12/19 Rosie AMPS~439 +3~298 +4.5~142 +5.5~98 +6.5~96 PMPS~181 +3~137 +4~104 +5~100

Yesterday

Good morning, all.

I can't say I love seeing the red again. I like rainbows as much as the next person, but...

I guess last night's PM+5.5 was the hint.

Wishing good numbers to all the kitties of LLL.

 

Looks like another little bounce and hope it clears soon. Your spreadsheet shows you shot .75 instead of 1.75 this morning. Not sure if that is accurate or not

 

Oh, thank you, Doodles and Sour Pea! Gotta go fix that!

 

Down we go, but not like a (crashing) rocket. Yet.

 

It looks like she's clearing the bounce pretty quick. I'd make sure to get a mid cycle test and at least a +10 so you have an idea of where she might be heading at PMPS.

 

Hi, Carla! She is coming down again. You know, I never have liked roller coasters.

 

She's coming down pretty fast. Have you fed anything to try and slow the drop?

 

She free-feeds and is offered food every two hours if she "forgets." She is eating her usual low-carb right now.

 

She came down some more and this is her typical nadir time. Since the is on some low carb food, she should have that protein and fat available for a little while and I will offer more LC at +6.

We just reconsidered and mixed a tiny bit of MC in with her food and will see how she is at +6.5.

 

Don't think we really needed that MC, but it was 1/2 tsp so I'm not gonna sweat it. She is leveling off and we'll keep feeding until +10 and hope the PMPS is something nice. Nice, Rosie, is neither 425 or 50--okay?

 

Nice to see Rosie coming down again today!

I’ve been meaning to find a time to come back and address the “test every 20 minutes” subject that came up the other day. Sorry that I’ve not had the chance to do so.

Sometimes in this ISG, we get wrapped around something that has been done in the past (or even presently) that isn’t necessarily the right approach. For example, if a CG does the PS test and the number is in the 40s, I constantly hear “feed the forties!!”. That’s not what the sticky on handling low pre shots says. What it says is to not feed, then retest in about 20 mins to see if the number is coming up on its own at the end of the cycle. If it’s not and the BG is still in the 40s, then feed a small amount of LC food.

If a CG and kitty are new to the group, the kitty is low, and the CG doesn’t know how the kitty will respond to food, I could see doing a test/feed after 20 minutes and absolutely, if the kitty is really low (30s) regardless of the experience of the CG and the CG gives karo, it’s smart to retest in 15 mins. Depending on where Gracie was in her cycle, I’d do that (e.g. if she was in the 30s early in the cycle and I gave her karo, I’d definitely test 15-20 mins to be sure karo was kicking in fast but if it was later in the cycle, I would give her a little more time because I knew her). That all comes down to “know thy cat”.

But, and please be sure this is understood (for any lurkers), if you are an experienced CG and you have data on your cat and understand what he/she does respond to, it’s smart to let the food have time to work. Karo, honey, and syrup can kick in pretty fast especially if rubbed on the gums. Food usually takes 30 minutes for the cat to start seeing “some response” and quite often, it takes an hour to see the full response of food on the BG. There might be some cats that are ultra carb sensitive that might respond sooner but in all the years I’ve been helping members and I’ve observed in my Gracie, testing and feeding HC food every 20 minutes can potentially result in overcarbing the kitty. As an example, if you test and kitty is at 52 and dropped quickly in a short amount of time early in the cycle, and you feed some HC, if you retest in 20 minutes and the food hasn’t quite acted yet on the BG (say the BG is 47) so you feed more HC food. In 20 mins, you test again and the BG is 46 so you feed more HC food, retest in 20 mins BG is 50 so you feed more HC. Then the next test, the BG is 90 and numbers skyrocket from there. It can and does happen because the CG didn’t allow the food to catch up to the BG and give it time to work. HC food can affect the duration of the insulin. When I see a BG go from 100 to 250 in an hour or 1.5 hours, that is not likely a bounce. That is more likely a loss of duration of the insulin for whatever reason....but it is often due to too many carbs. I’ve observed it but I’ve also had it happen first-hand.

The lesson is.....if it’s a new member and a new kitty and there is little data, it’s absolutely smart to maybe test a little more often for the comfort of the CG and until the CG knows the kitty a little more. If numbers are below 40 or coming down super fast and you give karo, syrup, honey, then you can expect those to kick in faster and you might want to test every 15-20 mins. But if you have experience and data and know your cat, it can save the kitty a few extra pokes and getting too many carbs if you give the food just a little more time (30 mins vs 20 mins) to work. The wisest thing is to apply the right technique for the right scenario and that takes a little time for the CG to know thus the value of having experienced members hang with the CG to help them through lower numbers, have an experienced eye on the SS, etc. In all the times I’ve helped even new members with low numbers, most of the time, I have them retest in 30 mins after food unless numbers are below 40.

And that’s all just my 2 cents worth. Others may agree or disagree but that’s cool.

 

A respectable PMPS of 181. We'll take it.

Marje, thanks. I am collecting a small bunch of posts on my desktop for reading and rereading. This will be one of them!

I just looked over our old records and saw that we personally did the test every 20 in 2010 only when we hit a very low preshot. We stalled with no food and retested to be sure Basil was on his way up. When he went below 50, we tested every 30 to 45 until we established an upward trend. I think that is why I felt uncertain the other day about what to do. Interesting about losing duration. We don't want that!

Again, thanks for taking the time to come here and discuss this. I never knew your Gracie but apparently she was really someone special. I'm so sorry you lost her.

 

It takes time to feel comfortable again and to sort out what works. Each time they have lower numbers, you learn something . And..safety first so if you feel uneasy, test.

You're welcome....and thank you for your words about Gracie. She was everything you could want in a kitty and more....so expressive, silly, loving, smart.....my heart and soul (other than Mike). Feel so lost without her.

 

+3 is 137. Surf, Rosie!

 

+4: 104.

More snacks, food left out and a very purry cat. She is clearly feeling better!

 

Yay!! If you are headed to bed, you might want to check her again in a couple hours max.

 

Marje, you got me before I made it to bed. So I did a +5 and we have 100. As I walked by the kitchen, I saw she has eaten more than half the night food I left out for her! That's it. Tomorrow, we resurrect the timed feeder.

 

Didn't mean to scare you! She just was still a couple hours from mid cycle so I thought another test would be smart.

Surf now, Rosie!

 

I'm just ignoring those first couple of numbers, other than those it was a beautiful day for Rosie