Hello Again (previous thread reached 100 posts)

That sounds good. I’ve been having trouble with a sick cat (and appliances breaking, etc.) but this morning I woke up and thought… “I wonder how Scully is getting along on her new dose?” That’s a good report on her. My cats do that too. Even when they’ve already eaten, if they think there’s a chance we should happen to be in the kitchen to get them a snack — they come to investigate. My Siamese are the worst about this! Thanks for the update. I see she made it to yellow today. I hope for better, but if she was in blue yesterday while you were away, it’s possible that she is having one of her slightly higher days. I’m glad she is content.
 
Scully was weighed at the vets today, and the good news is that she has increased to 3.78Kg, which is about 300g in just about six weeks I think.

We have got her a 14 course in antibiotics. Started that today. Tablets. Scully was feisty after being tested, jabbed and then having a tablet forced.

Oh well.

Scully still calm and settled.

All good news.
 
Scully's numbers have been a little off since Tuesday,. I guess this could be the antibiotics. We are doing nothing really different, but she is back demanding food. Sometimes frantic. We're doing our best.
 
Jelltex said:
Scully's numbers have been a little off since Tuesday,. I guess this could be the antibiotics. We are doing nothing really different, but she is back demanding food. Sometimes frantic. We're doing our best.
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It’s really distressing to see the current trend toward the higher numbers. What kind of antibiotics is she taking? It’s tablets (not a liquid?) I am just trying to think of anything — many of the liquid medications have sweeteners in them that raise BG. But you mentioned tablets and also previously mentioned that she fought too much to give liquid meds.

This is very frustrating because it seems like her numbers should be going the other way.

If she just started antibiotics on Tuesday— it seems like the vet waited a long time to begin that since her visit where the blood was taken was a while ago.

Any chance she could be stealing dry food from other cats in your house? Like I said, I am trying to think of something causing the higher numbers.

Please test for ketones. He numbers are quite high and you need to be aware of any ketones building.
 
If her numbers do not come down, I would recommend an increase to 3 units as long as you can monitor her cycles.

Today would be day 4 of the antibiotic. It should have had some positive effect by now.
 
Jelltex said:
Scully was feisty after being tested, jabbed and then having a tablet forced.
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You say she was jabbed ….What kind of injection? Was this a vaccine? What kind?

If it was a vaccine, then that may explain the higher numbers. Vaccines create an inflammatory response and I have seen them raise BG numbers before — especially the adjuvanted vaccines.
 
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You say she was janbed….What kind of injection? Was this a vaccine? What kind
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I meant insulin.

We do the best we can regarding food from the other three cats. That doesn't explain the blood sugars.

We are giving her tablets.

Next week we have builders in, and the three other cats are going to a cattery, so there will be no other food laying around.
 
Jelltex said:
I meant insulin.

We do the best we can regarding food from the other three cats. That doesn't explain the blood sugars.

We are giving her tablets.

Next week we have builders in, and the three other cats are going to a cattery, so there will be no other food laying around.
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I was just reaching in my mind for an explanation. I do NOT think that you and Jools are doing anything wrong that has caused these higher numbers. And regarding food, even the most vigilant cat owners sometimes have a cat get into the “contraband” food. Cats are clever about their food…. and quick. But it wouldn’t explain anything unless it was happening every day since Tuesday, right! So I was just kind of thinking about any dietary changes Scully may have had. Recently, one of our ProZinc members had a food that was listed as being low carb and yet it was causing higher numbers. Sometimes it is an ingredient like a gum that doesn’t agree with the cat or a particular protein like fish or beef that may spike numbers. But I trust you completely to be observant with respect to her diet and any dietary changes.

I am just hoping she will feel better and be back in better BG numbers soon. She has made such great strides and has gained weight.
 
We feed wild birds, and once a day I put some peanuts on the ground. When hungry, Scully does eat these. Not sure if a a few peanuts could swing her blood sugars by that much. I will not put any on the ground from now on and see what happens to Scully's readings.
 
Peanuts are low in carbohydrates, but perhaps they could upset her digestion? And unless she’s eating them every day, it probably doesn’t explain her numbers. It’s looking like she needs an increase to 3 units, but you have work being done on your house so I am not sure if it’s the best timing?
 
Numbers were a little lower today, and she has been mostly very relaxed. On the whole, she seems in a good place, and has been since Friday evening.

I don't think upping the dose is a good idea with all the banging and knocking going on.
 
Okay. Just be aware that if she is stressed by the construction, her numbers may go higher. I was thinking more of your ability to test her during the time you have workers there.

Even though she does seem more comfortable in the 300s with a few yellows during the cycle, you should be aware that she is spending a large portion of her days and evenings above what is called the kidney threshold— where she is spilling glucose into her urine and her kidneys are working very hard to filter the glucose from the blood. In high numbers her kidneys cannot keep pace and this causes kidney damage over time. My goal for her would be, at minimum, to lower her numbers to the point where she is spending more time in blue and lower yellows (at least below 250.)
 
