoM]

Back from the vet. Well thank goodness for Dr. Hanna. I had stopped making appts with him because he wasnt working as much, but I just remembered how much I like him. Karamelle has a massive TOOTH infection!!!!! Thats probably the cause of all her issues. The snorting and the wonky BG. He started her on Clavamox and shes getting a dental done on Thursday. I really hope this fixes everything. To the vet I saw that missed it, I have to give him some credit. He came out into the Lobby and asked what Dr. Hanna found. He said he would be watching the dental because he wants to learn. I believe hes fairly new. But he has a great vet to learn from, so he should be fine.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Oh my gosh! I am so glad you found that out! Poor, sweet, Karamelle. How did he diagnose the tooth infection?

I'm guessing you might have a wild ride once the infection clears up. Those lows are bonkers

 

[JoM]

Oh my gosh! I am so glad you found that out! Poor, sweet, Karamelle. How did he diagnose the tooth infection?

I'm guessing you might have a wild ride once the infection clears up. Those lows are bonkers

He just looked at her teeth. Pulled her gums back and showed me. It looked like two teeth were separated a bit from the gum line and there was redness and gook there. And he said "smell her breath" OMG it was horrible. I cant believe I missed this. Im usually so observant about cat stuff.

 

[Seth&Bell]

I'm just super glad he found it! She's going to be feeling so much better after Thursday.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Just took a +3 reading with both meters using the same blood bubble. The one I use is on the right with the correct time. As you can see they differ. View attachment 79874

Those are within 20% of each other so that’s not the issue.

He just looked at her teeth. Pulled her gums back and showed me. It looked like two teeth were separated a bit from the gum line and there was redness and gook there. And he said "smell her breath" OMG it was horrible. I cant believe I missed this. Im usually so observant about cat stuff.

Boy am I glad they found that! Poor baby. She must really be in pain but, oddly, pain will cause the BG to rise and not do this race down the dosing ladder. I’m glad they can get her in soon. Here is some info we’ve put together on dentals. You’ll want to decrease her dose a bit and might even want to skip the shot the night after her dental as anesthesia “can” cause the BG to drop post dental.

Just let us know how she’s doing and we can help you decide.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Poor Karamelle, I'm glad you managed to get a dental booked for this week.

 

[JoM]

Those are within 20% of each other so that’s not the issue.


Boy am I glad they found that! Poor baby. She must really be in pain but, oddly, pain will cause the BG to rise and not do this race down the dosing ladder. I’m glad they can get her in soon. Here is some info we’ve put together on dentals. You’ll want to decrease her dose a bit and might even want to skip the shot the night after her dental as anesthesia “can” cause the BG to drop post dental.

Just let us know how she’s doing and we can help you decide.

Everything I've read says the BG should be going the other way, up not down. Infections cause it to go up. But not for Karamelle. My vet said she broke the rule book. I'll read the info about dentals, thanks. I did ask the vet. He said take up her dry food the night before so she doesn't eat that, give her the normal dose of insulin and give her a small amount of wet food afterwards. Her shot time is at 8:30am and I need to bring her in between 9-10am.
She's getting 0.5U at the moment so I assume that will be the same on Thursday. So I should give less than that in the morning?
That's interesting about the anesthesia causing BG to drop. I'll certainly will be testing her when she gets home.

 

[Seth&Bell]

Listen to Marje not me, but I would definitely give less the morning of. I gave Bell a 2/3rds dose the night before, and a 1/2 dose the morning of for her dental 2 weeks ago. Especially with Karamelle's recent drops into the 20s (!) I would maybe even consider doing a token dose the morning of, curious what Marje/Wendy thinks. Plus she won't have much food on board.

Your vet should also be able to test her BG during the procedure - they'll just charge you a pretty penny for it. I think it was $30 a poke (had 3 tests done on one of Bell's dentals). It made me consider changing my career to a professional feline BG tester.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Take a look at that second post in that thread Marje linked. It says 1/2 dose of insulin in the morning. If you are at all worried about her going low, a token or skipped dose in the AM also works. For one of Neko's dentals she was flirting with a reduction so I gave a token dose and she still almost earned a reduction at the vet.

Whether the BG goes up or down after the dental depends on a few things, one of which is the induction drug they us. If there is pain or inflammation, that can cause it to rise, but not necessarily right away. I've seen too many kitties with dropping PMPS due to anesthesia and kitty not wanting to eat because of the dental. Test when you get home, then again at PMPS, that'll tell you if she's dropping and you need to be even more conservative with the PM dose.

 

[JoM]

Take a look at that second post in that thread Marje linked. It says 1/2 dose of insulin in the morning. If you are at all worried about her going low, a token or skipped dose in the AM also works. For one of Neko's dentals she was flirting with a reduction so I gave a token dose and she still almost earned a reduction at the vet.

Whether the BG goes up or down after the dental depends on a few things, one of which is the induction drug they us. If there is pain or inflammation, that can cause it to rise, but not necessarily right away. I've seen too many kitties with dropping PMPS due to anesthesia and kitty not wanting to eat because of the dental. Test when you get home, then again at PMPS, that'll tell you if she's dropping and you need to be even more conservative with the PM dose.

1/2 dose would be 0.25. What would a token dose be?

 

[JoM]

Listen to Marje not me, but I would definitely give less the morning of. I gave Bell a 2/3rds dose the night before, and a 1/2 dose the morning of for her dental 2 weeks ago. Especially with Karamelle's recent drops into the 20s (!) I would maybe even consider doing a token dose the morning of, curious what Marje/Wendy thinks. Plus she won't have much food on board.

Your vet should also be able to test her BG during the procedure - they'll just charge you a pretty penny for it. I think it was $30 a poke (had 3 tests done on one of Bell's dentals). It made me consider changing my career to a professional feline BG tester.

Thanks Seth. I never thought to ask if they would be checking her BG. I'll definitely call them to make sure they can do that.
Haha, we are all professional BG testers. Wish it came with a salary.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

1/2 dose would be 0.25. What would a token dose be?

Half that. I think 1/2 dose is fine unless she’s running lower. I’d be tempted to skip.

 

[JoM]

Half that. I think 1/2 dose is fine unless she’s running lower. I’d be tempted to skip.

I was looking at the chart on that link you posted.It says to withhold food 2-4 hours before the procedure. I told the vet I'd be feeding her the 1/2 meal at around 8:30. I drop her off between 9-10. So I assume they start the dentals after 10. But what about the dry? Should I remove it at some point?