Help please black at +10so

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Shadow McFatto

Shadow McFatto

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Hi all! I made the mistake of saying that I felt like I was in control! Please look at my ss and tell me what you think. Not that during the light greens I had to "steer" him back up. When I lowered his dose the bg started creeping up but he also started eating well so I don't know what caused the creep.
 
First, you are more in control that you would be if you were guessing what was happening. IMHO, he is bouncing big time. He dropped early, more than 50% by +2. It was a nice slow rise - sometimes they bounce right after the lowest number. It could be that the insulin petered out early, but I am betting on a bounce. Did you steer him with regular food or higher carb stuff? If higher carb, that can contribute to the higher number too.

Two choices. Continue with the 1.5 (if you can monitor the low point and make sure he doesn't drop too low) and figure he will eventually get used to the lower ranges and not bounce. Or drop down to 1.25 and see if
he nadirs later in the cycle.

The good news is that he was in beautiful numbers most of the day. The bad news is that they didn't last.

Does this make sense?
 
I didn't actually steer him at all today. I wanted to see what he would do on his own. Do you think that 1.5 is adequate for the pm dose? Should I give it early? It will be 11 hours shortly.
 
I think 1.5 might be too much for the evening dose. If you give that, be sure to plan to test some tonight.

No, I would not shoot early. Sometimes they drop back down after a bounce, so he could be lower at pmps.

Remember, if it is a bounce as I think, the black is his body's response to a low number and reflects the extra glucose it released. It isn't a number you want to think of as a "normal" part of the cycle.

Try not to let the black scare you. Instead look at those lovely numbers before that.
 
OK. I guess I have been thinking about it wrong. If I only shoot 1.0 he will be safe for the night? How long can he have 500 preshots and be OK?
 
My suggestion was 1.5 if you plan to monitor carefully or 1.25 if you can't. I think going back to one unit may be too little insulin. His 62 today wasn't a dangerous low number; it was actually fine. We intervene when when they drop in the 40s. Sometimes they drop lower overnight and it is hard on you to monitor overnight. That's why I was thinking 1.25. Regardless a before bed test is always a good idea, just to catch a cycle that might be dropping fast.

It would be one thing if he had black preshots every cycle and stayed in high ranges during the cycle. But that's not what happened. He had a beautiful cycle in nice ranges and then bounced at the end.
 
I would say "yes". This looks like a bounce to me too.
 
So the vet called to check on us last night. She agrees that he is having the somogyi affect. She wants me to drop to 1.0 am and pm. She would rather I stick with the Purina DM canned with the dry for grazing. She said that not enough research has been done using the FF and the carbs in the dry will help prevent the bounce. She says that they are formulated for diabetic cats so they release more slowly than other carbs. She says that it will be much easier to get him regulated on these. I figure that if he is bouncing so easily then maybe keeping him a little higher wouldn't be bad. I know that means we might miss the optimum window for getting him OTJ, but maybe once he gets used to bg being a little lower than before, he might be easier to drop to the FF and lower his dose.
She wants us to try this for about 3 weeks as long as he is acting normally and then come in for a fructosamine test.
Wish us luck!
 
I have to disagree with your vet on the food. All those carbs make the pancreas work harder which is counter-productive, especially if it's not working well or at all in the first place. I'd recommend stopping the grazing altogether. That way you can be assured that he'll eat well when it's time for his insulin. Some people recommend freezing some canned food and leaving it out, that way it won't spoil and the kitty will eat it as it thaws.

If you read through this forum enough, you'll find what's worked best people that got some pretty wonky vet advice.
 
Many, many people here have had amazing results dropping dry food. Our Oliver dropped 100 points overnight when we switched from dry to wet. The research has been done, here, by a vet: www.catinfo.org

I do understand that you want to do what your vet suggests. But it would be a small thing to drop the dry for grazing and offer some low carb treats or frozen food instead. Otherwise, it is a little like a human diabetic eating donuts all day and then taking more insulin to balance out his levels.

But he's your kitty. You get to decide. All we can relate is what has worked for so many others.
 
That would be a good compromise. It is pretty low carb. The only issue we see with it is that sometimes the cat gets tired of the taste. There's only the one flavor and it's primary liver. Hope he is one of those who love it!
 
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