? New member Lowest PMPS number so far (7.7mmol/L // 139mg/dl) - do I do the insulin or no?

U

user46267

Member Since 2026
Hi there, newbie here. Just tested lowest PMPS insulin number to date, J has been on ProZinc (40IU) since 31st July 2026, at 1 unit twice daily (8am/8pm).She just read 7.7 mmol on Alpha trak. Please advise what to do. Doing SLGS method. Please check spreadsheet in signature for today's numbers. Ate slightly less (like 1T less of her breakfast) than normal but nothing major:

BREAKFAST: 1/4 -1/3 CAN FF FISH (21 - 31 cal) + 5g Zeal (29.5 cal)
+ 2 7 grams CHICKEN BREAST (12 cal)
+4 DINE SOUP (23 ca)
1/3 pack hydra care (very low cal)

Thank you.
 
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Have just given her 1/2 can FF Turkey giblet pate + 5g Zeal chicken + salmon air dried kibble for dinner which she demolished. I decided to skip - I urine tested for ketones yesterday was negative. If one of the vets (veterans <3) can still let me know if this was the right thing or not I would appreciate that.

Note: I stopped her hills urinary biscuits (she is pre-renal) + any bonkers/ temptations treats on Sunday 9th. So I wonder if the carbs have slowly started to leave her system? and the 1 unit is too much for her now? She is 2.85 kg / 6.2 lbs - which is skinny for her, she was trim at 3.2 kgs / 7 lbs.

She was previously on Lantus for two weeks. Had a low 2.8 one in AM cycle, skipped PM as was still in range pm and we feared another drop. Went back to normal dosing the next morning, morning cycle was fine, pm cycle again dropped low 3.0 trending down. Dropped to 1 unit daily came right for a day or two and again went low two days in a row. Vet then suggested we move to ProZinc as lower IU but can dose twice daily.
 
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Hello there and welcome! I would have suggested trying a half dose this morning (I guess it was actually evening for you since there are currently 17 hours difference between us right now and it’s 1:35 a.m. for you as I write this) instead of skipping the insulin entirely. This would be as long as you can monitor the cycle and get some tests/data.

You had a very nice cycle yesterday during the daytime. If your cat drops below 90, reduce the dose by .25 units if you plan to follow SLGS for now (which is a good idea in the first month while you gather data and see how he handles the insulin.)
 
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cc6191 said:
Note: I stopped her hills urinary biscuits (she is pre-renal) + any bonkers/ temptations treats on Sunday 9th. So I wonder if the carbs have slowly started to leave her system? and the 1 unit is too much for her now? She is 2.85 kg / 6.2 lbs - which is skinny for her, she was trim at 3.2 kgs / 7 lbs.
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With less carbs her blood glucose will definitely be reduced, which is a good thing. Right now, it doesn’t look like 1 unit is too high. She will let you know if it’s too much if she drops below 90 (per SLGS, it would be 68 on your Alpha Trak if you were following MPM.) You are doing a great job getting up to speed on things.
 
Oh, and very important question…. Are you using U-40 syringes with your ProZinc? You will want the ones with the half unit markings.

With the Lantus you would have been using different (U-100) syringes.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hello there and welcome! I would have suggested trying a half dose this morning (I guess it was actually evening for you since there are currently 17 hours difference between us right now and it’s 1:35 a.m. for you as I write this) instead of skipping the insulin entirely. This would be as long as you can monitor the cycle and get some tests/data.

You had a very nice cycle yesterday during the daytime. If your cat drops below 90, reduce the dose by .25 units if you plan to follow SLGS for now (which is a good idea in the first month while you gather data and see how he handles the insulin.)
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Hi and thank you!
Yes, it was her 8 PM shot. It was a good cycle it gave me some hope. Ok, interesting about the .5 dose. I'm just wondering how to give .5, as i'm using the u-40 syringes (.5ml, 29gx1/2" with half markings) but the dose we are giving is only the first mark. I'll add a photo. That line is where the vet showed us to draw to. Do I just eyeball half of that?
 

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Suzanne & Darcy said:
Lantus is a very good insulin for cats, but your vet didn’t want to reduce the dose below 1 units? That’s crazy.
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Yes. And we didn't feel comfortable doing 1, twice daily due to those lows. even tho she was high (20-25+ mmol) amps and pmps. I should say we were drawing the Lantus to the first line on the u-100. Maybe I've gotten confused and that isn't 1 unit, but that's where the Vet showed as to draw to.
 
