She had the tiniest amount of wet food at lunchtime - more like licking the jelly off the top .... she has just had a few biscuits at +6 .... she had stools this morning - most of which were normal but one little part a bit tacky and lighter but a good amount ...... she ate more this morning than she did just now ...... I will see how she is tomorrow .... hope you and I are right and she is just adjusting ..... she was so much brighter and back to her normal self over the last few weeks - it is so sad to see her seeming off colour today ......
I will try to get a +2 and +3 in the evening if she has a shot ... that is as good as doing it in the morning surely to see how the inslulin is working?
Thank you .... yes it has come as quite a shock ... one day all in the 13s and 14s and then right down ..... I didn't realise things could change so quickly - do you think it means her pancreas is suddenly starting to try to work?
She is looking good at +5 but that probably wasn't her lowest reading because that is usually around +3 or +4 in the cycle and by +5 it's likely she is starting to go up again.
Yes I understand completely ........ I simply can't do the +2 ... wish my flipping husband would have learned this but he said from the start he couldn't do it (squeamish) .... all I have told him is to watch out for the symptoms if she follows him down to his office in the garden and to keep an eye on her and to give her high carb treats if she is wobbly and call me .... te best I can do today is to hope that I can give her shots in the evening and do the +2s and 3s then ........ just to get some idea .... this is worrying me sick that I am not around in the morning ........ I wish that things were different ...... there is an opportunity for me to do it next Wednesday when I take her to the Vet as we have to get there by 12.30 ...... this damned illness is so crippling ... will try to test tonight or tomorrow night .... today I have the most ridiculous headache and I am feeling very inadequate ... best I can do is the evening to get some idea .... now I am sweating with anxiety ... need to go outside to calm down ..... it's terrrible ....Looby, I didn't say her dose was lower this morning....I said her pre-shot reading.
If you don't give insulin you don't need to do any testing in the middle of that cycle.
Some cats go lower at night than during the day but the key word there is "some". Every cat is different and that's why testing at the critical points in the cycle according to the insulin you are using is important. I don't think you need to worry about any more testing today until the pre-shot tonight.
Looby, my concern is that with Smiffy now getting some lower numbers, if she has a very active cycle during the day and she has her lowest reading at +3 or +4 but you don't test until +5, Smiffy could potentially go too low. Right now she is fine but that could change if her numbers keep dropping as they have been doing the past few days . Anytime there is a sudden drop in the readings, more vigilance is important to make sure kitty stays safe. You can control the insulin you give but if Smiffy's pancreas is starting to do some of the work again, you can't control that. I understand that your illness and routine make it hard to get a +3 or +4 reading during the day. Would it be possible to do a +2 test during the day then to see just how fast Smiffy's BG is dropping? I'm asking because I want to make sure Smiffy stays safe and Caninsulin can drop the BG quickly and by quite a bit by +3 in the cycle which is why we all keep talking about getting a reading at that time.
She is far from being on low carb wet food ..... more pressure but she is just not going to eat it ....... she licks off the jelly ... I have left wet food out for her when she is hungry and she is not interested ..... I and all the girls here have to accept that Smiffy is going to stay on the low carb dry food ..... thanks for your interest and comments - yes she is doing really well so one step at a time ..... I know it is possible to be in remission on the biscuits as there are cases of it at the surgery where Roberta our Vet has worked with lots of cats ...... I am feeling very inadequate as it is because I can't do the morning +2 +3 etc ... the earliest I can do is preshot and get her dose right based on what she eats and then +5 ..... I am getting really stressed when I should be really pleased for her ..... I leave biscuits out for her and she seems to know when she needs to eat if her BG goes a bit low ...... I just have to keep my fingers crossed for her and try not to worry @Alexi understands my circumstances ...Looby
I understand that with your illness it is extremely hard to plan out your timing. Is there any way you could change the shot time so that you are able to get the rest you need after your meds and then be up for the shot and a +2 reading?? Even if you can do this for one or two days then switch back it would be very valueable information about how Smiffy responds to Caninsulin in the early hours after the shot. The "usual" is that most kitties will do larger drops in the the first 2 hours...who knows Smiffy may be different, but without actually getting those tests, it is so hard to say.
As far as tonight...if Smiffy is too low to shoot then you don't need to do glucose tests. If you are curious you could do one during the night just to see how Smiffy's numbers change after eating and without insulin.
Looby... just do the best you can. You have made such major progress with testing and all and Smiffys numbers are looking very promising. All of us here would like nothing better than to see Smiffy eventually go into remission. In the meantime we all want to be sure Smiffy is safe and you are not stressed out.
Thanks .. .... when Smiffy had her hypos back when she was on 2 units twice per day one happened at about 1.30 which would have been +3 and at that time she is in the bedroom with me and she called out to me so that is a possitive ......... I am around in a way but not to test unless I get a second meter set for upstairs ....... the second time was at about +5 and I was with her ...... she spends the morning wth me in the bedroom .......Looby
I understand that with your illness it is extremely hard to plan out your timing. Is there any way you could change the shot time so that you are able to get the rest you need after your meds and then be up for the shot and a +2 reading?? Even if you can do this for one or two days then switch back it would be very valueable information about how Smiffy responds to Caninsulin in the early hours after the shot. The "usual" is that most kitties will do larger drops in the the first 2 hours...who knows Smiffy may be different, but without actually getting those tests, it is so hard to say.
