9/20 DC +7=40 +7.5=58 +9.5=86 PMPS=83 +2=63 +3.25=58 ???

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

DC had a pretty good night. Green in the day blue at night.

Yesterday's condo:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25410

I have a few questions today.
1) I am leaving on holidays tomorrow afternoon and DC will be staying with a friend for 2 weeks. Her daughter will be the one giving DC his shots. She's done it before.
I am going to teach her daughter to do a BG test. If everything goes ok, she will test before AM shot, but the next test won't be until +8.
She will also test before PM shot and +2, but that will be the only testing that gets done on the weekdays. The weekend she will be able to test more.
I'm thinking I will decrease his dose a little while I'm gone. Does anyone have an idea what amount I should decrease by, .25 or .5 is what I was thinking?

2) I've printed out the hypo list for her. There will be someone home most of the time, but they won't test. Although they have seen DC when he has gone a little low,
so the know the symptoms and they will also feed him throughout the day. I'm wondering if anyone has a list to give pet sitter?

3) I have packed a box with MC and HC and labeled all the cans as well as the box. I've told her to give HC before she goes to bed if his BG is below 4 and MC if his BG is between 4 & 5.
If he is below for she will try to stay up to do a +4, and give more HC if needed. My friend will also feed him before she goes to bed @ +4, so he will have food through the night.
Are there any other tips someone can give me to put in a list for her.

4) The last thing is, they live more than 3 hours from my regular vet. She has a vet she uses that is 5 minutes from her. I am going to leave her with my vets number.
Is there any information that I should leave for her in case she has to take DC to the vet? Besides money, medication, and medical history.

I will be leaving lots of syringes, insulin and test strips, as well as syrup and freeze-dried treats.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know DC will be well cared for while I'm away and both of my cats are very comfortable there. They spend lots of time there with us in the winter.

 

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

DC's BG is 36 @ +6.5
Fed him some HC with gravy. Will test again in 15 min.
I think he's trying to tell me he wants a dose decrease before I leave on holidays.
He just wants to make me more unsure and confused about the amount to decrease his dose.

 

[Miriam and Putty (GA)]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

Hi Noreen
I don't think I have posted in your condo before so hello and welcome a little late.
I just read DC's profile and looked at his ss. I see that DC is not a new diabetic. I was curious as to why his dose has not been decreased since he has been in the 40's three times? There may be a good reason but not being very familiar with DC I just thought I would ask.
The 36 does call for a dose reduction. See what the "smart" people think. :mrgreen:

 

[Ronnie & Luna]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

any updates after the 36?

 

[kate and lucky]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

It's a definite decrease to 1.75u, and probably should have happened a while back when you got 40 at +2. No matter, looks as if he has managed well on it. Maybe something you know we're not aware of? :lol:

As for while your out of town.
You can get overlap (so next cycle throws a low number too) you wouldn't decrease again and normally mc or hc it. Never do 2 in a row.

However, depends on whether DC will feed himself if he goes low. Any history of keytones?
If no, then you could consider cutting to 1.5u. His numbers will be higher overall, you may lose some of the momentum you've had but he'd be in safe numbers.

If keytone prone, trickier and would need to hope he will feed himself (could use a higher carb food as a standard)

No chance DD (dear daughter) could post here on your behalf? That way if she's woried there's someone to advise. Alternatively that she can contact you and you then post?

I always cut Luckys dose by half but the longest I left her was 3 days (and vets weren't testing). How long your away. She may be able to adjust at the w/e.

 

[Libby and Lucy]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

I would definitely reduce while you're gone. Usually when a cat is being cared for by a petsitter we suggest doses that are easy to measure, with a line to draw to. I would reduce to 1.5. You should probably also give them a number that you don't want them to give a shot if he's below that number. To keep him safe, maybe you can tell them not to shoot if he's under 120. If it turns out that they are skipping a lot of shots because he is under 120 a lot, then you can tell them to reduce the dose to 1 unit. Those are just some suggestions, safety first...

 

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +4=59 +6.5=36 HOLIDAY QUESTION ???

any updates after the 36?

+6.75 = 38
+7 = 40
+7.5 = 58
+9.5 = 86

I just read DC's profile and looked at his ss. I see that DC is not a new diabetic. I was curious as to why his dose has not been decreased since he has been in the 40's three times? There may be a good reason but not being very familiar with DC I just thought I would ask.
The 36 does call for a dose reduction. See what the "smart" people think. :mrgreen:

I decreased his dose from 2.25U to 2U the night before he hit 40 on 9/4.
I was told since DC is a long time diabetic, not to decrease his dose until he went below 40 and until today, 9/4 was the only time he was at 40 or below.
Although he was getting a fair bit of MC and gravy to keep him above 40.

It's a definite decrease to 1.75u, and probably should have happened a while back when you got 40 at +2. No matter, looks as if he has managed well on it. Maybe something you know we're not aware of? :lol:

Lots of testing and feeding

As for while your out of town.
You can get overlap (so next cycle throws a low number too) you wouldn't decrease again and normally mc or hc it. Never do 2 in a row.

However, depends on whether DC will feed himself if he goes low. Any history of keytones?
If no, then you could consider cutting to 1.5u. His numbers will be higher overall, you may lose some of the momentum you've had but he'd be in safe numbers.

I will decrease his dose to 1.75U tonight. That way he will have 4 or 6 doses at that before I leave my friends. We will be there for tomorrow evenings shot and Wednesday morning shot for sure.
That would be 4 shots at 1.75U. And we may not leave there until Thursday morning, I'm not sure yet, but if we stay until Thursday morning, he would have 6 doses at 1.75U or 3 full cycles.
If that happens to be the case I will lower his dose to 1.5U for sure before I leave.
DC has never had keytones and I test him every other week for them.

No chance DD (dear daughter) could post here on your behalf? That way if she's woried there's someone to advise. Alternatively that she can contact you and you then post?
I always cut Luckys dose by half but the longest I left her was 3 days (and vets weren't testing). How long your away. She may be able to adjust at the w/e.

DD will be able to reach me by phone. I will have access to a computer the whole time except for the day we drive and from 9/26 - 9/29 when we will be in Minnesota.
I will leave her the website and info for it and while I am there, I will show her how to use it. Maybe she can post for me.

At this point, I'm just hoping she gets the hang of testing while I'm there. But if not, I will show my friends neighbor how to do it, so at the least there will be BG tests before the shots.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Re: 9/20 DC AMPS=79 +6.5=36 +6.75=38 +7=40 +7.5=58 +9.5=86 ???

What you may also want to provide your friends with is a signed letter indicating that you are authorizing them to take your cat to the vet. You may want to also give them a dollar limit on what to spend without contacting you. Some vets will not permit someone other than the pet owner to make decisions unless there is written permission.

 

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

DC had a pretty eventful day with his BG today.

AMPS = 79 fed
+4 = 59 fed MC
+6.75 = 38 fed HC & gravy
+7 = 40 fed gravy
+7.5 = 58
+9.5 = 86
PMPS = 83 fed
+2 = 63 fed
+3.25 = 58 fed MC

 

[Noreen&DC&Frisky]

I finally made some progress. Frisky ate about a tablespoon of canned food today. That's a first in about 6 weeks.
I had to crumple about 3 freeze-dried chicken treats on it, but he ate it. He tried his hardest to just get the chicken, but it didn't work.
It's about time. Hopefully he'll eat more canned tomorrow. It would make things so much easier for my friend when she looks after them if she only has to worry about 1 type of food.