? Spreadsheet comments / suggestions?
- Thread starter shelaghc
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Kris & Teasel
Member Since 2016
I've had a look and I think many of us would agree when I say:
- you need to get a test before every shot to know if a planned dose is safe. If you're using a human meter test strips are more economical and you need a large supply of them.
- the data you do have is somewhat inconclusive: the 2 u dose could be too high and he's bouncing like crazy to pinks and reds OR it's too low
- I'd get a full curve done ASAP at this 2 u dose. Between now and then aim to get a pre shot test before every dose.
shelaghc
Member Since 2017
I've only populated this recently - mostly using historical data that I've collected on my own. The majority of the background on the info is in the notes section.
Up until mid-October all of the testing was done in the two different vets' offices. Frankly I've been very shy about doing the testing and hurting Jester in the process. Plus both vets were skeptical about me using a human meter until I brought the OneTouch meter with me to the second vet and showed him just how close the numbers are.
From then (October 18th) until this past week, I've been keeping to the same approximate testing time (four to six hours after insulin) that the vet used because that's the data he specifically wanted.
I've only taken the AM/PM plunge in the last few days because I've finally felt more confident about what I'm doing. Of course, it sometimes took as many as three to five tries with test strips sometimes to even get a reading because I wasn't getting enough blood or Jester would squirm because it was taking so long.
To me, some of my most important anecdotal data has been about how the food relates to his BG. While Jester was originally eating a pretty damn high carb food (Friskies Indoor with gravy and rice), I moved him to a mid-range carb (Friskies filets), but have been slowing encouraging him towards the lower carb pates.
Yesterday when his BG dropped by over 250 points in about a 24-hour period, the biggest difference was that he'd exclusively eaten low carb food. I gave him about 1/3 can of the filets again and, without insulin, it spiked up to over 400 again (even higher than it had been the day before) in just four hours.
Back in late July / early August, I had pushed aggressively to reduce Jester's carbs which resulted in his BG going dangerously low (lowest was 52). But he also stopped eating almost at all. The vet wasn't so much concerned about what foods Jester ate, as long as it wasn't dry. As a result, I didn't connect the extremely low BG with the change in food as much as I should have.
Jester was off insulin for over a month, but he was still eating his favorite high carb food (but not dry stuff) and he wound up back on insulin in late September.
This, to me, is just as important as the BG numbers. I just wish there was a more prominent place in the spreadsheet for food info than the notes section.
Up until mid-October all of the testing was done in the two different vets' offices. Frankly I've been very shy about doing the testing and hurting Jester in the process. Plus both vets were skeptical about me using a human meter until I brought the OneTouch meter with me to the second vet and showed him just how close the numbers are.
From then (October 18th) until this past week, I've been keeping to the same approximate testing time (four to six hours after insulin) that the vet used because that's the data he specifically wanted.
I've only taken the AM/PM plunge in the last few days because I've finally felt more confident about what I'm doing. Of course, it sometimes took as many as three to five tries with test strips sometimes to even get a reading because I wasn't getting enough blood or Jester would squirm because it was taking so long.
To me, some of my most important anecdotal data has been about how the food relates to his BG. While Jester was originally eating a pretty damn high carb food (Friskies Indoor with gravy and rice), I moved him to a mid-range carb (Friskies filets), but have been slowing encouraging him towards the lower carb pates.
Yesterday when his BG dropped by over 250 points in about a 24-hour period, the biggest difference was that he'd exclusively eaten low carb food. I gave him about 1/3 can of the filets again and, without insulin, it spiked up to over 400 again (even higher than it had been the day before) in just four hours.
Back in late July / early August, I had pushed aggressively to reduce Jester's carbs which resulted in his BG going dangerously low (lowest was 52). But he also stopped eating almost at all. The vet wasn't so much concerned about what foods Jester ate, as long as it wasn't dry. As a result, I didn't connect the extremely low BG with the change in food as much as I should have.
Jester was off insulin for over a month, but he was still eating his favorite high carb food (but not dry stuff) and he wound up back on insulin in late September.
This, to me, is just as important as the BG numbers. I just wish there was a more prominent place in the spreadsheet for food info than the notes section.
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