Need eyes: OTJ -- sort of??

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Kris & Motska (GA)

Kris & Motska (GA)

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Motska is pretty much OTJ but every so often I get a high number. I hate to just leave it as-is and not give a shot, but most of the time her pancreas DOES kick in and bring things down on its own. I'm really not sure what else I can do to try to prevent those high numbers! She's not getting into any dry food -- she sleeps with me in my room at night (door is shut) and then during the day she's kept in there (with the door shut) -- I have to do it that way because one of my roommates has a cat that she free-feeds dry food (because she's never home to feed canned -- and she's absolutely broke).

Example:
11/15 = AM 235 (no shot -- food only)
PM 140 (no shot -- food only)

11/16 = AM 277 (no shot -- food only)
PM 129 (no shot -- food only)

11/17 = AM 280 (no shot -- food only)
one hr later 255

I feed her SpecialKitty Turkey and Giblets = 4% carb. She free feeds, and I pick up the old and put down fresh food (with water mixed in) every 12 hrs. And she doesn't have access to the other cat's food overnight or from 8-5 (otherwise I let her roam around while I am home, but she pretty much decides to stay in my room even then -- it's her "safe place").

Anybody seen their cat's numbers do this? I suppose it could be a food spike if she's nibbling in the wee hours of the morning before I get up, but that seems like a pretty high food spike! I'm afraid to give her even one drop when her numbers are high, because I'm afraid that she'll get the insulin and then her pancreas will kick in too -- and then she'll go hypo while I'm out at work! (It has happened when I did that on a Saturday.)

Any comments or suggestions?
 
i think if it were me i would give a booster shot with those numbers above 200. i mean why over stress the pancreas?
and another thought. if the kitties get along if might do them both good to exercise and get a good romp in every day. can you lift the dry when your home and bring your kitty out and see if you can engage them in play? that is good for the #'s as well.
 
I'm really interested in what the experts have to say on this one; I'm just a beginner struggling with dosage.

My comment: if you do give her a shot, the dosage should be low, I would think; what was the last dosage you were using before your kitty went OTJ?

Also, if I were you, I think I would be more likely to give a shot if I were going to be home with the cat to monitor for low blood glucose. In that same vein (pun intended), you might consider doing a 'curve' one day soon when you're home, to see what her highs and lows (as produced by her pancreas action) really look like. If her 'low' is not so low (say, 80, or whatever), then perhaps you would have more data supporting 'booster shots'.

Just my newbie musings.

J.
 
i'm thinking a token dose of .2 or .3 considering the pancreas is also at work here. btw, what insulin are you using. if it's lantus i'm afraid that's a whole other ball game and really ought to post there.
 
Are you still using Vetsulin? It is harder to give in the lower ranges because you don't get that surfing thing you get with milder insulins.

I think maybe a "whiff" of insulin when you get above 200, and when you will be home to monitor. (A whiff is less than a drop) IMHO, you don't really consider a kitty OTJ until they are continually in the 40 -80 range without insulin. You might get a venture into the 100s but usually they range lower consistently.
 
Thanks for the responses everybody. I'll try to start with the first replies I received....

I'm hesitant to even give her a drop unless she's at at least 230-250. Sometimes when I give her "one drop," her BG does go low -- I've seen it go from 200's down to the 80's with "one drop." So I try to only do that on weekends if I'm going to be around to spot-check her BG. When I say "one drop," I'm obviously estimating to the best of my ability -- I twist the plunger until it looks like it's all the way in, and then when I give the shot, I push on the plunger as hard as I can in order to give her just that tiny amount that's in the needle itself (not sure if I explained that very well).

Unfortunately, Motska doesn't like to play with Miss Bear. Part of the problem is that Motska is an old grouch when it comes to any other animals and part of it is that Miss Bear has front claws and Motska does not (my ex-husband didn't know any better back then).

The last dosage I had her on was .1 unit. When her BG started going too low even on that, then I started trying to do 1 drop. I think I will try to do a curve on Saturday without any insulin -- just to see what her pancreas is doing.

Yes -- I'm still using Vetsulin. I've been converting to U100 syringes for the past several months in order to get more accurate dosing.

I guess my big fear is that I'll give her a whiff of insulin and then her pancreas will kick in at the same time and she'll hypo while I'm not there. Especially since she's been looking so healthy lately -- she's back to her old weight, fur looks healthy, no dander. So I guess maybe I'll do an insulin-free curve on Saturday and then next weekend I'll do a curve with her on 1 drop or whiff of insulin and see how that goes?

Also, do you think it would help at all to try and find a food with carbs less than 4%? Or would that be such a small change that it wouldn't make much difference to her BG?
 
A change to really low carb couldn't hurt. There are members who did just that to bring down the numbers the last little bit. Just don't feed fish more than once or twice a week. (Too much mercury and can become cat's favorite food to exclusion of everything else.)
 
Over in Lantus Land (different insulin; maybe different situation) I got a suggestion from one of our board experts to use a timed feeder to give my cat an LC snack at +9, with the hopes of stimulating his pancreas and bringing down the preshot numbers. I don't know how much that would help in your situation, but given your issues with the insulin dosages, it's a thought. My timed feeder is on order, so I can't report how it's all worked for us (yet.)

This page says Vetsulin shouldn't be diluted, although the link to the supporting information takes you to a rather generic page. http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Diluting_insulin
So much for that idea. Maybe the person who suggested switching insulins is suggesting you switch to an insulin that can be diluted so you can use a smaller dosage????

Best wishes to you and your cat. I have a similar dosage situation with my cat: .1 sends him lowwww, at +3. I'm not home at +3 in the morning, and am not always home at +3 in the evening. I don't have a solution yet.

J.
 
Kris, let me know what you do and how it works out (or doesn't.) I've got a similar conundrum with my sugar kitty.

J.
 
How is Motska doing? I don't see recent updates to your SS.
Junga's doing a little better now that I have the feeder, although we still have hypo issues.

J.
 
Sorry I haven't updated lately. My computer at home and the office computer are both soooooooo ssssslllllooooowwww that I usually only update Motska's spreadsheet once a week -- at most -- when I have a good half hour to dedicate to it. It's updated now, but it's hard to say how it's going yet.

I didn't give her the 0-carb food (Sophistacat Turkey & Giblets) until Saturday afternoon, and she had a bath earlier in the day Saturday. So with the stress of the bath; and then on Sunday she barfed up two huge hairballs and had diarrhea at almost the same time (again probably caused by the bath).... I really liked her numbers on Sunday after the food change, but she was obviously having digestive issues, so I want to see how it goes over the next few days. I tried the Sophistacat Mixed Grill last night (which is also supposed to be 0-carb), and this morning she was back up at 222, so I think maybe we'll just stick to the Turkey and Giblets and see how it goes over the next week or so.

Thanks for checking in on us, J!!

Kris
 
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