1/20 Purrdy AMPS 214 +2 205 +5 146 PMPS 187 Dosecrease +2 117 +3 108 Mum 122 +4 94

[purrdydolly]

Yesterday

Recap:
AMPS 220
+2 124
+4 130
+7 144
PMPS 167
+2 122
+3 110
+4 106
+5 110

Poor mum at PM +3 I said that he would probably go green but not to worry it wouldn't be low and she was excused for sleep. Mum wanted to see the green and stayed up late testing so of course Purrdy refused to oblige She will be getting a nana nap later today...

So we're going to take him up to 2u either tonight or tomorrow morning (I'm thinking if we see the flat yellows today - which would be a first for him - then we may want to take care!). Mum has a pen and was quite excited with the thought that she can shoot straight from the pen at that dose. However, I have read a few times people saying that the dosing from the pen isn't accurate. Is that just one of those rumours or will the dosing be more consistent if she draws it herself?

Also mum was wondering about him generally having better numbers at 1.5u than he's had at 1.75u. I explained it as a battle going on between the insulin (which wants to lower his BG) and the liver (which wants to keep him in the levels it has got used to, even though those levels are lower than most newly diagnosed cats so we're not seeing huge bounces). I said that the liver is fighting hard now but sooner or later the insulin will win. Does that seem like the complete and correct explanation in his case?

Serryn

 

[Amy&TrixieCat]

Purrdy is having some very nice, easy-going cycles - many folks would LOVE those cycles !!!

I wouldn't shoot directly from the pen. I don't know about the accuracy per se (it very well could be less accurate than we need it to be for our kitties...I just don't know the answer to that question), but the needle set up is quite different and I don't know how comfortable it would be to shoot that way.

Hopefully the extra juice will nudge him into the lagoon more often!!

 

[Ann & Tess GA]

I explained it as a battle going on between the insulin (which wants to lower his BG) and the liver (which wants to keep him in the levels it has got used to, even though those levels are lower than most newly diagnosed cats so we're not seeing huge bounces). I said that the liver is fighting hard now but sooner or later the insulin will win. Does that seem like the complete and correct explanation in his case?

I think that is an excellent way to describe the tendency to bounce whe getting into lower numbers for the first time!

I don't know on the accuracy of shooting straight from the pen. Did it come w/ needles? Those are usually extra, amybe she can return them.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I think that explains things very well. I don't know about shooting from the pen either. If it was me, I'd stick to the syringes.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

There are 2 reasons not to shoot from the pens with the attached needles.

One is that the manufacturer says that once you begin using the pen, you should leave it at room temperature. Turns out that the reason for that is that temperature affects the shooting mechanism. For our use with cats, you're using a small dose and you want it to last for as long as possible, so you refrigerate the insulin. You're not using the pen mechanism so it doesn't matter if you refrigerate it and that changes the dose that would be dispensed with the pen needles.

The second reason that I have heard is that the dispensing mechanism isn't as accurate in the dosing as using a syringe. The pens are meant for people, who use more insulin, of course, than a tiny little cat. You know how difficult it is to find insulin syringes with 1/2 unit markings - my guess (only that) is that people must not need to be quite as exacting in measuring - like we use fats and skinny doses with cats.

I think there is info on this somewhere on the stickies, but i'm not finding it off-hand. Not sure if you have this post, Serryn - you might want to bookmark it. "Where Can I Find?"

AH HA! Here is some from the Lantus & Levemir: Info, Proper Handling, Storage sticky:

From two of the leading researchers in the field of lantus use with feline diabetics, Jacquie S. Rand BVS, DVS and Rhett D.Marshall BVS (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia):

"Glargine should be refrigerated because it has a shelf life of 4 weeks once opened and kept at room temperature. We have found that opened vials kept refrigerated can be used for more than 6 months. If using an insulin pen, the manufacturer recommends that once a vial of insulin is used, the pen be kept at room temperature because temperature changes associated with refrigeration alter the volume administered by the pen."
http://www.uq.edu.au/ccah/index.html?page=43599&pid=0

We use U100 syringes to draw Lantus from cartridges and pens. We do NOT use needle tips which can be attached to the pens to administer insulin. Therefore, refrigeration will not alter the volume administered by the pen apparatus. Refrigeration combined with the use of syringes to draw insulin (versus using the needle tip made for the pen) from the opened pen has been found to extend it's life well beyond the 28 days suggested by the manufacturer.​

 

[Jen&Eddie]

Slide down nice and easy now Purrdy!

Poor mum at PM +3 I said that he would probably go green but not to worry it wouldn't be low and she was excused for sleep. Mum wanted to see the green and stayed up late testing so of course Purrdy refused to oblige She will be getting a nana nap later today...

Poor mum! I can relate. When the greens are infrequent, and they're right on the edge, sometimes you just want to see that green to feel a little better.

 

[purrdydolly]

thank you for the visits and especially the pen advice - mum is syringe drawing the dose

Amy I know you are so right and we do feel blessed for his easy cycles - but can't help striving for better My fault for being such a perfectionist

Serryn