1/28 Rosa AMPS 351 +4 384 PMPS 310 +3 289 +4 319

Status
Not open for further replies.
manxcat419

manxcat419

Member Since 2015
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/1-27-rosa-amps-478-6-240-9-409-pmps-489-2-450.132142/

I was expecting a higher reading this morning. I'd put a little dry food for Regan on a shelf in a closet Rosa has never gone into and has shown no interest in. I found her in there at 245 this morning eating some of the food, so that's had to be moved too - apparently she's feeling good enough to go looking for food and to jump up there now too. Not a bad AMPS considering I'm not sure how much of that she'd got at.
 
Pink is always nicer than a red start. And to think it wasn't that long ago we were celebrating not getting "Hi". :) It's great she's feeling good enough to jump - too bad it's for the contraband. :p

Today is cycle 6 at this dose. If you don't see blue today, I'd think about going up to 2.0U tonight. From the protocol:
Increasing the dose:
  • Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
  • After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
  • After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.
Click to expand...
 
I am pleased she's feeling good enough to climb up 3 shelves of course - Regan's always been a climber but Rosa not so much so I thought it was safe that far up. I should have known she'd find a way sooner or later. :P Now I have to find a new hiding place or she'll go looking for it there again - she's a little monster but at the same time I'm so happy she's feeling good enough to pull that sort of stunt. And this morning when I went to give her her shot, she put her paws around my wrist - that's always been her way of giving me a hug but she hadn't done it much recently so she's obviously still feeling good now. :)

I'm actually very happy with the number this morning considering she'd had food she shouldn't have done - it's one of her better ones in spite of that for some reason. But yes, I'm going to check her at +4 - from the curve I did that looks to be at least close to her lowest point - and increase to 2.0 from tonight if she's not in the blue range by then.
 
384 at +4 - should I test at +6 next to try and make sure I catch a reading close to nadir from her? Looks like she's going to need the dose increase either way.
 
I am not advising you on what to do but I found it very difficult to stop myself from testing even if I knew I didn't really need to. In the end I did hold back unless it was really going to help me fill in the picture/make a decision as I wanted to save the strips for then.

Don't forget to test for ketones whilst rosa is still a little high (and best to note on your sheet so you can keep track of when you did it).
 
Thank you - just added the ketone test I did at +3 to the notes - happily she's still all clear on those. :)

I did just buy another 100 test strips last night - I'd gone through the first box of 50 (50's were all I could get when I bought the meter) in a week and a half. I agree I might be testing too much at the moment but I really don't want to miss her nadir or as close to it as I can get when I'm looking at a dose increase tonight - that might be a little paranoid, but this is all still so new I'm nervous of messing something up for her.
 
You could get a +8 or +9 if you want to (mainly for data purposes)

If she's getting sore ears, you could also probably just give her a pokey break

It doesn't take long to go through those strips!! That's why I buy China's 250-500 at a time!

You might want to consider getting your strips from ADW....they have a "buy 4 boxes, get 1 free" offer so you end up getting 250 strips for $69.99 and they work just fine in the Relion Confirm meter. That drops the price from WalMart (.36 cents per strip) to ADW (.28 cents per strip)

They also will occasionally send you coupon codes to use for 10% off!
 
Thanks for the tip :) I think I do need to start buying them in bulk to get the savings - almost 40$ for 100 strips is going to get expensive quickly! Not that she isn't worth it - of course she is - and it's cheaper than vet visits, but a little discount wouldn't hurt either. I like that offer - thanks for the link - that's a good discount compared to the price in Walmart for the strips. :D

I would like to give her a break - she's very good about the tests, but I'd like her to stay good about them and not get too sore. If her ears start hurting I'm sure it won't take long for her to start objecting to being tested and at the moment it's so relaxed it's nice to think I'm not upsetting her too much.

As she obviously needs the dose increase either way and I'm only planning to go up by 0.25 I think I might just leave her until her PMPS - she's clearly not going to drop into dangerously low numbers anytime today! Thank you both for the advice - it's very easy to get caught up in the feeling of needing to test frequently and sometimes I just need to be told that it isn't necessary right now! :)
 
Ugh, just realized I'm going to have to shoot her evening dose, leave her with our housemate and run out the door within minutes and drive to the airport to pick hubby up from his flight :P Don't like leaving her with anyone right after she has her shot even though he knows exactly what to do if there's a problem. Not much I can do about it but I know I'm going to worry about her all the way there. I should be back by just after +1 - it'll be safe to leave her with someone even with the increased dose won't it? If not, the increase will have to wait until the morning - I can't leave hubby stranded at the airport for an hour. Can't win some days!
 
