Why Curve?

[sofapup]

My boy Levon is being difficult. His BG tests have been consistent, if a bit high. Yellows and purples. However, his fructosamine test was through the roof at 825. My vet says that with such conflicting info we should do a curve. She explained that it may be a Somoji bounce (??) He may be going low, then over reacting by going to high. Or was it the other way around? Small changes is insulin for him have resulted in big effects, so getting his dose just right is tricky.

Testing Levon is an ordeal. It's a two person job, requiring tight restraint with a towel. I think if I tried to test him every hour, he would be so far under the bed by the second test that we wouldn't see him again til the next day. Doing it in her office would, of course, be too stressful to be all that accurate.

So, I wonder what I could learn from a curve. Is there info to be gained there that would affect his treatment? Is there a practical reason, or is it just knowledge for better understanding.

And what is a Somoji bounce?

 

[Smokey and Jessica]

I’m still new to this, but my Smokey was a bouncer! The insulin can make them drop too low, or what the body thinks is too low if it’s a big drop, and as a result the body dumps glucose and hormones and the levels rise dramatically. Without doing a curve all you see is the high numbers at preshot and you could be missing the lows. It’s extremely important to see what’s happening during the day after the shot so you can tell if it’s happening. Without a curve you could blindly raise the dose based on only those high numbers when in fact it could already be too much and you’re just seeing the body overreact and struggle to get the levels back to what it’s used to. You’re vet is absolutely right, and a lot of vets don’t seem to even to consider it so count yourself lucky and definitely get the curve done. Curves should be done regularly because results can change over a period of time especially with dose changes. I think every 2 hours is the more common, unless you get a number that is drastically different than the one before or a low number, then you will want to follow more closely in case you need to intervene.
I don’t know enough to look at your specific ss and tell you if that’s what’s going on, but I can tell you how important it is to get a curve!

 

[sofapup]

Another question: if kitty is indeed bouncing, would he have clinical signs like drinking and peeing a lot, losing weight, being very hungry?

 

[Smokey and Jessica]

My cat did yes. He was still spending too much time in the higher numbers because it can take a few cycles for the bounce reaction to calm down. He would have a low, then the next stay high all day, then a low, next day stay high. Once I stopped the bouncing and he spent a few days with lower, more stable numbers it stopped.