Re: 8/14 Harley +8/43
it's not as if 40 is some magic number that means "reduce." It's not that if he's 41 you can't reduce but 39 you can, the 40 is just a signal that he may be ready for a reduction. 43 can be the same signal, if the spreadsheet overall looks like it is time for a reduction. Look at Harley's spreadsheet and see what you think. Does he usually hold reductions if you reduce in the mid-40s? Or do his reductions often fail? That will tell you whether he is ready for a reduction rather than artificially trying to get some magic number. I don't recommend withholding food from a cat in the 40s unless it is the very end of his cycle and you are waiting for him to rise to shoot.
Incidentally, the opposite often applies here too. We have several people here who feed their cats' curves so aggressively that it is almost impossible for their cats to ever get to 40-50. In those cases, people might have to decide to reduce based on how hard they are having to work to keep the numbers up.
One thing I've been thinking about with Harley is that maybe, because he bounces so hard and so long, you might want to try shooting into the bounce a little bit. Sometimes you have shot the old/higher dose in the next cycle after a low number because you know he'll be bouncing and that extra juice might help hold the bounce a bit lower. Since Harley's bounces are usually more than one cycle, you might even be able to shoot two cycles of the old dose. You would have to be able to monitor that second cycle just in case he does start to clear the bounce early and start to drop. Shooting into bounces isn't a beginner technique for sure, but you have lots of data on Harley and he is a hard bouncer. Just a thought.
Have a great day, guys!
