6/9 FAX DOSE DECREASE FOR MORNING SHOT? 32 @PM+4.5

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roisin and fax

Member Since 2011
Morning Lantus Land,
After my last post yesterday evening we had terrible thunder and lightning storms and lost power. It didn't come back on until 3 or 4 am - hence no updates on Fax. I did not shoot at dinner as his preshot was 110. I checked him again at +2.5 (from eating) and it was at 148. That was about 10 pm here and with no power and only one candle to be found I went to bed. I didn't give him any insulin as I didn't feel comfortable shooting such a low number without access to the board's help or any stickies. I hope this was the right decision. This morning he is quite high but seems to be doing ok.


yesterday viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45020
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439

Hi Roisin - I think you made the right decision under all the cicrumstances you were dealing with last night. While Fax is a little high this morning, he'll come back down.

Have a great day!

Amy
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439

Good morning Roisin! I would have made the same decision in your position. All will be good and you will be able to recover quickly.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439

Hi Roisin,
There were some bad storms last night, we had a doozy but didn't lose power! I'm glad you are ok, and got power back. You did fine, it's always better to err on the side of safety. I don't blame you for not wanting to shoot a low PS for the first time without help! Fax will get back on track....no worries. It's good that you got the test at +14.5, (you keep counting from the last shot) it gives you some data on overlap...nice job.

You might want to print out some of the stickies and posts with star icons (low ps, handling low numbers)....that info is handy to have around, and it will help you in the future if that happens again after you get a bit more comfortable with things.

I'm glad he got back to blue last night, he will get there again! It will take a cycle or two for him to refill the shed, so don't worry if he stays relatively high. Good time to get another ketone test if possible...
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439 +1.5 405

Ok great - I'm so glad that I made the right decision. He is drinking more this morning, but to be expected with the higher numbers. He's a little sleepy also (but its still stinkin hot here and I don't feel much like moving either!)

Civvie kitty, Angus is off to the vet this afternoon. His eye is looking better this morning but his ear is still bugging him and he puked after eating last night. Whatever it is I am hoping its not contagious because that is that last thing we need for Faxy right now!

I'll be following him around for that ketone test today!

The storm last night was definitely a doozy. It was sunny one minute and then out of nowhere dark as night and high high winds. I had to rush around closing windows (tricky to do as I am recovering from hip surgery!). The thunder was amazing - basically non stop for about 2 hours. And some fantastic lightning as well. I hear that many trees fell around town, which is unfortunate.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439 +1.5 405

I've tried to test by the light of a flashlight + iphone + iPad (the latter with the Flashlight app). It's not fun. I think you made a very good decision. Laurie's suggestion re. printing out the notes on handling low pre-shots and low numbers is a great idea, as well.

BTW, thanks for sending the thunderstorms our way! Lots of thunder and rain here this AM.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439 +1.5 405

Glad your power is back. And FAX will be back down too. Testing in the dark is very tough, I agree!

Earlier this spring after some tornados we lost power for 8.5 days and i had to test in the dark. This is what I learned... I needed someone holding the flashlight which was not always possible. So Karrie/Maverick suggested I get one of those headlight flashlights. It was great because it lights up where ever you are looking.

BUT I found it kind of uncomfortable. Next I found some reading glasses made by Foster Grant that have little lights in them. AWESOME! I need to use reading glasses for testing and these have tiny LED lights right in the glasses. Great for reading in bed AND for testing a kitty in the dark. But mainly they are easy and comfortable and look just slightly less dorky than wearing the headlight flashlight. Hahaha!! :lol:

Oh, oops.... it was that clever Julie who suggested the headlamp thingy... I'm sure she looks lovely in it. Hahaha! I looked dorky. ohmygod_smile
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439 +1.5 405

are you implying that i look dorky in my headlamp? i prefer to think i'm on the fashion cutting edge and that soon everyone will be wearing a headlamp! :lol: :lol: you have to get the band adjusted just right and it is a little weird to have it around your head. i'm used to it now and it helps a ton to shoot the punkin boy. didn't know about the glasses - that sounds helpful. i tried fastening a book reader light to my shirt facing out to see before i got the headlamp, also had my husband hold a flashlight, but the headlamp is a zillion times better than those options. i saw Home Depot has them on sale this week but don't know if what they're selling cheap is bright enough.

