Chuck's bouncy journey, part 3.

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I started a new vial of ProZinc for Teasel recently and thought it seemed more potent. I'd been using his previous one for 2+ months, stored it properly, etc. My policy now is to approach a new vial with caution, switch on a day when I can monitor and be ready to reduce the dose a bit if needed.
 
We have a BLUE!! yay! He's convinced he's starving... He got a couple noodles off DH's dinner plate. Bad kitty! Jumped right onto his dinner plate! I'm going to give him another snack at +6 if he's not spiking a lot from the noodles. I'm happy to see lower numbers again!
 
Gosh! Sounds like he is a real cat burglar for food! I know this is fairly common with diabetics but thankfully I never had that problem although Tempest will try to get into my food and sniff it sometimes, she never takes anything.

Keep going you two! :bighug:
 
We couldn't believe he did that. Pounced right on it. We ended up laughing after wrestling noodles out of his mouth. He was 500+ this morning because of it. Today was the first day using the auto feeder... I haven't been home yet to see if it worked. I put a frozen cube of .5 oz shredded chicken in one and .5oz of his food and an icecube in the other. I only set it up for 2 snacks at +3 and +6.
 
StephG said:
We couldn't believe he did that. Pounced right on it. We ended up laughing after wrestling noodles out of his mouth. He was 500+ this morning because of it. Today was the first day using the auto feeder... I haven't been home yet to see if it worked. I put a frozen cube of .5 oz shredded chicken in one and .5oz of his food and an icecube in the other. I only set it up for 2 snacks at +3 and +6.
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Lol best to hold onto that sense of humour! Best thing ever to get through all this! Holding out hope for you that now the contraband is well out of the way he will get regulated better and will put on that weight you want. :)
 
PMPS 391 recheck was 384
Should I still give 4 units? I'm a bit nervous about it but I think it will be OK. I have stuff for hypo... Just in case.
 
My baby boy is currently lounging on the loveseat grooming himself... Haven't seen him relaxed anywhere but the chair in the dining room in months! I haven't seen him groom so much either! I want to test him but he's so content right now I'm not going to bother him. Might need to get some hairball gel in him to protect him from all that grooming! My heart is happy right now! :bighug:
 
StephG said:
My baby boy is currently lounging on the loveseat grooming himself... Haven't seen him relaxed anywhere but the chair in the dining room in months! I haven't seen him groom so much either! I want to test him but he's so content right now I'm not going to bother him. Might need to get some hairball gel in him to protect him from all that grooming! My heart is happy right now! :bighug:
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That's wonderful, Steph! I love it when they show signs that they're feeling better. Makes all the stress and worry worth it. :)
 
Do you think it might be time to increase a bit? Maybe 4.2 units? Or should I stick with the 4 units a bit longer?
 
So last night he was only 362 so I gave him a fat 4u instead of 4.2. He got 4.2 this morning and his numbers are looking good.
 
Never seems to fail... he's looking good then he finds something to jack him up. I have no idea what he could have gotten into. He did go outside and ate some grass and I caught him eating some mint leaves. I didn't know if he should be so I shoo'd him away from it. Maybe that made him go up? Or possibly a bounce from the 217 last night? He got about 1-1.5oz of Kitty's friskies pate last night so he went up quick to 343. So I'm not sure. Either way we are on the way down again tonight and he's on a short leash ;) So I'll know if he gets into anything. Trick or Treat here in my town tonight. Hopefully the doorbell and dog barking like mad doesn't cause a stress spike. He's been pretty chilled out so far though.

Happy Halloween!:cat:
 
HOLY cow! Look at those numbers! 185 +11!! I'm thinking about feeding now then testing in 2 hours to see what I should give. What do you think? I have NO idea what I should give for insulin on a 185 preshot!!
@Sue and Oliver (GA)
@Kris & Teasel
What do you think??
 
Hi Steph,
You could try the stall and retest technique in 20 minute intervals and give him a dose when you're sure he's rising. You might not have established your own personal no shot number yet, given Chuck's history. We usually recommend 200 on a non-pet meter for newbies but you have more experience. I don't see too many nose dives on his SS so that's good. You have to do what you're comfortable with: be conservative if you can't monitor or reduce only a bit if you can. I feel uncomfortable stating a specific dose because I'm still learning so I'll put it this way: if Chuck was mine, I'd do the stalling thing and then would likely give 4.0 u and monitor as much as possible at the +5 and onward marks.

