New member- cat not responding to insulin?

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Consorte_bella

Consorte_bella

Member Since 2013
Hello. My cat, Nigel Bunster, has diabetes brought on by prolonged steroid use to treat chronic asthma. He is off oral steroids now, but still takes an inhaled dosage of flovent 220 twice a day, plus theophylline to help with asthma attacks. He was diagnosed in January, right after we moved from WI to Elizabeth City, NC for my new job, so we are dealing with a new vet (the 2nd we tried in our city), which makes me nervous. When he was first diagnosed, his blood levels were at 300, but he didn't start insulin until we got him off the steroids and changed him to a wet food diet (we switch between cowboy cookout and fancy feast classic chicken when he gets picky). I will confess that it took us awhile to transition him off of dry food, but we were adding water to his food to soften it because he doesn't have the greatest teeth.

He has been on insulin (pro zinc) for 3 weeks. I believe his blood levels were at 400 at that point and the vet started him on 2 units twice a day. He also had a low grade skin infection on his nose from his inhaler cup so we had a topical ointment and a liquid antibiotic. It has been hard for me to keep an eye on him because I was out of town for the first 2 weeks of his insulin because my father passed away, so my husband took care of him and we boarded him at the vet for 5 days. When I got back, I noticed that he was more sleepy than usual and more hungry so we took him to the vet today and his levels were 500! The vet told us to up the insulin to 3 units twice a day. This seems really high to me and I am worried sick about him. We have started a home testing log and test him right before we give him insulin to make sure he doesnt go low, but with his sugars so high right now, is that even possible? The vet also keeps suggesting the DM food and my husband is starting to question my use of this board for information.

I don't know if I can take losing my dad and losing my cat in the same few weeks. Plus our savings is totally depleted after visiting my father in AZ, then flying back for his funeral, so we are running out of options. Help!
 
You are doing lots of things right for Nigel. Hometesting is your best tool. Changing to wet low carb is great. We tried Purina wet with Oliver but he soon tired of the taste (it is mainly liver based) if you look at the ingredients, the prescription food is not better. If your vet wants you to feed a more "premium" (which we don't see as vital) food, you could look at Wellness.

What kind of numbers are you seeing midcycle? Sometimes they seem to be high when they actually dip lower midcycle and then bounce back up. (a bounce is when their body reacts to a lower number than they are used to and releases extra glucose)

If he were mine, I would start getting some numbers in the 5-7 hour after the shot range to see how low he goes, and in the 8-9 hour range to see how long the insulin is lasting. Once you have some more numbers, you can evaluate how well the insulin is working. FYI, we do not increase in full units. We like a slower approach, using the numbers to guide in small increases (.25 to .5 units).

One thing that would help us and you is a spreadsheet. It will make patterns of his cycles so easy to see. Here are the directions:

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

It's a little tricky. If you want, I can set one up for you.
 
Thanks Sue and Oliver! I will jump on my laptop and set up a spreadsheet ASAP. We need to start one anyways. The specific times to test are super helpful. I am also going to set up a profile. I have been lurking on this site for a while, so I guess it's time,, right? :smile:

The syringes we have only show full units, so I am not sure if it is safe to guesstimate a half unit? My fear is that if I start playing with his dosage and he runs into trouble, the vet will get upset and not work with us. He seems open, but it's hard to gauge. There are only 3 vets in our town and this is #2 that we have tried, so I am nervous about that. Our last vet I went to for over 20 years and they were great, so I am a little depressed about having to deal with this in a new, smaller town.

I am just glad I have this forum!
 
It is pretty easy to eyeball .5 units on the U40 syringes. We suggest trying it with water on a syringe - filling it to the one unit (or two/three unit) mark, then slowly releasing until you are halfway to the next line. Mark it with a permanent marker or tape. It's then a sample syringe for you to gauge your .5 dose. If you want to measure smaller than that, many ProZinc users use U100 syringes with a conversion chart. If you decide you want or need to try this, we can explain more fully.

Where in New York is your town? Is it near any other larger city? We might have someone who knows a vet nearby.

The other variable here is his teeth. Decayed teeth can really impact bg levels. It is a delicate balance considering having a dental procedure while his numbers are high, but sometimes having bad teeth keeps the levels high.

Here is document with ProZinc info and links.

