Newly diagnosed & worried about costs- advice needed!

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Thanks, Wendy! I'm doing what I can & hoping these bounces will eventually even out & he'll get down to normal numbers on a regular basis. I know ECID, but I'm wondering what an average time frame is for most kitties in this situation... Should I expect many more bounces to come? Am I looking at weeks, even months of the same? I'm trying my best to be patient, but can't help wondering what is the norm & what's in store. :roll:
 
ECID lol. Cats bounce until they don't. I know that doesnt help but they can bounce for weeks, months, years.. and then pop into remission.. or not. We dont know so try not to focus on that. The more % of the day he spends in normal numbers, the more his pancreas will heal. And the better he will feel. Its a good idea to note how he is doing in your comments section ie as regards the 5Ps - so you can see progress over time

P peeing
P pooping
P playing
P preening
P purring
and anything else of note.

On another note, I think we are starting to see a trend with him. He hits low and then bounces for 24 hours. So if he continues the trend, he will start to clear the bounce tomorrow. Wonder how low he will go...

Wendy
 
Wendy, I'm trying to sound like less of a newbie by using shortcut terms, lol!

I'll definitely make more notes of the 5 Ps, although I need more of an explanation about what you mean by preening... Also, it's hard for me to tell exactly with his pee & poop as I have 2 cats and an automatic cleaning litter box. I have not been following Scamper around to see when he goes and the box scoops it a few seconds afterwards. I KNOW he's peeing a lot less and drinking a lot less, but I've also completely changed his diet to wet food, so I was attributing it to that...

Playing with Domino (my other kitty) and purring have definitely been on an increase. I'd noticed both today, as a matter of fact, but didn't know they were important to note. Will do so from now on, esp since I'm so happy to see both returning!! :lol:

I'm so thankful that I have the time to pay attention and track his BG levels as I'm off for the summer. What a blessing! I'll continue to track and note his trends & we'll see what happens. Thanks, as always, for the input and kind words! :razz:
 
Scampers! Get down from that pink right now!! ;) he may be showing the high numbers because the depot was drained with the skip the other day. Patience again.

Preening=grooming.. How clean is he? Any dirty greasy bits? Dandruff? Is he cleaning himself?
 
Well, Wendy... He got down! Took longer than usual, but his pre-am shot test & a second one I did 30 min later (after he ate) were both in the 70s. I'm assuming I skip his am shot because the BG level is so low. Let me know if I should do differently...

Btw, do I want his BG reading usually in the green on the spreadsheet or is blue the preferred level?

Thanks as always, Janet
 
Btw, do I want his BG reading usually in the green on the spreadsheet or is blue the preferred level?
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Green is great! :mrgreen:

Greens and blues are healing pancreas numbers. The more time your cat can spend at those lower numbers, the less 'pressure' on the pancreas to provide the insulin and give it time to heal.

With that low 72 and then the 68 numbers this morning, if it were my cat I would skip the shot and continue to monitor.

If you are able to get any more tests in this morning cycle, that would be good. You've been doing some good testing so far and that is much appreciated by us that look at the SS. Thank you.

In the early days, it helps to get a few more tests to see how your cat reacts to those different numbers.

How are the 5 P's today with Scamper?
 
5 Ps are good so far - he was VERY hungry for his breakfast & is clean & easy to purr.

I'll keep gettng BG test readings today. We'll see where he goes!
 
Profile done - let me know what you think. I probably put in too many pictures, but I had a hard time choosing! LOL The spacing, etc., doesn't show exactly the same way I have it on Google, but I got tired of messing with it, so hopefully it will work the way it is for now.
 
Love seeing the pictures of both Scamper and Domino. Some people add all sorts of fun stuff. Make it special to you and Scamper. I always like reading the stories about how the cats joined people's families.

I never have figured out how to get pictures in Wink's profile. :YMSIGH: Don't have enough room in my signature any more now with 2 SS's. ohmygod_smile

Wendy&Tiggy said:
Deb - this is the second skip on this dose and she is just starting out - what do you think of a dose change?
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I'm going to do my thinking "out loud" so to speak, so you can follow my reasoning and look for flaws.

