Another newbie....so confused

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The 169 is a good number. I see from your SS that 169 is a +2. Would you please take a +4?

ETA: That +2 was a 56 point drop. You may have a very active cycle on your hands and need to monitor a bit more today. Is that possible for you to do?

basic rule of thumb with lantus:
If +2 is a LOT more than pre-shot, probably going to be an inactive cycle
if +2 SIMILAR to pre-shot, it's likely to be an active cycle
if +2 is MUCH LESS than pre-shot, it's likely to be a very active cycle.
 
Because you are testing, you observed the drop. You may need to 'steer' the numbers with judicious feeding.

You may not need this, but just in case:
- Do you have some high carb food or syrup (Karo, molasses, maple, honey)?
- Do you have an ample supply of testing strips?
- Have you read and printed out the Hypo protocol?
 
Looking good! I would get another test in 2 hours. maybe even 1 hour if you are keen.

I am having a bad day - my civvie peed on my keyboard.My whole office smells like pee.!!!
 
I don't really think she minds not having the dry food, she gets pure bites now, seems to like that better. She gets about 20 pieces, 10in the am & 10 in the pm. Would it be safe to just take it on away?
PMPS was 203 mg/dL.
 
Yes now that you are testing I would take it away entirely. I saw a report that dry food can spike cats blood sugar for up to 24 hours. I have given Bailey 4-5 teeny kibbles occasionally and within 30minutes he had gone up 100 and stayed there for a couple of hours.

No dry could make a big difference her blood sugar and allow her pancreas to heal. Shove the bag in the freezer for emergencies where she wont eat (not that we expect that to happen but you never know)
Wendy
 
Most definitely....wow....that's the lowest she's been!
I can tell by looking at her face when its lower.....
 
Wow you are cat whisperer! I wish i could tell when mine were low. Sometimes i am SURE they are high or low. And they arent. Love my meter.
 
She likes those flat blues eh? Lets see how she does over the next few days now that you have stopped the dry food altogether and see if we can get some greens.

Wendy
 
oh my gosh....it's hard to believe that the dry food makes that much of a difference in BG....should I check at +6?
 
okay...made it through the nite catnapping :-)
+11 was 248 mg/dL, AMPS 284 mg/dL (of course she had breakfast), now at +2 its 181 m/dL
I'm assuming it can drop real low at any given time right? Hence the testing...
 
Well it takes a little while - its not like she will be 300 one minute and 50 2 minutes later. But over an hour they can drop quite a lot - over 100 points - depending on when they ate, how the insulin behaves in their system, what their pancreas is doing etc.

I would test again at +4 since she typically is flat blue. We are looking to see how low she is going. Thats the number we base dose changes on.

You are doing a great job of testing. If she keeps this pattern up you might get away with a PMPS and a before bed test like at +2 or +3. Give you a bit more sleep.

Wendy
 
lowest number yet! Very exciting. And she is not dropping too fast so no need to worry.. But I would to get another test in 2-3 hours to see how low she is going and when she heads back up.

FYI its not like you should worry she will go too low - she hasnt done it yet. By testing we are just trying to find out how low she can go. I am hoping for a green but maybe not today. Probably 4am tonite when you want to sleep which is my boys typical pattern. they dont like me getting any sleep . lol.
 
who knows. Murphys law it would be green if you didnt test and blue if you did ;)

Have you tried the freeze dried chicken treats? They are 100% dried chicken and easier to feed than the real stuff and the cats tend to love them

Wendy
 
Well maybe tonite. Can you mark in your comments when you stopped the dry food altogether? Want to know so we can see over the next few days if there is a difference...
 
WC's BG #'s were different today, Tuesday, (would her having chicken have anything to do with AMPS being elevated)....Was surprised at AMPS of 303 mg/dL....and the last one at +4 (PMPS 204 mg/dL). She was sooooo sleepy. She did get a couple treats an hour before, had intended on doing a BG check at +5, but her being so sleepy scared me & checked her at +4. Does snacking have any affect on BG #'s?
 
hmm. if anything the snacks help to supplement the pancreas and keep her BG more stable. its a good thing. As long as they are low carb of course

OK at this point I think I am going to get a second opinion. I suspect she might need a dose increase.

Quick question though - its the fancy feast classic pates she gets right? no gravy ones?

Wendy
 
The treats are Purebites Chicken or Turkey...the cat food is FF classic pate', no gravy ones. I kinda wondered if the chicken w/broth had anything to do with it, so I didn't give her anymore....just FF & treats.
I will run & get some different strings, ones with 1/2 unit markings....can't really tell on these ones.
 
Thank you so much for getting all those additional tests over the last few days. That is going to help someone advise you what to do about the dose, or maybe some tests at different times.

We certainly don't want another scary rush to the vet with too much insulin like you had to do back on 5/7. We are very conservative here so you will probably get a suggestion to change by 0.25U if someone thinks it is time.

Wendy has gone to try to find someone more experience to advise you.

