Heffernan 11/28 AMPS 229

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Laura & Heffernan

Laura & Heffernan

Member Since 2013
Heff's numbers are all over the board. Yes, I don't always feel safe giving his regular dose, but I'm not home to monitor most of the time so what do I do? He didn't move off the couch all day today so I know his numbers aren't food influenced by sneaking the other cats food.

I am so lost. I wonder if my vial of Lantus isn't effective anymore? It's about 4 months old.
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

I think we are going to Canada this week to get a new vial of insulin. Might be time to switch to Levemir.
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

lak99 said:
... I don't always feel safe giving his regular dose, but I'm not home to monitor most of the time so what do I do?
Click to expand...

Hi Laura,

I think that's the hardest part of this whole thing. I'm just grateful that Saoirse's numbers allow for SID dosing because I never feel comfortable being asleep while she has foreign insulin in her system. nailbite_smile If I wasn't here all day I don't think she'd be anywhere near as well-regulated as she is now.

Fingers and paws crossed that Heff's numbers will improve. Maybe his recent tummy upset affected his numbers?
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

There is a pretty decent chance that if your insulin is 4 months old and you are using a vial rather than the pens that your insulin is shot. Or at least weakened to some degree. I know even with the pens I only get about 3 good months out of one and then I usually have to start fattening the dose to finish off the pen because it has weakened to where I'm not getting the same bang for the buck.

Just an FYI if you are headed to Canada for insulin and are seriously thinking about a switch to Levemir..I just paid $140 for a 5 pk of cartridges from there. I personally like the cartridges better than either the vial or the pens, since they are just basically the guts of the pens without the plastic case around it. So they are easy to store in a small spot in the fridge, and just I think less clumsy to handle when drawing up doses because I'm working with a nice compact little vial really.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

I'm trying to figure out when we can make the cross border trip this week. of course there's a winter storm coming this way this week with possible lake effect snow. SIGH. it's always something.

I do definitely see a spike in his numbers when he's constipated--I think my sister & I got a bit over zealous with the Miralax and gave it every meal. Poor Heff, thankfully he doesn't mind his butt being cleaned with wet wipes.

Mel, the cartridges are good for awhile as long as they are sealed? I'll ask the pharmacist what's my best deal. Then I just use the regular syringe to draw up the insulin?

I actually look forward to going to canada. Stocking up on marcal tissue (the box has cute white persian kittens) and kraft peanut butter. Canadian peanut butter is the best!
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

Yep you use the cartridges just like the pens, just use a regular syringe to draw up your dose and each cartridge is good until the expiration date on the box if unopened, once opened first pierce with the syringe, not the box of cartridges themselves. That cartridge is good normally until it is gone which for me is about 2-3 months. Levemir itself is guaranteed by the company to be good up to 45 days but just like Lantus only being guaranteed good for 30 days we know by keeping it in the fridge its good much longer than that.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 10 AMPS 310

Bought Lantus. I think I'm going to go back to the lower dose with the fresh vial. Of course his PMPS was low 200s.
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

So I'm still using the old insulin & his numbers are better. This cat!!! I gave him a reduced dose today with that 209 since I wont be home until 5:30. I also left out his favorite Young Again & Some EVO wet, but I'm sure that's gone already.
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

Join the club...Maybe Heff and Autumn are reading the same sugarcat manual...lol Now if they would just share that reading material with the rest of us.. :roll:

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

Back in the 300's this morning so I opened the new cartridge of Lantus. I gave a reduced dose. I think he needs to poop too so that could be part of the elevated numbers. He enjoyed a nice nap in his favorite chair in the sunroom yesterday while it was 60 degrees. Going to be 30 and snow today.
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

Here's to hoping the new pen brings the numbers back in line again.. Also sending poop vibes...You know I think here is just about the only place in the world where we discuss and cheer POOP!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: Here we discuss and celebrate the size, shape, color and regularity of fecal matter, usually over our morning ~O) Yep we really are crazy cat people and that's just the way we like it. :-D

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

LOL We have a facebook group for the foster care parents for my local SPCA. We have happy poop dance songs (and sometimes there is a dance!). Only with my cat friends can I discuss poop texture, frequency, etc. Cat people aren't phased! Heff got a belly rub this morning to "move the poop" as we say in house! :lol:

Went to scoop boxes in my spare bedroom this AM and slid through vomit. Fun fun!! Thank god I had flip flops on!
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

OMG the amount of times i've stepped in kitty vomit with 11 cats is beyond counting. LOL
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

LOL nothing says Good Morning like rolling out of bed and stepping in now cold hairball on the floor. Of course I use to think that was bad until someone posted on FB that she had gotten up and in the dark stepped on a "present" for one of her indoor/outdoor cats a decapitated lizard head and heard it pop...EEEEEWWWWWW. That is when I decided that I would never complain about stepping in pee, poop or vomit again... :shock:

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 13 AMPS 280

My sister has a king size bed & generally sleeps on one side & the cats sleep on the other side. The other day she rolled over & felt "something". Dried hairball. ICK. Good thing these critters are cute!!