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
So it sounds like you have eliminated all high carb food at this point? It’s just low carb wet food and some low carb all meat foods?
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I believe so. The air dried food is like little jerky pieces - https://zealpetfood.co.nz/product/air-dried-cs-recipe-for-cats/
I would change to all wet, but it's hard to get her to eat more than a 1/2 can twice daily. Even if I offer her more at +2 +4, she isn't interested. She'll have the dine soups (which is meat in like a broth) and chicken + the air dried food though. I'm really trying to increase her weight so, if a little semi-dry food helps so be it for now.
 
cc6191 said:
Hi and thank you!
Yes, it was her 8 PM shot. It was a good cycle it gave me some hope. Ok, interesting about the .5 dose. I'm just wondering how to give .5, as i'm using the u-40 syringes (.5ml, 29gx1/2" with half markings) but the dose we are giving is only the first mark. I'll add a photo. That line is where the vet showed us to draw to. Do I just eyeball half of that?
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That syringe shows it is drawn to the .5 units dose.
 
You can see from your testing that skipping the shot for last night‘s cycle allowed her BG to climb too high. So that is why I would’ve suggested the .5 unit dose, which you have shown perfectly in your photograph. Next time you have a similar pre-shot level, you can try a .5 unit dose and see if it’s okay or if it’s too small of a dose. If it’s still allows her numbers to climb too high, then the next time you’re in a similar situation, you can try a .75 unit dose. You just have to eyeball the distance between a .5 unit marking and a 1 unit marking to get to the .75 unit dose —or if you were doing a .25 unit dose you would be eyeballing between that half unit mark and the empty syringe line (the zero line.)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
No, I think her dose is 1 unit. Isn’t that her current dose? I was only suggesting a half dose be used for a single cycle if you have a preshot BG like you did this morning. That was a suggestion for a one-time temporary reduction if you find yourself with a similar preshot value.
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The photo I uploaded with the red line next to the syringe is her normal dose.
 
Oh. Yikes. I think I understand now. Yes, if you have been drawing the plunger of the syringe to the line that you have shown in your picture, then yes you have only been giving her a .5 unit dose so she’s been getting half a unit of ProZinc.
 
Another thing I noticed on the spreadsheet is just regarding the dates. The last three days it says that the month is September because it says the ninth month. I think you meant to have it in there as August
 
cc6191 said:
The photo I uploaded with the red line next to the syringe is her normal dose.
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Okay. So that means that next time you have a lower preshot like you did last night, you can try a .25 unit dose for her and get some tests to see if it is enough insulin for that preshot value.
 
Ok, that makes more sense to me. Sorry, had so many appointments, was hard to remember the "name" of the dose. I just know that that was the line shown to draw to.Thank you for correcting me.

Ah yes - changed the months now. Thank you.
 
She’s doing very well on a small dose of insulin. That is very encouraging. Please let me know how it goes.

It’s kind of strange how the vet told you to shoot 1/2 unit of Prozinc, but didn’t want you to shoot a smaller dose of Lantus. I don’t understand that.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
She’s doing very well on a small dose of insulin. That is very encouraging. Please let me know how it goes.

It’s kind of strange how the vet told you to shoot 1/2 unit of Prozinc, but didn’t want you to shoot a smaller dose of Lantus. I don’t understand that.
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That's good to hear, thank you. It's been quite stressful, as I'm sure it is for all newbies.

I just went to check the u-100 to make sure, but it was definitely 1 unit of Lantus. The syringes don't have half markings. So, I'm wondering if she just didn't want us estimating a lower dose? Regardless (apart from ProZinc being more expensive) the curves on ProZinc + the new diet are a lot more steady than on Lantus.

Will keep you updated. :)
 
With Lantus, you do have to first wait about a week for the depot of insulin to fill. That’s what usually gives the nice flat cycles of the depot insulins — although it can take a while for some cats to see that. ProZinc can be a little easier to dose sometimes. Every cat is different. 😻
 
@Suzanne & Darcy J tested PMPS 9.4 tonight so did .25. She has dropped to 2.8 @ +4 on pet meter. given tsp gravy from fancy feast with a little honey mixed in, some 9% treats, and half a churu. No clinical symptoms. Hopefully this is the nadir.
 
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We usually don’t use high carb unless the cat drops below 50. Often a little of the regular low carb food (small amount like a teaspoon or two) will stabilize the BG at this point and help the cat to surf in green without hijacking the cycle. Nevertheless, you should test in 20 minutes after giving the food. And I totally understand your concern. Since it’s +4 then it hopefully is the nadir.
 
Ok, good to know. Thank you. The amount of honey was very little. Just dipped the end of a teaspoon into the honey jar and out.
 
