Thoughts on Whisky's numbers?

whiskysmom

whiskysmom

Member
Hey ProZinc users! I'm a newbie and am curious about your thoughts on Whisky's numbers. We just started home testing recently so don't have a ton of data, and I know we need to get more mid-cycles during the night. But I'm curious your thoughts based on what we have.

A couple of pieces of info that might be helpful:
  • Whisky is 6.6kg or about 14.5 pounds (stable weight since initial hospitalization)
  • Whisky was diagnosed with Pancreatitis and DKA. Testing ketones regularly - no ketones since his hospitalization.
  • We are feeding him the bulk of his food AM and PM with his shot, plus 1 or 2 snacks between meals. I'm not marking all snacks in the spreadsheet - just ones where it might affect BG test numbers.
  • Whisky wakes me up once each night for a snack.
  • We are using the FreeStyle Lite human meter. We recently compared it with our vet's AT2 using the same blood sample and ours read lower (ours read 11 and his read 16).
  • His fructosamine test 2 weeks ago was virtually unchanged from the month before (in the 600s). So the vet suggested a substantial dose increase to 3 units. We were nervous so tried 2.5 and his behaviour really changed and he would barely eat, so we reduced to 2.0 Units and have been there about 2 weeks. The vet agreed with this reduction and we're supposed to have another appointment in a couple of weeks.
  • His pees have started to grow a little bit in size again.
  • We will try to get some more mid-cycles in the night, now that we're more confident testing and getting into the routine a bit better. We've missed some pre-shot tests for various reasons but are getting much more consistent.
I'm wondering if he has some bounces that cause his pre-shot numbers to sometimes be lower. Or if he nadirs late (maybe +7 or +8 sometimes?), or if he is sometimes getting longer duration out of his shots.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I have no experience with Prozinc, but I'd like to make a suggestion. Kitties often go lower at night, and a before bed test will help you assess how this dose is currently working. You may be right, there could be some bouncing, and some mid cycle tests will give you a better idea. I cannot comment on dose, since I am not familiar with your insulin.
 
The first thing that sticks out for me is that there appear to be a number of times you have given insulin without doing a pre-shot reading. Pre-shot readings tell you if it is safe to give the cat insulin. Any time you get pre-shot of 5 (90 US) or less, it's best to stall without feeding and retest in 15 to 20 minutes to see if BG is rising on its own. Right now, I would not give the full dose of insulin unless BG is at least 11 (200 US) until you see how low BG is going.

On Dec 2nd, there is no pre-shot test on the SS so we have no idea whether Whisky might have been lower that morning which might explain the lower BG later in the cycle and at the PM pre-shot test. There also is no pre-shot or mid cycle testing on the PM cycle of Dec 1st so there is no way to know what Whisky's BG did overnight to know if the AM of the 2nd was lower or not. On the PM cycle of the 2nd, it appears Whisky bounced from that lovely green reading at pre-shot.

With that low BG at the end of the Dec2nd AM cycle, I really don't know if 2u is Ok or if you should perhaps reduce down to 1.75u and try that for a few days but I definitely wouldn't increase the dose until you get more mid cycle tests to see how low the current dose or a reduced dose of 1.75u is taking Whisky. Dosing decisions should be based on how low BG is going mid cycle while pre-shot tests dictate whether it's safe to shoot.

As Christie mentioned, kitties often go lower at night so getting some tests during the night cycle is very helpful. At minimum a before bed test and if your shot time is early enough, another earlier at +2 or +3 post shot can also provide clues as to where the cycle is heading. The lowest point in the cycle with ProZinc usually occurs between +4 and +7 post shot but it can occur earlier or later in some cats. During the day cycles, when you are able, it would be good to concentrate testing between +3 and +8 randomly to try to determine when Whisky hits nadir (lowest point in cycle).

See what tests you can get in the next 2 or 3 days and then we can have another look and see if Whisky needs a dose adjustment up or down. :)
 
Thanks @Si am cat mom and @Christie & Maverick and @MrWorfMen's Mom

Trying really really hard to get all pre-shot tests. We've missed a few for various reasons, but getting much more consistent, and able to test solo now almost every time I try. My husband is also getting more comfortable solo so we should have more consistency there now.

We normally get more mid-cycles over the weekend, but this weekend I'm putting on 3 recitals for my music students, (yes 3!) so sleep is going to be a priority! Our shot time is pretty late, but will try for a bedtime test tonight and as many tests as we're able to over the next little while :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top