? 6/4 Shiloh ~ AMPS 214, +2 175, +6 73, +11 83 ~ PMPS 100, +1 125, +2 129

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Maybe a smooth drop today. On the bright side, I took today off! I need some rest!

ETA: I just saw two white butterflies. It made me smile so I decided to look up what it meant. This is what I found. "Butterflies generally represent souls, and white is the color for purity. In general terms, it's simply a pure soul. If it visits you at an important moment in your life, it may represent a guardian spirit, ushering you along the path of life."
 
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So you will be faced with the choice to shoot full dose, reduced dose, or skip. Just know that at some point you will need to get to the point where you will shoot the full dose with lower PS, but you have to be ready and level headed to be able to deal with a low if it should occur.
 
Thanks Tina. Will make that decision at PMPS, I guess. I just know how far she dropped from AMPS. I didn't really hesitate to shoot the full dose yesterday at 110, but below 100 is scary.
 
Typically the drops are much less dramatic when starting from a lower PS, but there is always the possibility that Shiloh will drop below 50, and if that happens you will need to be prepared to feed high carb and monitor every 15-20 minutes until numbers are rising.

If you do decided to shoot, you should get a +1 and +2 reading to see where the numbers are going. If the numbers are dropping at both of these readings after food then you will probably want to get hourly readings at least until you see number rising from food.

You can also give a bit of medium carb food with PMPS meal to help slow down any additional drop from the morning dose.
 
Are you considering this a permanent reduction, or a BCS (Big Chicken Sh.. Dose). If you are only reducing because you are nervous you should mark your spreadsheet as such, so others know why your reduced. Either way is fine, but know that if you reduce against protocol you will more than likely need to increase again.
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
I thought about it some more, and since she was starting to go up, and I will be here all night, I gave the full shot. Paws crossed!
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Good call! I always say it is best to give the full shot, unless you will not be around to test and don't fell comfortable treating a low if it should occur. If you are still a bit nervous you can always give a tiny bit of medium carb food with the first meal. After that I would hold off on any medium carb until you see where the numbers are going. And definitely no high carb unless she falls under 50, or if you are really tired and want to get some sleep for a few hours.
 
Tina, my only concern is that is she didn't eat all her meal, like she normally does. But I think she is also starting to adjust to the canned, and going back to her grazing practice. I was about 15 minutes late on the shot, deciding what to do, so I will finish making dinner for DH and test her in about 1/2 hour.

ETA: Also, my vet thinks she should go below 100.
 
When you test in 30 minutes, if she hasn't eaten her normal amount I would encourage her to eat again. What % of food does she normally get? Can you give her some slightly higher low carb food. Sammy typically gets 4-5%, but I will sometimes mix in 9-10% food to help bring up the carb percentage.
 
I just re-read what I posted. My vet thinks she should NOT go below 100.

She is eating Friskies Pate. That one was Tasty Treasures Beef and Liver with Cheese Pate. I have some gravy Friskies that I will offer her.
 
Good job shooting tonight. Any time you shoot a lower number, you can gather data that will help you get an idea of what she'll do next time. Make sure you write down what you feed and when you feed so you'll have that to refer back to.
 
+1 and a little, 125. I am assume food spike? Thanks Carla and Tina for your help. I'm scared shi!less, as that is the lowest number I have shot.
 
Take a look at the Where Can I Find? post in the second half with the interesting past posts. There are two that address your situation - what happens when you shoot low (ie, shooting the full dose into normal blood sugar numbers). Look for

Shooting Low
Tight Regulation Protocol, Myths Debunked (on shooting a dropping number)

The Shooting Low post also refers to the sticky at the top of this forum on Shooting & Handling Low Numbers, the section in there on Becoming Data Ready.
 
Sorry about the confusion. I meant if she goes low that I have the gravy. I thought the Tasty Treasure were high carb also, but this is the pate. 2.5 is the calculation I got from the calculator.
 
The Tasty Treasures are all 20-21% carbs. Use the list here at catinfo.org - Dr. Lisa is a vet that updated all the carb values a couple of years ago. It should be reliable. I'm not familiar with the site that you've linked for a calculator. I'd only use it if I couldn't find the food on her lists.
 
This is the guaranteed analysis I got from the Friskies web site:

Crude Protein (Min) 10.0 %
Crude Fat (Min) 5.0 %
Crude Fiber (Max) 1.00 %
Moisture (Max) 78.0 %
Ash (Max) 3.5 %
Taurine (Min) 0.05 %
 
The first couple of times I shot low numbers I was scared to death. You're doing fine. You should get a +2 test to see if she's going up or down or going to surf. That will help you know when to test next. Don't forget to update your subject line so people can see what's going on.
 
It looks like she's being flat kitty right now. I'd try a +3 and go from there. I'm signing off for the night. Don't forget you can always add the 911 icon to your subject line if you need to tonight. Hopefully Shiloh will just keep surfing for you.
 
Shiloh & Rhonda said:
ETA: I always hit post, then think of more information I wanted to say. Obviously it is better for the pancreas to kick in on it's own, and her not need insulin. But is it harder on them in the short run to push for remission, or just regulate? I know that sounds like a silly question.
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I'd probably just go one hour before testing again. I'll post this and then answer your question from last night.
 
I also always think of more to say, or want to edit what i did say, as soon as I hit post. :rolleyes: Somehow typos don't show up til you hit post, you know?!

The situation you're describing in your question above sort of resolves itself. Most people initially try to get a cat regulated. For many people, they then want to fit in the category of "tightly regulated" because it's the most protective of the cat's body. High blood sugar is hard on the body. So that would mean trying to get a cat into normal numbers (50-120ish). In that range of blood sugar, the pancreas has the opportunity to heal, if it is able to do so. If it does heal, then it will begin to put out insulin again and remission would be the result.

From the New to the Group sticky:
Q6.1. What is regulation?

A6.1. There are different definitions of regulation. As hometesting becomes more common, we've been getting a better understanding of what cats and their humans might be capable of. Janet & Fitzgerald propose the following "regulation continuum":
  • Not treated [blood glucose typically above 300 mg/dl (16.7 mmol/L), poor clinical signs]
  • Treated but not regulated [often above 300 (16.7) and rarely near 100 (5.6), poor clinical signs]
  • Regulated [generally below 300 (16.7) with glucose nadir near 100 (5.6), good clinical signs, no hypoglycemia]
  • Well regulated [generally below 200-250 (11.1-13.9) and often near 100 (5.6), no hypoglycemia]
  • Tightly regulated [generally below 150 (8.3) and usually in the 60-120 (3.3-6.7) range, no hypoglycemia, still receiving insulin]
  • Normalized [60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin]
There may also be an extra category of "mostly above 300 (16.7) but with good clinical signs" which occurs with some cats who are getting insulin. We don't know why it happens, but such a cat probably should not be considered to be regulated. On the other end of the spectrum, it is possible for a cat who is not getting insulin to have blood glucose as low as 40 mg/dl (2.2 mmol/L) on a home glucometer. If you have a non-diabetic cat, try testing her with the same meter to get a safe comparison figure.​
 
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