4/1 Squeaks; AMPS 71, +8.5 30, +9 64, +9.5 106, PMPS 125, +2 145, +4 109

Sugarkitty15

Sugarkitty15

Member Since 2020
Help! Squeaks' +5.5 is 25, I've never had a number this low. I'm reading the "Low Numbers" sticky and feeding Squeaks some food now. He's acting perfectly fine, he doesn't appear to show any hypo signs indicated, but I know that his general nadir is still a few hours away and I don't want him to drop super low. I will be retesting in about 15-20 minutes. Is there anything else that I need to be aware of?
Also, given that he did drop this low, according to the TR guidelines, I should drop his dose back down to .1U?

Previous post:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...ps-99-need-dosing-advice.245354/#post-2768951
 
I retested after the initial reading, it was still 25. I just retested and he's at 47--should I still do the karo or another TSP of HC food?
 
Ok, sounds good! Quick question, should I still give him his PM shot tonight? Or would I skip it all together?
 
Sugarkitty15 said:
Ok, we're going in the wrong direction here :( Do I still feed him low carb food since he went back down?
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No. When <50, especially when you're fighting him the way you have been, I'd give a little HC and, right now because of the 30, some honey/karo as well. We don't want him staying that low. Honey/karo kicks in sooner than food, that's why I say test in 20 minutes.
 
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Will he still eat? Do both again...a little HC and some karo, and another test in 20. We should be seeing effects from the previous HC you gave, but he isn't up enough yet.
I don't trust that he won't drop back down. being a stubborn boy. Once we get into the 40s then I'd only do a little HC. Once in the 50s, you can use LC.
 
It sure doesn't seem to be having much impact on his BGs! As for whether it's too much in quantity, not if Squeaks likes his food and will continue to eat willingly.
What are you feeding him? Brand & Flavour & % carbs?
 
It's I and Love and You, tuna stew (which is the gravy kind) and is 15% carbs. He's really carb sensitive, which is why his normal food is all 4% and below. Do you think it would be wise to have a higher carb count food on hand?
 
Oh I see....15% is considered MC. 16% and above is HC. I get that he is really carb sensitive. Most people think their cat is carb sensitive...until they aren't.
Some days, LC is enough to bring butters way up, and other days I'm using 20% and honey and a good portion of a cycle (or more) fighting her numbers.

When he is as low as he is today, use something 20% or higher. But that said, with the karo and the 15% combined, you are technically giving him HC. We just want to be careful because the karo wears off sooner than carbs in gravy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the carbs are in the gravy. So if there are chunks of meat in the food, I generally just squeeze a 1/2 or 1 tsp of only gravy from the tin and feed it when trying to bring kitty's numbers up.
 
Oh no, I didn't realize that! I have a few cans of Wellness Gravies, Tuna dinner, should I try that? I'm not finding it on the Food Chart though so I can't confirm carb count yet.
 
Let's see where he is at with the next test and then we can decide. In the meantime, I'll try to figure out the % carb but "gravies" sounds promising.
 
Butters & Lyla said:
Oh I see....15% is considered MC. 16% and above is HC. I get that he is really carb sensitive. Most people think their cat is carb sensitive...until they aren't.
Some days, LC is enough to bring butters way up, and other days I'm using 20% and honey and a good portion of a cycle (or more) fighting her numbers.

When he is as low as he is today, use something 20% or higher. But that said, with the karo and the 15% combined, you are technically giving him HC. We just want to be careful because the karo wears off sooner than carbs in gravy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the carbs are in the gravy. So if there are chunks of meat in the food, I generally just squeeze a 1/2 or 1 tsp of only gravy from the tin and feed it when trying to bring kitty's numbers up.
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That's really good information, thank you! I will have to remember that.
 
Sorry, but it looks like it might not be as high as what I thought. The Website has different information. I'd add a 1/4 tsp karo to it just to be safe.
 
