9/13 Sidney's AMPS 396

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Denise & Sidney

Denise & Sidney

Member Since 2010
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24800

I have read and re-read the stickies. I started over at 1 u this morning. I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but 4 u just seemed so high and so was his +6 numbers. I wasn't able to get home for his pm shot last night. It was 3 hours later. Should I have given it anyway? I give his at 8 & 8 everyday. I saw on the protocol that you should increase. .25 u each time. We use the Solostar Pens and it is in 1u increments. He has been completely off dry food for 3 or 4 days now. I'm starting to feel like I just can't get this right so please bear with me a little longer.

...and yes I love Casablance. I had another cat when I first got Bacall...her name was Bogi
 
Hi Denise...so good to see you this morning! :mrgreen: Excellent job of linking yesterday's post too...
I am SO pleased that you read the stickies and we would be happy to answer any questions you have from them.

I am glad you took the dose down. Sidney has been on 5 different doses recently so he might have wonky numbers for a little while. Try to keep testing and bear with them for now and updating your condo with the new numbers. We visit each others condos during the day and we welcome you to read about what is happening with other kitties. One can learn a lot by doing that!
Are you home during the days and evenings? If so, then doing tests during each cycle is important to get the picture of what is happening with Sidney. If you can get at least a before bed time check, that would be good, ok?

The initial starting dose is usually held for 5-7 days unless the numbers tell us otherwise, so checks are important to determine dosing, ok? When it is time to raise the dose, we do so in increments of .25u at a time usually. There are syringes with half unit markings...I use the Walmart Reli-On 3/10ml 29 gauge 1/2" syringe. They are also available from Hocks.com (the box at the top of the page)
It will be necessary for you to purchase this type of syringe since we do smaller doses and it helps to get the correct dose with the half-unit syringes. We insert the syringe into the membrane on the pens....

It is better when we can shoot 12/12 because Lantus likes consistency. In a way, it is better that you didn't shoot the 4.0u last night 3 hours later...since that would have thrown off your schedule today. If we shoot late, we count the 12 hours from when we shoot. Do you think you will have trouble keeping to the 12/12 regularly?

What food you are feeding Sidney and how often you give him meals/snacks?
That's what I will leave you with for now...do you have questions or concerns at this time? I do hope you will be able to post each day and if you have any trouble, please post, okay? :mrgreen:
 
Hi again! :mrgreen: I see that you have switched over to wet! yay! congratulations on that...how is Sidney doing on it? that is a great way to set him u for success! Dry is a big no-no....
Have you seen the Janet & Binky's food chart? http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
We try to serve LC )low carb) foods for meals and snacks. Please select a brand and flavor that has HC (high carb 16-19%) and have cans of that on hand for emergency situations where the BGs go lower and we need to use the gravy only from those cans to raise the BGs....you will be helped with that. As i said, post any low numbers and we will help you with the HC and whatnot. It is also important to have Karo syrup on had too..so refer again to the sticky at the top of the page and print out HYPO KIT shown down further on this page http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/view ... =9&t=18139
That's all for now... :lol:
 
Hello and welcome to LL I do believe this is my first visit to your condo I am not a advice giver with dosing but others will be along with that hope to see you regular :-D
 
Denise, I don't think I have visited your condo before, I wanted to welcome you to LL. I'm still pretty new here myself, so I will leave the advice to others with more experience than me. Don't worry, the good folks here will have you and Sidney on track before you know it! Keep posting and asking questions, and reading other condos, all of those things will help you. Good job reading the stickies, there's a lot of good info there!
 
Welcome Denise and Sidney. I too have a Sidney....not diabetic however. Named her after the Good Will Games 9 years ago in Sydney Australia.

Anyway, glad you found us. I'm a total newbie and don't offer advice just yet...Just here for support and to say hello today.

Have a great day.
 
Hi Denise

Pat has given you good replies here.

I would also suggest spot checks when you can.
If you can tonight, get a +11 test and post so we can see where about's Sidney is heading for PMPS time.

Have you been checking for ketones as well?

Does Sidney have any history of ketones?

Let us know how we can help ok?
All this does get easier. So hang in there. Lot's of members here to guide you along.
Keep us posted ok?
 
I got more work for you :lol:

What meter do you use?
And where do you shoot the insulin? His scruff or flank?
Are you on a 12/12 schedule now? Meaning you shoot every 12 hours and it's a 8am and 8pm?

Do you spread out Sidney's food?
You feed him AMPS breakfast, and small snacks along the way? Same for PMPS?
 
Thank you all for the warm welcome! I've been an inconsistent poster for a little over a month. Sidney's dx came about the same time as a lot of other stuff. I can finally put most of my focus on him. I may have confused everyone when I put his shots were 8 & 8. I meant 8am and 8pm. I've used this as his schedule since he was diagnosed.

We are finally getting the hang of hometesting. As soon as I did, I switched him to all wet food. I've been feeding him 9 Lives Ground Chicken Dinner. It's on Janet and Binkey's food chart. If I'm reading it right, it has 4 % carbs? I can be a little slow at catching on sometimes. I also have a couple of cans of FF w/gravy just in case. I am trying to figure out how much and how often to feed. I have been feeding him a little less than 1/2 can before his AM & PM shots. Haven't quite figured out the snack times. I have never had a problem with him not eating...the problem has been he eats too much. When I got him he was 3 years old and 20 lbs. 17 lbs was as low as he ever got, until diabetes reared it's ugly head. He now weighs 13. I'm still not used to seeing his hip bones. Does everyone leave food out overnite or just feed before bedtime?

