5/6 Loki PMPS 156

Baer & Loki

Baer & Loki

Member Since 2020
Loki has had an interesting 24 hours. I’m working on fixing my computer so I can get the spreadsheet going, but I only have one other post on here where I’ve posted his curve if you need to see that. Dx 4/22 and been on Lantus at home since 4/26. He was started on 2 units twice daily and has held on that. He had high #s yesterday and the vet said I could increase his morning dose a unit, which this board said NOT to do so I didn’t. Well, lo and behold, his numbers today are the lowest I’ve seen at home anyway. I’m glad I didn’t blindly increase.

May 5
AMPS 370 (2 units)
+6 506
PMPS 541 (2 units)
May 6
AMPS 260 (2 units)
+6 115
PMPS 156 No shot yet

His numbers are all over the place between this and his curve. I know the advice is below 200 don’t shoot... so, do you think I should skip Loki’s shot tonight? Does this look like a bounce?
 
Hey this is probably too late now but where did you hear below 200 don’t shoot?
In the beginning I was skipping shots based on numbers that shouldn’t have warranted a skip and Mimi got DKA. (Not saying that will happen but just to know what can contribute to it)
And yes- listen to this board- unfortunately vets no little to nothing about feline diabetes and it’s extremely scary some of the advice they give. I wish I found this board earlier, it might have prevented me from having an 8000$ vet bill from Mimi being hospitalized because I was given not so great instructions from her initial diagnosis (long story)

let me get you some experienced members to help a little! Welcome to the forum, you’re going to have so much help here!!!

@Marje and Gracie

@Wendy&Neko

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

@Chris & China (GA)

@tiffmaxee
 
Mimis mom said:
Hey this is probably too late now but where did you hear below 200 don’t shoot?
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Well he’s still within an hour of when he’d normally get a shot so should he get 2 units now? I’ve seen this advice all over the boards: don’t shoot if below 200 and you’re new without a ton of data. I don’t want him to go back to DKA but the wild swings just confused me and I thought maybe it was just a bounce because he was so high yesterday. I haven’t seen him this low in my home monitoring yet. I can give him a shot and stay up to try to take a +6. Thanks for the response and tags! I know I’ll get asked again but I’m working on his spreadsheet, it’s really just a matter of getting my computer working because it’s hard to do on my phone.
 
I just read he was DKA- how scary! This means it’s even MORE important you do not skip doses and monitor/spot check throughout the cycle for a while until you get a good spread sheet going you can learn his cycle better.
Read the sticky notes over and over- there’s always something you will miss. You can @ people like I did once you know who can help- these guys are staples in helping (I’m sure I forgot some but you get the point)
Recipe for DKA- high BG numbers, pancreatitis, and not eating.
I think you have to decide which protocol you’re going to go with and stick with it. Most of us on here do tight regulation- because it’s had the most success rate going into remission but whatever you can fit into your schedule. Wet food is good- don’t bother with the crap the vet offers from the “prescription diet”. Check out https://catinfo.org/#Prescription/Therapeutic_Diets
For explanations why they are garbage.

again, I can’t stress enough- read those sticky notes- you’ll need a “tool kit” where you will have medium carb (MC) and high carb (HC) in case he dips in the cycle you can safely bring him back up.
If that happens too- you can use either the question mark or if it’s dangerously low- like below 68 (on the Alphatrak, 50 on human meters) you can put the 911 tag and someone should help ASAP.

good luck!
 
It’s so important he gets insulin especially after DKA.
there’s a saying here “shoot low to stay low”
There’s also a sticky talking about low pre shot numbers - and we’re taking below 100 not 200. 200 is a great pre shot number! 50 isn’t.

also you need to stay within 15 minutes of the 12 hour mark because of how Lantus works. Shooting too early, the body can respond to it like an increase.
And if you shoot late you have to scale back by 15 minutes to get back on schedule.
(so like if you shoot at 9 and the usual time is 8, the next dose is 8:45, then 8:30, etc)
 
I’m going to say if his pre shot number was 200 then yes definitely give him his shot- but do you have higher carb food in case he drops? Honey or karo syrup work too in a pinch but they won’t last long enough to get him through the dip.
 