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32799
 
she is in north carolina not new york.... :-D

when i used the inhaler for one of my cats - a couple of things to do to keep face clean - and free of infections

1) be sure to clean the mouth/muzzle piece after every use - you can rinse with water after each use and daily/weekly clean with mild soap

2) wipe kitty's face with mild astringent ( like used for acne) to keep the area clean/free of bacteria from cover

and for more ideas, are you familiar with the yahoo group - feline inhaled meds? they were very helpful to me when i started on that journey - i am sure they can offer support and additional advice
 
Hello there

What flavour type of fancy feast chicken is it? pate/grilled/flaked or...?

Home testing is the way to go - his blood sugar is probably high at the vet due to stress.. and more likely even higher since he probably thought he was going back to boarding yesterday!
 
He is on chicken feast pâté. We have been free feeding him so he gets enough moisture, but now we are going to switch to 4 times a day at specific times.It's hard to completely control his food intake because we have 2 cats and he can be a food bully if we don't watch him.

On a positive note, he got his insulin (3 units) at 10:45am and we tested at 4:30pm and he was at 301. We are going to test in 2 more hours again and start the spreadsheet. We don't think his test results from yesterday were accurate because we put the test strip in wrong and it just showed us the last recorded result (which was taken at the vet to make Maureen our tester was functioning properly and matched their results). We will also test him right before he is supposed to get his next shot. If it is still in the 300s, I am thinking of only giving him 2.5 units. I am not sure how to decide that yet... Any help?
 
Hi and welcome to the board!

Love your kitty's name, by the way. :-D

I think you said the FF chicken was "classics" so that's perfect. It's only 3 or 4% carbs. And the Cowboy Cookout is also great.

The vet told us to up the insulin to 3 units twice a day. This seems really high to me and I am worried sick about him. We have started a home testing log and test him right before we give him insulin to make sure he doesnt go low, but with his sugars so high right now, is that even possible? The vet also keeps suggesting the DM food and my husband is starting to question my use of this board for information.
Click to expand...
Yes, as Sue said, it is possible to have high preshot numbers all the time and it could be due to too much insulin rather than not enough insulin. If the numbers in the middle of the cycle come way down too far or too quickly, it can cause what she describes as "bouncing" and next thing you know, he's high again at the time for the next shot. With Prozinc as well as every insulin, it's very helpful to see the "low" to see if it's causing subsequent "highs". Too low in the middle means "less insulin" is the way to go.

I used the U40 syringes with only full unit marks and I could eyeball a half unit even with bifocals! Smaller adjustments, for me, were pretty much guesswork.

The vet also keeps suggesting the DM food and my husband is starting to question my use of this board for information.
Click to expand...
The DM canned food is fine for a diabetic cat. It's low carb. But it costs a fortune. And the ingredients are no better than what you are feeding now. The need for prescription food to treat diabetes is a myth, and unfortunately most vets buy into it. One vet doesn't, and here's a link to her site where she explains why:
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes

Please tell your husband that we don't get offended by hearing that people question "us" and our information. We're pretty much used to it. :lol: But I will say that anyone who has been here for any length of time has "seen" more cases of feline diabetes, and watched more occasions where cats go into remission by following the methods used by people who post here, than your vet will in his lifetime. We really aren't just a bunch of crazy cat people. And we offer free advice 24/7. I'm betting your vet won't do that...

Carl
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
It is pretty easy to eyeball .5 units on the U40 syringes. We suggest trying it with water on a syringe - filling it to the one unit (or two/three unit) mark, then slowly releasing until you are halfway to the next line. Mark it with a permanent marker or tape. It's then a sample syringe for you to gauge your .5 dose. If you want to measure smaller than that, many ProZinc users use U100 syringes with a conversion chart. If you decide you want or need to try this, we can explain more fully.
Click to expand...

This might help too:

On a YouTube video I saw an interesting way to help get the "inbetween" dosages on a syringe....instead of using your thumb to push or pull on the plunger, twist the plunger like you are screwing on a lid. It will move more slowly and you can be more precise.

Magnifier helps too espc if you are getting "old eyes."
 
It is very hard to try to figure how much insulin to reduce to; it is so much easier to increase in small amounts as the testing indicates. That's why we like to start at .5 - 1 unit and get some testing data and then slowly increase as and if necessary.

Your situation is a little complicated as you may have steroids and his teeth impacting his levels. So he might run a little higher than we might usually see. He did not go down low at midcycle this timeso that suggests the dose might not be causing him great dips.