roisin, you made a good call. it's not that you couldn't have done it by following the directions, but it's a whole lot less nerve-wracking the first couple of times when someone can confirm that you're doing the right things. fax will be back on track by the weekend!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX AMPS 439 +1.5 405

Hi Roisin and Fax,
I agree that you did very well not shooting last night. It was the safe thing to do. Fax is on his way down already.
I use a headlamp, too, and it really helps to see the blood drop when testing (I don't normally use it to shoot because I have to get my head too close to Rusty and the headlamp gets in the way). (I can see close stuff much better without my glasses, since I have reached the point at which the life-long nearsighted get the "second sight".)

Have a good day today and keep those violent storms there--we can't use them here!!

Ella & Rusty

Hey Fax, I don't know if you've seen the invitation in my condo, but I'm having a party at Camp Stu tomorrow afternoon/evening. Hope you will come. Mannie can pick you up in the bus.
Rusty
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166

Fax is working hard today - his numbers are back to the blue. PMPS + 2 @166. I will do another check before bed.

Angus ended up having an abscess low down in his ear. Really thankful that I took him in to the vet.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166

When you see a drop like this at +2, it generally means an active cycle. (Your +2 should be about the same as your pre-shot.) Given this drop, I would test sooner rather than later -- like at +3.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 NEED HELP!

Just got him inside now. PM+4 @ 32. He is sleepy and purring differently. I gave him some high carb food and will test again in 20 mins. Slightly panicked over here...
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 NEED HELP!

you're doing fine - that was just right. you could add a tsp of karo to him as well. wait 15 minutes and retest - and repost
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 NEED HELP!

how are you doing?

melissa & tarragon are up tonight too. you have company in your pj party!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 NEED HELP!

checking in to see how your numbers are.

sometimes i found once i got numbers up with hc/karo i was able to sustain them with a little lc.

please update when you get a moment.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 NEED HELP!

A drop of Karo NOT a tsp!

Just squeeze the gravy from the top of the food and give 1tsp at a time.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 +4.25 32 NEED HELP!

i've given a teaspoon of karo to punkin, natalia - i don't know if it makes a difference in how big the dose is, but fax is getting about 5u. does that matter?

eta - you don't want him hanging in teh 30's . . .
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 +4.25 32 NEED HELP!

agreed on the comment that you don't want them hanging in the thirties. if the next test is still down there, try a little more honey/karo.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4 32 +4.25 32 NEED HELP!

karo works fast, so it will zoom quickly but it won't leave you up there long so you may need to fill it out on the back once numbers come up.

i'm by no means an expert, but we had lot's of opportunity to hang out in the 30s and low 40s with d'art and got some excellent advice when we ran into low numbers.

what is fax's appetite generally like? is he food motivated? some cats will get full quickly, so using gravy only is necessary to prevent them from getting too full and getting the most hc bang for the buck. some cats are hoovers, and will suck down whatever you set in front of them.

if he's more the former, stick to just the goo/gravy/liquid since that won't fill up your kitty.
if he's more the latter, you can include a little bit of the chunk. i have a garbage disposal for a cat, so if it's in the dish, it's getting eaten, which did make situations like this easier.

you are doing great. keep posting, keep testing.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

I just did a +5 test and it has gone up a bit to 41. I gave him a tsp more of HC.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

Fax is a definite hoover. He would eat anything if its in his dish. Or your plate, or the counter etc etc
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

Hi....I have not been around for a while but I too am up with a low kitty.
You have lots of help here and great advice. You don't want Fax hanging in the 40's. It does not seem like the HC is bumping up very much. You might want to add a drop of Karo to that gravy to get him up a little more.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

you're doing great roisin - he has an automatic decrease in his next dose, btw. it's probably a .25 decrease but i'm not sure at his dose - you might want to post the question at the end of tonight's hoo-haw and get an opinion for your morning dose. anytime a newly diagnosed kitty goes below 50 it's a decrease - to get down to 32 is for sure. punkin did that his first low numbers too - scared me!

so for tonight, you want to keep checking him every 20 minutes or so for awhile & repeating the process. he has to come up higher than this before you can go to bed and leave him.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

