Zen - 5/21 - PMPS 421 | +1 407 | +2 354

[Emily R]

Yesterday's thread

Zen dipped below 100 overnight! (97 now) We're supposed to feed and dose in about 20 minutes. This would be the first time we've shot green, so should we stall for an hour and not feed, like the documentation says?

Updating his SS now

 

[Emily R]

Updated! He's up to 119, and he appears to have hit nadir right around 3, which matches what we've seen in the past with him.

 

[JaxBenji]

Hi Emily - I can't stay with you (sorry! busy morning here at home) but if you find a PS you're not comfortable with, you can do exactly what you are doing (test, don't feed, test again in 20 minutes). The kitty does not necessarily need to be rising to shoot insulin (fun post here on that) but a lot of caregivers are more comfortable when they are. Are you (someone else) home with Zen during the day? If you shoot, I would get a +1 and +2 to start. Sorry again I have to run

 

[Emily R]

That's okay, Susanne! This would be our first time, so I think I want to gather the data anyway. He dips like this because he mostly refuses to eat overnight unless there's dry food (BUT he ate the emergency Savory Selects we left out for him at some point last night/this morning, so mission accomplished there!) I'll gather the data to confirm he's going to go up a bit on his own, shoot, and we'll take it from there!

Thank you!

 

[Emily R]

Just did an ear prick to confirm.

Freestyle Lite (Ear Prick, Human Meter): 88
Alpha Trak II (Ear Prick, Cat Meter): 138
Freestyle Libre (Interstitial Scan, human meter): 111

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Nice AMPS this morning, Emily. Make sure you get a +2. It should tell you a lot about what his am cycle will be like. Hope you can stick around to keep an eye on him this morning.

 

[Emily R]

So, he's weirdly held steady right now-- we are about to dose him, is anyone able to stick with us for a bit this morning?

Looking at his SS, on days when we didn't shoot, he went up around 9am (AMPS+2) and not 8am (AMPS+1). Example:

The difference there is that, on 5/18, we were feeding him.

Ear prick on a human meter says 90 right now.

 

[SashaV]

I can stick around. Not sure how useful I'll be..

 

[Emily R]

Thank you, Sasha! Here we go!

 

[SashaV]

Thank you, Sasha! Here we go!

Did he get a nice meal too?

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Glad you have the ? in your original post for the day. That will bring attention to your request for support. Good luck, Emily! I'll follow you too but I have to do some vacuuming now and I really can't advise but will be here for support.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi, did you shoot that 107 and is he 98 at +1?

 

[SashaV]

Bhooma, there's something wrong with the SS too. 57 on a human meter shouldn't be lime..

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Bhooma, there's something wrong with the SS too. 57 on a human meter shouldn't be lime..

Yup. The formatting was changed when she switched to the AT to reflect lime below 68, but was never changed back when she switched back to the Libre.

Emily, I can fix that for you if you'd like.

Sasha, did Emily shoot? The SS says AMPS is 119 and nothing in U but her title says AMPS 107 and a +1.

 

[SashaV]

Yup. The formatting was changed when she switched to the AT to reflect lime below 68, but was never changed back when she switched back to the Libre.

Emily, I can fix that for you if you'd like.

Sasha, did Emily shoot? The SS says AMPS is 119 and nothing in U but her title says AMPS 107 and a +1.

I'm not entirely sure
But I believe she did, with the "here we go" but I'm rather confused myself

 

[Emily R]

We shot an hour ago-- going to scan now.

On the formatting, I noticed the same thing on my templates, so I assumed it was intentional. Yes, if you can fix the conditional formatting, I'd so appreciate it!

 

[Emily R]

On the food, he ate an hour ago as well, but we're feeding more LC now. Spreadsheet is updated with his latest numbers!

 

[Bandit's Mom]

On the formatting, I noticed the same thing on my templates, so I assumed it was intentional. Yes, if you can fix the conditional formatting, I'd so appreciate it!

Will send you a request for edit access right away. Should come to your Gmail ID.

On the food, he ate an hour ago as well, but we're feeding more LC now. Spreadsheet is updated with his latest numbers!

Nice cycle. Wondering if you want to feed a spoon DM Selects (which is 10% carbs) is he dips lower at +3.

 

[Emily R]

Nice cycle. Wondering if you want to feed a spoon DM Selects (which is 10% carbs) is she dips lower at +3.

I was thinking the same thing. Usually that, or a little bit of the dry m/d helps him to keep from crashing. Will scan him again in 15 to see where he ends up.

 

[Emily R]

119 on the scanner just now. I think we're out of the woods, but it might just be a little bump, so will continue scanning for a bit, still. Sometimes he hits a little bump and then dips again.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

I was thinking the same thing. Usually that, or a little bit of the dry m/d helps him to keep from crashing. Will scan him again in 15 to see where he ends up.

