Carbon2/28 Amps 400 pmps 398 question?

[mialia]

So quick rundown. I’m an airline pilot with a diabetic cat. I travel for a living and I had a roommate who was helping me take care of him but she’s moving out. So sitters been with them for the last trip I was on. I’m back for three days. I had reduced his dose to .5 after he crashed right before I left to a level that I was pretty sure would mean he was high but at least he wouldn’t crash. So now I’m home but my new roommate also moves in on Saturday so she’ll be here to monitor and help. (I specifically seek roommates to help for reduced rent). I’m trying to figure out what dose to put him on. It needs to come up but I kind of still want to stay relatively lower just because she’ll be learning over the next bit while I’m gone again. The old roommate comes back on the fifth so she’ll also be able to help teach and they will overlap by about two weeks. This time I’m only gone for three days so it’s not nearly as bad as it has been. It’s been 5 to 6 days lately.

I definitely want to hear what you guys are thinking. I’m thinking maybe I go back up to 1.0 for the next two days and see where he is and then if I’m concerned go down to .75 for while I’m gone but what do you think?

For those that know my carbon, I talked to the vet and she wants to wait 2 1/2 more months before she worries about hyper thyroid. I guess his levels were slightly elevated but so little she really wants to get him stable on the insulin before we do anything else and she’s not worried that it will cause any long-term damage. I hope she’s right.

He’s been super good with the cat sitter. If that all four of my cats of been. They just love her to bits! And she brought her husband the last two times and my baby kitty even came out when he was here! She never comes out for anyone so I’m pretty sure it was based on her trust for the sitter. They’re both really good people.

 

[Gill & George]

I’m back for three days. I had reduced his dose to .5 after he crashed right before I left to a level that I was pretty sure would mean he was high but at least he wouldn’t crash.

I'd go back up to the 1u dose and take it from there. Try to get a few midcycle tests over the next three days (am and pm) so you can accurately assess the dose. That yellow amps followed by the pink and reds makes me wonder if he dropped to blue or even lower.
But when we take a reduction for a 'vacation' dose we go right back up to the pre vacation dose. If he has ben running high while you have been away you may even find that you have to go up beyond the 1.25 to see him move into lower numbers.

Glad the new sitters are a hit!
Is Carbon your white cat?
Love the pics.

 

[JeffJ]

Great pics and good report. It's hard when you are away. But kudos on keeping the spreadsheet. The biggest thing I noticed is the dose values are all over the place. Consistency is your target.

I agree with Gill on dosing. Also you want to keep the dose changes to 0.25 increments.

You probably know that lime greens are bad - they can be deadly, especially that BG=24 on 1/30/2019.

You are so lucky to find a good cat sitter. Your cats look real happy.

 

[mialia]

He's my white kitty. I went up to 1.0 since I know the 1.25 was too high. he was crashing from over 500 on it, so at only 388 this morning, I feel the 1.0 is a good place to start. I'll get some midday tests and post those this evening.

JeffJ The doses are all over as I learn - change needles, change vets, change sitters. I was using the wrong needles so on the other needles the changes WERE .25. You'll see on the right where I note that I modified the values to reflect the U100, but if you saw the U40 numbers you'd see the .25 changes. Sadly, .25 on those needles are very different on the U100. But we're on the right path now.

The board here agreed on the massive change from 1.25 to .5 for my trip seeing as he crashed at 1.25 and 1.00/.75 was too risky as he still might crash. There is method to my madness. There is some madness, too, but some logic was applied.

 

[JeffJ]

I like the U100 needles better. They have a very small gauge. The U40's I tried (3 years ago) had very thick needles.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I agree with Gill on dose. Hopefully you will get some good data while you are home this time.

FYI, hyperthyroidism makes it harder to regulate a cat. I wouldn’t wait too long before addressing that issue.

 

[mialia]

I agree with Gill on dose. Hopefully you will get some good data while you are home this time.

FYI, hyperthyroidism makes it harder to regulate a cat. I wouldn’t wait too long before addressing that issue.

The vet is concerned that the numbers are just a result of everything else he's had (UTI, diabetes, change in insulin, high BP, liver infection) and that treating a non-existent condition will make things worse. She wants to make sure that is what is happening. So time for his diabetes to stabilize and for a trend to be apparent in his labs. As she said, if she runs his labs now, only two weeks later, if they are the same or better, I will have paid $400 for her to tell me "I still don't have enough data." Seeing as how he had full labs run a month prior with no hyperthyroid indication and this month with just slightly raised values, waiting is the best option.