2/1 Kitty AMPS 427 PMPS 164 - Low numbers last night

Julie and Kitty

Julie and Kitty

Member Since 2020
I increased Kitty's insulin dose to 1.5u after the vet recommended it based on her numbers.

I wasn't able to perform a full curve but felt OK doing it with spot checks and seeing her numbers were on the high side.

However now I've been getting a few really high numbers like this morning at 33.2 (598). Is this a bounce? Should I reduce the dose back to 1.25u? It seems like her numbers were less up and down at 1.25.

Kitty is currently on dry kibble since she's just gotten over severe pancreatitis and just had her feeding tube removed on Saturday. I don't want to mess with her food too much yet, just because I want to keep her eating enough calories overall. Is the dry food enough to spike it that high?

Thank you for any advice/thoughts on this.

Edit. Just had a thought, her numbers are probably high cause shes eating dry exclusively now, whereas before the tube was removed we were supplementing her food intake with recovery liquid which was fairly low carb. I'll have to preform a curve on the weekend to see what's going on.
 
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A curve is a good idea, as is a spot check before your bed time. Many cats go lower at night. We determine dosing based on those lows. My cat often went down at night and bounced during the day, which it looks like kitty is doing. We don’t lower the dose as a result of bouncing. The trick to reduce bouncing is to get kitty used to normal blood sugar numbers.

Will Kitty not eat wet? And yes, dry food is evil! :mad: I once spent many an hour with a caregiver who was feeding wet, but unbeknownst to her, he was getting into another kitty’s dry. She removed dry from the house. He went from 5.5 units to no insulin in the space of a very hairy 36 hours. That’s a bit extreme, but dry can make a huge difference in dose. There are higher calorie wet foods too, such as kitten food.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
A curve is a good idea, as is a spot check before your bed time. Many cats go lower at night. We determine dosing based on those lows. My cat often went down at night and bounced during the day, which it looks like kitty is doing. We don’t lower the dose as a result of bouncing. The trick to reduce bouncing is to get kitty used to normal blood sugar numbers.

Will Kitty not eat wet? And yes, dry food is evil! :mad: I once spent many an hour with a caregiver who was feeding wet, but unbeknownst to her, he was getting into another kitty’s dry. She removed dry from the house. He went from 5.5 units to no insulin in the space of a very hairy 36 hours. That’s a bit extreme, but dry can make a huge difference in dose. There are higher calorie wet foods too, such as kitten food.
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Thank you, no she has not wanted to eat wet before but I have some fancy feast cans ready to go. I also have the Stella and Chewy's freeze dried chicken morsels which she's shown some interest in.

I'm still hesitant about messing with her food yet, since she only had her feeding tube removed a few days ago, and we want to make sure she is eating enough on her own.

I might wait until the weekend which will be 1 week off the tube, and make sure she hasn't lost any weight and then try introducing some wet food again. I'd be afraid to remove her food completely in case she just stops eating!

But she does seem to be a lot better overall. The pancreatitis is not affecting her right now, she's off most of her meds now including pain killers. I've subbed CBD oil for the pain killer and anti-nausea meds now.

I will do a pre-bed test tonight around 11 pm, is that late enough to at least get an idea for now?
 
Good to hear Kitty is feeling better.

How many hours after her shooting is 11 pm? Even as late as 2-3 hours after the shot is good data.

I wasn’t suggesting removing the dry all at once. Rather, give her the option to try a bit. Even when you switch, it is best to do it gradually. That way it is easier to handle any change in dose requirements, and is easier on her tummy.
 
11pm is 3 hours after her shot so I can do that.

Is it OK to leave the new food next to the old one, or should it be in a different spot? My only concern is if she doesn't like the smell and then gets turned away from eating her regular food.
 
I got Kitty's lowest reading yet last night at +3, a 10.4! And this morning was pretty low too, I hope it's not dipping too low at night now.

I woke up in the middle of the night and checked on her, she was just laying on the couch purring and seemed fine.

She's currently getting Clavamox for the feeding tube site wound on her neck and she really hates it, she also threw up water a few times yesterday, I'm hoping it was just a pre-hairball barf (she hasn't had one in over a month and usually gets a few a month due to her long fur). Might pick up some cerenia tablets just in case, she's only eating about 100 calories per day on average right now on her own, I'm concerned it's not enough.

Also left out some wet food last night and this morning, hasn't eaten it yet but sniffed a few times.
 
Nice to see that blue!

Sometimes cats need to get used to the smell of a new food, before they’ll try it. I also think 100 calories a day is probably not enough. Are you weighing her regularly to see how her weight is doing?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Nice to see that blue!

Sometimes cats need to get used to the smell of a new food, before they’ll try it. I also think 100 calories a day is probably not enough. Are you weighing her regularly to see how her weight is doing?
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I will keep leaving out the food and pick up some other types to see if she likes them. I agree it's not quite enough, we weighed her at the Vet on Saturday and she'd put some weight back on. I'll weigh her again today but she looks good, not too skinny or fat.
 
We used to heat food, in the microwave for cats. I feel like when cats are not feeling 100% , the stinker the food is- the more likely they'll eat it. You might have to pull out the big guns and add some broiled chicken or baby food.
 
Si am cat mom said:
We used to heat food, in the microwave for cats. I feel like when cats are not feeling 100% , the stinker the food is- the more likely they'll eat it. You might have to pull out the big guns and add some broiled chicken or baby food.
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The stinky food doesn't make them feel more nauseous? It's hard to tell of course since they can't tell you what they like/don't like. She is super picky so I'll keep trying all of these suggestions. She seems to like the digestive enzymes we bought and sprinkle on the food. I have tried giving chicken, adding broth to the food and warming it but she wasn't interested.
 
Kitty's food intake has increased to normal levels now (around 150 cals per day) and I'm mixing some freeze dried chicken morsels into her kibble to get her eating something low carb while I work on getting her interested in wet foods.

But something weird happened last night, as you can see from the spreadsheet I got a PMPS of 164 so didn't give her shot, and tested again at +2 and +4 and got 140 both times so went to bed with no shot. This morning it was back up to 427 so gave her the shot. Any ideas what happened there?
It is possible she hadn't eaten in a few hours so that's why it was so low?
 
I suspect Kitty was breaking a bounce yesterday. That can cause some downward momentum for a while, as well as late nadirs. Yesterday was five cycles since those blues the night of the 27th. Bounces can take up to six cycles to resolve.

Over time, and when you have the data to do so, you will be able to shoot those lower numbers. Lantus is good at keeping low numbers flat. Next time, if something similar happens, post here for help. There may be other options besides skipping, like a reduced dose.

Next time, could you start a new post here. We like one post a day, with a link to the previous post, so it’s easier to keep track of what is happening now and today.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I suspect Kitty was breaking a bounce yesterday. That can cause some downward momentum for a while, as well as late nadirs. Yesterday was five cycles since those blues the night of the 27th. Bounces can take up to six cycles to resolve.

Over time, and when you have the data to do so, you will be able to shoot those lower numbers. Lantus is good at keeping low numbers flat. Next time, if something similar happens, post here for help. There may be other options besides skipping, like a reduced dose.

Next time, could you start a new post here. We like one post a day, with a link to the previous post, so it’s easier to keep track of what is happening now and today.
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Ah okay thanks, I wasn't comfortable giving her a reduced shot and also wasn't sure anyone would be around on a Friday evening so I just decided to skip it. Will post here next time, and create a new thread. I'm going to check her BG again soon once she comes out of her cat tree :P
 
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