New to this forum and have a few questions

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I think we're all feeling the heat and we humans don't have to wear fur coats and can take cold drinks... must be more uncomfortable for kitties. Hopefully they'll perk up when it cools down in the evening as Eliz says.
 
16.0 still sounds pretty reasonable.
Hopefully we’ll get a good response to this eve’s 1u,. Yay for negative ketones!

As for warm weather and kitties lack of appetite I can only join you ladies, Josie was so picky today turning up her nose at every item of the kitty buffet I laid out for her on the kitchen floor.. she was driving me bonkers!:banghead:
Hopefully Tinkerbell will settle back into her old routine soon, also that she’ll get along with her kitty buddy Patch as well..
Oh and we use exactly the same needles by VetUK as recommender above , they are pretty reliable and a decent quality.
 
She was 13 this morning so i gave her 1u.
Whats an ideal amps for a diabetic cat (if there is 1)?
 
Fiona1 said:
She was 13 this morning so i gave her 1u.
Whats an ideal amps for a diabetic cat (if there is 1)?
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I think you've answered your own question - there isn't exactly an ideal amps. If anything, you could say it's a number that's familiar to you and which your data shows responds satisfactorily to a certain dose. So you might get a 13 at amps, shoot 1u because that seems as good a dose as any going on recent data, cycle pans out nicely on that dose... so that would therefore be an ideal amps *at that time*. On another occasion, you might get an amps of 20 and shoot 2u because your data tells you that 2u is a good dose at that number *at that time*.

I don't think I'm explaining this very well but maybe I've misread your question... maybe you mean what's an ideal ambg for a diabetic cat not consistently on insulin, ie regulated? That would be a number within normal range which is approx 4.5 - 6.5...

I'm really not sure if I'm making sense. More coffee needed! Can anyone give a clearer answer please @Monica Lewis @Elizabeth and Bertie ?????
 
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Diana&Tom said:
I think you've answered your own question - there isn't exactly an ideal amps. If anything, you could say it's a number that's familiar to you and which your data shows responds satisfactorily to a certain dose. So you might get a 13 at amps, shoot 1u because that seems as good a dose as any going on recent data, cycle pans out nicely on that dose... so that would therefore be an ideal amps *at that time*. On another occasion, you might get an amps of 20 and shoot 2u because your data tells you that 2u is a good dose at that number *at that time".

I don't think I'm explaining this very well but maybe I've misread your question... maybe you mean what's an ideal ambg for a diabetic cat not consistently on insulin, ie regulated? That would be a number within normal range which is approx 4.5 - 6.5...

I'm really not sure if I'm making sense. More coffee needed! Can anyone give a clearer answer please @Monica Lewis @Elizabeth and Bertie ?????
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No i think that answers it so thank you :) i guess its every cat is different.
 
Fiona1 said:
No i think that answers it so thank you :) i guess its every cat is different.
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YES! Every Cat Is Different (ECID) is a phrase you'll hear a lot on this board. And really, not so unusual because every human and probably every other living thing is different too... we all respond differently to various treatments because we are not robots!
 
I got 8.5 at +2 of the shot. Im a bit concerned its going to drop a lot as we are not at nadir yet.
 
Fiona1 said:
I got 8.5 at +2 of the shot. Im a bit concerned its going to drop a lot as we are not at nadir yet.
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That number is fine, but her BG is dropping a little fast at this point.
It may be OK, but if you are concerned you could try a very small snack of low carb food just to slow that drop down.
Are you able to test again in half an hour so we can see what the trajectory is?

Edited to add: What a wonderful response to this insulin dose! It's really nice to see those blood glucose levels coming down....
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
That number is fine, but her BG is dropping a little fast at this point.
It may be OK, but if you are concerned you could try a very small snack of low carb food just to slow that drop down.
Are you able to test again in half an hour so we can see what the trajectory is?

