? 1/8 a.m. is 80 (UPDATE) 1/7: 119 PMPS.... help?

At shot time he was 119... waited 30 minutes with no food and he is 141. Should we give him his normal 4u?

Previous thread where we had a low number (a week ago) here (low for us)...: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-dosing-advice-thank-you.188843/#post-2102764

 

Gave him his 4u at 7:50pm. Probably going to retest in an hour just to see how it goes.

 

119 is a shootable number, but with no mid cycle tests you don't know how low he is going. How are you making dose decisions?

 

Okay--and thank you for the reply---I was nervous to shoot at 119, but since it went up to 141 in half hour I felt comfortable giving the full 4 units. How low do you feel I should let his BS go before NOT shooting?

We will check him again in an hour just to be POSITIVELY sure he is not dropping...hypo really scares me.

Dose decisions have been made on the fact that his blood sugars when tested are around 400, 350. Now that he is running lower, we may have to somehow test more often---we are doing the best we can.

I have checked his blood sugars daytime mid cycle off and on, and he has always been pretty steady so far, so with the cost of test strips plus working full time plus blah blah blah....I don't get as many tests mid cycle as I would like.

Thanks for the help
Sue

 

at 7:04 pm--119, pre-dinner, didn't feed, waited half hour to retest since low...
at 7:36 p.m. 141, ate friskies salmon pate somewhat, but not all that well.
at 9:04 p.m. 94, then ate quite a bit when fed friskies salmon pate with dried chicken treats sprinkled on top(after 9:04 test)

he seems to be acting okay...will test again at 10:00 pm

***tested at 10:00 pm was 82, fed more friskies pate with fortiflora on top--he ate really well this time, he is acting perfectly fine, playful, etc., so not sure what to think...

 

Would you consider switching to a human meter? Test strips are MUCH more affordable. Of course, that won't solve your time issue.

I presume you are following SLGS, since you are feeding some dry. Your no shoot number would be 90.

 

You did exactly the right thing, stalling and not feeding when you felt he was too low to shoot.

I would really encourage you to find a little time each day to grab at least one random, mid-cycle test in each cycle, and to do a 12 hour curve once a week (testing every two hours, shot time to shot time). That is truly the only way to figure out safely what the best dose is, and how Izzy is reacting to the insulin.

 

We just ordered a Relion meter and some strips and are waiting for it to come.
-Kayla

 

Thanks : )

 

I should add that, because you aren't able to test much, a higher "no shoot" number is more than acceptable. You aren't new at this, but we tell newbies 150.

 

***tried to test again at 11:00 but first strip errored, then not enough blood for the second strip, tried to poke one more time but cat was DONE with the whole poking the ear game. On the bright side, he ate even more food, and I also gave him a few kibbles of purina cat chow. He still seems fine, just looks stuffed full of food now (and kind of bloated belly, which is the IBD acting up, I think), and I'm....a worrier.

 

The problem with giving dry food to shore up the BG is that it takes longer to get out of the system (besides being not very good for the cat). In future, maybe give some higher carb wet food?.

Are you giving a treat when you test (whether it's a successful test or not)? It can help get them used to the whole process and more amenable to multiple tries - one treat per test.

 

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I can purchase some high carb wet if I need to, but I know he will eat the cat chow. Why does it take longer to get out of system? Because it takes longer to digest, do you think?

We give treats at testing time but also give metronidazole(pill) and he has come to the point where he is not actually all that excited about treats because he dislikes the pills. He is also just not as food motivated as my other cat (who will darn near eat your fingers off with the treat!) unless it's Arby's chicken from a gyros or deli lunch meat or something equally awful for him. I tried canned chicken and that wasn't successful at all, but he does like the dried chicken or fish treats (Pure Bites)....most of the time. Maybe I'll try sardines since I hear those are a big hit with some cats.

Thanks again for the help. We'll test him this morning and see where he's at...hopefully he doesn't hide from me!

Sue

 

He tested 80 this morning...we are not shooting, and I have to go in to work. He did eat some friskies pate, and I'm going to ask if I can get out early this afternoon so we can test him again.... ackkkk.

Sue

 

Good decision! Since dose decisions have only been made based on pre-shots thus far, it might be good to re-group once you have your new meter. I am worried his dose is too high. How do you feel about re-starting with a lower dose and planning a curve?

 

Dose decisions were based mainly on pre-shots but also on the previous tests that we did manage to get in between shots. He has had high numbers whenever we test in between so that is what we are going off of.

We did change his dry food from YAZ to YAZ LID so unless he is sick I think that is what is causing the sudden drop in number. The other alternative is that he is sick but other than some eye boogers he seems pretty happy.

I did get a +8 and he is 106. Hopefully with school starting I will be able to get home a little earlier and get more testing accomplished.

-Kayla

 

Great. Additional tests will help here. Please be sure to review the stickies re: how Lantus works - it is very important to know that dose decisions should be based on how low he goes. Typically the low would occur at mid cycle (i.e. +5 / +6) but Every Cat is Different (ECID). Lately, my Rosie has had a low at +3 during the day.

If you are going to go with SLGS, you might want to plan to do a curve on the weekend to fill in the blanks regarding how low he goes.

I forgot to mention that I love his photo. I had to look at it closely, but when I did I saw some big personality.

 

The last time that we did a curve I believe that his low was at +4. Assuming nothing goes terribly wrong between today and the weekend we do plan on doing a curve! I believe we will have the new meter by then as well.

Thanks! He is quite the personality... especially when he wants something and you're not listening! Despite the weirdly low numbers yesterday he was still a happy kitty (when we were not poking his ear). He is definitely one of those cats that will use his foot to get your attention if meowing doesn't work!

-Kayla