3/7 - Moby - Starting PM Dosing Tonight

[Marciegee]

(Please excuse any lack of incoherency, I've caught an awful cold and it's taking all my strength to write this!)

Moby got a 300+ AMPS yesterday so I am freaking out a tad. I think it's time to start an evening dose, because this vet recommended "once a day" thing is just starting to feel silly and stupid.

I did do a couple evening spot checks a couple days ago, prior to me catching The Black Death, and I will give him a PMPS test tonight and a +3 if I have to drag my sorry rear out of bed. We're going to go very low and slow with him with his history.

I'm pretty scared, but I can tell he's not as regulated as last month. He's drinking more and he's fidgety which tells me his sugar levels are high. It seemed to be going so much better, but... I guess we're all strapped into this Diabetes roller coaster.

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

Sorry to hear you've been sick! I had the flu earlier in the year and totally understand how you feel!

I think you're right that it's time to try something different, especially if Moby is drinking more and you feel like he's not feeling too good.

It's important that you don't feed for the 2 hours before shooting. We want that Pre-shot number without any influence of food in there. Most of us test/feed/shoot all within about 5-10 minutes. You test, feed (to make sure they're eating pretty normally) and shoot...as soon as I see China's eating pretty normally, I'll shoot while she's finishing up her food.

Without more testing, it's hard to know what Moby will do, but if you can give us some information, we might be able to help figure it out. What time do you shoot? Do you work full time and if you do, what time do you have to leave the house and when do you get home? Do you have anyone who is able to test when you're not home? (neighbor, friend, family?)

How are you determining .3? Do you use calipers or are you just "eyeballing" it?

I know you're terribly worried about Moby since you had the hypo with seizures. That's very scary!

 

[Marciegee]

Hi @Chris & China, thanks for the welcome.

We always test prior to food so as not to influence any numbers. But Moby is a bit of a "grazer" when he eats. A bite here, a bit there, and he wanders off, then he comes back. So, we try our best to contain him in the bedroom and minimize distractions so he won't wander away too far, but even then he usually takes 30 - 60 minutes to get a considerable amount of food in his belly.

We usually shoot mornings at 8 a.m., I do work full time so I do my best to test on the weekends to get those spot checks. My husband can dependably be home for a snack time at +3 but for it's a lot harder for him to test than me. We're going to work on it more when I can show him how.

We got a "helping hands" magnifier glass and that's been really helpful to get the dosage correct, and I drug out the calipers and have been reading how to do that, as well.

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

All my cats were grazers too...after much work, they've pretty much learned that food is only going to be down at certain times, so they'd better eat it while it's available...LOL

They get fed about every 3 hours, so it's not like they're going to starve to death...although convincing them of that isn't always easy!

If you can get DH to test, that'll really help! The spreadsheet is like a puzzle...if only the edges are filled in, it's hard to see the picture, but with pieces sprinkled here and there, you can see what it is!

I really love Moby in his tie!! How cute!!

 

[Vyktors Mum]

Vyktor has always been free fed. Because food was removed at +10 while he was insulin dependant he'd generally be keen on a bit of a snack with his shot but it's not necessary that they eat a whole meal at shot time with lantus. You just want to know that they're not off their food and will eat, grazing is great for diabetics

Yay for DH learning to test

 

[Marciegee]

Well, so much for an evening shot last night. Moby tested at a 129 that's left me puzzled as hell!

I will say, the "House Dragon" (as I call him) is a pro at giving injections, but for some reason, he feels unsure about getting enough blood out of Moby's paws. It's actually been a funny bonding experience for all three of us! I call him my "nurse" and he always preps the gear, throws the rice sock in the microwave, etc. Just gotta get him comfortable with poking the paws!

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

As you get more data to look at (tests) the picture will become clear and you'll be able to be confident about dosing him and what's really going on.

chuckling at your "House Dragon" nickname for DH!