5/8 Miss Meows AMPS 303, PMPS 238, +2 238

[missMeows]

Good evening everyone!

Last Condo

So last Wednesday she got to green for the first time! We weren't able to monitor how low she would go, so I had fiance give some HC food and place some in the auto feeder for later, just in case. It caused her to bounce, of course, and I was advised to not worry about increases or anything until I monitor her for a bit and see what happens.

I feel like she has been pretty steady with numbers the past two days and I'm just wondering what your thoughts where on how long to wait before another increase? I don't want her body to get too used to yellows, but I'm also very nervous about upping her dose when I won't be home to monitor. Especially since I have no idea how low that dose was gonna take her that day. It was a very nerve wracking (for me) drop from 85 to 77 in just a half hour, while I wasn't home to monitor. I'm afraid if I increase too soon, I'll just botch it all up by constantly giving her HC while I'm at work.

Any thoughts? How do you guys make this work, and keep a clear conscience while you're not home?

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

My gut feeling is that the bounce from being green has already cleared and she only got to the 100's after that. Sometimes, though, cats can have bizarre looking bounces. Most cats will bobble around higher while in a bounce - it isn't steadily 400-400-400 on most cats. So . . . if she is still in a bounce, it ought to be cleared by mid-day tomorrow. That would be 3 days counting forward from the green numbers.

Going from 85 to 77 wasn't too fast at all. There are a couple of things to consider. One is that meters aren't all that accurate - by law they can be off by 20%. I'd consider 85 & 77 to be pretty much the same, just a slight drop. The other thing is that even if we take those tests at exactly face value, that's 8 points in 30 minutes or 16 points per hour. That's a very slow (nice) drop. Drops of more than 50 points per hour can trigger bounces in most cats, so that's more what I'd think of as a fast drop. Some cats will drop 100-200 points in an hour - that's downright grim.

But since it's making you nervous, until you have more experience with it, why don't you wait to increase until you have one of the days when you're home to monitor? I would wait 10 cycles total afterWednesday's green numbers to see if this dose is going to be able to get her there again.

From the Tight Regulation Protocol guidelines:
Increasing the dose:

• Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
  • if your cat is new to numbers under 200, it is recommended to hold the dose for at least 8-10 cycles before increasing.
  • when your cat starts to see nadirs under 100, hold the dose for at least 10 cycles before increasing.

• After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.

• After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.

 

[missMeows]

Thank you Julie!

Now that you explain her numbers like you did, I do feel much, MUCH better. It's just that I've hardly even seen blues and she jumped to green like she did... startling to say the least. I'd still like to increase when someone is home to monitor though. My thoughts, from what you suggested, are then to increase Tuesday night. Fiance will be home all day Wednesday to monitor, and since it seems like her full dose potential is not realized for about 8 cycles, that would put us at next Saturday that I'll be home to monitor all day, just in case.

I don't want to hinder her progress, but I don't know how I can successfully increase if someone can't be home for her...