New to PZ

Hello and welcome over to the ProZinc forum. What a handsome cat you have. You have a good plan to start yes. Please get as many BG checks as possible.

What do you think was the reason for all those blue numbers after the vet visit? Some cats do get some wacky numbers either during or after a vet visit (mine did.)

Was he in remission before and that is why you stopped the insulin? Did something knock him out of remission? Sorry, I haven't had time yet to read through your other thread (but I will.)
 
No clue about the blues. I was very surprised… maybe just anesthesia. He’s never had general anesthesia for anything but required various sedation for any vet visit. Only vet visits were as a kitten, then diagnosis visit in 2021 and then none until these 3 recent ones and he didn’t tolerate any of those very well.

Yes, went into remission with diet change from dry to Friskies pate then FF pate and a little under a month of insulin.

Haven’t identified what bumped us from remission. Had dental done to rule that out and without any other reason, I’m guessing we are just out. No diet changes have been made.
 
ittybitty said:
No clue about the blues. I was very surprised… maybe just anesthesia. He’s never had general anesthesia for anything but required various sedation for any vet visit. Only vet visits were as a kitten, then diagnosis visit in 2021 and then none until these 3 recent ones and he didn’t tolerate any of those very well.

Yes, went into remission with diet change from dry to Friskies pate then FF pate and a little under a month of insulin.

Haven’t identified what bumped us from remission. Had dental done to rule that out and without any other reason, I’m guessing we are just out. No diet changes have been made.
Click to expand...
Glad you had the dental. I assume they also did bloodwork to check it in general (CBC and Chemistry panel?) Did he need any teeth extracted? Yes, it probably was the anesthesia, although I see that he occasionally has had blue numbers at other times. Let's hope he will be an easy one to get back into remission, although that will require a lot of vigilance on your part.
 
Blood work was done with the first vet visit when I noticed his glucoses were increasing (they are in the labs tab on my ss). I switched vets due to that vet being unable to do X-rays.

No teeth extracted. One fell out with cleaning and the vet said there was one that he might have removed if his anesthesia had been great but he was difficult to keep asleep and he said he had to wake him. (He mentioned that he metabolizes gas anesthetic faster than average. Which the other vet that got blood work by just giving him gas via mask also said he woke up extremely quick… I’m not sure if that’s relevant to anything.) The X-ray was fine on that tooth but he said his heart rate increased when he probed the tooth. I’m not sure if it was really the tooth or if anesthesia was light enough that he was aware they were doing something to him.

My only difficulty in this is my schedule and being gone around 14 hours on work days. So that limits my testing on those days And messes up any “normal” shot schedule. I’m hoping to gather enough data on days off to know what I’m comfortable shooting when I’m gone.

I’ve also decreased his feedings to 3 cans of FF per day and have been weighing him to monitor progress… hoping maybe being a little less overweight may help any chance we have at remission again.
 
@Suzanne & Darcy

PM shot time would be in about 2hrs… if I don’t make it back to 200, I should just skip Or give token dose (I guess would be a drop)? I can’t push it any later bc I really need to be backing the timing up sooner. Maybe a good time to skip so that I can start 6AM tomorrow to fit the schedule I plan to use?

Will have to collect data tonight and tomorrow and then I’m back at work Thursday. I don’t plan to do hourly PM checks, but what would be the most helpful times to check tonight?
 
Last edited:
@Suzanne & Darcy

Just checking in to see if you could take a look at my SS. I’m 6 days in With 0.5U. I did give a half dose on one day because I was worried about leaving him alone but the PMBG was quite high so I didn’t do that again. Although, I also know I’m not likely to get 14hr duration out of a dose. I did modify my SS to have +12 & +13 on the daytime portion to reflect the 6A/8P shot times in case anyone notices that it looks different. Thanks!
 
You did an excellent job of getting the tests in today. Pretty yellow and flat though. After the 7th day, you should be good to go to .75 units. Which days can you get mid cycle tests this week?
 
So those are the shot times that you can swing? 6 am and 8 pm? What time after the 6 am shot time will you need to leave the house? I’m just trying to see if you will be able to get any tests in before you leave (a +1 or +2 — or a 1.5 for that matter.). Or will you have to leave right away?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
So those are the shot times that you can swing? 6 am and 8 pm? What time after the 6 am shot time will you need to leave the house? I’m just trying to see if you will be able to get any tests in before you leave (a +1 or +2 — or a 1.5 for that matter.). Or will you have to leave right away?
Click to expand...


