Chloe2

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For whatever reason, Chloe needs a lot less insulin now. Please do not give her any tonight and post here tomorrow morning for advice. Does she have anything to eat while you're away all day? It's possible that going too long without food is adding to the low BG.

I know your new vet told you to give 1 u and call them for instructions when you do a curve. However, you have to go against that dosing advice tonight.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
For whatever reason, Chloe needs a lot less insulin now. Please do not give her any tonight and post here tomorrow morning for advice. Does she have anything to eat while you're away all day? It's possible that going too long without food is adding to the low BG.
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The vet told me NOT to leave food out for her between meals.
 
I would start over at 0.5 or 0.6 units if she's over 200 after tonight's skipped dose. 1 unit is WAY too much if she's getting under 50.
 
I agree with everyone else -- NO SHOT tonight, no matter what number she gives you later. She shouldn't be going this low so late in her cycle. I'm very concerned about her numbers right now.
 
srk3cats said:
The vet told me NOT to leave food out for her between meals.
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My vet also told me no food between meals but Chuck doesn't do well without a snack.
You don't have to leave a whole meal out. Just enough for her to snack on in case she gets too low. Most cats will seek out food when they get too low.
 
Djamila said:
I agree with everyone else -- NO SHOT tonight, no matter what number she gives you later. She shouldn't be going this low so late in her cycle. I'm very concerned about her numbers right now.
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One possibility is greatly extended duration because the dose is far too high. Chloe's pancreas might also be working to some extent and her insulin needs are a lot lower because of that.
 
Because Chloe is getting too much insulin right now, so her body is overreacting in order to try to keep herself alive.
 
You have to lower the dose. And you have to leave food out for her when you're not home. She's had two very serious hypos in the last few days, and maybe more. Her body won't be able to protect itself indefinitely.
 
Do NOT give her insulin tonight. She needs some time to recover. Just give her some food and rest and love tonight.
 
StephG said:
My vet also told me no food between meals but Chuck doesn't do well without a snack.
You don't have to leave a whole meal out. Just enough for her to snack on in case she gets too low. Most cats will seek out food when they get too low.
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Chloe used to bring me presents during the night when I was sleeping. One time, I woke up next to a pooper scooper. She hasn't done that for a long time, but this morning I woke up next to a plastic toy ball that you put snacks in. The cat bats it around until a treat drops out of the hole. So I think she wants me to leave a little bit of dry food out for her in the toy during the day.
 
srk3cats said:
284. Why is this such a rollercoaster?
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It is a good idea to do another test immediately if you get a low number or a number you aren't expecting or seems off. Sometimes you can have a bad reading from too little blood or a bad strip. When in doubt-- test again.
That number is good influenced and bounce related. You should test again in 30 minutes to an hour to see if she's holding steady or dropping back down like she did the other night. The dry food is higher carb than what you have her the other night too. So it's more effective at bring up her numbers.
I'm off to bed. Good luck tonight. Good catch with the test!
 
I am NOT going to change her dose every day. The vet told me not to, and I think she's right. The less variables, the better to see what's actually going on. I had changed her food the other day because I ran out of FF. I'm going to keep her on FF from now on.
 
srk3cats said:
I am NOT going to change her dose every day. The vet told me not to, and I think she's right. The less variables, the better to see what's actually going on. I had changed her food the other day because I ran out of FF. I'm going to keep her on FF from now on.
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srk3cats said:
One time, I woke up next to a pooper scooper.
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LMAO! That's so funny! Chuck once dropped a dead mouse on my face. I was less than thankful for his gift! Putting treats or dry food in her toy could be a good idea for the day. Maybe hiding a few snacks around the house too. Gives her something to do and she won't gobble it all down at once. But as long as she has some available it can help prevent these low numbers along with reducing the dose.
 
I think we can agree that the 1 unit is too much. So if you don't want to every day I suggest at least reducing it first then stick with it. She won't survive long with this many hypo incidents so close together every week.
Can you share your spreadsheet with your vet? I think she would agree Chloe needs a reduction in her dose.
 