Two choices. One, reduce a little like to 2-2.5 units. But monitor carefully. Definitely get some numbers during the cycle so you know when the insulin starts working (+3?) and at it's lowest point (usually between 5-7 hours after the shot)

Restart at one unit. Get some data. If he is running high, add .5 units every 3 cycles or so. If you decide to try this, start testing for ketones also. (a good idea regardless)

For reference: We consider a cat regulated if they are in the mid 200s at preshot and under 100 at midcycle (nadir) but not below 40.

The 40 and lower range is the hypo range and requires intervention with higher carb food and maybe syrup. (see the Hypo Thread at the top of this page - good to have handy)

If you get 200 for a preshot number, we suggest waiting 20 minutes without feeding(food raises bg levels) and restest. You want to be sure the number is rising and that is high enough to shoot. We suggest newbies use 200 as a no shoot number until they have some data to guide them.

Good job on the spreadsheet. If you want, you can also post on the PZI Insulin Support Forum. Everyone there has experience with your insulin and can help with dosing. Carl and I both post there as well as here. Seeing some other spreadsheets and how other kitties are doing might also be helpful.
 
I managed to get the spreadsheet working and attached to my signature, but I can't find a post explaining how to fill it out. I am usually pretty good with stuff like this, but all of the numbers have me stumped. Any help?
 
Hi and welcome! :YMHUG:

I don't use PZI, but the PZI board is a great place for information.

A quick run-down of common terms:
  • Fur shot: when the syringe needle pokes through almost like a sewing needle through fabric and it is unknown how much, if any, insulin actually made it inside the cat. Usually detected by wet fur or the smell of insulin (it smells like band-aids or scotch or antiseptic). IT IS ALWAYS ASSUMED THAT THE CAT GOT THE INSULIN AND YOU NEVER GIVE ANOTHER SHOT. It is always better to miss a shot than to give too much insulin.
  • AMS/PMS: morning (AM)/evening (PM) shot
  • AMPS/PMPS: morning pre-shot test/evening pre-shot test (it's assumed the shot is given within 15 minutes or less of this test).
  • +1, +2, +3...: How many hours after a shot, i.e. +1 would be one hour after their last PS (pre-shot) test
  • BG/BS: Blood Glucose or Blood Sugar (numbers). Usually used in relation to testing and dosing and what "level" or "point" the cat is at. Used in a sentence: "Michelangelo's BGs have been high so I've been increasing his dose."
  • AMBG/PMBG: morning/evening Blood Glucose. Used when no shot has been given at the regular shot time.

And, as always, when in doubt, ask! Around here, the only bad question is the one that goes unasked. ;-)
 
Nigel's levels are going down somewhat at insulin time, which I am assuming is good. He dipped a little low today mid-cycle (see spreadsheet 4/8) and we went down from 3 units to 2.5, then 2 the last shot because he was in the 400s at shot time. We are going to try and keep him at 2 units for a little bit until we can consistently get blood readings to see how he is reacting to the prozinc. We are a bit frustrated with testing right now because neither my husband or I can get blood every time, even when we work together. After poking him 3 times, it starts to feel like a torture session and we have to stop. Even with warming up his ear, we can barely see his vein. We are going to try and figure out how to shine a light near his ear and see if that makes it pop. Overhead lighting hasn't helped much.

Real quick- are the nighttime readings much different from day readings? I ask because right now he is getting his insulin fairly late in the day and night (noon and midnight), which makes it hard to get readings after his night shot. We are slowly trying to get it earlier, but obviously we can only shave a few minutes off every time. Tomorrow my husband is going to try and test every 2 hours after the am shot. Cross your fingers for us!

He is also constantly hungry and I'm not sure if we should feed him more or not. Right now we are going through 4 cans of fancy feast for 2 cats. I'd like to say its 2 cans each, but I am pretty sure Nigel is pushing his face into Lunas's dish when we aren't looking, so maybe 2 1/2 cans for him. We are trying to space out the feedings, but he is always bugging us for food. Since I don't know how he is reacting to insulin yet, we'll give him a small snack (tablespoon of food). I saw in another post a suggestion to add water to his food to trick him into thinking he's eating more and we are going to try that for sure. Otherwise, what is an acceptable amount of soft food for an unregulated diabetic cat? He's 12 lbs and approx. 11 yrs old.
 
It sounds like things are coming along. Do you sure have a big enough lancet (25-27 gauge. 30-31 is often too small) and are warming the ear for several minutes? When you use the flashlight, look for the capillaries coming off the vein to the edge of the ear. They are where you want to poke.

