I am a bit confused on the method of your "feeding the curve". Maybe that is the process that someone gave you, but it is not the typical way to feed a curve by giving the higher carb food at shot time. To "feed the curve", the only time you should feed the higher carb food is during the cycle when you see the drop starting. You feed to slow the drop and get them to surf. If you feed the higher carb food at shot time, you are more likely to abort the cycle or give them a higher rise before the insulin kicks in and have a steeper drop when the food wears off and the insulin kicks in. So you'd test at +1 and +2 to look for the drop. If you see one you feed some mid-carb food. If you do not see a large drop, you continue to feed the normal low carb food. That way you aren't always pushing the cat away from getting into good numbers. You aren't looking to avoid green altogether, you are looking to slow fast drops that might result in a bounce.
This is copied from the thread where Jill and Alex explains the process in detail.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/8-10-tashie-pmps-high-questions.101989/
what is meant by using food to manipulate the curve?
simply put, it's a method of feeding used to prevent kitty from dropping too fast and/or too low.
the amount of food usually fed to the cat is broken down into several mini-meals fed throughout the course of the day with the intention of flattening out the curve. lc is normally fed to all numbers except possibly in the case of a significant or fast drop or fed to a drop below 50.
the only time you might want to feed a little higher carb food at shot time is to bump the numbers up so the insulin is starting from a higher number when onset occurs if you're running out the door and will be unable to monitor.
if you're around to monitor, there's no reason to bump the numbers up at shot time. the beauty of lantus and levemir is being able to shoot low to stay low. shooting low is how you obtain the low flat curve with lantus and levemir.
whether you'd want to feed lc, mc, or hc to slow a drop depends on two things:
1. the carb sensitivity or lack of of your particular cat.
2. the point you're at in the cycle. a drop early in the cycle *may* require big guns. a drop at nadir (unless nadir is less than 40) or late in the cycle usually only requires lc to bump the numbers up. however, if you have a carb sensitive kitty, you may not have to use anything except lc to bump up the numbers. "KNOW THY CAT".
why would you want to manipulate the curve with food?
--- bouncers: kitties who drop low and then bounce to the moon benefit from food manipulation. using food to manipulate the curve will tend to flatten out the curve. flattening out the curve helps to prevent huge bounces.
--- carb sensitive kitties: kitties who experience large food spikes when consuming even lc benefit from manipulating the curve with food. strategically spacing out meal times will help flatten out the curve.
why do i want to use food to flatten out the curve ?
--- flattening out the curve allows you to get as much insulin into the cat as safely possible without having kitty bottom out on you.
--- flattening out the curve *usually* allows you to hang onto a dose longer
--- flattening out the curve allows you to shoot higher doses of insulin than you would have been able to otherwise.
why would i want to get as much insulin as possible into the cat?
lantus and levemir are known to have a harder time bringing down higher numbers. more insulin helps bring down the higher numbers in a bouncer's cycle. more insulin will help counteract the spikes in a food spiker. using food to manipulate the curve will flatten out the curve and help keep your kitty safe.
when using food to manipulate the curve, i generally recommend starting with dividing up the normal amount of food your kitty should be eating into 8 mini-meals to be fed at preshot, +1, +2, and +3 of each cycle. however, that recommendation is strictly a starting point. a plan customized for YOUR cat is YOUR goal. frequent testing and learning how YOUR cat responds not only to food, but to the insulin itself will help you tweak the plan.
Edited to add on 11/13/2015:
I was referring to manipulating the curve when using Lantus in the paragraph above.
Levemir typically has a later onset (usually around +4) and a later nadir. To accommodate the difference, when using Levemir one might start with dividing up the normal amount of food kitty should be eating into 8 mini-meals beginning at shot time, +3, +6, and +7 of each cycle. However, that recommendation is strictly a starting point. A plan customized for YOUR cat is YOUR goal. Frequent testing and learning how YOUR cat responds not only to food, but to the insulin itself will help you tweak the plan.
a quote that goes along with this subject from Libby/Lucy found in one of Mocha's Lantus condos:
"carb manipulation is more about learning what your cat's response is to varying amounts of carbs at different times during the cycle, and using that information to your advantage. Learn how many points bump she gets from LC, MC, and HC, both early in the cycle and later in the cycle. Use that information to guide her cycles the way you want them to go. Mocha's AM and PM cycles are very different, so the best feeding times for her might not be the same in each cycle. Take the amount you would feed her over the 12 hour period, divide it into 3-4 meals, and experiment with when to feed them. Whatever changes you make, write them in your spreadsheet and hold it for at least 3-4 days to see if it is changing anything. Mocha drops later at night than she does during the day, so your food schedule might need to be different at night.
