Need advice, please, with Bouncing Beau’s dose

Suzanne & Darcy said:
He is adorable. And good for you doing the FIP treatment. How far along are you with that cat? Did you say it was a foster cat?
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It’s my second foster I’ve treated. The first, Oona, was adopted by a teacher friend after finishing her observation last January. She’s now over a year cured. Jasper was adopted, along with another kitten, at about 12 weeks old. The adopter found out he had FIP at about 5 months. She said she was not going to be able to deal with the treatment. We offered to take him back, treat him and return him for observation. She chose not to do that and surrendered him back to us. He has responded extremely well, gaining almost 2 1/2 pounds in a little over 7 weeks. We are on shot #53, with 31 days left.
 
Just looking over Beau’s SS again, checking for trends. I now see that on 1/31, that those two higher carb snacks were after PMPS, not am, when he started dropping at +2 and +4. I’m not losing my mind after all. :)
 
Good start to the day with a 152, which continued the PM drop. I chose to go with a 4C AM meal rather than a reduced shot. He’s had two snacks, one at +2.5 (4C) and +4 (8C). We’ll see how that works. Next time we’re in the same situation at AM, I’ll try 8 or 9C and see what happens. And, of course, when I’m anticipating going back up to 3U, he does this. I love my Beau boy, but sometimes he just makes me crazy. :confused:
 
They sure seem to know! I love blue pre shots. I just need to get better at managing them. Next time I’ll try a higher AM meal. We’re at 53 +5. Hoping he holds. And we know 50s and 60s make him bounce!
 
Yes, that’s what I’m doing. He’s had a couple of 8 and 9 carb snacks, which usually bring him up. I expect an increase at +6 test.
 
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He did it. Nice surf. Too bad he went up into blue. But very excellent so far. Now Beau, no more food until dinner time, and try not to bounce too high.
 
He did what he’s always done when I feed his low greens. You can see it on 1/28 and 1/29. I don’t like that he jumps so quickly into the blues because he’ll probably end up high for his PMPS. I need to find a way to prevent that from happening, keep him in the greens longer and still keep him from going below 50. I usually use 8 - 10 carbs to feed those lows. I’m thinking that if I start sooner or stick with the 4 - 6 carbs that it will keep him in greens longer and have a more gradual increase. And test at +1 when his pre shots are in the blue. But, it does look like, at least for now, 2.75 is where he should be. I just need to learn to work with it.
And he definitely won’t get any more food until dinner time.
 
Yes. That’s what I’m talking about when I say try to back off the carbs a bit. I know it’s nerve wracking, but I would like to see if he will surf with just a few carbs for spoonsful when he’s in those greens. I’m afraid we sent him prematurely into blue today with just a few more carbs. We won’t know until we try. You are doing great, Sharon. It’s a pleasure working with you. We won’t know until we try.
 
Yup! That’s what usually happens. I just cringe when I see that premature blue so soon after being green. I’m definitely going to try lower carbs and sooner, if possible. I need to figure out what works. I’d like to not increase his dosage. It just doesn’t last long when he’s at 3U before he starts to drop lower and lower. Thanks for keeping an eye on us.
 
You’re right. He usually doesn’t stay there long. I was happy he had some yellow overnight and didn’t spend all night in pink. Now we wait for the blues and greens to return. :cool::D
 
Well, even though Beau was pink most of yesterday, he came back down for some greens last night. I used 6 carbs instead of 9 to hold him there. It kept him from dropping more, but still took him into the blues 2 1/2 hours later. I fell asleep, darn it, without setting an alarm so I don’t know how long he stayed green. We’re starting the day in pink again. I think I need to feed when he drops 100 within two hours into blues, which I’m not doing. Maybe I’m waiting too long by waiting to see where he goes next. Then he ends up with another fairly large drop into green. Is a 100 drop within two hours too steep?
 