I’ve been shooting around 5:45 and leave within 20minutes. So not much room for any testing and it wouldn’t help to wake up earlier since the PM dose would be spread even further apart. I’ve been getting home and being able to shoot around 7:45 and that’s with me leaving work exactly on time. I estimated 8pm since I won’t always leave work at the exact same time but should be home by 8 at the latest.

Right now I’m holding those shot times even on my days off for consistency. I work 3-4 days/week so it’s basically half work days and half not. I could do 8AM/8PM on days off if I needed them at the 12hr mark. I just feel like consistent times maybe better for making dose adjustments. It at least makes the SS easier to follow. I’m definitely open for suggestions if you have ideas with shot timing. Also please let me know if you think I should adjust the timing or amount of meals/snacks. I just kinda started with a routine and figured I would change it as needed. I don’t want my feeding routine to be messing up the insulin working how it should, if that’s even possible.
 
Last edited:
I definitely think keeping those shot times consistent will be important for us to be able to interpret the spreadsheet data — what I mean is, if the times are not consistent, we will be wondering… was this BG number because of a shot time change or was it something else?
 
Regarding feeding, you said he eats 3 cans of FF Savory Salmon Feast per day, right? When is he getting the food? How are you spreading it out? Timed feeders?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Regarding feeding, you said he eats 3 cans of FF Savory Salmon Feast per day, right? When is he getting the food? How are you spreading it out? Timed feeders?
Click to expand...

@Suzanne & Darcy

3 cans of FF pate- although not savory salmon. I alternate through chicken/beef, mixed grill, beef/liver, chicken/liver and cole, sod and shrimp on rare occasion.
Petsafe 5 feeder for all meals.

This was todays schedule:
AM: 2/3 can for 6A, 1/3 for +4 and 1/2 for +8.
PM: 1/2 can at 8pm and 1/2 can at +3 & +6.

I had been doing for AM 3/4 can at shot time and then 1/4 at +4 but adjusted it today since 1/4 can just didn’t look like enough food.
 
Last edited:
@Suzanne & Darcy

Do you think I am safe to shoot under 200 if I get a AMPS <200 in the next few days while I have to work and can’t monitor or would you recommend a smaller dose? I don’t want to go backwards by reducing doses just because I can’t monitor him but I don’t want a hypo either. The SS still doesn’t have any big ups or downs so it leads me to think he wouldn’t go hypo but I could be wrong.
Thanks!
 
That’s a tough question since you just started the new dose. He was quite flat in yellows yesterday so he seems pretty stable, but I hesitate to say go ahead and shoot if you have a low preshot when you can’t monitor him. Can you leave his food out for him (in a timed feeder? Or just leave a lot of food? Are you confident that he would eat it?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That’s a tough question since you just started the new dose. He was quite flat in yellows yesterday so he seems pretty stable, but I hesitate to say go ahead and shoot if you have a low preshot when you can’t monitor him. Can you leave his food out for him (in a timed feeder? Or just leave a lot of food? Are you confident that he would eat it?
Click to expand...

His food is in the timed feeder and I’m pretty confident he will eat. Since starting insulin he barely has any food left in the feeder when I clean it for the next cycle. I can always do 0.5 just to be safe… I just hate to be going back and forth with doses.
 
I was thinking last night and even 170s I think would be within meter variance…. Just trying to think it through before it happens and I have to decide quickly.

I’ll test today in about 10min.
 
188 is this AM… I had a gut feeling this was coming..
Unless you tell me different, I’ll plan to shoot the 0.75.
 
@Suzanne & Darcy
I feel like AMPS have run lower since it’s only 10hr after his PM shot, as compared to the day cycle that’s longer (14hrs).
Do you think I should consider a smaller dose for PM or keep them consistent?

Also, He had eaten at least half of first meal before I left him and was still eating.
 
ittybitty said:
@Suzanne & Darcy
I feel like AMPS have run lower since it’s only 10hr after his PM shot, as compared to the day cycle that’s longer (14hrs).
Do you think I should consider a smaller dose for PM or keep them consistent?

Also, He had eaten at least half of first meal before I left him and was still eating.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I have been pondering since we last talked about the ten hours/14 hour gaps between shots. I was afraid that the morning AMPS would be low because it was only ten hours since his evening shot -- and that the PMPS would be high since it was 14 hours. Let me closely study what's been happening for a few minutes and get back to you. It's probably going to be some trial and error on our part (but we will keep him safe.)
 
