9/13 Obie Amps 124, +4 280

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Obie

Obie

Member Since 2014
His PM shot last night was 419, so this was a surprise to wake up to.
He seems to be spending more time in better zones lately. Keep it up buddy!
Side note: The pet glucometer (Alphatrak2) had him at 154 amps! Exactly 30 away as it should be from the Human meter.
 
if you'll look at his spreadsheet - see the 85 night before last at pm+9? His body reacted to that by bouncing (2nd post in thread) and went high by morning.

You had the amps 377 yesterday morning. He stayed high all day and his pmps was 419.

I suspect he came down like a rock after that, and when you caught the amps 124 this morning, he was on his way up from somewhere lower in the wee hours of this morning. I think that because he's continuing on his way up today - +4/280 and i suspect you'll have an even higher number by pmps.

Two big things to take away from this.

1 - Obie is clearing bounces in less than 24 hours - which is great! that means his body isn't too unaccustomed to normal numbers.
2 - Night cycle tests are critical for you to know how low he's going. He is barely touching down and launching back up again.

Two things you can do:

1. you want to slow his drops down by giving him carbs to keep him from dropping too quickly. You'll have to play with it to see if just giving him low carbs might be enough. It might. Depends on the cat. Many people will break up the food into 3-4 "mini-meals", feeding at preshot +1, +2, and +3. That spreads out the food to hopefully slow down any drops. If he's clearing a bounce, it might not coincide with a shot/meal time. You'd want to give him some extra food if you see him diving, even if it's not when you'd normally feed him. Dropping 50 points or more per hour will just set up yet another bounce, so trying to slow his drops down is very worthwhile.

2. You also want to encourage him to linger in green numbers as long as possible. As soon as he gets into greens, give him 2 teaspoons of his regular low carb food. That can help a cat "surf" in green numbers. The longer he spends there, the more his body will accept it as normal.

heehee i love outlines. :-D

oh - and the variation between the AT and the relion are likely to be smaller in lower numbers (50 human meter typically equates to 68 AT) than in higher numbers (30-40% spread, so 300 on Relion might be 400 AT.) It's not usually a constant 30 points, although perhaps different meters are different.
 
Wowie! Thank you. It makes a bunch of sense. I got home late last night and missed his 9pm snack.
He ate 1/3 can of fancy feast at midnight. That could have kept him low enough to be at 124 this morning.
I will keep a close eye on him tonight. And get a reading about +6,and +8 and see what they look like.
 
human meter / 0.65 = pet meter estimate
pet meter * 0.65 = human meter estimate
 
Wow! That's a heck of a drop from 112 to 63 at +2 tonight. I'm not sure how far out you are from PMPS, but I would definitely try to get another test at +3 (or as soon as you can if you're already past +3). In my experience, kitties who drop so fast so early tend to go below 50 in the cycle. We definitely want to catch that.

Just a tip - if you'll go back to the very first subject line in this thread and post your PM numbers, it will get more eyes on what's going on. For example: 9/13 Obie PMPS 121, +2 - 63.
 
thanks for clarifying. It is a huge drop from the pmps to the +2 - that means you need another test at +2.5.

right now, give him 2 tsps of regular LC.

you might need to get the high carb gravy cat food, or karo syrup out. you can wait til he drops below 50, but please be vigilant. that's a significant drop.
 
+3.5 he is at 56.
I fed him some more fancy feast and gave him 4 kernals of dry food.
Should I bust out the gravy?
 
not til he goes below 50. i wouldn't give him any dry food unless it's the only option and he's less than 50. I'd use corn syrup, gravy, honey, pancake syrup all first. 56 is normal and safe. you want him to spend time in the normal numbers (50-120) for as long of a stretch as possible. So you don't want to carb him before he goes below 50.
 
Hell... I didn't see this before I gave him a tablespoon of gravy food.
It was about 15 min after last test.
 
well THAT'S gonna make for one happy Obie! :lol:

no harm done and one happy kitter! :lol: i think everyone overcarbs the first time they are facing low numbers. it's fine - you'll have another chance and next time you'll know to let him go.
 
i should add, blood sugar can wobble around once it's come up, so the rule of thumb is that you want to test at least 1 hr after you've given food to make sure that the blood sugar is going to stay up after the carbs wear off.

