Pita's Dosing Party: 11

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Caitlin M

Caitlin M

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Hello everyone! Happy February. Big month for us around here. It'll be Pita's insulin-versary (18th) and my birthday just a few days later. Aaah! Anywho, I wanted to check in to see how everyone is doing- how are you?!
Pita is doing well and of course I had a question as well. He's been consistently in the 100's for pre-shots and is currently receiving 3.2 units. He's getting some very nice greens from it so I'm wondering if I should just hold him here or see if I can get his pre-shots a bit lower? I know I've asked this before but I feel like since things change so much, I forgot. My next hope is to actually lower the units he's receiving as this is the most he's ever been given. Thanks all!
 
Hmmm...I'm actually wondering if he needs a reduction. I remember that he tends to run lower than many cats, so I'm not too worried about those lime greens, but since they are caused my insulin and not natural, it could be that his liver is dumping glucose to compensate which would increase those pre-shot numbers. Maybe if you give him a bit less insulin, he would flatten out more. Don't know if that will work, but it might be worth trying. Also, since many cats run lower at night, I'm wondering if he's going even lower at night than the limes you're seeing during the day. There isn't a lot of middle-of-the-night testing (I know - sleep is important too :)), but it makes me wonder how low he's going during the hours that we don't see, which again, could cause a glucose dump that might inflate some of the other numbers.

Happy almost insulin-versary! And happy almost birthday to you too! You'll have to post closer to the real day so we can have a little party! :cat:
 
How much of a reduction do you think may be good? In the back of my mind I was wondering the exact same thing, just not sure where to go!
 
The "rules" are that every time they hit a lime green, you give a reduction. It looks like you're able to catch his nadir pretty consistently, so maybe go back to 3u, then if he hits lime again, go to 2.8, etc. Of course keeping an eye on the pre-shots as well. If this starts to backfire and the pre-shots go up, we'll know this isn't going to work for him. That might be a little hard to gauge since your PS numbers are a pretty broad range from 117 to 195 recently, but I think you'll get a sense of if he's trending higher. And also, if there are any nights when you go to bed late, or get home late or something if you can grab some PM tests, that might help too. Looking back through your 2017 data, it looks like a lot of the time he ran pretty even between AM and PM cycles, but there were a few period when he ran lower at night, so just grab them if you can - I don't think you need to set an alarm or anything.
 
Thank you! I'll try the 3 units tonight :)
And somehow I feel like I never knew about the lime green reduction! Learn something new every day.
 
It applies the most to newer cats who are more sensitive. Our older veteran cats who have had a remission usually go three limes before a reduction. But a lot of it comes down to knowing your cat, and considering when it falls in the cycle, how much you can monitor, how easily your cat can be steered with low carb vs. high carb food, etc. So it isn't a rule as much as a guideline, I guess. :D Lots of factors work into it.
 
Djamila said:
It applies the most to newer cats who are more sensitive. Our older veteran cats who have had a remission usually go three limes before a reduction. But a lot of it comes down to knowing your cat, and considering when it falls in the cycle, how much you can monitor, how easily your cat can be steered with low carb vs. high carb food, etc. So it isn't a rule as much as a guideline, I guess. :D Lots of factors work into it.
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Matt recently said that he still doesn't quite understand the whole process and I had told him that I don't fully either and probably never will given how much changes! This is a good point for that.
 
I don't think any of us fully understand this. There are just too many variables since every cat is different, and since even in the same cat, things change over time. Sometimes it's just a matter of trying things and seeing what works.
 
Happy insulin-versary and birthday!!!!

Yeah this sugar dance is tough to understand. Really its The ECID thing that makes it tough. Because what worked beautifully for one cat might not work for another...I know I don’t fully understand what’s happening!
 
@Djamila are you still up? I'm not sure who else is due to the time difference. PMPS was just a 99! Which is good, but I'm not exactly sure what to do. Help?! :confused:
 
He just ate. I think looking back at his PS numbers I need to just NS. If anyone reads this within the next 30 minutes and thinks I should maybe give a tiny dose, let me know! Otherwise I think I'll just be safe and NS then see what tomorrow brings.
 
I think I've seen you manage him long enough to trust your mama sense. So if you're feeling like NS is the right thing to do tonight, then go with that. However, since his dose is so high right now, I think he could likely handle a dose of some sort, despite the low number tonight. You gave him a full dose on 112 and 117 recently which are both pretty close to what you're seeing tonight - we don't have data to show where it went though, and the doses were slightly lower than his current dose.

If it was me, I might be inclined to give him 1u anyway, just so he isn't completely on his own tonight, but again, he's low enough that typically skipping would be advised. And I think I'd set an alarm to grab something about +3 or +4. So if you really need your sleep tonight, NS is probably best.
 
When I looked at your SS earlier tonight, I thought dropping the dose to 3u had been the wrong call. But looking at the PMPS tonight and the way his cycle waved today makes me think maybe even 3u is too much? Our sugar kitties are so weird!!! Why can't they just make this easy and always follow the rules?!?! Curious to see where he ends up in the morning....
 
Well look at you go Pita! Looks like 1 unit kept him flat last night and gave a nice blue this AM! I’m glad you gave him some and glad Djamila was here!
 
I'm not sure if I should stick with 3 units again since it's close to yesterday am # or maybe split it and give 2 units?
 
Whoops sorry Caitlin! You just happened to post while I was in a meeting so I didn't see this til later. Looks like 2 gave you a fairly flat cycle today. Not bad at all...and good data of course!
 
I'm already trying to figure out what to do for tonight. Which is silly since I have no clue what his number will be. But, I'm wondering if I should try 2.5 units assuming things star in the bracket he's been in all day. Thoughts?
 
