? Keeps dropping overnight ... to shoot or not to shoot?

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fearlessmom

fearlessmom

Member Since 2017
How weird is this? After worrying about Fearless and his bounces (see yesterday's thread: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fearless-amps-228-2-327-3-443.178728/), and swearing that he never drops past a certain point at night, I stayed up last night, waiting for him to go back up, and he never did. I'm about to take his AM test, have re-read the sticky on shooting low numbers, and think I know what to do, but would appreciate some feedback. Thanks.
 
Looks like a long bounce has cleared. Let's see what the pros suggest about dose. Here's what I would do if it was Teasel: 1. start by stalling 30 minutes without food and retesting 2. if the BG is the same or higher, I'd shoot the same dose and be prepared to monitor today.
 
He might have gotten a few mouthfuls of his brothers' LC food before I noticed. He and his brother look alike from above, and I saw a cat at the food dish on the floor in the kitchen and thought it was his brother, but when I looked on the couch in the living room where he sits for a test, he wasn't there. I don't think he got much, though, because his brother had time to eat most of it. Another complication is that I don't have any +1 AM data to compare to.
 
You want to compare the +12 test to the +12.5 test to see if he is going up or down or staying the same. If you are going to be home to monitor and test and have all the supplies you need, I would shoot, and start with a +1 and be prepared to test throughout the day. It will be good data to get for future.
 
Good shooting this morning. What ever number you shot goes in the AMPS cell. Not sure if you gave 1.25 when he was 93 or 113 (basically the same number). To get back on schedule you can shoot 30 minutes early once a day or 15 min early twice a day. Shooting Schedule_Getting Back On Time . It took him 8 cycles to clear the bounce this time. In time, most start clearing them a bit quicker. Hope he surfs safely for you today.
 
An observation (or two)...

Why are you surprised? Cats are unpredictable. You thought you could predict Fearless' PM numbers. He proved otherwise. He's a cat!!

There are any number of cats who telegraph their numbers. A flat yellow cycle (like AM yesterday) may be an indication that an active cycle will follow. It may not always happen but knowing what those numbers can mean, may give you a heads up in terms of knowing whether to get a few extra tests.
 
Now thinking he did get some food and the 113 @ +.75 was influenced a bit (but not much) by it. Will attempt to keep him in green by returning to normal feeding schedule as onset of AM shot approaches.
 
Good job shooting. If the 113 is when you gave the insulin, then that belongs in the AMPS column and if the 96 was 1 hour later then that belongs in the +1 column. I would get a +2.
Don't forget that your shot schedule will be off tonight and tomorrow until you slowly work your way back to normal shot times again.
 
It's about time Fearless! We love blues and greens. No biggie about the food, the no food rule 2 hours before test is for newbies and you my dear, are an experienced CG now.

In the AMPS box along with the 93 put at +13. Then you and everyone else knows that you shot an hour late. Then all the other boxes are as they are, +1, +2 from the shot time.
 
Dyana said:
If the 113 is when you gave the insulin, then that belongs in the AMPS column and if the 96 was 1 hour later then that belongs in the +1 column.
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Bobbie And Bubba said:
In the AMPS box along with the 93 put at +13.
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Not sure which one of these directives is correct. Pls clarify.

Regardless, I am unable to amend the AMPS cell (formatting is correct but when I add anything other than a number it reverts to light blue, even when I select the correct fill color from the top navigation bar) so have added the clarifying data into the unit cell instead.
 
fearlessmom said:
Not sure which one of these directives is correct. Pls clarify.

Regardless, I am unable to amend the AMPS cell (formatting is correct but when I add anything other than a number it reverts to light blue, even when I select the correct fill color from the top navigation bar) so have added the clarifying data into the unit cell instead.
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hmm, not sure why the color fill from the navigation bar won't let you color in. Did you try clearing the box and starting over?

The number you shot at belongs in the AMPS box along with +13 since you shot an hour late. Did you shoot when he was 113 or 96? It really is semantics as long as you understand when looking at the SS that you shot late.
 
I can see the note, but to reflect what happened it might make more sense to do the following

I would put the 113 in the amps column, it will turn the amps box blue, since that is what you shot, then if you want to use the note thing
put in your notes something like
+12 92 stalling
may have got some food at +12.75
shot @+13 (because it was 13 hrs since last shot that reflects the stall)

does that make sense?
At the moment at a glance it looks like the 113 was taken 1 hour after shot, often when I look at ss (and I know others do this aswell) we look at waves of colours as we scan so it kinda gives a wrong impression.
 
AM shot has kicked in and +1 food wasn't enough to keep him far from danger zone. In addition to his usual 1/4 can LC FF, should I feed a tsp or 2 of MC (FF w/gravy)?
 
Just saw your 50 at +2. Please give him a teaspoon or so of MC food, and test again in 30 minutes.
 
Some cats could be fine with the MC to boost up from a 50 but, this early in the cycle I think needs some HC. And like Dyana said retest .
 
Pls define MC and HC. I usually feed 3-5% carb FF classics. I also have FF w/gravy varieties that are about 20% carbs. I've been thinking MC = 20% gravy food and HC = syrup, honey, etc. Please correct if I am wrong.
 