Thank you! I just tested him again and he was 189 (I’m using AlphaTrak 2) and I gave him his 2 units. I’ll read through the stickies again, it’s just overwhelming being brand new to this though I know we all were at some point. So tomorrow AM he gets his shot at 8:45am and tomorrow PM he’ll get it at 8:30pm and so forth until we’re back on track to 8?
 
Mimis mom said:
I’m going to say if his pre shot number was 200 then yes definitely give him his shot- but do you have higher carb food in case he drops? Honey or karo syrup work too in a pinch but they won’t last long enough to get him through the dip.
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Yes, I still have his crappy old kibble and some Friskies shreddies in gravy cans as well as honey. When should I test him again tonight?
 
He’s on Lantus right??


500 is high...
we need to get him below 300 at least..

do you have keto stix to check for ketones in his urine? I know this all seems like a lot- but once you got it it’s just routine and it’s so much better as time goes on.
They also have A blood test one- which is supposed to be the most accurate - I will warn you though- the strips are expensive for it- like 2$ a strip and you need a good amount of blood to get a reading. I have both. I just stick the strip right in her stream as it’s coming out- you can also take a ladle and catch the pee that way. I used to think “how on earth am I going to catch her peeing?” But I started to kind of learn her bathroom habits, and sometimes if she was “chillin” by me for long periods of time I thought- hmm she might need to pee so I picked her up and actually put her in the litter box and she would pee
I even kept the litter box near where I would hang out with the ketostix and as soon as I heard the scratching I would run over and try and get a pee sample.
 
BlackCatLoki said:
Yes, I still have his crappy old kibble and some Friskies shreddies in gravy cans as well as honey. When should I test him again tonight?
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No kibble- he needs to stay hydrated - I would even add some water to his wet. One thing I did learn from DKA kitties is they can flush ketones out so staying well hydrated. Also, kibble is just not good for so many other reasons- check out that catinfo.org - super informative. The vet that blogs it- Dr Pierson has a food chart on the main forum
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-welcome-main-forum.28/?order=title
 
Low carb is anything below I believe 7, medium is 7-15 and high carb is above that. Again I always forget the exact numbers, so I hope someone will correct me!

you can read about neglected spot checks- you sometimes want what we call a +1 or a +2 meaning the first hour after a shot, and second and so on (whenever you see + with a number after it that’s what it means) even +10 and +11 are good- they can sometimes tell you how the cycle might run.


There’s an explanation on how it runs but I don’t know where to find it.. I’m sure it’s in the stickies some where
 
Mimis mom said:
No kibble- he needs to stay hydrated - I would even add some water to his wet. One thing I did learn from DKA kitties is they can flush ketones out so staying well hydrated. Also, kibble is just not good for so many other reasons- check out that catinfo.org - super informative. The vet that blogs it- Dr Pierson has a food chart on the main forum
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-welcome-main-forum.28/?order=title
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I know the kibble isn’t good, it’s just all I have in a pinch for an emergency. I’m not feeding it to him. He’s only getting wet food. I can’t leave the house and deliveries are taking forever, my Chewy order for his Friskies Pate is over a week late.

He didn’t have any ketones when he left the vet 4/25 nor on his checkup 4/30. I’m still going to check for them at home, but his ketones and pancreatitis were gone. He drinks plenty of water, actually he finally just stopped drinking TOO much water (and peeing normal amounts now too).
 
He was eating Purina and Hills wet m/d just because they were free samples and I planned on switching him to the Friskies, but while the order is held up he’s eating wet Whole Earth and Weruva flavors below 10% based on the carb content I saw on the cat food database
 
You have to know what carb content your food is- that’s very important. Go to the food chart on the feline health forum and check it- I’m sure it’s listed.
You want him to be on low carb.

typically anything that’s a pate is low carb but that’s just a guideline not a rule

when the gravy starts coming in the recipe it’s usually sugary
 
Mimis mom said:
You have to know what carb content your food is- that’s very important. Go to the food chart on the feline health forum and check it- I’m sure it’s listed.
You want him to be on low carb.

typically anything that’s a pate is low carb but that’s just a guideline not a rule

when the gravy starts coming in the recipe it’s usually sugary
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He’s eating Weruva Chicken Frick a Zee which is 2 carbs and Whole Earth turkey pate which is 5. Just a temporary measure until Friskies Classics Pate chicken gets here.
 
