Day 3 Nala...baseline 198

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Ok, we are 2 hours away from her 8:30 check and what would be her 2nd shot. Just so I can go ahead and get in my mind what we might do, based on her SS for today what do you guys think we are looking at doing? I know it will based on her numbers at 8:30, but if shes still looking like this I won't shoot her right? Wouldn't that make her blood sugar go down more? @JanetNJ @Nan & Amber (GA)
 
Well, again, not a Prozinc person, but if it were me I'd stick to the 200 cutoff (or, I guess, something like 190 since you successfully shot a 193 this morning, starting to sneak the cutoff down a tiny bit). I don't think I'd be comfortable moving the cutoff down much more than that with how she dazzled us all today with her green surfing :D, but let's see what the Prozinc folks have to say, there may be other options.
 
Personally, if Nala were my cat, I would not give her any more than 0.5U.
On a pre-shot of 190 or above.

With the food change, I think the BG levels are dropping too quickly on the 1U dose.
Even the 0.75U dose may be too much for Nala.
So that is why I'm suggesting an even smaller 0.5U dose IF HER BG levels are high enough at pre-shot.

If it happens that the 0.5U dose was too little, you can always increase the dose again. But give that small 0.5U dose at least 6 cycles (cycle = 12 hours) to see what impact it's having on her BG numbers.

Again, decrease the dose by another 0.25U whenever Nala goes < 90 mg/dL.
 
Tiffany Smith said:
Im sorry, I keep forgetting that part :) But value your thoughts just the same.
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No problem, I really wish I could help more with the details! So glad Deb is here with those specific recommendations. I like the idea of dropping all the way down to 0.5U and still using the 190 cutoff.

Deb, I hope you are not snowed in where you are!
 
@Nan & Amber (GA) please don't sell yourself short on your knowledge level. You do great with so much advice, and that is invaluable. I value you too Nan.

Nan & Amber (GA) said:
Deb, I hope you are not snowed in where you are!
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My plow guys plowed my LONG driveway twice today.
I shoveled way too much snow though, as we got a good 1 foot of the frozen white stuff. My shoveling guy bailed on me, so had to do the work myself. Snow was higher than the bottom of the storm doors this morning, with drifting and blowing snow. We got almost as much snow in 1 day, than we got during last winter.

Took some pictures of my backyard yesterday and today. Too tired to download them from the camera and post them though.
Hot chocolate with plenty of mini-marshmallows really hit the spot, after being outside shoveling for a couple of hours.
 
@Deb & Wink , am I understanding right then that when I do her PMPS that unless its 190 or above, I will not give her a shot? And if it is 190 or above, try a 0.5u?

Im jealous of the snow. I love snow!! My mom used to live in Northern Maine before moving back down here to South Carolina and we would always go visit in the winter just so we could get the real snow. It just been a gloomy cold and rainy day. Im tired of all the brown and yuck.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Yes, you have that correct.

Skipping was the right decision last night.
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Good morning @Deb & Wink. I was wondering if you could take a look at Nalas SS. Her pr shot this morning was a 170, I have planned on skipping this mornings shot as well based on your suggestion. Am I still following this idea correctly? No insulin under 190 correct?
 
SashaV gave you the correct info, on both skipping the dose if Nala is <190 and when I am usually on the message board.

Nala is doing pretty good, for a cat that hasn't had insulin in 4 cycles.

We'd like to see her going lower than the blues she is getting, into the dark green BG range you see on the SS.
For now though, let's see if Nala can stay in those blues without insulin. And maybe drop lower into the greens.

She might only need a very tiny amount, like 0.1 Unit (1 drop).
So you could try practicing drawing up some colored liquid with a used syringe, and "squeezing" out the drops of liquid, to practice that tiny dose.

You want to try to make the drops the same size, and when you have the final drop on the tip of the syringe, pull back on the plunger to "suck" that last drop into the syringe.
 
Deb & Wink said:
SashaV gave you the correct info, on both skipping the dose if Nala is <190 and when I am usually on the message board.

Nala is doing pretty good, for a cat that hasn't had insulin in 4 cycles.

We'd like to see her going lower than the blues she is getting, into the dark green BG range you see on the SS.
For now though, let's see if Nala can stay in those blues without insulin. And maybe drop lower into the greens.

She might only need a very tiny amount, like 0.1 Unit (1 drop).
So you could try practicing drawing up some colored liquid with a used syringe, and "squeezing" out the drops of liquid, to practice that tiny dose.

You want to try to make the drops the same size, and when you have the final drop on the tip of the syringe, pull back on the plunger to "suck" that last drop into the syringe.
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Ok, sounds like a plan.:bighug::) And Im pretty happy with today. She started out like she was going to be a little high, but dropped. Its like her body is wanting to heal and I think the food change is doing wonders. Makes me wish I had of known better in the beginning. But we are getting there, and I also have 4 other kitties making the transition to canned as well so we don't run into this problem with them in the future. Hope you have a good night, everyone else who checks in too, hope you all have a good night and are staying warm.
 
Tip for practising measurement of drop doses:

When trying the drop counting, I smeared a small sheet of regular printer paper with Vaseline and wiped off the excess to create a moisture barrier. Then I would practice getting the drops the same size using water in the syringe. The oil barrier helps the droplets to bead up and it's easier to compare sizes that way. Also, twisting the plunger like you'd do with a corkscrew makes it easier to s-q-u-e-e-z-e out little droplets. The Vaseline-smeared paper can also be wiped off and used again. Adding a little food colourant to the water in the syringe might help you judge drop size better too.