Gravy Lovers = HC. Got it. I could try Grilled or Sliced FF varieties, although at 18% carbs they are closer to HC than MC. Not sure if I've ever seen the Roasted, but I'll look into it.
 
A correction on the carb levels of various foods, from the Lantus and Levemir Land Slang Dictionary:

HC - High carb canned food (usually 16 - 24% carbs, depending on the cat)
MC – Medium carb food (usually 11 - 15% carbs, depending on the carb sensitivity of the cat)
LC - low carb aka reg canned food (usually 10% carbs or less, depending on the carb sensitivity of the cat)

Note the "depending on the cat" part. My kitty would do fine with 16%, some kitties needed carbs in the 20's. Take good notes on how much of what carb % you feed when and you'll learn what Fearless needs.

Up a little please Fearless!
 
Wendy&Neko said:
A correction on the carb levels of various foods, from the Lantus and Levemir Land Slang Dictionary:

HC - High carb canned food (usually 16 - 24% carbs, depending on the cat)
MC – Medium carb food (usually 11 - 15% carbs, depending on the carb sensitivity of the cat)
LC - low carb aka reg canned food (usually 10% carbs or less, depending on the carb sensitivity of the cat)

Note the "depending on the cat" part. My kitty would do fine with 16%, some kitties needed carbs in the 20's. Take good notes on how much of what carb % you feed when and you'll learn what Fearless needs.

Up a little please Fearless!
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There must be a couple of spans of carb % floating around the forum. When I arrived I was provided with the following and copied it.

Low Carb is 1% -10 %
Medium carb 10% - 17%
High carb is 18% and above ( usually will have “gravy" in the name)

And I was going by memory when I posted but at least Louise a close ball park of %.
 
fearlessmom said:
Since he's still got at least a couple hrs until his avg nadir, should I continue to feed HC and test every 30 minutes during this time?
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This depends on what his numbers do.

When George dropped like this early in his cycle, he often nadired earlier and would be well on his way up by +6 (which was his usual nadir)

While he's in the low 50's, best to keep up with the 30min test feed.
Once he jumps up, then you can space out the testing and withhold food.

Best wait and see what he does.
 
fearlessmom said:
You bet!

Since he's still got at least a couple hrs until his avg nadir, should I continue to feed HC and test every 30 minutes during this time? I'm concerned that the HC hasn't moved the dial over the last 90 min. Increase HC to 2 tsp?
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I would keep testing every 30 minutes and depending on the number you might want to switch to LC if he jumps into the 60's
 
I've been front-loading his LC food, dividing evenly among 1st 4 hrs of the cycle. So he's already rec'd all of his AM cycle LC food. To keep him surfing, give extra LC beyond +3?
 
fearlessmom said:
I've been front-loading his LC food, dividing evenly among 1st 4 hrs of the cycle. So he's already rec'd all of his AM cycle LC food. To keep him surfing, give extra LC beyond +3?
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OK.... sooooo he's had a lot of food.

Usually, what I would do, when I was having to use HC to steer, is not feed his regular LC (I would typically front load his cycle too much like you are doing), mostly because we don't want them getting to full.


There regular feeding schedule kinda goes out the window on days like this.
 
Yes -- it's fine to give Fearless more food. You can give LC or a small amount of HC. If it were my kitty, with numbers in the 50s early in the cycle, I'd lean toward a small amount of HC.

What you're doing at this point is nudging the numbers up using food. You shouldn't be giving Fearless a big portion. Rather, when you're steering the numbers, you're using small amounts of whatever level of carbs are needed to encourage surfing ideally in the 60 - 70 range. You don't want to give too much food because if numbers do start to really drop, your cat will be full and not want to eat. The lower numbers typically cause a cat to be hungry -- they instinctively know they need food -- but it's not the case with every cat. If you overfeed, there's a good chance a cat who's seeking food due to a drop in numbers will scarf and barf. That's not an ideal situation.

Put this in personal terms. If your blood sugar were tanking because you skipped a meal or you tended to the kind of person who does better with multiple small meals, you wouldn't want to gorge. You'd eat something with some protein and carbs to level out your BG so you weren't snarky to those around you because you felt lousy from lower than usual BG. It's the same for your cat. You don't want to "spoil his appetite." You want to keep Fearless in safe numbers and encourage his pancreas to get used to this normal BG range.

 
Been Stalking the ss, nice to see that 69 @+4.5.

Now would be the time to with hold food check again in 30min to see if he is still rising and holding his own.
 
Well, the greens were nice while they lasted. :oops: Big jump in 30 min = he's not likely to drop into the greens again this cycle? When next to test?
 
fearlessmom said:
Well, the greens were nice while they lasted. :oops: Big jump in 30 min = he's not likely to drop into the greens again this cycle? When next to test?
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You last gave carb an hour, ago, because the effects can sometimes wear of after a couple of hours, I would check in an hour, if he is still up and rising by +6 then you can give yourself a break.

I'll check in in an hour see how he's doing.
 
Gill & George said:
because the effects can sometimes wear of after a couple of hours
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Sorry just to expand, when the carbs wear off they can come right back down again. So it's just a safety measure to make sure that he is holding his own.
Off to feed a hungry kitty, see you in an hour.
 
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