Tommy AMPS 381

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Sandy&Tommy

Sandy&Tommy

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I am thinking that Tommy is bouncing and need input as to what to try next. Just so you know I will be doing a curve tomorrow every +2 as I will be home all day. I will post those numbers tomorrow. After his dog food high on the 11th, I can't seem to get his numbers down except for the 13th. I have been working weird hours again so it has been difficult to stay at 12 hours apart. DH gives him a snack around +5-7 when he is home.(Most days) Could it be that DH is giving him too much? I've told him a tablespoon or so, but he has had a head injury and it takes awhile for him to learn something like this. We have two civies and between them they drive him crazy wanting food. Please let me know your thoughts.

Sandy
 
Hi Sandy,

On the 13th, it looked like a good day. Wonder what the nadir looked like? I'll be watching for your curve numbers tomorrow. They should give us some answers.

How much is everyone getting to eat?
 
1/2 can of the big cans or the little Fancy Feast size? I just gave Paula this weight guide:

20-30 calories per pound of ideal body weight, per day. That will keep a healthy cat at its ideal weight. The range of calories is dependent upon a few factors, one of which would be level of activity.

100 point drop in 4 hours - not too much. Depending on nadir and how much he goes up and how fast, it might be time for a little increase.
 
It is the 1/2 can of Friskies or 9 Lives. Actually one of his civies is a smaller cat and usually leaves about a third of his food, and Tommy moves right in to the bowl after Simon leaves it. Tommy was 13lbs when I took him to the vet a month ago. He was 19lbs last year. He really likes the wet food and doesn't seem fussy about what kind or flavor. It's food and that is all he cares about! :razz:

His AMPS was 217 and dropped to 184 at +2. I got a few drops in his syringe and know for certain it went in and wasn't a fur shot. I remember almost a month ago I was doing a curve and was just learning about how to do Tommy's pokes. I remember sobbing after trying three times to get blood before finally doing so. Now it goes well and Tommy will sometimes jump up on the bed for his poke. I think I used up the first bottle of strips in about a week or so. This new bottle is going much slower.

I know it has only been a month since he was dx and with the reduced insulin over time, I'm thinking he may be a candidate for for getting otj. At least I hope so. Is there a common time frame that Tommy would maybe go otj? If so, would we have to be pretty much on tight control of his BG? I'll be back after awhile with more numbers.

Thanks!!!!
Sandy
 
Unfortunately it is different for every cat. Some go off right away; some take years. Tommy does look like a good candidate as he is on a very small amount of insulin and is doing well. Very nice amps this morning. The +2 can be the food. Food raises bg levels so the drop may have been slowed by his eating. (this is a valuable thing - if he'd ever drop dangerously low, you can slow the drop with food)

Yes, you can be more aggressive to try to get them OTJ. You need to be able to monitor and be ready to bring a number up with food. That's hard for someone who is gone during the day. So after today, see what the nadir is and what his numbers look like after. We can help you put together a sliding scale so you'd shoot more at 300 than 200. Sometimes that works. The other thing that might help is to get U100 needles and use the conversion chart. Then if you want to shoot under .25 on a little lower number, you can do that. You can also shoot a .4 or .6 instead of only a .5
 
Tommy was 134 at +4 and 224 at +6.5
We were going out to an early supper tonight so I gave the boys a 1 Tblsp treat of LC. (DH usually overdoes the "treat") I did this as I wasn't sure when we would be back and didn't want him to bounce. I think he does that at a higher rather than lower numbers.

I am planning to get the U100 syringes, though at first I didn't didn't know to get syringes in 1/2 unit markings. The second box came because I thought I was getting the 1/2 unit markings and somehow ordered the wrong box. I now have two boxes of syringes that I cannot use as the markings are so very tiny. :lol: Since I have decided to stay with ProZinc and not switch to Novolin N I went and bought a box of U40, but couldn't find with 1/2 unit markings. That was when he was on .5u or more. As far as the U100 syringes, I'm thinking of donating them if possible to someone who needs them. I'll keep the U40 ones in-case I need .5 or more.

I think I like the idea somewhat to use a sliding scale. I know that I will be treating the higher BG rather than try to prevent it. I agree that it is so much harder for me to try for tight control as my work hours vary so much. Last night I got home at midnight and tested Tommy and shot him. Then we started this morning around 9am so I could get a good curve reading today. Do you think I should continue tomorrow since I will be home again all day? If so would you want me to try a different dose in the morning? Thanks for your help. I know that you know how much I appreciate all of the help everyone has given me to let my baby live a better and longer life.
 
Well, if he is in the higher 200s or 300s for pmps, you could try a fat .5 - if you can monitor. When your schedule make it difficult for you to be a little more daring on weekdays, you can up the dose a litle and monitor on the weekend.
 
U-40 syringes do not have half unit markings. You can line up a ruler next to the syringe so you can consistently measure a level, but you won't have a precise value.

You can use the U-100 syringes to dose U-40 insulin;.
Basically every U-100 unit mark = 0.2 units of U-40 insulin.
Or, U-40 is 40 units per mL vs U-100 with 100 units per mL- 40% the concentration
Thus
0.4 * U-100 mark = U-40 dose
0.4 * 0.5 = 0.2 units U-40
0.4 * 1.0 = 0.4 units U-40
0.4 * 1.5 = 0.6 units U-40
0.4 * 2.0 = 0.8 units U-40
0.4 * 2.5 = 1.0 units U-40
0.4 * 3.0 = 1.2 units U-40
Etc
 
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