Mogs
.
 
Critter Mom said:
Tip for practising measurement of drop doses:

When trying the drop counting, I smeared a small sheet of regular printer paper with Vaseline and wiped off the excess to create a moisture barrier. Then I would practice getting the drops the same size using water in the syringe. The oil barrier helps the droplets to bead up and it's easier to compare sizes that way. Also, twisting the plunger like you'd do with a corkscrew makes it easier to s-q-u-e-e-z-e out little droplets. The Vaseline-smeared paper can also be wiped off and used again. Adding a little food colourant to the water in the syringe might help you judge drop size better too.


Mogs
.
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Good morning! I was reading over how you practiced your drop dosage and that is going to be really helpful, thank you. Now when I move this over to insulin, what I am taking from this is that when I get the water droplets the size I want them, I need to practice drawing them and seeing exactly where the plunger is, bc the insulin will only be in the needle and not down into the syringe itself correct?
 
Good morning everyone. Ok, so new situation. Nalas AMPS this morning was a 196. However, I went to bed half asleep last night and accidentally left her access to food out. I have no idea when or how much she ate. Do I need to wait another hour and test again with no food? Or is it time to shoot?
 
Tiffany Smith said:
Good morning everyone. Ok, so new situation. Nalas AMPS this morning was a 196. However, I went to bed half asleep last night and accidentally left her access to food out. I have no idea when or how much she ate. Do I need to wait another hour and test again with no food? Or is it time to shoot?
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Doesn't hurt to wait... But I really think she does need a little insulin support. Id like to see her numbers in the greens
 
JanetNJ said:
But I do think in general you've been skipping when she could use a little (0.1-0.25) insulin. Let's get those mid cycle numbers into the greens.
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@JanetNJ, Im right there with you in that thinking after watching her SS this week. She does need a little.

Im supposed to be checking in with the vet today to give her an update on Nala. Im just going to email her and send her a copy of the SS and explain what Ive been doing for her. Her prognosis after this week is that Nalas symptoms would be about the same and that I would be giving her 2U in the am and up to 3U in the pm. That was if I followed what she said about canned am and pm feedings and graze dry thru the day, being fully transitioned to canned by the end of last week. I of course have gone in my own direction. But I really feel like I could have killed my cat this week if I had of stayed the course of 2u am and pm with the complete food change. I just don't know how to feel about that...mad, confused, both...ugh.
 
JanetNJ said:
use a little (0.1-0.25)
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So Ive been re-reading all the info on the Prozinc forum so I can try to figure out the dosing before coming back here to bug you guys with questions..lol. I have the U-40 needles, so should I get my husband to stop by Walmart and pickup some u-100's? I feel confident I can get .5u dose (half a unit) on the u-40, but anything smaller than that I feel like I really need those extra lines.
 
Tiffany Smith said:
So Ive been re-reading all the info on the Prozinc forum so I can try to figure out the dosing before coming back here to bug you guys with questions..lol. I have the U-40 needles, so should I get my husband to stop by Walmart and pickup some u-100's? I feel confident I can get .5u dose (half a unit) on the u-40, but anything smaller than that I feel like I really need those extra lines.
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You certainly could do that. :)
 
JanetNJ said:
You certainly could do that. :)
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Ugh so our Walmart is out of stock. I have been practicing with the drops like @Deb & Wink and @Critter Mom told me about. Im getting pretty confident with that, each time I draw a drop off the paper the syringe shows the top of the plunger right in line with the bottom of the first red line, still touching it. Ill probably start this dosage with her tomorrow depending on her starting numbers.
 
Good morning everyone. I hope everyone is safe and warm and their day is starting off well. :):coffee: Sunny and cold here.

Nala update, I have decided to start Nala on the .1U (drop) for anything above 150. After watching her for almost a week on no inulin it just doesn't seem like she's going to break into that healing point on her own, and she's consistently staying below the 190 range not allowing for any insulin therapy if I keep waiting for the 190 to hit, silver lining to that though is I would def say the food change is doing wonders! With no inulin and her old diet we were looking at the high 3 and 400's:nailbiting:

This morning her AMPS was 168, so shot her with her first .1 dose. I will check her every 2 hours today to see how she does, updating her SS with each time so you guys can watch right along.

Any thoughts, concerns, constructive criticism, suggestions all welcome =)
 
Tiffany Smith said:
Any thoughts, concerns, constructive criticism, suggestions all welcome =)
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Only one for now. Would you please start a new thread? We like to keep threads to 50 posts or less, and this one is now up to 85 replies.

Smaller threads help the message board run better, all that software behind the scenes that we can't see, doesn't run as well when the threads get too long.

p.s. Nala seems to do ok on the 1 drop of insulin.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Only one for now. Would you please start a new thread? We like to keep threads to 50 posts or less, and this one is now up to 85 replies.

Smaller threads help the message board run better, all that software behind the scenes that we can't see, doesn't run as well when the threads get too long.

p.s. Nala seems to do ok on the 1 drop of insulin.
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Absolutely, will start a new thread first thing tomorrow. I was wondering when I needed too..lol
 
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