BlackCatLoki said:
I know the kibble isn’t good, it’s just all I have in a pinch for an emergency. I’m not feeding it to him. He’s only getting wet food. I can’t leave the house and deliveries are taking forever, my Chewy order for his Friskies Pate is over a week late.

He didn’t have any ketones when he left the vet 4/25 nor on his checkup 4/30. I’m still going to check for them at home, but his ketones and pancreatitis were gone. He drinks plenty of water, actually he finally just stopped drinking TOO much water (and peeing normal amounts now too).
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The excess water was him having uncontrolled diabetes- Mimi was basically hugging the water bowl the night she went DKA.
 
BlackCatLoki said:
He’s eating Weruva Chicken Frick a Zee which is 2 carbs and Whole Earth turkey pate which is 5. Just a temporary measure until Friskies Classics Pate chicken gets here.
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I think fancy feast might be a better one- that’s what most of them feed on here.
i do raw formula because of what I read on Dr Piersons website but Fancy Feast is actually very balanced You can’t beat its price point
 
BlackCatLoki said:
yes, that’s exactly how he was too it’s so scary seeing them like that
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I hyperventilated in the emergency vet and couldn’t stop crying when they told me she was DKA and had to be hospitalized. (Because when I saw she hadn’t eaten her morning food or her night when usually she’s a REALLY good eater, I googled “diabetic cat not eating” and it took me to the nightmare page I didn’t want to read)
she was in the hospital for 6 days because they couldn’t seem to get her down- and the second night she was there I made promises to her and the next morning she started getting better). The vet said “she listened to you”
 
Mimis mom said:
I think fancy feast might be a better one- that’s what most of them feed on here.
i do raw formula because of what I read on Dr Piersons website but Fancy Feast is actually very balanced You can’t beat its price point
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I’ll definitely consider FF for next time, I got the Friskies this time because it was quite a bit cheaper (I’ll take the savings where I can after a $8k vet bill lol) and still recommended on here. I actually called the stores around here to see if they had the right FF and no one had the classic Pate, glad I read this board and the database or I wouldn’t have known
 
BlackCatLoki said:
I’ll definitely consider FF for next time, I got the Friskies this time because it was quite a bit cheaper (I’ll take the savings where I can after a $8k vet bill lol) and still recommended on here. I actually called the stores around here to see if they had the right FF and no one had the classic Pate, glad I read this board and the database or I wouldn’t have known
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Ya usually you can find fancy feast or friskies at any grocery store? Did you say you had an 8000$ vet bill? Also, did you give him the shot?
 
Mimis mom said:
I hyperventilated in the emergency vet and couldn’t stop crying when they told me she was DKA and had to be hospitalized. (Because when I saw she hadn’t eaten her morning food or her night when usually she’s a REALLY good eater, I googled “diabetic cat not eating” and it took me to the nightmare page I didn’t want to read)
she was in the hospital for 6 days because they couldn’t seem to get her down- and the second night she was there I made promises to her and the next morning she started getting better). The vet said “she listened to you”
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oh wow, sending huge hugs to you. My boy was in for 3 nights and I was just absolutely inconsolable, didn’t eat or sleep until I knew he was out of the woods. I couldn’t bring him inside the vet or stay with him because of social distancing but the vet put me on speaker phone to talk to him day and night. He acted out of order for all of 6 hours and I had him out the door, I knew something was wrong and the hours before I got his diagnosis were the worst of my life. He really showed no huge signs leading up to it and I beat myself up anyway for missing it.
 
Mimis mom said:
Ya usually you can find fancy feast or friskies at any grocery store? Did you say you had an 8000$ vet bill? Also, did you give him the shot?
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They don’t have the right varieties at the stores here, just the gravies or seafood flavors which he won’t eat. Maybe when things calm down the shelves will be restocked I hope! And yes, his bill was $8k! And he had about half his teeth pulled last year which was about $5k. I keep telling him he will have to pick up a job to support us if he keeps up these surprises!

edit: and yes, he got his shot for tonight!
 