Sharon555 said:
Well, even though Beau was pink most of yesterday, he came back down for some greens last night. I used 6 carbs instead of 9 to hold him there. It kept him from dropping more, but still took him into the blues 2 1/2 hours later. I fell asleep, darn it, without setting an alarm so I don’t know how long he stayed green. We’re starting the day in pink again. I think I need to feed when he drops 100 within two hours into blues, which I’m not doing. Maybe I’m waiting too long by waiting to see where he goes next. Then he ends up with another fairly large drop into green. Is a 100 drop within two hours too steep?
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Yes. I saw last night’s activity this morning when I checked his spreadsheet. A drop of 100 in 2 hours isn’t too steep necessarily, but a drop of 100in a single hour is definitely faster than we would like to see
 
Having said that, you may want to try the 6 percent carbs at +2 when it looks like he’s going down nicely at +2 (in other words not a bounce cycle). Then when he goes green, you can try lower carbs like 4 percent or even lower to see if he will stay in green longer. He had a pretty decent cycle last night regardless! I’m sure he was in green for at least another hour and possibly longer.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. I saw last night’s activity this morning when I checked his spreadsheet. A drop of 100 in 2 hours isn’t too steep necessarily, but a drop of 100in a single hour is definitely faster than we would like to see
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Thank you. I’ve often wondered about it. He can easily drop 100 over 2 hours, especially at night. I’ve never been sure how to respond to them.
 
Last night’s cycle went well with the 6 percent dinner. Did you do the 1 percent savory centers this morning? Looks like tonight will be a good cycle?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Last night’s cycle went well with the 6 percent dinner. Did you do the 1 percent savory centers this morning? Looks like tonight will be a good cycle?
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I was pleased with the result of using the 6%. And, yes, he had his usual 1% savory centers for breakfast. Also at +7 so I wouldn’t drive him up too high. It’s time for his PMPS. If he’s still in blue, I may try the 4% and see what happens. What do you think?
 
I did! I would also like to see where it takes him tonight. :) With your guidance, I’m finally getting the hang of this thing. It’s not easy or cut and dried, especially since ECID. I know there are many who ask the questions, but feel badly for those who don’t. It seems there is always something. That article about the carbs you suggested I read helped to open my eyes.
 
Sharon555 said:
I did! I would also like to see where it takes him tonight. :) With your guidance, I’m finally getting the hang of this thing. It’s not easy or cut and dried, especially since ECID. I know there are many who ask the questions, but feel badly for those who don’t. It seems there is always something. That article about the carbs you suggested I read helped to open my eyes.
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You really are doing great. There are the basics, but then there are the subtleties that go beyond the basics and, yep, ECID. Some cats make it easy on their people and some cats just need a little more attention to detail. I feel badly about the people who don’t ask questions too. And for the people who start asking questions but then disappear on us. I always hope their kitties are okay.
 
So, we went with the 4% for dinner last night, which took us to 65 at +3 and +4. I panicked slightly and gave him a 6% snack at both 65s. He still jumped to 170 by +6. I wonder if I should have stuck with the 4% or even not given him more food when he was still 65 at +4. And we’re pink again today. I really wish I could figure out how to avoid the bounces. They truly stress me out.
 
Sharon555 said:
So, we went with the 4% for dinner last night, which took us to 65 at +3 and +4. I panicked slightly and gave him a 6% snack at both 65s. He still jumped to 170 by +6. I wonder if I should have stuck with the 4% or even not given him more food when he was still 65 at +4. And we’re pink again today. I really wish I could figure out how to avoid the bounces. They truly stress me out.
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It’s okay. You did panic a little but only remember that 65 is a good safe number on your ReliOn meter. And 6 percent carbs isn’t really panic, now Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers or karo syrup would have been panic! Maybe the first 6 percent would have been enough. Or even 4 percent. Many cats will surf in green with a teaspoon LC each hour. Remember that if you’re uncomfortable about a number (especially early in the cycle like that) you don’t have to wait an hour to test again. You can ensure that they’re surfing and not continuing to drop by giving the food and wait 20-30 minutes to retest and see what’s going on. This way, if they are staying pretty stable you can feel calm about it — and if kitty is continuing to drop you will know that further intervention is necessary.
 