You do have the option of feeding now and shooting later but it's good to learn how they respond to the stall technique. This is new territory so you're experimenting. Be ready to steer with snacks at +3 etc. if needed. You're finally getting some traction and I'm sure you don't want to lose it.
 
P.S. I see that in an earlier post Sue said she'd be reluctant to give 4 units on a yellow. My response above was based on what I do with Teasel - it's not sliding scale. I go by his past responses, his nadir, etc. Maybe it would be safer for you to try 3.6 or 3.8 u.
 
On 9/30/16 I gave 1.5u on a 155 and he bottomed out fast. Ever since then I've been so scared to shoot low yellows and really haven't had a blue preshot since...
Thinking it over I was thinking feed his 4.5 and give 1.5 units and see where he goes after an hour... He can use the calories- he got extra today too. 1.5oz extra food. I'm going to ask DH how much insulin he gave. He's eyeballing the 4.2 because he is afraid to mess up the conversion chart and the shorter needle on the u100 syringes are harder for him.
I am excited about this blue number but hope there's no bounce! +12 is soon so I'll test then and see what we have... I'll continue the 20 minute stall until he's over 200 then I'll feel better about giving more...
 
Looking at the spreadsheet- 4.2u on a 400 got us into the blues... So he usually spikes 300 without insulin after eating. So he would/should be around 485ish if no insulin is given... So 4.2 units would be given then.
Is my thinking in the right direction that if he's HALF of 400 now he should get HALF of the insulin? Or would a 2u shot give him an opportunity to bounce?
Or should we think of it as treating the 300 point spike expected from dinner-- giving him a 3.8u shot?
Trying to think out loud... Going to test him again now-
 
HAH. Leave it to Chuck to make me fret! His +12 is 244!
But that still leaves me with-- HOW MUCH? Just less of a worry of bottoming out!
I'm still feeling that 3.8u... Thoughts?
 
StephG said:
Looking at the spreadsheet- 4.2u on a 400 got us into the blues... So he usually spikes 300 without insulin after eating. So he would/should be around 485ish if no insulin is given... So 4.2 units would be given then.
Is my thinking in the right direction that if he's HALF of 400 now he should get HALF of the insulin? Or would a 2u shot give him an opportunity to bounce?
Or should we think of it as treating the 300 point spike expected from dinner-- giving him a 3.8u shot?
Trying to think out loud... Going to test him again now-
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Unfortunately I don't think there's a strict linear relationship between dose and BG - too many other physiologic variables going on.
 
StephG said:
Tested again at 4 (+12.15) he was 281. I fed and gave 3.8 units. I'll monitor.
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Good call. This is the sort of decision making we're up against when kitty is complicated. The more we work it out on our own, the more confident we get. Always have to be ready to handle the unpredictable though. Sometimes it's more a tightrope walk than a dance.:cat:
 
I agree. I expected lower +2 but he got a bit of Kitty's friskies... He use to run when kitty would hiss or growl now he dives in, takes as big of a bite he can manage then runs away. He's getting better at his games... but I'll check him again at +4 and if he's doing good I'll give him his chicken snack.
 
Big and fast drop this morning. Wonder if AMPS was a false "black". Or maybe DH isn't eyeballing 4.2 right... too much insulin? Fed 1oz food, .5 oz pumpkin, and then the auto feeder gave him .5oz chicken. I'm checking again in about 15 minutes. Not liking the high AMPS numbers but the last two nights he got into something he shouldn't have had to start his increase early... I spilled dog food dish last night and it was like a game of hungry hungry hippos! I can't get april a chip feeder because she's allergic to plastic dishes. She gets awful cystic acne on her chin and lips if she uses a plastic dish. The whole thing is made of plastic and the stainless steel dish sits inside it. Bummer. Just have to be sure I pick it up and not walk away from it and forget.
 
You might be nearing Chuck's "breakthrough dose" where he'll respond better to the insulin. It's exciting but also nerve wracking because you might have to do some approach/backpedal dosing to find his sweet spot. I see you gave 4.2 u this AM because of his black PS. It's 20/20 hindsight but 4.0 u, or even another 3.8 u, might have been better after last night's reduction to 3.8 u. I think he was giving you bounce numbers last evening post PM dose, probably in reaction to the blues earlier in the day.