You can t
BlackCatLoki said:
oh wow, sending huge hugs to you. My boy was in for 3 nights and I was just absolutely inconsolable, didn’t eat or sleep until I knew he was out of the woods. I couldn’t bring him inside the vet or stay with him because of social distancing but the vet put me on speaker phone to talk to him day and night. He acted out of order for all of 6 hours and I had him out the door, I knew something was wrong and the hours before I got his diagnosis were the worst of my life. He really showed no huge signs leading up to it and I beat myself up anyway for missing it.
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did he get diagnosed with diabetes at the same time he went DKA? I think that is when DKA happens- In undiagnosed animals or humans. Mimi was diagnosed a month before but I guess she already had some pancreatitis happening and her not eating put her into that ketoacidosis state.
thsts another thing- diabetics- humans and animals, need to eat smaller meals more often.. I bought an auto feeder while I was away. I know this is a lot- but once you have everything you’ll feel ok about it all. I got the catmate one- it only feeds two meals when I’m not there to feed her which is fine with me. A lot of the caretakers on here have the petmate 5 feeder one but I didn’t like it- it was too big and the trays were actually easy to slide across (for them to steal food out of the next slot)
Usually feeding them pre shot, then like every 2-3 hours after that. I think eventually you’ll have him eating most of his food before nadir but because he was recent DKA and he needs to gain weight- just feed him until his little heart desires!
 
BlackCatLoki said:
They don’t have the right varieties at the stores here, just the gravies or seafood flavors which he won’t eat. Maybe when things calm down the shelves will be restocked I hope! And yes, his bill was $8k! And he had about half his teeth pulled last year which was about $5k. I keep telling him he will have to pick up a job to support us if he keeps up these surprises!

edit: and yes, he got his shot for tonight!
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Omg my bill was 8000$ but that was for 6 day’s!!! Wait do you mean the 5000$ was a part of the 8 or separate,. Mimi had a bladder stone earlier in the year so I had a 2500$ bill from that! I have basically a car payment on care credit. I’m like “ok you can NOT get sick”
There are even ways to help him if he does show ketones more than normal- most members here have IV fluids- I don’t know a ton about that, but just in case that happened again there are options. Again, I don’t know a lot about that but it could prevent another hospital visit!
 
If you can get a +1 reading (the first hour after the shot)

When was the last time you tested him?

also- what food was he on prior to being diagnosed? Do you know the carb content?
 
Mimis mom said:
You can t

did he get diagnosed with diabetes at the same time he went DKA? I think that is when DKA happens- In undiagnosed animals or humans. Mimi was diagnosed a month before but I guess she already had some pancreatitis happening and her not eating put her into that ketoacidosis state.
thsts another thing- diabetics- humans and animals, need to eat smaller meals more often.. I bought an auto feeder while I was away. I know this is a lot- but once you have everything you’ll feel ok about it all. I got the catmate one- it only feeds two meals when I’m not there to feed her which is fine with me. A lot of the caretakers on here have the petmate 5 feeder one but I didn’t like it- it was too big and the trays were actually easy to slide across (for them to steal food out of the next slot)
Usually feeding them pre shot, then like every 2-3 hours after that. I think eventually you’ll have him eating most of his food before nadir but because he was recent DKA and he needs to gain weight- just feed him until his little heart desires!
Click to expand...

actually I was going to ask about auto feeders because obviously now I can be home 24/7 to monitor and feed but eventually that won’t be the case. I’ll look into that one. And yes, he got the diabetes and DKA diagnosis at once, my boy is an overachiever. He just got bloodwork done in October 2019 too. He’s always had a voracious appetite since he was a kitten so the only signs I had something was off was the day before he had drank a ton of water (but I live in LA where it’s been 90+ degrees so I thought hm ok) but then the next day (when I brought him in) he wasn’t eating and then just suddenly and totally ragdoll unresponsive.

I’m giving him 2 cans a day split up into 4 meals, about 340-360 calories. I want him to gain his weight back, I miss my big parlor panther!
 
BlackCatLoki said:
actually I was going to ask about auto feeders because obviously now I can be home 24/7 to monitor and feed but eventually that won’t be the case. I’ll look into that one. And yes, he got the diabetes and DKA diagnosis at once, my boy is an overachiever. He just got bloodwork done in October 2019 too. He’s always had a voracious appetite since he was a kitten so the only signs I had something was off was the day before he had drank a ton of water (but I live in LA where it’s been 90+ degrees so I thought hm ok) but then the next day (when I brought him in) he wasn’t eating and then just suddenly and totally ragdoll unresponsive.

