BG 99 at 12pm MT

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Fed half a can of 5% carb fancy feast after the 99 reading (+4). Fed the remainder of can after the 86 reading (+5).

Is this the correct action?

Compared to Wednesday when we followed vet instruction to use 6 units AM/PM, this is 5 unit dose is a much slower response and doesn't go as low. On 6 units he went to 115 at +2 then 75 at +3 then 28 at +6 with a rebound to 65 about 20 minutes after some honey on the gum and a bit of food. Half an hour later he was back down to 49 (+7) when we gave a little more fancy feast beef (9% carb), then 74 about 40 minutes after that (~ +8). He recovered up to 258 at around +12.
 
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Test 30 minutes after last test. If above 90, feed a small amount (tsp or two) of low carb. You want to keep him hungry in case you need him to eat for you later in the cycle. But you also want him surfing the high greens because that is where healing takes place. Test again in 30.

If below 90, break out a higher carb food. If you don't have higher carb. Mix a bit of karo into a bit of low carb. Test again in 20.

I'll try to keep an eye out but I've recently had surgery and fall asleep without even knowing it. If need be, add a red 911 to the title of the thread to gather more eyes. Look in the top righthand corner and click on "Edit Title."

And congratulations on the deduction. Waving from Canada. I'll leave it to people who have used Vetsulin to suggest how much of a deduction.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Test 30 minutes after last test. If above 90, feed a small amount (tsp or two) of low carb. You want to keep him hungry in case you need him to eat for you later in the cycle. But you also want him surfing the high greens because that is where healing takes place. Test again in 30.

If below 90, break out a higher carb food. If you don't have higher carb. Mix a bit of karo into a bit of low carb. Test again in 20.

I'll try to keep an eye out but I've recently had surgery and fall asleep without even knowing it. If need be, add a red 911 to the title of the thread to gather more eyes. Look in the top righthand corner and click on "Edit Title."

And congratulations on the deduction. Waving from Canada. I'll leave it to people who have used Vetsulin to suggest how much of a deduction.
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He's very finicky about BG tests and still getting used to it. The treat we're using is a feline greenies pill pocket catnip flavor. 13% crude protein, 9% crude fat, 1% crude fiber, 28% moisture, no ash listed. Calculator shows it should be a max of 49% carbs. Listed 4 kcal/treat.

We've given one to two treats with each BG test to reward/calm him and it has worked well. Not sure how this factors in. Just not sure if it is helping offset the use of a lower carb food treat since we kind of need to use something to distract/reward him during the BG test. Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Also, since he went below 90, you need to decrease his dose tonight to 4.75 units and that’s your new dose moving forward. Every time he goes under 90 he earns a dose reduction.
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Our U40 syringes don't look like a .25 increment is really achievable.. .5 unit increment minimum I'd say... is there a technique or something to get .25 unit increments with these U40 syringes?
 
Okay so he’s going up and no need to keep feeding or testing. This tracks with Vetsulin which peaks around +3,+4.

I don’t think you should keep giving him the high carb treat unless you need to bring his bg up
 
Can you try to use a marker to divide the unit in 1/2 and then from their eyeball the 1/4 unit mark? You really need to give him less than 5. He’s telling you that 5 units is too high a dose for him. And thats with the HC treats. He might have gone even lower without them. I’ll tag @Bron and Sheba (GA) who may have a pic of the u40 syringes and how to get the 1/4 unit.

good options for low carb treats are freeze dried treats. You can also give him cooked chicken or any of those lickable pouches from Inaba Churu or FF. Baby food like Gerber chicken, turkey, ham or beef also work
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Can you try to use a marker to divide the unit in 1/2 and then from their eyeball the 1/4 unit mark? You really need to give him less than 5. He’s telling you that 5 units is too high a dose for him. And thats with the HC treats. He might have gone even lower without them. I’ll tag @Bron and Sheba (GA) who may have a pic of the u40 syringes and how to get the 1/4 unit
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I understand this concept of 1/2 and 1/4 increment, but what I'm saying is that the distance between units is so small on this U40 syringe that the change between the 1/2-1/4 plunger distance is so negligible (MAYBE 1mm) that eyeballing it to 1/4 there is no telling what the actual difference is. Literally a hairline difference on the syringe markers. Essentially, there doesn't seem to be a way to measure to .25 unit with any degree of accuracy on these u40 syringes... Is this really practical to be taking .25 increment changes with a u40 syringe?
 
I believe there may be 1/2 unit marked u40 syringes out there. We also have a conversion chart for folks that want to use u100 1/2 marked syringes but it may be too much for a beginner to handle right now. I’d suggest going down to 4.5 units then. I’d rather he gets a little less tonight especially since a lot of cats tend to go lower overnight. @Bron and Sheba (GA) do you agree?

one housekeeping note for ya. We try to link the pervious post at the top of the new post so members can go back and read up on your cat. Thanks!
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
I believe there may be 1/2 unit marked u40 syringes out there. We also have a conversion chart for folks that want to use u100 1/2 marked syringes but it may be too much for a beginner to handle right now. I’d suggest going down to 4.5 units then. I’d rather he gets a little less tonight especially since a lot of cats tend to go lower overnight. @Bron and Sheba (GA) do you agree?

one housekeeping note for ya. We try to link the pervious post at the top of the new post so members can go back and read up on your cat. Thanks!
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Yes, I think additional complications would be really too much for me. My disability unfortunately limits me more than I'd like but I have to respect it. My son is helping me through this with the spreadsheet and numbers. Otherwise, this wouldn't be happening on my end. I'm really grateful for the support and information here.