I know what I am thinking, but I see two choices.
1. You only changed entirely to wet food on 5/26. You may want to hold this same dose for a few more days, give the food change more time to kick in.
2. A tiny 0.25U increase may be in your future but I want either Dyana, Sienne, Marje, Jill, Lucy, Wendy&Neko, or one of those much more experienced SS reading gurus to advise you.

They have been reading spreadsheets for much longer than I have and may recommend something entirely different. Like you only changed from dry to wet 4 days ago, so hold this dose for a couple more days to see if the BG's drop with that food change.
 
Need to tell you this too....this morning she was not acting as hungry as she has been before AMPS, nor at +2 (she gets a treat after BG check). I'll be watching for this too. When do you suggest another re-check? +5? And she has gained 4 ounces...Just trying to think of changes. It had been looking like the Lantus was kicking in at the +2 not +3.
Thank you for your help! Couldn't do it w/o FDMB!
 
I'd like to see a +4 next and then a +6 if you could. We are still trying to pinpoint that nadir a bit more if we can.

....this morning she was not acting as hungry as she has been before AMPS, nor at +2 (she gets a treat after BG check). I'll be watching for this too.
Click to expand...
That's important information to know. Would you describe it as a more normal appetite or as not interested in eating? Her appetite is off? Or do you mean more like she is not as ravenous as she has been since the diabetes diagnosis?

ETA: That information on the appetite is nice to note on your SS in the remarks column. I kind of categorize the appetite levels as appy normal, appy so-so, appy blah, appy not eating worried or appy ravenous are good indicators.
 
Normally she is ready to eat, circling me & letting me know, then tears it up (she sometimes gets a treat at 5:00 or 6:00 am)
This morning, she was not begging, she got the BG check, went to the kitchen, but she was not circling, and ate normal, not tearing it up as usual.
 
Good morning!

I was asked to drop by and look at WC's SS. She is looking great and you are doing a super job of testing! The folks here in Health have given you alot of super info.

Congrats on getting her off dry food!! Great job!

I think the ladies here are spot on....she could use a dose increase. I'd like to see her dose raised to 1.25u provided you can continue to monitor her as you are doing. I'm going to give you the choice of whether to raise her tonight or in the morning.

While many cats do not immediately respond to the increase of insulin, some do. If you prefer to not worry about it at night, you can increase her tomorrow morning. Since she hasn't had an increase that has been monitored, we don't know if she will get New Dose Wonkiness.

You are more than welcome to join us in the Lantus TR ISG. We have lots of eyes there and someone is typically on that forum 24/7. There is alot of information in the stickys on that forum so if you elect to join us, which i hope you will, you can start by reading the stickys at the top of the page. We love questions there, too, and you will find a very warm, family group to help you and WC.
 
Chris,

Would you please add a little bit more information to your user control panel for us? This will give everyone a bit more information to help us help you better.

Upper left hand corner of screen, user control panel, profile tab, along left hand side select edit profile, go to the location field - please enter which country state/province you live in and the city if you feel comfortable doing that. Submit to save the change.

We live in all different time zones and having this info available can help us know how many hours difference there are between where you live and where we live.

While you are in the user control panel, would you go to the Profile tab again, but select edit signature. That free form text box pops up where you have your SS and other stuff. Would you please add your name, your cats name age and sex, any complicating medical conditions your cat may have like CKD or IBD, any additional medications your cat takes, Diagnosis date of the diabetes (e.g. DX 5/1/13), food you are feeding.

Keep it short and sweet, your SS link takes up a lot of the 255 characters allowed for this info.
 
Do I need to also add on there that she is not spayed, I know, I know. She was my boyfriend's cat & he didn't want her spayed.
Also, she had a cyst/tumor, ? Vet wanted to do surgery & spay at the same time in a couple of months....I think this has got to be under control first...
 
It is possible to do dentals before getting the diabetes controlled. It may be possible to do the spay before she is completely controlled, too.
 
Unsprayed female cats can be difficult to get the diabetes controlled. Can't remember which vet research article this was in but it was suggested, very strongly, to get the cat spayed. I think remission rates for unsprayed females was < 15%.
 
Now, if she is not in heat (uterus is swollen then), if no other conditions than the diabetes are present, and a trusted vet is willing.
 
I am desperately trying to find someone that I can trust to help me monitor White Chin w/dose increase, I have to go back to work. I can possibly get a petsitter Saturday.
My friends can do a home test once or twice a day....I'm still trying to get one of my friends to come spend a few days with me.
I will head towards the Lantus TR ISP & read.
 
Sounds good - you are always welcome to continue to post here but the TR group is full of more experienced members who can advise on dose. I post there every other day to ensure they keep an eye on my boys ;)

Heres how to post
Every day ( or as often as you can) you open a new thread/post. We call them "condos"
- The subject has the date/cats name and BG readings ie 05/31 Poe AMPS 314 +4 259. You add a ? icon if you have a question. You can update your subject as you get a reading, or whenever

- The contents of your post have a quick update on how Poe is feeling as regards the 5Ps ( peeing. pooing, preening, playing and purring) and any questions ie : Today Poe was in a good mood, playing and eating well. But he is peeing a lot. Should I increase the dose?

For your first post put "newbie" also in your subject so everyone can welcome you!
 
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