Smiffy's July/August progress

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Looby & Smiffy

Looby & Smiffy

Member Since 2016
@MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi @Bonzo @Woodsywife @Carol and Rosie (Beaka) @Capoo @Marlena

I am starting a new thread for Smiffy.

You are familiar with her story but for the benefit of others with cats also on Caninsulin that want to follow Smiffy and your advice to me. here is recap first of her last trip to the Vet:

This is how Smiffy's July trip to the Vet 13th July went:

She thought that Smiffy was doing very well but couldn't say if she was heading for remission but that her numbers were (as we already know) in a much better range now.

They showed that she is doing well on Caninsulin, it seems to last longer in her than in most cats and there is no reason to change to another insulin at the moment - but the option was there for me if I wanted it now or in the future.

She is pleased too that she is testing negative for keytones and that she is generally well and back to her old self.

Her blood pressure under stress at the Vets was 140 I think she said but 'normal' and her slight murmur had not got any worse.

Smiffy has lost 0.1 KG (!) in a month which is better than nothing (Smiffy doesn't eat more than about 70g of her dry food Hills m/d per day so she is stilll on the slimming portion but I let her graze on it until about +7 so that it is there to snack on if she gets low BG).

She told me to continue to do preshot tests and approximate Nadir shots wherever I can and any other tests I feel necessary.

She told me to carry on with the plan which is not to inject if she is under 10, to give her 1 unit if she is between 10 and 14 and 1 1/2 if she is higher.

So that's it really .... just that she is and I am doing very well and improving and to keep up the good work

She sees no need to see her again for 3 months unless of course something happens and Roberta is always there if i need help.




So there you go @JanetNJ :)

Smiffy's preshot this morning was back up to 15 this morning but it is a very hot day and we have established that she is affected by the heat .....

The pen needle went in fine but toady for the first time in ages Smiffy has lashed out at me but she is in a bad mood anyway because there is a toddler next door screaming and she can't sit in peace in our back garden poor thing.

Her preshot last night was 14.2 and +3 10.4 so as MrWorfmen's Mom (Linda) has suggested on the last thread I am going to give Smiffy one and a half units instead of one this evening if her preshot is over 14 to try to get these numbers back down a bit.

Have a look at Smiffy's spreadsheet JanetNJ to see what I mean ......

Thanks again for your ongoing support and advice - Smiffy is very grateful and needs you as Mummy relies on you here as she doesn't get out of the house so this is her lifeline for looking after me :)
 
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Well we had a cooler day yesterday and Smiffy's numbers went down .... now the heat is back on her numbers are higher so there is defnitely a correlation between Smiffy's numbers and the weather .....

I am looking forward to hopefully giving her one and a half units tonight so see what effect it will have ...
 
Hey Looby, it's hotter than Hades here today. Feels like 35C/95F with the humidity and it's expected to hit 36C/97F. My girl's curve is totally upside down today! I'm wearing a bald patch on my head trying to figure her out so I'm going with the heat too!:D We'll see how Smiffy does tonight with the extra boost of insulin and hopefully slightly cooler temps!
 
This all sounds very positive Looby! I love the vet report - and what an awesome blood pressure result. 110-160 is normal range for cats, so Smiffy is right in the middle of normal even with vet stress (many cats suffer from white coat syndrome and I know I'm always recommended to take 20 points off Rosa's reading because of that, though she did manage a couple of 140s recently while she was hospitalized too). And I love your spreadsheet - look at all those tests you're getting done these days! :) While you do, of course, want to get Smiffy's numbers down just a touch still, it is definitely true that some cats are affected by excess heat...it's odd because every cat I've ever owned has actively looked for the warmest places to sleep, but they do reach a point where it's too much even for them. And I notice you have a note about a hairball a few days ago too - those can also affect readings and it is hairball season with the warmer weather.

Hopefully the slightly higher dose will get Smiffy back into the range you want her to be in. She really did have a lovely few days with those blue numbers before the weather got too hot for her, so seeing those back would be great. :) I wouldn't worry too much about Smiffy lashing out at you this morning - their bad moods do tend to get taken out on us because they know we'll forgive them. I had a similar situation with Roxi yesterday - she's been really good about getting her shots, but we had guys here yesterday replacing the windows so all the cats were shut in one room...and I had to somehow get her shot into her while she was snaking her head around trying to bite me because she was furious that she didn't have the run of the house as usual! The important thing is that you got it done...Smiffy will get over her bad mood and she'll do it better with some insulin on board stopping her numbers going too high.
 
