Rasmus Dose

Kris & Rasmus

Kris & Rasmus

Member
Hi again!

After having gotten to grips fully with taking bloods and injecting, I had a nice little spreadsheet going. Rasmus's numbers were/are high, even if there was/is a drop after shots. I've increased dosage from 1u to 1.25u and am now on 1.5u. I'm getting much more strict about not messing around with the type of food he gets (different brands of lc wet food) because I am finding it hard to get a pattern.

Even though I'm comfortable with taking his BG and injecting him, I am finding his illness very stressful because, well, I obsess about him. I haven't taken any BG test the last few evenings post shot because I actually had a mini-breakdown and husband ordered me to chill a bit. My mind is clearer now so will start taking his BG readings more often, and in the evening. If those alphatrack test strips weren't so incredibly expensive! :)

Currently the plan is that I'll be curving him on Friday and then sitting down with the husband on Saturday so we can look at all the data for the week and plan what to do moving forward. As such, I have a few questions.

  • 1. After I've given Rasmus his shot, he spends 2 hours totally zoned out and looking a little under the weather. He doesn't go too low though, so I'm quite puzzled. Is this behaviour normal? Is it just because he has a belly full of food and the injection can make him feel a little weird?
  • 2. Rasmus currently gets two meals a day. Is it more likely that this spikes his BG? Would smaller meals 4 times a day give him consistently lower readings? How would that interfere with his BG readings during the day?
  • 3. Unless the curve I'm doing on Friday say something different, I think I should up the dose to 1.75u. What say you? Should I curve him earlier? I have time during the week.
  • 4. One PM recently, he was below the safe zone of 14 PMPS (he was at 11.7. This was the same day the cat was feed a bit more during the day? Coincidence?) so husband and I were unsure of what to do. We didn't inject him. Should we have injected him with a smaller dose? Is there advise on what to inject when he's between 11-14 (for example 75% of the dose), and if he's below 11 (for example 50% of the dose)?
  • 5. We're going to move soon and I want to make the whole ordeal less stressfull for Rasmus. Can I use Zylkene, or does that mess with BG readings?

Thank you,
Kris
 
Hi Kris- we’ve all been there with breakdowns, stress and crying. Your health and sanity is as important as his so don’t feel bad. Remember this whole ordeal is “a dance and not a sprint” as I have been reminded many times by the wonderful people here. This disease will surely test your patience. Most people here seem to feed More than 2x a day. I do not based on all sorts of things like other cats in the house etc... but the advice is to feed more than 2x. If I could figure out way for that to work in my household I surely would. That said if you are going to do that I would not adjust the dose until you see how that change effects his BG. Food can change BG #s on its own so give his body time to get used to the new feeding regimen. As for the AT2 strips you can use freestyle lite or insulin x strips with that meter. I do and have run many comparison tests with similar results on both strips. They are quite a bit cheaper so that helps but the advice here is to switch to a human meter. I plan to do that once I run out of my stock pile of AT2 and freestyle strips. Make sure you take care of yourself. I know you want to make Rasmus better but you need to be ok too. I can’t tell you how many “breakdowns” I’ve had in my journey. Once I accepted the fact that this is not a perfect science and I am always going to get a curve ball I calmed down. Take deep breaths, know you are doing everything you can for him and I promise this will all get easier. Sending big hugs your way:bighug:
 
Kris & Rasmus said:
1. After I've given Rasmus his shot, he spends 2 hours totally zoned out and looking a little under the weather. He doesn't go too low though, so I'm quite puzzled. Is this behaviour normal? Is it just because he has a belly full of food and the injection can make him feel a little weird?
Click to expand...

While every cat is different, this is a pretty normal post-meal response. The thing is that most of us haven't observed our cats as closely before diabetes as we do now, so most people just haven't noticed this behavior previously, even though it's been going on their whole lives. Most cats, after a big meal, will groom, and then sit and stare, or go to sleep. Now that being said, different cats do have different reactions to different insulins. So while it's possible that he's feeling funny from the shot, most likely this is just what he does after a big meal.

Kris & Rasmus said:
2. Rasmus currently gets two meals a day. Is it more likely that this spikes his BG? Would smaller meals 4 times a day give him consistently lower readings? How would that interfere with his BG readings during the day?
Click to expand...
As Lisa said, most of us feed several small meals each day, and if the cat can handle it, many of us just leave food out and let them graze. Canned wet food, and even raw food, can be left out unless it's a really hot day. And even then we have some tricks we could share to make it last longer.