It's always tricky trying to decide how to dose on a bounce number. Teasel bounces a lot for AM/PMPSs and I tend to focus more on mid cycle BGs to decide on dose - unless he's surprised me with a very low PS. He's also super reactive to tiny dose increases. These are the reasons why I don't use sliding scale dosing with him. I'd go there if he ever gets (better) regulated.
 
I agree maybe 4 would have been better. He's enjoying the snacks! He's 124 +5. Checking in about 5 minutes to see if he's still going down and needs more food...
 
So tonight Chuck ate 1/3 can of Kitty's friskies pate. I had a "genius" idea of putting him outside when I feed Kitty and April. He loves to play in the leaves and as long as it's nice out it works great. Well he must have been hiding inside somewhere because when I came out of the bathroom he was finishing Kitty's meal. :banghead: I think DH let him in when he left for work. So that genius plan has been proven flawed! Anyway- I increased his dose tonight because of that and to see if it will help his PM numbers. Tomorrow he will be back to the 4.2 in the AM because I won't be home to monitor him. He will get his .5oz chicken snacks. He had tuna today for a snack since I didn't have any chicken baked yet.
 
Do all your critters eat at the same time? Is it possible to isolate Chuck in another room at meal/snack time to keep him from eating the others' food? Sounds like he's a devious little guy. :cat:
 
I tried feeding at the same time but Chuck eats so fast I can't keep him from helping one of the others finish their meal. So I feed him, then put him outside or pet him while they eat. But April and Kitty both easy a bit then come back later for more. So I fell like I'm always feeding one or the other.
 
Do he and Kitty eat the same food? If so, then maybe let Chuck free feed too? I suppose he'll eat the dog's food too, right? :confused:
 
No kitty eats friskies and Chuck eats 9Lives. Kitty won't touch the 9Lives, I tried. Chuck will eat every ounce of food left out. Today I had my 4.5 month old niece... Had to make some butt paste out of Vaseline and corn starch. I caught chuck trying to eat it! I can't imagine that would taste anything like food but he was convinced it was and he needed it. Weirdo. So I try to keep anything he might think is food put away. I can't even keep my bananas on the table. He's really not starving. He's getting 9oz of food a day plus another ounce of chicken.
 
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Glad I gave him the .2 extra tonight. Still only down to 258 +7... Gave him a snack of tuna because he might eat the furniture if I didn't. haha. Still only want to give him the 4.2 tomorrow because I won't be home from 7am to 10pm. :( Hate these long days away from home. I'll be worried about him all day. If I can find someone to test him I'll send them over. Paws crossed he'll do fine.
 
Chuck's PMPS is 241!! Should I try the 4u or 3.8u again?
I will be home to monitor. Might stall 30 minutes and see where he goes from here.
 
StephG said:
Chuck's PMPS is 241!! Should I try the 4u or 3.8u again?
I will be home to monitor. Might stall 30 minutes and see where he goes from here.
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241 is great - not too low. Try stalling if it'll make you more comfortable. I'm still no dosing expert but 4 u could be fine. How are you going to handle daylight saving time wrt scheduling his doses? Personally, I'm going to ignore it and dose Teasel at his normal PM time. When clocks change overnight and I dose him at his normal AM time (by the new clock setting) he'll have gone 13 hours between doses. Not a problem with an in and out insulin like ProZinc. Some people will shift dose times in increments over a few days.
 
Holy cow! I'm convinced DH is giving him more insulin than I am... +11 is 186!
I'm assuming he'll be around 200 for pmps.
And ideas on how much I should give him? 3 units? Or stick with closer to the 4.4 and give him 4 units? I think he'll risk hypo with 4 units.

I'm going to use the u40 syringe tonight to see if that improves his readings after my shot. I've been using the u100 with shorter needle and I'm starting to wonder if that is effecting the insulin, like not going deep enough? Idk. Makes no sense unless I look at the possibility of DH giving more by eyeballing the dose...
 
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On 11/1/16 I gave him 3.8 on a 281 and he was OK. I could try the 3.8 again and monitor...
 
He was 221 @PMPS. Gave a fat 4 units. Will monitor. DH insisted we give him 4.2 units so I barely went over 4.
And I found out DH gave him 4.2 units this morning not 4.4 units.
 
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