As far as tonight...if Smiffy is too low to shoot then you don't need to do glucose tests. If you are curious you could do one during the night just to see how Smiffy's numbers change after eating and without insulin.
Looby... just do the best you can. You have made such major progress with testing and all and Smiffys numbers are looking very promising. All of us here would like nothing better than to see Smiffy eventually go into remission. In the meantime we all want to be sure Smiffy is safe and you are not stressed out.
Thanks ..... I know everybody wants the best for Smiffy and so do I of course ... she and Pasha are my life ....... Smiffy has done this well on her biscuits so I am not going to worry about that for now .....Looby you just do the best you can. People here will always suggest the safest and best approaches for anyone's kitty...it is just because we all care. I understand that your illness makes changing the routine hard to do, but we all care about Smiffy's safety as well. It is just a matter of finding the safest approach for Smiffy and an approach that you are able to deal with.
Rest up and feel better.
Thanks - and I think my instincts with her are good ... she would let me know if something was wrong I am almost certain about that ... headache a bit better now Thanks again Linda xxxLooby, feed Smiffy whatever she will eat. I have a kibble addicted cat and know just how that feels but don't feel frustrated about it because there is nothing you can do to make Smiffy eat something she has no interest in. The fact that she ate any is far better than happens at my house so kudos to you. I agree that right now you do what you can and don't try changing Smiffy's diet. That is not the important thing right now. The important thing is to keep Smiffy safe and if she is in the bedroom with you or out with your husband and you leave food out for her and she'll eat when she feels the need, then she should be fine.
It's gone! Smiffy was again below 10 this evening so didn't give her her shot ..... Her appetite is back tonight so all is wellGlad your headache is slowly passing.
I have just done a +5 and she was 8.5 so I think the one unit I gave her this morning must have gone in .... I couldn't feel any wet fur this morning ..... she is fighting me a bit now when I test her so she has got her mo jo back which is good news but it makes things more difficult for me ...
For some reason today her numbers have gone up in the afternoon from 8.5 at +5 to preshot now in the evening at 12.7 so I am aiming to give her one unit tonight after she has eaten ... that will be safe ..........
I put some fresh biscuits out because she hardly ate anything for her tea so I think that's part of the reason also she dropped so quickly .... I want her to have the food there so that she gets used to having a little nibble when she is low ... she only had a little bit .... I put the food away now so that she is hungry for the morning ....didn't get another number as I fell asleep - just woken up again now - nearly 3 in the morning!!!It's ok Looby, at 7 she is still fine. You don't need to be feeding her until she gets a bit lower than that... conservatively around about 4.5 or 5. Check her again in about 30 minutes just to be sure she is holding steady and not still dropping. That is why we've been urging you to get that earlier test on the day cycles Looby. Smiffy is starting to come down and those early tests tell you if you need to be watching her more closely.
She was 12.3 at +1 and now 7.8 at +4 so that is a big drop - her curves seem to be a lot more of a curve the last couple of days ......... try not to worry .... she has had a lot more of her Diabetic biscuits than usual today .........
OK that makes sense ...... I thought I would give her a bit of a rest last night from Mummy testing her .... the preshot is the one that I am aiming for and normally at night I would try to get +2 and +3 or 4 ....... I am now really in the realms of the 'sugar dance' and now understand why it is so called!
Thanks for your remarks Donna - nice to hear from you and from somebody that is also using Caninsulin ....
Gosh just had a look at your spreadsheet @donnalea ...... Callie is on a high dose and her numbers are way more erratic than Smiffy's .... our cats were diagnosed around about the same time ....
Yes I think we are very lucky ... I certainly don't have data (readings and clinical signs) sufficient to really justify a change of insulin at this point in time ...... we will see how it goes ...Looby this is a perfect example of ECID (every cat is different) Callie may have other health issues that make it harder to get a good regulation. OR Callie may be one of those kitties that doesn't do as well on Caninulin/Vetsulin. OR Callie may just take longer to get into the good numbers.
Actually you have been fortunate with Smiffy, since she seems to be responding well to a low dose of Caninsulin even with a dry food diet.
Callie has had a UTI. She is on her third antibiotic. She finally seem to be getting better. The UTI sent her numbers sky high just when we were starting her insulin. We basically have to start all over again to get back where we started. I have more numbers to put into her SS in a little while.Looby this is a perfect example of ECID (every cat is different) Callie may have other health issues that make it harder to get a good regulation. OR Callie may be one of those kitties that doesn't do as well on Caninulin/Vetsulin. OR Callie may just take longer to get into the good numbers.
Actually you have been fortunate with Smiffy, since she seems to be responding well to a low dose of Caninsulin even with a dry food diet.