Thanks - I needed that :) I don't know what it is about dealing with this in a cat that makes me freak out about every little thing...I swear I'm worse about leaving her than I was about leaving my son with a babysitter! I think I'm just so much more used to dealing with this in people - and they can tell me if something's wrong.

And yes, I'll try and drive safely - the airport run isn't my favorite, but I'm looking forward to having him home. :)
 
everyone finds the whole thing unnerving at the beginning, april. it gets easier as you know more, as you learn Rosa's patterns and from those, you become able to make some predictions.

i think you are testing about the right amount. you want to test often enough that there are no hidden lower numbers. with her very used to higher numbers, she could even be bouncing from 200's.

with most cats if a person is testing like you are, most of the time we can see the low numbers approaching. some cats dive, but many will have at least one yellow or blue test to give a heads up that the cat is going into lower numbers.

having said that, there are cats that dive unexpectedly - but even that becomes a pattern. Cats either do that or don't do that, and it won't be long before we can help you figure out what Rosa's personal style is.

glad you've got your husband home. i wouldn't worry about being gone at +1 at this phase she's in.
 
Thank you :) It's been difficult because he had to go right after she was diagnosed so I didn't have anyone at home to discuss test results or take over for a couple of tests so I could rest. Looking at her, I know she's good right now even though her numbers are still a bit high - she's gaining weight, looks happy and has started washing herself properly again every day instead of just on the better days.

On her spreadsheet, it does look as though she's bounced from 200's a couple of times. There was the once she was down in a blue number and bounced, but even the time she started in the mid-200's she went HI by the end of the day. Though I wouldn't put it past her to dive - if she can manage it, she'll do it at least once just for awkwardness! :P

I was worried because the vet said I absolutely HAD to be home for at least an hour after her shot every time. Then again, they also didn't want me home-testing so that might have been because I'd have had no idea where she was getting to in that first hour (never mind the rest of the day) the way they wanted things done. It does help to have our housemate here at times like this though - fortunately, he gets home about half an hour before I need to leave so there will be someone with her all of the time.

I did give her a bit of a break on the testing today - she's been so patient and so good about it. I figured just for a day it would give her ears a chance to heal a bit from all those needles so I skipped one of the usual two I'd do during the day as I know she'll have to have extra ones tomorrow with the dose increase.
 
it helps the most to just vary the time that you get tests in. if you get a +3 today, get a +4 or 5 tomorrow. you'd be amazed at how much it helps to see a sprinkling of tests all around the clock. not every hour every day, just a variety.

i'm not sure why you would have to be home for the first hour after a shot. you might ask for an explanation of that. i wonder if your vet is thinking of the older insulins where the onset is faster and the cat might have dropped faster. With Lantus and Lev, somewhere in the middle of the cycle is the likeliest to be the low point. Some cats are as early as +2, but most are somewhere a little closer to the middle.

Probably the most important test is a mid-cycle in the pm cycle, because so many cats go lower at night. the early day cycle numbers are boosted by Dawn Phenomenon.
 
I think I will ask the vet for an explanation. She never seems to drop much until +4 at the earliest so I'm really not sure why they thought the first hour was critical. Of course the day she was diagnosed, before I found everyone on here, I pretty much just took that as being what I'd have to do so I didn't question it then.

I am going to try and get a mid-cycle pm test or even a couple of them at the weekend as I'll be able to hand over on the AM shot to hubby for a day or so if I need to - he's not a fan of needles, but he can cope if he has to.
 
And holding fairly level - I think she should be good for the night now :) She's obviously decided to give me some good numbers now her dad's home!
 
Nice day for Rosa and awwwwww on the wrist hug. When Vyktor does that to me it's because he's about to bite me!

Yay for no ketones and for having DH home too :)
 
Our tabby baby only ever grabs wrists when she plans to bite too! For some reason it's always been Rosa's hug - she'll even stand on her back legs and reach up to my arm if I'm walking past and she wants a hug. :D

Yes, yesterday was a good day. It's always good to have everyone home, and Rosa let us get a good sleep too with her happy numbers. :) Looks like we're off to another good start today too! :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top