Avoid the dry. Have you stocked up on HC canned? We usually intervene with HC only if the BG drops below 50 or if it seems like some higher carbs are needed earlier in the cycle to prevent a drop below 50 later in the cycle. If you get what I mean

 

[Emily R]

Avoid the dry. Have you stocked up on HC canned?

Will do. And yep, we've got our HC can stock in the hypo kit. Curious why HC dry is inferior, though-- can you elaborate?

or if it seems like some higher carbs are needed earlier in the cycle to prevent a drop below 50 later in the cycle. If you get what I mean

Yeah, I'm kind of wondering if Zen's going to be that kind of cat as we get his food dialed in. We'll find out!

Just scanned, and he's at 114!

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Emily, Zen needs a tsp of m/c I think. Are you feeding a small amount with each test until he goes up.

Glad to see Bhooma in on line with you. She is the best.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Emily, Zen needs a tsp of m/c I think.

Summer, he's come up to 114 now, so he's good

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Curious why HC dry is inferior, though-- can you elaborate?

What I've heard is that it stays longer in the system because of the way it metabolizes. HC canned is out of the system sooner. The TR protocol is strictly no dry food!

 

[Emily R]

What I've heard is that it stays longer in the system because of the way it metabolizes. HC canned is out of the system sooner.

That makes infinite amounts of sense. Thank you!

Glad to see Bhooma in on line with you. She is the best.

Yeah, she's pretty great. Appreciate all of you!

We'll give him another scan in about 5 minutes.

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Summer, he's come up to 114 now, so he's good

Okay, I just saw that. Thanks.

 

[Emily R]

Heh, I misread the last reading...it was 141; not 114. Here's what we've been at this hour:

• 9:00 (+2): 76
• 9:15: 119
• 9:30: 141
• 10:00 (+3): 147

So, will go back to monitoring hourly as long as everyone thinks that's good. It looks like stalling for an hour had the expected effect, so as long as he continues to stay steady/trend upward, I'm comfortable shooting lower numbers.

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Heh, I misread the last reading...it was 141; not 114. Here's what we've been at this hour:

• 9:00 (+2): 76
• 9:15: 119
• 9:30: 141
• 10:00 (+3): 147

So, will go back to monitoring hourly as long as everyone thinks that's good. It looks like stalling for an hour had the expected effect, so as long as he continues to stay steady/trend upward, I'm comfortable shooting lower numbers.

Appears he is on his way up. I don't think you need to test as much now but maybe a +5 is a good idea just to make sure.

 

[Emily R]

Awesome-- thank you all so much! He's on a interstitial scanner (Freestyle Libre), so it doesn't require an ear prick to scan him unless we get a number we feel the need to corroborate with an ear prick (like we did this morning).

Just as an aside, it's a pretty fantastic little device, but requires a prescription from a vet and the vet usually likes to put it on for you...so, I wouldn't recommend it for veterans, but for folks who are fairly new to the game like me and trying to take kitty from a place of wild swings into a place of tight control, it's invaluable.

Edit: Here's a picture of it on him.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

So, will go back to monitoring hourly as long as everyone thinks that's good.

Definitely on his way up. If you were using a regular meter, I would've said to stop testing till PMPS, but since it's the Libre, more data is always welcome!

 

[Summer and Susie (GA)]

Awesome-- thank you all so much! He's on a interstitial scanner (Freestyle Libre), so it doesn't require an ear prick to scan him unless we get a number we feel the need to corroborate with an ear prick (like we did this morning).

Just as an aside, it's a pretty fantastic little device, but requires a prescription from a vet and the vet usually likes to put it on for you...so, I wouldn't recommend it for veterans, but for folks who are fairly new to the game like me and trying to take kitty from a place of wild swings into a place of tight control, it's invaluable.

Edit: Here's a picture of it on him.

He is beautiful, Emily. That is great that you have that meter. I hear that they fall off all the time so that is why I never pursued one.

 

[tiffmaxee]

Shooting low is scary at first but for most becomes addictive. When you stall, don’t feed and test in 20 minutes, not an hour. Sometimes stalling too long has the opposite effect wanted and the bg goes down because of lack of food. You can always stall another 10-20 if not high enough. You can’t feed when stalling because then the increase would be food influenced. It also gives you time to prepare to shoot low and get help.
Nice cycle.

 

[Emily R]

Oh, we're way up...hard bounce today. Thanks, Elise! Okay, a green shot next time! Will check back in after work-- thanks, all!

 

[Emily R]

SS updated for the evening. We're sad panda tonight with the bounce, but if we're green and over 50 tomorrow morning (7am Eastern), we're going to shoot. Wish us luck! <3

@JaxBenji I called Tiki Cat today and requested the info. They said they'd email it to me! Will let you know if I get it.