Ok, can't be certain, but that 206 at +3 and then the low of 77 at +11 would indicate an even lower number in between those two numbers. Take that into account in combination with the skipped shots on the 6/20 PM and 6/24 AM would lead one to believe there was a need for a dose reduction. It doesn't follow "official protocol" rules for a reduction, because it was not revealed with a BG test. There is that ECID thing everyone
tells us to keep thinking about. The dose already had to be reduced from 2U to 1U because you got a 32 on 6/18 which did earn you an official dose reduction. I'm guessing a bit here, that the starting dose was too high anyway based on cats weight, don't know the weight.

Taking all that into consideration, I'd rather reduce the dose and stop draining and refilling the depot so frequently.

If this were my cat I'd reduce to 0.75U for a few days and see how the cat did. If the reduction does not hold, then we take the dose back up quickly.

Caregivers choice, as always. You know your cat better than we do.

How much does Scampers weigh?
 
I'm still trying to get weight back on Scamper - he'd lost A LOT, which was one signal that alerted me that there was a problem. Today he weighs between 10-11 lbs. I think he's put on about a pound since he's been on insulin & I've changed his diet to wet low carb only foods.

Glad you liked the pics of my sweeties - they are one of my favorite subjects, so I have many! :)

I also had been thinking a dose reduction could be a good idea, but I was waiting for someone here to suggest it since you all are much more knowledgeable than I. My next vet appt/checkup is in exactly one week, next Monday. I think I'll try lowering his dose to 0.75 tonight for his PM shot, but I'm worried about being able to eyeball that amount change. My needles don't have 0.25 markings. Will it be harmful if he gets a little more/less with each shot?
 
No insulin syringes have the 1/4Unit markings. 1/2Unit markings are the smallest they make.

You need to eyeball it and try to be consistent.... roughly halfway between the 0.5 unit and the 1Unit marks. Just do the best you can.

Here is a picture of a syringe at a 0.25U marking. Couldn't find one with 0.75U dose.


You can click on the picture to make it larger.

This topic link below talks about measuring a dose consistently and you may want to read for some more information.
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=34424

I also had been thinking a dose reduction could be a good idea, but I was waiting for someone here to suggest it since you all are much more knowledgeable than I.
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Next time, please don't wait. Sometimes, we can miss something and it is much better to ask then not to. OK?
 

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Yep I agree, if he was mine I would try a 0.75.. But neither deb or I are experinced dosing members.. There is another board (lantus tight regulation) you could go on that has a very strong sense of community and very experienced members who look at your results daily and advise.. I go on everyday or so to have them keep an eye on my boys..
 
Wendy&Tiggy said:
Yep I agree, if he was mine I would try a 0.75.. But neither deb or I are experinced dosing members.. There is another board (lantus tight regulation) you could go on that has a very strong sense of community and very experienced members who look at your results daily and advise.. I go on everyday or so to have them keep an eye on my boys..
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But we are getting there in our dosing experience by hanging out in LL and looking at condos and SS's and seeing what we would do before reading the advice from those more experienced than we are. Some people learn quicker than others and I'm getting pretty good at reading the SS. We can advise on the more simple cases. Whenever we are in doubt, we have 2 members that have told us to PM them to come take a look. And we sometimes post over in one of the ISG forums to get someone to come over to this forum to take a look.

When we get to the point where Wendy and I feel the need to bring in another experienced member, it's probably time to send the person over to one of the ISG's. It depends on how much data you have set up on your SS, a profile is good to have, some info in your signature link. All these items are optional, Profile, SS, and signature data but they sure do help us to help you better. It also depends on your home testing experience to some degree. Being on a low carb diet is good too, weather that is canned or dry is up to the caregiver.

There is no rush to post in one of the insulin specific support groups. I like to suggest that people go over to their insulin specific support group and check it out. Read the Stickies at the top of the Topics section. Read a few condos posted by other members. Get a feel for how the forum works. See if you think it would be a good fit for you.

Lantus actually has 2 forums, the ISG Lantus TR and the ISG "Relaxed Lantus". More active in TR so if you need an immediate answer that is the place to post. Probably 50-65 people post there on a regular basis. I counted one time and there were 83 condos with that days date.