I am happy to see you increased the dose and had a lovely blue.
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The chaos is beginning to ease, though this is the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end. She was very settled yesterday, with lots of sleeping. The other three cats are in the cattery, so its easier to monitor her eating.
 
Suzanne,

Good morning.

As hard as it is to believe, we do nothing different with Scully each day, and yet readings at either PS are quite steady, but the readings at +6 come as a surprise, not always good.

Yesterday (Tuesday), we were out all day, and she had no +6 test, nor any food through the day until we returned home. Then the results this morning, 3.2 at +5, and 3.3 at +6.

Scully is very settled, and will stop meowing for food if we sit on the sofa or on the patio with her. She sleeps in the afternoons and evenings, but any movement by either of us results in a demand for food.

So, we try to sit with her more and not let her focus on food.
 
Suzanne,

One more thing.

We finished the course of anti-biotics on Sunday evening, so any effect of that might now be weakening.

Many thanks for your help,

Ian
 
Jelltex said:
Yesterday (Tuesday), we were out all day, and she had no +6 test, nor any food through the day until we returned home. Then the results this morning, 3.2 at +5, and 3.3 at +6.
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The green numbers she had on Wednesday were definitely too low, considering you are using an Alpha Trak meter. If she drops below 68 (3.8) you should give her some high carb wet food and monitor closely. She was quite a bit lower than that, so she should have been given some honey or corn syrup to bring up her BG quickly and monitor closely until she is rising on her own without the aid of honey (two hours after any high carb was given.)

The way I would approach it in the future is that when she has a preshot as low as 211 (11.7), I would reduce her dose for that cycle — down to 2.75 units or even 2.5 units. Then if you are able to get a few tests you will be able to hone in on just how much of a dose reduction is required to keep her in good numbers without going too high or too low.

I am suggesting this as opposed to an overall dose reduction back down to 2.75 units. Sometimes with ProZinc you need to shoot a slightly reduced dose for a single cycle— or you can wait until numbers rise and shoot a little late, although they’re not supposed to eat during the stalling period so it can be difficult for some people— especially in multi-cat households— to wait more than about 30 minutes.
 
Bother. I see she had a nice blue AMPS but then she shot up. Not your fault. It looks like that blue AMPS was the tail end of some good numbers she had last night and then today she was reacting to it.

If only we had a crystal ball…
 
Work has finished on the kitchen today.

It has been too chaotic weekdays to get a reading at lunchtime, but from tomorrow we'll get back on the case.

Mostly, Scully has been restful, but anyone in the kitchen or gets up will be pestered and pestered. We sit on the sofa and she settles. For a while.
 
We have changed the bottle of insulin this evening, as the reading was too high to be read.

Trying to eliminate things, so changing to a new bottle.
 
Whoa. Her numbers are not good. She needs an increase to 3.5 units (because the nadirs are so high). I hope there’s nothing else going on with Scully.
 
We were hoping with fresh insulin that the numbers would drop after a few days. They have, but by not as much as hoped.

We will switch to 3.5 tomorrow morning, and I will check hourly from +4 hours.

There is nothing else going on with her, other than she is hangry all the time. Does settle down, but as soon as either of us move, she's demanding food.
 
I hope you are enjoying your mew kitchen!

I am not surprised at the hunger. I was hoping, when I read your post about the new ProZinc vial, that the numbers would come down. At least that’s no longer a variable we need to consider.
 
She’s periodically doing better on the 3.5 unit dose. I see she’s recently been bouncing from the recent lows.
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We're doing nothing different each day, and yet the readings seem so variable. She settles once the insulin begins to kick in at +3 and sleeps only to eat at lunch, then sleeps three more hours. We are taking that as a win.

But she still thinks either of us going into the kitchen is going to feed her, but when we leave and sit on the sofa, she settles back down. Maybe its 50% habit....
 
Jelltex said:
But she still thinks either of us going into the kitchen is going to feed her,
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It probably is just habit. It’s just her being a cat. This is what my non-diabetic cats do too — some are more food motivated than others. The lazier ones are content to wait until it’s close to their feeding time, but the highly food-motivated ones are always hopeful that us going into the kitchen means a chance for a snack.
 
Hi Suzanne,

This week has been crazy.

Mornings when her AMPS has been on the low side, has seen her demanding more and more food. And mornings when numbers were in the black, she settled down for three hours sleep right after eating.

This evening was her lowest PMPS reading for two months, and yet demanded more and more food, and would not move from her feeding place.

I am sure the meter is fine. We are doing the best we can, but when numbers don't match her behaviour, it causes us to doubt ourselves.
 
Jelltex said:
Hi Suzanne,

This week has been crazy.

Mornings when her AMPS has been on the low side, has seen her demanding more and more food. And mornings when numbers were in the black, she settled down for three hours sleep right after eating.

This evening was her lowest PMPS reading for two months, and yet demanded more and more food, and would not move from her feeding place.

I am sure the meter is fine. We are doing the best we can, but when numbers don't match her behaviour, it causes us to doubt ourselves.
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Hello. Let me look at everything. I am so sorry for the delay. I didn’t see your message. We had the Thanksgiving holiday here which is a four day weekend and in addition to that I have two sick cats who need a lot of care. I want to examine Scully’s spreadsheet before I comment.
 
