Mimi AMPS 135- test strips acting a little wonky...

Mimis mom

Mimis mom

Member Since 2019
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...then-81-then-83-ehhhnnnm.223458/#post-2499466


She hit some good greens last night- since she’s newer to them- and say she starts to get newer to them- I get more nervous leaving her all day while at work. She has her autofeeder but last night she didn’t eat one of the meals that came out (it’s also possible it was because it might have not come out in the right slot (hard to explain- I was exhausted when I did them so it’s possible I didn’t put it in the right slot and didn’t notice when I emptied the container. Anyway.

I like that she hits greens but I also worry she might hit one that’s too low while I’m away? She’s been on this dose now for a good 8-9 cycles I think? (Haven’t looked)
And just started hitting the greens at the 8th cycle

my question “is the worry about hitting hypo only when a new higher dose has been administered?”

@Marje and Gracie?
@MrWorfMen's Mom



Sincerely,
Worried mommy
 
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I know that @Bellasmom works and has the same situation with Bella. One thing I'd suggest is to start a bit earlier in the morning (although not sure what your schedule is, so that's up to you)...but if you started earlier could you get a 1 or 2+ before leaving for work? If Mimi is dropping you'll want to load that auto feeder with medium or high carb foods based on the drop that's happening...

It does appear that she's working that juice nicely - as per last night's lovely surfing....so if it were me and I saw those numbers last night, I'd get a test before leaving - and load that auto feeder up - every cell. I have an auto-feeder and when you're away she'll need to have food available to her to help her surf safely.
 
Sue and Luci said:
I know that @Bellasmom works and has the same situation with Bella. One thing I'd suggest is to start a bit earlier in the morning (although not sure what your schedule is, so that's up to you)...but if you started earlier could you get a 1 or 2+ before leaving for work? If Mimi is dropping you'll want to load that auto feeder with medium or high carb foods based on the drop that's happening...

It does appear that she's working that juice nicely - as per last night's lovely surfing....so if it were me and I saw those numbers last night, I'd get a test before leaving - and load that auto feeder up - every cell. I have an auto-feeder and when you're away she'll need to have food available to her to help her surf safely.
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I have an autofeeder that has her raw no carb in it.
I can’t test earlier because some nights I work till 8:30. (Shot is between 9:15 and 9:30)
 
Mimis mom said:
I have an autofeeder that has her raw no carb in it.
I can’t test earlier because some nights I work till 8:30. (Shot is between 9:15 and 9:30)
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That may need to change a bit if she starts dropping into lower numbers than you're comfortable with - if you're leaving for the day. It would be great if you could get a test just before you walk out the door...and put some carb foods into her feeder if she's low.

What's your plan for when she goes too low at night? Not a really low...just let's say she drops down to the 50's - what foods do you have on hand to steer her back to some high numbers?
 
Do sugar cats tend to become more predictable the longer they have the disease?

Also the above 50 and below 50 has me crazy in that say I test and it’s 48- what if the next test right after was 54? (Because of that error) and she earns a reduction that she didnt need to earn?
(Just because it’s hard keeping her in green numbers)
Am I overthinking this? Will it get easier the longer she has it?
Is it a good sign that she hasn’t seen purple or even red in a long time?
It’s such a complicated disease, I know, I just feel so nutty over it and get so scared she’ll get hypo while away.. then I hear stories about diabetic cats getting insulin injections twice a day, no testing, just curves once a month and then living for a long time..
Is there such a thing as over testing? Should I employ a friend to come by and test her mid day? Will her night cycle tell me how her day cycle might go?
Since she hit good greens last night, does that mean she’ll hit even lower ones today?

can someone suggest a mental ward for me because I am starting to lose my mind? Lol
 
Sue and Luci said:
That may need to change a bit if she starts dropping into lower numbers than you're comfortable with - if you're leaving for the day. It would be great if you could get a test just before you walk out the door...and put some carb foods into her feeder if she's low.

What's your plan for when she goes too low at night? Not a really low...just let's say she drops down to the 50's - what foods do you have on hand to steer her back to some high numbers?
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What are some high numbers? Are 50s too low or is that just what a nadir looks like?
When should I get scared of low numbers?
I wake myself up if her numbers are low but I also look at other SS on here and see some cats stay in the greens for days and days and don’t drop below 50- is that because they are getting into remission or is it the longer they get insulin administered the more predictable their cycle becomes?
 
Im at work worried about Mimi- a daily thing that happens.. still wondering if the Libre is worth getting or will that thing being attached to her make her more stressed..
must. Keep. Cat stress. Low!
 
Mimis mom said:
Im at work worried about Mimi- a daily thing that happens.. still wondering if the Libre is worth getting or will that thing being attached to her make her more stressed..
must. Keep. Cat stress. Low!
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Try not to stress at work...doesn't do you or Mimi any good at all...:bighug:

However, she's hitting some great numbers and all I can tell you is that from my experience - two years of doing this that Luci is completely unpredictable...she goes low when she's ready to go low...it usually catches me by surprise. She tends to be a bit of a diver - in a hurry to get down - and I'm always on guard for that. But I have the advantage of working from home.

In your case, you have to leave for work, that's why I suggested you check out @Bellasmom - SS for Bella. She has to test before she leaves for work and feed accordingly. You cannot know how low Mimi is going to go at any given time - you can read the Stickie for http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...ion-possible-with-a-full-time-job-yes.129378/ about doing TR and having a fulltime job - you may find that helpful.