Often nighttime and daytime readings are different, particularly if the food situation is different day and night. I would try the warm water and maybe a bit more food. Their bodies are not processing the food efficiently when they are unregulated and they do feel hungry all the time. Oliver (15 pound Maine Coon) went up to 3 cans of FF until we got the numbers down. Then he was happier with his usual 2-2.5 cans.
 
While his blood sugar is raging high, he is going to be very hungry because he is peeing out all the energy from the food -- starving slowly while eat-eat-eating.

Please feed him as much as he wants for now -- when you are getting closer to the right dose of insulin, he will be less hungry and go back to a normal appetite.
 
I have watched every video and read every article I can on doing a blood draw and we just aren't getting it. We are warming his ears and holding a light under it, but then cant see anything when we put a tissue there to have something to poke into. We've tried vaseline... My husband tried 3 times today on his own and only got blood once. We tried together twice for an hour each time and only got it once. My husband and I don't work well together, so I'm pretty sure Nigel can sense the tension when we try. to be honest, every time we try now we end up fighting because we are getting so frustrated. i would rather do it alone, but can't figure out how to do it on my own and obviously my husband isn't having much luck on his own either.

This is a total fiasco. My cat's ears are all scarred up and I don't know what to do. Is it because he has such small ears and long hair? I can give him his insulin super easy, so it's not a fear of needles. I really don't know what to do next. We have to test him because his levels that we've gotten so far have been all over the place. HELP.
 
The first couple of weeks, the ears don't look so great, but don't worry! They heal up really nicely with brand new capillaries to give you more spots to get blood from! :-D I test Michelangelo a lot and usually only in his right ear (it bleeds better than his left). Even if you took a flashlight to it, you couldn't tell which ear I test him on. Or that I test him at all!

If you haven't seen it yet, here are some great ear-testing tips.

A few more suggestions:
  • Try the inside of his ear as this may work better with long-haired and/or dark-eared.
  • Try doing it on your own. The first couple of times, I had my brother's help and much like you and your husband, it was too many cooks in the kitchen. "You're holding him wrong." "I can't see the vein." "Hold him still." Etc.... When I did it on my own, I discovered how much easier it was without him there! :lol: I wrote this up a while back and it might help you figure out a position that works well for you to do it on your own.
  • If you still feel you need assistance, have one person be the designated kitty-holder and the other person be the designated poker. Discuss your plan of action beforehand and maybe even simulate it with an apple. You want to have it coordinated where neither of you needs to talk to the other. Michelangelo is so sensitive that he'll even startle when someone is talking on the TV (he's part-feral so he'll probably always be my skitty-kitty). Talking during testing might make Nigel Bunster uncomfortable; arguing even more so.
  • Wait till Mr. B. is asleep ;-)
  • Make sure you're not trying to test Mr. B. every time you see him or hold him.
  • And finally, make sure you're giving plenty of treats! The more the better. I would leave a little trail for Michelangelo to follow to his test spot when I was first starting out. You can reduce the number of treats as you go along, but in the beginning, the more you ply them with good things, the better they accept the experience as something positive instead of something negative.
 
Kpassa- thank you so much. I thought it was just us! I also think I am just more sensitive right now because my dad passed away 3 weeks ago and it feels like a lot all at once. BTW, I LOVE the idea of not talking. We should try that all the time ;-) I think more prep time could also help so we don't feel so rushed.

On the subject of treats, we tried freeze-dried meat treats, but Nigel isn't having it. I think they are too tough for him. What treats do you use?

We WILL get through this! :RAHCAT
 
hi Stephanie

not sure if its much consolation but pretty much everyone has the same problems initially.
Its partly because we don't know what to do and partly because the cat is confused and uncooperative (jeez, there's a surprise ;-) )

It gets better!
In a week or two you'll be wondering why you thought it was so tricky.

I use Purebites freeze dried chicken - my 3 cats think its the most wonderful food on the planet. They even sit with my 8 year old daughter when she gives them out - and usually, they just run from her as fast as they can.

Hang in there,
Denise
 
If you want, you could tell us where you live and someone might live nearby. Having someone watch your technique sometimes makes all the difference.

You want to poke along the edge of the ear. Oliver had hairy ears and we found it easier to poke from the inside. Also poking firmly and not being tentative is important; having something behind the ear to poke against is good too.

Put Neosporin on his spotted ears. Next time you poke, hold it for a few seconds to help with bruising.

