12/4 Michelangelo AMPS 275

[KPassa]

Previous Condo.

I did see you asking when the bouncing stops... have you looked at Tiggys SS (signature below)? He hasnt stopped bouncing yet and has been at it for months. Some cats stop bouncing quickly in days or weeks, others do it forever.. but bouncing is a good thing since a high flat number is bad - bouncing means at least you are pulling him down into normal numbers!.

YES!!! This was so good, it was worth saying twice, huh Wendy? ;-) That is exactly what I've been struggling with the most. I keep thinking that it's a fat lot of good I'm even doing to Mikey because his numbers aren't stable and he's still going over 200 on a daily basis. Thank you!!! I feel so much better knowing that it doesn't matter if he's bouncing as long as he's at least hitting normal numbers occasionally. You don't know how much ongoing stress and anxiety you have just saved me from!
drinking24

Do you have someone who can care for Mikey while you're gone? There may be a vet tech from your vet's office who can come by and give shots. I use a vet tech for Gabby and I reduce her dose so there's minimal risk for a problem with hypo.

I've now got my roommate and a friend both willing to look after Mikey. I actually trained my friend a bit yesterday since even though my roommate said he would do it, he's been less-than-available for said training so I'm not really feeling comfortable that he'd be as responsible about Mikey's timely insulin shots and testing as my friend is. Roughly how much is considered normal pay for taking care of a diabetic cat? I was thinking $50 a shot (with pre-shot testing and at least 1 nadir test) for $200 total (I'll be missing 4 shots)?

I think when a kitty is hitting blue numbers, it's a good idea to hold for ten cycles and let the dose settle. And, as Sienne said, you want to let the bounce clear. Raising the dose as a bounce is clearing can put Mikey at low numbers fast since bounce clearing cycles tend to have a little momentum behind them.

So, in this instance, it's a better idea to wait the full 10 cycles than 6? Is there a general guideline somewhere else on whether to raise the dose after the minimum 6 cycles vs. the maximum 10 as according to the TR Protocol? I wouldn't have been able to raise his dose till this weekend, anyway, but any further information about this is helpful since I'm still learning (understatement of the year! :lol: ).

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Glad I could be of help. Dont know why it came through twice - maybe too much wine?

My pet sitter charges $25 for a 30min visit which includes testing, shooting, feeding, cleaning litter trays, and playtime etc. Maybe put a ? pet sitter in socal? in your title tomorrow and see if someone can recommend a sitter near you? Its a lot easier knowing a professional can do it! Mine did a great job when I was away getting married for two weeks.. every time she visited she sent an email with an update.. but in Canada she might be too far for you Ask your vet too for a recommendation.

Dose - maybe one more cycle and then try upping the dose to 1.25. He isnt getting a lot of greens and you are doing enough testing to catch him if he looks like he might drop too far. The logic is below - you look at his nadirs to adjust dose. Kinda use an average of them, taking into account bouncing and looking for trends. For the last few cycles on this dose he has had more nadirs under 200 than anything and I guess we were kinda waiting to see if any more greens would appear after the latest bounce before changing dose.

General" Guidelines:
Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).
Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.

Increasing the dose:
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.

Reducing the dose:
If kitty drops below 40 (long term diabetic) or 50 (newly diagnosed diabetic) reduce the dose by 0.25 unit. If kitty has a history of not holding reductions well or if reductions are close together... sneak the dose down by shaving the dose rather than reducing by a full quarter unit. Alternatively, at each newly reduced dose... try to make sure kitty maintains numbers in the normal range for seven days before reducing the dose further.If an attempted reduction fails, go right back up to the last good dose.

Problem is of course that Mikey is an unknown entity being a kitten. Its fantastic you are doing such a good job with measuring him!