I’m giving him 2 cans a day split up into 4 meals, about 340-360 calories. I want him to gain his weight back, I miss my big parlor panther!
Click to expand...

what is the carb content on the previous food- was he on kibble only before?

Take some time and read catinfo.org. Trust me- start with her feline nutrition section.

Also I know I have said this several times but read all of the stickies in this group!!
You’re doing great so far- you have lots of support now so post every day- and get your spread sheet sorted! If you need help wit your spread sheet @Marje and Gracie I believe can still help
 
Just to clarify...while you'll see it repeated lots of times, there's a big misconception about "no shot under 200".

First, it depends somewhat on the type of insulin. Then you have to take into consideration the history of the cat....like a recent DKA.

That being said, what we really mean when people say "no shot under 200" is that until you have some data on how your cat responds to both food and insulin, if you get a PS under 200 you should stall, DON'T FEED and test again in 20-30 minutes to see if the number comes up without the influence of food. I had suggested calling it a "Stall point" and instead of saying "no shot below 200" we say "under 200 is your "stall point" where until you have enough data, you stall, wait 20-30 minutes and test again....as your confidence and your experience grows, that "stall point" starts to come down" but I was overruled.

While you're waiting the 20-30 minutes to re-test, post and make sure your subject line is really clear like "STALLING! NEED HELP!"....LOL (hey, it works!) Once you have someone's eyes on you, you can go back and edit the subject line.

We do have a tradition here...if someone is shooting a lower number than they're comfortable with, if someone encourages you to go ahead and shoot, they agree to stay online and watch for updates so you're never left alone until you're totally comfortable with what's going on with your cat. If the person can't stay online however long is necessary, they should tell you right up front so you can take that into consideration on if you feel you should shoot or not. Many times I've stayed up late into the night (or early into the morning) to stay with someone who shot a low Preshot. If I could find someone to take over, I would, but if not, I stayed...no matter how late it got.

Hope that clears up the "no shot under 200" thing
 
Mimis mom said:
If you can get a +1 reading (the first hour after the shot)

When was the last time you tested him?

also- what food was he on prior to being diagnosed? Do you know the carb content?
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So his PMPS was 148, didn’t shoot, fed, then I posted here and you responded, he tested 189, shot, now his +1 is 197.

I don’t know the carb content of his old food besides that it was high, it was Taste of the Wild venison kibble. Edit: it seems to be 21%
 
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Chris & China (GA) said:
Just to clarify...while you'll see it repeated lots of times, there's a big misconception about "no shot under 200".

First, it depends somewhat on the type of insulin. Then you have to take into consideration the history of the cat....like a recent DKA.

That being said, what we really mean when people say "no shot under 200" is that until you have some data on how your cat responds to both food and insulin, if you get a PS under 200 you should stall, DON'T FEED and test again in 20-30 minutes to see if the number comes up without the influence of food. I had suggested calling it a "Stall point" and instead of saying "no shot below 200" we say "under 200 is your "stall point" where until you have enough data, you stall, wait 20-30 minutes and test again....as your confidence and your experience grows, that "stall point" starts to come down" but I was overruled.

While you're waiting the 20-30 minutes to re-test, post and make sure your subject line is really clear like "STALLING! NEED HELP!"....LOL (hey, it works!) Once you have someone's eyes on you, you can go back and edit the subject line.

We do have a tradition here...if someone is shooting a lower number than they're comfortable with, if someone encourages you to go ahead and shoot, they agree to stay online and watch for updates so you're never left alone until you're totally comfortable with what's going on with your cat. If the person can't stay online however long is necessary, they should tell you right up front so you can take that into consideration on if you feel you should shoot or not. Many times I've stayed up late into the night (or early into the morning) to stay with someone who shot a low Preshot. If I could find someone to take over, I would, but if not, I stayed...no matter how late it got.