Yes, I think 4.5 is good for now. He may have been fine without intervention today but after a few days ago getting to 28/29, I am gun shy. I'm not sure how to link the previous post at the top of the new post. I really don't know how that works but willing to learn another day. Are you saying just copy and paste my previous post above any reply? I'm at my limit for today I think. I need to take care of myself now to be there for Artemis tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help and guidance. I really appreciate it.
 
And what a cutie! I have a soft spot for back kitties :bighug::bighug::bighug:

You’re doing great and yes, do take care of yourself please! There’s a reason why you need to put your air mask one first before your child’s during a plane emergency. Remember to breathe. Feline diabetes is a marathon not a sprint.
 
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There are 1/2 unit U40 syringes out there but you may not have access to them where you live. You may have to order them from somewhere else.
In the meantime if you are having trouble with getting 1/4 unit amounts, I would go down to 4.5 units.
You could also try using a magnifying glass if you have one. I couldn’t access 1/2 unit syringes either and I used a magnifying glass to see the markings more easily.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
There are 1/2 unit U40 syringes out there but you may not have access to them where you live. You may have to order them from somewhere else.
In the meantime if you are having trouble with getting 1/4 unit amounts, I would go down to 4.5 units.
You could also try using a magnifying glass if you have one. I couldn’t access 1/2 unit syringes either and I used a magnifying glass to see the markings more easily.
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What do you think of the ones I linked above? They’re 1/2 unit marked.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
What do you think of the ones I linked above? They’re 1/2 unit marked.
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Thank you for the link. I couldn't really see the syringes. I think I can eyeball it really when and if I'm doing .25 changes.

But his BG went up to 375! 6:33pm MT, hasn't eaten for 2 hours. I don't think 4.75U is the way to go this evening, do you? This is typical from just the few days I've seen. Tonight was higher than last night by about 100 points. His insulin just isn't holding him. I injected at 8am this morning. It's been about 10.25 hours.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
There are 1/2 unit U40 syringes out there but you may not have access to them where you live. You may have to order them from somewhere else.
In the meantime if you are having trouble with getting 1/4 unit amounts, I would go down to 4.5 units.
You could also try using a magnifying glass if you have one. I couldn’t access 1/2 unit syringes either and I used a magnifying glass to see the markings more easily.
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Yeah, I think that's what I will do! I live with my reading glasses and flashlights lol. But his BG went up to 375, I just took it. He hadn't eaten for 2 hours, so I took his BG at 6:15 pm MT. I think 5U for tonight, what do you think? Of course I will retest. But....
 
Twinkleboots said:
Thank you for the link. I couldn't really see the syringes. I think I can eyeball it really when and if I'm doing .25 changes.

But his BG went up to 375! 6:33pm MT, hasn't eaten for 2 hours. I don't think 4.75U is the way to go this evening, do you? This is typical from just the few days I've seen. Tonight was higher than last night by about 100 points. His insulin just isn't holding him. I injected at 8am this morning. It's been about 10.25 hours.
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We don’t dose by the preshot numbers. We dose by the lowest the dose takes him since that’s when the risk of a hypo happens. I recommend you give him the reduced dose and stick to our dosing method. Especially overnight when you’re not up to test him and give him food to slow down the drop. If he goes under 90 he earns a reduction and that’s what happened today. The higher bg values at the end of the cycle are also consistent with Vetsulin since it starts to wear off earlier than 12 hours.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
We don’t dose by the preshot numbers. We dose by the lowest the dose takes him since that’s when the risk of a hypo happens. I recommend you give him the reduced dose and stick to our dosing method. Especially overnight when you’re not up to test him and give him food to slow down the drop. If he goes under 90 he earns a reduction and that’s what happened today. The higher bg values at the end of the cycle are also consistent with Vetsulin since it starts to wear off earlier than 12 hours.
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Understood. Thank you!

Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Btw, great job on the spreadsheet!
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Thanks!
 
Twinkleboots said:
Yeah, I think that's what I will do! I live with my reading glasses and flashlights lol. But his BG went up to 375, I just took it. He hadn't eaten for 2 hours, so I took his BG at 6:15 pm MT. I think 5U for tonight, what do you think? Of course I will retest. But....
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As Ale said, we dose with the nadir or lowest point in the cycle and then stay with that dose unless the BGs tell us otherwise. We do that because we know how low that dose can take your kitty. If we dose on the preshot BG we dont know, until after the cycle, how low that dose will take your kitty. It is all about keeping your kitty safe.:)
So stay with the 4.5 U dose unless he drops under 90 again. If that happens you will need to reduce the dose again. Keep in touch with us daily and we will help you
The BGs will always go back up higher (or high) with vetsulin because the insulin does not last the full 12 hours.
 
To get more eyes on it, it’s better to start a new thread titled something like AMPS 174, shoot or not?

if he’s still under 200, I’d give a token dose of no more than 1.5 units, but if you skipped it’s fine too. He may have gone lower last night and was likely bouncing yesterday after that 86.
 
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