Hodgson- chilli thief now high BG

TB25

TB25

Member
Hi everyone, posted this in the main forum, but the helpful people recommended posting here.

I’m still pretty new to this but we had our first ‘unplanned’ day today- Hodgson got into our waste bag overnight and ate pretty much a full bowl of chilli- beef, beans, tomato. Etc. Woke up to a terrible litter box and and to top it off could not get blood from him despite trying for 20 mins. I know should always test before shooting but gave him his regular 3 units and had to leave to get to work on time.

Got home tonight and his BG was at 25.1 PMPS. Gave him 3 units again, and feed him 1/2 a can of butchers classic. He looks absolutely fine, but really don’t know what to do for the best? Any thoughts?
 
Hi. We will need to be able to see your spreadsheet to offer any advice. Right now, it is not shared out. It gives the message 'you need permission'.
 
Hi, I’m working with google help to try and sort it- it says it is shared with everyone!
 
It's a little funny that your cat ate chili :D. I just cannot see my girls being interested in it.

Until we can see the spreadsheet, I'll just ask you... have you been able to get any mid-cycle tests to see what impact the 3 unit dose has been having? Was 3 units the starting dose the vet prescribed? That is a really high starting dose. 1 unit is the normal starting dose.
 
Ok, google tech says it should be visible now. Could somebody try it and let me know if it works?
 
If you click on share then on get shareable link, does the link you get match what is in your signature?

Also, if you go to file > publish to the web, does it show that it is published?
 
FurBabiesMama said:
It's a little funny that your cat ate chili :D. I just cannot see my girls being interested in it.

Until we can see the spreadsheet, I'll just ask you... have you been able to get any mid-cycle tests to see what impact the 3 unit dose has been having? Was 3 units the starting dose the vet prescribed? That is a really high starting dose. 1 unit is the normal starting dose.
Click to expand...

We’ve only been testing for a week as vet said it wasn’t necessary, so only have a few mid cycle results as we can’t be with him all day.

His full story is here (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/newly-diagnosed-cat.206017/) but in short the Vet started him at one unit, his fructosamine only dropped a little over 3 weeks so pushed him to 2 units for 3 weeks, which actually raised his levels, and then up to 3 for another 3 weeks, which raised them again. He then recommended 5 units which made me feel uneasy and started us on a research trail that lead us here.
 
TB25 said:
We’ve only been testing for a week as vet said it wasn’t necessary, so only have a few mid cycle results as we can’t be with him all day.

His full story is here (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/newly-diagnosed-cat.206017/) but in short the Vet started him at one unit, his fructosamine only dropped a little over 3 weeks so pushed him to 2 units for 3 weeks, which actually raised his levels, and then up to 3 for another 3 weeks, which raised them again. He then recommended 5 units which made me feel uneasy and started us on a research trail that lead us here.
Click to expand...

I am glad you found your way here! Testing is so important, so great job realizing that and starting! I understand that it is hard when you cannot be home, but if you could try to grab mid-cycle tests when you can, it would really be helpful. If you are able to test once or twice during as many cycles as possible and vary the times you do it, you can begin to gather enough data to get a picture of the impact the insulin is having. This 'sugar dance' can be tricky. If a cat goes low - or even just lower than they are used to - it can trigger a 'bounce' that sends their glucose high. So, if you only get high pre-shot test results, you do not know if they are high because the cat is not getting enough insulin or if they are high because the cat is getting too much..or if they are high because the cat has been feasting on chili. :D To add to the fun, once a cat bounces, they may remain fairly high and flat for a few cycles until the effects pass.

It is normally recommended that dose changes be made in .25u increments, or at least not more than .50u. Your vet raised the dose pretty fast. It is easy to zoom right past the 'right' dose. It is interesting that the fructosamine results went UP at 2 units and again at 3 units. That makes me wonder...

I feel that it is important to start getting more data so there is more to base decisions on. There will be others coming along to provide input, maybe they will be comfortable giving you suggestions on where to go right now with the dosing.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
I am glad you found your way here! Testing is so important, so great job realizing that and starting! I understand that it is hard when you cannot be home, but if you could try to grab mid-cycle tests when you can, it would really be helpful. If you are able to test once or twice during as many cycles as possible and vary the times you do it, you can begin to gather enough data to get a picture of the impact the insulin is having. This 'sugar dance' can be tricky. If a cat goes low - or even just lower than they are used to - it can trigger a 'bounce' that sends their glucose high. So, if you only get high pre-shot test results, you do not know if they are high because the cat is not getting enough insulin or if they are high because the cat is getting too much..or if they are high because the cat has been feasting on chili. :D To add to the fun, once a cat bounces, they may remain fairly high and flat for a few cycles until the effects pass.

It is normally recommended that dose changes be made in .25u increments, or at least not more than .50u. Your vet raised the dose pretty fast. It is easy to zoom right past the 'right' dose. It is interesting that the fructosamine results went UP at 2 units and again at 3 units. That makes me wonder...

I feel that it is important to start getting more data so there is more to base decisions on. There will be others coming along to provide input, maybe they will be comfortable giving you suggestions on where to go right now with the dosing.
Click to expand...

That’s really helpful, thank you. We’ll try to get a few more over this week. Biggest problem is that I work odd hours and my wife can’t bring herself to do it yet.

I’ve been reading about bouncing and the Somogyi (sp?) effect and had wondered if we have gone past the right dose.

Another interesting element is that we changed his food to a lower carb type this week, and his numbers have actually gone up slightly through the week- I wondered if this is dropping him too low and adding to a bounce? We really need to test more!
 
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Hi and welcome! It sounds like you're on the right track, and FurBabiesMama has given you some great advice already. Hopefully as your wife sees you testing more and that Hodgson is okay with it, her comfort with the whole thing will grow. Most of us do this on our own, but it's always nice to have a partner!
 
Hi! You've gotten some great info, and yes testing does get easier...with luck your wife will see that and be willing to learn. Many cats here come running at testing time or remind us that it's time just to get to that tasty treat! For now, do the best you can to get whatever tests you can in and we can help you figure out some good dosing. :)
 
So, tested again this morning for AMPS and he has come down to 22.2 (399). Still high, but not Chilli high!

We’ll do some more testing and see how it goes.
 
Hi welcome I've to this forum the guys here are fantastic and I've had some brilliant help of them.
We've only been giving insulin for a week but have had many highs and lows while giving the doses.
As you we were told we didn't need to home test but it is a very valuable thing to do as we found the 1.5u on the first day was just that bit too high.
Your in the best place for answering you questions.
Hope your kitty is well today.
 
It seems we have recovered from the chilli episode. Today’s readings at AMPS & PMPS were both back to near where they were before his theiving began. We have also lowered his dose by .5 iu to see if there is any reduction in highs due to bounce. We’ll try to get a fuller curve on Saturday.
 
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