Here are the directions for handling low numbers (under 50) from the Shooting and Handling Low Numbers sticky. He didn't make it under 50, but i want to make sure you have this in case you need them after the carbs wear off. i have to get off the board now. If i were you, i'd check again until an hour has passed since he ate the gravy, and you can see his blood sugar is staying stable and above 50.
DON'T PANIC! or HOW TO HANDLE LOW NUMBERS

First, try to not panic. Post to the Lantus Insulin Support Group or on the Health Board. Make sure your subject line indicates you are concerned about a possible hypo and/or add the 911 icon to the first post in your condo. People who are experienced in dealing with low numbers will be there to help. After posting, remember to refresh your browser periodically to see if people have replied.

It’s important to recognize that just because your cat may be experiencing low BG numbers doesn’t mean that your kitty is critically hypoglycemic. Many cats will have low numbers and never have symptoms. It’s important, though, to bring those numbers up into a safe range. ALWAYS make sure you have a stock of test strips, high carb (HC) canned food that contains gravy and is over 15% carb such as Fancy Feast grilled, marinated, or Gravy Lovers varieties (see Dr. Lisa's Cat Food Nutritional Composition List for a full list of options), and/or a simple sugar solution such as Karo/corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc.

If your cat is experiencing symptoms, especially if those symptoms are severe, you need to rub Karo syrup, honey, or maple syrup on the gums or, if symptoms are very severe, administer rectally and get your cat to the nearest 24-hour emergency facility. Take the bottle of syrup with you to administer on the way if necessary. (Note that it is rare that we see episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia with Lantus and even rarer to see severe symptoms. But, you need to know what to do should they occur.)

The symptoms to be concerned about include but are not limited to:
staggering, uncoordinated movements, 'drunken' walk, wobbling, balance problems
ataxia - usually lack of muscular coordination, but maybe changes in head and neck movements
disorientation (yowling, walking in circles, etc.)
twitching
stupor
convulsions or seizures
coma
If your cat is testing in low numbers and you are not getting a quick response to your post, there are several things you need to do. (Low numbers are under 50mg/dL or 2.8 mmol/L.)

Depending on how carbohydrate sensitive your cat is, feed approximately a teaspoon or less of gravy from high carb food or high carb food only.
(If you have a cat with GI issues, using a couple of drops of syrup plus low carb food is an alternative.)
Test again in 15 – 20 min. Depending on the numbers, give more HC food.
Repeat the above steps every 15 – 20 min. until your cat tests in the 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) or above range for 2 consecutive tests. Continue to feed in small amounts to keep numbers in a safe range.
Test in 30 - 40 min. and repeat the test and feed process until there are 2 consecutive tests where numbers are stable or rising.
Test in an hour and follow the same steps.
DO NOT become complacent. If number have risen after one or two tests, it’s important to continue testing. Numbers may bobble up and down as the HC food and/or Karo wear off. DO NOT get one test where your cat has risen from low numbers into the 50s and go to sleep or leave the house. You are putting your cat in a risky situation. When in doubt, leave HC food out.

In the case of an accidental overdose or should there be symptoms of hypoglycemia, even if you have caught this in the early stages, you may need to monitor for literally 16 or more hours. Lantus and Levemir are long acting types of insulin. This means if your cat is over dose, you will need to stay alert for hours in order to closely monitor and to keep your cat safe.

Please post your numbers. Those people who are helping you will not abandon you. In fact, they are staying up with you. The experienced people will even work in shifts to make sure your cat is safe and you have the support you need. Remember to refresh your browser to see new posts and keep posting so we know all is well.

~ written by Sienne and Gabby
Click to expand...
 
I'll probably will wait until +5.5 OR 10:30 PM (It's 9:54PM now) to poke his ear again. That would be an hour.
Hell, He probably does this dance a lot of nights.
I wonder if his dose is too high?
 
I tested him at 11pm (+5 after PM shot) He was at 63 again. I fed him a bit more gravy food just to keep him up a bit higher.
I am late for the pillows.
Peace out!
 
You want to edit the subject line of the very first post in a thread to update obie's blood sugar as the day goes on.

That line is what is visible from the main page, and ppl watch there to see if anyone has questions or needs help. Then if you want attention, add a new reply at the bottom of your condo/thread. Adding a reply bumps up your post.

Sleep well.
 
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