Looking good - I think she will be able to cope with a 1.5u dose tonight and if you can get some readings later on it will be interesting to see her response to that.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Hey Looby, it's hotter than Hades here today. Feels like 35C/95F with the humidity and it's expected to hit 36C/97F. My girl's curve is totally upside down today! I'm wearing a bald patch on my head trying to figure her out so I'm going with the heat too!:D We'll see how Smiffy does tonight with the extra boost of insulin and hopefully slightly cooler temps!
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Oh goodness .... I used to love the heat and lie out in the sun all day or garden in the sun but these days (but hopefully not for alwasys as I am going to get better gradually) I can't ake it .....poor cats ....Smiffy and Pasha are flat out ..... yes I hope I get to give her the 1.5 units tonight and stay awake to do the +3 reading (:
 
manxcat419 said:
This all sounds very positive Looby! I love the vet report - and what an awesome blood pressure result. 110-160 is normal range for cats, so Smiffy is right in the middle of normal even with vet stress (many cats suffer from white coat syndrome and I know I'm always recommended to take 20 points off Rosa's reading because of that, though she did manage a couple of 140s recently while she was hospitalized too). And I love your spreadsheet - look at all those tests you're getting done these days! :) While you do, of course, want to get Smiffy's numbers down just a touch still, it is definitely true that some cats are affected by excess heat...it's odd because every cat I've ever owned has actively looked for the warmest places to sleep, but they do reach a point where it's too much even for them. And I notice you have a note about a hairball a few days ago too - those can also affect readings and it is hairball season with the warmer weather.

Hopefully the slightly higher dose will get Smiffy back into the range you want her to be in. She really did have a lovely few days with those blue numbers before the weather got too hot for her, so seeing those back would be great. :) I wouldn't worry too much about Smiffy lashing out at you this morning - their bad moods do tend to get taken out on us because they know we'll forgive them. I had a similar situation with Roxi yesterday - she's been really good about getting her shots, but we had guys here yesterday replacing the windows so all the cats were shut in one room...and I had to somehow get her shot into her while she was snaking her head around trying to bite me because she was furious that she didn't have the run of the house as usual! The important thing is that you got it done...Smiffy will get over her bad mood and she'll do it better with some insulin on board stopping her numbers going too high.
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Hello! It is so lovely to hear from you after a little while (:

Yes Smiffy has been doing well and I am quite the expert now at testing and most of the time Smiffy doesn't mind too much as she gets a nice treat each time! I even manage to give her her arthritis chew in a pill pocket each day disguised as a treat when I do her afternoon reading.

Smiffy is definitey very responsive to things that are going on albeit weather or a dog in the back garden (hence one of the purple numbers!) - even last night when she got half her poo stuck to her and ran through the house with it still attached to her bottom by a bit of grass I think may have elevated her number a bit - she was visibly embarrassed that I had to wipe her and clear up but gave her a treat and her Daddy gave her lots of strokes (:

I am really pleased that she has responded so well to Caninsulin and her numbers suggest that it lasts most of her cycle so she is one of the lucky cats. Of course if one day there was cause to change her to Glargine (Lantus) I would not hesitate but for now there is no point trying to fix something that is not broken.]

How are your two cats - or do you have more than two?

I am so pleased to see you here again (:
 
Right here we are and DH got home late so it is 10.10pm half an hour later for Smiffy's shot ....

Have just carried in her from the garden and she is preshot 13.5 so not sure whether go give her the 1.5 units or not as the plan was one unit with a preshot between 10 and 14.

Think it depends how much she eats .. Pasha is still out so Smiffy is distracted but she must be hungry so here goes .... good she is eating ....

If I give her 1.5 on this number I had better be around for +3 to test her which is going to be 1.30ish am ...... even if I don't test her I will have to check on her ... so far so good and she is eating well - in the bathroom though :)

Patience .. dum di dum dum dum ..... oopps stopped eating ... more dried chicken on top ....... that's working .... di dum di dum di dum dum ..... she has eaten well and will probably come back for more later ...... I'm going to go for the 1.5 units ...... done ..... I can go and relax now for three hours - back later!

+3 is 11.3 ...... now that is higher than yesterday preshot 14.2 +3 10.4! Mmmmmmmm she has eaten more? And just had a snack? Not what I was expecting at all - much higher .... humph!

Maybe I should review my plan and give her 1.5 if she is over 12 at night (instead of 14ish)? Especially if I leave her food out ....

Will try for a +4 if I don't fall asleep .... it's so hot here - melting .... ughhh.
 
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@MrWorfMen's Mom
Now I am wondering why Smiffy is 15 preshot this morning and why the 1.5 units last night has not brought down her BGs? Do you all think it will take a bit of time? Patience I suppose.

Giving her one unit this morning as usual .... she was very irritable with me again ...must be the hot weather still bothering her ......

I offered her a treat and she ran away ... it's upsetting me a bit that she doesn't trust me .... she will get over it - still hurts every time she shuns me .....
 
