Murphy went to 53 (on Alpha trak)

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Carol & Murphy (GA)

Carol & Murphy (GA)

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These cats!!! after his low amps this am, and my scant 1 unit, I was sure he was going to be 400+ when I tested him at +4 - instead he was 70 - immediate retest -62 so I fed him some venison and about 15 minutes later it was 53 (alpha trak2 readings) - gave him some karo -~ 10 minutes later 68 and now at +5 he is at 123. I'll check him again in about 30 minutes or so
So I'm already thinking about tonight's pmps - assuming he will be quite high by then - can I assume he will be more sensitive to insulin than usual? Should I go with the sliding scale dose or go lower?
I thought I knew Murphy but this response has thrown me for a loop - can't think of an explanation

here's the thread from this am http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/murphy-low-amps.148660/
 
Well, you handled it beautifully. And it is nice to see a downward trend in a cycle. I'll be around tonight and see what your number looks like.
 
Had to change the appointment to next Wed. Did bring him all the info on the high dose testing and ordering insulin from Canada. Hope that works out, I just got another pen and the price has gone way up!
 
Carol & Murphy said:
These cats!!! after his low amps this am, and my scant 1 unit, I was sure he was going to be 400+ when I tested him at +4 - instead he was 70 - immediate retest -62 so I fed him some venison and about 15 minutes later it was 53 (alpha trak2 readings) - gave him some karo -~ 10 minutes later 68 and now at +5 he is at 123. I'll check him again in about 30 minutes or so
So I'm already thinking about tonight's pmps - assuming he will be quite high by then - can I assume he will be more sensitive to insulin than usual? Should I go with the sliding scale dose or go lower?
I thought I knew Murphy but this response has thrown me for a loop - can't think of an explanation

here's the thread from this am http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/murphy-low-amps.148660/
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Yikes, Carol! Glad he pulled this little stunt while you are home. Good luck with tonight's PMPS
 
@Sue and Oliver (GA) @Merlin @Rachel - @Carl & Polly & Bob (GA) Murphy's PMPS - different readings on same drop of blood is either 173 or 203 - this was unfortunately taken about 45 minutes early but he was acting up so much stalling was not an option. So even with aro syrup, the 1 unit held him down all day - the question is now for the pm dose - I think I am not willing to give him more than a 0.5 - if that, so I really need advice on what to do. The second question is - do you think his pancreas helped today? I know I made a mistake by the early test but I thought it was going to be terribly high, and he was starving. I'll wait until I hear from someone

well, its been over an hour - I guess everyone is enjoying their Friday night - I'm thinking 0.5 or 0.25 units? Or should I go with nothing and see what it is in the morning? I'm still unclear if he will be more sensitive to insulin on his next shot. If that is the case, should I go lower in the am - I'm getting out of my time period to shoot soon
 
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I'd go with your gut Carol. I think 0.5 would be okay...can you get a before bed test to be sure he isn't dropping? If you're not comfortable with that, go with .25. I would definitely give something though, just because I hate to see you lose momentum now.

Sorry I've had a rough evening so I just now got home to check this. Am I too late?
 
I agree, whichever you are comfortable with. Not sure if the pancreas is working or if something else is going on. Whatever, good news!
 
I just gave him 0.25 units - but do you think more would have been okay? Is there something about being sensitive to insulin after going low? (I'm mainly asking in case this happens again) I really don't think that 0.25 was enough, but I cannot explain what happened today - and to have lasted all day - he was almost identical amps and pmps with 1 unit and getting karo syrup
 
Some cats can be sensitive to insulin after a hypo. That could be it. I am sort of helping he is just needing less insulin - it would about time he started responding!
 
It really depends. There's no way to know for sure if more would have been okay. I suspect it would, but I did NOT expect that he'd drop so much today....so I can be wrong (clearly). If you can, try to grab a mid cycle at some point tonight so we can get a general idea of what this does dose. That way, we will know for next time.

