11/14 Jackson AMPS 437 +6 300 +9 292 PMPS 320 +2 238 +4 191

Sorry you got no responses last night despite the tags! Congrats on shooting your lowest PS! It's good you shot the full dose.

Numbers can bob up and down quite a bit with the Libre. I see he went from 118 at +1 to 139 before the HC food? Would you know what is the carb% of the gravy you fed him?
 
According to Dr Pierson’s chart, should have been 16% carb. I think it did help. He bobbed up and down, but both times I gave him gravy (second time I just gave him food with gravy) he came up a bit more after, then back down a little within an hour or so. I think part of the reason he tends to bob a bit is that he’s mostly free fed: he doesn’t eat a lot of Young Again at a time, just a couple mouthfuls, but it’s at unmeasured times of the day. On the other hand, it’s kept his ketones at bay… and the wobbling isn’t so dramatic as to take him out of blues to yellows, or yellows to pink and back down again… so I don’t mind it considering it’s kept him alive and fairly healthy so far.

I think (hope) we’re already seeing some improvement from the 2 unit dose… today he ranged in the low 300s and dipped to the high 200s, instead of ranging in the high 300s and peaking above 400 like he did just a few days ago.

I admit I was surprised to not get any responses at all. But I just kept on with it, because what else can you do, immediate advice or no? I certainly couldn’t afford to shoot full-dose that low, at this point, when I have to be gone all day… but in the evenings when I can hover, I can dare more, for hopefully better long term results. I’m hoping as his bouncing fades and his numbers come down, that his dips won’t be so dramatic either. It’s hard to shoot lower when you know he’ll shed 100+ points (or more, in past!) over the next few hours.
 
Last edited:
Skye & Jackson said:
I admit I was surprised to not get any responses at all.
Click to expand...
This does happens sometimes. If you didn't do this yesterday, what you can try is to put something like "HELP! STALLING THE SHOT!" or something like that in your thread title so that anyone scanning the board knows you need help.

If you can monitor, you want to shoot any number over 90 without stalling. Thanks to the Libre, you can monitor him real time and keep him safe with higher carb food. It seems counterintuitive but just because he drops 200 points when he starts in the high 300s or 400s, it does not mean he will drop as sharply from lower preshots. Lantus is very good at keeping numbers flat when you shoot low. Jackson has a tendency to nadir at the end of the cycle when clearing a bounce, so he's going to keep giving you lower preshots. Stalling without food in such cases can cause numbers to continue to drop.
 
+5, at 109. And according to the Libre graph, dropping fast. Going to give some high carb now. Gah.

In all honesty, @Bandit's Mom , how you just explained it is somewhat relieving - reiterating to make sure I understand correctly, that as he comes down and bounces less, he’ll get flatter. Which is my real hope, because I literally can’t hover over him monitoring close and feeding higher carb foods when needed (but not when not needed) all day as well as all night - I have to go to work! - especially not for the entire foreseeable future. When Jack is running on a flatter line it’s always a relief and I get more sleep for a few days, even if that line is higher. But I know it needs to be lower. Stability… we desperately need stability…
 
Last edited:
I understand what you are saying. Unregulated cats can be unpredictable and numbers can swing around quite a bit. Unfortunately, it does take a little time to get regulated. They do not develop diabetes overnight. They are diabetic for a while before we notice the symptoms and diagnose it. By then, their bodies have gotten used to higher numbers. It's not easy. More so with a job. But your hard work and sleepless nights WILL pay off. Already he is clearing bounces faster and spending long stretches of time in blues. The bouncing will reduce and you will see flatter cycles with time. Just hang in there and keep doing what you are doing. :bighug:
 
Finally he is in blues! Honestly, I know he’s only been on insulin for about six weeks; when I look at the actual calendar and spreadsheet it really does look decent. It just feels like it’s been so much longer! Heh… I feel like only now in this past week (or less) are we getting progress at all, even though the truth probably is that chemical groundwork has been laid for these last weeks under the surface where we can’t see. Still…

A big part of it is very much thanks to this board. I’d done enough research to kind of work out something very like the SLGS model on my own, but when his BG did weird things I kept second guessing myself, started making sudden changes because I was afraid. I had gathered all I could on diabetes in cats from a medical perspective, also gathered all I could find about how Lantus worked, and other insulins too. But it was raw science facts and the results of studies that I was trying to make a plan out of, mostly on my own, and I was starting to feel in over my head. Having here not only a library of on-the-ground experience and “if this then do that” advice in all the stickies, but also human beings to say, “Hey, stick with it, don’t change up yet”, or “It’s okay to change”… also being talked through a couple nights with lower numbers than I was used to helped me keep from artificially driving Jack back up too soon… gave me the support I mentally needed to hold on and wait and see, and let him get down into healthier levels.

So thanks again for the experienced advice and the encouragement and the info! I assimilate and am reassured by info!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top