low BG #'s- when to shoot?

[MunchieMA]

Hello all,
I'm a couple months into this journey and today something new happened... I went to check my cat's BG level before his breakfast and he was at 198. So I rechecked to make sure it wasn't a faulty strip and my reading said 153. He *usually* gets 1.5 units of prozinc but I'm not going to administer any today because honestly I'm not really sure I should? I've heard before to not shoot at 200 or less then I've also heard that's not true just gotta adjust your amounts all from the Facebook page and it's so confusing at times... I feel safer knowing those are good numbers and really think the best thing for me is to not administer but I'm looking to make sure that's a safe choice and to hopefully get some insight so I can have an actual plan going forward incase this happens again.

Thank You!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Hello all,
I'm a couple months into this journey and today something new happened... I went to check my cat's BG level before his breakfast and he was at 198. So I rechecked to make sure it wasn't a faulty strip and my reading said 153. He *usually* gets 1.5 units of prozinc but I'm not going to administer any today because honestly I'm not really sure I should? I've heard before to not shoot at 200 or less then I've also heard that's not true just gotta adjust your amounts all from the Facebook page and it's so confusing at times... I feel safer knowing those are good numbers and really think the best thing for me is to not administer but I'm looking to make sure that's a safe choice and to hopefully get some insight so I can have an actual plan going forward incase this happens again.

Thank You!

I think that was a good call for today. Will you be able to get a BG reading sometime through the day to see what Munchie is doing minus this shot? If not the PMPS might be interesting.

I don't follow the FB page at all but I can certainly lobby in favour of the info on the yellow ProZinc stickies here on FDMB. Have you had a chance to read them? They were composed by people who are/were very knowledgeable in the use of this insulin and cover all sorts of "what if?" situations.

I'm glad you posted here for help today.

 

[Djamila]

The 'no shot under 200' rule is in the beginning when folks are just learning how to test and are in the beginning stages of all of this. Once you and your kitty are good at testing, you can start to lower your "no shot" level based on the data you are getting. So if you are home during the cycle and can get a mid-cycle test or two, you could have given the dose, or a slightly reduced dose, and then just kept an eye on things since you could have given a little extra food if Munchie started to go a little low. However, if you're at work all day, then skipping or giving a reduced dose are your best options.

 

[MunchieMA]

thank you guys, this was helpful. I didn't notice the sticky notes- I'm going through them now and I'm so thankful for them! He was up to 282 at +3 but I wasn't sure if I could give insulin at that point or if it would have messed with his 12 hour schedule. I'll keep on keeping on

 

[Djamila]

With each insulin, there is a typical pattern of when and how it starts to work. With prozinc, you give the shot at a set time, then in two to three hours, it starts to work, then around four to six hours it's at it's maximum effect, and then from seven to twelve hours, it's still working, but starting to wear off. So you can only shoot once every 12 hours, no matter what the numbers are. There are some exceptions to that, but they are rare and require lots of data first.

So in your example this morning, at +3, the insulin was just barely starting to work, but had already lowered her BG by 80 points. That's good progress already, and she will most likely continue to drop over the next few hours.

I'm glad you are finding the stickies helpful. Make note of any questions you have and ask as many questions or clarifications as you need!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

thank you guys, this was helpful. I didn't notice the sticky notes- I'm going through them now and I'm so thankful for them! He was up to 282 at +3 but I wasn't sure if I could give insulin at that point or if it would have messed with his 12 hour schedule. I'll keep on keeping on

Those stickies are a treasure trove of information. Re dose schedule: it's usually best to stick to 12/12 as much as possible. You can shift dose time by up to an hour plus or minus with ProZinc without causing much of a problem. Beyond that you have to move the schedule in increments over a few cycles afterward to get back to normal times.