24/4/14 Alice AMPS 536, PMPS 471 +3, 538

[Julie and Alice]

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=117666

Hi,
Thanks again for all the good advice & ideas (& links Julie thank you - sorry not managed to read all yet but will do).

I do not understand what is happening - there seems no rhyme nor reason & feel I am loosing the plot. Alice does not seem well. This evening we have a +3 of 29.9 (538.2). Last night at the same time she had dropped rapidly. Could it be that the insulin isn't mixed well in the bottle? I do 'roll' it but can't see how that would mix it very well. These black numbers didn't happen at the beginning. Her response seems to be totally unpredictable. Can anyone make any sense of her SS apart from the bounce after the greens a few nights ago? She is noticeably worse when her sugar is high. Its as though she's not on any treatment apart from not having the DKA. I really don't know now whether to decrease or increase or stay on the one unit but then she has been on the one most of the time & she can be high or low on it.

I've looked at a couple of other SS sheets and they don't have any resemblance to Alice even in the beginning. Are there any cats that are like her - all over the place but who do resolve?

Yes I was hoping for remission - I'd love that but as she is I feel a bit silly saying that as it really seems to be a pie in the sky dream. confused_cat I'm very anxious and scared for her, cant bear these high numbers. Three hours after the insulin shouldn't be showing black surely?

Sorry, would like to give positive feedback if could :cry:
Juliex

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Julie - I know these numbers are hard to see. :YMHUG: Neko in her early days saw a lot of black and they are very depressing. Whoever chose the colour black did so appropriately. :sad: One thing for you to remember is that the AlphaTrak reads about 30-40% higher than a human calibrated meter, so some of those low blacks you are seeing might actually be upper pinks on other people spreadsheets. The one thing that helped me when I saw blacks was to remember that it resulted from finally seeing good numbers. Alice will eventually get used to the good numbers like that lovely blue streak last night, and then her liver will not react so harshly.

Alice dropped 250 points in 3 hours this morning - and that is causing the bounce tonight. Both fast drops and numbers lower than they are used to can cause a bounce. She did have a great night last night.

One last thing, make sure you read the sticky on Insulin Handling and Storage. You do not shake or roll Lantus - it works differently than Caninsulin. I know the board is a little slow today, so I hope you can get to the sticky. Lots of good stuff to read there.

Hang in there, you are doing a great job - it usually takes a while to get to regulation.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

Here's the video on taking care of your lantus and drawing up the dose so that the insulin lasts as long as possible. It's about halfway down the page.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Don't be discouraged, julie. Truly, most cats that come here start out looking about like Alice. As Wendy said, your numbers appear higher than other people's because you are using an Alpha Trak. That 158 last night would measure 30-40% lower on a human meter. That's somewhere in the ballpark of 100 - and that's a super number! She'll get used to being in these lower numbers. The good news is that it was taking her 2 days to clear a bounce, and i can see that she cleared a bounce in one day between 4/22 and 4/23! That's progress!

She may clear this bounce by tomorrow. As she clears more quickly, she will spend longer in the good numbers and then her pancreas can heal.

It's hard to see it at the beginning, but fortunately we're here to point out the successes to you. Keep holding the 1.0u for now - she's had 3 cycles at this dose, let's wait 6 cycles and re-evaluate.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Just popping in to give you some moral support, Julie. Hang in there....the hardest time emotionally is early. Remember most of the kitties did not become diabetic overnight. So it takes time and patience to allow the insulin to work.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

(((Julie)))

As (other) Julie said, many recently diagnosed diabetic cats start out having numbers similar to Alice's. Bertie certainly did. His numbers looked very like Alice's (and a lot higher at times!). We'd have high flat numbers, then maybe a slight response, then high flat, then a sheer drop into low numbers. I found it really hard to spot any pattern in his response to insulin.

But there are a lot of factors that determine how a cat responds (or doesn't) to any given insulin dose. And initially the numbers can sometimes seem very whacky indeed.
When a cat has been in high numbers for a while the tissues of the body become damaged ('glucose toxicity') and that impairs the ability of the cells to utilise insulin. The effect of insulin can seem very erratic. And sometimes it can even feel like you're injecting water.
But after a while the tissues begin to heal. Insulin absorption improves.
And when the tissues of the pancreas start to heal the cat can start producing more insulin of it's own: And maybe even enough to go into remission.

It's impossible to predict whether Alice will, or won't, go into remission. But cats with numbers just like Alice's have achieved it. Really.
And remissions don't always happen within the first few months. Sometimes it happens later. Sometimes much later. (And it doesn't only happen to cats on TR. Or only to cats on certain insulins).

Some cats never go into remission. But that's not the end of the world. A cat on insulin can live a happy and healthy life, and can live as long as any non-diabetic cat.

I know it's hard to be patient, Julie. But it is still 'early days' in Alice's sugardance.

Huge (((hug))) to you,

Eliz

 

[Julie and Alice]

Thankyou for above posts.
Although I'm having a little emotional (& exhausted!) weep here, its good to hear there actually are other cats here that were similar. I was tempted to up the dose but still gave the sensible one unit. I had kind of thought I had some kind of 'handle' on it, but yesterday was so different & unpredictable that I thought she would never settle on Lantus any insulin. I wondered if it was the food (Hill's) or an infection again, or how I fed her, or how I handled the Lantus. I did initially watch the 'how to handle Lantus video but will go now & look again.

I haven't tried the other food I have to try yet as I was trying to get her regulated first & not confuse things, ha ha! She's so intolerant of food itself! Hill's actually is new to her & it is amazing that she tolerates it well, although she's not keen on it. I would like to try pure rabbit though & definately would like her on a better diet. I will revisit the thread on diet as you gave me some great ideas.

I hadn't realised the spreadsheets were not calibrated for cats & were human numbers. Eliz kindly sent me another meter which will be much cheaper (thanks Elizx). It came in the same post that I received my order for 150 new strips for the AlphaTrak2. I was using them first but could change sooner. I thought with the human ones that you had to do a slight calculation to get the correct kitty reading especially at the lower or higher end :?:

Anyway I'd better go as work today.

Thank you again for your encouragement - I have a little hope again now because of you. I thought you might be fed up of me by now!

Love & best wishes, Juliex