Heff needs good poop mojo. Not much movement this morning. BG slightly lower at 280, but still high. More miralax & water. Last night I mixed in miralax, extra water & his favorite Forti Flora. He went back to the bowl several times just to lick it clean!
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

Critter Mom said:
lak99 said:
We have happy poop dance songs (and sometimes there is a dance!).
Click to expand...
Errrm ... ye're not alone. :oops:

:lol:
Click to expand...

We used to foster cats with "digestive" problems. There was always a celebration when there was normal stool. :roll:
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

Come on Heff.....Let's move that poop! Push it out! Shove it out! Way Out!!!!

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

give me a "p"
give me an "o"
give me an "o"
give me a "p"
what have you got?
poop poop poop.
Lol
that's my poop cheer for you
 
Re: Heffernan November 14 AMPS 323

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.

We have poop! :lol: Thanks for the good poop vibes!! LOL!!!

Now if his BG would come down! I need to update his spreadsheet tonight. Hoping to be home Sunday to maybe do a curve to try to figure out what the heck is going on!
 
Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209



Woohoo!!! YAY for POOP!!!

Mel and The Fur Gang
 

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Re: Heffernan November 11 AMPS 209

:RAHCAT :RAHCAT :RAHCAT POOP POOP YAYYYYYY :RAHCAT :RAHCAT
 
Re: Heffernan November 14 AMPS 323 PMPS 342

Updated his spreadsheet. These pre shot numbers are for the birds. I am starting over at 1 unit with PM shot. So frustrated. Hopefully I can get mid cycle numbers tomorrow but we are volunteering 9-at least 2. I just got home from an adoption event at our shelter. It was chaos. Never so happy to come home to my furry kids.
 
Re: Heffernan November 15 AMPS 207 PMPS

Morning pre shot number was way better with a lower dose. We'll see what his PM shot brings.
 
Re: Heffernan November 15 AMPS 207 PMPS 452

Good Lord I hope this 452 is a bounce because I'm freaking out. I held the dose at 1 unit. Should I have given more??? What the heck
.
 
Re: Heffernan November 16 AMPS 292 PMPS

could be a bounce. he might be going low on the mid cycles. i know how hard it is to get those spot checks but that is probably the only way to know if it's a bounce. believe me i know it is difficult to get those readings. good luck. hope you have some time to grab them. :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Re: Heffernan November 16 AMPS 292 PMPS

I can only get mid cycle numbers on a weekend, and usually only on Sundays. Yesterday I was gone from 8:45 am to 5 pm. His shot time is 6:15-6:30 pm. Some days I just feel like a complete failure.
 
Re: Heffernan November 16 AMPS 292 PMPS

(((laura))) You are doing a GREAT job. i have the same problem as you. it is so hard for me to get mid cycle readings too. Sundays would be a great day to get in a few readings. if you can get 1 or 2 extra tests in that would be great like anywhere from +4 to +7 so you can see how low he is going. looking at your spreadsheet i think it was really smart that you are doing the 1 unit. if he were mine, i would hold that dose for at least a week until you can get to a sunday and take some mid cycle readings or even a mini curve (every 3 hours) to see if he is going low. you want to find a dose that you can shoot both times that is the same so you don't have to keep changing it when he goes too low at preshot.
you know what.....we can only do the best we can. you are already doing so much just by home testing and caring for your baby. that is hugh and fantastic. please don't beat yourself up. you are a kind and caring person and your'e doing great !!!!!
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

So I upped his dose yesterday to 1.5 units to try to get him to come down and he was in the 160's this morning. Then I'm stuck with the same dilemma. I don't feel comfortable shooting his normal dose, so i gave a chicken **** 1/2 dose and he's going to bounce.

I also noticed I dont think we are feeding him enough-my sister & I were talking and he got more food last night so I'm wondering if that contributed to a better number this AM.

I'm so done with trying to figure this all out.
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

How much are you feeding him and what is his ideal weight?

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

He's currently 25 lbs and should be about 20. We adopted him at 35 lbs.

He's probably eating about 1 1/2 cans of fancy feast a day with a few tablespoons of young again sprinkled on. I don't think that's enough.
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

Yeah I would say that is way underfed. Cassanova is 17 lbs and he eats about the same as 3 cans of FF daily and I still think he is a little on the thin side now, but then again I'm use to seeing him at 37 lbs. Maxwell is 16 lbs and he eats about the same as Cassanova.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

He got a 2nd plate last night & looked at me like really mom, I can have 2?

