up & down readings

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SuePea

SuePea

Member Since 2015
OK, I'm mildly frustrated. Charlie keeps getting these low nighttime readings, so I don't shoot him & then his sugars jump big-time during the day. And today, he got into food I put out for our civvie, Moustache, and I didn't get to check his sugar until he was halfway done eating. I don't know if it makes that much of a difference, that fast. And this is the second time I've hit the plunger on the syringe before I actually got the needle in. I'm hoping at +2 it will start to drop...
 
You may need to reduce his dose down to .75 or .5 so you can get 2 shots in per day

If he's too low to shoot at either AMPS or PMPS, reducing the dose can be the answer

If the food he got into was high carb, then yes, it can make a huge difference. I just switched all my cats over to low carb so if China got into their food, I didn't have to worry about it. Makes things a lot easier in a multi-cat home
 
Both cats are getting the same food, fortunately. Moustache could stand to lose a little weight himself, so I have him eating the exact same as Charlie. His sugar is coming down now, it's just under 400 at +3. They are eating 9 Lives although I'm really toying with the idea of going for a more expensive food that has zero carbs to see how it goes. I'm thinking it would be worth it if it gets him off the juice. Overall I'm not incredibly worried because he's drinking wayyyyy less and he's just looking much brighter around the head, more alert etc. I had him playing with me a little bit ago. Nothing incredibly energetic but I'll take it!
 
Isn't ProZinc one of the insulins that you base each dose on the PreShot BG? I thought it was dosed on a sliding scale so you would still shoot those blue numbers but with a lower dose and then a higher dose with those higher numbers. However I'm a lantus girl so I may be off base.

If you tested within 5 mins of Charlie starting in on Moustache's food that food wouldn't have been reflected in his BG at that point.
 
ProZinc is what I use, my vet suggests that the dose be kept the same for at least 3 days as it takes a little time for their body to learn what to do with it. However, if numbers are dangerously high or low, then the dosage would be changed immediately.
 
SuePea said:
Charlie keeps getting these low nighttime readings, so I don't shoot him & then his sugars jump big-time during the day. And today, he got into food I put out for our civvie, Moustache, and I didn't get to check his sugar until he was halfway done eating. I don't know if it makes that much of a difference, that fast. And this is the second time I've hit the plunger on the syringe before I actually got the needle in. I'm hoping at +2 it will start to drop...
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Hi,
I agree with Chris that it looks like the dose needs to be reduced so that the numbers can level out a bit, and so that you can give shots am and pm. My 'feeling' is that .5 of a unit would be a good starting point. And you can always increase if it isn't enough. (But see what others say also.)

Regarding giving the shots, and 'pushing the plunger' before getting the needle in place: It's OK to take a long deep breath and just slow down.... When Bertie was first diagnosed I hated giving shots (was needle-phobic) and messed up quite a few by trying to rush the process. I just wanted it to be 'over'! Then someone gave me the tip of mentally counting to 5 while giving the shot. The counting gave me 'space' to ensure that I was giving the shot correctly. I could check that I had inserted the needle properly under the skin, then press the plunger, then press again for good measure to make sure I had completely emptied the barrel of the syringe, and then withdraw the syringe. I don't know if this will work for you also, but it might be worth a try...?

Eliz
 
Vyktors Mum said:
Isn't ProZinc one of the insulins that you base each dose on the PreShot BG? I thought it was dosed on a sliding scale...
Click to expand...
It can be given in fixed doses (and held for a time at the same dose) or with sliding scale, whichever works best for the individual kitty. And dosing takes into account both the preshot number and the nadir.

Sliding scale is particularly useful for kitties with variable BG numbers.

Eliz
 
You can't do sliding scale until you have test data showing you how much of a drop you get with a dose starting at a particular glucose range. In other words, once you have both preshot and midcycle data over a couple of weeks, you may be able to develop a sliding scale.

For right now, you might want to stabilize on the 0.75 unless she goes lower than 50 mg/dL at any time, especially between +5 to +7.
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi,
I agree with Chris that it looks like the dose needs to be reduced so that the numbers can level out a bit, and so that you can give shots am and pm. My 'feeling' is that .5 of a unit would be a good starting point. And you can always increase if it isn't enough. (But see what others say also.)

Regarding giving the shots, and 'pushing the plunger' before getting the needle in place: It's OK to take a long deep breath and just slow down.... When Bertie was first diagnosed I hated giving shots (was needle-phobic) and messed up quite a few by trying to rush the process. I just wanted it to be 'over'! Then someone gave me the tip of mentally counting to 5 while giving the shot. The counting gave me 'space' to ensure that I was giving the shot correctly. I could check that I had inserted the needle properly under the skin, then press the plunger, then press again for good measure to make sure I had completely emptied the barrel of the syringe, and then withdraw the syringe. I don't know if this will work for you also, but it might be worth a try...?

Eliz
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Thanks, Eliz.. I'm going to have to do that. I also have to remember to keep my hand and fingers away from the plunger. Oddly enough, I'm not needle-phobic! I've had to give long-term sub-q fluids to a cat and actually got over the whole thing--the difference in the needle size is immense.

This morning his pre-shot was 206 but I gave him .75 (kinda guessing since it's a u40 needle) & I'll check again shortly to see how he's doing. I have to leave for work in just a little bit. He seems to be feeling good--he's chattering away and trying to provoke a wrestling match with the other cat!
 
WHOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOO!! at +1.5 (roughly) he's at 145!!!!!! coming down nicely and plenty of room to go... leaving for work in a couple minutes but he'll be fine today.
 
Hey Sue!!

It would probably be easier for you to use the U100 syringes so you can get those smaller doses more consistent. You can use our Conversion Chart to see how much to measure

If you get some U100 insulin syringes with half unit markings, it could be a lot easier for you!
 
Chris & China said:
Hey Sue!!

It would probably be easier for you to use the U100 syringes so you can get those smaller doses more consistent. You can use our Conversion Chart to see how much to measure

If you get some U100 insulin syringes with half unit markings, it could be a lot easier for you!
Click to expand...

That would be nice.. I waited an extra hour and a half. He'd come up to 170 so I took a little bit of a gamble and gave him 1/2 a unit. I just gave him a little extra food to balance it out.
 
And now you know that 0.75 on a pre-shot in the low 200s may results in an unshootable pm glucose. A dose of 0.5 might do OK in the low 200s.
 
BJM said:
And now you know that 0.75 on a pre-shot in the low 200s may results in an unshootable pm glucose. A dose of 0.5 might do OK in the low 200s.
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It's just weird, this started out as 2u 2x/day and now we're down to .5 maybe 2x day!
 
BJM said:
His pancreas may be starting to heal.
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now that would be a DREAM! My vet didn't give me any hope that it would. She said he was too old and too much of a sugarcat. Here's a thought.. I have heard some mention of some pills that can be used to treat diabetics. Not insulin, but prompt the pancreas to produce more. Has anyone tried that or known someone who did?
 
We don't use the pills because they DO make the pancreas work to produce more insulin....the whole idea behind what we do here is to give the pancreas a chance to heal so it can start doing it's job again

Cat have a unique ability to heal but rest is what it needs to do that....keeping them in "healing numbers" (50-120) as much as possible gives it that chance
 
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