Hello to everyone, very glad to find this forum.
I have a cat named Pigpen (a cranky calico) who lived on my neighbor's front porch for nine or ten years. The neighbors gave her to my wife and I after they moved two years ago, and we successfully transitioned her into a housecat about six months after we took over her care. My guess on her age is somewhere between eleven and fourteen. She has no other health problems that I know of, except a sensitive stomach. (Strangely, she has never seemed to tolerate wet food very well and has eaten dry her entire life.)
Pigpen was diagnosed as diabetic ten days ago. The vet put her on ProZinc. On a followup visit she installed a FreeStyle Libre sensor, and I've been keeping track of Pigpen's numbers at home since Thursday for every shot cycle.
The numbers so far seem pretty high -- the curves have generally been from upper 400s at shot time down to the lower 200s at the nadir. But my main concern at the moment is an apparent "rebound" during two of the seven cycles which causes the next cycle to look flat and very high.
The first two cycles I checked had a definite curve, but during the third one her numbers began to unexpectedly go back up, and rapidly, a little less than mid-way through the cycle. The lowest number I got from that cycle was 293 (I had to leave the house for a good while after that and I don't think I got the nadir.) She was up to 500 at the next shot-time and I kept getting that frustrating "HI" reading (over 500) for much of the next cycle. No apparent downward curve. I found an article on the "rebound effect" at Diabetic Cat Care which kept me from getting *too* scared, and I waited to see if the curve would resume within a day or two.
It did, quickly, going down to 229, 215, and 224 during the next three cycles. But four hours into that last cycle, the number started unexpectedly shooting up again. And now, I'm seeing another "flat cycle," getting nothing but the "HI" reading four hours following the shot.
So my question is -- can these very high, flat cycles be attributed to a rebound effect attributable to a "panicky liver," even if the nadir isn't going any lower than the 215-230 range? I asked the vet about it, and she explained the Symogi Effect, saying that couldn't be a factor here because the nadir wasn't anywhere near hypoglycemia. But I've read conflicting information, and I'm not sure she and I are talking about the same thing.
If this is some kind of "rebound effect," I'm concerned about the effect that changes in Pigpen's dosage might have on it. The vet had her on 1 unit of ProZinc the first five days, then after doing a curve at the office on Wednesday she said to go up to 2 units. And then on Friday, after I discussed the latest numbers with the vet, she said to go up to 3 units. I was a bit queasy about upping the dosage that much and that fast, so I fudged a bit and only went up to 2.5 units at first to see what happened. I did do 3 units on the last shot. I know that Pigpen's numbers are high, but I'm also wondering whether dumping a higher dose of insulin on a panicky liver might do more harm than good, if that's what's going on here.
Anyway, apologies for such a long first post, and I'd appreciate any guidance.
I have a cat named Pigpen (a cranky calico) who lived on my neighbor's front porch for nine or ten years. The neighbors gave her to my wife and I after they moved two years ago, and we successfully transitioned her into a housecat about six months after we took over her care. My guess on her age is somewhere between eleven and fourteen. She has no other health problems that I know of, except a sensitive stomach. (Strangely, she has never seemed to tolerate wet food very well and has eaten dry her entire life.)
Pigpen was diagnosed as diabetic ten days ago. The vet put her on ProZinc. On a followup visit she installed a FreeStyle Libre sensor, and I've been keeping track of Pigpen's numbers at home since Thursday for every shot cycle.
The numbers so far seem pretty high -- the curves have generally been from upper 400s at shot time down to the lower 200s at the nadir. But my main concern at the moment is an apparent "rebound" during two of the seven cycles which causes the next cycle to look flat and very high.
The first two cycles I checked had a definite curve, but during the third one her numbers began to unexpectedly go back up, and rapidly, a little less than mid-way through the cycle. The lowest number I got from that cycle was 293 (I had to leave the house for a good while after that and I don't think I got the nadir.) She was up to 500 at the next shot-time and I kept getting that frustrating "HI" reading (over 500) for much of the next cycle. No apparent downward curve. I found an article on the "rebound effect" at Diabetic Cat Care which kept me from getting *too* scared, and I waited to see if the curve would resume within a day or two.
It did, quickly, going down to 229, 215, and 224 during the next three cycles. But four hours into that last cycle, the number started unexpectedly shooting up again. And now, I'm seeing another "flat cycle," getting nothing but the "HI" reading four hours following the shot.
So my question is -- can these very high, flat cycles be attributed to a rebound effect attributable to a "panicky liver," even if the nadir isn't going any lower than the 215-230 range? I asked the vet about it, and she explained the Symogi Effect, saying that couldn't be a factor here because the nadir wasn't anywhere near hypoglycemia. But I've read conflicting information, and I'm not sure she and I are talking about the same thing.
If this is some kind of "rebound effect," I'm concerned about the effect that changes in Pigpen's dosage might have on it. The vet had her on 1 unit of ProZinc the first five days, then after doing a curve at the office on Wednesday she said to go up to 2 units. And then on Friday, after I discussed the latest numbers with the vet, she said to go up to 3 units. I was a bit queasy about upping the dosage that much and that fast, so I fudged a bit and only went up to 2.5 units at first to see what happened. I did do 3 units on the last shot. I know that Pigpen's numbers are high, but I'm also wondering whether dumping a higher dose of insulin on a panicky liver might do more harm than good, if that's what's going on here.
Anyway, apologies for such a long first post, and I'd appreciate any guidance.
