11/24 - 115 AMPS +3 43 +4 65 +7 76 PMPS - 106 +2 121 +4 110

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xiaotangmao

Member Since 2025
Hello! It has been almost a month since I've last posted, there was a short period that I didn't test but was able to get back on it but due to work (I worked 14 days straight almost 8-12h a day). I was able to get my neighbour to help give insulin on days I could not but unfortunately due to work I could only mainly get night time readings. I am going to try and get some day time readings in the new couple of days but I'm unsure when I should not shoot or lower dosage. Since switching him to 95% LC kibble and LC wet food his numbers have been doing amazing. The only unfortunate thing is a couple of days ago my neighbour mistook Bee's HC kibble as Bee's LC kibble (immediately removed and tested and then tested 2h after without food). Since then Bee's number has been consistently blues and greens.

I was just wondering now about dosage and no shoot numbers (I know the safe is nothing under 200) but days that I do shoot below that I have tested and some days unfortunately can't. Any advice on when I should skip insulin?
 
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xiaotangmao said:
numbers (I know the safe is nothing under 200)
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The number of not shooting under 200 is for new people who don’t have enough testing data on their cats. The goal is to gradually shoot lower AMPS and PMPS — as long as you are able to monitor the cycle. As you have test data and see how low the dose is taking Bee, you will have more confidence shooting the lower numbers.

Bee’s new dose is now .75 units. Okay?

I am so glad you were able to get your spreadsheet set up and start testing. She’s throwing you some low numbers and you need to keep on top of it.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hello. First please reduce Bee’s dose to .75 units. She has already earned a dose reduction on several occasions.
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Yes, I was thinking that too and just spoke to my vet today and they said to continue doing 1 unit for the next two days, tonight I did a .75 while waiting for a call back as I could see Bee's number dipping, they said not to worry about the two low numbers as Bee has been testing above those. I will test at the +6 mark I just couldn't a test in tonight a lot of resisting and fighting but will have help later on

Wow, several occasions..I'm so glad I've started testing I can't imagine if I was still going in blind.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
What kind of low carb dry food are you feeding? Dr. Elsey’s or Young Again?
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Yes, it was Dr. Elsey! When Bee had the low number occasionally and I was worried they would drop too low I would mixed their kibble with a tablespoon of their old HC kibble so they could eat something HC when I'm at work but as I was on a 14 day stretch and wasn't able to check in or monitor as often (Bee and Co only get kibble once a day for lunch).

Suzanne & Darcy said:
The number of not shooting under 200 is for new people who don’t have enough testing data on their cats. The goal is to gradually shoot lower AMPS and PMPS — as long as you are able to monitor the cycle. As you have test data and see how low the dose is taking Bee, you will have more confidence shooting the lower numbers.

Bee’s new dose is now .75 units. Okay?

I am so glad you were able to get your spreadsheet set up and start testing. She’s throwing you some low numbers and you need to keep on top of it.
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.75! That sounds amazing! I'm so glad I went with my gut the day Bee got a 6.3 and did .75 and tonight again. I was definitely thinking Bee has earned a reduction/should start shooting lower but the vet was adamant that two low number could have any variable. But all of Bee's food has been under 7%.

Thank you for taking the time to review Bee's SS!
 
I would not go back up to 1 unit unless his nadirs rise on a consistent basis. He had a 47 last night which is too low. We do not want a cat on insulin to drop below 50. It only takes one time to have a hypoglycemic event. It’s not logical to tell you to hold the 1 unit dose — if he is in good numbers most of the time, yet has a symptomatic hypo one day or night that’s all it takes to potentially harm him. This is why our dosing protocols have safety measures built into them that tell is when to reduce the dose.

It’s true that if you have a long-term diabetic and you see a random low number — then we would take everything into consideration before deciding if a reduction is warranted — but Bee is not a long-term diabetic and we don’t have a large body of data yet.
 
With the Start Low Go Slow method you would reduce the dose by .25 units if the cat drops below 90. If we find this method isn’t working for Bee, we can tweak it a bit. Normal cat BG numbers are between about 50 and 120 on a human meter. If it looks like Bee is heading toward remission then we would want to see those kind of numbers.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I would not go back up to 1 unit unless his nadirs rise on a consistent basis. He had a 47 last night which is too low. We do not want a cat on insulin to drop below 50. It only takes one time to have a hypoglycemic event. It’s not logical to tell you to hold the 1 unit dose — if he is in good numbers most of the time, yet has a symptomatic hypo one day or night that’s all it takes to potentially harm him. This is why our dosing protocols have safety measures built into them that tell is when to reduce the dose.

