Good luck with the Lev today. I hope he's one of the (many) cat who get flatter on Lev. So far looks good.But hard to tell the first couple cycles as you've got the Lantus depot depleting as the Lev builds.
You know I'm not a big fan of R just to help bouncing, especially since we don't know why Fred needs so much insulin and he's not a ketone kitty. I rather we solve the bouncing problem by getting him used to normal numbers.
I use the Nova Max blood ketone meter. It is done just the same way as you test their blood glucose (meter, strip, ear prick). I would never have success in stalking my cat to the litter box (too many of them.) Plus, I like the accuracy of a blood ketone meter. It will tell you if your cat has a concerning level of ketones before it will show up in the urine strips. I have tested my kitty for ketones before and have had a positive result and the vet's urine test strip said negative. Does your kitty camp out in high numbers? If not, then it's probably not a concern for you.
Oh gosh, that used to happen to me all the time when I was using ProZinc. He'd get a nadir and then just shoot right off to the moon! It got better when I switched to Lantus (now we use Lev) and when he started getting close to a dose that worked for him and got his body more accustomed to being in lower numbers.
Yep. Nadir is the lowest point in their cycle (lowest number) although some cats will do a double dip and have two low points in a cycle.
Where did that happen? Hopefully not here. The route to solving the bouncing problem is NOT to get them used to higher numbers by reducing the dose. High and flat is not good. Going back is never the solution, and in some cases harmful if a kitty is prone to ketones.
The advice was not on our FB group but the other one. You are right about who gave the advice, though!
You also need to control the amounts. If you don't already, get an ideal weight for him from the vet. Weigh him once a week or so, and see if what you are feeding him is getting him towards your goal, be in weight loss, gain, or stable. The amount you need to feed varies by cat, their weight, age, and activity level. More information on this Catinfo page.
Small meals spread apart are good, and easier on a healing pancreas. How you feed your cat depends a bit on their eating habits. Neko was a hoover, some people have grazers. If I put something down, it was gone in 40 seconds (or less - I timed her). So I used an autofeeder to spread out about 3 meals in the first part of the cycle, and she got another small snack around +9, which was closer to her nadir on Levemir. Ideally you don't want to feed carbs after nadir. At that point, the insulin effect is starting to fade. Adding carbs makes it wear off faster, shortening duration and giving you higher preshots. I found the autofeeder had a second benefit, she stared at it instead of me for more food.
Shooter is currently "training" you to give him more food more often. Try to resist.
I would say mostly higher yellows and pinks (or worse, reds)... but it looks like you've seen a few blues on your new dose! I am happy to see that.