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Patience, patience and more patience, she will get there. Are you going to try another 1.5 units tonight?
 
Alexi is right. Patience is key. Right now, Smiffy is a tad lower at PMPS than she is at AMPS and she didn't drop a lot on the 1.5u last night so it looks like you could safely give her 1.5u during the day cycle as long as her pre-shot is 14/15 and she is eating alright before her shot. Does she eat better at night than in the morning or does she just have fussy times periodically with no real way to gauge? Just asking because the hot weather sometimes puts appetite off and I would only try the 1.5u during the day if she is eating well that morning. This is just food for thought Looby. I know you'd like to see Smiffy's numbers down a bit more but as always, only do what you feel comfortable doing.
 
Alexi said:
Patience, patience and more patience, she will get there. Are you going to try another 1.5 units tonight?
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Yes I will as long as she eats enough - you can see how comical in ways the whole ritual is for me each evening - hope that came across - she is so fickle and distracted when she eats (:
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Alexi is right. Patience is key. Right now, Smiffy is a tad lower at PMPS than she is at AMPS and she didn't drop a lot on the 1.5u last night so it looks like you could safely give her 1.5u during the day cycle as long as her pre-shot is 14/15 and she is eating alright before her shot. Does she eat better at night than in the morning or does she just have fussy times periodically with no real way to gauge? Just asking because the hot weather sometimes puts appetite off and I would only try the 1.5u during the day if she is eating well that morning. This is just food for thought Looby. I know you'd like to see Smiffy's numbers down a bit more but as always, only do what you feel comfortable doing.
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That is exactly my problem .... she eats more in the evening as she is in the house ..... I would not give her 1.5 units in the morning as she hardly eats at that time - she is distracted by the idea of going out and knows that I am going to test her ....... I am so cool about testing her now - it comes as second nature to me now so I am not stressed about it with her - she is just a little tinker when it comes to being messed about with ........

She is fractious at the moment because of the heat and a bit fed up that I have not taken her for a walk and sat with her in her favourite part of the garden that is some distance from the house ... it is way too humid and hot for me to sit out with her at the moment.

You can see by my post from last night how comical it is to do her test and feed and shot in the evening .... it takes about half an hour! Hope you enjoyed the narrative? :) She then grazes quite a bit (more than during hte day) so that might have kept her BG up. I think once she has eaten a good amount tonight after her shot I will put the food away so that she is a bit ore hungry in the morning then I could consider giving a morning 1.5 for the time being it is safer to do it in the evening.

I know I have to be patient ... her low numbers didn't happen straight way last time we upped her dose to 1.5.

I will definitley give her 1.5 units again tonight. You don't think after all that Capoo is right and that here is something wrong with the pen ... no there can't be as I did a shot into the sink and it was fine and sher BG would not be going down at all after a shot if is was not working ..... a good amount of insulin came out when I shot 1.5 units into the sink.

Oh bless her she is here wanting to go for a walk ..... I can go out there just to water the greenhouses but I feel too hot and anxious at the moment to stay down there .... she won't go there on her own .... we are so alike :)

Just as an aside - my computer (or the server or something!) is a bit weird with this site because I had to check to see if there were any posts .... my inbox on yahoo told me that here was one message from Alexi but you didn't come up and when I get on to this site the red alert box takes ages to come up? Also I can be typing something to sombody in a post and then there is a band that says I have a an alert and I have to repeat myself ..... could that be due to my server being slow? Doesn't matter if you don't know .....

It's strange and difficult for me to keep track of all the alerts as they are not all listed for example there is no record in the alerts of manxcat's alert yesterday ..... don't know how to put this right - I am going to miss alerts if I can't put this right .....
 
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Looby, the alerts and the timing of them is pretty much the same for everyone. The timing of your alerts or email notifications could be affected to some degree by your internet provider, your connection to the provider and just how busy the server on which the software for this board is at the time. We all experience those delays and yes it can be frustrating but I find that my best solution to see if there are more messages since I started typing mine, is to use the refresh button on your browser. Not a perfect solution by any means, but it has alerted me to messages with the little red alert number on the site far faster than waiting to see an email alert. Sometimes you will get that bar telling you someone else has posted and you can click on that and see what they wrote without losing your incomplete message. You'll often see two people posting on a thread at exactly the same time giving much the same info. It's not because people intentionally parrot stuff or repeat the same info but because the transmissions are not all the same speed and certainly not instantaneous. The joys of electronic communications that we just have to learn to deal with.

