Need help with AM plan - AMPS 63

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Beck and Philly

Beck and Philly

Member Since 2018
Hi. Grandpa's morning number was 63. Is it reasonable to give him give him half of his breakfast and test again in an hour and if he is higher, shoot then with the rest of his food?

If yes, I wonder if I should use 200+ as my gauge or lower since I'm using a human meter and his numbers rise after food?
 
Beck and Grandpa said:
Hi. Grandpa's morning number was 63. Is it reasonable to give him give him half of his breakfast and test again in an hour and if he is higher, shoot then with the rest of his food?

If yes, I wonder if I should use 200+ as my gauge or lower since I'm using a human meter and his numbers rise after food?
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No, I wouldn’t give insulin at that BG level. He’s telling you that his current dose is too high. Right now I can’t view your spreadsheet to see his recent numbers.
 
I fed him half of a 5.5 oz can of Friskies pate and waited an hour to recheck. An hour later he was at 121 so I still didn't give him a shot. I did feed him the rest of his breakfast, so his numbers are likely still going up.

He is on 2 units of Vetsulin per day. His last shot was at 7 pm last night. He swings from the high 300s down to double digits, but he has shown some low morning numbers even though his previous shot was 10 or 11 hours ago. The odd thing is that by time for his evening shot, he is often in the high 300s. The last time I skipped a morning shot because of low numbers, his PMPS was 417.

I ordered an AlphaTrak 2 meter which will be here on Thursday. I'm hoping it gives me a better true idea of his numbers, especially when they get lower like this.

I just sat down to update my spreadsheet. I'll take a look to see why it isn't loading. Thank you!
 
It looks like I had the sharing on the spreadsheet accidentally set to private. I've changed it and updated the link. I hope it works now.
 
I can see your SS now. My thoughts: the 2 u dose is too high causing 1. drops that are too large; 2. skipped shots because of a PS too low for insulin; 3. some rebounding into high pink/red.

I’d try dropping his dose to 1 unit AM and PM for the next couple of cycles. You’re doing a great job testing so you’ll have good data to assess this dose in a day or two. It’s possible that 1 u is on the low side but it’s easier to dose a little low and gradually raise it than to decide on a slightly lower dose that might be the “correct” on, if you get my drift.

Is he eating only low carb wet food now?
 
If a cat has a low PS number and you're waiting to see if it's going up, it's better to not feed before another test. Food will always bring the number up temporarily. Stall feeding until his numbers are going up on their own, then feed and shoot if it's not to the point where it will throw off the shooting schedule. Otherwise skip the shot.

Maybe some members more familiar with Vetsulin could chime in on this. I use Lantus and I usually have about 3 hours to get things moving in the right direction before the onset of the insulin.
 
Chris & Lucy said:
If a cat has a low PS number and you're waiting to see if it's going up, it's better to not feed before another test. Food will always bring the number up temporarily. Stall feeding until his numbers are going up on their own, then feed and shoot if it's not to the point where it will throw off the shooting schedule. Otherwise skip the shot..
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Totally agree in general. In this case, though, the original number was so low, I think skipping was the only option on the table anyway so I think it was a good thing to just go ahead and feed. But for a more borderline number, definitely stalling without feeding for a half hour or so is the way to go.

The only other suggestion I'd make for a "next time" is to do an immediate re-test whenever you get a number that is unusually high or low, because sometimes the issue is a wonky strip or not enough blood (clearly not this time, though, given the post-breakfast number).

I like Kris' suggestion to drop the dose. It might help to tamp down these big swings in numbers that you're seeing.
 
Thanks all! I really appreciate the feedback. I just tested again, and he is up to 355 at 1:30 PM. His normal evening shot is at 6:30, so he has five hours to go. Would you still recommend cutting back to 1U even with numbers over 350?

He is eating only low carb wet food. I give him Friskies pate, Fancy Feast classic, or Tiki Ahi Tuna (zero carbs). He used to weigh over 12 lbs and looked great at that weight, but is down to under 10 now. I have been giving him probably a bit more food than he would get if he was regulated. He starts crying for food about an hour before each meal. I either give him a full 5.5 oz Friskies can or 2 of the FF or Tiki 3 oz cans per meal. He eats every bite as if he is starving.

Advice welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Chris & Lucy said:
If a cat has a low PS number and you're waiting to see if it's going up, it's better to not feed before another test. Food will always bring the number up temporarily. Stall feeding until his numbers are going up on their own, then feed and shoot if it's not to the point where it will throw off the shooting schedule. Otherwise skip the shot.

Maybe some members more familiar with Vetsulin could chime in on this. I use Lantus and I usually have about 3 hours to get things moving in the right direction before the onset of the insulin.
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I didn't understand the stall technique until now. Thanks for explaining it. This makes sense.
 
Lilly’s Mom said:
Does he like the Tiki Ahi tuna? I was thinking of ordering some for my Lilly.
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Well, he was eating the kittens' wheat litter as I poured it into the litter box, so he probably isn't the best one to ask. He will eat anything.

But I have offered it to some of the others here with success. Some of the Tiki Cat foods are a strange texture, but they are popular around here. I started with a zero carb variety pack, and the cats here loved all but the sardine one. It has huge chunks in a very odd orange gel.

The ahi tuna seemed one of the more normal ones so that's what I ordered this time. So yes, I'd call it a success.
 
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Beck and Grandpa said:
Thanks all! I really appreciate the feedback. I just tested again, and he is up to 355 at 1:30 PM. His normal evening shot is at 6:30, so he has five hours to go. Would you still recommend cutting back to 1U even with numbers over 350?

He is eating only low carb wet food. I give him Friskies pate, Fancy Feast classic, or Tiki Ahi Tuna (zero carbs). He used to weigh over 12 lbs and looked great at that weight, but is down to under 10 now. I have been giving him probably a bit more food than he would get if he was regulated. He starts crying for food about an hour before each meal. I either give him a full 5.5 oz Friskies can or 2 of the FF or Tiki 3 oz cans per meal. He eats every bite as if he is starving.

Advice welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!
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In my opinion a drop in dose to 1 u is a necessary step in getting him more settled. The huge rebound is from no insulin but a bigger factor is that he's bouncing high in reaction to that low green number. I think that 3 cycles at 1 u should give the info you need to assess the lower dose - unless he's stuck in high numbers from bouncing. In that case I'd hold the 1 u dose for 4+ cycles.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
In my opinion a drop in dose to 1 u is a necessary step in getting him more settled. The huge rebound is from no insulin but a bigger factor is that he's bouncing high in reaction to that low green number. I think that 3 cycles at 1 u should give the info you need to assess the lower dose - unless he's stuck in high numbers from bouncing. In that case I'd hold the 1 u dose for 4+ cycles.
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Hi again. Probably a silly question, but by cycle do you mean 12 hours or a full 24 hours? I'm guessing 24, but not sure.
 
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