You could also consider switching to Lantus. That insulin is the best one for the same dose AM and PM until they get under 50 then they reduce by a small fraction. You should call your vet tomorrow and discuss this with her. The low numbers and dose size.
 
StephG said:
I think we can agree that the 1 unit is too much. So if you don't want to every day I suggest at least reducing it first then stick with it. She won't survive long with this many hypo incidents so close together every week.
Can you share your spreadsheet with your vet? I think she would agree Chloe needs a reduction in her dose.
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I'll call my vet tomorrow.
 
I can agree that the fewer variables that change, the better, but I think your vet would also agree that having Chloe go hypo constantly is extremely dangerous and could potentially cause long term problems. I think any vet would agree that if your cat is going hypo at the END of the cycle especially rather often, the dose needs to go down.
 
I'm in agreement with what's been said. My mantra is always "Keep the variables to a minimum." However, the dose that Chloe's on is far too high, hence the roller coaster and hypo incidents. At least put a call in to your vet this morning to tell her about those incidents of dangerously low end-of-cycle numbers so close together and tell her that you'd be more comfortable lowering the dose. Leaving some dry food in her plastic ball or elsewhere around the house for her to find is a good idea.
 
Rachel said:
I can agree that the fewer variables that change, the better, but I think your vet would also agree that having Chloe go hypo constantly is extremely dangerous and could potentially cause long term problems. I think any vet would agree that if your cat is going hypo at the END of the cycle especially rather often, the dose needs to go down.
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Seeing her numbers this morning, I'm wondering if the 43 was a fluke. I did have some trouble getting enough blood on the strip. I'll check again in an hour.
 
srk3cats said:
Seeing her numbers this morning, I'm wondering if the 43 was a fluke. I did have some trouble getting enough blood on the strip. I'll check again in an hour.
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Hard to say. If it was just one evening test that was a lime green, I'd say fluke but it happened twice. It's good to test a second time immediately whenever you get a number that seems out of the ordinary, especially very low.
 
I've started doing a glucose curve today. The vet said to test every hour. Also I emailed her Chloe's SS, but will it automatically update? Also, I'm going to switch to my new Everpaw glucometer which is specifically for pets.
 
If you emailed her the link, then she should be able to see the updates. If you emailed her the spreadsheet as an attachment, then she won't see the updates.
 
Djamila said:
If you emailed her the link, then she should be able to see the updates. If you emailed her the spreadsheet as an attachment, then she won't see the updates.
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On the upper right corner of the SS, I clicked 'share' and typed in the clinic's email address, then send. Is that a link?
 
Yes, that should work. You might want to call her in a couple of hours to confirm she can see it.
 
Djamila said:
Yes, that should work. You might want to call her in a couple of hours to confirm she can see it.
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They called and said they got it, but couldn't open it because they don't use google. Then I did a copy and paste and sent it as an attachment, and then I also sent them the URL link.
 
srk3cats said:
They called and said they got it, but couldn't open it because they don't use google. Then I did a copy and paste and sent it as an attachment, and then I also sent them the URL link.
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they should be able to see it live update from the URL link.
 
1 unit yesterday sent her to hypo numbers... You really need to back that down to 0.75. You keep sending her from hypo to a high bounce. It's not healthy.
 
srk3cats said:
I've started doing a glucose curve today. The vet said to test every hour. Also I emailed her Chloe's SS, but will it automatically update? Also, I'm going to switch to my new Everpaw glucometer which is specifically for pets.
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I hope this gives good information about what's going on at this dose. :)
 
No glucose curve today. I don't understand why you think 1 unit is such a high dose. When she was first diagnosed I was giving her 2.5 units for the first month. Sorry, but I'm going to listen to my vet from now on.
 
srk3cats said:
No glucose curve today. I don't understand why you think 1 unit is such a high dose. When she was first diagnosed I was giving her 2.5 units for the first month. Sorry, but I'm going to listen to my vet from now on.
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I thought your vet asked for a curve today?
Best of luck to Chloe and her treatment. I've said since Frank's diagnosis that I will always be his biggest advocate in speaking for him and making care decisions for him. To me, that means getting as much information as possible about his disease and treatment. If you feel like listening to the vet is your best option, then I truly hope it works out for you.
 
