Morky's Numbers

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moof86

moof86

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All righty! After a bit of a snfu with the lancets, I able to procure some from my vet (who is happy enough to poke my cat as often as I see fit, happy days!) I've only been able to test him morning preshot and his evening preshot. Big difference between the two (28.6 this morning and 11.6 tonight)

What I'm wondering is, if he's at 11.6 at the moment (uk measurements), is it safe to shoot? He's on 4 units of canninsulin, so not 100% if I should just wait a while and see what he does or go on ahead and go for it.

I'll be doing a full curve on him next weekend when he's better settled to get a better idea of how he reacts, but just haven't got much data yet.
 
I'm not as familiar with the UK measurements, but that's 515 and 209 in US measurements. What's I've seen is that the rule of thumb is for numbers under 200 (11.1) not to shoot. He's close to the borderline with that second number. You're probably safe to shoot, but it depends on how close an eye you can keep on him. If you're going to be around 4-8 hours after his shot to make sure he's not going too low, go ahead. If you're not going to be around or if you think he'll go too low, you can try a reduced dose.
 
I did have plans to go out, I've just cancelled my ballet class as looks like I've got a sugar cat dance to do first. But that's being said, friends know what the situation is and well, they'll just have to deal!

How low of a dose would be a good idea? He hasn't gotten a full meal into him yet (he was munching away of this morning's breakfast) so that could affect the numbers.

Ack, wee bit worried! If I had a better idea of how he reacts to the insulin, would be one thing, but I don't yet confused_cat
 
It's not usually a good idea to do major adjustments just based on a preshot, but like you said, we have no idea how he'll react. He's been on the insulin for a while, right? So 4u is what he's used to. You may be okay to go with his usual dose, but if you reduce I wouldn't reduce too much, either. If you're going to be around, I'd say go with 3 or 4 units, but check at +4 and +6 to see how low he's going. If you're not going to be around, I wouldn't go lower than 2, and I'd probably still not go that low. It's all very iffy when you don't know how he reacts.

I have to go to class now, but I'll check back in about an hour.
 
Cheers bookworm!

I've just tested him again, down to 10.8. (hour later), no insulin given yet.

Just made him up some wet food to eat, he's not had any dry food today, where just yesterday he would have grazed. Seems all right in himself, chatting away!!

Just gonna keep watching!
 
Had him eat a wee bit, down to 8.4 (down from half an hour ago)

Weird!!

He's about sick of me poking his ears.
 
If he's still going down, don't dose! Wait until he's rising. You may just want to wait until his next shot is due. It may be high, because you skipped a dose.
 
Gonna try and monitor him throughout the night, see what he does. Don't want him to go too low, but if he fancies staying right where he's at, I'm happy enough!

I'll keep the board posted on his numbers!

Thanks again for popping in! Definitely glad I didn't shoot when I had originally planned, second night having him home and sending him to hypo land would not have been a great start! :shock:
 
Great numbers! So they are telling you the 4 units is too high a dose. And he is not reacting to the Canninsulin as most cats do - with a sharp decline and fast rise. He is getting what we call a long "surf".

If he is safely in the 200s by pm shot time, I would consider starting over with one unit, getting a few midcycle numbers around +3 and +6 so you can see how the insulin is working. I think you recently changed to low carb also? That may be moving the numbers down.

If one unit is too low a dose, you can always increase. But if you give too much, you can't get it out of the cat once it's shot. :mrgreen:
 
This has all literally been over night! I'm loving the numbers, he's heading back up, just tested again and we're at 9.7 (174.6) so he's heading back up, but still too low to shoot.

He's not had a bit of dry today, just the wet M/D (Shelter sent me home with 24 cans with 5kg of dry M/D, for free!)

The 12 hour mark from this morning is 9pm in an hour, so I'll test again then, see how he's doing and report back!

Didn't think I'd be poking him this much today, but it's good to know!
 
So glad you are poking. Imagine if you shot 4 units into a number under 200, thinking he was ready for his pm shot......Would have been a disaster. Knowing is SO much better!
 
Oh I know it! And 4 units to boot, he'd have been a hurting unit! He's sick of the sight of me, but just did another test and he's at 11.3 (203.4).

Should I go for a reduced dose, nothing at all? I'm gonna be in the rest of the night, so I can keep an eye on him.
 
Up to you. You could give a token dose like .5, but that might make you nervous because you can't watch him overnight? But, if you skip, be prepared for a higher number in the am. That would be 24 hours without insulin. Don't react to a high number with a big dose. I would still try one unit, until you get a clear picture of how the insulin/food is working.
 
Just did another test (i think morky is getting low on blood!) He's up to 15.4 (277.2) so I went ahead and shot 1 unit for him.

Thanks for everyone chiming in and helping me keep track of him tonight! The 4 units of canninsulin lasted him about 13 hours before he started to properly climb again, so I'll have to report back tomorrow how the 1 unit does for him tonight.

Just for my own peace of mind, is there any terrible side effect of dropping the dose so quickly? Or is it really better just to go off BG numbers? (Obviously shooting him when he was as low as he was would have been a BIG mistake). Just wondering!
 
He should be fine, as long as you stay on top of the numbers. It would be nice if he would stay below 300. (a regulated cat is in the 200s at pre shot, in double digits at nadir. You don't want him under 40.). The nice thing about testing is once you figure out how the insulin is working, you can feel confident about adjusting the dose.

It is a good idea to test for ketones. http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis. As long as he stays in good numbers and is eating regularly, he should be fine, but it is something to watch for when you are first trying to figure out the dosage.

You are doing great and so is he!
 
His lower numbers could be because he's on all wet now. And yes, it can make a huge difference. Another possibility is that his numbers might have been higher at the shelter because there was some stress there. Whatever is causing it, it's great! Keep up the good work.
 
6am on a Saturday morning is a depressing hour! lol but at any rate, just did Morky's morning injection. He was at 25.7 (462.6) before his shot, fed him and then gave him 1 unit, figuring I can always add more if he's not dropping, so I'll be testing him again at about 8am to see how he's getting on.

While his numbers were high, he was alert, asking for breakfast and generally content with himself, which is brilliant!

He pees like a race horse though! didn't seem to go through as much water as he did the night before, but the litter box was soaked. I've ordered ketone strips, so hopefully be here by early next week.

Thanks again for all the input and you can be sure I'll probably be posting every number for a while as I get the hang of this. Wouldn't trade it for the world. :)
 
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