Frank, the 2nd chapter

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Frank's Mom

Frank's Mom

Member Since 2017
I was so busy all weekend....and ran out of relion strips. So I was sporadic in my testing, and Sun morning fell to my mom for the shot...and she only gave 2U because she's not comfortable with BG testing. So, the no shot morning and lower dose at the end of last week, followed by a low dose on Sunday AM,...well, we saw some high numbers. (I know, I need to update my spreadsheet.) Buuttt....a slightly increased dose this evening and we are looking good. Going to be strict with testing the next few days, but I'm hoping 3.75 is our magic number.
 
The weather here was GREAT, I was so busy all over the place, trying to enjoy the outside and get things done inside, then Easter...whew. Plus I'm STILL fighting this darn cold!!!! All that and I just wasn't a good diabetic cat mom this weekend. I'm somewhat ashamed of my intermittent testing, lol. And tonight my 2 new hives of honey bees came in, so that was time consuming as well. I'll do better this week. Poor Frank's sugar has been all over because of my hit or miss care.
 
Also...I'm so jealous of @Stressedcatmom numbers. Yoshi is looking great! And the Chloe thing stresses me out. Like, majorly stresses me out. I think I just need to avoid that thread. I think I'm going to grab one more test on Frank and call it a night
 
I know you didn't get AMPS and PMPS over the weekend, did Frank actually miss 4 of his shots too? You make honey :woot:? I would love to find some local honey.
 
Frank's Mom said:
The weather here was GREAT, I was so busy all over the place, trying to enjoy the outside and get things done inside, then Easter...whew. Plus I'm STILL fighting this darn cold!!!! All that and I just wasn't a good diabetic cat mom this weekend. I'm somewhat ashamed of my intermittent testing, lol. And tonight my 2 new hives of honey bees came in, so that was time consuming as well. I'll do better this week. Poor Frank's sugar has been all over because of my hit or miss care.
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I've read about the environmental stresses on honey bees. Is it hard to keep them healthy?
 
Yong said:
I know you didn't get AMPS and PMPS over the weekend, did Frank actually miss 4 of his shots too? You make honey :woot:? I would love to find some local honey.
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No, he got his shots and most of his amps and pmps. I just haven't put them on the sheet because I'm a slacker.
I don't make the honey...I just steal it from the bees. ;) Last year was our first year. When we started harvesting, I bought a gallon of vanilla ice cream and some local blueberries and strawberries....and made the best sundaes ever.
 
My little side business....
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It's not hard. It can be expensive, and does require some work. But for the most part the bees do their thing, and you just watch them. They were stirred up this afternoon, though.
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OMG...I'm terrified of bees. Just looking at that pictures is stressing me out. But honey on the other hand....mmmmmm.....yummy!
 
Very cool! I love bees! I have lots of flowers, both wild and cultivated and lots of wild honeybees around as well as other types. Love chickens too! I have 12, but plan to add lots more....
 
Well he ate his entire nighttime food after that green (3/4 of a can) and I got the 108 about 45 minutes after that. I'm pretty sure he's hit his nadir, but I did give him about 1/8 c of his dry RC just to safely get him through the night. (It's 12:30 and I have to get to bed!) He's so loveable right now. I wonder if it's because he's feeling better.
 
Lovely green! You know we're always here to provide whatever advice we have Sarah...and remember your instincts are great too! :bighug:
 
I got a nice big bounce number this morning instead of a good number. Going to hold this dose steady at least until the end of the week to see what happens, unless I get a NS number.
 
I hope I didn't over shoot on a low number. Eek. That's the first yellow on a PMPS...and I'm still testing with the AT2 which reads higher than the relion..
 
Finally got strips for the Relion again. I don't like those high numbers on the AT2! However, that brings me to my next question....Frank was hardly ever black on lower doses. Is it possible, with his tendency to bounce, that I missed his good dose and now he's over compensating by bouncing higher? Or should I try another increase? He was so much better on 2.5/3 than he is on 3.5/3.75. I know the AT2 reads higher, and that's part of the reason for the blacks recently, but even on the Relion he'd have been higher than usual. As always, I'm super grateful for the expert advise on this board!!
 
Ummm.....I don't know?

Not very helpful, huh? I'm going to think 'outloud' for a second....I think if it was me, I'd give it a couple of cycles back on the Relion. You can't compare numbers between AT2 and a human meter, so it's hard to know how to consider the AT2 numbers in relation to the surrounding Relion numbers. He does seem to be bouncing around a fair amount in the past week, which could be too high of a dose, something has changed, or you're at a better dose and he just needs time to settle into the dose. But you did get a nice cluster of blues and greens during the PM cycle at 3.75, which leads me to think that the dose isn't too high. There aren't any AM mid-cycles numbers at this dose, so it's hard to know about that part of the cycle. He might be getting nice numbers there, but we just can't see them. Or maybe not.

