New Member and New Diagnosis

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Sorry I am just getting back to you. I went out for the afternoon and forgot to pick up my iPhone which I never do.
I would go with the 1.25 units. Don’t try and get a dose between the 1 and the 1.25 units.
I’ll be around for 6 hours before I head to bed. what time is PMPS due?
 
Mookitty's Mom said:
improve. What i do is measure her amount first with air, push the air into the insulin bottle, slowly pull the plunger further back than her dose, flick the syringe and push the plunger back up to remove the bubbles and to arrive at my dose.
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Don’t put air into the vial before drawing it out. It is not necessary. Just draw the insulin out.
 
I see. Once I see a bp increase do you think its reasonable to let her be and leave a lot of food out to avoid hypo?

Her curve was really intense in the beginning and she was feeling terrible. The decrease has slowed a lot now. She is sleeping a lot. If not sleeping, she's eating.

For the next cycle she might end up lower than "normal". Im worried about a further drop from not so high of a point even though it will be great to get out of 400s and 500s. Its just the buffer might be gone and I might not know hpw to proceed. Do i keep with 1.25 and just monitor?
 
Mookitty's Mom said:
For the next cycle she might end up lower than "normal". Im worried about a further drop from not so high of a point even though it will be great to get out of 400s and 500s. Its just the buffer might be gone and I might not know hpw to proceed. Do i keep with 1.25 and just monitor?
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If you are concerned, stall, don’t feed, and test again in 20 minutes to see if the BG is rising. And post and ask for help. Tag someone who might be around. Both bandit mom and tiffmaxee might be around at the next pre shot. Don’t forget to use the @ before the user name.
Generally we say if the pre shot it over 200 you are ok to shoot. But if you are worried, ask for help. You might have to change the subject line to attract attention.

Mookitty's Mom said:
Her curve was really intense in the beginning and she was feeling terrible. The decrease has slowed a lot now. She is sleeping a lot. If not sleeping, she's eating.
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Cats often often drop lower and faster after the onset at +2 for the next few hours. You will get to know his curves and how he generally behaves with the insulin. You say she felt terrible…..do you think she is unwell?
 
A few minutes ago she woke up from what looked like the nap of her life. just sprawled out.

In the beginning she was wobbly and obviously unwell just around shot time and even more before +1. Almost like she was dizzy but not in pain. She was still purring as if she wasnt all there and very thirsty. At one point she went to her litterbox and started to lie down. Really bad. I checked for ketones and didn't find any though. Still, It was very alarming and I was considering the vet.

When the sugar began to stablize she switched to just sleeping and then waking up for a bit to eat. It was extremely deep sleep.

I just left her because i saw an increase and she had perked up and was watching me go. I left the food that was left from. The two high and low carb cans + an extra can of friskies because she likes it more. She has food right next to her bed. Should be good.
 
Given her response to insulin last time and the fact she started at a lower point I'm predicting she will drop down to 65 or even 50 in the next e or 4 hours if the numbers drop at the same rate as last time.

I have stuff ready for hypo but Im going to need assistance most likely.

The good news is this morning before the shot she was feeling much better than last cycle. I think the problem with her is she is too small and 1.25 U is also too fine to measure perfectly with a syringe that size. In the lab I would never measure such a small volume with something with that low of resolution. I would use a microsyringe.
 
Looks like a much better cycle today.. not every cycle is the same and when the preshot is lower, the BGs don’t necessarily drop as far as when the BG preshot is higher. You often get a flatter curve. Todays cycle is the best one she has had.
 
Yeah. I was really happy to see that. Ketones were negative all day but i just checked a few strips and I thought I saw the slightest hint of pigmentation. Like a streak. I'm glad its almost shot time in about an hour.

Is it normal for her to be really lethargic during when the curve is dropping to more normal levels (blue)? She falls into a deep sleep and snores. She looks comfortable, but she is oddly more lively when her blood sugar raises back to an unhealthy range.

She has also started eating less especially during when its getting lower. It does not look like how it seems when she is nauseous from high blood sugar and finds it hard to eat (which does not seem to be occuring either althiugh i can tell when it spikes it doesnt feel good). When her blood sugar is dropping to normal levels she is just out most of the time.

She does snack bit by bit. I try to make it so that food is always next to her so she'll snack more when she wakes. I provide two food bowls. One with the old prescription food and the other with prescription food mixed with friskies.
 
Every cat is different so it is hard to generalise. Some cats do feel the changes in BG more than others.
But I don't like to hear that she is really lethargic. She is not nauseated is she?
How are you testing the urine for the ketones? Are you dipping the strip into the urine or into the litter?
Try and encourage her to still eat as much as possible. Any food she wants really as long as she is eating.
Looks like she is bouncing back up into the black after those lovely blue numbers today...this is normal for a newly diagnosed cat. She needs to get used to the normal numbers again. At the moment her body thinks the high numbers are the normal numbers.
 
I don't believe she is nauseated. During her uncomfortable high blood sugar period (right before and after her shot) she often is still also purring and the last cycle and this one had not as bad symptoms as the first 1.25 shot. When she was sick in the past, she would do the thing where she would put her head over the food and then not eat or just lap a little. I interpret this as nausea. She isn't doing that and hasn't since she started insulin. Either she grazes a bit and goes back to bed or she eats with a bit more enthusiasm at shot time. She seems pretty enthusiastic about her preshot meal tonight. The only thing is she prefers friskies over the higher carb food so that might mean more of a drop.