He hasn't ever had a problem with ketones, but I haven't checked them since his initial dx. One of the reason's I started out so slow is to ease my husband into accepting everything I'm wanting to do. He just got over the sticker shock of the Lantus :shock:
 
Oops! Just saw the last few questions.

I use the Relion Confirm meter
I shoot right below the shoulder blades...the scruff?
I feed him AMPS breakfast and PMPS. Still working on the snacks. He thinks he should be fed everytime I walk into their room. When I say their room, I mean their bedroom. We keep a baby gate propped across the door to keep our German Shepherd out of their food and stuff, but they can come and go as they please.
 
Chances are very good that you are seeing a pink number because you didn't give a shot last night. Sometimes, skipping a shot is the most reasonable decision -- especially if you don't have flexibility with your schedule.

It's hard to know at this point how Sidney will respond to a lower dose. The good news is that if necessary, we can "fast track" his dose if necessary. It may not have been a bad strategy to lower his dose since you switched him over to LC canned food.

For now, I'd concentrate on collecting as much data as possible. You need to develop a solid baseline of how Sidney responds to Lantus. If you're home during the day, definitely get checks when you can. You've not been getting spot checks at night. It's very important to test during the PM cycle. Many cats have lower numbers at night. At the very least, get a test in before you go to bed every night.

Many of us do feed a snack at +8 or +9. I use a feeder because I'm usually not home during the week at that time and I really don't want to wake up at 2:00 AM to provide a snack. I let the feeder do it.
 
Hi again,
thanks for posting!

I have a non diabetic kitty who likes to eat too much and barf, yuck.
When Luna got sick last summer, I had also begun to feed her according to Luna's feed schedule.
She ended up getting smaller portions meals and snacks - fast forward to January, she slimmed down and lost her chubby fat :-D

Lots of people here use the timed feeders or wet food pucks. (Those are usually made in a an ice cube tray for example, of wet food, sealed and frozen)
As you head out for the day , drop a few in the food bowls and kitties have snacks thru the day as they melt.

Same thing for overnite.
Unlike me - who did get up every night at 3am to give a snack @-) I don't advise this! :lol:

Keep in mind too, unregulated kitties will want to eat more - but as insulin starts to work and numbers come down, (the wet food switch you did will help!) everything falls into place. And some kitties do learn portion control, so to speak.

keep us posted ok? Like I said, lots of members here to offer support and guide you along.
Feel free to visit other condo's (threads) here - that helps a lot seeing others going thru the same thing.

Don't forget a couple of spot checks tonight, every little bit that you can catch will help build up your spreadsheet data.
 
Some people freeze a cat food/water mix in ice cube trays and leave a puck out when you go to be. It defrosts and there is something for them to eat. It's best if you do not feed 2 hours before your preshot time. I got in the habit of getting up at PM +7 when I test Shadow and give them both a snack. It is a good time for me to catch his numbers in case he decides to go low during the night. Many also use the timed feeders.

Do you work Denise? If so, the getting up at night is not easy to do....
Not sure where you are located, but some of us order our insulin from Canada. I use Levemir and order from Canadadrugsonline.com. You can either mail the prescription up to them or ask your vet to fax it to them. Lev is in a box with 5 pens and while it is an investment at first, it does last for at least the 5 months....Lantus in the flex pens is equally less expensive I believe if you order it this way. I think Costco also has good prices...depending on where you live. Hopefully some Lantus users will have some suggestions for you.

Are you able to get a before bed time check each night? That would help fill in the picture with maybe a lot more tests during your days off if possible...if you work that is...
 
You may have to increase but it is best if you collect as many numbers as you can to see how he is reacting.
You have shot a lot of different doses and then skipped the insulin last night so we will have to just wait and see how the consistent 1.0u is working. We usually stay a the starting dose for 5-7 days depending on how the numbers are looking. You are doing great Denise! Can you do a test at +3 and a before bedtime check too?
 
Just as a reminder Denise,
Pat mentioned getting syringes with 1/2 unit markings, check into that ok?
You will probably need them and it will make measuring a lot easier.

It'll be ok, things will get better and a lot easier as you learn the ropes. :YMHUG:
 
good luck with starting over. At least this way you'll know for sure that your dose is safe, because you can work up to it methodically.
 
His +2 was 342. Might be a little higher because he snuck into Bacall's wet food and got a couple of bites in before I could get to it.

I will get some syringes with 1/2 unit markings in the morning when I go get more strips.

I've also been taking the advice of visiting other condos. It does help me to know there are others going through this, even though I wish none of us were.
 
Hi Denise and Sidney and welcome,
Last Winter I started Stu over with a low dose and gradually worked up (he had been started by the vet on 7 units bid; at first I reduced it, but then decided to start anew with 1.5 units. It was the best thing I could have done.) I wish you all success here. Just try to be consistent and don't expect remarkable results right away. Lantus likes to go slow and gradual. You've gotten lots of good advice already, so just keep reading and ask as many questions as you need.

Ella & Stu
p.s. Casablanca is my favorite movie, too!
 
hi denise. have nothing to add to the advice you've already received, but wanted to stop by to say hello and welcome to the group!
hope to see you posting often...
 
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