8/13 Morgaine Question about being in the green?

[skybar22]

yesterday

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope the weekend in your neck of the woods is nice!

After a day of some very mid blue numbers, I was concerned that Morgaine might be back up in yellow this AM but she wasn't. Trying to make sense of all of this is beyond me so I am just going with it and sticking with the new dose for a longer time.

She was spilling glucose last night and not in small amounts and she was urinating more often so I knew she was higher than her glucometer read. At +4 she was 164 and glucose in urine was 2+ on the Bayer diastix. I was glad to see a 133 this AM. Her numbers were in the 140's otherwise, yesterday except for AMPS which was a lovely 107 or something like that.

So we carry on and hope for a day with lower numbers.

I just read a short article about curing type 2 diabetes in adults. It is pretty austere, only 600 calories a day for several weeks but interesting and certainly worthwhile for humans. Read about it here.
It may be similar to our kitties who go into remission when their food is changed.

 

[skybar22]

Re: 8/13 Morgaine AMPS 133, +6 70,+8 81

Morgaine decided to surf some green today. :smile: Very nice to see that though i am just a little apprehensive. Decided to do a little food change up to keep things steady. Usually I give her a 6 PM lite, carb free snack but decided to give a 10% ff sm meal. I am glad I did because at +8 she was only 81. She does normally eat the FF 10% meals 2x per day as it is low fat and she needs that. However, with a +6 of 70, I thought a carb free snack would not be enough. So, she got her carb free snack at +8 with an 81. I am curious to see where she goes next.

I also tried, for the 1st time, her new cat feeder. I got the same one Sienne has. It is very basic and works great. She wasn't sure what to make of it when the door flipped open but it didn't stop her from eating her treat. :lol:

This 3 unit dose is making a difference and things, though changeable, will provide me with more data to work with.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Re: 8/13 Morgaine AMPS 133, +6 70,+8 81

Rosalie:

With regard to urine testing there's one major thing to keep in mind. The urine testing is not reflective of your cat's immediate glucose level and is not well correlated with BG levels. It takes hours for urine to form and for your cat's bladder to be full. As a result, the reading you're getting is, in essence, hours old. Generally, using urine tests for glucose isn't recommended. The diastix are unable to get accurate readings in lower ranges.

 

[skybar22]

Re: 8/13 Morgaine AMPS 133, +6 70,+8 81

Rosalie:

With regard to urine testing there's one major thing to keep in mind. The urine testing is not reflective of your cat's immediate glucose level and is not well correlated with BG levels. It takes hours for urine to form and for your cat's bladder to be full. As a result, the reading you're getting is, in essence, hours old. Generally, using urine tests for glucose isn't recommended. The diastix are unable to get accurate readings in lower ranges.

Yes, I do know this. Did a lot of urine testing before there were glucometers. Morgaine's problem is that she tends to reach that renal threshold and then she pees often. I use the urine glucose as secondary confirmation that her BGs are too high. I watched her hit the box several times yesterday and was able to get a drop of urine at + 4, I think. I have wondered about the accuracy of the glucometer and have checked it against my Precison X-tra as well as discussed it with others who use the Frestyle and I think it runs lower than my Precision. There is definitely a pattern with Morgaine when her BG is elevated. She drinks more and pees more. She seems really sensitive to this. I wouldn't rely on urine glucose for anything but satisfying my curiosity.

I would use the Precision meter on her but it requires a large blood sample and I no longer get test strips for it as my insurance changed me to the Freestyle. So, I adjust to that. I would like to get a different meter for Morgaine but I have so many strips for the Freestyle and I really can not afford to buy them all myself so I share some of my supply with her, ;-)

 

[skybar22]

Re: 8/13 Morgaine AMPS 133, +6 70,+8 81

So, if anyone is still up, I have a question. I am having company until Friday, 8/19 and I would never leave Morgaine alone for any long period of time with numbers in the green without having more info. This is too new for us for me to be able to say she will be safe for several hours. If things are still running in this beautiful green range tomorrow, would you leave the dose at 3 or go down a bit to be sure she stays safe? I will be around a lot of the time but may go out for 2-3 hours at a time. I have been testing her every 2 hours since she went into the greens and I have been giving her a little food each time to keep her from going too low. Usually i have been feeding her more food less often and now I am wondering about changing the feeding schedule as well.

She has lost 1/2 a pound since we started insulin, which is what we wanted. She needs to lose another 1/2 pound so i do not want to over feed her. Right now she eats about 220 calories divided into 5 feedings of approx. 1.5 oz per feeding. One feeding is ff appetizer chicken as it has no fat or carbs. Any help in how to feed her with these green numbers would be greatly appreciated as well.

I probably should see how low she actually goes if she is in the 80 range and it is not time to feed her. I will do that Sunday and get an idea if she is going to drop down much lower. As I posted, she was 70 at +6 so I fed her a 10% carb food rather than her carb free snack and then at +8 I fed her the carb free sbnack. She was 81 at +8. At +10 she was 87 and since I usually do not feed and test at +10 I was a little concerned so I gave her a 1/4 can of ff 10% carb. At PMPS she was 114. I think I should have let the +10 go without feeding her since that was extra food. I should have seen where she would land at her PMPS.

Sorry to be so detailed and anal with all of this but I am trying to figure out what is best to do for her while my family is here and my attention is divided. I haven't seen my brother and his wife in 6 years and we have plans to do several things.

My family arrives tomorrow, Sunday, but I can stay home as they will be here for the most part. Starting Moday, we will be doing some things in and out of the house.

Anyone have any suggestions for what is best?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

For me, knowing when my cat's nadir is gives me more flexibility. If you can plan your out-of-the house time for after nadir, Morgaine's numbers should remain flat or be on the rise. Leaving food out will also help. Unfortunately, the "rules" with food are very individualized.

 

[Libby and Lucy]

or you might try leaving food out and seeing if she will go help herself to a snack if she is dropping. Lucy always did, Jazzy doesn't. It can make a big difference if you know she'll feed her own curve.