If Smiffy is not eating enough in the mornings then sticking with the lower dose is probably better. Or if Mummy's up to it, maybe you could take her out for a quick breakfast picnic before it gets too hot to entice her to eat more! :woot: Then bring her back in and give her shot and she can do her "pouting" after breakfast and her shot.;) Can you tell I spoil my kitties? :p
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Hello! It is so lovely to hear from you after a little while :)

Yes Smiffy has been doing well and I am quite the expert now at testing and most of the time Smiffy doesn't mind too much as she gets a nice treat each time! I even manage to give her her arthritis chew in a pill pocket each day disguised as a treat when I do her afternoon reading.

Smiffy is definitey very responsive to things that are going on albeit weather or a dog in the back garden (hence one of the purple numbers!) - even last night when she got half her poo stuck to her and ran through the house with it still attached to her bottom by a bit of grass I think may have elevated her number a bit - she was visibly embarrassed that I had to wipe her and clear up but gave her a treat and her Daddy gave her lots of strokes :)

I am really pleased that she has responded so well to Caninsulin and her numbers suggest that it lasts most of her cycle so she is one of the lucky cats. Of course if one day there was cause to change her to Glargine (Lantus) I would not hesitate but for now there is no point trying to fix something that is not broken.]

How are your two cats - or do you have more than two?

I am so pleased to see you here again :)
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Smiffy definitely is doing very well! It's always lovely to hear about a cat doing so much better. Treats really do work a lot of the time - there are always some cats that don't want to know about them, but a little bribery works in a lot of cases! :)

One of our cats is also very reactive to everything...some days she even seems to be scared of her own shadow and it really can be difficult to keep them calm enough. We're lucky because she's not one of the diabetics, but I can imagine only too well what that kind of reactiveness does to test numbers!

I agree completely - if it's not broken, then there's no reason to fix it. The best insulin for Smiffy is the one that works for her. It's great that she does respond to the Caninsulin because it means you don't have to go through changing insulins at this point - it's not all that difficult to switch, but each insulin varies in the way it works so any switch is a new way of thinking to get used to.

We have 4 cats here - Rosa, her twin Regan, Roxi and Licorice. Rosa has been really sick so I've only been here on and off recently, and really only looking at information without being all that active on posting a lot of the time.

Looby & Smiify said:
Now I am wondering why Smiffy is 15 preshot this morning and why the 1.5 units last night has not brought down her BGs? Do you all think it will take a bit of time? Patience I suppose.

Giving her one unit this morning as usual .... she was very irritable with me again ...must be the hot weather still bothering her ......

I offered her a treat and she ran away ... it's upsetting me a bit that she doesn't trust me .... she will get over it - still hurts every time she shuns me .....
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I wonder if it's a combination of the hot weather and Dawn Phenomenon - for a great number of cats, the AMPS reading is the very last one to drop towards the normal range as cats, just like humans, tend to have higher readings first thing in the morning. It's never a good thing to wake up to because of the higher number, but it is normal and knowing that can make it easier to be patient and see what happens later in the day. It does hurt when they have days when they don't want to know - I think a lot of cats go through times like that. Rosa would be really very good most of the time about testing, but then she'd have the odd day where she clearly just wanted to be left alone to do cat things. But she always got over it very quickly.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Looby, the alerts and the timing of them is pretty much the same for everyone. The timing of your alerts or email notifications could be affected to some degree by your internet provider, your connection to the provider and just how busy the server on which the software for this board is at the time. We all experience those delays and yes it can be frustrating but I find that my best solution to see if there are more messages since I started typing mine, is to use the refresh button on your browser. Not a perfect solution by any means, but it has alerted me to messages with the little red alert number on the site far faster than waiting to see an email alert. Sometimes you will get that bar telling you someone else has posted and you can click on that and see what they wrote without losing your incomplete message. You'll often see two people posting on a thread at exactly the same time giving much the same info. It's not because people intentionally parrot stuff or repeat the same info but because the transmissions are not all the same speed and certainly not instantaneous. The joys of electronic communications that we just have to learn to deal with.

If Smiffy is not eating enough in the mornings then sticking with the lower dose is probably better. Or if Mummy's up to it, maybe you could take her out for a quick breakfast picnic before it gets too hot to entice her to eat more! :woot: Then bring her back in and give her shot and she can do her "pouting" after breakfast and her shot.;) Can you tell I spoil my kitties? :p
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Yes I have to be patient and wait before I start to type ..... I don't know where my refresh button on my browser is?!

Having said all that, I came here just now as I had an e-mail alert that you had messaged and the red box is showing two posts so it is now working again!

Anyway the solution for me is to be patient and scrool up and down I think ....

It is difficult to take her out for a walk in the morning because DH is about and Smiffy gets distracted by him so usually he stays out of the way when it is feeding and shot time as he does in the evening too - he just doesn't like to get involved and of course there is our lovely Pasha too .....

