7/21 Max AMPS 212 PMPS 131 +2 187 +5 205

[hollymayb]

Looks like we may be bouncing this morning. Had a pretty low day yesterday- actually had to give him a little HC food at one point. He really wants to earn that dose reduction!

Was looking at the protocol, and I have a question, a cat gets a decrease if he dips below 40, or 50 if he's newly diagnosed. Also, if he's between 40-50 on 3 separate instances on different days. Does it follow that a newly diagnosed cat gets a decrease after 3 times between 50-60?

Reducing the dose...
--- If kitty drops below 40 (long term diabetic) or 50 (newly diagnosed diabetic) reduce the dose by 0.25 unit

Alternatively, if the nadir glucose concentration is 40 - <50 mg/dl at least three times on separate days, try lowering the dose. If the cat drops below 40 mg/dl once, reduce the dose immediately!

Yesterday's Condo

AMPS 212
PMPS 131
+2 187
+5 205

Gone all day today, back in time for his PMPS! Have a good one!

Holly

 

[Mindy & Max]

Re: 7/21 Max AMPS 212

Ouch on the bounce! Didn't see that coming! Otherwise yesterday looks like a stellar day!

As for your dosing questions...I think the dipping below 50 on three separate days is more for long-term insulin users than for newbies. I only used the "drop below 50 once for newly diagnosed kitties" to give a reduction, tho there were a few (and I did get chewed a bit on here for doing it) when I gave a BCS (big chicken sh*t) dose because I couldn't be there to watch him and when he didn't have high numbers at the next pre-shot, I continued the lower dose. For my Max, those lower doses stuck just fine, but I think for most kitties they don't, especially because I was doing .5U reductions. They shouldn't have stuck, but somehow they did.

I would put "dose questions" in your subject line to get more eyes on it. My Max didn't rebound/bounce from dropping low, so I really can't say what to do in your case. I'm surprised he bounced if he only dropped into the 80s last night, especially considering he was down to 59 during the day yesterday but didn't have a high pmps. Is it possible he got into something he shouldn't in the early hours this morning that could have caused his numbers to go up?

And I guess it's possible he bounced just from spending so much time in the greens yesterday. His system isn't used to it, so it over-reacted. This is what many around here refer to as "liver training school"--his system has to learn not to dump too much glucose when his levels get near normal. But if this is the case, then no dose reduction should be given--to give his pancreas time to properly heal, he needs to spend more time in the greens and needs to get used to doing it without bouncing.

 

[hollymayb]

What the heck is the deal today? What's with all the high numbers?! We've double checked, and there's no food or treats or anything unusual that Max could've gotten in to. Are we still bouncing?

 

[Mindy & Max]

Are you feeding a new flavor of food? Some flavors, despite being listed as a lower carb percentage on the charts, actually cause different BG reactions. I noticed with my Max that one of the Friskie's seafood flavors, which was supposed to only be about 8% carbs, would pop his numbers up into the blues when he'd been surfing consistently in the greens. I also noticed with his food, that having fluctuating carb levels upset his stomach. I had been changing flavors at almost every meal, and they were all under 10%, but some were as low as 5%. It doesn't seem like much, but those changes were making him puke. I ended up settling to the two flavors I still feed, which are both 7% carbs, and no more puking. When I settled down to those two flavors was when his bg curves became virtually flat, but it was also around then that we were getting down to the .5U doses and nearing OTJ status. I'm sure the non-fluctuating carb level helped, but don't know if it really contributed to going OTJ by then. Anyway, it might be worth looking at the food he's getting--just because the chart says it should be safe for a diabetic cat doesn't mean that your cat won't react differently to it.

 

[hollymayb]

No, we haven't been doing anything differently food wise either. He gets the same carb % at every meal. I don't know what to make of it. Thanks for taking the time to read my condo Mindy!

-HQ