Oliver was a huge Bonito flakes fan. It's dried fish flakes; PetSmart usually carries it. If he likes people food, you can try cooked chicken breasts (no spices)in small pieces or tuna chunks (not in oil) .
 
Also try using something firmer to press against instead of the tissue - that light may work, or the lid of a pill or water bottle or something.
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words. I had a cat with kidney failure and that was a walk in the park compared to this!

We tried his paw pad today and that seems to work better. We quickly realized that the tester we have is working against us (onetouch mini) because it needs 1 ml to test. So we are going to get a tester that doesn't need so much blood. Luckily, the onetouch was my dad's so we didn't have to pay for it.

We tried a can of chunk chicken in water today and he nearly bit my finger off, so I think we are going to go with that as treats. It has trace amounts of "food starch" but the carb content listed was 0%, so I am hoping that is ok. Overall, I am sure a trace amount of carbs is better than a regular cat treat, but if I am wrong let me know.

We live in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is about an hour south of Virginia Beach, VA.
 
Hello Stephanie,

Sorry to hear you lost your Dad. And, to have your sweet Nigel diagnosed diabetic around the same time, that's a lot to deal with. Oh, and you moved, and you have a new job, and a new vet! Good grief! It feels like a lot at once because it is a lot all at once. You're dealing with all of this, and you're learning to home test - you are Amazing!

It took me days and days (seemed like forever) to get even the littlest bit of success with home testing (still just a newbie myself). To me, it sounds like you aren't doing half bad; you've had a lot of progress in a short amount of time. My favorite pages are KPassa's links to the testing tips page and the "figure out a position"/"cat testing psycology" page. I found both of those super helpful. Using a million treats - also helpful! The pickle - finding something Nigel will like. Sorry, I don't have any suggestions in the treat department.

I just saw your post about using the OneTouch meter while I was trying to post. We had a OneTouch too and it required what seems like an ocean of blood. A lot of members like the ReliOn meters from Wal-Mart (including me). They are cheap and accurate.

Do you know what gauge your lancets are? It also made a big difference for us when we started using the larger gauge lancets (26g or 28g) marketed for "alternate testing sites". Munchkin didn't notice a difference, but we sure did! Our Munchkin has hairy ears and that little blood drop gets lost quick in all the hair. A smear of Neosporin on Nigel's ear before you poke can help the blood bead up nicely. (But I think someone already said that) Are you using a lancet device or freehanding the lancets?

Did I misunderstand what you said in an earlier post, that you tried for an hour to get blood for a glucose test? If I didn't misunderstand you, then that sure seems like a long time to try to get a blood drop. Kudos to you for perseverence! However, I was told by some members to go by the three pokes rule. If I couldn't get blood after three pokes, then give some treats and snuggles, and then cool it and try again later. Maybe the other members will give some more guidance on this?
 
We did it! flip_cat

First, we bought the relion prime, which only needs .5 ml to test.
Then, we figured out the best spot to test. We thought the paws would work better, but we weren't getting a lot of blood and it was inconsistent. So we went back to the ear. The key was when we switched out the top of the lancet with the clear alternative testing top, which helped us to see the edge of his ear better and where the needle would prick. Also, we tested on the inside of his ear so the blood wasn't getting sucked into the hair.

First try- a nice drop of blood, no milking. He was put off a little by the corners of the strip touching his ear, but he'll get used to it. He LOVES the canned chicken in water.

Fingers crossed that we turned the corner!

Thanks everyone for your support! I hope I can help a newbie as much as you've all helped me :-D
 
Hooray! And congratulations!! :RAHCAT That's wonderful news! Now you can really start building a record of what Nigel's blood sugars are doing, and get a clearer & fuller picture of how he's responding to the insulin.

And looking at your spreadsheet, you got that successful bs test just in time too!
 
Welcome to the Vampire Club! Fantastic that you kept trying and figured out what would work for you and Nigel.

Very nice number last night and good decision on no shot. It looks like you need to reduce the dose.
He will probably be high this am as he will have been 24 hours since the last shot. But I would still reduce the dose. You want two numbers every 12 hours that are shootable. If he were mine, I would reduce to one unit, get some numbers - particularly in the 5-7 range to see how low the insulin takes him. If he needs a little more, then increase by just a little bit.

The worrying thing is that he may have been really low yesterday if he only rose to the low 100s by pmps.
 
3 shots in a row, so I think we've got it. It is amazing the difference a clear top makes with the lancet. I would highly recommend it to other newbies having problems. When we were free handing it, we weren't getting deep enough and he could feel that we were hesitating.

