2/7 Bonnie AMPS 8.3 Stress affecting BG

[Deborah Jordan]

I have been monitoring Bonnie very closely after several nose dives in readings. However her numbers are becoming erratic. She was reduced from 8U to 3U after a near hypo after starting on FF. The problem is because I was not even testing am & pm it's something neither of us are used to (I would take the reading then forget to shoot so 2 weeks of readings cannot be relied upon.) Her readings were all over the place and when she sees me put dinner down she runs and hides.
In an effort to get used to the new regime I'm testing PS AM&PM and leaving her alone in between as I felt she should have stabilised in the high 3s but she has been all over and I think its the stress of me stabbing her in the ear!i
How long is it safe for me just to test PS AM & PM b4 introducing another test ? Should I do a weekly "curve" while she's adjusting?
Thanks

 

[Wendy&Neko]

If you cannot test mid cycle, then you need to lower her dose. She got a 3.3 (59) 5 days ago on this dose, and that's too low for her to be if you cannot test between shots. Any time she goes below 5.0 (90), you need to lower the dose. That's what we recommend for people following the Start Low, Go Slow dosing method. That SLGS method suggests running a curve once a week, but also getting some spot checks other than preshots.

It's not the stress of "stabbing her ear" that is causing higher numbers, but likely her body bouncing to some lows you aren't seeing. It's hard to say her numbers are erratic by just looking at preshot data, which is typically the highest numbers of the cycle.

If she was giving you high 3's for preshots, that would likely mean she is going lower than that between the shots, so that's not a safe target. A better target is the lowest numbers (or nadir) occurring in the 5.0 (90) to 8.3 (149) range. Which is what the SLGS dosing method suggests.

 

[Deborah Jordan]

If you cannot test mid cycle, then you need to lower her dose. She got a 3.3 (59) 5 days ago on this dose, and that's too low for her to be if you cannot test between shots. Any time she goes below 5.0 (90), you need to lower the dose. That's what we recommend for people following the Start Low, Go Slow dosing method. That SLGS method suggests running a curve once a week, but also getting some spot checks other than preshots.

It's not the stress of "stabbing her ear" that is causing higher numbers, but likely her body bouncing to some lows you aren't seeing. It's hard to say her numbers are erratic by just looking at preshot data, which is typically the highest numbers of the cycle.

If she was giving you high 3's for preshots, that would likely mean she is going lower than that between the shots, so that's not a safe target. A better target is the lowest numbers (or nadir) occurring in the 5.0 (90) to 8.3 (149) range. Which is what the SLGS dosing method suggests.

 

[Deborah Jordan]

I can do mid cycle testing. I can arrange my day around the shots. Is there a testing cycle to follow to get the best data? The fact the vet wanted her up fro 8U to 1OU and she's coming down is great and after 48 hours on FF she hit 3s which has ONLY ever happened on FF.
So what are the best readings to get?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Ideally you want to test to try to find how low the dose is taking the cat. We determine how to change the dose based on those lows, called the nadir. However, each cat is different (ECID) and nadirs can vary from cat to cat and from cycle to cycle. Best to try spot checks at different times, maybe start in the 4-7 hours range after shot time. If you do a curve, testing every couple of hours, that might pin point a better time to test for Bonnie.

 

[Deborah Jordan]

Ideally you want to test to try to find how low the dose is taking the cat. We determine how to change the dose based on those lows, called the nadir. However, each cat is different (ECID) and nadirs can vary from cat to cat and from cycle to cycle. Best to try spot checks at different times, maybe start in the 4-7 hours range after shot time. If you do a curve, testing every couple of hours, that might pin point a better time to test for Bonnie.

She has settled nicely and am now testing at midway and tonite she dropped again (she loves worrying me.) I will introduce another test after I run a curve on Saturday to see how she's doing. She's VERY HUNGRY. Her sister is 3kg and she's 8kg and they both eat one tin of FF. Should she be on more food?