Also, you will want to have a plan in place for the that will come when Mimi will drop too low for comfort...it happens...it means her pancreas has healed and she needs less insulin - the only trick to this whole thing is that one day the pancreas will be kicking in and providing insulin naturally. An entire day with nice green numbers could be a reflection of a fully functional pancreas, but what about the insulin you've provided? That's when you may need to add some higher carb foods to the menu - not necessarily karo syrup as 50's don't warrant that kind of intervention - just some FF with a little gravy in it - will help to steer her back to safer numbers and not to jettison her way up into high numbers which karo syrup can do - it is after all, pure sugar...

My suggestion is to think about what you can do to become prepared for those eventual lower greens - and do the same when you're not home if you test and find she's lower than you're comfortable with. You can leave food in the feeder for that day - to keep her above the 'too low' numbers.

I hope this is helpful...
 
Mimis mom said:
Im at work worried about Mimi- a daily thing that happens.. still wondering if the Libre is worth getting or will that thing being attached to her make her more stressed..
must. Keep. Cat stress. Low!
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I'm right there with you! We recently installed a camera so we can watch the main area of our house where the food bowls and the automatic wet food feeder are so I can watch if FA is eating if I am worried. While it probably makes me even more of a crazy person I think it makes me feel a bit better when I can see him up and about and eating. This obviously doesn't help in a situation that his BG may be too low - it's really to prevent me from worrying so much day-to-day while I'm at work. I am lucky that I can usually go home at lunch and check on him but that hasn't always been the case and will not always be the case in the future.

FA had the Libre on during his last stint in the hospital and came home with it. Initially it was amazing, so easy to use and we could check his BG without having to disturb him while he was recovering. However once he came off the pain meds/sedative, he scratched at it like crazy, so much so that we pulled it out and one month later he still has a decent sized scab/wound that is healing very slowly (since he keeps ripping it off every few days). I know some people have used the Kitty Kollar successfully to stop cats from scratching at the Libre - we only bought it after the Libre came off and were trying to prevent him from scratching at his scab. However the Kitty Kollar also made him very angry and he was able to rip it off so we gave up on that. FA can be a little wild at times so I'm guessing that the Libre could potentially work for a more chill cat.
 
Sue and Luci said:
two years of doing this that Luci is completely unpredictable...she goes low when she's ready to go low.
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I agree with Sue. Our kitties are all different & pretty much go low when "they" decide to. You need to get a supply of Higher carb food Like 15% Most of us use FF with gravy.
Turkey & Giblets Feast in Gravy is 13% carbs, Turkey Feast in Roasted Turkey flavor Gravy is 15%. I mark the carbs on the bottom of the cans & have at least a dozen on hand if Ravan starts dropping low.

Bella's mom works & she does very good with Bella. I'm sure she can give you some good advice on how to handle low BG.

I think it's very important that you try to calm down, especially when you're home with Mimi. Our kitties feel our emotions when we're stressed. It can affect them.
I do yoga & we do Yoga breathing. It really does help. Breathe slowly thru your nose, take in as much air as possible, hold for a few seconds & exhale thru your nose as slow as you can. Do this several times. Most of us breathe too fast especially when we get nervous. It will help to calm you down.

This is a journey you need "LOTS" of patience & to learn as much as you can. The more you read & learn about diabetes the easier it will get to help Mimi.We were all like you in the beginning, "going a bit crazy"

Studying their SS & watching how they react at different times will help you get to know better what she might do. (we all still get surprises, as Sue said!)

Think of the SS like a Puzzle. Try to fill in the boxes. When you're off work, test at different times. You'll start to find a pattern of when her BG drops lower.

Hang in there! You have a whole lot of people here that want to help you & Mimi! Keep asking questions. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
images
 
So I snuck home from work at around +3, tested her and got 201.. ok.. I wondered if it would test in the 100s with the next test, and I’m also trying to learn how test strips work, so I tested again and got 271!?? I did it one more time and got 268... what is going on with these gosh darn strips!!!!! That’s a huge difference isn’t it? For a “margin of error”
The biggest one was last night I got 48, then two numbers in the 70s right afterwards which is not good when we are depending on the numbers to earn reductions..
:nailbiting::(:woot:
 
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Why did you bother retesting? None of those data points will change what you do with the dose. Yelowish is all you need to know when numbers are that high.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Why did you bother retesting? None of those data points will change what you do with the dose. Yelowish is all you need to know when numbers are that high.
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Well you’re right- I guess it left me curious when I got a 47, then an 81, and 83. It made me wonder if some strips were bad?
 
With the Freestyle Lite, I noticed that if I have a small sample the monitor will beep but it will ALWAYS be way lower than expected. The sample is too small. I get a larger sample and retest and get a "normal" number. Was that 47 with a small blood sample?
 
Judy and Freckles said:
With the Freestyle Lite, I noticed that if I have a small sample the monitor will beep but it will ALWAYS be way lower than expected. The sample is too small. I get a larger sample and retest and get a "normal" number. Was that 47 with a small blood sample?
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Hmph- I didn’t think it worked that way.. I just put blood to it until it beeps. That’s what I liked about the meter was the sample size. You would think for such an expensive test strip it would be more intelligent than that.
 
Anyway, now she’s in the 200’s so not sure what her little body is doing ..

We had catnip and playtime on the bed with the “flying feather”. I’ve been trying to get her some exercise on something she will be able to bounce from and not hurt herself considering her little legs are wobbly from neuropathy.. :(
 
Why did she drop into those nice greens and now today she’s back in the sun? Could it be I’m not Measuring correctly enough? I use a caliper but I’m sure there’s human error?
 
Mimis mom said:
Why did she drop into those nice greens and now today she’s back in the sun? Could it be I’m not Measuring correctly enough? I use a caliper but I’m sure there’s human error?
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More than likely it's because she is a cat and cats do as they like! Freckles and I would LOVE to see some greens. We are jealous! ;)
 
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