8/31 River PMPS:185 +1:220 +2:256 +4:477

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Picknickchick

Picknickchick

Member Since 2013
Yesterday
3 AM question about allergic response

6:45 471 (26.1)
6:45 3.25u ? Lantus
9:00 383 (21.3)
11:00 313 (17.4)
1:00 279 (15.5)

After a fairly sleepless night for me, River seems outwardly no worse for wear. He's going to get only Wellness until this settles, to minimize the variables. The next raw food will have pork rather than beef gelatin in it, just to be safe, because he went from looking alive and healthy again to seeming sick.

11 AM: his numbers seem to be coming down, and he sounds less congested. I really think there's a correlation with the beef.

I hope that everyone is having a nice start to the long weekend!
 
Re: 8/31 River AMPS:470 +2:383

Sorry to hear River is feeling yucky this morning :sad: Good luck and I hope he gets feeling better soon on his new food ;-)
Have a Great long weekend too dancing_cat
 
Re: 8/31 River AMPS:470 +2:383 +4:313

Thank you, Pam, and I hope your beautiful Manx boy is feeling great.
River seems better after a couple of not-so-great days. After his nadir I'm off to try to find a caliper, and get some more Wellness.
 
Re: 8/31 River AMPS:470 +2:383 +4:313 +6:279

I have a question about feeding. On Tilly's page, it says, "you will need to feed your cat lots of small meals spread over the day, free-feeding canned food can be an option for some cats". I have been feeding River at 6:30 AM with his morning shot, at +2 before I leave for work, and then not until 6:30 PM, as I don't want to influence his PMPS. Is this the correct way to feed? I'm at home much more on the weekends, so I could feed him small meals, but is that a good idea, as I can't do it on weekdays?
 
Re: 8/31 River AMPS:470 +2:383 +4:313 +6:279

Hi Lara!!
I'm very glad to see River's BG is sliding down nicely. :-D
I hope he starts feeling well soon too.

About the feeding, I stick to the feeding schedule I can do over the weekdays too.
I feed her at preshot time, at +1 and at +2. Plus a small one before bedtime.
We are not supposed to feed our FD kitties 2 hrs prior to preshot test, so no food for River after 4:30, if you are getting his preshot test at around 6:30.
I used to feed Lucy twice a day before, but since I got an advice about smaller meals spread over the day, I now feed her 7 meals a day, but I do only what I can do consistently.
I used to divide a meal equally in 3 portions for preshot, +1 and +2, but since Lucy tends to drop rapidly after each shot, I now feed her the largest portion at a preshot time - almost half but a little less than half of her one meal portion.
I like this also because Lucy's appetite is best at the first meal. I don't want her good appy wasted. :-D
And a little smaller portion than half of what's left at +1, and the remaining at +2.
I do this because AM+2 number is very important to me. Her AM+2 gives me an idea when I can leave for work.
I make +1 meal the smallest of all in hopes that the +2 number would not be too food-influenced.
Also, Lucy likes to dive at +2, so a little bigger portion at +2, in hopes to slow her down.
And then a small extra mini-meal at bedtime in order to help her morning sickness.

I'm sure, as you collect River's data, you will figure out the best feeding schedule for him, that also work for your work schedule.
In the beginning, I received an advice about auto-feeder for Lucy for while I'm at work, so I bought one, but I haven't been able to use it successfully because of Ginger.
And it's too stressful for Lucy to be enclosed in one room.
An auto-feeder may not work for you either since you have seven kitties. :-D

I asked the same question when I started spreading meals - giving food at +1 would affect the result of +2 test too much?
And I got an answer that when a kitty dives, she/he dives anyway, and that has proven to be very true for Lucy. :-D

Just sharing what I do for Lucy.
I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions and ideas!!!

By the way, you changed your avatar.
That is a very nice avatar, but I miss seeing handsome River!!!
 
Re: 8/31 River PMPS 185 Please advise.

This is a low PMPS. Do I shoot, wait and shoot, or skip?
I just fed him, so I will wait until I get some advice on this one.
This is the lowest PMPS he's ever had.
 
Re: 8/31 River PMPS:185 Please advise.

