Another low BG # for Jezzi

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Backyardtarpon

Member Since 2013
So she's at +5 and her BG is 51. She got 1U. But she's acting great, not sleeping all day like usual. Should I be overly concerned?
 
I'd get another test in 20 minutes, Leah. It's near nadir so we would hope she would be going up, not down. But you can never tell with these sugar cats! Would she like a little snack - maybe a tablespoon of her regular low carb food?
 
I already gave her some, she just won't leave my side today. I'm thinking she's feeling good and probably wants attention and her dry food. I'll get another test now.
 
Here comes my teacher hat. This is why we weren't concerned with the one higher number last night. You have to let her body get used to the insulin and the new diet and give everything time to work


. Re your DH on your other post - sometimes men can really get into the science of this whole process. Can you get him to read about FD - maybe Dr. lisa's site might be a good starting place (catinfo.org). Does he understand that 6 units the other night would probably have meant a very expensive trip to the ER and she still might have died?
 
It sounds like she is headed up. If you get a number 200 or below tonight, wait 20 minutes without feeding and retest. You want to be sure the new number is rising and over 200.

The 50 was safe - we just don't want it 40 and headed lower. It depends on how agressive you want to be going forward. I think I'd reduce the dose a tiny bit, especially overnight, since you got the 50 today. But lots of people would continue with the one unit as it is giving you lovely numbers.
 
Sue, so even though she's used to getting 6U, she's still adapting to the insulin?

I swear she knows I'm doing this (ear pricks) for her own good. Now that I'm not jabbing her 10 times to get blood! She holds her head real still so I can find the vein, bam, all done. She seems to be the only one taking this all in stride.
 
Good for her to not complicate testing. No way to really tell, but sometimes a hypo changes everything. Some cats don't ever need insulin again after a hypo, some need a reduced dose, some have no change. For me, the hypo and diet change signal a new ball game. And she makes the rules. :mrgreen:
 
Backyardtarpon said:
Sue, so even though she's used to getting 6U, she's still adapting to the insulin?

I swear she knows I'm doing this (ear pricks) for her own good. Now that I'm not jabbing her 10 times to get blood! She holds her head real still so I can find the vein, bam, all done. She seems to be the only one taking this all in stride.
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Remember the other night, when she went low on 3u? Somewhere in that thread I think I mentioned "bounces" and how their liver will release glucose instinctively to save her from going hypo? My guess is that while she was on 6 units, she was going low a lot of times that you didn't know about because you hadn't started home testing yet. It's also likely that any dry food she was eating was helping to prop up her numbers. Without the dry, it looks like one unit is having a significant effect.
 
You have no idea how much that thought chills my bones. To think I was putting her in harms way because I chose a rotten vet. I've been thinking, and I believe the bast way to deal with him is word of mouth. I couldn't think of a better time to join Angie's List, can you?
 
It is good to know her pattern though.. A low nadir = high number later in cycle and preshot. At least she doesn't drag it out for another cycle.
 
The nice thing though is that oftentimes, that low will start extending farther out, so instead of seeing only an hour or two of green, you start seeng three or four hours or more. Sometimes right up to pre-shot and that's when we teach you about shooting low to stay low. :mrgreen:
 
KPassa, Jezzi is on PZI. We do not shoot low to stay low. Leah, Lantus is a very different insulin than ProZinc. lantus lasts longer and has a carry over. Their protocol is not the same as PZI and the two are dosed dofferently.
 
I understand, last night she went HI, and even this morning at +10. I'm going to keep a close eye on her numbers today and test every two hours.
 
Leah,

Did you give 2 units after yesterday low cycle? If so, you have her really rebounding.

I know this is a hard concept to get her head around but too much insulin causes high number just as much as too little does. Her low number yesterday caused a bounce at pmps, but you needed to stay with one unit. Shooting more insulin (double the dose) caused her to rebound overnight and this am.

Please return to one unit and stay there until she settles down. I'll get the link with info on rebounding.
 
Rebound: Oddly, too much insulin may result in increase of blood glucose (BG). This "Somogyi effect" is often noted by pet owners who monitor their pets' blood glucose at home.
The reason: anytime the glucose level drops too far or too fast, the animal's organism may defensively dump glucose (converted from glycogen in the liver), as well as hormones epinephrine and cortisol, into the bloodstream. (If these are insufficient, hypoglycemia ensues!) The glycogen raises the blood glucose, the other two may make the pet insulin-resistant for a time. This phenomenon was first documented by a Dr. Michael Somogyi. [33]
Even when raising the insulin dose slowly and carefully, it's possible to pass the correct dose and go on to an overdose. (A typical case is increasing bidaily dosage from 1 unit to 2, passing a correct dose of 1.5 units.) This may produce a rebound—a swift jump in blood glucose up from a dangerously low reading, to beyond the previous pre-shot level. Always consult your veterinarian when changing your pet's insulin, and consider smaller dose changes.
Rebound: Rebound

You are going to need to trust us on this, Leah. When your cat gets a 50 at nadir on one unit, you don't raise the dose regardless of her next number. The 50 tells you she is on a good dose; the next number tells you she rebounded or bounced.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
KPassa, Jezzi is on PZI. We do not shoot low to stay low. Leah, Lantus is a very different insulin than ProZinc. lantus lasts longer and has a carry over. Their protocol is not the same as PZI and the two are dosed dofferently.
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Oh, sorry! Forgot about that! :oops: Please disregard my previous comment. :-D
 
One number is just one number, Leah. Remember the rebound/bouncing thing?

If one unit took her down to 51, then one unit is a good dose. The fact that she bounced up at preshot is not unusual - it's common for them to bounce after a low. We don't "shoot the bounce" We consider it an unreliable number.

It isn't wise to switch doses - particularly one unit changes. Their bodies have to get adjusted to the dose. We like to see a dose held for a couple cycles, getting nadirs to see how the dose is working. In your case, the one unit worked great. She just bounced for the next preshot.

One of the sayings here is "better too high for a day than too low for a minute." Try not to overreact to high numbers. They are very often temporary.

I would get some readings today. If one unit on the yellow took her to 50 yesterday, it may do the same today or may go lower.
 
Hi Leah,

What a journey you have been on. The learning curve in the beginning of this sugar dance is very steep. 6 units of insulin is a whopping lot of insulin

When our kitties bodies sense the are going lower than they have become used to their livers will dump sugar to compensate for what they preceive as low bg numbers and because of that their bg's shoot up high, but they are not true numbers, they are a bounce.

We usually don't shoot more insulin into a bounce to compensate for the higher numbers, we usually let the bounce clear by itself, because it will in a few cycles, shooting bounces will start you on a roller coaster ride that will be hard to get off of.

The 1 unit of insuln seems to be giving you nice cycles. I would stick with the 1 unit until your nadirs drop lower than 50, then you will want to reduce the dose even more.

Hang in there. This will all make sense to you very soon.

Robin
 
Thank you Robin,
It helps so much when things are explained in laymens terms. I understand that I can't over react to her number and I've been trying to stick with program.

Yesterday her numbers were almost perfect, but since last night I have been inflicted with either the flu or one heck of a stomach bug. I've been really trying to test her, but since they have pretty much leveled off, I'm confident I don't need to be testing every few hours, but I'm trying!

Thanks for everyone's help!

PS, my husband still doesn't understand the program and insists on feeding her BEFORE waking me up so I can get a AMPS. I guess I have to set my alarm and beat him to it...so frustrating!
 
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