Maisey 131 now 38

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kathyh

Kathyh

Active Member
I couldn't get a drop of blood yesterday so did 2 units PZI 100 gave her a tablespoon of cream after my failed trial and food then the shot. This am she is 131 - found 21lancets - wow, no problem getting blood. Haven't done shot yet, as that seems low. Should I recheck in a couple of hours?
p.s. She has turned into an eating machine. She has never in her 12 years been more than a light grazer- thus her really light weight. I'm happy to see her getting less skeletal. What next? I;ve been feeding a mix of canned and ground chicken - half of each.
 
Re: Maisey 131

that is too low for a shot of pzi so yes, wait, retest and perhaps shoot if/when she goes over 200.

fwiw, how did you come to the dose of 2 units? i ask because it may be too much even at a BG level of 200
 
Re: Maisey 131

When I first started to test earlier this week, I called the vets to be sure that 2 units would be ok, becuase her level was 268 and the vet said, yes. Yesterday she was 131 at 6am. so I held off,because I had pulled up the chart from a link somewhere, and it seemed not enough to give her any insulin, as I knew she had eaten a little before I could drag myself up to test her. At noon she was 247 - I would have given her the 2 units, but she moved on me and bent the needle, so I know she only got 1 unit. At 6 this morning she was 79, so I didn't give any insulin. At noon she was 171 so I gave her one unit. I'm going to test again @ 6pm and I'll try for 9pm, so I have some idea of what her curve may be.
 
Re: Maisey 131

Hi Kathy,

It is so wonderful that you are testing at home and were able to head off some potential hypos by not shooting. We generally ask newbies not to shoot under 200, but to wait 20 minutes and test again - to make sure the number is rising and to be sure it is high enough to shoot. Your 170 was okay, as it was rising.

What you eventually want are two shot times, morning and evening with shootable numbers. You are getting low numbers at shot times, which generally means too much insulin. How about trying one unit twice daily for a few cycles - with the understanding that if you get low numbers, you adjust. The +6 numbers will be great so you can see how low the insulin is taking her and the +9 will tell you how fast she is going up or if she is surfing.

Here is some info on PZI that may be helpful: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799
 
Re: Maisey 131

4:30 just checked maisey BG 38 - put honey in her mouth. What next? last shot noon 1unit PZI 100 .
 
I got a good finger full of honey into her right away. Have put out fancy feast chicken with gravy. Put catnip on top of part and shredded cheddar on top of another third. Gave her some catnip treats she hasn't touched anything. She did go use the litter box, a little wobbley but mostly ok.
Will retest now.
 
Re: Maisey 131 now 38 up to 57

One hour later, test shows 57. She ate the few catnip treats, ignored everything else. Poured some cream into small dish (about tablespoon full) and sprinkled sugar on top -she did eat that.
 
I know ice cream works well with Mishka so that cream with sugar should help. I would still keep an eye on her and until you know she is up and going to stay up, I would test her every 1/2 hr. I also wouldn't give her a shot tonight if she isn't up above 200 and I wouldn't give her more than 1 unit, max, for now.
 
Good that she is rising. The sugars can bring them up fast but they don't necessarily stay up. You are not yet out of the woods. I would plan to test again in 20 minutes or so.. You need two rising numbers before you can be sure.

You are around +6, right? That will help.

It would be good if she would eat some food for you.
 
For newbies, we recommend using 200 or below as your "don't shoot" number. It looks like 2 units is too much for her.

Because of the extra food and cream, her PM reading may be extremely high. If you give insulin tonight, I suggest dropping the dose back to 1 unit and start over with trying to find her optimal dose. After a hypo, cats are usually very sensitive to insulin and if you give the 2 units, you may have another hypo event occur. Even if you have to skip tonights dose, she will be ok.

If you start over at 1 unit, keep her dose at that for at least one week before increasing it. That will give her body time to adjust to the new dose. Then only increase it by either 1/4 to 1/2 unit and keep her at the new dose for another week before making another dose change.
 
I may not be getting this right, Karen, but I am thinking your one unit at 170 caused this low number. Is that right? If so, you want to shoot less than one unit - maybe .5 As Lisa said, expect a high number tonight and maybe one tomorrow morning until the carbs get out of her system. You could skip tonight or maybe do .5 units.

You can start over again tomorrow with a much lower dose, keep track of her numbers and see where to go from there. As you have seen, it will be much easier to increase a dose as needed than to get the insulin out once it is shot! :mrgreen:
 
Re: Maisey 131 now 38 up to 127

7:30 now up to 127 - 7 1/2 hours post 1 unit.
Will check again before bed.
Will then see what tomorrow brings
Since 1 unit caused all this, I will probably only try .5 if over 200, does that sound right?
 
Re: Maisey update

Maisey was 306 this am when I tested, but I am pretty sure she ate a little before the test. She wakes at 5am and I really don't function until close to 7am. I only gave her 1/2 unit because of how bad yesterday was. She's walking around fine, not over drinking. I'm home from work on Spring break, so will check a few times through the day to see how she is doing.
 
Now 368

Its's 4 hours past 1/2 unit and Maisey is 368. Seems alert and fine, did a little drinking, but not a lot. should I consider another 1/2 or wait out next 2-4 hours? My nerves really can't take another hypo event.
 
I would wait through the whole 12 hour cycle, getting numbers. Tonight if you are still in the 300s, you might consider a different dose. But you want data to see how low the half unit takes here before you consider a different dose. Setting up a spreadsheet

IHMO, it is way too soon for you to be shooting other than 12 hours apart. PZI is flexible and you can shoot early with it, and some people do 3 times a day, but only after they have a lot of data on how their cat responds to the insulin. Even at 3 times a day, most people shoot every 8 hours - 3 times during a day and night cycle - not every 6 hours.

Have you read the info on PZI: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799 I would also encourage you to come over to the PZI support group and look at some of the threads and spreadsheets of people using PZI. viewforum.php?f=24 That forum is not as busy as this one - usually people post in the am and pm - but everyone there uses your insulin and can be helpful with dosage.
 
I'm a newbie too and it's not easy figuring this diabetes thing out at first. It gets easier though as you learn. As others have said, Maisey's #'s will be higher today cause of the carbs from yesterday. I think you did right by sticking with the lower .5u. You can see what her PM pre shot (PMPS) is tonight and decide from there. If it's needed, I'd start increasing in smaller increments. When you're new, it's better to be conservative while you're learning.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top