? 2/7 Big Kitty - AMPS 99! What now?

[Mom of Big Kitty]

Big Kitty has been in the 400-500's at AMPS & PMPS since his increase to 4.0 Units of Lantus BID and today his AMPS is at 99! What do I do? I am planning on holding the insulin and do a check again in an hour to see where he's at but this is the first time since his diagnosis he is in such low numbers. I have updated his spreadsheet and haven't been able to get a lot of mid-day or night readings unfortunately. We were used to the high numbers but never had numbers under 100. We're happy but scared.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Have you fed him? If not, stall without feeding and test in 20 minutes to see if he is higher.

It's possible that he has gone lower at night before but without night time tests, one cannot know. Lot of cats go lower at night and bounce in the day.

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

Have you fed him? If not, stall without feeding and test in 20 minutes to see if he is higher.

It's possible that he has gone lower at night before but without night time tests, one cannot know. Lot of cats go lower at night and bounce in the day.

Yes, he's been grazing all morning. I am going to test again soon but I am not sure if I should give if he's still under 150. He's never been this low. He has been bouncy with the increased dose but he is about 300+ under what he usually is this morning.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Since he has been eating the bg is food influenced. Since you are not getting any tests at night it would be dangerous to shoot in my opinion. You only have half of the picture without knowing how low he’s going at night. I think is there a reason why the last 6 nights you dint have any preshots? This is dangerous he could have a symptomatic hypo.

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

Since he has been eating the bg is food influenced. Since you are not getting any tests at night it would be dangerous to shoot in my opinion. You only have half of the picture without knowing how low he’s going at night. I think is there a reason why the last 6 nights you dint have any preshots? This is dangerous he could have a symptomatic hypo.

Since 2/1 he has been in the 400-500's around 5pm and I usually give his PMPS around 8pm. Unfortunately I have not been home to give him his PMPS shots and my husband isn't the greatest in getting his BS. I figured his numbers wouldn't change that drastically in a short few hours as his history has shown. Yesterday his AMPS was 576 and by
+6 he was at 431. I didn't get another reading last night again. I have not given him anything today and he has been a steady 99 at 8am and again at 11am. I will do a curve throughout today to see if I should give a PM shot. I don't know if he's been going lower during the night and then bouncing up to the higher numbers when I am checking in the AM. I was absolutely shocked to see a 99 this morning and again +3 since he has been eating this morning. If the bg was food influenced wouldn't he have changed a little by now? Also, I have to read up on symptomatic hypo because I am not too sure what the signs and symptoms are of that. Thanks for your reply and I'll keep updating his sheet throughout today.

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

This is dangerous he could have a symptomatic hypo.

Correction, I am familiar with symptoms of hypoglycemia and he has not shown any signs or symptoms throughout the day or night. Although we aren't checking his BG throughout the night my husband is up with him periodically throughout the night and he acts normal and even eats a little LC wet food. He seems happy and prances through the house during the day so I haven't seen any signs that he's going to low. I will start setting an alarm in the middle of the night to get more data to understand the full picture with him.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Many cats do not show symptoms of hypoglycemia. I would not encourage you to base a decision that your cat is fine based on observation only. My kitty would look just fine and when I would test (I was a testaholic), she could be in the 30s. For a cat that appears asymptomatic, it can be way late in the process when you see symptoms and at that point, you need to give high carb, scoop and run to the emergency vet. If nothing else, that AMPS of 99 is a warning. Numbers could have easily been in dose reduction territory overnight.

Would it be possible to get a "before bed" test every night before you turn in for the night?

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

Many cats do not show symptoms of hypoglycemia. I would not encourage you to base a decision that your cat is fine based on observation only. My kitty would look just fine and when I would test (I was a testaholic), she could be in the 30s. For a cat that appears asymptomatic, it can be way late in the process when you see symptoms and at that point, you need to give high carb, scoop and run to the emergency vet. If nothing else, that AMPS of 99 is a warning. Numbers could have easily been in dose reduction territory overnight.