Also, there’s only so much we can do to prevent bounces. We do help out with feeding the curve to try and prevent steep drops, but a lot of the rest of it is up to Beau’s body. His body panics when he gets in the lower numbers (even though he seems to feel good in them) and releases stored forms of sugar and hormones that all work together to raise blood sugar as a protective mechanism That part is out of our control, because we want him in those lower numbers and we keep putting him in that situation.
 
And hooray for Beau. He broke that bounce last night! Some cats will take dys to come down from a bounce so I think he’s doing pretty well.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I hope he will have a good AMPS this morning.
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I was very happy with Beau’s cycle last night and getting over that bounce. He finally dropped at PMPS and continued the drop into the night. As you can see I watched him very carefully and the 3% at +6 was just enough to carry him through to this morning. His AMPS was 97!! I gave him a full dose and fed him 6% for breakfast. Fingers crossed for a good day.
 
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I like it. He really seems to be one of those kitties who can surf well on their own with very little intervention. I was expecting the good AMPS, but I didn’t want to jinx it!
 
Yes! I was pleasantly surprised. He didn’t jump too high at +2.5 this morning after the 6% breakfast. We’re at 175 and I’m hoping we can do a little surfing today. Maybe a 4% would have been even better.
 
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Oops. A pink this morning. Yesterday was a good a.m. cycle and the it looks like he started a gradual ascent last night before going pink this morning. Let’s hope he wants to get back into lower numbers today.
 
Hi Sharon, I’m just checking in. How are you and Beau doing? With today’s flat yellow cycle that may be trending downward, you may see your nadir at PMPS tonight or at least late in the cycle.
 
Happy Love Day, as my husband always called it.
Beau has been doing pretty well, so that means Mama is, too. Not nearly as many pinks in the last week, which is good. He has felt really good the last several days with all of those blues and a smattering of green. The slightly downward and flat yellows are pretty consistently followed by some good cycles, so they make me happy. I would love to see a blue for PMPS. I think I’m getting better at anticipating where his cycles are going. I feel like he should stay at 2.75U to see if we can get more of those blue/green cycles. Or do you think we should increase him again?
BTW, unless you see a notation, his meals and snacks/mid-cycle meals are always the 1% savory centers.
 
I am thinking that, since you are following MPM, you could get nadirs that are a little more in line with our target nadirs. But he is bouncy — and he has sometimes been close to the nadirs we want. But with your new knowledge of how to work the different low carbs, hopefully it would be all right.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I am thinking that, since you are following MPM, you could get nadirs that are a little more in line with our target nadirs. But he is bouncy — and he has sometimes been close to the nadirs we want. But with your new knowledge of how to work the different low carbs, hopefully it would be all right.
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Are you talking about increasing his dosage? If so, I do think I would be able to get better nadirs. And, as you say, I now better understand using the different low carbs.

I thought they maybe the flatlines meant his body was doing something in particular. Rather it’s more of an indicator of what is to come.
 
Good morning and happy Monday!

So, here we are about 10 days into Beau’s increase to 3 units. Other than those first few lovely cycles, it looks much like it did when he was at 2.75. There are fewer pinks and more yellows and blues, but that’s it. There have been a few cycles that looked like he was going to drop into green, but he stayed in blue. I hate to do it, but it seems like he needs an increase to 3.25. What are your thoughts?
 
Sharon555 said:
Good morning and happy Monday!

So, here we are about 10 days into Beau’s increase to 3 units. Other than those first few lovely cycles, it looks much like it did when he was at 2.75. There are fewer pinks and more yellows and blues, but that’s it. There have been a few cycles that looked like he was going to drop into green, but he stayed in blue. I hate to do it, but it seems like he needs an increase to 3.25. What are your thoughts?
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Hi Sharon. It does seem to be Beau’s pattern that he does well at first with an increase but then he adjusts to the new dose and gets fewer low numbers. I would try the increase.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Your ProZinc isn’t old or anything is it?
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No, it isn’t. In fact, I started a new bottle on 2/1.
He did well back in Oct/Nov when he was 3.25. But he had a couple of tests of 47 and 48, so I reduced to 3 units. I think with the knowledge I now have about using the 3% to 5% carbs, and feeding the drops sooner, that those limes would have been avoided. I don’t like increasing, but if that’s what my boy needs …
 
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