03/02/10 MeowMeow amps 402 +6-41

[mrsd4ever]

Ok havin' another freakout moment. I upped MeowMeows does this morning to 1.5 after an amps of 402 and now he is at 41. He is acting ok, gave him some can food and plan on testing in another hour. My question is, my husband thinks i should lower the dose again I say to keep it where it is at-what should I do? Thanks for your help, again

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

please retest in 15 minutes and post the number, k?
we don't want him dropping any lower.

what did you feed him... low carb wet, high carb wet, or dry... and is dry still part of his diet?

 

[mrsd4ever]

Just tested again and it is at 57. I gave him low carb wet canned food cause it seems to bring his numbers up a little. he is completely off dry food but i do have some around if you think it is necessary to give it to him.

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

good! he's coming up nicely. that little bit of lc did it's job.
dry food isn't necessary. for future reference, some hc carb wet food (around 18% on the charts) gets in and out of the system faster than dry food. it's what most of us use to bring numbers up.

i'd retest in about a half our just to make sure he's on his way up.

i think you should go back to 1.25u and get more spot checks... especially at night. those high numbers on his spreadsheet indicate there's a real possibility he's been dropping lower than you know and bouncing on 1.25 unit.

 

[Libby and Lucy]

wow, great catch! Have you retested yet? If not, it would be a good idea just to make sure MeowMeow isn't dropping again.

 

[Sara & Magnolia]

Um, yeah, I would be freaking out too!

More spot checks will definitely help a lot. He may be dropping at night and earning decreases but you haven't caught it yet. This article, linked from the Stickies explains it really well.

Great job on this surf!

 

[Helene & Tizon]

Wow... slow down Nascar! nice catch although I suspect you needed a drink after seeing that number....

As Jill and perhaps others have mentioned, evening spot checks including the one just you go to bed are very useful spot checks to have. The evening cycle tells a tale of its own --> cats get up, read emails and blogs and also have lower blood sugar levels.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Great catch on the low numbers!

This article, linked from the Stickies explains it really well.

I just want to add some clarification with respect to the article that Sara linked. If you read the dosing protocol, it points out that there's a considerable amount of research that has found the Somogyi effect does not exist in cats. The article provides a somewhat technical explanation of rebound (i.e., the liver dumping glucose and counterregulatory hormones into the bloodstream in response to lower numbers -- a "panicky liver") but rebound in cats does not result in insulin resistance.