It's all good, just a rough day at work. Or, more accurately, a busy day with lots of fires to put out (metaphorically). Then traffic. :)
 
Glad everything is ok, Rachel. Being busy at work is good, no? So for tomorrow's dose, should I go lower than I normally would on the sliding scale? Rachel, do you get to sleep in tomorrow?
 
I do get to sleep in tomorrow! What time do you usually do your AM dose, Carol?

I'd say if you get a number at the low end of the sliding scale, maybe a half unit dose instead of a full unit? Hopefully that would keep him from dropping as low.

Beyond that, if you can monitor, maybe stick with the scale? It seems to have been working well for the other numbers...not sure why it suddenly brought him so low.
 
Rachel said:
I do get to sleep in tomorrow! What time do you usually do your AM dose, Carol?

I'd say if you get a number at the low end of the sliding scale, maybe a half unit dose instead of a full unit? Hopefully that would keep him from dropping as low.

Beyond that, if you can monitor, maybe stick with the scale? It seems to have been working well for the other numbers...not sure why it suddenly brought him so low.
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Thanks Rachel - by all means, please sleep in - I'll muddle through
I hope his pancreas is starting to sputter -- unfortunately, I won't be able to monitor for his +4 tomorrow or Sunday
get some rest, Rachel
 
Haha I will. If I happen to be up, I'll check in on you.

I'd say play it safe and go with your gut. If you won't be around, you could lower it some, though I think if he is at the high end of the scale, it would be fine to stick with the same dose as normal. My guess is he won't be super low in the morning (but as I said, I can be wrong!). Anyway, I guess go with your gut and do what you feel is best. :)
 
I was at work through all of the excitement. I think the tiny dose tonight was a good idea. I'm not sure if this is "his pancreas" or not, but the numbers looked great today.

This is just speculation, but what if....

The missing piece of the puzzle is the two doses that the sitter gave him with no test prior to shooting. What if his numbers were lower than you might think, especially the morning shot. It looks to me like the 2.25 doses you had been giving lately sure did pack a punch. On the 28th, it dropped him about 350 points. The f2 that night dropped him almost 300 points. The sitter only shot 1u doses, but what if he had unknown preshot numbers that were low yellow numbers? Maybe he went "green" on the morning of the 2nd, and the numbers you caught after you got home were due to a big old bounce? PM on the 2nd, even starting out at 515 he dropped at least to 119 (almost 400 points).
Then maybe he bounced all day yesterday, and last night, the bounce seems to have gone away, leaving you with a really nice AMPS today. Just 1u dropped him over 100 points, and a 53 on an AT is definitely "below normal". Nice that he didn't seem to mind, and tonight you got another really nice number at PMPS.

Maybe .25u was a little "light", but I'm thinking that it was a good choice. It shouldn't cause a bounce anyway. I'm not expecting a sky high AMPS tomorrow (If he throws you a 400, I'm going to look stupid!). My thinking is that if you see a blue preshot, I'd definitely keep the dose below 1u going forward. He didn't leave you too much wiggle room this morning, and you did a great job in catching the low number and dealing with it.
 
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA) said:
I was at work through all of the excitement. I think the tiny dose tonight was a good idea. I'm not sure if this is "his pancreas" or not, but the numbers looked great today.

This is just speculation, but what if....

The missing piece of the puzzle is the two doses that the sitter gave him with no test prior to shooting. What if his numbers were lower than you might think, especially the morning shot. It looks to me like the 2.25 doses you had been giving lately sure did pack a punch. On the 28th, it dropped him about 350 points. The f2 that night dropped him almost 300 points. The sitter only shot 1u doses, but what if he had unknown preshot numbers that were low yellow numbers? Maybe he went "green" on the morning of the 2nd, and the numbers you caught after you got home were due to a big old bounce? PM on the 2nd, even starting out at 515 he dropped at least to 119 (almost 400 points).
Then maybe he bounced all day yesterday, and last night, the bounce seems to have gone away, leaving you with a really nice AMPS today. Just 1u dropped him over 100 points, and a 53 on an AT is definitely "below normal". Nice that he didn't seem to mind, and tonight you got another really nice number at PMPS.

