10/28 Salem AMPS 239, +3 190

[Salem & Angus]

10/22 POST

I normally wouldn't post this early in the day, but it's been a few days. I was running low on strips so I kept tests only to pre-shot times while I waited for delivery (will plan much better next time)

A few things:

• I increased his dose by .25 on 10/25
• Will be doing a few more tests to try and find his nadir since I think I may be off?

Also, my question, because I'm really confused. I was browsing reddit since there is a feline diabetes subreddit that frequently links back here, and I came across a post for the first time that said I should be testing AFTER a 2 hour fast and this would be before giving insulin? This is the first time I've seen this and now it leaves me at a ton of questions since all his pre-shot numbers since I started the alphatrak testing have been post-meal (about 30 mins) since that's what the vet initially told me.

To be clear, I knew you should always test before giving insulin to avoid any potential hypos, but now I'm wondering if these higher numbers are because this is post-meal testing? I'm so sorry if I sound frustrated, I just wanna do right and I feel like everytime I think I'm doing good research I get another curveball and then feel like I'm actively hurting my cat by making mistakes.

Any advice here is really helpful. I will be doing another test around +3 today to see where we're at.

I also wanna thank everyone who's been really kind. I'm a bit neurodivergent so I get overwhelmed very easily.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

10/22 POST

I normally wouldn't post this early in the day, but it's been a few days. I was running low on strips so I kept tests only to pre-shot times while I waited for delivery (will plan much better next time)

A few things:

• I increased his dose by .25 on 10/25
• Will be doing a few more tests to try and find his nadir since I think I may be off?

Also, my question, because I'm really confused. I was browsing reddit since there is a feline diabetes subreddit that frequently links back here, and I came across a post for the first time that said I should be testing AFTER a 2 hour fast and this would be before giving insulin? This is the first time I've seen this and now it leaves me at a ton of questions since all his pre-shot numbers since I started the alphatrak testing have been post-meal (about 30 mins) since that's what the vet initially told me.

To be clear, I knew you should always test before giving insulin to avoid any potential hypos, but now I'm wondering if these higher numbers are because this is post-meal testing? I'm so sorry if I sound frustrated, I just wanna do right and I feel like everytime I think I'm doing good research I get another curveball and then feel like I'm actively hurting my cat by making mistakes.

Any advice here is really helpful. I will be doing another test around +3 today to see where we're at.

I also wanna thank everyone who's been really kind. I'm a bit neurodivergent so I get overwhelmed very easily.

Hi Angus, yes you want to test the preshot number, if possible, after a 2 hour fast (so that your number is not food influenced).

(So if you feed and shoot at 6 am/6pm, you don’t feed after 4 am/4pm). Make sense?

*We always want to be sure they are high enough to safely give insulin.

If the number were food influenced, then they may drop back down again after the shot and then you’re chasing the insulin with carbs or karo syrup/honey to keep them safe.

Hope this helps

 

[Lauren & Esse]

If it helps, here's an example of how our kitty's schedule looks each day:

7am (+10): Fasting cutoff, no food until shot time.
9am (PS): Check his glucose numbers on the Libre to make sure he's high enough. Give the cat his breakfast, wait until he gets a few good bites in and then give insulin while he's eating. The entire process takes ~5 minutes.
10:30am (+1.5): Small snack.
12pm (+3): Small snack.
3pm (+6): Small snack.
7pm (+10): Fasting cutoff, no food until shot time.
9pm (PS): Check glucose on the Libre, give dinner, shoot while eating. Aka same as 9a.
Bedtime (~+2): Put out some food for overnight snacks.

When folks give their snacks varies, so this is just an example of how everything fits together. We use a continuous glucose monitor, so we don't manually test on a schedule, but if we did it would probably be around 11am (+2), 3pm (+6), and 11pm (+2).

Are you still using the Libre 3? I see it in your signature and spreadsheet. Edit: Just read your last post, looks like maybe you don't have a Libre anymore.

 

[Salem & Angus]

Hi Angus, yes you want to test the preshot number, if possible, after a 2 hour fast (so that your number is not food influenced).

(So if you feed and shoot at 6 am/6pm, you don’t feed after 4 am/4pm). Make sense?

*We always want to be sure they are high enough to safely give insulin.

If the number were food influenced, then they may drop back down again after the shot and then you’re chasing the insulin with carbs or karo syrup/honey to keep them safe.

Hope this helps

I just realized that I made my name Salem & Angus - Angus is my other cat my fault, I definitely should have put my own name.

But yes, this makes sense. I'm gonna continue this way from here going forward. His shot time is 7:30 so I will set alarms for no food after 5:30. I checked him at +3 and he was at 190 which is the first time I've seen a 1 in a while.

When folks give their snacks varies, so this is just an example of how everything fits together. We use a continuous glucose monitor, so we don't manually test on a schedule, but if we did it would probably be around 10am (+2), 3pm (+6), and 10pm (+2).

Are you still using the Libre 3? I see it in your signature and spreadsheet. Edit: Just read your last post, looks like maybe you don't have a Libre anymore.

Thank you! This is really helpful. And yes, we took the Libre off him on 10/22 since it had expired and given how wildly inaccurate the numbers were for a while my vet opted to not do another one. I'll be removing it from my signature.

 

[Staci & Ivy]

I just realized that I made my name Salem & Angus - Angus is my other cat my fault, I definitely should have put my own name.

But yes, this makes sense. I'm gonna continue this way from here going forward. His shot time is 7:30 so I will set alarms for no food after 5:30. I checked him at +3 and he was at 190 which is the first time I've seen a 1 in a while.



Thank you! This is really helpful. And yes, we took the Libre off him on 10/22 since it had expired and given how wildly inaccurate the numbers were for a while my vet opted to not do another one. I'll be removing it from my signature.

Oops, so sorry about the name thing, my silly mistake!