Grayson 3/11

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Grayson & Lu

Grayson & Lu

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Good morning all -

Grayson is starting his day with a lovely 326 AMPS - and his face in a bowl of food! Life doesn't get much better than that unless it's a 7 day forecast with beautiful numbers in it... So I guess it really DOES get better!

He beat me to the litter box this morning, but I tested the "pond" in the corner and it came up Negative... now the question - was it his? I'll be chasing him around w/ a stick, more than once today, so I'm sure we'll get a confirmation. Fingers crossed! The higher insulin seems to have knocked out most of the ketones, so that's been a good result!

Gonna have to do a night feeding, or containerize him so nobody else helps themselves to his food... because it appears he was on a ravenous mission again this morning. The base lazy susan was open, two cans were on the floor (guess he thought about having some Cream of somthing soup w/ green beans!) and a little Kraft cheese powder on top. AHEM!!! Apparently he wasn't too fond of the cheese... not much missing - unless it was me showing up that canceled the party!

Hope everyone has a good day!
 
Grayson & Lu said:
I'll be chasing him around w/ a stick, more than once today
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Thanks for that image!! :lol: I hope you get your confirmation today. Sometimes Hershey is tricksy and we don't catch him.

It does sound like you interrupted the pantry party, because he hadn't found the beef to put in the casserole with the green beans, cream of mushroom soup and cheese - which are most of the ingredients for hamburger casserole! :-D

Have a great day!
 
You are just no fun! Party pooper!

Grayson just wanted something a little more taster. Poor kitty can't he catch a break?

Hope you guys have a good day!
 
P
Jenn & Baxter said:
Poor kitty can't he catch a break?
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If that wasn't bad enough, now they've got birdies to taunt them, sitting on the feeder right outside the kitchen window! The audacity of those little creatures!!!

AMPS 326 Shot 3.4; 1 can FF
+1.3 332 not much of a food spike
+5 284 the start of something promising... except I gave him another can of FF - cuz CLEARLY he's starving if he has to raid the cupboards!!!

Since they've gotten so good at running appliances and raiding the cupboards when I'm gone, I'm afraid that next time I return home I'll find him with an apron on, a cake in the oven, frosting in the mixer, and a spatula in his paw!
 
I know you are working around the ketones, Lu, but he is really getting bounced around on the doses. 3.2 gave you a nice amps this morning. Wondering about picking a dose (maybe 3.2?) and letting him settle in to a bit and see if that gives you the numbers you want? It's that Marathon, not a sprint :-D thing........
 
A bird feeder outside the window! Maybe that's what I need to give Hershey a little exercise, at least maybe keep him awake. Oreo, while a chunk, doesn't need extra avenues of exercise - he jumps from chair to chair, chases some unseen creatures throughout the house, talks to the squirrels through the window and I just had to stop him from trying to get the scissors off the table. Maybe Grayson bakes and Oreo does arts and crafts! Love the visual of the baking scene!! But, tell them cookies or banana bread recipes could be more easily modified for diabetics than cake :-D
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
I know you are working around the ketones, Lu, but he is really getting bounced around on the doses. 3.2 gave you a nice amps this morning. Wondering about picking a dose (maybe 3.2?) and letting him settle in to a bit and see if that gives you the numbers you want? It's that Marathon, not a sprint :-D thing........
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Sue -
The 3.2 yesterday (sorry, the SS is now updated) was the stepping stone to the 3.4 per the vet's recommendation (she wanted to jump from 2.5 - 3.5... I chose to stair-step) as a means to move away from the edge of the ketone cliff. Based on his appearance, and the much better ketone tests, it appears it was the right move.

I hope that we will be reducing somewhat - as I am concerned about the high dose and the amt of increase over the past 3 weeks. For now, however, staying off the cliff, and doing the increase over the weekend while I could be here was the reasoning behind the 3.4. He doesn't seem to be bouncing much, unless I'm too oblivious to see it. His numbers have improved with, in some cases more than one yellow and not just a 299 or 298 variety, but solid mid-level and even a low-level yellow... except of course the numbers reflective of his little incidents I've been reporting about, and the "snacks" he's defied the odds to get into. He's been quite the scavenger... I dare not leave the can opener on the counter or he'll have a hamburger casserole in the oven to go w/ his cake!
 
