Advice on Gizmo

Jamie N Gizmo

Jamie N Gizmo

Member
So my kitty was bouncing and unregulated for a while. I've been giving 1 unit for a little bit now. I'm noticing suddenly he's dropping here and there in the 40's and 50's(human meter". He's not showing any signs of hypoglycemia and doesnt seem bothered. If i lower his dose i'm noticing he's jumping into the 300's. If i keep him at 1unit, he's around 80-120s at the 12 hour mark. Any advice?
 
My Billy is on ProZinc too, but I'm a newbie, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Our two members who know the most about ProZinc are unavailable at the moment.

It's possible that the switch to .50 was too big a change. I know that MrWorfman'sMom suggests changes of .25 at a time. Perhaps try .75 for now, instead of the full unit dose. Try to keep it steady for at least 3 12-hour cycles so he has a chance to adjust. It would also really be helpful if you could get some mid cycle tests, especially to look for his nadir reading. If he dropped to 50 at his test time, he may have been lower than that at nadir. You could try at +5 and +7 to start. This is doubly important after evening dose, as cats tend to drop lower in the evening.

It might be time to do a curve at home when your schedule allows. That's a test every 2 hours so you can see details about what's happening to his BGL through the day.

It would also be helpful if the group had a little more information. What diet and treats is he eating? How many times a day is he being fed? How is his behavior, peeing, ect?

I hope this helps. Every cat is different. More daily testing will give you a clearer picture of what's going on with Gizmo. And if you need help right away for an issue, try posting in the main welcome/health thread, as it's visited more often.
 
Juls and Billy may be new, but what she said is spot on.

One other thing I noticed looking at the SS is that you are not doing Pre-shot tests before every insulin shot. That is really important because you do not want to give insulin if the BG readings are too low.

I see that Gizmo has been in and out of remission a couple of times and he fell out of remission again back in September 2019. Found some of your old posts but have not read all of them. Maybe read through a couple of your old posts yourself, like this one where you talked about overdosing and bouncing and realizing that was what you were doing. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...o-get-your-cat-regulated.160311/#post-1712556

So in some ways you are an 'old hand' at this sugardance. But in other ways some of the little tips and tricks may have slipped your mind.

Pre-shot test always.
Before bed test, regularly.
Dental needed?
Pancreatitis?
Mid-cycle tests to see how low the BG's are dropping. Understand this may only be possible weekends.
Cats not always showing hypo symptoms. Signs to look for. My cat never showed more than non-reactive dilated pupils and a bit more vocalizing.

May be "preaching to the choir" here.

p.s. Read your post yesterday. Lots of new people on the board,so doing alot of 'fire fighting' on Feline Health. Apologies for not getting back to you yesterday with ideas.
 
I've not only been sick, but ive been working 14 hour shifts which has been hard to always get a preshot. My husband will feed and give shots, but he refuses to test him.(Its a sore subject with him, as he'd rather see the cat in a shelter)
I went to .5 units for a couple days and his numbers are creeping back up into the 300s again..so i switched back to a full unit. I can try to do .75 at some point, but the u-40 don't have those markers and its such a small amount.
Hes on friskies pate twice a day, i add a bunch of water to make it like a soup. He used to pee outside his box, but he's confined to an office/ laundry room area for the past year and the peeing hasn't been an issue(vet said it was behavioral and not medical)
Vet checked his teeth. While they appeared dirty since he's 14 and never had a dental, he said none of them look infected.
 
Long work days, being sick, flu is going around this year, not enough time in the day to do everything.
You must be exhausted.

There are U40 syringes with 1/2 unit markings.
There are ways to use U100 insulin syringes with U40 type insulins.

Let me know if you are interested, and I'll link the documents for you.

Notes on your SS, in the remarks column to say your husband won't test. So for example, if you are working one of your 14 hour days, a note for the AMPS or PMPS to say Husband can't/ won't test. It's something to consider.

Any notes to help explain those "blank spots" can be useful to those of us reviewing your SS.

Are you up for one more annoying question from me? Were xrays done to check the teeth? They can be rotting below the gumline and a visual check might not see that. Tooth Resorption formerly called FORL.

p.s. Tell me to go away if you don't want help.
I've worked 2 full time jobs 70-80 hour weeks, sometimes 7 days a week. It's hard.
 
I'm sorry your husband won't do the pre-test. Some folks can't deal with the poking and the blood, so I'm not judging. I'm lucky that my fiance was onboard with everything and I know it. I still have to do most of the testing though. :D

The advice you get here on the forum is going to be "best practices." That's awesome, but sometimes we can only do the best we can do.

One thing you could try is to feed smaller meals more often. Leaving a little extra food out during the day and night might help even out his readings. If you pick the food up at least 2 hours pre-shot, he'll be hungry enough to eat when he gets his dose. If you just leave him out a small meal, chances are it will be gone long before shot time. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth trying. I know many small meals has really helped my Billy. And this is something your husband can help with that is easy and doesn't involve any stabbing.
 
Haven't seen a recent post from you about Gizmo. A bit worried. Hope everything is ok.

That 50 on 1/16/20 was an earned reduction. So was that 65 on 1/21/20.

I know it looks like you should give more insulin if the pre-shot is high, but that is not how any insulin works.

Prozinc dosing adjustments are made on the difference between the pre-shot test and the lowest point in the cycle, the nadir. You are looking for a 50% drop, not much more than that.

Realize that your life is absolutely crazy with work, husband will not test, you have a full load of responsibilities with all the normal daily chores of life, like grocery shopping, getting the laundry done, taking the car to the repair shop.

Not sure what you can possibly do to make this better for you and Gizmo. Hang in there. It's tough.

Sending :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Hi, I simply wanted to make you aware of this. Posting this in your most recent thread.

All the "Sticky" or pinned posts in the Prozinc forum have been updated and there are a couple of new ones.

Highly recommend that everyone using Prozinc or helping those using Prozinc read them thoroughly.

I'll be doing that myself. Been expecting this for some time. Came about a week before I thought it would.
Thanks Marje, and Robert, and especially Djamila for the Modified Prozinc Method. You folks are FANTASTIC!
 
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