He was 251 this am, after not having a pm shot at all, so we are giving 1 unit and will be testing every 2 hours until next shot time. We've also been able to decrease his theophylline (for asthma) which makes me really happy. Less meds is always better!

We are just about to test both on me to make sure they are matching and we are getting correct levels with the new tester. Better safe than sorry, right?

Thanks again everyone.

UPDATE- the new tester looks like it may be testing about 20 lower than the old one. The old one was compared to the tester at the vet, so it is fairly correct. Since it is testing lower, I am not going to freak out right now, but wait til we take Nigel to the vet and have it retested then.
 
20 points is not an issue. Manufacturers advertise that their meters can vary 20% from one reading to the next, so we don't worry outside that 20%. We are looking for ranges and patterns. For example, if he is 250 or 270, you will be shooting the same amount of insulin.

That is a very nice amps, especially after no shot last night. I like your one unit. It will be interesting to see how low the insulin takes him around that 5-7 mark.
 
Hey Stephanie,

I agree with Sue. 20 points really isn't that much, depending on what the reading was. Two years ago when we first tried home testing, we also took our OneTouch to the vet to compare it to the vet's meter. It was off by more than 40 points, but still within that 20%, and the vet said it was close enough.

But, this past weekend when we bought the ReliOn, one morning the ReliOn gave us a reading of 87 & 90 (15 minutes later) and the OneTouch gave us a reading of 24, waaay more than a 20% difference! Munchkin should have been very sick if he had a blood sugar of 24, but he was fine. I lost faith in it's accuracy after that.

Have you looked up what to do if Nigel has a hypoglycemic episode? Do you know the symptoms of hypoglycemia?
 
Hi Stephanie,

I hope you never need this info but with Nigel's numbers varying so much, it is important to know how to recognize hypoglycemia and to know how to treat it, just in case. The link below should take you to a great post about recognizing and treating hypo episodes.

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887
 
I did read the hypo info and have some fancy feast turkey in gravy and honey on hand, just in case.

Nigel's 5 hr reading was 85, so we fed him 2 regular carb cat treats and some food. The hubby is going to test him in 2 hours (right around now).
 
Just checked ou the spreadsheet. Looks like a fast bounce! When their body senses a lower number than it is used to (like the lovely green earlier today) it releases extra sugar. And the numbers bounce into a higher range. This might last the rest of this cycle and into the next or he could drop back down by pmps. Regardless, your one unit dose still looks good, if he is in the mid 200s or higher.
 
Yes, numbers are looking good, especially when you look back to see where his numbers were just a few days ago!
 
Love the great detailed comments you have included on the spreadsheet. Helps us to see what is going on. Thanks!
 
Hey all! Testing is definitely easier. Thanks for all of the tips and support.

Now we are dealing with odd levels that are all over the place. We are trying to dose based on is test levels, but maybe we are getting too cocky to make those decisions? Would it help if we stuck with a specific dosage for a while instead of varying it?

Any thoughts or links I'm not finding on on how to base dosage on test levels? Thanks!
 
Wonderful that testing is easier. Yes, I would reduce the dose. The ideal is to have two preshot numbers that you can comfortably shoot. ProZinc has a cycle like a smile with the higher numbers at preshots and the lowest number in the middle. Nigel is more of a sneer :mrgreen: with a leveling off at the end.

No way to tell until you set the alarm and get a nadir number at night, but I wonder if he is going low overnight and bouncing back up for the amps or if he is reacting to the reduced dose at pmps.

What do you think about going to 1.5 and holding the dose for a while?

Also, if you would post on The PZI forum, you would get advice from more people. (few PZI users post on Health). I post on both forums but on PZI, you can check out other's spreadsheets and see how they are doing.

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=24
 
1.5 is the dose we were thinking too. It seems like he has more bouncing when we go with 2. Getting that pm curve is tough because he gets insulin so late and we can't seem to get on an earlier schedule. We are going to try this weekend.

I have to visit the pzi forum. I keep forgetting about it :oops:
 
Hey Stephanie!

Were you able to get some blood sugar readings yesterday?
(I'm following along and just curious!)
 
Yeah, I guess so! Actually, I am going to post something in the pzi forum now because he's reacting so weirdly to the insulin. I work about 50 hrs a week, so my husband is doing most of the care and testing now and he's getting a little inconsistent with tracking. I figure if I can get a better idea of why he's arcing like he is, it may be able to pinpoint what we are doing wrong.
 
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