? 7/14 Walter AMPS 269, +5 93, +8 107, +12 46, +12.75 65, + 13.5 51 - no shot tonight...

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Mandarin'sMom

Mandarin'sMom

Member Since 2014
Yesterday's condo

Well, I guess the latest bouncelet is officially over! I certainly didn't see the 46 coming - and without thinking, I just fed him immediately. In hindsight, I wish I had stalled a bit to see if he was coming up on his own. So, the big question is: now what? I had no intention of skipping this shot. I will check again shortly and see where he is at. But what is the earliest that I could actually shoot? Two hours after he ate?

My schedule is flexible enough that I can easily get him back on track even if I delay by 2 or 3 hours - so I am not too worried about that.

..and all of this comes after an already crazy day. Endless volunteer shift at the shelter and then I come home to a major plumbing issue. Turns out that the hard water we have here damaged the rubber parts in my toilet enough that it basically self-destructed. To make matter worse: that is my one and only bathroom in the house and said toilet was put in in 1940 - which means that no hardware store in town had a flapper that would fit. Sigh. It's fixed for now, we have running water again, and the actual repair is scheduled for next week.
 
If it were a full meal, yes, I would wait 2 hours and retest and if it shootable go for it and then work your way back to your schedule time. Thank Goodness for flexibility! ;)

Walter, you are sneaky.... I take it you got a second test?
 
Sounds like Walter put the icing on the crazy day today! :eek:

I find it helps to go back to what is written in the Sticky on Handling Low Preshots.

Some general rules when stalling (ECID):

** 50s or higher – don’t feed. The number will bump up on its own soon due to the insulin wearing off.
** 40s or lower – you have a couple of choices.
  • When 40s occur at the end of the cycle, it can be beneficial to withhold food and test in 15-20 minutes to determine if kitty is on the rise or hasn’t reached nadir yet.
  • If they are hanging in the 40s for a while, or if they are still dropping, it is ok to feed a tsp or two of LC and retest. This is very tricky. You want to avoid feeding too much while you’re waiting for them to go over 50, because you don’t want to artificially inflate the number with food.
    • --- Example: if kitty is 43 and you feed a whole meal, or feed some HC, and the number bumps up to 52, is that the cat’s natural end-of-cycle rise, or is it food spike? What if it is food spike? Then if you shoot the 52, when the food wears off he might drop back to the 40’s (and when insulin kicks in a couple of hours later, you might have a problem). If the 52 is the cat’s natural rise, then he will probably keep rising for the next few hours until insulin kicks in. If you can’t tell whether the number is food spike or natural rise, it’s safest to wait. Your data will help you here. Study the spreadsheet. How much food spike does the cat usually get? How many hours after the shot does the insulin’s onset usually occur in this cat? At what number is the cat likely to be when onset occurs? If the cat does drop, how easy/hard is it to regain control of the numbers? How carb sensitive is he?
** Test often (every 15-20 minutes, or at most every 30 minutes). You want to catch the rise the minute it starts. With most of our cats, once they start to rise they will really zoom. You want to get the insulin in as soon as possible, because it will be another 2-3 hours before the insulin kicks in and you don’t want to let the cycle get too far ahead of you.

Perhaps the most important guideline in shooting low is that any time you shoot your lowest ever number, you should get a +1 and +2 to give you an idea of how the cycle will go. If the +1 is not higher than PS, or if +2 is much lower than PS, that means “pay attention” over the next few hours. Those tests will also help you become even more data ready for the next time you are presented with a low preshot reading.

Using the overlap by shooting low is a great way to take advantage of Lantus/Levemir’s long, flat cycles, once you have learned to do so safely.

So you don't really have to wait a full two hours. How much of a food spike dose Walter normally get from his meal that you've already fed him? Keep testing every 20-30 minutes and when you see him start to rise quickly above the amount where he'd be with a food spike, you are OK to shoot. If you aren't sure about the food spike amount, then you can wait two hours for the meal carbs to wear off, but he might be much higher by then.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
So you don't really have to wait a full two hours. How much of a food spike dose Walter normally get from his meal that you've already fed him? Keep testing every 20-30 minutes and when you see him start to rise quickly above the amount where he'd be with a food spike, you are OK to shoot. If you aren't sure about the food spike amount, then you can wait two hours for the meal carbs to wear off, but he might be much higher by then.
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That's good to know.
 
Well, I guess that 51 answers my question: it'll be a no-shot night for us. :arghh: He ate a regular sized meal at +12 and if he is already dropping again, I just don't think I can safely do Insulin. Maybe two 18-hour cycles... or am I missing something?

Doodles & Karen said:
Walter...joining the dramatic dive team?
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Yes, that was definitely an Olympia-worthy dive today! Always good for a surprise....
 
Walter my goodness we're being a bit dramatic today aren't we?
Mandarin'sMom said:
I certainly didn't see the 46 coming - and without thinking, I just fed him
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I would have fed him too!
I don't like delaying shots; I was always afraid that, the following cycle, I would forget to delay it and end up shooting after less than 12 hours.
 
I'd skip the shot and get a good night's sleep. I'm a big fan of taking the opportunity to sleep when you can. :) Some cats do OK on the 18 hour thing, but I've only used it when I could not be around for preshot time.
 
Skipped shot it is! I'm already falling asleep on the couch - so eight hours of uninterrupted sleep sound wonderful.

Now I just need to sit the kittens down and talk to the about sleeping through the night... No mewing for food, running across their sleeping bean's face, or batting around the noisiest toy they can find. ;):cat::p
 
He made it to 71 at +15... I think I'll set an alarm for +4 or 5, just to be on the safe side.

I'm already getting a kitty massage (courtesy of Walter) and I know I won't be able to stay awake much longer... According to my Fitbit, I walked 10.6 miles today... In 90-degree weather. I'm exhausted! Good night, L&LL.
 
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