Edited to add: What a wonderful response to this insulin dose! It's really nice to see those blood glucose levels coming down....
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I know! :)
To think, a week ago, while she was still in the vets, we were thinking she might not respond to insulin.
 
Fiona1 said:
Its human. Accu chek performa nano.

Tried some wet food but she already had some this morning.
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Okey dokey.
The aim, with the food is just to try to slow the drop a little, but without robbing her of some nice BG numbers. But, given that we don't know upfront how food will affect our kitties we can only experiment...

With Caninsulin, at first, the 'aim' is to not let the BG drop much below 5 mmol. That is just to allow some buffer of safety in case the BG does actually drop lower than that.
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Do you think it could be worth me buying syringes with numbers less than whole numbers today, as shes going to be on her own tomorrow? Or wait and see the full curve? Or stick with 1?
I did phone 1 emergency vets but they only have half units. I have a few in the area though, who might do quarters too.
 
Fiona1 said:
I did phone 1 emergency vets but they only have half units. I have a few in the area though, who might do quarters too.
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There are syringes available with half units, but not with quarter units as far as I know. (If they are available that would be great!)
It is possible to 'eyeball' a dose between two lines on a syringe, especially if holding the syringe against a light source, so you might well be able to measure less than a whole unit on your current syringes.

Given the current rate at which Tinkerbell's blood glucose is coming down, it could well be that she does need a smaller dose than one unit... If that is the case - and if you're comfortable with doing so - then you could consider a switch to U100 syringes, which make small doses of U40 much easier to measure.
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Monica Lewis said:
Also may I just add that I’m so pleased Tinkerbell is responding so beautifully to the 1u dose, it’s mortifying to think back that she was getting 6u at the vets with odd readings all over the place..:nailbiting:
This shows that increasing the dose is not always the answer..
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Very very true. Whatever was the vet thinking of. When you report back, @Fiona1 it will be interesting to see what he has to say for himself!
 
Given the current rate at which Tinkerbell's blood glucose is coming down, it could well be that she does need a smaller dose than one unit... If that is the case - and if you're comfortable with doing so - then you could consider a switch to U100 syringes, which make small doses of U40 much easier to measure.
.[/QUOTE]
I’ve been actually thinking the same Eliz, an even smaller dose might be even better...
Fiona we are giving Josie 0.75u using the needles recommended above...
 
Thanks will have a look into those syringes.
She hasnt really eaten since this morning and even this morning, it was equivalent to about a quarter of a pouch.
Ive taken some more readings. Do you think she is rising too fast?
 
Fiona1 said:
Thanks will have a look into those syringes.
She hasnt really eaten since this morning and even this morning, it was equivalent to about a quarter of a pouch.
Ive taken some more readings. Do you think she is rising too fast?
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My cat isn't eating much today either... this warm weather affects their appetite I'm sure. As for Tinkerbell rising now... no, it doesn't look particularly fast, given that it's now past nadir so she may not have a lot of insulin left. She may be up in the teens at pmps but we can only take it one step at a time really. Hopefully by then it will be cooler and she'll be more interested in food.
 
Shes not eating and we are now 20 mins before the shot. Reading of 15.3. Should i still give the shot?

Update: shes had about 5 mouthfuls. Not drinking water either really, unless i mix it with food.
 
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Fiona1 said:
Shes not eating and we are now 20 mins before the shot. Reading of 15.3. Should i still give the shot?
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Fiona, do you know why she's not eating..?

...Given her recent history of DKA it would be good to get some insulin into her, even if that is a reduced dose.

But, if her blood glucose does drop too low you'd need to be OK with raising that. That would mean either getting her to eat something, or, if the situation really warranted it, getting a little glucose or honey into her.
With a reduced dose I think it would be unlikely that the blood glucose would drop too low given her PMPS....