So for the time being I will stick to the evening 1.5 shot and I will try putting her food away at about +5 in the evening so that she is more hungry in the morning ....

I bet you DO spoil your cats ........ ours are spoiled too ....... they have all the best seats in the house and Pasah gets lots of cuddles .... Smiffy is not a cuddly cat as she spent a lot of time in cage rest when she was little when she dislocated her back knee .... it all happened at a crucial time and then we had to put her and Sally (no longer with us) in a big pen cattery for three months whilst we had our house renovated ....

Our cats understand lots of words and meows .... Smiffy has over the last few years learned a few French phrases that she repsonds to (:
 
manxcat419 said:
Smiffy definitely is doing very well! It's always lovely to hear about a cat doing so much better. Treats really do work a lot of the time - there are always some cats that don't want to know about them, but a little bribery works in a lot of cases! :)

One of our cats is also very reactive to everything...some days she even seems to be scared of her own shadow and it really can be difficult to keep them calm enough. We're lucky because she's not one of the diabetics, but I can imagine only too well what that kind of reactiveness does to test numbers!

I agree completely - if it's not broken, then there's no reason to fix it. The best insulin for Smiffy is the one that works for her. It's great that she does respond to the Caninsulin because it means you don't have to go through changing insulins at this point - it's not all that difficult to switch, but each insulin varies in the way it works so any switch is a new way of thinking to get used to.

We have 4 cats here - Rosa, her twin Regan, Roxi and Licorice. Rosa has been really sick so I've only been here on and off recently, and really only looking at information without being all that active on posting a lot of the time.


I wonder if it's a combination of the hot weather and Dawn Phenomenon - for a great number of cats, the AMPS reading is the very last one to drop towards the normal range as cats, just like humans, tend to have higher readings first thing in the morning. It's never a good thing to wake up to because of the higher number, but it is normal and knowing that can make it easier to be patient and see what happens later in the day. It does hurt when they have days when they don't want to know - I think a lot of cats go through times like that. Rosa would be really very good most of the time about testing, but then she'd have the odd day where she clearly just wanted to be left alone to do cat things. But she always got over it very quickly.
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Yes thanks for that ...... Smiffy is now all soft on me as and if butter wouldn't melt so she has forgiven me from this morning ...... so you mean that Smiffy is waking to a higher number and doesn't feel as well as she might otherwise do?

Lovely names for your cats :) poor Rosa ... sending her healing and love ....

Yes Smiffy seems her old self on Caninsulin so if I can get her numbers to how they were before the heat wave I will be happy ... if they don't budge with the increase to 1.5 units in the evening then I might have to rethink.

Smiffy has always been a bit nervrous - doesn't like little people or other cats much and doesn't like other people in the house unless they are quietly spoken and flees for her life when the door goes bless her ...... I think she might have been a scard little kitten before we rescued her at 8 months.

Now I KNOW WHO YOU ARE (:
 
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Looby & Smiify said:
Yes thanks for that ...... Smiffy is now all soft on me as and if butter wouldn't melt so she has forgiven me from this morning ...... so you mean that Smiffy is waking to a higher number and doesn't feel as well as she might otherwise do?

Lovely names for your cats :) poor Rosa ... sending her healing and love ....

Yes Smiffy seems her old self on Caninsulin so if I can get her numbers to how they were before the heat wave I will be happy ... if they don't budge with the increase to 1.5 units in the evening then I might have to rethink.

Smiffy has always been a bit nervrous - doesn't like little people or other cats much and doesn't like other people in the house unless they are quietly spoken and flees for her life when the door goes bless her ...... I think she might have been a scard little kitten before we rescued her at 8 months.

Now I KNOW WHO YOU ARE :)
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Pretty much, yes. Even non-diabetic cats are likely to have a slightly higher number first thing in the morning and for a diabetic who is running a little above normal range anyway, that and the heat could definitely be affecting how she feels until her shot takes effect. :)

Thank you for the kind thoughts for Rosa - she is having a rough time, but we're doing our very best to get her through it all!

I would give Smiffy a few days and see what happens with her numbers - even with an in and out insulin, you don't want to increase too fast...the last thing you need is to be chasing the numbers on the way down especially the days she isn't eating as much!

Regan is very much like Smiffy in that respect - everything scares her. If anyone raises their voice at all, she runs...and if the doorbell rings, she runs away growling and hides! But with nervous cats, we can definitely give them a much happier life by understanding that they're nervous and being careful with them...just as you are with Smiffy. :)

Yes, it's me! :D I haven't been on here as much recently with all that's been going on with Rosa, but I'll make sure to look in on your posts here now as well as on Facebook. :)
 
Well I have had to carry Smiffy in kicking and screaming tonight to be tested and she was hissing like mad poor thing ...

