need advice, unexpected low preshot

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Darcy

Darcy

Member Since 2023
Gemma's dose was just reduced this morning for the first time. I did not expect to see a lower preshot number. Since this is a low number for her how should I preceed?
 
Sorry no-one got back to you earlier.
It looks like you may have stalled and then retested? Is that what you did?
If so, that is the correct thing to do.
Did you also not feed when you stalled?
 
I did stall. Waited 20 min and retested. Her number was a bit higher so I chose to shoot the 2.25U. I was home to monitor. I was feeling a little timid due to the change in dose just happening that morning and not knowing what to expect.
 
Just an observation... While this may have been a lower than usual pre-shot last evening, a 253 is a very safe pre-shot number even with SLGS. It does take a bit of experience to get used to shooting lower numbers. Here's to hoping you'll be seeing more blue and green numbers on Gemma's spreadsheet!
 
Sienne, Thanks for pointing that out. I wish I had thought of it that way since now I have to work her back from the stall. Yes, blue and green would be delightful! Can you tell me what may have caused the low number that late in the cycle?
 
Darcy said:
Can you tell me what may have caused the low number that late in the cycle?
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You increased the dose which probably gave you a longer duration.
You are testing enough to do TR. You might like to have a look at the TR protocol to see if it suits you.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You increased the dose which probably gave you a longer duration.
You are testing enough to do TR. You might like to have a look at the TR protocol to see if it suits you.
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I will spend some time reading the protocol for TR but come September, I will not be able to do the same amount of daytime testing due to work changes. Once you adopt the TR method can you switch back to SLGS or is that not recommended? Gemma's numbers went high yesterday evening. I'm completely lost as to why. I definitely have a lot to learn and it does make me very nervous about putting her in harms way.
 
Darcy said:
I will spend some time reading the protocol for TR but come September, I will not be able to do the same amount of daytime testing due to work changes. Once you adopt the TR method can you switch back to SLGS or is that not recommended? Gemma's numbers went high yesterday evening. I'm completely lost as to why. I definitely have a lot to learn and it does make me very nervous about putting her in harms way.
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Yes you can swap back to SLGS in Sept.
Maybe Gemma went high last night because she dropped lower during the am cycle when you were not able to test. Bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles so lets see how she goes.
 
Hi Bron,

So, I have decided to stick with SLGS for a bit longer. I have not found the time to read about and get comfortable with TR. Also, when Gemma was seeing some of the yellow numbers I could tell she was feeling better and started to venture around a little more. Two nights in a row something woke me up and I found her in the kitchen eating some of the other cat's food. I did manage to replace two of the dry brands I have used for years with Dr Elsey's but I cannot be sure that she didn't get into the higher carb stuff and had it affect her numbers. Last night I pulled up the higher carb dry and put it out of the way however she still has access to all the wet food that is down for my other 12 cats. I have been including some of the low carb wet food on their plates but they have been turning their noses up to it. It's going to take me a while to get all them switched to low carb. I may just go crazy with all of this. Anyhow, for some reason Gemma has been really hungry lately so i have been feeding her a bit more to try to keep her from wandering for food. She is already grossly overweight. Last vet visit she was 20lbs. I am hoping to get her numbers down lower. Is it time to raise the dose by .25?
 
The short answer to your question is that it is fine to raise Gemma's dose to 2.50u.

The longer answer... With SLGS, you evaluate the dose after a week. Generally, you would do a curve at the end of a week but given how much you're testing, it's fine if you don't run a curve. The information in the dosing methods sticky states:
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours. Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet. The goal is to learn how low the current dose is dropping kitty prior to making dose adjustments.
  • If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
  • If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
  • If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for your help Sienne. I'll hold the 2.5 and do a curve next Wednesday and check back in.
 
If I have a spreadsheet question that relates to the changes I've made through the help you guys have given me do I post here or start a new thread. I am seeing a lot of pink numbers after a good run on yellow.
 
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