Tina & Sammy
Member Since 2010
Yesterday's Condo
Sammy is back in the green this morning. It is a fantastic sight to see. Technically he has been off insulin for 2 days already, but I am considering today the start of our trial as it is the first GREEN number we have seen. I really hope it holds.
I am so glad that I decided to go with my gut when I thought he might be getting too much insulin. I am not saying the suggestions to increase were wrong, I know that would have been procedure but as everyone always says ECID and only the Bean can make the final decision to increase or decrease. In Sammy's case, I really do think I increased too much too quickly and accidentally when I switched to measuring the dose with calipers. I think measuring with calipers are definitely the way to go and if I were giving advice for newbies I would recommend that is the only way to go. Start off on the right foot and don't look back.
But make sure to measure your syringes before jumping in. I failed to measure a unit on my syringe. I just drew up the appropriate dose and measured that, not thinking that the lines on the syringe I was using would be WAY OFF.
When the numbers starting to go out of control for no apparent reason I started to worry. Because Sammy wasn't dropping too low many people thought it was just a case of not enough insulin, and based on everything I have read and learned in this process I would have agreed. But because my gut just kept telling me the opposite I thought I had to at least try a reduced dose to see what would happen. When I reduced to .25 unit from 1.10 unit I was skeptical after the first cycle and the numbers just went up, but then after that they started to drop and went back to normal. They held in the normal range for a day or two but then started to rise. As soon as I dropped to .1 unit they dropped again, but not as much and then immediately started to rise again. I was still worried that maybe he wasn't getting enough insulin, but as before I needed to make sure before I started increasing again. I had already come to the realization that Sammy might be on insulin for the rest of his life, so a couple of days were not going to make a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
So when I discontinued insulin this past Tuesday morning I was hopeful that I would see some results right away, but again instead of falling the numbers rose higher. And most would assume that I should have returned to the previous dose right away. but I held, and yesterday morning Sammy's numbers were lower, 142. Not in the normal range, but going in the right direction. Last night I was happy that he had come down even more by PMBG to 114.
I still didn't like seeing the BLUE number, but it was so much better the they YELLOW number from the night before. And this morning a happy, happy GREEN Number, 74.
So starts our OTJ Trial!
All this to say, that sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Again, I am not faulting anyone here for suggesting to increase. I would have done exactly the same thing if it were me giving the advice, but now that I see how Sammy reacted, I am much more leery about suggesting an increase without having absolutely full knowledge of what has been done and how in the past. Don't be afraid to go against protocol if your gut is telling you something different. Just know that you can always come back to protocol if your experiment isn't successful.
Remember ECID (Every Cat is Different) and just because one cat will go too low on too much insulin, it doesn't mean another cat (Sammy) will also. Sammy never dipped too low while receiving an insulin dose that was way too high, so just know this might be a possibility for your cat as well. ECID!!!
If my experimental reductions failed/fail then I had/have ever intention of returning to protocol and increasing as recommended.
I just had to try. Hopefully Sammy's numbers will level out in the GREEN and stay there. I am holding off on any 8-10% food for now. I really want to get through the trial before I start experimenting with slightly higher carb foods. And when I do it will be very sparingly. Although now that I know what I know, it is entirely possible that all the wonky numbers are not due to the slightly higher carb food, but I am still very nervous about reintroducing them.
Have a fabulous day everyone, and healing vines are being sent to all the sugar kitties to make it to their very own OTJ trial very soon.
Sammy is back in the green this morning. It is a fantastic sight to see. Technically he has been off insulin for 2 days already, but I am considering today the start of our trial as it is the first GREEN number we have seen. I really hope it holds.
I am so glad that I decided to go with my gut when I thought he might be getting too much insulin. I am not saying the suggestions to increase were wrong, I know that would have been procedure but as everyone always says ECID and only the Bean can make the final decision to increase or decrease. In Sammy's case, I really do think I increased too much too quickly and accidentally when I switched to measuring the dose with calipers. I think measuring with calipers are definitely the way to go and if I were giving advice for newbies I would recommend that is the only way to go. Start off on the right foot and don't look back.
But make sure to measure your syringes before jumping in. I failed to measure a unit on my syringe. I just drew up the appropriate dose and measured that, not thinking that the lines on the syringe I was using would be WAY OFF.
When the numbers starting to go out of control for no apparent reason I started to worry. Because Sammy wasn't dropping too low many people thought it was just a case of not enough insulin, and based on everything I have read and learned in this process I would have agreed. But because my gut just kept telling me the opposite I thought I had to at least try a reduced dose to see what would happen. When I reduced to .25 unit from 1.10 unit I was skeptical after the first cycle and the numbers just went up, but then after that they started to drop and went back to normal. They held in the normal range for a day or two but then started to rise. As soon as I dropped to .1 unit they dropped again, but not as much and then immediately started to rise again. I was still worried that maybe he wasn't getting enough insulin, but as before I needed to make sure before I started increasing again. I had already come to the realization that Sammy might be on insulin for the rest of his life, so a couple of days were not going to make a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
So when I discontinued insulin this past Tuesday morning I was hopeful that I would see some results right away, but again instead of falling the numbers rose higher. And most would assume that I should have returned to the previous dose right away. but I held, and yesterday morning Sammy's numbers were lower, 142. Not in the normal range, but going in the right direction. Last night I was happy that he had come down even more by PMBG to 114.
I still didn't like seeing the BLUE number, but it was so much better the they YELLOW number from the night before. And this morning a happy, happy GREEN Number, 74.
So starts our OTJ Trial!
All this to say, that sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Again, I am not faulting anyone here for suggesting to increase. I would have done exactly the same thing if it were me giving the advice, but now that I see how Sammy reacted, I am much more leery about suggesting an increase without having absolutely full knowledge of what has been done and how in the past. Don't be afraid to go against protocol if your gut is telling you something different. Just know that you can always come back to protocol if your experiment isn't successful.
Remember ECID (Every Cat is Different) and just because one cat will go too low on too much insulin, it doesn't mean another cat (Sammy) will also. Sammy never dipped too low while receiving an insulin dose that was way too high, so just know this might be a possibility for your cat as well. ECID!!!
If my experimental reductions failed/fail then I had/have ever intention of returning to protocol and increasing as recommended.
I just had to try. Hopefully Sammy's numbers will level out in the GREEN and stay there. I am holding off on any 8-10% food for now. I really want to get through the trial before I start experimenting with slightly higher carb foods. And when I do it will be very sparingly. Although now that I know what I know, it is entirely possible that all the wonky numbers are not due to the slightly higher carb food, but I am still very nervous about reintroducing them.
Have a fabulous day everyone, and healing vines are being sent to all the sugar kitties to make it to their very own OTJ trial very soon.
! It will be interesting to see where Sammy goes!