Okay, so for now, I would kind of "play it by ear" on the a.m. and p.m. doses. I feel like you will be able to stick to the .75 p.m. dose for now. With regard to the morning, you shot the .75 with the 188 preshot and we really won't know where he went for today since you won't be home until +14. We can only guess that, if he has a low preshot, then maybe he went lower than we want him to right now (when you're not home). It's too bad that he doesn't have a Libre continuous glucose monitor on for those days. But anyway, I'm hopeful that you will be able to get data on the next day you are home (Saturday?) and maybe he will have a blue preshot like that and we can find out what's going on.

It's great that he likes to eat! :)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Exactly what I have been pondering since we last talked about the ten hours/14 hour gaps between shots. I was afraid that the morning AMPS would be low because it was only ten hours since his evening shot -- and that the PMPS would be high since it was 14 hours. Let me closely study what's been happening for a few minutes and get back to you. It's probably going to be some trial and error on our part (but we will keep him safe.)
Click to expand...

That’s exactly my thinking with AM being lower and PM being higher. And I agree with trial and error and seeing what works. I don’t think he would handle a libre… the vet has asked twice about it though. I think the difference in values (between libre and ear pricks) would drive me crazy though and something stuck to him I think would drive him crazy.

Could the libre record glucoses when I’m not home? Would I see them while I’m gone or not until I was back home? I’m not sure how it works other than on a person scanning it with their smartphone.

Yes, should get some data Saturday and I’ll try to get some PM tests on these days that I can’t get AM test. If I get an AMPS less than around 160/150 I will likely just shoot the 0.5 to be safe unless you think 160-170s are too low to shoot 0.75.

I’m glad he likes to eat too! He’s probably happy to have more since I had decreased to the 3 cans.

Edit to add: PMPS is 201 and he had at least a tablespoon or more in each “meal” that I left so he didn’t eat it all but he had plenty and wasn’t hungry!
 
Last edited:
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Do you feel comfortable shooting.5? He ate everything while you were gone yesterday?
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t go over 0.5. I feel like if I do 0.25 he will be high when I get home tonight.

He ate probably 85% of all meals. There was about a tablespoon left in each “meal”.
 
Or do you think you should shoot .25 for today just until we can see on Saturday how he would do with that low of a preshot and .5 units?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Or do you think you should shoot .25 for today just until we can see on Saturday how he would do with that low of a preshot and .5 units?
Click to expand...

I’m okay with either. He’s quickly getting into some better numbers. If you think 0.5 is safe I would probably rather shoot that… I even thought about a skinny 0.5. If 0.5 likely will drop him too low, I can do 0.25.
 
Problem is we have no data! I do think- based on yesterday and you shot .75 that he should be safe of you shoot .5. Do you?
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Problem is we have no data! I do think- based on yesterday and you shot .75 that he should be safe of you shoot .5. Do you?
Click to expand...

I think so.. I do realize I’m guessing though. He has typically had higher day time BG than nights also. There is somebody in the house with him today but they can’t test.. could give MC food if he looked symptomatic.
 
@Suzanne & Darcy

AMPS 164. I feel like it’s yesterday morning all over again… you think give the 0.5 again?

Edit: I went ahead and gave 0.5U. I kinda wanted to try 0.75 since he was high when I got home last night. But he was still lower at AMPS than his +5.5 of PM cycle, although barely so I stuck with 0.5 to be safe. For tomorrow, what is the lowest AMPS that you think I’m okay to give 0.75. I’m thinking down to about 150, maybe. I don’t want to cause a hypo but want some data while I can get it. I’m also leaning toward wanting to have a higher AM dose and lower PM dose because I feel like the PM dose is what’s causing my morning dilemmas. But I also know he hasn’t been on insulin very long and maybe that would be rushing the process.
 
Last edited:
Suzanne & Darcy said:
As for yesterday, that’s not a bad cycle for not being home and being at work. I’m sure he was in blue while you were away. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I hope things are better for you. I hate you’ve had bad days. You help so many people on this board… I appreciate anytime you can get back to me and I sure don’t mind a delay!

I agree, I think he’s getting into more blue. I was really hoping for 160s this morning to watch what happens and he was back in the 200s o_O
I’m home for 4 more days. Maybe out and running errands off and on but won’t be gone like my work hours. I’ll be spot checking glucoses to see what his numbers are doing.
 
That’s so great that you’re home for the next few days. I think we can get a better idea of what you can shoot on the days you’re working. This is a really challenging situation, but I think we can make it work. So far, you are doing great!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top