? 03/08 Chippy PMPS 116, 108 Dosing question

Chippy & Ingrid

Chippy & Ingrid

Member Since 2021
Good Evening!
I'm hoping someone can provide some feedback regarding dosing for Chippy tonight. My signature says we're following the SLGS method, but realistically have been following our vets advice about dosing recently. However, she is not available to answer questions so I'm turning to all of you again.

Chippy's numbers have been trending low. We have been giving him 1 unit -on advice of our vet - but he's low enough tonight that I'm not comfortable with the full dose. I know the common wisdom is to change in 1/4 unit increments, but I'm leaning towards dropping to 0.5 units, and just wanted to see if anyone has thoughts about that.

I realize 116 may not seem that low, but given that his numbers sometimes drop by 50% or more between PMPS and +3, it's low enough.

Also wondering if I should be encouraged by his low numbers or if this just a meaningless blip, but doubt anyone can answer that. :)
 
116 is a perfectly good number to shoot the usual dose. Are you going to be able to test a few times this evening? Do you have medium and high carb foods on hand?

Your dose changes are very unusual - but that is explained by your vets (unfortunate) advice....

I'm going to tag a couple of others who will most likely be around later tonight since it's nearly the end of my day.

@Bandit's Mom @tiffmaxee
 
Thank you! I have to admit that I was happy to go with my vet's advice because shooting at the low numbers makes me nervous. My nervousness stems from the fact that he sometimes has huge drops in the first few hours after his PM shot, and may go down further after I go to bed. I do have all kinds of foods on hand, but he tends to eat it the moment I put it down, so wouldn't be available for him to snack on in the middle of the night.
 
I can understand...it's always nerve wracking at first - you'll get used to seeing those happy green numbers and will be thrilled when you have an opportunity to shoot the greens!

As for the food, if you test at 1 or 2+ and notice that he's dropped, you can always add a teaspoon or two of medium carb food - and then test again in a bit to see if he's still dropping.

As for the midnight and later food, get yourself an auto-feeder - they're wonderful for dispensing a little bit of food at all hours of the night/day when you're not around to monitor and those numbers go lower. Is is afterall where you want Chippy to be - in those nice lovely low blues and greens. We all strive for those numbers... :)
 
Chippy & Ingrid said:
Thank you! I have to admit that I was happy to go with my vet's advice because shooting at the low numbers makes me nervous. My nervousness stems from the fact that he sometimes has huge drops in the first few hours after his PM shot,
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The beauty of Lantus is that shooting lower means flatter cycles. Lantus is great at keeping lower numbers flatter. Those big drops are what you can see with higher preshots. Seems counter intuitive, but look at today's cycle, when you shot an AMPS not much higher.

Looks like your SS says you shot 0.5 units tonight. I'd go back to 0.75 units tomorrow morning.
 
Thank you so much for the reassurance. We chickened out and gave him the 1/2 dose tonight. If nothing else, it's within our vet's range of advice, so at least if anything were to happen she can't say it's because we didn't listen to her! I hope you're right about my gaining confidence - I've never felt so timid in my life as I do with this insulin thing!
Have a great evening and thank you again. :)
 
I understand completely! You're just getting started and this is all new to you. Keep reading the stickies and posting your questions/comments here. Also as you have time look at other people's condos and their spreadsheets - I have to tell you I learned so much from just reading other condos! It helped me to prepare for what to do when those same situations would arise for me! Don't worry, we all make mistakes and learn from one another. Unlike your vet who may chastise you for 'not listening' to her advice...I had to quit listening to my vets(multiple) because they were more wrong than right about feline diabetes - it's unfortunate but typical vets know so little about FD they do more harm than good when attempting to direct their clients to help their kitties!

btw, what does DM and all those letters on your SS mean?
 
Yes, and you can slow those down by testing earlier in the PM; feed MC if you feel that he's dropping too fast. Switch to a human meter as soon as you can - as all of the dosing methods are written her using human meters which were here long before the invention of the animal meters. The strips are lots less expensive and the numbers in my opinion are better at estimating exactly where the blood glucose measurements are - especially helpful when you get lower numbers as remission nears - but for now, use up the strips you have on hand and don't buy anymore :)
 
Sue and Luci said:
Unlike your vet who may chastise you for 'not listening' to her advice
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Funny you say "chastise". That's exactly what my vet has been doing to us. I feel like she's about to fire us as clients because she thinks we're trying to micromanage instead of just observing clinical symptoms. :(

Sue and Luci said:
what does DM and all those letters on your SS mean
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They're my food acronyms. Dm is prescription, FFCP is fancy feast chicken pate, etc. I have a spreadsheet I use to calculate carbs, and it has the key to all my acronyms. :)
 
Sue and Luci said:
Yes, and you can slow those down by testing earlier in the PM; feed MC if you feel that he's dropping too fast. Switch to a human meter as soon as you can - as all of the dosing methods are written her using human meters which were here long before the invention of the animal meters. The strips are lots less expensive and the numbers in my opinion are better at estimating exactly where the blood glucose measurements are - especially helpful when you get lower numbers as remission nears - but for now, use up the strips you have on hand and don't buy anymore :)
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Thank you, that's great advice about testing earlier. I got home too late today, but normally I'm working from home, so can do that. Re.the meters, I've noticed everyone is using the human meters. However, right now, I'm loving my alphatrak. It's seriously the ONLY thing I feel like I've got down right now! :)
 
Chippy & Ingrid said:
Funny you say "chastise". That's exactly what my vet has been doing to us. I feel like she's about to fire us as clients because she thinks we're trying to micromanage instead of just observing clinical symptoms. :(


They're my food acronyms. Dm is prescription, FFCP is fancy feast chicken pate, etc. I have a spreadsheet I use to calculate carbs, and it has the key to all my acronyms. :)
Click to expand...

Is the DM = Dietetic Maintenance, from your vet? Dry food?
Did you check the carb count on the DM?

Please look at the ingredients listing... meat/meat produce should be the first ingredient.. Avoid corn, wheat and all other grains and vegetables in cat foods...

Well wishes for tonight!
I’m off for the night. I’ll look for your new condo tomorrow :bighug:
 
No, the DM is the wet, pate variety. No dry food other than an occasional temptations treat if his numbers are low.
Thank you again for all your kind words and advice, and sleep well!
 
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