asher monday 2/28

Status
Not open for further replies.

donnahc

Very Active Member
Hiya:

amps today was 251, + 5 is 155....

Panic stricken a bit about calling about Asher’s dental.

I’ll be back later with more numbers....
 
Yeah...those are some nice #'s! Don't know what to say on the dental except I feel for you.
 
Can you bribe Asher with treats? Or is he a natural lap lover?

We were up overnight due to late night yowling and a BG spike - strange. Anyway I had to call in to work today. These late nights take the stuffings out of us.
 
Sorry you got scared by the yowling :( That’s rough! Hope Harley feels ok now. I know the momma is tired :(
Yeah if I test overnight, the next day I am tired, and a few nights we tested more than once, so I am at a deficit now big time. And I worry about him even tho he acts and looks perfectly normal. Plus work stress, you know the drill. All worth it tho to make sure we have safe kitties. Coffee helps a little ;)

Asher comes to sleep or sit with me usually. He is the momma’s boy and his brother Alby is the daddy’s boy. During the work day, Alby has his head on Tom’s arm at his desk most of the time. At night I usually have one under my arm and one on my feet. Sometimes they change halfway thru the night. Kitty routines :)
 
donnahc said:
Sorry you got scared by the yowling :( That’s rough! Hope Harley feels ok now. I know the momma is tired :(
Yeah if I test overnight, the next day I am tired, and a few nights we tested more than once, so I am at a deficit now big time. And I worry about him even tho he acts and looks perfectly normal. Plus work stress, you know the drill. All worth it tho to make sure we have safe kitties. Coffee helps a little ;)

Asher comes to sleep or sit with me usually. He is the momma’s boy and his brother Alby is the daddy’s boy. During the work day, Alby has his head on Tom’s arm at his desk most of the time. At night I usually have one under my arm and one on my feet. Sometimes they change halfway thru the night. Kitty routines :)

Ah yes, coffee is our friend drinking11 This will get better and hopefully you won't have to night test for too much longer. I'm impressed by your progress in so short a time!

Harley is OK but he's "off" today. Wondering if I need to back off on his dose and see if it's his panicky liver kicking in driving up BG when the #'s start dropping into the 100s or less. (Leaving the panicky bean out of the equation for the moment, at these times his BG seems to spike on its own without my help. LOL)

Asher and Alby are such lovely boyz! I'll bet you could market a line of plush toys. I'd be in line to buy. It's cool that he still comes to you even after all the poking. Harley will not come to me now unless I'm in bed away from reach of all sharp objects. His sister in fur, Princess, sleeps on my pillow every night and purrs me to sleep. Harley will come snuggle under the covers but plays musical chairs overnight. Never know where I'll find him. Sometimes I wake up and he's sleeping on my shoulder with his head on my cheek. Awwww. One of my former cats, Kelli (GA) used to sleep on my back and purr. It was better than a massage. I haven't been able to get any other kitty to do that. Now I need to see a chiropractor.
 
Well folks, I actually just had a nice talk with my vet. I was kind of amazed, last time we spoke by phone she kind of reprimanded me and was fairly condescending,
but I guess the numbers speak to how hard we are trying here. (Thanks to you guys!)
She seemed impressed we were using the U100 syringes to fine tune and she didn’t get after me about using the human meter (She might have forgot).

Anyhow, I am going to drop off Asher’s chart and she’ll call me back on Thurs to schedule the dental. (eeekkk, I just typed that, didn’t I)
She feels he’s regulated enough to do the procedure.

Also I asked about the pain meds and antibiotics and she doesn’t use any of the bad ones, no Metacam and no Covenia.
They use Buprinex (sp?) for pain and if antibiotics are needed Clavamox or Clindimyacin (sp again?)
They monitor bp, do IV fluids, she had all the correct answers for as much as I know.

If you guys have any suggestions or things I should ask, I am all ears...

I’ll be back in a bit with the pmps.....
 
Can you say late nadir?

+10.5 is 81

He’s real pesty for food, we just gave him some chicken post test but he wants to eat dinner now. Could this be because he is lower tonight?

Mr green strikes late in the day.....
:mrgreen:
 
That must have been a relief. She certainly should appreciate your hard work. The answers for antibiotics and procedures sound right, but you could just post on Health for a review.
 
How sneaky of him -MTN! Darn - and it does seem like any time you reduce the dose because of a low pmps, it throws him completely off. And when you raise the dose, it takes him several cycles to reflect any difference and it doesn't always last. I sure hope it's his teeth, because I am sure he has you clenching yours!
 
Yes, when we got this reading, I was glad I talked to the vet today (I was dreading it all day).

So anyhow, I guess we’ll try to hold him off as long as possible and test for pmps in an hour if he can wait that long. He’s yammering for food. I’m gonna go try some catnip ;)
 
Well, he’s on his way up, 135 at +11, we might be able to shoot a full dose late....might, touch wood :)
 
That is a late nadir! It's like the "gremlins" know when you feel like you're getting a handle on dose and throw you another curve ball. But yippee yeah for nice numbers today. I'm trying to recall Joanna's advice on Asher and PS. Good luck!
 
So our pmps is gonna be 165. Are we crazy if we’re thinking of shooting 1.8 into that?

We shot 1.5 into 138 three days back and it was ok, he was in the 300s end of day.

I know I need to make a chart like Joanna said, no time to do that yet :(
 
I honestly don't know, Donna. He just never acts the way we think he might. If you are willing to test a few times, I would guess it will be okay. And make sure he has food if he wants it.