Relaxed Lantus is a bit more laid back. More people following SLGS protocol there. Much less active, maybe 6-8 people posting on a regular basis. Hold the dose longer. If you need an immediate answer to your post, and aren't getting one, do a new post with a link to it in both the Health and TR forums.

Whichever protocol you decide to use with your Lantus dosing, be assured there are people familiar with the 2 different protocols in both these forums.

As we have said before, you are always welcome to post here in the Feline Health forum for as long as you want.
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If you are not ready yet, you are not ready. We'll get people to come over here to take a look at what is going on.
 
wow just read through all this! talk about induction to home testing!

next time you go to the store, buy a few cans of fancy feast gravy lovers - this is high carb food and you can give him spoons of the gravy when he drops low. In addition you add the gravy to the low carb canned food you are feeding as well. just a couple ideas on using food to control the drops rather than karo.

now, just to be safe- take a sharpie or somehow label these cans as high carb and keep them separate from the regular food. this way you won't mistakenly serve it in error.
 
Thanks, Hillary! Can't believe you read all this - it is just about the length of a book by now! LOL

Right after that first big drop I went out and got some high carb gravy lovers food. I do have it separate, but hadn't marked it - the sharpie idea is a great one, thanks!
 
I'm still reading here, too! LOL I felt confident this morning that giving the shot would work out even though his AMPS seemed a bit low. I knew I'd be home to test often, (and I knew I had the HC gravy food if needed) and I'm glad to say his numbers seemed to hold in the greens (but not TOO low) for most of the day. :razz: Thanks for continuing to check up on me and let me know you are here to help - I appreciate it so much!
 
I'm not sure what to do this AM. He's got low pre-shot numbers again this morning. I guess I'm supposed to skip his shot AGAIN? Is it unhealthy to skip shots so much? Do I need to lower his dose? I'm confused & don't know what to do...
 
You got a +4 47 on 6/26 PM. That is an automatic dose reduction, down 0.25U.

You should not be giving more than 0.5U right now.

We do not advise people to shoot those low numbers unless:
1. enough test data on SS to see how the cat has done in the past
2. person home to monitor and support with food, HC, MC, LC
3. plenty of test strips.
4. a commitment from someone here to stay with you and monitor.
5. hypo tool cat in place.

We need to find a dose you can give twice a day. The 0.75U is too high.

I'm guessing, but it's very likely he went low again overnight. Scampers is definitely due a dose reduction.
 
Thanks, Deb. will change his PM dose tonight to .5 unit. I appreciate the input & it sounds like I made the correct choice in skipping his shot this AM.
 
Info for next time. Remember to go into the very first post in this thread. Click on the little edit icon over to the right hand side of your post. Change the post subject to include the date and the words "HELP asap". Put the Question mark Icon on the post.

That way, when people are scanning the board can see you are need of assistance. Not an emergency but time sensitive. After you have gotten your answer, please go back to the first post and take the question mark icon off the post and change the subject so we know you are ok.

Understand the procedure?

I look for 911's first, then questions, then updates to existing posts, then new posts. By the time I'm done it could be several hours before I got around to your post. Like this morning. It didn't jump out at me for attention.

If the numbers are low and scary, please put that 911 icon on. It gets the adrenaline flowing and gets you quick attention. Please, do not use it unless it is an actual emergency. Thanks.
 
Sure thing - I did change to the ?, but will add the date & words to the subject line next time I have a time sensitive issue. Thanks for clarifying the procedure for me. I will only use 911 if I have an actual emergency need (# low/scary).
 
And that low/scary is something that is low or scary to you. Anything that gets your heart racing. So if that number you got this morning had your heart racing, and put the 'What do I do now?!!" panicky type of thoughts in your head, then slap that 911 icon on. We can always reassure you and tell you how to take it off later. I'd rather see it then miss something. Ok?

Problem is, we don't know if the ? icon was from today or not. Changing the subject to have today's date alerts us.

Over in the ISG forums, they post a new condo every day but with a link to the prior days post.

Having a new post every day here in the Health forum would make it too difficult for those here responding, IMHO. It's quicker to scan back in a single post, as long as it's only a page or two. Only when posts start to get to 3 pages or so does it make sense to start another post. Even then, I usually add a link to the other posts when I can.
 
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