5/17 Maxi AMPS 360

I am not sure what dosing method you are following anymore. With TR, you need to get the preshot tests, plus at least one other each cycle. And you would have increased by 0.5 units at this size of dose. A 0.25 units increase is just like fattening the dose at this point. We only fatten the dose if you are already getting green preshots and just want to lower the nadirs a little. In fact, with TR, you would actually have gone back to his last good dose, which was 9.25 units, and not gone back to the usual guidelines for increasing.

Here is the link to your last post here. How is his appetite now? Eating well? What are you feeding him?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I am not sure what dosing method you are following anymore. With TR, you need to get the preshot tests, plus at least one other each cycle. And you would have increased by 0.5 units at this size of dose. A 0.25 units increase is just like fattening the dose at this point. We only fatten the dose if you are already getting green preshots and just want to lower the nadirs a little. In fact, with TR, you would actually have gone back to his last good dose, which was 9.25 units, and not gone back to the usual guidelines for increasing.

Here is the link to your last post here. How is his appetite now? Eating well? What are you feeding him?
Click to expand...


I have been following what the vet said about dosing. Because Maxi's numbers were high, after 7 cycles at 7.5, I decided to increase to 7.75 though the vet would have wanted me to stay at 7.5. I don't feel safe suddenly going all the way up to 9.25 after almost 3 weeks at 7-7.5. His appetite is usually good and he has been eating well. I haven't changed his food from the low carb, low phos canned food I had been giving him.
 
Last edited:
So glad to hear that Maxi is feeling better! Yay, Yay! I had the same question Karen regarding dose increase but the way it was explained to me was after gettting to 5u of insulin, you increase by .5 (which is 10% of the dose). A .25 increase for a kitty getting only 1 u of insulin is quite different than a .25u increase for a kitty getting 7u - just a drop in the bucket so to speak.
 
I am glad to hear he is eating well. I think that was one of the main problems when he was up at 9.25 units, that you couldn't steer his numbers cause he wasn't eating.

Has your vet given any reason for keeping Maxi in high numbers with too low a dose? Did she also tell you to stop testing as much?
 
Hey thanks for updating the condo title!! Great job!!!!

I would agree with Wendy on dosing. You don’t want him staying at these high numbers and potentially causing glucose toxicity.

I’m so glad he’s doing better!
 
The vet said she was happy with Maxi's numbers for a diabetic cat with acromegaly. She thinks he's doing well. She said I don't need to test at home. She suggested it would be better for Maxi not to poke him so much. She insinuated that if I want her to treat him, I have to do as she says. She was never mean about it but rather kind and gentle. I know what you think of this, but I am scared that I will need her if Maxi gets very sick again. Hers is the only clinic around here that has overnight hospitalization other than the emergency vet clinic, which does not have daytime hospitalization. On the other hand, I simply do not have another $5000 for another hospitalization. So, I really don't know what to do if Maxi gets very sick again.
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot and I've decided to go against the vet and go ahead with TR. I ask advisors to be on stand-by for me as much as possible.
What dose should I give tonight?
Thank you

@Wendy&Neko @Marje and Gracie
 
Last edited:
bambinaki said:
The vet said she was happy with Maxi's numbers for a diabetic cat with acromegaly. She thinks he's doing well. She said I don't need to test at home. She suggested it would be better for Maxi not to poke him so much. She insinuated that if I want her to treat him, I have to do as she says. She was never mean about it but rather kind and gentle. I know what you think of this, but I am scared that I will need her if Maxi gets very sick again. Hers is the only clinic around here that has overnight hospitalization other than the emergency vet clinic, which does not have daytime hospitalization. On the other hand, I simply do not have another $5000 for another hospitalization. So, I really don't know what to do if Maxi gets very sick again.
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot and I've decided to go against the vet and go ahead with TR. I ask advisors be on stand-by for me as much as possible.
What dose should I give tonight?
Thank you

@Wendy&Neko @Marje and Gracie
Click to expand...
I know this was a difficult decision, Karen. It’s one we’ve all faced at some point or another. Sadly, it’s hard to believe any vet would think a cat with acro is ok to be in these high numbers and above renal threshold for so long.

Before we raise a dose, we want to know how low the current dose is taking him and I just noticed that 116 on the night of 5/15 and no tests afterwards or last night. That is not a critique. It’s just an observation that, we do not know how low he’s going now since you increased the dose to 7.5u and then 7.75u this morning. To be safe, I’d like to see you hold the 7.75u tonight and grab a couple tests so we can see if he drops down again and how far.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
Before we raise a dose, we want to know how low the current dose is taking him and I just noticed that 116 on the night of 5/15 and no tests afterwards or last night. That is not a critique. It’s just an observation that, we do not know how low he’s going now since you increased the dose to 7.5u and then 7.75u this morning. To be safe, I’d like to see you hold the 7.75u tonight and grab a couple tests so we can see if he drops down again and how far.
Click to expand...

The night it was 116, that test was at 5:30am. I fed him and tested again 15 minutes later, and it was 118. I thought at that point testing him 4 hours later would be ok. 4 hours later, it was 320.
Last night, I tested at +6, but I neglected to enter it on the online spreadsheet. Sorry. It was 305.
At what times should I do the 2 tests tonight?