You're doing a good job of keeping the dose consistent right now, so I think after all of that rambling, I'd go back to the first thought - hold steady at least through tomorrow, get some AM mid-cycles on the Relion, and then maybe look at a possible dose change on Sunday or next week. His pre-shots were more stable at the lower dose, but his nadirs were too high. You're starting to see some better nadirs now, so I don't think the dose is too high.

I'm curious to see what everyone else thinks about this though...
 
You did get some nice numbers on those lower doses, but they were really just nice in comparison to what you're getting now. You were still sitting in yellows most of the day...which isn't what you want. Considering that you've increased slowly and consistently and gotten some nice blues and greens in there, my thought is that it's a combo of using the AT2 vs the relion which shows higher numbers and possibly a bit of insulin resistance. Even with those nicer numbers from before, he was sitting too high and getting some pinks preshot which is why I think that. I tend to think that the slow, steady increases are still best to hopefully help break through that and get him in nicer numbers.

I do agree that maybe you want to use the relion a few days (or use both if you prefer) so you can get a better idea of where is from that meter since you have info on that from before.
 
Day testing is hard (work...what a drag!) and tomorrow I'm gone for the better part of the day, so I guess we'll hold steady at 3.75 and get some day numbers on Sunday. Who knows, by then maybe his bounciness will go away and I'll be back in those yellows and maybe some greens. I guess I should have waited until Sunday to ask these questions. :-) The good news is that even with me limiting his food to 2 cans a day, he's not losing weight again, so something is working right for him. Poor guy was SO SKINNY when he went to the vet just a month ago. I feel terrible that I didn't catch this sooner!!
 
Right?! If only we didn't have to work! I'm pretty lucky to get to work from home a couple of hours most days, or swing by between appointments when they're close by. I think it's always better to ask questions ahead of time, since there isn't always someone around at the last minute.

Is he supposed to be gaining weight? Or is he at an okay weight now? Maybe you can have some of Sam's weight...he's not excessively overweight, but he could stand to lose another pound or two.
 
Djamila said:
Is he supposed to be gaining weight? Or is he at an okay weight now? Maybe you can have some of Sam's weight...he's not excessively overweight, but he could stand to lose another pound or two.
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He's ok now. He was about 2 pounds underweight when he was diagnosed, but also had the KDA, which I think goes hand in hand somewhat. Now he's his ideal weight (they want him between 11-12 pounds), so I'm monitoring his food. He was getting like 4-5 cans of food a day when he first got diagnosed, just to get weight back on him. He's on 2 cans a day now, so basically I'm starving him and he yells at me every chance he gets.
 
When was the last ketone test? Since he's been a little higher :). Also, with the numbers he may feel a little hungrier than he has been lately.
 
Frank's Mom said:
He's ok now. He was about 2 pounds underweight when he was diagnosed, but also had the KDA, which I think goes hand in hand somewhat. Now he's his ideal weight (they want him between 11-12 pounds), so I'm monitoring his food. He was getting like 4-5 cans of food a day when he first got diagnosed, just to get weight back on him. He's on 2 cans a day now, so basically I'm starving him and he yells at me every chance he gets.
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Ugh...I don't ketone test. At least not yet. I can't imagine that he would even allow me to sneak up on his pee. How long can the pee be in the box for me to test it for ketones?
 
Before I tried the spoon trick, I dipped the stick in a fresh puddle before litter absorbed it all. So I did have to "shoo" Maury out of his box when he went to cover it. I always reassured him I would cover it for him :p. He has enclosed boxes so I have to "open the door" and just sneak the spoon under him.
 
I have a clean washed out Fancy Feast can that I keep near the litter box, and I just hold on one side and stick it under his butt, collect a little bit of pee, then let him go back to his business. I'm lucky that he always pees with his butt facing out.
 
Tonight should be a good cycle! I think that I'm so close to a good dose for him, but don't want to increase on a bounce. Maybe Sunday morning I'll up it to 4.
 
While I'm hanging out here tonight, can anyone shed some light on more regulated BG and behavior/personality? I don't know any people with diabetes, so can't ask them. I've noticed Frank becoming increasingly loveable as his BG gets more under control. He goes to bed with me, sleeps on the back of the couch by me, and jumps in my lap several times nightly for 5-10 minutes of petting and purring before he gets irritated, bites me, and runs away. (It used to only take 2 minutes to get him irritated.) So I'm thinking he must be feeling better now to be a bit friendlier, right?
 
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It's still new territory for me but Maury is doing more of his old habits; more lovable, hanging out with me by computer more (used to do it almost all the time), talking, playing, sleeping in bed with me more, better appetite, and little feistier with lower BG's for testing :D
 
Yong said:
It's still new territory for me but Maury is doing more of his old habits; more lovable, hanging out with me by computer more (used to do it almost all the time), talking, playing, sleeping in bed with me more, better appetite, and little feistier with lower BG's for testing :D
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There are definitely things he's doing now that I didn't even notice had stopped. Like jumping on top of the fridge and crying until someone walks into the kitchen, then swatting their head/hair/face. o_O But he's also more friendly than he's ever been in his entire life.
 
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