Doug N Libby said:
Maybe Grayson bakes and Oreo does arts and crafts! ...But, tell them cookies or banana bread recipes could be more easily modified for diabetics than cake :-D
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Actually, he's probably getting the appliances warmed up to ensure that I remember to have a nice birthday cake for him on the 20th!
party_cat
 
haha_smiley
I got a clear visual of a gray cat in the kitchen with a chef hat on & apron. A cloud of powder sugar coming from the mixer. The kitchen a little warm from the oven. A cat staring into the oven waiting for a cake to finish baking. DING....MEEEOOOWWW...CAKE IS SERVED!


When it comes to dosing I always think consisticy is good.
 
Jenn & Baxter said:
When it comes to dosing I always think consisticy is good.
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I don't disagree - but that NEG/TRACE ketone test I just took was why it happened so fast.

When I look at his spreadsheet - big picture - I think 2.2 was the best performing dose he's been at so far. Would you guys agree?

Likewise, if we want to bump the numbers down any, we've got to get on top of them, right? And that means more insulin? Or just catch them before they really start to climb? ...but that would shorten the cycles (timewise)...

So which is REALLY more important? Lower preshots? Wider range? 12 hr cycles? Consistent numbers am to pm? Ultimately, I think we want all of the above, but how to get there with the least amt of impact on him - and without risking hypos or ketones?
 
Keeping Ketones and Hypos away are the most important objective. We all want better numbers-- all greens, BUT the numbers are what they are and we do the best we can.

I think you needed the 3.4 units and can argue that I think you still need more. But, I would stick with the 3.4 and let it settle and see how he does. You said that you hoped to be reducing the amount of insulin he needed soon. I hope you are too--but, one of the hardest things I had to learn with Kitty was that is was okay to need more and/or a lot of insulin. I thought it was a bad thing that Kitty needed a lot of insulin and more than most all cats here. After months of trying to keep her dose down and consistent with other cats on the board, I realized that my goal should be to give her what "she" needed to be safe, not to shoot as little as possible...ECID. Before tid, I was shooting 5 units bid--so what? That is what SHE needed. If Grayson needs more...So what? Give him what HE needs. There are no rules or playbook! (I wish there was!)

I just hate to see you concentrate on lowering insulin.....concentrate on giving him what HE needs!

I am not advocating a certain dose, I just hate to see you thinking about reducing the dose, when I see nothing recently that supports a reduction. Maybe he does need less.....but, if he doesn't....so what?
 
I'm with Kim....he might have been doing great on the lower dose, but things are different right now. The last few cycles still look pretty flat to me, even on increased insulin, and if getting the numbers down is what will stop the ketones....
 
Yep, me too, I’m all for giving each kitty what they need, and if that’s more insulin for some, so be it. Hey, it would be awesome to go otj, but I have a big gulper kitty today, so I will do today what keeps him safe and puts him in the best numbers I can. One day at a time momma. You guys will get there. I’ll let you know if I can ever figure out where ‘there’ is ;-) :lol:
 
Thanks guys.

I know I get wrapped up in the numbers sometimes. But you're right - it's about Grayson and what he needs. And based on my other pets, he'll get whatever that is. Just wish I could get him there faster (okay, so patience isn't one of my strong suits!).

It's not the quantity of the insulin that overwhelms me, it's more that we've gone from next to nothing to a lot. I barely take an aspirin for a splitting headache, and the thought of pumping a lot of Rx of any kind into one of the kids really shakes me up.

Right now, he's trying to convince me to open another can of food... He's got that "Or else..." look on his face. Hmmm... let's see what's in the cupboard - perhaps I should give him a recipe that I'd like! :lol:
 
I don't know a lot about reading SS or dosing, some days feel overwhelmed trying so hard to 'find Waldo' when looking at the spreadsheets. I will agree that we each have to give our kitty what they need and not do that whole comparison thing that stage moms do. It's hard, because we ALL want our kitties not to have fd in the first place!

I see y'all doing amazing things on here and sharing what you learn and giving of your time...sometimes into the wee hours of the night. It is, as Sue said, a marathon and I have to remind myself of that often.

The only other thought I had was that insulin is a hormone, so not the same thing as medication. I absolutely know what you're saying, though. I've gotten much better at testing, but still have to make myself give Hershey a shot. I think I feel it more than he does.

I know that 'feed me or else' look - I get it from Hershey a lot. :smile:
 
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