I would shoot the regular dose, if you are going to be home to monitor and have all the supplies you need including plenty of test strips and HC or karo if needed.

I haven't read your condo yet, so I'm not sure why the dose changes in the past day or so. I think you need to stick with one dose and see how he does on it. I would shoot the 3.50 since you already started it and the shed was starting to build on this 3.50 dose, again as long as you will be home and have supplies.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

The 3.5 is because I was advised to bring the dose up to 3.25, but will need help getting a quarter unit right. I am not sure if I got it right, so I recorded 3.5 in the spreadsheet. I'm supposed to be aiming for the 3.25. OK, I will inject him, but I guess I will be up all night worrying again. As long as this is in his best interest, I'm happy to do it!
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

That's a great number! :-D Do you have plenty of strips, will be around to test and have medium carb and high carb food or karo or honey in case you need to bring up numbers. If so, you are good to shoot.

I am wondering if pork may not be such a good choice for River. Pork isn't a typical food that cats eat either.
Liz
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Regarding pork, do you mean pork gelatin, Liz?

About injecting, I guess on its own it is a great number, but in the context of being high, I think that a lot of big highs that plunge into lows is hard on him, and the last time he had a hypo so I am nervous. This is exactly what I was up all night last night about. I would rather see him *slowly* go down so it isn't a shock to his body.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Picknickchick said:
This is a low PMPS. Do I shoot, wait and shoot, or skip?
I just fed him, so I will wait until I get some advice on this one.
This is the lowest PMPS he's ever had.
Click to expand...
Also, just for your future reference, when you get a test number that you are not sure about shooting, please do not feed.
If you feed and have to wait awhile, say 30 minutes, to test again, those BG numbers will be influenced by the food spike.

Good luck tonight.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

He was at 470 this morning and now suddenly dropped.
This is safe to shoot?
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

:razz: Okay, I'll change that. Have a good night ;-)
Don't worry his numbers will go up with the food he just ate. You can feed him some more if he goes lower. The meter is your friend. If he goes too low (like below 50 or 60), you can feed him some higher carb food.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Phew, OK, I'm just too surprised; this is unexpected because it's a surprise nadir. :o
Wish us lots of those good vines, people and cats of LL!

I just had to add, Dyana, that I'm freaked out because the last time his numbers swooped like this he had a hypo and it was the most frightening thing that had ever happened to me. And he wasn't that low, like 4.8. But it was a big swoop.
I have a huge ache right now.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

This is his hypo just over a week ago.
I dont' want this to happen again.
His numbers weren't that low, but he had a big swoop during the day that shocked him.
I am very afraid this may happen again as he was very high this morning.

*************

From August 20:
At 3, because his numbers continued to go down, I gave 1/4 c. Orijen kibble, and two small pieces of sweet potato with honey. He licked the potato once, wasn't interested in it, but ate all the kibble. He isn't behaving like he's hypo, but the numbers are too low. I will decrease the insulin to 2.5. I was supposed to return to work tomorrow, but will take the rest of the week off to help regulate him. At 8 PM had what I am guessing is a seizure. He was lying beside where I was working on the picnik table, close to my right hand. I looked over at him, and his eyes looked all wrong: tiny pupils and third eyelid partly covering. I called him, and shook him gently, and he was completely limp and didn't seem to be breathing. I started giving him mouth to mouth, and he suddenly came awake, and stood up. I picked him up in my arms and he shook himself so that he almost jumped out of my arms. I put him down on the deck, and he walked a bit. We went inside, and when I touched him he jumped and shook a bit; super-sensitive to touch. I thought he might be hypo so I got the corn syrup and stuck some in his mouth, and then got some rabbit/turkey raw food, which he was happy to eat. I was freaked out, and called HVRS to see if I should give him his 8PM shot, and what to do.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

I just tested him and his BG is 176 (9.8). I have not given any insulin.

