11/30 Tessa AMPS 400+ - higher BG at night?

Last thread: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/11-28-tessa-amps-400-food-question.271253/

Any idea why Tessa's BG reacts better to insulin during the day than at night? The only thing I can come up with in researching is the dawn phenomenon but that seems to be for human diabetics, does it happen to diabetic cats too? Is there any reason to worry about her not reaction as well to insulin overnight?

I'm going to link her Libre graphs here too as because I think they show the clearest picture of this: https://imgur.com/a/GK6TkZ0

The only day that was lower at night was the very first night when she had her absolutely lowest numbers so far.

She eats meals at 7am (with AM shot), noon (+5), and 7pm (with PM shot), currently she's eating Friskies pate classic which should all be low carb.

 

The dawn phenomenon applies to cats as well. What you are seeing with Tessa is that she is bouncing at night from lower numbers in the day.

"Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". Usually, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles)."

Btw, it would help if you can go through our dosing methods and pick one so that we can tailor our dosing advise accordingly. I suggest TR - it will enable you to get her to a good dose faster.
Dosing Methods: Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS) & Tight Regulation (TR)

A small housekeeping note - could you please colour the cells with 400+ in red? Thanks!

 

Thank you! I updated the spreadsheet to color the 400+ cells red.

I have read through the dosing methods and was leaning towards SLGS but if TR is better, I'll probably go with that. I just need to talk it over with my husband. I want him to read through both methods so we're on the same page about what is going on and he didn't have time yesterday after the pharmacy saga. We will make a decision tonight though.

If I do go with TR, does the initial starting dose timeframe (the initial 5-7 days) start over when I switched her to low carb food or do I take into account all the time she has been on insulin?

 

You would consider the time she has already been on insulin for both methods.

With TR you can change doses faster and keep her at a dose where she can spend more time in healing greens. With SLGS you hold doses a week. I would suggest that you go with TR till you get to a good dose and better numbers and you can always switch to SLGS then if you prefer that.

 

Okay, thank you! So at this point regardless of which method, I should be increasing to 1.25 units, correct?

I wasn't sure because a couple people in my initial thread warned me about food affecting the numbers but it doesn't seem like that's the case so I should be safe to increase, right?

EDIT: Forgot to mention when I talked to the vet the other day, she wanted us to increase to 1.5 units until I told her that we hadn't switched her food yet. She said to give it a couple days at 1 unit with the new food. Not sure if that's relevant or not.

 

Today is Day 3 of all LC food, right? Yes, I think you can increase to 1.25U from tomorrow.

 

Yes, it is. Thank you! We'll increase to 1.25 in the morning. We also decided on TR, I'm going to add that to my signature.