BG finally in normal range but kitty seems to feel worse!

[injuredrabbit]

So this morning, 6 hours post-insulin (sorry IDK all the acronyms yet, it's overwhelming enough just to get the basics down!), Rufus's BG was at 200!! It was fluctuating between, usually, 300-400 ish, with a few mid- to high-200s thrown in to throw us both off. I have raised his dose from 1 unit to 1-1/4 or a teeny bit more because the lower dose didn't seem to be doing much for him.
Yesterday even though I didn't think I did a fur shot, I'm guessing I must have because his BG pre-insulin was 342, 6 hours later 357, and before 2nd shot up to 413! Did not do a BG before insulin this morning (BGBI?).
A kind kitty carer told me in a previous thread that it took him a while to get to this point and it will take a while for him to get back. Now with the help of the insulin (Vetsulin), he's getting back faster than he got here.
Have any of you had this experience where kitty actually seems to feel BETTER with high BG? At least at first. I'm thinking he's so used to it being high that having it in a normal place is a new, and not necessarily great, feeling for him.
FWIW, he's getting whatever canned he won't turn his nose up at (all <10% carbs per list), plus a few Greenies hairball treats every time he's poked, and recently started him on Dr. Elsey's because he was ADDICTED to kibble. Mixed in a little of the Indigo Moon to get the scent in there but he seems to be taking to the Dr. Elsey's pretty well.
Sorry my posts are always so long!!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Have any of you had this experience where kitty actually seems to feel BETTER with high BG? At least at first. I'm thinking he's so used to it being high that having it in a normal place is a new, and not necessarily great, feeling for him.

Exactly right....it's kind of like if you're used to drinking a pot of coffee a day and all the sudden someone starts giving you medication that blocks the caffeine.....You'd feel pretty rotten too!

The Greenies are very high in carbs so you might want to try to find a different treat for testing times. Any freeze dried protein source (like PureBites) or even some plain meat like a small piece of baked chicken, lunchmeat (without any added sugar), a little bit of human tuna....something special that he really likes and only gets at test times. Baked chicken was China's favorite (she hated all the normal "freeze dried" treats) until I found Orijen Wild Boar treats and she loves those!!

It will really help us to help you if you'll start to keep track of your test numbers on our spreadsheet. Here are the Instructions on setting up the FDMB spreadsheet but if you have any trouble, feel free to send me a private message and I'll be happy to set it up for you. Only takes about 30 seconds so it's no problem! Just click on my name and choose "start conversation"

Also, below all our comments you'll see our "Signature"....it provides us all the basic information about the cat/caretaker so we don't have to keep asking the same questions over and over again. To set up your signature, find your sign on name on the top right side of the page and click on it....choose "signature" and a new box will pop up. In the box, enter the information like:

Your name/Cat's name, age, sex, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter, food you're feeding, any other health problems or medications? and maybe a general location where you live.

Then click "save" and you're done! When you have it, the link to your spreadsheet will go into your Signature too.

(sorry IDK all the acronyms yet, it's overwhelming enough just to get the basics down!)

Yeah, we have our own language here, but you'll catch on! Here's a list of a lot of the acronyms you'll see on the message board

Keep asking questions!! That's what we're here for!

 

[injuredrabbit]

Exactly right....it's kind of like if you're used to drinking a pot of coffee a day and all the sudden someone starts giving you medication that blocks the caffeine.....You'd feel pretty rotten too!

The Greenies are very high in carbs so you might want to try to find a different treat for testing times. Any freeze dried protein source (like PureBites) or even some plain meat like a small piece of baked chicken, lunchmeat (without any added sugar), a little bit of human tuna....something special that he really likes and only gets at test times. Baked chicken was China's favorite (she hated all the normal "freeze dried" treats) until I found Orijen Wild Boar treats and she loves those!!

It will really help us to help you if you'll start to keep track of your test numbers on our spreadsheet. Here are the Instructions on setting up the FDMB spreadsheet but if you have any trouble, feel free to send me a private message and I'll be happy to set it up for you. Only takes about 30 seconds so it's no problem! Just click on my name and choose "start conversation"

Also, below all our comments you'll see our "Signature"....it provides us all the basic information about the cat/caretaker so we don't have to keep asking the same questions over and over again. To set up your signature, find your sign on name on the top right side of the page and click on it....choose "signature" and a new box will pop up. In the box, enter the information like:

Your name/Cat's name, age, sex, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter, food you're feeding, any other health problems or medications? and maybe a general location where you live.

Then click "save" and you're done! When you have it, the link to your spreadsheet will go into your Signature too.



