3/4 Miz Kirby AMPS 278 +4.5 86 +6 57 +7.5 117 PMPS 113
- Thread starter Jinx & Miz Kirby
- Start date
Bandit's Mom
Member Since 2019
Does she get small snacks in the first part of the cycle to slow the drops? (Apologies if I have asked this before!)
Jinx & Miz Kirby
Member Since 2022
It depends on how she looks re likelihood of throwing up and interest in eating vs whatever she's doing (there are some well-established signs with her of each), but also I haven't seen a pattern yet in the drops. Sometimes a mid-morning small meal/snack does something, other times it doesn't. Sometimes without a snack between AM meal and +3 BG the drop is only down 20 points, sometimes it drops 200 from around the same starting point. There are treats at every BG, but whether there will be 1, 2, or 3 small meals between AM/PM regular meals depends on how she's acting. She was obese before diabetes, so I'm also being careful to keep her in a good calorie/weight range.
If feeding her again before +3 is something I should be doing regularly I would need to cut her AM meal in half to prevent vomiting. Which I could do. I went up to the slightly bigger breakfast and dinner (about 1.8 ounces) because when I was doing the small ones (more like .9 ounces) that I used to do when I was feeding like 6 baby meals per day, it seemed like she would drop too fast and too low, so I wanted to get a little more food in her before the insulin. To prevent the vomit train, giving her a couple of small meals before PM works best around +4 and +8, but if she looks iffy at +4 I'll hold off until +6.
But I'm open to suggestion!
If feeding her again before +3 is something I should be doing regularly I would need to cut her AM meal in half to prevent vomiting. Which I could do. I went up to the slightly bigger breakfast and dinner (about 1.8 ounces) because when I was doing the small ones (more like .9 ounces) that I used to do when I was feeding like 6 baby meals per day, it seemed like she would drop too fast and too low, so I wanted to get a little more food in her before the insulin. To prevent the vomit train, giving her a couple of small meals before PM works best around +4 and +8, but if she looks iffy at +4 I'll hold off until +6.
But I'm open to suggestion!
Bandit's Mom
Member Since 2019
Here's a note on using food to Using Food to Manipulate the Curve
We typically suggest small meals in the first part of the cycle to slow drops. Bouncing is triggered not just by lower numbers but also sharp drops. In active cycles, she will drop more but will not as much in cycles where she is bouncing. Rather than try and and anticipate what the cycle is looking like, you could just break up her PS meal and feed some of it at +1 and +2. Feeding the curve is a bit of trial and error anyway.
You also want to feed more in the first half of the cycle when the insulin action is strongest. Some cats get stomach acid from long gaps between meals so they get a tiny snack in the second half of the cycle. Ideally you want to feed as little as possible after the nadir so that you get maximum duration from the insulin.
We typically suggest small meals in the first part of the cycle to slow drops. Bouncing is triggered not just by lower numbers but also sharp drops. In active cycles, she will drop more but will not as much in cycles where she is bouncing. Rather than try and and anticipate what the cycle is looking like, you could just break up her PS meal and feed some of it at +1 and +2. Feeding the curve is a bit of trial and error anyway.
You also want to feed more in the first half of the cycle when the insulin action is strongest. Some cats get stomach acid from long gaps between meals so they get a tiny snack in the second half of the cycle. Ideally you want to feed as little as possible after the nadir so that you get maximum duration from the insulin.