UGH. I am a horrible cat mom.
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

You're not a horrible cat mom

It's tough to judge when you go from free feeding dry all their lives to now feeding canned. Its trial and error for awhile, I know a couple of mine got pretty skinny as well when I was trying to judge how much to feed everyone and how to make sure everyone got what then needed when I did feed them. Some of my shier ones were use to waiting until the crowd thinned to go to the dry food dishes now they have to jump in with everyone else as there are no leftovers because the piglets of the bunch will scarf down anything left. That is why I have some that each with everyone else just separate bowls, some that eat in separate rooms and some that eat in the same room but in different places in that room. :lol: :roll: Feeding time here is a production or at least a comedy of errs...lol

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 18 AMPS 160's

The thing is he's not losing any weight. The vet advised us to feed less, which I didn't think he was getting much to begin with. He's never had free access to kibble since he was so obese when we adopted him. His food was measured. It wasn't until he was diabetic that he actually lost 9 lbs in a few months.

I really wish I could do away with kibble entirely, but our 1 female refuses anything other than 2 types of dry food. She's ridiculous. I need to get the others off it though for their various health problems.
 
Re: Heffernan November 19 AMPS 360

So far we haven't gotten a ton of snow yet, but I'm already over winter...We've been in the deep freeze here for about a week and I'm over it.

You know that whole snow bird thing is starting to look better and better as I get older. lol As I kid I never quite got it, but back then I loved winter because it meant sledding, and ice skating, and snow days off at school, not slipping and sliding to go get groceries, chipping ice off windshields or walking the dog in weather so could your breath froze.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 19 AMPS 360

Until you've lived through lake effect snow nobody can understand how truly bad it is. I have 2 inches, my friends have 5-6 FEET of snow with another 2 feet forecasted. Driving to work this AM it was like someone put a white wall up. I had to follow the tail lights ahead of me. Only 5 more months of this crap.
 
Re: Heffernan November 19 AMPS 360

Oh how well I remember. Spent a good portion of my youth living in Michigan. I remember walking to school in snow canyons. Then I got really silly and decided to move for awhile up into the mountains in Colorado. One morning I opened the door to toss out the dog's water and it froze and fell as snow flakes...It was -35 outside before wind chill. Also living up there I went to bed one night and my truck was happily sitting in the drive all nice and clean, got up the next morning the only thing I could see what the red ball on top of the antenna. We had gotten 5 feet of snow overnight. Really sad when you have to engage your 4-wheel drive just to get out of the driveway...lol

Best thing I can say about winter is ....ummmmm......oh yeah NOTHING!

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 19 AMPS 365 PMPS 430

Raised the dose another .25. He ate about a tablespoon of Young Again when I got home at 4:25. I purposely waited until after 6:30 to test him so 2 hours would pass. I don't know why his numbers are so consistently high.
 
Re: Heffernan November 20 AMPS 227

Much more reasonable BG this AM.

Have I mentioned I'm tired of snow? Buffalo set a record for most snowfall in a 24 hour period. Dubious honor. Praying for my friends & family stuck in their houses since Tuesday and have no idea how they are going to clear 6 feet of snow from their houses, roof, etc. The national guard is sending backhoes to dig out the streets since regular plows aren't cutting it.

1-2 more feet of snow forecasted for today. nailbite_smile
 
Re: Heffernan November 24 AMPS 245

Sorry hon,

I wasn't on a bunch this last weekend, Tis the Season to be ungodly busy...lol

Not to shabby of an amps for Heff this morning. But I was looking at his spreadsheet and you've been doing a lot of changing of dose, he might do better if you pick a dose and give him a little longer to settle in on it before changing it again.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: Heffernan November 24 AMPS 245

hi Laura
OMG are you in the area that got 6 feet of snow?
ugghhhhhh. i bet ur tired of snow.
sorry
 
Re: Heffernan November 24 AMPS 245

Mel--I understand, some days I just feel alone, but believe me I understand! I work at AAA. This is our busiest time of the year.

I didn't get the 6-7 feet, but about 5-6 miles south of me is where the hardest hit areas are. It's quite unbelieveable the amount of snow they got, which is now melting because it's 60 degrees today. At least 13 people have died as a result of the storm. Things seem to be getting back to normal this week. Just in time for the mad holiday rush.

I have to update Heff's spread sheet, but I've been holding his dose at 2 units for a few days and he's responding. Yesterday his +4 before bed was in the 120's! So he got some medium carb food (for him which is about 7%).
 
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