To panic or not to panic?

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arozeboom

arozeboom

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Hi...its me again.

At 5:30 Ruby was 328. She ate a can of FF and I have her just a teeny bit over 1 unit of PZI. (less than the 1.5 the doc suggested yesterday).
I didn't give her a shot this morning because of how her numbers dropped overnight so it was roughly 24 hours between shots.

Now, at about +3.5 after the shot, she's 91. Is that really wrong? She's acting totally fine, even playing.
 
That is a pretty fast drop. I would plan to watch her tonight. Do you have some gravy higher carb food and some Karo, if you need it? Enough strips?

We don't worry until they get down near 40. Then you can give her a little higher carb food and increase testing.

I would test again in another hour.
 
You don't have to panic unless she goes under 50; but it's early in the cycle so keep a close eye out.
 
I have plenty of strips, glucose spray, several kinds of food and some simple syrup I use in my coffee every day (sugar and water boiled down).

As soon as she starts going back up, we're in the clear?

The is the first time she hit double digits.
 
Yes, if she heads up, not further down, you should be good.

If you hit 40, then you need two tests heading up before you can figure she is in good shape.
 
It depends. If she starts going up on her own, for two consecutive tests 30 minutes apart, wait another hour and test again. If she's still going up, you're probably good. If she drops low 50's or lower) and you have to assist her by giving HC, Once you get the 2 rrising tests at 30 minutes apart, you can go to an hour apart, but I'd get at least two hourly tests as the HC stuff can wear off before the insulin does. If you know your cat's nadir time, you're probably safe once she's passed it and is rising after another hour.

My cat can dive like that (went from 237 preshot tonight to 76 at +4), but I don't panic unless it's really early. Mikey's nadir is usually by +4, so if I get rising tests after that, I feel pretty confident he's fine. I used to panic if his +2 was a steep drop. Now I just test at +3 and go from there as I know he'll slow down after that. The more data you get over time, the easier this deal gets!
 
She just tested 46 at +4. Should I go ahead and give her some of the glucose spray and gravy food?

I haven't been able to get a really reliable curve yet. The vet did one yesterday but it was way skewed because the stress really seems to get her while she's there.
 
I would guess you will need to stay up tonight for awhile. Her nadir is probably around 6 hours after the shot. I would test again in 20 minutes. If she is at 40, you can give her a little bit of the gravy from a higher carb food, test in 15 minutes and see if she goes up.
 
I have some Purina One SmartBlend Classic Beef Recipe Pate. Is that higher carb?
The husband is going out to get FF with Gravy.
 
Why don't you go back up to your original post and add the 911 symbol. I don't know how long I can stay on with you. Maybe someone else is on who can stay up longer.

The gravy is best because you can just give the gravy, not the food. You don't want to get her full. You want her to eat when you need her to, so small feedings are best.

53 is better but remember with the 20% variance, it is almost the same number. Don't relax yet. Did you feed between the 46 and 53?
 
I added the 911.

I didn't do anything in the 15 minutes between the 46 and 53. I'll test her again in a few minutes.

Thanks so much for your help, Sue. This is my first time with this kind of situation. I have to say, its not fun.
 
It's a little scary the first time, but usually pretty manageable by giving a little high carb at a time and monitoring. You are doing fine. Remember to keep breathing. :-D
 
Why don't you give her a little bit of her regular food? She isn't plummeting, so maybe regular carb food will keep her in the upper 40s- 50 until she hits nadir and starts back up.
 
I'll try that.

Don't stay online on my account. I'll just keep testing her until she starts back up again. Who needs sleep anyway? ;-)
 
55. So basically with the variance she's pretty steady?

Every time I pick her up she looks at me like she's thinking, "This again? Seriously? I don't know what you're going on about! I'm just hanging out."
She's got a pretty good sense of humor, I think.
 
I've always thought most cats must have a good sense of humor - they seem to be always laughing at us.

If she is hanging out in the 40-50 range, that's good. How far are you from +6?
 
About an hour or so.

