Phoebe low this morning, seeking advice

Hannah and Phoebe

Hannah and Phoebe

Member Since 2025
Hi all,
Phoebe's numbers last night and AMPS this morning seemed like we were in for a pretty typical day. She had a snack at AMPS+2 (1 tbsp of her regular wet food), and then at AMPS+3 she was 47. She isn't showing any symptoms, so I haven't given her anything else yet since she had a snack recently. She is due for another snack at AMPS+4, but should I still give it since she is probably in nadir now? Should I reduce by only 0.25 this afternoon? Or maybe more?

I'll test again and update this post at AMPS+3.5, +4 etc... but does anyone have any idea why this may have happened? I'm glad I'm under the weather and working from home today, since I haven't gotten her automatic snack feeding set up yet. 😰
 
Last edited:
Yes. It’s very important that you have a hypo kit ready. The Gravy Lovers and some of the Friskies are very HC. You can always mix a few drops of karo syrup into a teaspoon of regular food. If she drops below 40 put it directly onto her gums.
 
And I am sorry you are not feeling well, Hannah. And you are not exactly getting rest. :bighug: I am very glad that you are there to help Phoebe. Remember that any time she drops below 50 on the ReliOn you should give a teaspoon of HC wet food (or the food with a drop or two of karo in there — maybe 1/4 tsp) and test in 20-30 minutes. Keep doing the same thing if her numbers don’t come up over 50 — maybe use a little more karo — and if they drop below 40, as I said, rub karo directly on her gums and test in 20 minutes. These are all your ReliOn numbers of course.

And for tonight she will only get 1 unit of insulin regardless of how high she may be at PMPS time. She may bounce from this lime green and she still will only be at 1 unit while we wait for her to come down (even if it takes a few days.)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And I am sorry you are not feeling well, Hannah. And you are not exactly getting rest. :bighug: I am very glad that you are there to help Phoebe. Remember that any time she drops below 50 on the ReliOn you should give a teaspoon of HC wet food (or the food with a drop or two of karo in there — maybe 1/4 tsp) and test in 20-30 minutes. Keep doing the same thing if her numbers don’t come up over 50 — maybe use a little more karo — and if they drop below 40, as I said, rub karo directly on her gums and test in 20 minutes. These are all your ReliOn numbers of course.

And for tonight she will only get 1 unit of insulin regardless of how high she may be at PMPS time. She may bounce from this lime green and she still will only be at 1 unit while we wait for her to come down (even if it takes a few days.)
Click to expand...
Thank you!!!
 
Let me ask you something. Since she eats only the novel protein food now (tell me what it is that she’s eating) you may not want to feed her the Fancy Feast or other HC food because it could upset her tummy. You can get a couple of cans to keep on hand, but if she needs the novel protein for IBD then you may just want to stick to her normal food and just add karo. The dramatic decrease in numbers we are seeing could be an indication that her inflammation is subsiding with the new food. I am trying to remember if you said she had IBD. We’ve had so many new members here whose cats do. If she does, please add it to your signature near where it says novel protein food.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Let me ask you something. Since she eats only the novel protein food now (tell me what it is that she’s eating) you may not want to feed her the Fancy Feast or other HC food because it could upset her tummy. You can get a couple of cans to keep on hand, but if she needs the novel protein for IBD then you may just want to stick to her normal food and just add karo. The dramatic decrease in numbers we are seeing could be an indication that her inflammation is subsiding with the new food. I am trying to remember if you said she had IBD. We’ve had so many new members here whose cats do. If she does, please add it to your signature near where it says novel protein food.
Click to expand...
This is great point! Yes, she does have IBD and she is on a novel protein diet (Instinct Rabbit formula). He poops are greatly improving with the new food, so that tracks with the reduced inflammation!
 
Hannah and Phoebe said:
We're at 103 now at +5. (And the Libre came back to life)
Click to expand...
Hi Hannah, Many times when they are in LO ranges for extended periods of time the Libre can stop giving data (and sometimes it causes it to fail if it goes on for hours).
I believe it must be a safety feature of the Libre, since it is meant for human use, I think the Libre must interpret these low ranges as being defective so it shuts down Like I said, sometimes just completely craps out 🤬

I’m so glad your Libre came back though, so that’s great news 💞

I like to advise everyone using Libres have several extras on hand at all times if you are going to use them continuously.
You never know when one will shut down and you can’t get to the pharmacy fast enough to get a new one. It is great to learn how to put them on yourself. It’s really not that hard once you’ve tried it one or two times.
Here is our primer on using Libres.
I hope this helps and if you have any questions, feel free to let me know.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...ucose-monitors-cgms-for-diabetic-cats.301950/

Freestyle Libre CGM Abbott Coupon $19.99 Each!!! Please Read
 
Staci & Ivy said:
Many times when they are in LO ranges for extended periods of time the Libre can stop giving data (and sometimes it causes it to fail if it goes on for hours).
Click to expand...
I have observed this behavior several times myself so it's great to have confirmation that others observe this too!

Staci & Ivy said:
You never know when one will shut down and you can’t get to the pharmacy fast enough to get a new one. It is great to learn how to put them on yourself. It’s really not that hard once you’ve tried it one or two times.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this advice! Because of this message board I found the Facebook group and went through the tutorial. And from that we were able to install her second one on our own with zero issues! (after the groomer had shaved the spot for us) (first one was installed not very well at the vet's office). I'm just so nervous about damaging her skin when shaving her 😖
 
How long until PMPS. Did you give a snack when you saw the 75? It would be okay since it’s not within the two hour window.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
How long until PMPS. Did you give a snack when you saw the 75? It would be okay since it’s not within the two hour window.
Click to expand...
PMPS was at 6:30, so about 45 min. ago at the time I'm posting this. I did not give a snack with the 75 because I only logged it after the fact from the Libre. I am not sure when to believe the Libre and when not to. It often does these dips that don't seem to make sense.

Screenshot_20250825-191757.png
 
Last edited:
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes to .75 tonight. Although I see she’s missing the +2 snack and it’s coming later at 3.5. It’s important to give a snack at onset, which is about +2.
Click to expand...
Yes I was stuck in a meeting today and my partner was at the office. 😖 I'm very eager to get the auto snack feeders set up. Although she also needed a lot of encouragement to eat it today so I'm a bit concerned about that in the future if we aren't here.
 
Hannah and Phoebe said:
Yes I was stuck in a meeting today and my partner was at the office. 😖 I'm very eager to get the auto snack feeders set up. Although she also needed a lot of encouragement to eat it today so I'm a bit concerned about that in the future if we aren't here.
Click to expand...
Yes. I figured it must’ve been a busy work morning.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top