Hope that clears up the "no shot under 200" thing
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thank you so much, this helped a ton to clear it up!! He just doesn’t have a ton of data because we’ve only been testing bg since Monday but I hope by a month from now I’ll feel more confident in navigating this
 
I’m here with you! Mimi’s likely to pull some tricks tonight (I have a feeling based on her numbers so far shes going to drop a bit and might need carb intervention) so I might be up a lot of the night if not for at least the next hour.

check out the lingo here too http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/lantus-basaglar-levemir-isg-slang-dictionary.1903/

it actually helps make this entire experience more pleasant and cute (when all I want to be is sad she has it)
 
BlackCatLoki said:
thank you so much, this helped a ton to clear it up!! He just doesn’t have a ton of data because we’ve only been testing bg since Monday but I hope by a month from now I’ll feel more confident in navigating this
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@Chris & China (GA)
What’s the +1 supposed to be? A little higher right? Then the +2 is more like the pre shot, then +3 and up to around +6 it gets lower every hour and then starts going back up right?
 
Also make sure when you shoot him tomorrow you can only scale it back by 15 minutes (unless you just stick with the new time) . anything sooner than that can be looked at as an increase.
 
So your +1 looks ok- because it’s a little higher. Get a +2 then feed him again. And I would feed him at +4 too.

if you can a little every 2-3 hours - at least before nadir. recent DKA kitties need to constantly eat
 
Mimis mom said:
I’m here with you! Mimi’s likely to pull some tricks tonight (I have a feeling based on her numbers so far shes going to drop a bit and might need carb intervention) so I might be up a lot of the night if not for at least the next hour.

check out the lingo here too http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/lantus-basaglar-levemir-isg-slang-dictionary.1903/

it actually helps make this entire experience more pleasant and cute (when all I want to be is sad she has it)
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I needed the laughs this list is giving, amazing stuff lmao. I hope Mimi saves the tricks and gives her mom a break! I feel confident now that Loki will be okay through the night but we’ll be keeping an eye out for Mimi
 
Mimis mom said:
So your +1 looks ok- because it’s a little higher. Get a +2 then feed him again. And I would feed him at +4 too.

if you can a little every 2-3 hours - at least before nadir. recent DKA kitties need to constantly eat
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I only have 4 test strips left until my strips order (hopefully) arrives Friday afternoon. I want to test his pre-shots and mid-cycle tomorrow and Friday so do you think it’s really important to get those +2 and +4 or save the strips? I’ll feed him extra tonight regardless
 
BlackCatLoki said:
I only have 4 test strips left until my strips order (hopefully) arrives Friday afternoon. I want to test his pre-shots and mid-cycle tomorrow and Friday so do you think it’s really important to get those +2 and +4 or save the strips? I’ll feed him extra tonight regardless
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Oh ya not if you don’t have enough strips..

I know alphatrak is really expensive- you might want to switch to the Relion from Walmart. It’s really cheap and the strips are like 18$ but 100

only thing I didn’t like about Relion was it takes a little more blood than alphatrak or the one I use which is freestyle lite (The human version of alphatrak). Those take .3 u of blood and the Relion is .5 I didn’t think that little bit would make a difference but it seemed to.. I also think I’ve gotten better and drawing blood so I might switch back. In the mean time I get my strips off of trusted eBay stores because they are like 40$ for 100 instead of 150$ or whatever nonsense they cost
 
Mimis mom said:
Oh ya not if you don’t have enough strips..

I know alphatrak is really expensive- you might want to switch to the Relion from Walmart. It’s really cheap and the strips are like 18$ but 100

only thing I didn’t like about Relion was it takes a little more blood than alphatrak or the one I use which is freestyle lite (The human version of alphatrak). Those take .3 u of blood and the Relion is .5 I didn’t think that little bit would make a difference but it seemed to.. I also think I’ve gotten better and drawing blood so I might switch back. In the mean time I get my strips off of trusted eBay stores because they are like 40$ for 100 instead of 150$ or whatever nonsense they cost
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I definitely plan to make that switch, I just spent over $100 for 100 strips and boy that hurt
 
Wendy&Neko said:
If you have a human meter, even as backup, then it's much easier to get the strips in a pinch.

Glad you are working on getting a spreadsheet going. We can't really comment much on dose until we can see that.
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I’ve got his ss up now, yay! Not a ton of data available yet though
 
It’s ok- glad it’s up! I know it’s an extra expense but I would grab a Relion meter from a Walmart if you can. The premier one is like 20 I think maybe not even? And the strips are so cheap- I wouldn’t count on chewy right now- so much of my order for stuff was delayed.. while you’re at Walmart see if you can grab some “gravy lovers” cans of fancy feast- those are high in carbs in case he dipped. .. I know they have a huge selection. Hypo is just as scary if not scarier than DKA. I don’t want to make you do this but I’m not going to sugar coat it- it’s very important you have plenty of test strips- especially with him being on the higher dose- I was shocked how quickly Mimi dipped on that dose and eventually got to a dose more in the 1.25 range (more steadily). Of course ECID (every cat is different) but I get nervous for you not having enough strips..