As far as the impact on the readings, we don't worry about the snacks. If you feed during the day, then you just get your mid-cycle readings like normal. Some people like to note on their spreadsheet when they fed. Personally I think that might be worth doing for the first couple of weeks, but after that I don't think it's really worth worrying about that unless you feed more/less or at a different time than usual.

Kris & Rasmus said:
4. One PM recently, he was below the safe zone of 14 PMPS (he was at 11.7. This was the same day the cat was feed a bit more during the day? Coincidence?) so husband and I were unsure of what to do. We didn't inject him. Should we have injected him with a smaller dose? Is there advise on what to inject when he's between 11-14 (for example 75% of the dose), and if he's below 11 (for example 50% of the dose)?
Click to expand...

Given the mid-cycle numbers you're seeing, I think you could have given the full dose. Your nadirs are still quite high, so odds are very good he would have been just fine. The "no shot" limits are really there in the beginning for folks who aren't comfortable testing, or aren't able to test very often (gone at work all day). You are monitoring closely, and again the nadirs are high, so you could have gone ahead. In general, if the number is lower than usual, you want to stall for 30 minutes without feeding and then re-test. If the number is rising, then you can go ahead with the shot. If the number is steady or still dropping you can either stall again, or you can give a reduced dose. To start with, you could try 50-75% of the normal dose (depending on how much lower than usual), and see how it goes. Collect the data, and then use that to help you decide the next time it happens.

Of course if the number is really low (any greens), you don't want to shoot, and if it's in the blues you may need to reduce closer to the 50% or even lower for the first time. It's a bit of a guess the first time, and then you see what happens and use that to guide you next time.
 
Lisa and little said:
Hi Kris- we’ve all been there with breakdowns, stress and crying. Your health and sanity is as important as his so don’t feel bad. Remember this whole ordeal is “a dance and not a sprint” as I have been reminded many times by the wonderful people here. This disease will surely test your patience. Most people here seem to feed More than 2x a day. I do not based on all sorts of things like other cats in the house etc... but the advice is to feed more than 2x. If I could figure out way for that to work in my household I surely would. That said if you are going to do that I would not adjust the dose until you see how that change effects his BG. Food can change BG #s on its own so give his body time to get used to the new feeding regimen. As for the AT2 strips you can use freestyle lite or insulin x strips with that meter. I do and have run many comparison tests with similar results on both strips. They are quite a bit cheaper so that helps but the advice here is to switch to a human meter. I plan to do that once I run out of my stock pile of AT2 and freestyle strips. Make sure you take care of yourself. I know you want to make Rasmus better but you need to be ok too. I can’t tell you how many “breakdowns” I’ve had in my journey. Once I accepted the fact that this is not a perfect science and I am always going to get a curve ball I calmed down. Take deep breaths, know you are doing everything you can for him and I promise this will all get easier. Sending big hugs your way:bighug:
Click to expand...

Lisa, thanks for your kind words. JUST what I needed to hear. I'll keep it how it is this week and then at the weekend once we've reviewed the data, we'll look at adjusting the dose or changing how many times of day we feed him. For it to work the best it can with my husband's schedule, we might need to keep it at 2x day. We'll see. I'll need to check out those alternative strips. Not sure where to get them from in the UK. Do you have a picture of them so I know I get the right brand?
 
Djamila said:
While every cat is different, this is a pretty normal post-meal response. The thing is that most of us haven't observed our cats as closely before diabetes as we do now, so most people just haven't noticed this behavior previously, even though it's been going on their whole lives. Most cats, after a big meal, will groom, and then sit and stare, or go to sleep. Now that being said, different cats do have different reactions to different insulins. So while it's possible that he's feeling funny from the shot, most likely this is just what he does after a big meal.


As Lisa said, most of us feed several small meals each day, and if the cat can handle it, many of us just leave food out and let them graze. Canned wet food, and even raw food, can be left out unless it's a really hot day. And even then we have some tricks we could share to make it last longer.

As far as the impact on the readings, we don't worry about the snacks. If you feed during the day, then you just get your mid-cycle readings like normal. Some people like to note on their spreadsheet when they fed. Personally I think that might be worth doing for the first couple of weeks, but after that I don't think it's really worth worrying about that unless you feed more/less or at a different time than usual.