No problem. Im up until he's in the safe zone again. Where is a safe place to leave him? After his numbers are rising and past +6?
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

glad to see your eyes on it miriam - the rest of us are still fairly new and i don't want to bumble the advice!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

it's 2 rising numbers and past the nadir - and definitely out of the 50's! i probably would want to see at least 70's for punkin before i stopped.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

gosh, some of his lowest numbers seem to be at +10. i think if you want to go to bed you'll want to set an alarm. but don't go yet (sorry) get him at least to 60 before you do, and be certain that you'll wake up with the alarm. at least that's what i would do.

anybody else have thoughts on it?
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

You are correct Julie about seeing 2 rising numbers. The only thing you need to be sure is that they are not higher from the HC....so 2 rising numbers without food or without HC food.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

looking at his ss - i saw several of the lowest numbers were at +10 - but i just looked quickly. you know him best, roisin.

thanks for coming back over, miriam!!!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX PMPS 304 +2 166 +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41NEED HELP

woo hoo! hoover cat!

so you are skirting the 40s. better than 30s but you need two solid tests in the 50s or above to be okay according to my favorite post ever, how to handle low number (it's in julies signature too), however personally i always liked seeing a little higher, but that was me. Here is where that info comes from: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33862#p353329

so in these situations what i did was mix a little hc (mostly gravy and a couple pieces of chunk) with a dash of karo, and that karo is what got you from the 30s to 40s, but we need a little more bump, so a little more karo like miriam said is a good idea. a couple drops can make a difference.

once you see that 50s or more, a little bit of lc (tsp-tbs) can be your best friend. that can help carry fax over once the karo has up and left.

what we really want to see is going up, what you don't want to see is a backslide.

d'art would always think these nights were party time- he got to eat so much food!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

excellent broke a 50!

after this next round of testing if numbers are still upward try a little lc.

all of this works the same way in cats as it does for people.

you start with the sugar to boost quickly, and then give protein to sustain over time.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

okeydokey - once he's above 50 you can give him regular food to see if he will coast along. still test him again in 20ish minutes just to make sure he doesn't dip down when the sugar high runs down.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

seriously!

fax is giving everyone a run for his money tonight!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

if i could get pictures to upload you would see that fax and mococo look almost exactly alike!
off for another test. back in a few
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

At +5.75 Fax is now at 70.
I gave him a tsp of low carb wet food.
I have also just cleaned up vomit and diarrhea from the poor guy.
Poor thing. These swings really do a number on him.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

70 is good, but he may have gotten rid of some of the hc.

so i would test again in about 15

at that test if he is still on the up and up, i would not feed.

1. you don't want to give him too much food at this point.
2. you want to see what he will do without food.

once that number comes in, we can go from there.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

poor little bud - and poor mom. sorry about the explosions that ya had to clean up. we hate that. glad morgan had some advice because i wouldn't have been sure what to do with that!
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

+6 and Fax is now at 76. I didn't feed him anything this round.
Test in another 20 mins?
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

julie, you remember about a month ago when someone short, furry and french decided to redecorate my carpet in about 4 different kinds of ff for two days?

no?
i do. diabetic kitter vomiting- something i never knew i needed to know about.
 
Re: 6/9 FAX +4.5 32 +4.75 32 +5 41 +5.33 50 NEED HELP!

now you can look at testing in about 30.

here is what we are looking at then (we can thank sienne for this tomorrow)

1. Depending on how carbohydrate sensitive your cat is, feed approximately a teaspoon or less of food with high carb (HC) gravy or HC food only. (If you have a cat with GI issues, using syrup plus LC food is an alternative.)
2. Test again in 15 – 20 min. Depending on the numbers, give more HC food.
3. Repeat the above steps every 15 – 20 min. until your cat tests in the 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) or above range for 2 consecutive tests. Continue to feed in small amounts to keep numbers in a safe range.
4. Test in 30 - 40 min. and repeat the test and feed process until there are 2 consecutive tests where numbers are stable or rising.
5. Test in an hour and follow the same steps.


so right now we've been working on step 3, wash rinse repeat to get that number bumped up, you've had a 50, a 70, and a 76. all rising and consecutive tests, which are good.
 
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