Thank you
 
Last edited:
Why don't you start with a +2 or a +3. If it's down quite a bit from preshot, then we can talk about getting another test later. He's likely still bouncing from those low blues a couple nights ago.
 
bambinaki said:
I thought at that point testing him 4 hours later would be ok. 4 hours later, it was 320.
Click to expand...
Yes that was fine but without it being on his SS, I didn’t know that. I would have given you different dosing advice tonight if I’d known of those other BGs. But, no harm done.

I usually tell members a +2 and before bed unless the numbers tell you otherwise.
 
If I had gotten a +2 or a +3 and it had been in the 200s-300s as we can assume it has been at that time based on the +6 and +7 and then not tested again until the AMPS the night before last, we would not have known it went down to 116.

@Wendy&Neko @Marje and Gracie
 
Marje and Gracie said:
I would have given you different dosing advice tonight if I’d known of those other BGs.

I usually tell members a +2 and before bed unless the numbers tell you otherwise
Click to expand...

What would tonight's dosing advice have been if you had known the night before last 15 minutes after the 116 his number was 118 and last night the +6 was 302?

Maxi's +2 is 'before bed' for most people.
 
Last edited:
bambinaki said:
She said I don't need to test at home.
Click to expand...
Yup... heard the same thing from my vet and he's a diabetic himself!! He told me I only had to test 1/month and when I asked how would I know if she went low and his response was, "Oh, she'll start walking funny then you'll know." And.... what if I'm not at home?? I think the expression on my face probably told him what I thought of that idea. I doubt a human parent would only test their kid 1/month ... child services would be called if they were that negligent. I really don't get why so many vets are against home testing... do they not read any of the research papers????

And, if I followed my vet's advice, I would still be at 2u... even with the Dx of acromegaly. Even with me providing him with the research journal articles, he still writes me a script for 2u twice/day. :rolleyes: (even though I found out that I don't need a vet to write a script for insulin in my province).

I was/am testing for sugar in urine and when I told the vet that at that time Freckles was still over renal threshold and spilling sugar in her urine, he was like "Oh"... I think at that time of the appointment Freckles was at 11u.

It's sometimes hard to make a decision to go against the vet's suggestion, so I went for the research articles and armed myself with knowledge that I got there as well as from this board. I felt much more empowered when I spoke to my vet.
 
Judy and Freckles said:
Yup... heard the same thing from my vet and he's a diabetic himself!! He told me I only had to test 1/month and when I asked how would I know if she went low and his response was, "Oh, she'll start walking funny then you'll know." And.... what if I'm not at home?? I think the expression on my face probably told him what I thought of that idea. I doubt a human parent would only test their kid 1/month ... child services would be called if they were that negligent. I really don't get why so many vets are against home testing... do they not read any of the research papers????

And, if I followed my vet's advice, I would still be at 2u... even with the Dx of acromegaly. Even with me providing him with the research journal articles, he still writes me a script for 2u twice/day. :rolleyes: (even though I found out that I don't need a vet to write a script for insulin in my province).

I was/am testing for sugar in urine and when I told the vet that at that time Freckles was still over renal threshold and spilling sugar in her urine, he was like "Oh"... I think at that time of the appointment Freckles was at 11u.

It's sometimes hard to make a decision to go against the vet's suggestion, so I went for the research articles and armed myself with knowledge that I got there as well as from this board. I felt much more empowered when I spoke to my vet.
Click to expand...

Judy, would you please let me know which articles you armed yourself with?
And would you please give me a link to the strips you use to test sugar in urine? I've had trouble getting the right kind.
Thank you!
 
 
 
bambinaki said:
If I had gotten a +2 or a +3 and it had been in the 200s-300s as we can assume it has been at that time based on the +6 and +7 and then not tested again until the AMPS the night before last, we would not have known it went down to 116.
Click to expand...
Why can you assume it would have been in the 200-300 range? I don't see a +6 or +7 test that night either. If the +2 was in the 200's, that's quite a drop from PMPS and means an active cycle and a good idea to get a later test.

bambinaki said:
What would tonight's dosing advice have been if you had known the night before last 15 minutes after the 116 his number was 118 and last night the +6 was 302?

Maxi's +2 is 'before bed' for most people.
Click to expand...
My dosing suggestion is based on how low the dose is taking the Maxi. He still has room for an increase. Two nights ago he got down to low blues, and then last night he was bouncing. Looks like he's bouncing again tonight and you won't need a later test. Sleep well.

My before bed test was either +3 or +4, not +2. You can't assume what before bed test time is for other people. They may have different preshot times than you. Some people adjust their preshot times to be able to get later tests in the cycle.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
You are amazing. Thank you for sharing your journey and your knowledge with Karen.
Click to expand...
Oh gosh... it's me who should be thanking everyone on this forum. The active members here not only offer support, but their wisdom, experience AND the huge amount of time. I'm just blown away by the number of people on this forum who give so freely of themselves to help others. It really is inspirational! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top