Just stopping in re: Tye

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tye

tye

Member Since 2010
Hello all, wanted to check in and see if anyone can have a look at Tye's numbers and tell me if you think they are looking ok. He seems to be still doing well on Lev + wet food (Fancy Feast) and my dad is still injecting him with 0.05 of the Lev as long as he is above 150 (8.5). But I don't know how much the numbers are really changing...?? Or is this normal?
 
Not sure if Sheila will check in or not, but those 200s seem to suggest he should go up to .1U for those.

Not sure if they can get more BG tests in or not. Some cats at this point (very small doses but not yet OTJ) need a custom shot regime, where the shot is given on rising numbers above say 150, rather than every 12 hours.

Hopefully someone else will check in on your post/spreadsheet and comment.

Glad to see he's doing so well!! Kudos to your dad!
 
It's really hard to tell what is going on with just the PS numbers. It would be very helpful to get spot checks in the middle of the cycle. The time could vary from +4 to +9 or so - any number at any time would tell us something.

I see what Vicky is saying, but I also see times when he comes down from mid-200s to below 100 at the next shot time on just .05u, so I don't think you want to shoot more on the 200+ PS's. Plus, we don't know if he was lower at, say, +6 or not. However, when you skip a shot he ends up back in the 200s. It's as if he needs .025u! But I would never even attempt to figure that one out.

Is he still eating low carb Food? No gravy? No dry food?

It could be that even the 80-90s are rising numbers and it would have been ok to shoot the .05u on them. I am looking at Feb 20th where he started at 212 and ended up at 121, but dropped to 86 at +6. The 121 is on the way up so you could have shot on it instead of skipping.

I would probably think about lowering the do not shoot number. It looks like you have 150 as your do not shoot number (although I saw a shot on a 149 and a skip on 151). Maybe bring that down to 130-135 and get spot checks in the cycle that you shoot that on (I am writing "you", but I know it's your dad :roll: ) If that works out ok with no sub 40 numbers, you could try lowering it again to 125 - and so on.

I have shot Jeddie on upper 80s and 90s when he is climbing and continues into the low-mid 100s before coming back down again. If you have the data and/or can be there to test and gather the data) it is safe to do and, really, the way this insulin is supposed to work.
 
Thanks all... unfortunately my dad has been getting more and more forgetful (or lazier??) about testing Tye and so there are many days where he only gets tested & shot once - or not at all. I'll be looking after Tye for the summer very soon so will be getting back on track and will do some spot checks. Right now it is extremely hard to tell what is happening since I am missing consistent AM and PM numbers for the past little while.

I have lowered the do not shoot number to 130 (7.2) but there are still some times where he is getting very low regardless of the pre-shot number. (Eg yesterday - shot him at 194 and today he was 54. And the day before that - shot at 185 and then he was at 95. Seems to be no rhyme or reason.) We are are not shooting any more than the tiniest dose possible ("0.05" - basically right on the zero line of the needle)

He is still on low carb food only (Fancy Feast - either turkey & giblets or the liver one)...no gravy.

I'll report back in a few weeks when I get a chance to do some spot checks. Kind of concerned about the next course of action because it's simply not possible to give him any lower insulin dose than he's getting... and having to test more frequently than twice a day will be a real challenge seeing as my dad struggles even with the current schedule! :-(
 
Hi,
Thanks for giving us an update. Even with all the skipped shots, it looks like he's doing fairly well. Hopefully while you're taking care of him you can get more checks in and maybe go to shooting only rising numbers above a certain level on an as-needed basis rather than every 12 hours.

Tye seems to be doing his own thing, but occasionally going above 200 says his pancreas needs a little help sometimes. It's pretty good that he's able to hold in the 100s without insulin sometimes too.
 
That's great that you will be able to get more spot checks as well as regular testing and dosing.

I think you are very close, or at, shooting as needed rather than a 12/12 schedule. I encourage you to read Beau's SS, looking at the month of September 2009. He was heading OTJ there and I was shooting .05u and searching for a do not shoot number that "worked" That kept changing at that point. Notice when I was gone and he was cared for by a sitter. Sitter tested, but did not shoot the 200s that I would have shot. I think I gave him 200 or maybe even 180 as a do not shoot number. Beau was still able to bring himself down from those low 200s.

When I got home, I set a do not shot number of 130 +/- 5 - and should not have shot the 89 on the 20th. You can see that caused a 35 just 3 hours later ( ohmygod_smile ).

Also, look at his SS for Dec of '09 when he got into some dinner rolls and could not keep his BG down. I gave a few doses, as needed, to get him back on track. Tye may be closer to this pattern than the one Beau had in Sept.

I'm just hoping that looking at Beau's numbers will help you see the pattern, when it seems like there is none.

While you are caring for him is an opportunity to shoot the rising numbers, whenever they occur in the cycle (but not sooner than +12), when they rise above your do not shoot number. It may mean more testing, as you mentioned, but it probably will result in Tye going off insulin (knock wood / anti jinx). I think he is really, really close. :-D
 
Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying the summer. So I have been looking after Tye for a couple of weeks now and he's been getting regularly tested twice a day. I'm thinking his numbers look pretty good and it definitely seems like he has moved to Lev on an as-needed basis. I had my do-not-shoot number at 130 but I am wondering if this is too low because I have noticed that every time he dips down, he throws up (just bile) at the lowest point in the cycle. I don't know why this happens but there is definitely a correlation. Like clockwork whenever it has happened his blood has been down under 108 (6). I'd rather not put him through that so right now just feeling out where I can put the cut-off at. I suppose like you say Sheila there is no "right" number but I think I'm going to raise it from 130 to 145. I'm just terrified of giving him too much and having him go into an attack.

Also I have noticed that his numbers are staying stable even when he skips 2-3 shot times. (Eg. today is Sunday and he hasn't had a shot since Friday night.)

What do you all think?
 
I think that's pretty darn good! There is no hard and fast rule what a cat's BGs should be once they've nearly come off insulin. Yes, normal never diabetic cats have BGs in the 50s and 60s, but a diabetic might just always run higher.

I don't see why you can't raise your cut-off to 145 or 150. Sheila is on vacation right now. The throwing up if he goes lower than 108 is interesting. Not sure it means anything, but if you're more comfortable with a higher cut-off, try it and see if it stops the vomit response.

Hope you're enjoying your summer as well! Great job with Tye!
 
Thanks Vicky! It's funny re: the vomiting, back before he was first diagnosed and also when he was on Caninsulin, he would vomit up his food sometimes. This was the dry food - he would occasionally barf it up undigested. I wonder if it has to do with being outside of the normal ranges - when he is either too high or too low, he gets sick.
 
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