I just realized my + shot times were a bit off in the title. He got his shot at 630A so we're already past +8, not +7!
 
Okay! You can adjust them when you update your ss.
So last test was 41 @+8? And you're feeding some MC gravy mixed with some karo, correct? Test in 20 after you've done that.
 
Yes, that's right, 41 @+8. I did feed him some of the MC gravy with karo. Have about 5ish minutes left until we hit 20 after feeding. Fingers crossed! He still seems fine and is just annoyed I keep testing him and feeding him, lol!
 
Just give him syrup please. On the gums. In his mouth. Give him a tsp of syrup and check him again in 15.
I hope he is still acting nothing but annoyed with you? No odd behaviour?
Squeaks, up please. You have made your point. You are getting a reduction!
 
Betsy...Can you please confirm that you are positive that you gave Squeaks just .25u this morning? And you used a U-100 syringe for Levimir (orange cap on it)?
You used to use ProZinc. That uses U-40 syringes (red cap).

I just want to make sure nothing got mixed up so we know exactly what we are dealing with. IE a very full depot, or do we have a situation of extra insulin given by mistake.
 
Hmmmm, I wonder if the markings on the syringe were more off than usual this time. Where the markings are placed on a syringe actually varies quite a bit from one syringe to the next. Manufacturing tolerances.
To get around this, many people here have a syringe filled with coloured water at the current dose, and then they compare all of kitty's doses against this syringe, to make sure you're giving roughly the same amount of insulin with each dose.
 
At this point, just give him plenty of syrup. Don't worry about overdoing it. It doesn't even matter if his numbers go too high. He needs to come up!
 
Oh really?! I hadn't heard that before--I wonder if that's what happened? :nailbiting: I'll be sure to get one set up like that so hopefully this won't happen again! Ok, so I should keep giving him syrup every 15 until he's above 50, right?
 
Sugarkitty15 said:
Oh really?! I hadn't heard that before--I wonder if that's what happened? :nailbiting: I'll be sure to get one set up like that so hopefully this won't happen again! Ok, so I should keep giving him syrup every 15 until he's above 50, right?
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Yes please.

And yes, it could partially explain it. The smaller a kitty's dose is, the more accuracy matters. That, and his depot is incredibly full.
 
Sugarkitty15 said:
Wellness Gravies, Tuna dinner
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This is 12.68% carbs when considering % of total calories.

This is reading for later but you can't go off only as-fed or DMB (and I really wouldn't go off GA - this post gets into the nitty gritty) - https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/calculating-calories-from-carbohydrates.204051/

And actually, this particular food is a great example of why you can't go off As-Fed or DMB - if you read the nutrient info (and Wellness is great in that it publishes this - https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/sites/default/files/media/documents/WCC Tuna Gravies Q32019_0.pdf), it says it's 2.62% carbs on as-fed and 13.61% on DMB - however, when we calculate carbs as percent of total calories using either As-fed values or DMB values, we get 12.68% in both cases.

Hope I didn't overwhelm - food is a passion here :bighug:

You are in good hands @Butters & Lyla :cat:
 
JaxBenji said:
This is 12.68% carbs when considering % of total calories.

This is reading for later but you can't go off only as-fed or DMB (and I really wouldn't go off GA - this post gets into the nitty gritty) - https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/calculating-calories-from-carbohydrates.204051/

And actually, this particular food is a great example of why you can't go off As-Fed or DMB - if you read the nutrient info (and Wellness is great in that it publishes this - https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/sites/default/files/media/documents/WCC Tuna Gravies Q32019_0.pdf), it says it's 2.62% carbs on as-fed and 13.61% on DMB - however, when we calculate carbs as percent of total calories using either As-fed values or DMB values, we get 12.68% in both cases.

Hope I didn't overwhelm - food is a passion here :bighug:

You are in good hands @Butters & Lyla :cat:
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I was planning on getting a different variety of food after our experience today so this is perfect, thank you for sharing--this will help me determine what to order!!
 
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