Would it be possible to get a "before bed" test every night before you turn in for the night?

I will definitely be getting an AMPS and PMPS daily and start getting more AM & PM readings each day to keep a closer eye on him. These low numbers came on so fast and really surprised me. I will be monitoring him more closely because I know low numbers are dangerous.

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

So now we're at 271 at +5. He was steady at 99 for a few hours this morning and is now shooting up rapidly. He only ate a small amount of low carb wet food about an hour ago so I can't make sense of this. Guess I should have given some insulin this morning to keep him stable throughout today but didn't want him to drop lower than the 99. I am going to keep testing the rest of today but I hope he doesn't end up at his regular 400-500's by the PM shot which will be a huge jump in numbers today.

 

[Sue and Luci]

So now we're at 271 at +5. He was steady at 99 for a few hours this morning and is now shooting up rapidly. He only ate a small amount of low carb wet food about an hour ago so I can't make sense of this. Guess I should have given some insulin this morning to keep him stable throughout today but didn't want him to drop lower than the 99. I am going to keep testing the rest of today but I hope he doesn't end up at his regular 400-500's by the PM shot which will be a huge jump in numbers today.

He's bouncing...you don't have to keep testing now...as he will most likely continue to go up.

Next time you get a lower than expected AMPS - please STALL. Do not feed. POST FOR HELP. Wait 20 minutes and test again to see if he's coming up or going down. Hold the shot until someone helps you OR you can determine that without food he's going up. And please, please, please do not shoot insulin without getting a test first. If you can't test, then it would be best to skip altogether.

Is that the best thing for kitty, well no, it's not. But it's better than ending up with a cat going hypo because you were not aware of how low his numbers were and then gave insulin. I cannot stress this enough...and I believe it has been mentioned in one of the comments earlier today. I don't want to scare you, but it's a recipe for disaster to shoot insulin without knowing what their BG number is. Just think of it as a child - you'd never give insulin to a child without knowing what their BG is first...you just wouldn't even consider it.

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

He's bouncing...you don't have to keep testing now...as he will most likely continue to go up.

Next time you get a lower than expected AMPS - please STALL. Do not feed. POST FOR HELP. Wait 20 minutes and test again to see if he's coming up or going down. Hold the shot until someone helps you OR you can determine that without food he's going up. And please, please, please do not shoot insulin without getting a test first. If you can't test, then it would be best to skip altogether.

Is that the best thing for kitty, well no, it's not. But it's better than ending up with a cat going hypo because you were not aware of how low his numbers were and then gave insulin. I cannot stress this enough...and I believe it has been mentioned in one of the comments earlier today. I don't want to scare you, but it's a recipe for disaster to shoot insulin without knowing what their BG number is. Just think of it as a child - you'd never give insulin to a child without knowing what their BG is first...you just wouldn't even consider it.

I've been checking today because I wanted to see what he does today without the AM insulin. I am also home today so I am trying to get as much data as I can to help him the best I can. He is now at 596 at +7 after starting at 99 today! That is a huge swing or bounce as mentioned. He is tired and lethargic and I plan on getting more readings today and a PMPS but he will definitely need his 4units tonight. Is it normal to swing 500+ points in a few hours? I know, ECID, but I am really having a hard time trying to figure him out. My vet wants me to increase him to 5units BID from the 4 now which I refuse to do. I understand that I must get a reading prior to any insulin given and thank you for the advise. What a rollercoaster today has been for him and us!

 

[Mom of Big Kitty]

PMPS was at 690. He went from 99 to 690 in a 12-hour timeframe. I feel so bad that I didn't give him his AM shot but didn't want to have him go any lower than the 99 we got this morning. I don't know what I'll do if he gets that low again because I work a full time job and can't always check him throughout the day and night. I feel lost in this journey with him now.