It’s true that if you have a long-term diabetic and you see a random low number — then we would take everything into consideration before deciding if a reduction is warranted — but Bee is not a long-term diabetic and we don’t have a large body of data yet.
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That's what I thought too and I was honestly a little concern to keep dosing him 1U 2x a day for the next 2-3 days before I reconnect with my vet.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
With the Start Low Go Slow method you would reduce the dose by .25 units if the cat drops below 90. If we find this method isn’t working for Bee, we can tweak it a bit. Normal cat BG numbers are between about 50 and 120 on a human meter. If it looks like Bee is heading toward remission then we would want to see those kind of numbers.
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I don't think my dose was exactly .75 tonight might have been slightly .65-.70 because it only goes by half units. At +3 Bee is at 97, I'm going to attempt at +4 and +5 to see where Bee might dip, as of right now I can only test with treats but it doesn't look like cause him to go too high, on the 16th I tested at 68 and then 79 (using treats both times)

Poor baby was sleeping the entire time post meal+insulin, only came out when Bee heard me rummaging for the treats + test strips but aside from that is very active/play fighting
 
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What are you using for treats? Pure meat treats like freeze dried (like Pure Bites) chicken or other meat are good low carb treats — or pieces of cut up boiled chicken. We always say that the cat should be given a treat at every BG test (even if it’s a failed test.). That helps to keep things positive! We all like treats :cat:
 
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Bee earned another reduction last night to .5 units. I would try .5 units for another 6 cycles at least and see how it goes. Okay? Bee is doing really really well!! I am actually really excited to see this progress. Please keep me posted so I can help.
 
And don’t worry. You are not using the spreadsheet for a pet meter because, if you were, then any number under 68 would have automatically been color coded as lime green (like the 47 on Bee’s spreadsheet.)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Bee earned another reduction last night to .5 units. I would try .5 units for another 6 cycles at least and see how it goes. Okay? Bee is doing really really well!! I am actually really excited to see this progress. Please keep me posted so I can help.
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Ah! I just saw this now I did give Bee .75 before I saw the message, I will monitor and test still to see how low it drops Bee.
I was able to test +3 +4 +5 and almost +10 but I slept through my alarm and woke up to one of the cats throwing up clear vomit so they all got a tablespoon of Dr Elsey kibbles about 1.75-2h before AMPS
Suzanne & Darcy said:
What are you using for treats? Pure meat treats like freeze dried (like Pure Bites) chicken or other meat are good low carb treats — or pieces of cut up boiled chicken. We always say that the cat should be given a treat at every BG test (even if it’s a failed test.). That helps to keep things positive! We all like treats :cat:
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Bee definitely associates BG test with treats time now, the only thing is Bee is a little picky when it comes to treats and won't eat it unless it's crushed up in their dinner! I did buy a couple of options when you recommended them last time, one of the kitty goes FERAL for it and the other one will eat one or two then ignore it. It looks like the churu treats don't spike Bee's BS too much but I would like to one day ween him off of it to a once in a while treat.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And don’t worry. You are not using the spreadsheet for a pet meter because, if you were, then any number under 68 would have automatically been color coded as lime green (like the 47 on Bee’s spreadsheet.)
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I had figured it out later 😅😅 thank you so much for being so patience and understanding about me being not excel/tech savy

Also you mentioned 6 cycles? That's 3 days or is that 4? Yes I will definitely keep you updated! Thank you so much for helping Bee and I and being such a wonderful guide!
 
@ +5.5 bumble bee is at 70!

I won't have any help later on so I'm not sure if I can get anymore daytime reading.

Will try to test at PMPS but I'll be doing it by myself, I'll get help later on in the night so I'll definitely be able to get at least +3, +4 and maybe +5/+6 and +10 if I can wake up.