The problem with Asher is that you can't be sure that a low dose will mean a high amps or vice versa.
 
nailbite_smile It is SO hard to know. My inclination was 1.6 or 1.8. You don't want to lose this momentum, but of course you want him safe. It's not likenhe difficulty eating, right? So if younleave food out, he can bring himself up--- and if he seems to be going lower than you like before you turn in, you can leave higher carbs out. What do you and your husband think?
 
He is a difficult one :( but we love him so cat_pet_icon

I guess we are gonna do a rich 1.6. Tom and I talked it over and we feel ok about that dose.
And I’ll be testing, who needs sleep anyway ;)
 
Oh Donna, good luck tonight. ~O) Asher is so lucky to have such devoted beans. Be sure to remind him. To use Sue's new acronym: PCBW (Paws crossed to banish wonkiness)

Oh wait, too late :lol:
 
Some thoughts:

Overnight testing: I would do it only very occasionally. If you can get a bedtime check in some nights that is great. As for an actual set-the-alarm type test, I would skip it most of the time. Of course the data is great... but so is getting enough sleep!!! If it means you shoot a little lighter some nights so you can sleep, then so be it. Do your spot tests when you can, more on days when you are home/weekends, etc., and let that be enough! Overtesting is rampant IMO (myself included). Many of us have had stretches of being testing/data addicts, and I think when it is impacting your own QOL it's good to take a step back. For the most part, one spot test per cycle is plenty most days, and then two or three spots for a sort-of mini-curve now & then. Of course everyone tests more than that :-D but I wouldn't want anyone to think they HAVE to do almost daily curves, test for every nadir, etc. If you can and your cat doesn't mind and you can afford the test strips, sure, heck, why not, but it isn't a requirement.

Late nadir: there's your cue that the 2u looks to be a hair too much whenever you hit the 3rd cycle on it. Assuming your AMPS is a little on the higher side (fairly likely, but who knows) I would either start at 1.9 in the morning and give that 3 or 4 cycles before deciding if it's working, OR shoot 2u in the morning to get the #s back on track, then go with 1.9 probably in the PM and again give it 3 or 4 cycles to see how it is doing. 1.8 looks to be too low and 2u looks to be too high, so paws crossed 1.9 (or some variation, maybe a skinny 2 or a fat 1.8) will be the magic #. Maybe not, but hopefully!

Dental: curious what about it has you feeling panicky? TONS of peeps here have had dentals done... if you haven't before you might want to post on Health (or here) with any questions & uncertainties you have. It will likely make the #s wonkiville for a few days, but then he should be bright & shiny after that! :mrgreen:
 
I figure if I am worrying anyway, if I get up and test, at least I can sleep the rest of the night. But I see your point Joanna. I can get wrapped up in
trying to be perfect with all this and then I walk around like a zombie sometimes. And his ears need a break sometime too :( Mostly I just wanna know he’s ok.
And I assume this testing more than twice a day is just at the beginning until we get him more regulated. I hope to see light at the end of the tunnel on that.

Dumb Q on the dose: His numbers are still too high, and I understand the late nadir meaning too much insulin. But how do you get a cat down into good numbers by reducing insulin?
Is this the moving target you spoke of in a earlier post? So keep him at 1.9 for awhile until it looks like he needs more then move it?

I am most nervous about stressing Asher taking him to the vet, and the anesthesia. I just hate to drop him off at the vet and leave him.
I know, I am a wack job about this, but it makes me feel awful. I know it needs to be done and I will do it, but I am a bit freaked about it.
I can’t wait until it’s over. I’ve been this way with all my cats. My neuroses...
 
I like Joanna's question about your detail concerns. Anaesthesia is scary bu t the same is true for humans, and look at the tons of successful surgeries that occur daily. Have you considered sending a piece of your clothing (with you smell on it) with him?
As far as night testing goes, I think you have to decide how much it takes out of you vs.how much meaningful info you get from it. No one here would consider you lax or careless if you did not test at night. You have established yourself as a top notch FD bean!
 
Thanks Judy! That is a great idea about the clothing. I used to leave him my PJs and a fleece jacket when we went away over night.
We usually came home to a bed made on it and lots of cat hair there too ;)

Overnight +6 was 262

Our amps this morning was 272.

We’re gonna do a 2unit shot this morning then pull back to 1.9 tonight as per Joanna’s suggestion.
That’s the plan for now anyway..... :-D
 
donnahc said:
His numbers are still too high, and I understand the late nadir meaning too much insulin. But how do you get a cat down into good numbers by reducing insulin?
Is this the moving target you spoke of in a earlier post? So keep him at 1.9 for awhile until it looks like he needs more then move it?

Sometimes what happens if you back off the dose a hair is you will get a better nadir at a normal time - like a 55 or something. It's counterintuitive - just one of those things you have to try and see. So no you wouldn't necessarily keep him at 1.9 a while. The idea is 1.9, if it's a better dose, should give you an immediate better nadir closer to +6, and then a nice shootable PS at +12. You might try it 4 cycles or so even if you don't see that, but if you see regular U-curves where the #s are overall too high, then the dose is too low. It really just a guess on my part, and what I would try. But it may not be the answer (sorry, I know that's not confidence inspiring, LOL!). Since you are getting some unshootable PSs on 2u and then getting off track from that, seems worth a try.

The moving target is more when their insulin needs seem to be shifting from day to day, as their pancreas either heals or loses ground. I'm not seeing those factors right now in his #s. You tend to see them after a few sustained cycles in either higher #s or in really good #s, then their insulin needs may change pretty fast in either direction.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top