1/27 Tess AMPS~428 +2~332

[Ann & Tess GA]

Melissa, I agree with you. I would have shot the 62 if I had the data to back it up, but we only have 4 days on Lev. and are still working out old confused_cat sheds emptying and new ones filling. Yes, it would be best to not skip shots or feed to keep Tess from dropping to low. But we are still trying to figure out what that ideal dose is and changing the dose too frequently isn't good either.

I'm not quite to the point of being unable to reduce the dose, but almost. :roll: I think I can still do one more reduction and at that point if Tess sill goes too low we will start skipping shots. I just hope I have enough data by then to make a good decision. So far when we have skipped she has also been low before so we don't know which or if both caused the bounce.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

That was quite a bounce this morning! Hopefully she will settle with the lower dose if it can keep her out of the 40s and/or you don't have to feed MC food. Paws crossed for a little flatter curve.

Since we all use slightly different terminology for the altra-microdoses, its hard for me to know exactly what you are giving her now, but with Beau, I am pretty sure on his .1u and .05u doses as I drew a half unit and twisted off 4 drops or 4.5 drops. In those photos I linked you to before, the half drop is .05u. By your description, I would have called your .1u dose .2u and what you are shooting now as .1u. It depends on the brand of syringes, I think, because the lines can be different width as can the stopper flange. As long as you practice and can see insulin on the tip of the needle when you press the plunger you are giving insulin. But, man, it is a PAIN to get these doses!

 

[Melissa&Paul-Kyle]

So, I am curious about the shed emptying/filling thing you write about...Lantus and Lev are considered to be so similar, so wouldn't the shed just have very similar contents and it wouldn't really matter if the lantus were still in/out of Tess?

Or is it that the lantus wasn't really working for Tess so maybe there is *some*component of the lantus, the disagreeable component, that is still running around in there and might be setting numbers wonky?

I think I remember you or someone else wondeting if they should let the lantus shed empty ( hold insulin of any kind) before starting the lev so as to get a clean picture...interesting...

Anyway, I think whether it is bounce or need for more insulin, you'll be finding out in very short order (knockwood,antijinx) and what you are doing now seems to be working decently.

I only have Vetsulin OTJ stories to share and I understand the insulins are very different, but I wanted to share that I took a lot of grief over shooting really low on vetsulin ( my cut off was 69 I think, when 150 was considerd "safe"), but I stood my ground b/c if I did not shoot, PK would skyrocket and stay there. He was only getting what I considered a sniff of insulin at the time, probably near the .05 you are giving Tess.

Many that watched considered PK to be constantly overdosed on insulin, citing that the extreme highs were rebound from shooting on such low doses, however I was home alot back then and seemed to have alot more money than I do now ;-) so tested the heck out of that cat...and I stood my ground b/c the data in front of me told me he needed that sniff, still.

I did try to let him go OTJ and stay in the higher numbers as several people at that time were satisfied with letting their cat hang around 150 and lower without insulin, the concept, I think, being that eventually the pancreas would catch up and take over.

I wouldn't let Pauly do that, I insisted he stay under 100 and continued to shoot those low numbers. he did eventually go off insulin- the day he finally reached my cut off of 69, I believe, was the last shot he got for 6 months until he started needing insulin again.

FWIW, my Pauly didn't do well on Lantus, but the Lev has worked pretty well. Paul-Kyle continues to be a pioneer in his own mind, though, with his +12 nadir and refusing to go low and stay low on insulin...Pauly earns his decreases after floating between 100-300 for several months on a dose, then, like recently needs a step down ( from .4 to .2 a few days ago) to maintain his 100-300 scene.

The boy just will NOT stay even in those lower numbers! He is either 40 to 400 and back or hovers between 100-300 comfortably...I guess the hovering is our way of letting Paul's pancreas heal?

He is his own cat, for sure!

Anyway, back to your Tess, ( sorry for the novel- I am snowed in and bored to pieces!) I suspect Tess will let you know when it is time to start skipping shots and if you are able to allow that, things may unfold in a positive light for y'all....