Our vet, Dr.K, is glad that I'm home testing and we agreed that I'd run a full curve on the 21st, roughly a week and a half after the increase in dosage. Ruby gets so stressed at their office we don't think they'll every get an accurate curve there. I'm going to call her in the morning and give her the rundown on tonight's fun. I'm going to go ahead and also run a full one this Saturday. I've been keeping lots of charts & spreadsheets and a notebook.
 
The other thing is, regardless of your number in the morning, I would lower the dose. 1.25 is a little high if it gives you a 40 that early in the cycle. Your amps may be higher because she could bounce from the lower numbers tonight, but I would shoot less than the 1.25.

It's also possible that she may just surf tonight in the 50 range. That would be fine as long as she doesn't dip down in the 40s. I would just keep offering a little bit at a time of the regular food.
 
About 10 minutes ago she was 59. She's not too interested in her regular food. I'm giving her some gravy.
 
It looks like she may surf in the double digits awhile. When you get 2 tests above 60, you should be able to relax. Be careful with your dose tomorrow morning.

Great job tonight. Next time you see a 50, you'll know what to do.
 
I think we'll be ok. I can't thank you enough for walking me thru this. I was seriously hitting the edge of panic at the first double digit test.

Should I take the 911 tag off?
 
A quick follow up...by 2:00 AM (+8) she was at 192 and by 5:00 AM (+11) at 312. She ate a good amount of breakfast (almost a whole can of FF) and is pretty chipper this morning.

I really worry about giving her any shot this morning though, because I'll be gone all day.
 
I can't help but wonder if this is Ruby's body reacting to the high numbers at the vet the day prior. When a kitty goes low, the liver will dump extra sugar as it's not used to the kitty being low after being high for so long. Could this be her body trying to do the opposite? Could her pancreas be trying to help?

For a dose, I'd be tempted to do either a fat 1u or skinny 1.25u (a hair over/under respectively) and leave food out. If I were terrified (not uncommon for me) and couldn't check during the day, I'd stay closer to the 1u. That's just me though. :-D
 
Would it be horrible to not give her any without talking to the vet? Her numbers have been all over the map since this first started and we've yet to get her regulated.

At 5:00 before she ate she was 312. 90 minutes later, after eating almost a full can and no shot, she's 313.
 
Good morning! Glad she went up last night.


Yes, I think you can wait for the vet. It may take a while longer for the food to hit and raise her up, or her pancreas may be helping out. If her pancreas is helping out, this won't necessarily be a matter of regulation. It could be a path to remission. (anti jinx)

If you can't be home but want to give some insulin, you could do a token like .5?
 
I chatted with Dr. K. She said to hold off on the insulin tonight but to keep testing her and making sure she's eating the way she should be. If I'm still concerned or her numbers are low in the morning she said I should just wait until tomorrow night before I give her anymore insulin.

Sue, thanks again for rescuing me and Ruby last night!
 
arozeboom - Leko and I just did our first double digit dip (can I coin a new term for that? Lol) a few nights ago. Just wanted to commiserate! :)
 
Missed out on the whole thing, but wanted to say good job staying with her and finding someone to help and ASKING for the help!
Ruby might be doing this on her own before tooo long??? just maybe???
:razz:
 
She was down to 262 before dinner tonight with no insulin for 24 hours.

Once you've made the switch from dry to only low carb canned food, how long is feasible for their glucose to start going down on its own and staying there?
 
It varies from cat to cat, My Maxwell was diet controlled in a couple of weeks, Musette who eats exactly the same thing is still insulin dependent after 6 months.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.
 
I'm not holding my breath but I would absolutely love it if we could get her close to regulated with the food.
 
Looks like a great # with dry food in the pix too??? wow, gooood girl!
Bean dropped alot on .35 & .50 when she was heading for remission.... once that food was changed and her body had a bit to heal....OTJ we were!!!
Saying prayers for ya both
 
Last night I put a few nuggets of dry DM in her bowl. She walked up, sniffed it and looked at me like "What the heck is that doing in my bowl?"
 
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