Both puddles and litter depending on what is available. We put a piece of plastic tonight to collect on. I got a clean sample out of that. My family member said it looked negative to double check. I'm still suspicious. Untouched strips don't exactly look like the negative in the color guide. When it comes to litter, she pees a lot so I do think there is enough moisture if its just a thin coating of litter. I've also tried adding a small amount of water to a cup of litter for dipping and I test with multiple strips. I ordered hydrophobic litter that would allow a puddle to form but don't have it on me yet.
 
I'm glad she is seeming better.
Only the dips in the actual urine are reliable. It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between negative and a possible trace.
i often found it hard to tell. Make sure it is on the 15 second mark.
I'll watch this cycle with interest
 
Its been really high for a long time. Its concerning. I know i double check the measurement. I know it went through the skin and i know that she did not have a strong insulin smell indicating a fur shot. Have you ever seen anything like this. Fortunately she just ate a little and ate quite a bit when the shot was given.





@Bron and Sheba (GA)
 
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That is because she is bouncing from the lovely blue numbers today. Her body isn’t used to them any more and it thinks the higher numbers are the normal ones. The more she sees the lower numbers the more she will get used to the lower numbers and recognise them again as the true normal ones.
 
  • Bouncing - Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).
 
Hendrick bounced for weeks and weeks. It is super frustrating. Try not to get very worked up about it, I know it's distressing to see those high numbers. But this is a marathon not a sprint, it's going to take time for the bouncing to stop.
 
My concern is what happens when the bounce stops. Can it stop mid cycle and her blood sugar quickly drop? How do you manage sleeping if no one else is taking blood sugar measurements with things that unpredictable?
 
I dont know how frequently to test with this situation. Her doses are at 12. With going up to 1.25 my policy has been to find the nadir and then try to rest. Even that is unsustainable if it goes on for a few more days. I feel too guilty and scared to sleep because i worry she will hypoglycemic in the middle of the night with no one to help her.
 
her doses are at 12am and 12pm?

have you thought about trying to adjust that at all? Or is that the only time that works with your schedule. Sorry if someone else already asked about this, if so that's ok I am just trying to help

and yes, if you read up on bouncing, during a bounce-clearing cycle the nadir can happen later than normal
 
Thevreason fir this timing makes me angry. She was hospitalized for 4 days but the vet tech didnt prescribe her insulin till about 20 minutes before she was to come home with us and I was to learn how to give the shot (they gave her insulin for that night). It was ordered out of town and in a costco which we had no membership in. That night she looked awful and I didn't want to leave her. By the time we got home with the insulin the next morning after going through all the hoops it was 11 a.m. Then a few days later i got a weird reading panicked and delayed her cycle by about an hour and 30 minutes. Ideally she would cycle at 8 or 9.
 
ouch, going from 12a/12p to 9a/9p, just 3 hours difference...not quite sure how one would go about doing that. When we had to adjust shot-time by just one hour due to DST, we were instructed to adjust only 15 minutes every day. So I think you can do it, but it would take like a week or more. Would totally be worth it imo though.

I wonder if one of the admins/senior members has any advice on this.

@Wendy&Neko

@Diane Tyler's Mom

@Suzanne & Darcy

@tiffmaxee
 
Im not even really considering changing timing right now and i don't see it making a difference for me if her cycles don't have clear predictable drops. It makes no difference when im not really sleeping. I dont know if im just being overly anxious and should keep checks more spaced out or what. She had an extremely fast drop in bg a few days ago that never did go too low but scared me badly.
 
I see the increase is really helping! Kudos to you for starting to test. You don’t need to bring him in to the vet for a curve if you test daily at home like we suggest. You will have real time non stressed increased bg results and not waste your money. Seeing the bg under 200 today shows me you should start to change your shot time. We can do it slowly. You can move it 30 minutes early every 24 hours or 15 minutes each cycle until you get to your desired time. You can’t keep up without sleep or you will get sick. Trust me I understand.

Lantus is a depot insulin which means it builds up over time. The first dose is held fur 5-7 days to build the depot.
Lantus usually onsets, starts working, around +2 for many cats. Max I set around +2.5. If at onset the bg is the same or lower than the preshot it might be an active cycle. Thst means you need to test more and feed more to keep the bg at a good safe level. When a cat drops too fast or lower than they are used to they bounce and the bg is high. Bounces can clear quickly or take as many as 4-6 cycles to clear. When they start to clear a bounce they can drop quickly.

Normal bg is 50-120 for a non diabetic cat. You are starting to see some nice safe bg numbers which is scary at first. We can help you learn to feed the curve. I suggest you start posting daily on the Lantus forum where there’s almost always someone experienced to help. Also read the stickies at the top. Start with dusting guidelines and the the basics. The latter one shows what an active cycle might look like. Don’t read too much at once is my one suggestion as it can get overwhelming! Keep asking questions. Pretty soon you will be a pro and helping others as you learn from your experience.

If you start shooting early as noted above it won’t effect the bg and will be a whole lot easier for you I suspect.
 
To start posting on the lantus form an everyday here is how to do it
Date, Mookitty, AMPS # and any tests after that, then PMPS # , tests after that
Link the previous days post to the new days, previous days post are above the pic of the kitty up top , copy and paste it to the new day.
 
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