Hello. Let me look at everything. I am so sorry for the delay. I didn’t see your message. We had the Thanksgiving holiday here which is a four day weekend and in addition to that I have two sick cats who need a lot of care. I want to examine Scully’s spreadsheet before I comment.
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Suzanne,

That was last week.

And as crazy as that was, this week has been calm and steady. Blue and green readings, and a happy contented cat.

We kept doing what we were doing, and little by numbers the numbers came down.

A little low on Wednesday evening, but I managed it with monitoring and food.

We and Scully are pretty happy.
 
She is definitely doing better this week. I am glad to see some blue and green on her spreadsheet.

Whenever you get a lower than expected preshot and shoot a reduced dose, try to test a couple times to make sure you have chosen the correct dose (too much/too little.)

It looks like if she’s above 250 she can receive the full dose. If she’s close to 250 and you feel uncomfortable, I would only shave a little bit off of the dose - just a .25 unit reduction.
 
Also, and most importantly, Scully has earned a reduction (on several occasions) back down to 3.25 units. On the Alpha Trak meter, any time she drops below 68 (3.8 your number) she earns a dose reduction. She has done that a couple of times now. Hopefully, this will allow her to receive her full dose more frequently.
 
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How is she feeling in the lower numbers this week? I think the swings of last week and her not being used to lower numbers were causing her to behave differently.
 
I know I just sent three messages, but please let me know you saw the one about the reduction to 3.25 units (congratulations on that reduction by the way! It’s a good thing.) Then I won’t worry about her dropping too low.
 
Hello — checking in….

From your spreadsheet, it looks like she should have received the 3.25 unit full dose on December 5 and 6 (per my previous messages about the reduction that she earned.). Those reduced doses allowed her to climb too high by the end of the a.m. cycle (into red.). She most definitely should have received the full 3.25 unit dose yesterday December 7. She was starting in the pink so a reduction to 3 units was not warranted.

Try to stay with the full dose as often as possible. It is true that sometimes with ProZinc we will need to do a temporary reduction for a cycle, but oftentimes with too many different doses being given, you end up with wildly fluctuating BG numbers.

This morning, I do understand you shooting that reduced dose as she was quite lower than normal. It’s unfortunate she has bounced back up, which you could not predict. You are aware that you can stall the shot for a while and test again (without giving her any food) in 30 minutes and an hour to see if her BG is rising on its own? Stalling for an hour would put you slightly off schedule, but you could shoot half an hour earlier in the evening (11.5 hours after the previous shot) and then shoot at the regular time the following day.

Many cats tend to drop into lower numbers at night, which is why we recommend getting a “before bed” test as an indicator of how the p.m. cycle is going to go. Last night, Scully must have dropped into (possibly green) lower numbers; hence the blue morning preshot and following pink number.

I stand by this that I wrote in a post above:

“It looks like if she’s above 250 she can receive the full dose. If she’s close to 250 and you feel uncomfortable, I would only shave a little bit off of the dose - just a .25 unit reduction.” But when shooting the reduced doses it’s very important to her a few mid-cycle tests to learn from that — because it will help you learn exactly what to shoot next time.

I hope you are well and enjoying the Holiday Season.
 
but please let me know you saw the one about the reduction to 3.25 units (congratulations on that reduction by the way! It’s a good thing.) Then I won’t worry about her dropping too low.
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Yes we saw.

We are also trying to make formal rules, for us, as to when to drop doses due to low readings.

We had this cheat sheet for us, as we are very worried about too low readings:

Greater than 27.6 = 3.5 (black on sheet)
22.2 - 27.6 = 3.25 (red)
16.7 - 22.1 = 3.00 (cerise)
11.2 - 16.6 = 2.75 (yellow)
5.6 - 11.1 = 2.50 (Blue

So, full dose as long as the AMPS or PMPS is 15.0 or above?

And full dose now is 3.50 or 3.25?

Out vet looks at the sheet, and is amazed how how diligent we are, but she advises us not to get much below 10.0, but we'd do that anyway. She also worried about the increase to 3 units, we've not seen her since the further increase to 3.5!

So, is the reduction after a blue number to 3.25 a one of or every AMPS and PMPS?

Our main concern is Scully and don't want to put her life in danger. I will do a test before bed, but this will be a +4 or +5.

However, it seems her nadir is now at +5 hours, rather than +6.

As for Christmas: all of Jools's family is going away, and I have none left, so it will be us and the cats, which is fine with us.

Thanks for all the help and you and the group have saved Scully's life, as under just the care of the vet she would have died in the summer, I think. The vet was happy with a single reading to be able to say the dose was correct, and that would not have changed. It scares the life out of me, to be honest.

We are trying to make sense of her constant demand for food this week, it was better last week, but that might be because we have given too low a dose. It is a joy when she settles on the sofa after breakfast or dinner and sleeps two or three hours, as she did last week.
 
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