Okay. Wait. I just had to check your spreadsheet to see what kind of meter you are using and I see it is an alpha track meter. So you did just right to do the high carb since she was at 50 and 68 is the “take action” number for an Alpha track meter so I take back what I said about the 50. 50 is for a human meter, which is what I thought you were using. By the way, could you please add Alpha track as your meter to your signature so anyone assisting you will see it there first.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Okay. Wait. I just had to check your spreadsheet to see what kind of meter you are using and I see it is an alpha track meter. So you did just right to do the high carb since she was at 50 and 68 is the “take action” number for an Alpha track meter so I take back what I said about the 50. 50 is for a human meter, which is what I thought you were using. By the way, could you please add Alpha track as your meter to your signature so anyone assisting you will see it there first.
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Ok good, thank you!
Added to signature!
 
And you said it was a pet meter in your post. Mea culpa! I got to my calculator to convert the numbers and then was focused on the fact that it was 50.
 
Haha, no problem. I need to post the mmol and the mg/dl numbers at the same time to make it easier.
Will do, thank you - I'll be up until + 6 now just to be sure. Atleast it's a friday night.
Dose wise tomorrow morning, what do I do?
 
cc6191 said:
Haha, no problem. I need to post the mmol and the mg/dl numbers at the same time to make it easier.
Will do, thank you - I'll be up until + 6 now just to be sure. Atleast it's a friday night.
Dose wise tomorrow morning, what do I do?
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How much did you give in the morning cycle? The units cell is empty.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
How much did you give in the morning cycle? The units cell is empty.
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Sorry. half a unit.
Fairly normal eating a little bit less of her dinner, 1/4-1/2 can FF (rather than full 1/2 can, but she did the same last night) and 1/8 cup freeze dried chicken and lamb. At +2 She had 1-2 T of ff pate with with some water to make a paste like a churu, and a few cubes of cooked chicken breast.
 
With regard to the dose, it’s a bit tricky. I am thinking it depends upon what her AMPS is. If she is in yellow numbers at AMPS, would give .25 units. If she is in blue BG numbers, I think I would try a skinny .25 to try making it a half of the .25 units.

Another thing you can do is to stall the shot without feeding her and test to see if her BG is rising. You can also try feeding her more carbohydrates, meaning feeding low-carb food that is getting closer to 10% carbs or even 10% carbs, which is still low-carb. You can do this for the breakfast meal and, depending upon what the +2 number is, you may want to do it again if you feel like a +2 is the same as the pre-shot BG, or definitely if it’s a little lower than the pre-shot number.
 
cc6191 said:
Sorry. half a unit.
Fairly normal eating a little bit less of her dinner, 1/4-1/2 can FF (rather than full 1/2 can, but she did the same last night) and 1/8 cup freeze dried chicken and lamb. At +2 She had 1-2 T of ff pate with with some water to make a paste like a churu, and a few cubes of cooked chicken breast.
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All perfect!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
With regard to the dose, it’s a bit tricky. I am thinking it depends upon what her AMPS is. If she is in yellow numbers at AMPS, would give .25 units. If she is in blue BG numbers, I think I would try a skinny .25 to try making it a half of the .25 units.

Another thing you can do is to stall the shot without feeding her and test to see if her BG is rising. You can also try feeding her more carbohydrates, meaning feeding low-carb food that is getting closer to 10% carbs or even 10% carbs, which is still low-carb. You can do this for the breakfast meal and, depending upon what the +2 number is, you may want to do it again if you feel like a +2 is the same as the pre-shot BG, or definitely if it’s a little lower than the pre-shot number.
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Great, thank you! I'll re-read all of this AMPS time in the morning.
 
Another thing that can be really helpful when you’re trying to do microdosing for your kitty is to use the U 100 syringes and use the conversion chart. You would need U-100 syringes that have half unit markings though, and I believe you said that your U-100 syringes had only single unit markings. With the U-100s that have half unit markings, you could draw doses like a .2, which would be obviously a little less than a .25 dose — and you could draw a .1 unit dose also. So if you have a cat that needs tiny amounts of insulin. It can be very useful. It’s just something to think about in case she ends up needing it.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Another thing that can be really helpful when you’re trying to do micro dosing for your kitty is to use the U 100 syringes and use the conversion chart. You would need you 100s syringes that have half unit markings though, and I believe you said that you were you 100 syringes had only single unit markings. With the U 100s that have half unit markings, you could draw doses like a .2 which would be obviously a little less than a .25 dose and you could draw a .1 unit dose also so if you have a cat that needs tiny amounts of insulin. It can be very useful. It’s just something to think about in case she ends up needing it.
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Yeah, no half markings on the ones I have but can get a hold of the others. thank you will keep in mind.
 
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