Edited to add: The timing of Caninsulin shots can be a little bit flexible. It doesn't have to be exactly 12 hours apart. So, you can have some breathing space to think...
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Im not sure why shes not eating. I think she doesnt like any of the foods yet. She will have a few bites and thats it. My other cat isnt eating them either. I gave them both a bit of tuna in spring water earlier which they ate but tried to give more and they wouldnt eat it.

I gave 1u as she ended up having some food but will keep an eye on her.
 
Fiona1 said:
I gave 1u as she ended up having some food but will keep an eye on her.
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OK, Fiona. She'll probably be just fine.
If you can snag a test at +2 that might clue you in as to how the rest of the cycle might go. (It's not a perfect indicator, but can often give some important clues..)
Because this is an international forum there is always someone here. If you are concerned at any point DO post. And if you want to attract attention a new thread may attract fresh 'eyes'.
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Fiona1 said:
Ambg is 11.4 so fed her and going to do another test in 20 mins.
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Spot on, Fiona... and that's a lovely ambg number even though it leaves you in a quandrary about shooting. I think you're going to work today, right (?) - the thing here will probably be to dose very conservatively (unless she has shot up). She is giving you some very nice numbers now on a small dose and we want to make sure she's safe while you're out of the house.

One of the other sayings here is "better too high for a day than too low for a minute" or something to that effect... your situation is complicated by the recent dka episode so we do want to make sure that Tinkerbell has insulin if she needs it, but equally, we don't want to risk hypo. So we may be treading a fine line. By a "conservative" dose we'd mean giving slightly less than you might think; you could also give a "token" dose which would be a very small, maybe 0.5u. But see what your next test result is.

It's also a working day for me today but hopefully @Elizabeth and Bertie may be around to give more concrete advice.
 
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Fiona1 said:
Ambg is 11.4
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Oh, that 11.4 is lovely to see....

Her BG may rise now, but that increase may be food-induced and therefore not a 'true' number. There's no way to tell whether it would have risen anyway on its own.
So, if that situation happens again (number a bit too low to shoot) another option is to 'stall'; that is, to wait without feeding and see if the number rises on its own. (Difficult to do with a hungry kitty, I know!)
It may be safer now to assume that the AMPS is still 11.4.

I know you're out today, and this is a lower AMPS than you've shot before. It's new territory.
In this situation I would not advise giving a whole unit of insulin because you can't be around to monitor and take any necessary action. And it may be that this preshot number needs less insulin anyway.
It may also be the case that Tinkerbell won't eat so much if you are out, and that too could affect the numbers.

You could consider a reduced dose, or even a tiny weeny token dose - if you can measure it - so that she has 'some' insulin in her system.
Or you could skip the shot. This is the safest in terms of her BG levels.

I know it's a bit more awkward because of her recent DKA history, so it's a matter of doing what seems safest overall in the circumstances. (And, fortunately, her last pee test didn't show any ketones.)
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Fiona1 said:
Gave her just under 0.5.
Will try to give her some more food.
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Think that's what I'd have done too... a "just under" dose is what we call a "skinny" dose (and a "just over" dose would be a "fat" one!). What time are you leaving? Can you do another test before then?
 
Fiona1 said:
No im unable to test her as ive already left :(
She did eat some more food though.
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OK no worries... she should be fine. You've dosed conservatively based on yesterday's curve data, knowing she needed at least some insulin... you've done the very best you can. Tinkerbell will probably have a nice quiet day in a cool room somewhere, like most of our kitties atm.
Try to have a good day yourself! Keep us informed later.
 
Thanks everyone.
Just got a cab home in my lunch break quickly. She was asleep. Tested and she was8.8. Nadir will have already passed most likely as we are now at +6.5
 
Fiona1 said:
Just got a cab home in my lunch break quickly. She was asleep. Tested and she was8.8.
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Oh my goodness, you are SO dedicated! :woot:

And it looks like the insulin dose you gave this morning was a really good call. :)

It looks like 8.8 is her favourite number at the moment; it's appeared quite a few times on her SS....
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