12/12 Ivana AMPS=178, +4=196, +7=338, +10=353, PMPS=353, +3=297, +5=295

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Tara & Ivana (GA)

Tara & Ivana (GA)

Member Since 2015
Yesterday's post

After a lovely gentle slide down into the blues at yesterday's AM nadir, Ivana has stayed blue even at this morning's AMPS - good work, squeaker!

Today we are taking Ivana to visit the pet sitter where she will be staying for two nights next week while hubby and I head off to my university graduation ceremony. I'm super nervous about leaving her, it will be the first time since diagnosis that we've left anyone else in charge of her treatment :nailbiting: We're going to go through everything with the pet sitter today, she has done injections before so that's good, but hasn't done testing before. I'm just pleased she was willing to learn! Will report back this afternoon how it all went.
 
Not a bad start today. I hope all went well with the petsitter....it is great you found someone who is going to work with you - that certainly is a challenge!! One suggestion about the shot itself - and you may already know this....it would be a good idea to give her a syringe loaded with colored water at the dose you want her to shoot. This way she will have a visual reference for how much insulin to give Ivana.

Have a great evening, Tara1
 
Nice start for Ivana. How great that you have a pet sitter that is willing to learn. If you want, you can give her your log-in information and instructions on how to post in case she needs advice.
 
I already fear the day that I have to go out of town. My pet-sitter had never even been able to touch Mandarin in all these years (and he usually remains invisible for the first few days). I just can't imagine that she would be able to test him. Hoping that Ivana will be good girl for her sitter! That's really awesome that you have someone who is willing to learn about testing.
 
The pet sitter visit went well! I showed her how to test, and she got it on the second try (better than I did when I first started!) and she said that she feels better knowing that she can monitor Ivana, as she has cared for a diabetic cat previously but was not asked to do testing. She even mentioned purchasing the meter and strips for her business just incase she ever has another diabetic cat in the future, which is great. We use the insulin ruler for measurements, and I showed her how to use that so she doesn't need to rely on the syringe markings. Over the weekend I'm going to be typing up a schedule for her with what to do at what time, and what to do if certain situations arise (like a low AMPS/PMPS, if she nadirs too low, etc).

Questions:

1. Ivana is currently on a 1.25 skinny dose, I think we will reduce her down to 1.00 for the time that she's with the sitter. Does that seem reasonable? How soon before she goes to the sitter should we reduce the dose? We will be shooting her on Tuesday morning and then taking her straight to the sitter, so should we just reduce on the Tuesday morning or start on the Monday night?

2. Our current no-shoot number is 4.4 / 80. Is that still reasonable for the sitter to work with, or should we increase the no-shoot number? Even though the sitter was ok with testing, I'm not convinced Ivana won't hide, which could make testing tricky.
 
I think I'd wait to decide on a vacation dose until Monday. I'd reduce the dose on Monday evening and Tuesday morning both, before you turn her over to the petsitter if she were mine. I'd probably raise that no-shoot number to 100 unless you felt confident that she could always get Ivana to test her if needed.

Right now, I'm wondering why she hasn't seen green again since you reduced her dose. It's been 3 full days and while a cycle as low as the 29 could certainly trigger a full 3 day bounce, looks like counting forward 3 days would be today. I'd test extra and watch for it starting to clear. It'd be good to know what she gets to when it does clear. If it's already cleared with these blue numbers, like the 113 at pmps yesterday, then I'd be calling this a failed reduction. Wouldn't decide that yet, but definitely it'll be important to see what she gets to for a low today/tonight.
 
I agree with Julie on the petsitting dose. A lot can happen in a couple of days. How often do you think the petsitter will test? It's likely not to be as often as you do. And do you think Ivana will have her normal appetite at the sitter?
 
I don't doubt she will eat, she has never missed a meal through choice (you can see from the size of her that food is a very important part of her life!) I will be putting the tests into the schedule, and will also add something like "if she gets below XX test every hour" and "if she drops more than XX test every hour" or something along those lines. However, I also know she is looking after several other pets at the same time, unlike me who can focus solely on Ivana. So I don't expect her to test as often as I usually do, which is where the reduced dose comes in.
 
In general, I think it's just smart to reduce the dose a little with a petsitter, even if they are testing some.

Hopefully the next 2 days will make it obvious what dose would be low enough to keep her safe while large enough to not leave her in high numbers.
 
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