Tomorrow I should be able to get AMPS, +6 and potentially +8
 
I definitely did a fur shot or didn't get all of it in, Bee's fur felt wet and I noticed a good amount of insulin on the needle like a bead of it...will test later to see if any insulin got in and if the blood glucose drops....
 
xiaotangmao said:
I definitely did a fur shot or didn't get all of it in, Bee's fur felt wet and I noticed a good amount of insulin on the needle like a bead of it...will test later to see if any insulin got in and if the blood glucose drops....
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Sorry about the fur shot. But things will get right back on track with the next shot. It will be useful information to see how it goes with little insulin.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Sorry about the fur shot. But things will get right back on track with the next shot. It will be useful information to see how it goes with little insulin.
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Definitely fur shot he's at 160 at +2 PM shot

I'm feeling absolutely frustrated with myself and I know it happens but he has been doing so well I can't help but feel like I messed it up for him
 
+3 52
+5 57
+7.5 52 (he had eaten LC kibble about 1-1.5h prior and 1.5 wet treat 52 and we tested twice on the same spot 52 and then 72 from the same spot/bleeding about a min later because we were trying to put the stick in and then test however from the other ear we got 52 as well so we're going to go with 52 for the reading)

Couldn't get a PMPS, Bee was not having it and I couldn't do it alone, decided to do .5 to be safe, very glad as +5 he was 63
 
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I was able to get an AMPS! Bee is at 115, will try to get +2 and then I have an appointment so +5/6 and maybe a couple more before PMPS but I should be able to get a PMPS tonight!

Went with .5 seeing how Bee is trending
 
+3.5h mark tested at 43 on both ears, immediately gave some LC kibble mixed in with a tablespoon of HC FF gravy 56% will test again in 15-20 minuteso
 
at the +4 (44 minutes after the 43 test) Bee is at 65, will continue to try and test as Bee isn't at Nadir yet. I'm hoping Bee stays steady as I can't skip this doctor appointment.
 
I won't be able to get any other reading for the rest of the night but it looks like potential fur shot? It's still the low blues so I'm not worried about Bee going into hypo, next reading should be +10 and AMPS
 
Hi there. I don’t know why I am not getting emails telling me when people are posting on thos ProZinc forum! I was thinking things had been unusually quiet and now I see you posted yesterday and I never received the notification. I am sorry!

Anyway, please reduce Bee’s dose to .25 units going forward. This is great progress! You will have to eyeball it between the zero mark and the half unit mark.

Way to go Bumble Bee!
 
Hello Suzanne and no worries! It happened to me last week too when I first came back on now I'm getting regular emails :)! I had assumed you were busy and would get back to me when you had a chance no need to apologize!

Also sorry I'm going to dump a lot on you at once.

I can definitely try .25 tonight, I tried it yesterday night as he tested lower but it didn't work out so well I couldn't get/eyeball .25 and was worried I wasn't going to get enough insulin so ended up eyeballing .30-40. As his number stayed pretty steady last night in the 105-121 range do you think I got it in? After my last fur shot I was going crazy last night trying to figure it out. Would the HC 56% table spoon have already been out of his system by the PM shoot?

Also today we've tested twice for morning read as I got 97.2 and 109.8 from the same ear/spot there wasn't much difference. The afternoon test was where I was a little worried he hypo so we ended up testing 4-6 times (a couple of times we couldn't get enough blood). The +4 range we got a 48.6, 68.4, 59.4, 61.2, since it wasn't far off I assumed it was safe to believe he was in the high 50's to low 60's range. He got his lunch right after and we tested about an hour later and he was at 97.

He's been a very happy boy and playing a bit as well and holding pretty steady numbers! The only time was when he was starting to show sign of hypo, the glass eyes and sleepy look the other day.

Tomorrow I have to go work extra early so I'll be out by around 4AM, would it be okay to prep the insulin about 2 hour early for the person who's helping me administer it? I read the silicone in the needles causes the insulin to degrade a little. Also I won't be home till early evening/can't have someone check in on him. Would it be advisable to leave some MC (13%) freeze dried pellets so he could keep his blood sugar up or do you think the .25 won't drop him too much (based on last night).
 
little bumble bee decided to not need his insulin this morning so we skipped, he got two readings back to back 68.4 and 88.2.

This morning at the +10h about 2h before his AMPS he was at 84.6

I won't be home till later afternoon and I'll test him again, I also called the ER vet to confirm if I should drop his dose to a lower one/skip and they said to skip and then call my vet
 
After his ordeal this morning we're going to only aim for AMPS/PMPS and one other test at either +4/+6 as to not further stress him out and give him time to relax/rest.
 
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