I'm Sorry - I'm Just Not Understanding This

Had a great day up to +6.5 with a bg of 142. (Tested twice to be sure) Now at +9 a bounce up to 539 (tested three times). Nothing changed in the 2.5 hours. I fed her after the 6.5 reading at 5:00Pm JST. I have a really bad feeling about the pmps number. Almost had two relatively good cycles. I just can't get this...She is acting okay in all aspects, but this unexpected number baffles me anew. I know don't focus on a single number, but really, I just can't seem to grasp this. Can someone enlighten me further? You all have been very patient with me. Please accept my thanks in advance for continued patience. I just can't help but believe I am doing something wrong here.

 

It's A bounce. Your cat isn't used to being in the lower numbers and so to protect herself, releases stored glucose.

 

Yes, it's a high bounce number but I understand how disconcerting it is for you. You've done nothing wrong. Goma is in that group of kitties that are more reactive to changes in BG so there will be the occasional moment of drama. Some of these cats become less dramatic over time as they get more exposure to lower BG levels but some don't. There's really not a lot to be done to control it. The more you can look past individual numbers and focus on trends the less stressed you'll be.

 

She has so much less black than she did in the beginning! If you hold steady, she will probably start to settle down.

 

It may be worth noting some general points:

- not all insulin doses may get absorbed as well as others.

- some cycles are more 'active' than others (BG nadirs are lower, or dose may have a longer duration of effect).

- cats may eat different amounts or be more/less active on different days and both of these will affect BG levels.

- something unusual might cause a brief stress reaction and this may temporarily elevate BG.

It's always wise to closely observe behaviours and clinical signs. Between the observations and the BG readings sometimes one can get a heads-up that something may be amiss, but usually in these cases there will be a general upward trend in BG levels. Learning a kitty's pattern of response to a given insulin with the aid of the spreadsheet will, over time, help you to differentiate better.

The key thing to stop oneself from going totally nuts is to look at general pattern of response to the insulin in use and general trends in BG over a reasonable period of time. Goma's doing quite well in this respect.


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