She is preshot 13.8 so I am going to try 1.5 units and make sure I get a +3 number and if possible a +4 number ... last night her +4 was lower tahn the +3.

She is eating so that is the third hurdle over ..... patience ....... I have had to give her her bowl by the bathroom door that opens onto the garden and she is distracted .... oh she is back eating now .... stopped eating for the second time ... she likes to graze really ... oh eating again ..... I think her number is high enough and she has eaten enough for me to shoot her now ..... I will leave plenty of food out for her until about +7 ......

That was a bit strange! I know I turned the pen to 1.5 units but the sliding shooter didn't make the same click as usual ... will have to put that in her notes ... will soon find out later if I actually gave her a shot ... nearly gave it to her twice - I messed up maybe ... damn ... oh well it's just one evening ... back later ...
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Well I have had to carry Smiffy in kicking and screaming tonight to be tested and she was hissing like mad poor thing ...

She is preshot 13.8 so I am going to try 1.5 units and make sure I get a +3 number and if possible a +4 number ... last night her +4 was lower tahn the +3.

She is eating so that is the third hurdle over ..... patience ....... I have had to give her her bowl by the bathroom door that opens onto the garden and she is distracted .... oh she is back eating now .... stopped eating for the second time ... she likes to graze really ... oh eating again ..... I think her number is high enough and she has eaten enough for me to shoot her now ..... I will leave plenty of food out for her until about +7 ......

That was a bit strange! I know I turned the pen to 1.5 units but the sliding shooter didn't make the same click as usual ... will have to put that in her notes ... will soon find out later if I actually gave her a shot ... nearly gave it to her twice - I messed up maybe ... damn ... oh well it's just one evening ... back later ...
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Well, it's better that she gets no shot than 2. I guess you will just have to keep an eye on her.
 
The shot of 1.5 units tonight was a success after all ... to recap her preshot was 13.8 and her +3 is 8.7 and her +4 was 9.4

This is great!

This is with a good amount of food eaten before the shot and she grazed a bit around her Nadir which tonight seems to have been at +3.

This also means that I would not risk giving her the 1.5 unit dose in the morning when Smiffy doesn't eat as much.

It will be interesting to see now after these good readings what her readings are like in the morning .... if she is below 10 I will not give her a shot, if she is between 10 and 12 I will give her 0.5 unit and if she is 12 or over I will give her 1 unit ...sounds like a plan @Alexi?

I ask you in particular because you are also using Caninsulin but value the opinion of the rest of you too of course :)

I am really pleased with these numbers @manxcat419 and @MrWorfMen's Mom :)

@Capoo As a result of these readings I am now convinced that there is nothing wrong with Smiffy's Caninsulin pen but thanks again for making me aware of the possibility (:
 
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Callie and her twin brother were born under a shed in our back yard to a feral mother that wouldn't let anyone near her. My granddaughter spent hours taming the kittens who moved inside to live with our other cats. They are just loving sweet cats, spoiled by my granddaughters. I was away taking care of my
mom for several months when my hubby said he thought Callie had diabetes. I took her to the vet and it was confermed. I feel bad because we missed those months when we could have treated her earlier. She seems to be snapping back to her old self.
 
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What an awesome evening Smiffy's had Looby! :) I love those lower numbers on her. I'm so glad you didn't attempt the shot a second time - with or without the usual click from the pen, she definitely got that dose tonight! I agree, your Caninsulin pen is working just fine to get her down so much on tonight's cycle. :)
 
Woodsywife said:
I did this time. Nice yellows. I see some blues too. Question though-did you give less this morning?
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Yes I only give her one unit in the morning as I am not around for her Nadir to keep an eye on her ...

A few weeks ago she was in the 13s and 14s all day long so I discussed raising her dose a bit with her new Vet Roberta ...... we already know that 2 units twice a day is too much for her as she had two hypos and I was reluctant to raise the dose to 1.5 units morning and night becauase I am not around so we agreed to see what would happen if I just upped her dose in the evening when I can keep an eye on her - especially around her Nadir which seems to be at +3

Her numbers went into the blues and she didn't seem to need the 1.5 in the morning so all was well - she was even below 10 evening preshot so I didnt't have to give her any insulin... and the most I needed to give her was one unit morning or night .... Robert said below 10 no shot, between 10 and 14 one unit and above that 1.5 units

But then her numbers went up again as soon as the heat wave came along and her numbers have gone up again until the last couple of nights when I have given her 1.5 units and her numbers are gradually going down a bit last night and today.

I am at a stage now where I HAVE to do a preshot test now to decide what dose to give her in the evening.

I won't give her 1.5 units in the morning unless she is a good 14 or over.

It seems to be working for her so far .....

I may have to start adjusting her morning number if she is say just over 10 and give her just 0.5 units ....