Maybe .25u was a little "light", but I'm thinking that it was a good choice. It shouldn't cause a bounce anyway. I'm not expecting a sky high AMPS tomorrow (If he throws you a 400, I'm going to look stupid!). My thinking is that if you see a blue preshot, I'd definitely keep the dose below 1u going forward. He didn't leave you too much wiggle room this morning, and you did a great job in catching the low number and dealing with it.
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thanks Carl --- Well, I just tested him at +3.5 and it's 542!! ugh!! well, he's been eating so at least some of it is food related plus could definitely be a bounce (probably is) So right now I'm hoping for a 400 amps - if it is sky-high, what dose would you suggest? 2 or 2.25 again? I won't be able to monitor him much after +2.5 tomorrow
 
If you can't monitor, play it safe. Recently, 2/2.25 have dropped it significantly. When his bounces clear, they seem to do so rapidly.
I'm surprised, assuming this is a bounce, that it took this long to show up. I would not have been surprised to see it at PMPS after that 53 this morning.
 
The other possibility - that 542 was a bogus test result. Did you double check it? I did that a few times when the number seemed illogical.
 
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA) said:
The other possibility - that 542 was a bogus test result. Did you double check it? I did that a few times when the number seemed illogical.
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Hi Carl I double check the test results ALOT when I get a number that doesn't seem right - but I got a good bead of blood for the test, and somehow I was expecting a high result so I didn't even think of rechecking His amps was 444 - not nearly as bad as I was expecting so I gave him a 2 (instead of 2.25 or 2.5) to see if his insulin requirements are decreasing (I hope so)
 
It's just that you aren't suppose to see-saw the insulin back into the pen. I can never draw up the exact dose. Can you? So, now, I am wasting juice.....
 
Not great we got a 418 and a dose increase. But again, after reading of some of the problems others are having, I'm thankful he seems to feel fine and has a great appetite. I'm still giving him the d-mannose even though he tested neg for an infection. Do you remember how long you're supposed to give it?

How's Murphy this AM? I saw that high number you got last night:banghead: But at least you got some sleep!
 
Hi Sharon - I don't have any idea how long to give d-mannose I have never used it, but I think it is like drinking cranberry juice for a UTI - depending on whether he has another UTI, you may keep him on it preventively
am I the only one who cries every time someone posts that their cat died?
 
You are definitely not the only one who cries.
 
Sharon14 said:
Not great we got a 418 and a dose increase. But again, after reading of some of the problems others are having, I'm thankful he seems to feel fine and has a great appetite. I'm still giving him the d-mannose even though he tested neg for an infection. Do you remember how long you're supposed to give it?

How's Murphy this AM? I saw that high number you got last night:banghead: But at least you got some sleep!
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Hi Sharon- do you think Colin does have a UTI and therefore his #s are going up?
 
The test strips didn't show anything, but who knows. Maybe he's bouncing from the low(for Colin) numbers. We have a vet appointment Wed., to check him out.
 
Nope you are not alone in crying when one of our sweet kitties goes to the bridge. I think we all feel it since we know how hard we have all worked to keep them healthy.
 
I just tried to take Murphy's +6 reading - got 150 for some reason decided to recheck (same drop of blood) got 452 another poke got 417
got out other alphatrak meter -(another poke) 190, retest (same drop of blood) 509 , then another poke 263
I finally gave up - used up a total of 8 strips so I don't have any idea of what his +6 is

I tested both meters using new control solutions and they both check out fine:banghead:
 
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Carl & Polly & Bob (GA) said:
You are definitely not the only one who cries.
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Hi Carl - I just read your posting regarding Bob on the grief forum. It was beautiful, I don't look on that thread very often because it is too emotional for me - I end up sobbing. That Bob sure was something special!! So sorry for the loss and that you are still feeling sad :bighug:
 
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