Good morning,
I nearly fell off the chair when I saw this number this morning. I couldn't believe my eyes, so I waited 5 minutes and poked again and this time it was 375!!
I am not sure what's going on. I am also testing now with the strips that were left out in the cold in my mailbox for 2 days. But, I did a side by side test with the old strips and these strips last week and it was within 9 points.
Was planning on lowering his pred to 1.25 mg daily starting today. He's now on 1 U fat. With this number should I decrease his pred and keep the dose or up the dose a little bit as well. I have to shoot in a few minutes. He's already a few minutes late.
Also afraid something else might be going on. I've noticed his ears have felt very warm the past couple of days. Has anyone else noticed that in their cat?
Otherwise acting normally, eating fine, drinking, etc. Not meatloafing or anything.
I figured everyone is tied up with T/f/s a this time, so I decided to hold the 1 U fat and reduce his pred to 1.25 mg. Didn't want to shoot him too late. We were already a few minutes late but still within the 15-20 minutes of regular shot time.
I'll wean him at that dose for 5-7 days per the vet and also per advice I've gotten from the Feline Asthma board and from DebG here. Then we'll go to 1.25 mg every other day for 3 - 5 days, per vet. Flovent twice a day.
I've also decided to run to Walgreens as soon as I take a shower and buy a box of strips just to make sure there's no problem with the ones I have (sure hope not cause I bought like 400 strips when I ordered online). Working from home today so will be watching him and checking. Sure hope nothing else is going on in his body... no infections, etc. cause this number really threw me. I may also email my vet today.
Sorry no one got back to you. I think holding the dose is a good idea. Remember dosing is based on the nadir, not the PS number. Good luck weaning him off the pred.
Posting quickly from work. I know that PS is a little higher, but it's one number. Without any daytime tests, it's hard to tell why it's higher. I hope if he's feeling off, he feels better soon.
Hi Carla,
Problem is, as you say, not many daytime tests except for weekends so I can't even ID his onset or nadir right now. I am praying and praying that the reduced pred dose helps to bring him down over the next few days and that the Flovent works for his breathing, because both have to be balanced and are equally important.
My cats have never been easy!! Before Hobbes left us, he had multiple health issues I had to manage and balance and now Flame. Never just one thing. I know many here are in the same situation with different illnesses. Thank goodness we have each other to lean on!!
Good luck with the reduced dose of pred. Since it's hard for you to test during the day I might suggest setting an alarm at night if the +2 is the same or lower than his prehsot. I don't think he's hit the right dose yet and you'll have to play it by ear for now with the med changes. In the meantime I hope he's feeling good.
I'm going to let him go till +3 to test today. I had to run to Walgreens this morning. Bought a box of 25 fresh strips just in case and got his script for Albuterol filled... also just in case.
So, his inhaler treatment was a bit late today (just gave it at +2). He gets a little stressed with the inhaler so don't want to test right now cause I'm afraid I'll be seeing stress numbers. Will test after my call. Then will try to get a +5 and a +7. I need to get some daytime tests today while I'm working at home and switch up the mid-cycle times a bit to try to catch nadir, since I have no idea at this point where in the cycle his nadir is.
He's gonna hate all the poking but hoping he'll cooperate.
Hugs to all the kitties and beans and prayers and vines to all that need them!
I'll be monitoring and testing quite a bit today. 60 point drop in 3 hours. Not the strips... at his +3 test, I got enough blood to do 2 tests... one with the strips that were left in the cold in my mailbox and 1 with a new box of strips I just got from Walgreens... within 3 points (first test 303, second test 306), so I guess those strips are OK.
Yikes! +5=236 Just fed some LC FF to try to even this out and stop him from dropping too quickly so he has a better chance not to bounce. Did I do the right thing? I was honestly not expecting to see a drop this big on the first day. Especially after his number was so high this morning.
Wondering, depending on how the rest of the cycle goes, if I should take him back down to 1U instead of a fat 1U?
I think you should keep him here at least through the weekend and see how he does since you can test. You want him in these numbers and he may have been getting there during the week too. You did fine by feeding some LC.
Thanks Karen!! I do have to be out for a couple hours tomorrow afternoon but I think I can get my son to do a test while I'm gone if necessary. Same thing on Sunday. He just nibbled a little bit more. Going to try to get a +7 or 7.5. Trying to get actual work done... for work!! Have to jump on a conf call in a few.
+7.5 seems to have leveled out a bit - kind of sleepy today. was really hungry earlier, now, not so much. he has food available if he wants to nibble. well wait, he just went into the kitchen as i was typing this!! making a liar out of me!
will try to get another test in between maybe +9 - +10 or so.
I'm glad you were able to get some mid cycle tests in today. All I'm seeing since he started insulin is pink and yellow. Remember that you want to see green and he's mostly above renal threshold now. I definitely would not reduce the insulin dose. Since you are slowly tapering the pred, you likely won't see that big a change and may have room to actually increase the insulin dose. With dosing, we don't try to anticipate what might potentially happen, but rather react to the numbers we actually see.
Hi @Wendy&Neko ,
I think I just got nervous when I saw that +100 point drop today in a few hours. Though he's not prone to dropping like a rock, I wasn't sure what to expect with the reduced pred dose. Actually, I was surprised he dropped like he did on the first day. I planned to start weaning him off the pred today so I could be home to test and over the weekend too. Glad I did so that I could get some mid-cycle tests. I hate that I can't do that during the week, but I can only do what I can do so I have to accept that.
At +9.5 looks like he's coming back up a bit so will see what happens next cycle. Will test again at PMPS.
Still in yellow but barely. Getting those mid-day tests in sure helped spot his nadir today. Almost a full curve today. Had my son practice testing tonite. He did well for being out of practice. He used to help me out 8 years ago back when he was in high school. He did pretty good for a 15 year old back then!
Now I just have to get him to get his nerve up enough to learn to give injections. Always good to have a backup person, just in case.
Flame was looking a bit out of sorts today... a little tired and sleepy. Was hungry too. Started crying for food 2 hours before PMPS. Gave him a tsp of baby food. Maybe his body was reacting to the decrease in pred and slightly lower numbers mid-cycle. I'll be watching him.
Going to test again at +3 - +3.5 and see where he's at. I'm really hoping we can start to see at least a little blue soon.
Hope everyone is having a good day! Happy Friday!!
Back up to stinky pink. Was hopeful earlier today. Hoping for a better day tomorrow as we continue to wean off the pred.
Wondering if a slight dosecrease is in order, even though we're decreasing the pred. Don't want to be too impatient, but once I go back to work this week, I don't want to do it then. This is the 6th cycle on a fat 1U. However, it was only the first day on a lower dose of pred.
For all I know, his mid cycle hasn't changed. He could have been doing this every day, but I'm at work so I can't test. His PS numbers haven't changed much but his nadir at +5 today was lower than his other numbers have been. But, like I said... don't know what he's been doing mid-cycle.
OK, I need to turn in for the night. Can't keep my eyes open any more.
I suspect what you saw today is a typical cycle for him. It takes a while to get the Pred out of his system, so you might not see it have an effect for a few days. It's good you have the weekend to get more tests in right as you decrease the Pred. There's room for a little more juice, too, since you can test, if you want to take the dose up to 1.25.
It's great your son is willing and able to help test. The more tests you can get, the better. No such thing as too much data. Are you putting a little Neosporin with pain relief on his ears at night? Many of us have found that really helps the ear heal, especially when we've had to to a lot of tests.
Was hopeful earlier today. Hoping for a better day tomorrow as we continue to wean off the pred. 