I'm at the see how it goes stage with her now

Do you ever give Smokey a different dose in the morning to the evening?

Poor Smokey ... looks as if he has a lot of problems .... you must be a great Mum to keep him well as you do (:
 
donnalea said:
Callie and her twin brother were born under a shed in our back yard to a feral mother that wouldn't let anyone near her. My granddaughter spent hours taming the kittens who moved inside to live with our other cats. They are just loving sweet cats, spoiled by my granddaughters. I was away taking care of my
mom for several months when my hubby said he thought Callie had diabetes. I took her to the vet and it was confermed. I feel bad because we missed those months when we could have treated her earlier. She seems to be snapping back to her old self.
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Awww that's a sweet story ..... good job she has you now to look after her .....

Just looked at her spreadsheet - the last few days she has had some good blue numbers ...... I see you vary her dose a lot .... I have got to the stage where I vary the dose a bit now as you can see ....

Mostly in the past her numbers seem to jump around a lot don't they? Do you think she is finally becoming more stabalised now?

Smiffy is very reactive to her environment .... she saw a dog the other dayd and she shot up to a purple number!
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Yes I only give her one unit in the morning as I am not around for her Nadir to keep an eye on her ...

A few weeks ago she was in the 13s and 14s all day long so I discussed raising her dose a bit with her new Vet Roberta ...... we already know that 2 units twice a day is too much for her as she had two hypos and I was reluctant to raise the dose to 1.5 units morning and night becauase I am not around so we agreed to see what would happen if I just upped her dose in the evening when I can keep an eye on her - especially around her Nadir which seems to be at +3

Her numbers went into the blues and she didn't seem to need the 1.5 in the morning so all was well - she was even below 10 evening preshot so I didnt't have to give her any insulin... and the most I needed to give her was one unit morning or night .... Robert said below 10 no shot, between 10 and 14 one unit and above that 1.5 units

But then her numbers went up again as soon as the heat wave came along and her numbers have gone up again until the last couple of nights when I have given her 1.5 units and her numbers are gradually going down a bit last night and today.

I am at a stage now where I HAVE to do a preshot test now to decide what dose to give her in the evening.

I won't give her 1.5 units in the morning unless she is a good 14 or over.

It seems to be working for her so far .....

I may have to start adjusting her morning number if she is say just over 10 and give her just 0.5 units ....

I'm at the see how it goes stage with her now

Do you ever give Smokey a different dose in the morning to the evening?

Poor Smokey ... looks as if he has a lot of problems .... you must be a great Mum to keep him well as you do :)
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Will be interesting to see how he does. I never gave different doses. I asked vet a long time ago when he dropped really overnight. He said sure give less at night. Then Smokey changed to lows during daytime. So I never did it. He does have some issues but seems to be holding his own for now. The heat and humidity doesn't help even with a/c on. I can't imagine not having it though.
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Awww that's a sweet story ..... good job she has you now to look after her .....

Just looked at her spreadsheet - the last few days she has had some good blue numbers ...... I see you vary her dose a lot .... I have got to the stage where I vary the dose a bit now as you can see ....

Mostly in the past her numbers seem to jump around a lot don't they? Do you think she is finally becoming more stabalised now?

Smiffy is very reactive to her environment .... she saw a dog the other dayd and she shot up to a purple number!
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She got excited over the dog. I would understand if the blood pressure shot up but glucose????
 
Woodsywife said:
She got excited over the dog. I would understand if the blood pressure shot up but glucose????
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Yes ...... if you look at her spreadsheet - she had a 16.8 purple number! I tested her when we came in from the garden just to see if it had made a difference and that was her reading!
 
@MrWorfMen's Mom @Alexi @manxcat419
So Smiffy is preshot 13.9 this evening and she has eaten quite well and will graze so I am going to give her a 1.5 unit shot tonight and see what happens at +3 .....

Her +3 tonight is 11.5 which compared to last night at 8.7 is really really disappointing ...... mmmmm wonder why - she is really realaxed and she hasn't eaten much?
 
Maybe she is just having a bit of a delayed nadir tonight. Nadir's do move a bit for unknown reasons and that +3 is not really that much higher. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Maybe she is just having a bit of a delayed nadir tonight. Nadir's do move a bit for unknown reasons and that +3 is not really that much higher. I wouldn't worry about it.
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Thanks Linda ....... she has retired for the night now so I am going to leave her for today .....

Tomorrow is another day (:
 
Looby & Smiify said:
Awww that's a sweet story ..... good job she has you now to look after her .....

Just looked at her spreadsheet - the last few days she has had some good blue numbers ...... I see you vary her dose a lot .... I have got to the stage where I vary the dose a bit now as you can see ....