Oh I almost forgot! What kind of syringes are you using? And do you have the Lantus pen or the 10 ml bottle?
Most of us have learned to measure with a digital caliper- harbor freight has one for 14.99$ if you have one around you.- it’s the 4 inch (Lowe’s and Home Depot do as well but I think they are a little more expensive) The reason they have become important is because unfortunately the computers that manufacture syringes produce so many the lines on the syringe are not always printed correctly- for a human that isn’t as big of a deal because they are measuring with such large numbers- if it’s less than a .25 inch of it doesn’t hurt but in a cat you would be surprised how much a difference a drop can make!!
 
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Mimis mom said:
It’s ok- glad it’s up! I know it’s an extra expense but I would grab a Relion meter from a Walmart if you can. The premier one is like 20 I think maybe not even? And the strips are so cheap- I wouldn’t count on chewy right now- so much of my order for stuff was delayed.. while you’re at Walmart see if you can grab some “gravy lovers” cans of fancy feast. I know they have a huge selection. I don’t want to make you do this but I’m not going to sugar coat it- it’s very important you have plenty of test strips- especially with him being on the higher dose- I was shocked how quickly Mimi dipped on that dose and eventually got to a dose more in the 1.25 range (more steadily). Of course ECID (every cat is different) but I get nervous for you not having enough strips..

Oh I almost forgot! What kind of syringes are you using? And do you have the Lantus pen or the 10 ml bottle?
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Well I’ve already ordered 100 strips for the AlphaTrak so I’ll use that meanwhile and order a human meter to switch to. I’ll also get some FF gravies but he has the Friskies shreds in gravy (16%) for now. I literally can’t leave my apartment so what I can get is up to what can get delivered or what my friends can pick up for me so we’re just gonna make do for now! His AMPS was 309. How often should I be testing him on average once I get the new strips? I want to get some good data on his mid cycles and what is happening overnight now when I have all the free time in the world because it’ll be harder to do once I get back to work.

It’s the bottle and I’m using the u100 syringes that show 50 units on the side.
 
BlackCatLoki said:
Well I’ve already ordered 100 strips for the AlphaTrak so I’ll use that meanwhile and order a human meter to switch to. I’ll also get some FF gravies but he has the Friskies shreds in gravy (16%) for now. I literally can’t leave my apartment so what I can get is up to what can get delivered or what my friends can pick up for me so we’re just gonna make do for now! His AMPS was 309. How often should I be testing him on average once I get the new strips? I want to get some good data on his mid cycles and what is happening overnight now when I have all the free time in the world because it’ll be harder to do once I get back to work.

It’s the bottle and I’m using the u100 syringes that show 50 units on the side.
Click to expand...

OK. Im not a super expert yet in the TR protocol- others I have tagged on here are. So with testing I would say I usually do it randomly. Check out my spread sheet, you can see what my testing looks like. Mimi is super sensitive to even the smallest inaccuracy of insulin- so like if its 1.25 and I give her 1.35 or something because of human error and the syringes printed lines not always being in the correct spot she will see a difference, but ECID!
When I first joined here I was told to get a digital caliper- and was shown a video on how to use it, which I am still not great at finding these videos. But in the video theres even a light box and a magnifying glass to make sure you are measuring it correctly.
I just had to throw out an entire bag of syringes because the stupid reservoir at the top was collecting insulin so it was throwing off the actual measurement. I know theres an anatomy of a syringe somewhere on here so Im not sure Im saying it correctly.

here's the video, I found it! http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dosing-with-calipers-updated-w-videos.79851/
 
oh also the reason I ask about the syringe is you want to get the ones with 1/2 unit markings to help with the accuracy of measuring doses like 1.25 or 1.75
If you have a digital caliper theres not a huge need for that- you can just go by the caliper measurement. go to the search field at the top and anything you're wondering about type in and it will show you threads mentioning that. It does get a little crowded but you can maybe find one that's informative.
 
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