? 9/27 Dora AMPS 151/119

[Dora the Explorer]

Link to older: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/9-24-dora-300-400s.235883/

After a few days of higher readings, Dora was at 225 at +5 and then preshot was 151. Gave her freeze dried chicken and waited. She and my other cat both yakked up their chicken and on retest 20 minutes later Dora was 119.

She’s having her breakfast now and I think I will give her a 1 unit dose. We are supposed to travel with her this morning.

I’ve been trying to be extra careful to be sure I’m shooting in the right places and not doing fur shots and last night I was 100% sure I did well and apparently I was right. Could I have been doing something wrong to cause the lows? You’d think I’d have it down by now! And why does she so often have lower numbers at the end of a cycle?

Also, can the freeze dried chicken go bad? I’d suspected it of making my little dog yak in the mornings but he’d also eaten poop and litter so I couldn’t be sure.

Thanks for reading!

jane and d

 

[Sue and Luci]

I've never had a freeze dried product - either chicken or salmon spoil. But I suppose anything is possible? Is it stored in a cool dry place? Does it look or smell off to you? Any chance they could be allergic to it?

I'm not clear on why you're giving a reduced dose this morning? She's got a perfect AMPS to shoot the regular dose and it looks like she needs it based on her previous numbers. She hasn't earned a reduction and that's a safe number to shoot.

How long are you traveling this morning and will you be able to test her in a couple of hours?

 

[Dora the Explorer]

I keep it in the closet but they sometimes try to steal it and it has some claw holes in it. Edit to add: they’ve both had this many times before

I did the reduced dose because she was still dropping and I get scared although she has yet to actually go lower so I need to work up the nerve to do that but with the travel today I was even more anxious. This is also AlphaTrack and when I read the SLGS guidelines I interpret it as reduce if it’s that low.

I plan to do a +1 and then hit the road. It’s a two hour drive. We can test when we get there. She screams most of the way but it doesn’t usually seem to affect her sugar level.

Thank you for the tips. I’ll try to be more brave the next time. Also she was very squirmelly for the shot so I do hope I got it all in her.

jane and d

 

[Sue and Luci]

Your comment from FB - thank you! I’ve already done the reduced dose because I felt like I let too much time go by but I’m just trying to understand why we have these highs and weird end of cycle lows. Although I didn’t test after the +5 and I guess I am missing some helpful info. We will have to prick her all day today now although if she follows past performance she’ll go back up now.

Ok, so I see you've already given a reduced dose, so this will be an off day for her numbers...she's most likely going to bounce today and with a reduced dose her numbers will likely go up and up. Not much need to do a lot of testing if you find a 2+ or 4+ she's increasing.

Some kitties just have late nadirs and often have to go to a slightly different shooting schedule. I've not done that before but some go to an 18 hour shot cycle...or you can take the overlap and go with it and hope to see nice lower numbers over time.

Also, I'd recommend using a human meter although I'm not sure which meter you're using at the moment....your SS says a human meter, but then looks like you switched to AT2, yes? At any rate, you need to add a big red line across your SS indicating which meter you're using and when you switched.

If you look around at other folks' spreadsheets you'll see that indicator line I'm referring to - it's quite bold and lets us know which meter is in play at the moment. And for what it's worth - all the dosing methods are written using human meters, not pet specific as those pet specific meters weren't around in the beginning of treating cats for feline diabetes...they're newer...so just something to keep in mind.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

Ok will do. It’s been the AlphaTrack since the very early days so maybe I’ll just remove the other completely. I did buy a freestyle meter which looked similar to the AT because we love how little blood we need. I was just hoping for smoother readings before switching. Also of course the vet wants AlphaTrack readings so it’s made it easier to report to her, not that she’s been much help at all.

I’m sorry if I’ve thrown her off. Although intuitively I know she’s likely to rise when I see her numbers drop again after the stall I just worry about sending her into hypo. According to SLGS guidelines I could even skip at those levels so it feels very scary to me to shoot a full dose. I’ll give her a check in a bit but she has the food in her now. Just some FF chicken with 6 nuggets of Elsey’s since she puked up the freeze dried chicken she usually has as a shot treat.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

So we made it! Dora carried on screaming the entire ride. Tested and she was at 406 but we doubled with the new freestyle and it read 293. We’ll run them parallel for the day and then consider switching. HUGE difference. I wonder what it would have been at the lower levels. Much less I assume. Crazy! Now to relax for a bit. She’s happy again at least!

 

[Sue and Luci]

Also of course the vet wants AlphaTrack readings so it’s made it easier to report to her, not that she’s been much help at all.

I don't usually rely on my vet(s) for advice or support regarding Luci's diabetes. They've all shown me that they know very little about FD. And many many others here have reported similar experiences...vets just don't have a lot of time to devote to a single disease - they have busy practices treating multitudes of animals for various issues. FD requires a great deal of education and in-depth study and experience...unfortunately they just don't have the time or the training.

And with that said, you might want to continue using that Freestyle...all the dosing methods were written using human meters. AT2's read higher ...and I'm not much of a fan ...

Glad Dora made the trip...even though it must have been noisy. Enjoy your afternoon.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

Glad Dora made the trip...even though it must have been noisy. Enjoy your afternoon.