Mostly in the past her numbers seem to jump around a lot don't they? Do you think she is finally becoming more stabalised now?

Smiffy is very reactive to her environment .... she saw a dog the other dayd and she shot up to a purple number!
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I tend to give a dose depending on her PS numbers. I am scared that she might go Hypo, especially when she has some low naders. We have had some bounces after low numbers.
 
donnalea said:
I tend to give a dose depending on her PS numbers. I am scared that she might go Hypo, especially when she has some low naders. We have had some bounces after low numbers.
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I am not surprised that you are afraid of hypos as they are very frightening - Smiffy has had two which were before I was testing her.

I noticed that last night you have Callie's preshot number was in the blue range and you gave her 3 units which seems a bit high and then you had a low +2 number which may have gone on to be even lower at +3 which would be more the time of her Nadir (lowest point).

But then you seem to have fairly high preshot numbers in the morning.

I have been told here and by my Vet not to give any Caninsulin if Smiffy's number is below 10 (180).
If she is between 10 and 14 (180 - 250) to give one unit or at the most 1.5 units
And about 14 (250) to give 1.5 (Smiffy doesn't tend to go much higher ever than 300 now at any given time unless under a great deal of stress)

I am wondering if your Vet might give you a similar sort of guide for Callie? I am just concerned that her doses might be a bit high when she has a preshot in the blue numbers?

Also what does your Vet say about the rather broad range of numbers you are getting generally?

I am sure it is nothing to worry about .... it is probably to do with the fact that Callie is still getting used to the Caninsulin but it might be worth asking the question.

Are you able to show this spreadsheet to your Vet?
 
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I think Smiffy is doing fine tonight overall Looby. The numbers do tend to go up and down a bit - as long as she's not spiking really high or dropping really low, I wouldn't worry too much about day to day variation. It's difficult when you see a good run of blue numbers and then they have a day where they stay in the yellow range - we've all been there and it is disheartening, but as long as Smiffy is feeling good, the variation isn't enough to be worrying at the moment. :)
 
I should also say, sorry for the delayed reply Looby. Our Roxi had a massive allergic reaction to the Advantage 2 we used on her this morning...a full on hyperventilating, raised temperature, bordering on hypo from her insulin reaction. So we had to rush her off to the vet who thought it might have been an infection, and then the ER vet who pinned it down to the flea treatment. She'll be in overnight so they can give her a bath and monitor her breathing, but she's going to be fine...it just meant I was offline for quite a while!
 
manxcat419 said:
I should also say, sorry for the delayed reply Looby. Our Roxi had a massive allergic reaction to the Advantage 2 we used on her this morning...a full on hyperventilating, raised temperature, bordering on hypo from her insulin reaction. So we had to rush her off to the vet who thought it might have been an infection, and then the ER vet who pinned it down to the flea treatment. She'll be in overnight so they can give her a bath and monitor her breathing, but she's going to be fine...it just meant I was offline for quite a while!
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Oh my goodness .... glad she is going to be OK .... am just off to bed as it is nearly 4.30 am so let me know more about it and how she is tomorrow by FB message ......loads of hugs xxx
 
I will, and thank you for the thoughts for her. It was really quite terrifying - she was fine one minute and jumping and twitching and hyperventilating the next. So of course we checked her BG, which was low-ish at 54 US, but not dangerously low then figured it had to be something else and rushed her off to the vet! 3 hours and $600 later, at least we know she will recover. :)
 
Thank you Linda. We were really worried about her for a bit - especially when our regular vet said her temperature was over 104! Apparently it was all part of the reaction and it came right back down an hour later, but they were talking about ultrasounds and chest x-rays and IVs for a bit until they figured it all out! I will let you know how she's doing tomorrow, though we're not expecting any long term effects fortunately. :)
 
manxcat419 said:
I should also say, sorry for the delayed reply Looby. Our Roxi had a massive allergic reaction to the Advantage 2 we used on her this morning...a full on hyperventilating, raised temperature, bordering on hypo from her insulin reaction. So we had to rush her off to the vet who thought it might have been an infection, and then the ER vet who pinned it down to the flea treatment. She'll be in overnight so they can give her a bath and monitor her breathing, but she's going to be fine...it just meant I was offline for quite a while!
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April,
really sorry to hear about your horrific experience! So glad you avoided all the testing which would be stressful for Roxi and would cost you a lot of money!
I don't know if you like more natural and harmless treatment but after reading this I would like to tell you what I do with my pets (I really hate strong chemicals to kill flees):
I USE DIATOMATEOUS EARTH and even with the very hot summer we are having I haven't seen any flees!
Please google it, I can provide more information if you are interested.
Could others please share how they deal with flees in more holistic way.
Hugs to everybody,
Marlena
 
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