Frank's Mom said:
I thought your vet asked for a curve today?
Best of luck to Chloe and her treatment. I've said since Frank's diagnosis that I will always be his biggest advocate in speaking for him and making care decisions for him. To me, that means getting as much information as possible about his disease and treatment. If you feel like listening to the vet is your best option, then I truly hope it works out for you.
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The only problem I'm having with her is diet. She says I have to use Royal Canin. I just ordered Fancy Feast from Chewy's. It was my idea to do a curve today. When they called, they said I should wait a week or so to let her stabilize and then they would walk me through it. I may try pricking her paw. Her ear is getting messed up.
 
srk3cats said:
The only problem I'm having with her is diet. She says I have to use Royal Canin. I just ordered Fancy Feast from Chewy's. It was my idea to do a curve today. When they called, they said I should wait a week or so to let her stabilize and then they would walk me through it. I may try pricking her paw. Her ear is getting messed up.
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Did they have any insight to offer on the very low numbers she had before the evening shot? It's easy to dismiss those as flukes but I'd want to know by making sure a preshot test is repeated if you doubt the number you get.
 
If I listened to my vet and dosed without a test my cat would be dead.
I caught him going hypo on a random test because he didn't seem quite right and I didn't think his dose was right. It seemed high.
I gave 7 units, then 3 units 12hrs later because he didn't eat, then 7 units again and he was quickly heading for death.
The vet isn't always right. At home they are less stressed and their numbers are lower.
1 unit has proven itself to be too much by her latest hypoglycemic numbers. Especially the 30s for so many hours even with honey intervention. The data speaks for itself. The vet doesn't know exactly how she will react to a dose.
She should be looking at the numbers you're getting as you get them because after a week of going this low Chloe could be dead. Sorry to be so blunt. I have very strong feelings about this because it's like treating a child. They can't speak for themselves and are fragile.
Feline diabetes isn't like an infection you treat with one dose for so many days. It's all influenced by the cat itself. Her pancreas can heal at lower numbers and start producing insulin again. This means she needs less from you to get her into normal numbers.
It doesn't hang out in the body until it's needed... It will use every bit of glucose in the blood until she reaches certain death numbers. Her body needs some glucose to function.
 
srk3cats said:
The only problem I'm having with her is diet. She says I have to use Royal Canin. I just ordered Fancy Feast from Chewy's. It was my idea to do a curve today. When they called, they said I should wait a week or so to let her stabilize and then they would walk me through it. I may try pricking her paw. Her ear is getting messed up.
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I think you should remember that the vet does get money from your purchase of the "prescription food" that you buy from them. And from the insulin and any other treatments that you purchase from them. Have you asked your vet how many other diabetic cats they are currently treating or have treated in the past, to get an idea of their level of expertise?
I really do wish you the best in your cat's treatment, and hope that strictly listening to your vet does not cause Chloe to pass away. As said before, hypoglycemia is a very painful and hard death, and a preventable death. If your vet isn't there for you 24 hours, there is a chance that by the time you get his or her advice, it will be too late for Chloe, in a hypo situation.
If I were still listening to my vet, Frank's insulin would have stopped at 2U and he'd be in the 400s all day every day. I know I can do better than that, and he's proven that he can do better than the 400s.
As for her ear being messed up, have you tried testing you own BG? The pricks are not as bad as they look.
 
The reason we feel 1 unit is too much is because Chloe has proven that it is. If you've been giving her shots of 1 unit (as you have) and then NOT giving a shot in the evening (which is what your SS says you're doing), 1 unit is bringing her into hypoglycemic numbers 12 hours after the shot. That means she is going LOWER than normal 12 hours post shot when the insulin should all be out of her system. Make sense?

I'm sorry that you feel that we are giving you bad advice. We are merely going off the numbers and information you've provided. Quite frankly, if you gave Chloe a shot last night, she would have died. I hope that your vet is able to provide clearer information and will help to keep Chloe safe.

Good luck with your treatment and I surely hope that Chloe is able to get into safe, normal numbers and remain there.
 
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