Well I'm just flabbergasted! Pita had a beautiful 56 @ +6 and somehow just gave me a 363 PMPS. He was asleep the entire time ( 2+ hours) I've been home before this! I did two strips and took the median number from them, so it definitely wasn't just one weird strip. Oh well, I'm going to stick with the 2.5 and see what happens. Lol I'm just baffled! Oh Pita...maybe he knows it's nearly insulin-versary so he's making it memorable?! :p who the heck knows!
 
Had a 56 @ +3.25 last night. He woke me up which was good so I could give him gravy food. I'll see what his AMPS is soon.
 
177 amps, decided to try 2 units in case the 2.5 is causing him to drop quickly and be strange. I'll give this a few days before going back up or down!
 
+3.75 was 169 and +6.25 was 139. I'll see where his PMPS is, but now I feel like 2 units isn't quite enough. :banghead::bookworm:
 
Good call. Both of our boys are keeping us dancing these days - a little bit forward, a little bit back. Other than numbers, he seems okay?
 
We had a 181 AMPS today and I bumped him to 2.6 units. Tested at +3.5 and he was at 61. I fed 1 tsp of gravy food and tested at +4.5 and he was at 78. In hindsight I realized I may have jumped the gun and could have waited another hour to retest before giving the gravy food. Got a 187 PMPS. So all in all a pretty good day I think?!
 
Happy hump day everyone! So, I'm a bit confused about where to go. Pita's had slightly higher PS numbers the past couple days and has been on 2.6 units the past three whole days. Yesterday he had a nice 56 @ +6, and his +4 number today was similar to yesterday's +3. Based on this, it's quite possible he got as low as 56 or maybe even a bit lower again today and I didn't catch it. With the past few days, I'm wondering if I should hold this 2.6 units for now or increase/decrease. Ha, reading that back I basically have no F*ing clue what's best to do from here! Yeah, suggestions, please?!

Also, as many of you may remember, Pita started to give me major problems a couple months into this whole testing routine-where I had to burrito him and deal with hissing and lots of negative feelings from us both. (It obviously got much better!). I believe Matt is in this middle ground now as well. The past couple times he's tried to test, Pita has refused to eat his snacks, jerked his head away, sat in the corner and hissed/growled at Matt when he tries again. This morning was an example of it and I just tested when I got home (spoiled boy). I told Matt to just keep trying and not worry about it if he can't get blood, especially if I can test soon after. I don't want Pita to think he can get out of testing with Matt but I also want them both to be safe and [relatively] happy.
 
Also...
 

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Kris & Teasel said:
Cute - but bad - boy! In my opinion, Caitlin, I'd keep 2.6 u for another cycle or two. That 56 is very recent and is as low as you want to go. Try for a +4 in the evening if possible.
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Just saw this and did not get any tests during the night. Will try to tonight since I have no work in the am. Thanks Kris!
 
I don't like those yellows showing up again, and understand the temptation to do another increase. I agree with Kris though - I'd hold another cycle or two and see what the data shows you. If he flattens out, then do the increase, but if you're still seeing those 50's around nadir, hold steady. Do see if you or Matt can get a middle-of-the-night test sometime this weekend. It could be he's rebounding a little from an overnight low, and that's why you're seeing the yellows at AMPS (just being an optimist here :D)

We passed your official insulin-versary didn't we?!!?! Happy insulin-versary! Or do we express condolences for that? Regardless, I'm glad you're still around! From our waiting up and worrying though our first low numbers together nearly a year ago, to all of the twin numbers and similar patterns, it's been so good to have you here!

And that sweet sleepy picture is just too much!!! What a handsome kitty!

FWIW, I agree with you that he doesn't get out of the test just because he's grumpy with Matt. Make sure Matt is giving him love and a treat even if the test isn't a total success. And does Pita like being talked to when you're testing? My pet sitter just had a breakthrough with Sam when I told her to talk to him in a low voice the whole time she's testing. She managed to get a test in while I was gone! Has Matt tried the burrito? And maybe a larger lancet for a little while so that when he does poke he can get a big quick drop of blood? Fingers crossed they get through this phase quickly! :bighug:
 
How adorable!!!! I agree about holding the dose and seeing what happens.

As for Matt, I feel for him! I’d also remind him that if he doesn’t get blood after 3 tries walk away for 15 minutes (after first giving a treat) then try again. Gives them a chance to cool off but shows that the test will still happen...might help!
 
Happy Friday everyone! 144 PMPS last night. Gave the 2.6 and tested at +4.5 for a 71. Tried to test him about an hour ago and he didn't want anything to do with treats/ wouldn't sit, so I said okay, we'll wait about half an hour. He still didn't eat any treats but did sit for me- 115 AMPS. I think that makes sense if he's feeling a bit better, he doesn't necessarily want treats/testing but I obviously feel badly that he went too low overnight. Regardless, what kind of dose should I give on that? I'm able to test all day so that's not an issue.
 
Djamila said:
We passed your official insulin-versary didn't we?!!?! Happy insulin-versary! Or do we express condolences for that? Regardless, I'm glad you're still around! From our waiting up and worrying though our first low numbers together nearly a year ago, to all of the twin numbers and similar patterns, it's been so good to have you here!
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Thanks Djamila! It is what it is, and at least Pita seems happy and healthy otherwise!!
 
Oh that's so hard to say! On one hand, he might have just had a really long surf last night, in which case I would say to hold the dose and just monitor him today. Looking at the past few days, it doesn't really look like the 2.6 is too much. It actually looks really good.

But on the other hand, maybe he did go too low and needs to drop back to 2.4 or 2.5?

What does your gut tell you? you've always had good mama-sense.
 
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