Given the mid-cycle numbers you're seeing, I think you could have given the full dose. Your nadirs are still quite high, so odds are very good he would have been just fine. The "no shot" limits are really there in the beginning for folks who aren't comfortable testing, or aren't able to test very often (gone at work all day). You are monitoring closely, and again the nadirs are high, so you could have gone ahead. In general, if the number is lower than usual, you want to stall for 30 minutes without feeding and then re-test. If the number is rising, then you can go ahead with the shot. If the number is steady or still dropping you can either stall again, or you can give a reduced dose. To start with, you could try 50-75% of the normal dose (depending on how much lower than usual), and see how it goes. Collect the data, and then use that to help you decide the next time it happens.

Of course if the number is really low (any greens), you don't want to shoot, and if it's in the blues you may need to reduce closer to the 50% or even lower for the first time. It's a bit of a guess the first time, and then you see what happens and use that to guide you next time.
Click to expand...

Oh, wow - this is super SUPER useful! Where would I be without this group? Lost, I tell you. I'd be lost and totally freaking out. I think we'll keep the feeding to 2x daily for now, for it to work with my husband's schedule, but we might have to reconsider. IF we keep it as it is (2x day), do you think we should try 1.75u as his numbers are still quite high?
 
Kris & Rasmus said:
Lisa, thanks for your kind words. JUST what I needed to hear. I'll keep it how it is this week and then at the weekend once we've reviewed the data, we'll look at adjusting the dose or changing how many times of day we feed him. For it to work the best it can with my husband's schedule, we might need to keep it at 2x day. We'll see. I'll need to check out those alternative strips. Not sure where to get them from in the UK. Do you have a picture of them so I know I get the right brand?
Click to expand...

It's awesome to quote myself :) I've just bought some Freestyle Lite test strips. I hope they work just fine. Do I just leave the code at 38 on the Alphatrack2 meter?
 
Kris & Rasmus said:
Lisa, thanks for your kind words. JUST what I needed to hear. I'll keep it how it is this week and then at the weekend once we've reviewed the data, we'll look at adjusting the dose or changing how many times of day we feed him. For it to work the best it can with my husband's schedule, we might need to keep it at 2x day. We'll see. I'll need to check out those alternative strips. Not sure where to get them from in the UK. Do you have a picture of them so I know I get the right brand?
Click to expand...
Photo attached. I usually just google and see who comes up cheapest. Used to be Walmart in the US. Beware of people selling expired strips. I’ve done some research and have also read here that you can also use regular freestyle lite strips. Again all here have advised me to switch to a human meter so perhaps you want to consider that. I’m sure others will chime in to advise on that.
 

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Kris & Rasmus said:
It's awesome to quote myself :) I've just bought some Freestyle Lite test strips. I hope they work just fine. Do I just leave the code at 38 on the Alphatrack2 meter?
Click to expand...
I have left the code at whatever vial of AT2 strips I am currently using. I always have a vial on hand to double check a “weird” number and to do a side by side each time I open a new vial of the Freestyle. When you run out of AT2 and get a new vial I then switch the code to the current vial on the AT2 and run a side by side. I also use the AT2 control solution on the Fresstyle strips each time I open a new one.
 
Yes, I too read you can use Freestyle Lite strips in the AT2 meter so I've got some coming :) Just need to know if I just leave the code as 38 on the meter for it to work. It will be so useful to be able to use an alternative as the real AT2 ones are making me very poor :)
 
Lisa and little said:
I have left the code at whatever vial of AT2 strips I am currently using. I always have a vial on hand to double check a “weird” number and to do a side by side each time I open a new vial of the Freestyle. When you run out of AT2 and get a new vial I then switch the code to the current vial on the AT2 and run a side by side. I also use the AT2 control solution on the Fresstyle strips each time I open a new one.
Click to expand...

Good plan - I too will do this! Thank you so much!
 
Hopefully I didn’t confuse you in my last post. Keep the code on the meter to correspond with whatever the AT2 vial says. So if your next AT2 comes with code 37 switch to that code. Always do a side by side on a new vial and a control test.
 
I’m at work, so this will be brief - also saw your post about weight loss. Yes, go ahead and increase the dose. And also make sure you are feeding him more. Is there any way you could increase his meals or leave food out?
 
Djamila said:
I’m at work, so this will be brief - also saw your post about weight loss. Yes, go ahead and increase the dose. And also make sure you are feeding him more. Is there any way you could increase his meals or leave food out?
Click to expand...

Yes, I can increase food and feed him more during the day! Thank you so much!
 
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