Thanks! You too. I will update with her later numbers. She’s resting now in the window.

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

For your vet's sake, maybe double-test with the AlphaTrak 2 when you do curves (meaning test with both the AlphaTrak 2 and human meter)? That way you can give your vet the numbers they'll accept while using the human meter for your routine testing and dosing.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

For your vet's sake, maybe double-test with the AlphaTrak 2 when you do curves (meaning test with both the AlphaTrak 2 and human meter)? That way you can give your vet the numbers they'll accept while using the human meter for your routine testing and dosing.

Thanks! I think we will. I’m going to double test for a few days so I can track trends on the new one then I’ll retire the AT except for vet curves ... and then I’ll think her numbers are too high!

 

[Sue and Luci]

except for vet curves

I'm still not sure why you need to report your curves to your vet...but whatever....remember it's your cat, your decision, your payment to the vet. Over time you'll understand what I mean as your vet continues to underwhelm you with recommendations that are fact/experience based.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

I'm still not sure why you need to report your curves to your vet...but whatever....remember it's your cat, your decision, your payment to the vet. Over time you'll understand what I mean as your vet continues to underwhelm you with recommendations that are fact/experience based.

I understand your confusion. I have had the same vet for over 20 years but they spayed Dora and she got such a terrible infection and they couldn’t get it under control. An abscess opened up and it was just awful and took three weeks to finally cure. She never forgot it and she won’t go there without becoming wildly feral. The vet who diagnosed her works at the emergency vet where I took her for her episodes of not eating. I’ve never met her due to COVID.

Dora needs to be sedated for certain things, including blood work, and she also has a hole in her heart. This vet office has figured out the right “cocktail” and she’s always done well. So that’s why we go there. I just want to pacify her since I don’t know her well at all. However I don’t like their business model, where the tech handles all the communications. It’s why I can’t explain anything to the new vet herself clearly. I just feel stuck. I’d rather deal with my real vet but if Dora needs anything more, I want her to be able to go to this vet. She’s a plain vet at the emergency hospital. We had to get special permission to go there since our vet is one of the local “sending” vets and I guess they agree not to pillage clients.

I do feel more confident and never did call her with the last results. Maybe when I do finally meet her it will work itself out. But we are new to all of this!

 

[Sue and Luci]

I understand your confusion. I have had the same vet for over 20 years but they spayed Dora and she got such a terrible infection and they couldn’t get it under control. An abscess opened up and it was just awful and took three weeks to finally cure. She never forgot it and she won’t go there without becoming wildly feral. The vet who diagnosed her works at the emergency vet where I took her for her episodes of not eating. I’ve never met her due to COVID.

Dora needs to be sedated for certain things, including blood work, and she also has a hole in her heart. This vet office has figured out the right “cocktail” and she’s always done well. So that’s why we go there. I just want to pacify her since I don’t know her well at all. However I don’t like their business model, where the tech handles all the communications. It’s why I can’t explain anything to the new vet herself clearly. I just feel stuck. I’d rather deal with my real vet but if Dora needs anything more, I want her to be able to go to this vet. She’s a plain vet at the emergency hospital. We had to get special permission to go there since our vet is one of the local “sending” vets and I guess they agree not to pillage clients.

I do feel more confident and never did call her with the last results. Maybe when I do finally meet her it will work itself out. But we are new to all of this!

Oh lord....

Try to play nice...but if you forget a time or two to send in the curves, perhaps the vets office won't notice. I'm sure they're busy with their business model (I wouldn't care for that one either!) I like to talk directly to the vet myself...my vet in Florida is especially good with emails, phone calls, etc. All of which he does himself - personally! Heck, I've even called with a question and the receptionists asks me if I have his email address and suggests that I email him! I love that person to person, hands on thing!

Hopefully after this COVID mess is over you can communicate in person with your vet.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I think you were smart to shoot a reduced dose. Dora's numbers were dropping this morning. Either stalling longer, skipping, or doing what you did (shooting a reduced dose) made good sense.

 

[Dora the Explorer]

Oh lord....

Try to play nice...but if you forget a time or two to send in the curves, perhaps the vets office won't notice. I'm sure they're busy with their business model (I wouldn't care for that one either!) I like to talk directly to the vet myself...my vet in Florida is especially good with emails, phone calls, etc. All of which he does himself - personally! Heck, I've even called with a question and the receptionists asks me if I have his email address and suggests that I email him! I love that person to person, hands on thing!

Hopefully after this COVID mess is over you can communicate in person with your vet.

I hope so! And honestly she doesn’t call me usually unless I call with a question. I called when Dora was low and they talked about the Libre. I was supposed to call with those results but never did. Once they called when I didn’t report but they seem to have given up. I’m just not sure when she’s supposed to go in for a checkup. Apparently she doesn’t get shots anymore, so ...? It’s so stressful to take her in that I really try to avoid it. Most of her blood work has been when she’s been sick. Her last rabies shot was done by a cat only vet that I tried and she brought her assistant in with elbow high animal handling gloves and lectured us on having Dora out of her carrier before she came in. She gave her her shot and we never went back.

I wish I could take Dora to my regular vet because they know and accept me!