9/02 | Mochi | AMPS 59

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Mochi & Me

Mochi & Me

Member Since 2017
Condo HERE.

Here we go again....

AMPS (+11.75) 59 = no shot given.

I have a call into the vet. Waiting to hear back.
 
Did you get any night time tests?
Yes 59 = no shot, this time. You don't have enough data yet, I don't think.
If she continues to need insulin, later, you may do what we call a "stall" and not feed and see if she comes up to a number that you are comfortable shooting.
Let us know what the vet says.
 
Unfortunately I already fed him.

I did put out LC wet food for him last night. He only ate a little of it. Maybe 1/3? Most of it was still sitting in the bowl this morning. He's really picky. *sigh*
 
Mochi & Me said:
Unfortunately I already fed him.

I did put out LC wet food for him last night. He only ate a little of it. Maybe 1/3? Most of it was still sitting in the bowl this morning. He's really picky. *sigh*
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No problem. I think in Mochis case skipping this morning is not a big deal.
He is so fresh from his hypo. Think of it as a fur shot. Do test periodically- the data will be valuable.
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
So how is Mochi today? All Ps in place? (Peeing, pooping, purring, preening and playing)
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He seems to be doing well. I haven't gone up and checked his litter box yet, but he was good with all the Ps yesterday.

I just got a call from the vet. She said to keep testing him this weekend and don't shoot unless his BG is over 200. I'm supposed to call Tuesday morning and let them know how it's going. They might want him to come in to check his fructosamine levels.

I asked about possibly getting him in sooner for the tooth extraction, but she's pretty adamant that they don't want to put him under when his blood sugar is bouncing all over the place.

She also gave me a bit more history. Apparently he was started out on Prozinc. It also sounds like they've had a hard time regulating him.
 
Sounds like a plan not to shoot under 200. A fructosamine test right now may not be very accurate. It measures the average glucose levels over a 2-3 week period. If Mochi has been going low and bouncing high because of the too high dosing he was geting, the fructosamine will not be able to tell the difference and could give an inaccurate result. If the vet wants a fructosamine done it would be better to wait a few weeks, when Mochi has been more stable and have it done then.

Dental disease can contribute or be a leading cause of diabetes in kitties. If there are serious dental issues, it is foolish to wait too long since it will make regulation or remission virtually impossible.

Prozinc is a good insulin for some kitties. The trouble with regulating him may have been not doing proper monitoring and adjusting the dosing accordingly.
 
FWIW, IMHO, fructosamine panels don't offer much value. Save your money for the dental.

With Lantus, to get the best results, you need to find a dose you can shoot consistently every 12 hours.

My $0.02 -Rather than not shooting unless over 200, which may result in a lot of skipping, it may be better to drop back to .5u and see if you can string together 6 cycles without any drama. What do you think?

Let's see what others think as well.
 
I agree with the fructosamine being of little value because of the low numbers and any bouncing that resulted from them, and saving the money for the dental. I also thought trying a 0.5 dose could be the next step.
 
I personally would not bother with the fructosamine test, but from what I understood this is the rescue's vet and they have the say in what tests etc are to be done. I
 
Regarding the dental situation...
Have a look at the attached graph illustrating Black Kittys average daily insulin use month by month for the entire 21 months he was on insulin. To give you some background, BK was a 5yr old, FiV+ street cat when we took him in in January 0f 2008. He was diagnosed with IAA, a high dose conditionin September of 2008. I was shooting some 45u (Lantus and R combined) by then.

Note the following points on the graph -

11/2008
12/2008
06/2009
10/2009

In late October of 2008 he had a lump removed, which thankfully was benign. While he was under, the vet took a good look inside his mouth. She noticed a rotted root fragment, from a molar that had broke off and she removed it without difficulty. His mouth was a mess...she recommended veterinary dental specialist it was so bad.
In early December 2008 he had his first dental surgery with the specialist.
In late May 2009 he had a second dental with the specialist.
On October 23 2009, exactly 1 year after that that first rotting fragment was removed it was party time - Black Kitty was off the juice.
For good.

click to enlarge
BK insulin graph (640x359).jpg
 
Tuxedo Mom said:
I personally would not bother with the fructosamine test, but from what I understood this is the rescue's vet and they have the say in what tests etc are to be done
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Pretty much, yes.

Sandy and Black Kitty said:
With Lantus, to get the best results, you need to find a dose you can shoot consistently every 12 hours.

My $0.02 -Rather than not shooting unless over 200, which may result in a lot of skipping, it may be better to drop back to .5u and see if you can string together 6 cycles without any drama. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I don't have half units marked on my syringes, so I'm not sure how I'd do that. I'd be guesstimating the dose every time.

I'm hoping once the dental work is done that things will settle down and we can get him regulated. In the mean time I'm trying to find a LC food he'll actually eat.
 
Until you get half unit marked syringes, try practising removing drops. Fill a used syringe with coloured liquid. Twist the plunger to remove a drop. Try to get consistent sized drops. Count the number of drops in one unit, load the syringe to one unit and remove half the drops.
 
Tuxedo Mom said:
I personally would not bother with the fructosamine test, but from what I understood this is the rescue's vet and they have the say in what tests etc are to be done. I
Click to expand...
As someone who is also dealing with a vet that works for the rescue I foster for, I can say that the fructosamine has one big advantage: as long as the number is halfway decent, they let me handle the day-to-day dosing decisions and don't try to micromanage everything. I guess you just pick your battles...
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Until you get half unit marked syringes, try practising removing drops. Fill a used syringe with coloured liquid. Twist the plunger to remove a drop. Try to get consistent sized drops. Count the number of drops in one unit, load the syringe to one unit and remove half the drops.
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That's a great tip.

Another is to put some food coloring in some water, draw your best guess at .5u. Save that syringe to use as an gauge to compare against your actual syringe with insulin. It doesn't matter if you have exactly .5u or not, what matters is that you can duplicate it.
It's your .5u
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
That's a great tip.

Another is to put some food coloring in some water, draw your best guess at .5u. Save that syringe to use as an gauge to compare against your actual syringe with insulin. It doesn't matter if you have exactly .5u or not, what matters is that you can duplicate it.
It's your .5u
Click to expand...

All great tips! Thanks! :cat:

I did find a paper ruler template for fine dosing using BDs (which is what I have), so I may print that out and try it.
 
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