Is there anything I can do like give him part of the dose now and part later?
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

You only want to dose once every 12 hours, otherwise you have 2 nadirs to worry about. Cats that start with lower PS don't come down as far or as fast as when they start higher. The ideal Lantus curve is quite flat.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

How long after your normal PS is it now? Normally if we are stalling, we don't feed so we can wait and shoot when the numbers are starting to rise, but the food will influence that. Once you have more data, you can shoot dropping numbers. I have to do that most of the time with Neko, just because that's the way her cycles work.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

I'm probably not reading that first message correctly but I don't understand. He did start high, very high, and came down sort of fast today.
Now I don't know what to do to keep him safe.

So right now it's half an hour after his shot time.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

River did today what we sometimes refer to as a slide. Several cats here do that. It means that he is probably breaking his bounce and getting into more normal numbers. Tonight, he likely will do a more normal U shaped curve.

You have a couple of options tonight. (1) You could shoot his normal dose now and be ready to monitor tonight, which probably means testing a little later than you have been and definitely getting a +1 and a +2 to see what the cycle will look like. (2) You could delay some more and wait until his numbers come up, but then you'll have the issue of trying to get back on schedule for when you go back to work on Tuesday. You can move your shot time back 30 minutes (once a day or 15 minutes each shot). (3) Another option is to give a reduced dose tonight and go back to his regular dose tomorrow. However, a delayed shot acts somewhat like a reduction and you've already delayed.

On this board, we suggest that people post and ask for help when the PS is below 150. On Health it's 200.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Thank you Wendy - he's been high for so long that I'm following the 200 rule. I didn't know the 150 rule for this board.

I don't mind testing later, I'm just scared he's going to suddenly go hypo. Hm, I think I will test him again, and see what he's doing.
He ate 30 mins. ago. Again, sorry about that, I thought that was okay; I have to re-read everything ;-) to be better prepared.

So can I ask again after I test him?
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

As long as you have high carb food or syrup, you can control his numbers. This will probably be a great cycle for River. Just get a +1 and a +2 test and people can advise when you need to test next and if you need to feed him higher carb food. You are not alone in this. :-D
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Now he is 178/9.9.

Wendy, may I please ask you, which of the 3 is his best option at this point?
I am tending toward the lower dose, but if so how much of a reduction?
Thanks and sorry, I'm scared.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

He is surfing, not dropping and you are probably OK to do the full dose if you have test strips and high carb food. You may not need them, but we always ask just in case. You've already delayed enough that it's the same as a part reduction. BTW, I'm probably up for another 6-7 hours at least. You will have company.

What I would do (full dose) may not be in your comfort zone and I understand that. Most of us have been there. You know he's safe at the 3 units and could do that if it makes you more comfortable. Over time you'll learn what to expect when River starts with lower PS. So, time to shoot and we'll see what the +1 looks like.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Thank you. I needed some level-headed advice, and understanding, and you've given me enough that I stopped fretting and gave him the 3 units.
Thanks again, Wendy. I was having the newbie jitters, especially after the last couple of weeks.
 
Re: 8/31 River LOW PMPS:185 Please advise.

Good shooting Lara! In no time you'll be craving those blue preshots. :-D :-D See you in +1.
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220

OK, I think I might survive. ;-)
+1: 220 (12.2).

But in case I don't, the money's under the mattress.
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220

Let's see what the +2 will say. Often as not my Neko goes up after a low preshot, but some will surprise you. :lol:
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220 +2:256

Well done, Lara and River!!! It's super scary and you are doing great! :-D :-D And it will get easier.
Liz
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220 +2:256

+2 is 256 (14.2), so he increased, but gently.
I will get the +4 and 6, and depending on the 6, do more, as during the day +7 is most often his nadir...except for today!
If he can coast into the lower numbers, I'd be thrilled. I just hate the zig-zag wild mouse bouncing, because I think it takes a toll on his body.

So Wendy, do you think this testing plan for tonight makes sense?
I want to say thank you again for your help with this.
Next time I don't think I'll be quite so apprehensive.
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220 +2:256

Liz, you're very kind.
River deserves the thanks for being such a gentleman and doing this on the long weekend.
 
Re: 8/31 River +1:220 +2:256

A +4 is a good one, then we'll see how he's doing from then. Looking good. Flat cycles are my favorite.
 
The neighbours will shortly be getting a visit from les gendarmes.
Thanks for holding our hands and paws, Wendy. Have a good night!
 
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