Yeah, we have our own language here, but you'll catch on! Here's a list of a lot of the acronyms you'll see on the message board

Keep asking questions!! That's what we're here for!

Oh my gosh! I looked at that spreadsheet info and I'm just not prepared. I'm so overwhelmed with the basics right now. It looks like a huge chore. I know you say 30 seconds but I'm kind of a technophobe.
I have been trying to find treats that Rufus will eat consistently. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has worked so far. Freeze-dried protein (chicken, salmon) - nope. Ziwi Peak (like jerky) - rarely.
Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried - same; only rarely. Of course these are the ones I will offer first, but if none of these work then I resort to the Greenies. It seems like I've tried all the different types of protein-based treats, although not all the different brands, and none are pleasing to this picky cat's palate!
I am keeping track of Rufus's numbers on my cell phone notepad, but at this time of the year with this new diagnosis, and work, and shots, and blood draws, I'm just not ready to take that on yet. Maybe after we ring in the new year! I will make it a resolution!

 

[injuredrabbit]

Oh my gosh! I looked at that spreadsheet info and I'm just not prepared. I'm so overwhelmed with the basics right now. It looks like a huge chore. I know you say 30 seconds but I'm kind of a technophobe.
I have been trying to find treats that Rufus will eat consistently. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has worked so far. Freeze-dried protein (chicken, salmon) - nope. Ziwi Peak (like jerky) - rarely.
Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried - same; only rarely. Of course these are the ones I will offer first, but if none of these work then I resort to the Greenies. It seems like I've tried all the different types of protein-based treats, although not all the different brands, and none are pleasing to this picky cat's palate!
I am keeping track of Rufus's numbers on my cell phone notepad, but at this time of the year with this new diagnosis, and work, and shots, and blood draws, I'm just not ready to take that on yet. Maybe after we ring in the new year! I will make it a resolution!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that he doesn't seems to care for fresh meat, either raw or cooked. Not even chicken. I don't get it. I will look for the Orijen bites, though; one never knows! Thank you!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

It seems like I've tried all the different types of protein-based treats, although not all the different brands, and none are pleasing to this picky cat's palate!

Try the Orijen….they're a different texture than the Purebites (more "crumbly" I guess) and several other cats here that didn't like the Purebites have liked the Orijen ones!! I guess they're for "the discriminating kitty"....LOL

I looked at that spreadsheet info and I'm just not prepared. I'm so overwhelmed with the basics right now. It looks like a huge chore

I know it looks scary, but it really is easy once it's set up. All you have to do is enter the numbers! The color coding is already formatted in.

The AMPS is the AM Pre-shot....the test you should get before the morning feeding/shot.

The U column is for Units...how much insulin you give

The "+ cells" correspond to the number of hours since the last shot.....so if you Test/Feed/Shoot at say 6am and get a test at 9am (3 hours later), that test number goes in the +3 cell....if you test again at 1pm, that's 7 hours after the morning shot, so that number goes in the +7 cell...….all the way up to +11 and then it's time for the PM cycle and it all starts over!

You'd need to have an email addy that's associated with a Google account (which almost everybody does these days) but even if you don't, it's easy to do.

Again, I'm happy to help out. I've started so many spreadsheets for others, it really does only take about 30 seconds once I have the information I need from you.....and it's really important to be able to share your test results with the others here on the board so they can give you the best advice possible!!

You can do this!! We all understand and remember how overwhelming it was when we first got the diagnosis, but if we can do it, so can you!!

 

[JanetNJ]

Oh my gosh! I looked at that spreadsheet info and I'm just not prepared. I'm so overwhelmed with the basics right now. It looks like a huge chore. I know you say 30 seconds but I'm kind of a technophobe.
I have been trying to find treats that Rufus will eat consistently. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has worked so far. Freeze-dried protein (chicken, salmon) - nope. Ziwi Peak (like jerky) - rarely.
Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried - same; only rarely. Of course these are the ones I will offer first, but if none of these work then I resort to the Greenies. It seems like I've tried all the different types of protein-based treats, although not all the different brands, and none are pleasing to this picky cat's palate!
I am keeping track of Rufus's numbers on my cell phone notepad, but at this time of the year with this new diagnosis, and work, and shots, and blood draws, I'm just not ready to take that on yet. Maybe after we ring in the new year! I will make it a resolution!

Well he eat cold cuts? Like turkey, roast beef

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Well he eat cold cuts? Like turkey, roast beef

Just check the ingredients....lots of them have added sugars of some kind....or lots of salt.