this is good!
For your reference, here is the link to the
Start Low Go Slow Approach.
The bounce (high numbers) you are seeing this morning is a normal reaction when they get into lower numbers than they are used to. That can last up to three days, especially for cats that are seeing low numbers for the first time. Shooting the higher dose (the 5.5) one last time when they are bouncing is fine. We call that "shooting through the bounce." I would not recommend shooting the higher dose more than one cycle. Reducing the dose when you shoot again tonight is the right idea.
If you want to do a little more reading, this sticky on the
Insulin Depot might help shed some light too. Now that Pooper's numbers are starting to move, this might make more sense to you than it would have even a few days ago.
So, now we know Poopers doesn't need 5.5 units anymore, at least today. It's time to try the next lower dose (5.25) and see how that works. Sometimes reductions don't stick and we have to increase again, but due to the bouncing and the insulin depot you really do need to give it a few of days to see if the numbers will settle back down on their own with the lower dose. I think you have looked at Lucy's spreadsheet. You can see there that if you do have to increase again, it's still no big deal. Usually they will break through again, they just might need a couple of "practice runs" before they are ready to hold onto the reduction. Or some cats just fly down the dosing scale like crazy. Poopers might fall into that category, especially because his dose is a little on the higher side and because you worked up to it in large increments. We'll have to see. Keep testing! I'm glad you tested before bed last night. Otherwise you would have seen the preshot in the 300s this morning and you probably would have thought he stayed high all night.
I'll be out the rest of the day, but I'm glad Poopers showed you some good numbers.
For future reference though, you really can't leave a cat for the night who's dropped that quickly over the first 2-3 hours of a cycle and then continues to drop. Chances are that they'll go under 50 if they're unmonitored and then you're risking a hypo. The late nights do get tiring, but people will stay with you and keep you going and offer advice if he does keep dropping - you'll be told when to retest and when it's safe to leave him. The 300 this morning could well be a bounce from him going into green last night and as he was still dropping at your last test, he might very well have gone even lower than the readings you got - he was probably an hour or so away from nadir when you got that 69 reading. And better to be tired in the morning than take a chance on a hypo, right?