2/22 Oren: AMPS-462; +3-349; +5.5-266; +7.5- 261; +9 -393; PMPS - off meter

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Megan & Oren

Megan & Oren

Member Since 2015
Yesterdays 12 hour marathon BG. First real sustained testing for me.
Food total for day: ~ 3 cans of FF classics pate, (about 1/8 of a can was after the low 90)
freeze dried chicken treats for tests, ate a fair bit. Hardly peed during day, first time not till late afternoon. not much drinking either. peeing picked up as the numbers went up in evening. Just remembered, he ate 2 tiny pieces of cheese, no bigger than 1/2 by 1/4 inch strips in afternoon.

2/21/2015
AMPS 167, food ,2units
+2 -210
+4 -90
+6 -97
+8 -154
+10 -196
PMPS, food, 314, 2units
+5 370

Next test at best will be +6... His ears seem sore, even though I'm using neosporin on them. less cooperative with mornings tests. Think he's not thrilled...
 
Hi. It's my first time seeing your condo and ss. Nice to see green yesterday and he is likely bouncing from it which can take up to 3 days to clear. I'm sure you have been told that it would be helpful to get a test between +5-+7 whenever possible. Oren may have hit green on other cycles. If you hit different hours on different days you will get more of an idea as to what he does when you can't test when you aren't home. He is definitely heading in the right direction!:):D
 
ADVICE PLEASE: this Fri. he's due at vet for a nadir (+5) check and a fructosamine. I'm thinking I'll do the +5 now myself, (before appt. I hadn't really been successful w/ testing). Is the fructosamine still warranted? I really don't have a lot of solid data yet, and I can't do 5-6-7 again till Wed at earliest because of work. Will the fructosamine help fill in the gaps before my data kicked in? Should I still keep that appt?
 
Bumping up today's post so people respond here instead.

I wouldn't get the fructosamine. One less vet visit for Oren and you can spend the money on test strips. A fructosamine tells you what the average BG has been the last couple of weeks. Vets use the information to help suggest dose changes for people who aren't home testing, which most of their clients do no do. You'll be making dose changes based on your current tests. Show the vet Oren's spreadsheet.

Even though you can't get a mid-day test, you can get one or two tests at night, especially that before bed test. During the day, get an out the door or in the door test if it's different from the preshot. Some people arrange their schedules so they get up, test/feed/shoot, then leave after the morning +2 test. That +2 test is a good indicator of how the cycle will go. If it's lower than the preshot value, the cycle will be a more active one and you should make sure you leave higher carb food out.
 
I can't realistically adjust my schedule much more; i have a 10 hr. workday, 4 days wk., one day teleworking so the +2 is very hard to do M,T,Thur; I can do it on Wed, Fri-Sun. He's not a grazer really, afraid that if i left it out he'd eat it all at once. I DO have an auto feeder, and guess I could set it to feed every 2 hrs or so? is it sinful to leave out the Purina DM dry kibble ; definitely higher carb, and he might not eat it all at once... Don't even know how much food to leave out volume wise.. Suggestions?
 
If you can't adjust your schedule, just do what you can. We have another member who gets a +10.5 from the PM schedule then heads out the door at shot time. If her cat is going down into preshot or lower than she's comfortable with, she leaves high carb food out. Autofeeders are definitely your friend. I have a hoover too. I use the Petsafe 5. There is small spot under the tray for an ice pack, or you can add an ice cube on top of the food to keep it cool. Added water is always good for them anyway. I'd set the feeder to dole out food in the first half of the cycle, which is when he'll likely be lower. If you have a certain amount of food you feed Oren in the morning for breakfast, I'd feed maybe half of it at shot time, and put the rest out in the feeder.
 
his regular food is Fancy Feast classic; one of the lower carb foods, but I did just get some FF gravy style; so if I can get a PM+10.5 or 11 should i leave out that if approaching preshot? (yes I have the petsafe 5 too). The bounces make this tougher to figure, as I don't yet have much experience w/ how much or far he will, only these 2 days worth!
 
+9 - 393. definitely no more down today. ear sticking not going well. they don't look great and I think he's hurting. was harder today than yesterday.
 
Folks, I need talking down. today was terrible. nadir of only 261, 2 failed test strips, hardly any successful first tries, PMPS shot off meter, his ears are not looking good, and my nerves and confidence are shot. after yesterday, this is almost a mirror opposite. :banghead::(:arghh:
 
First, breathe!

Any time you get a weird number, test again. It could be a meter or strip error. On the other hand, this is likely a bounce. Between the green numbers yesterday and the drop from 462 to 266 by +5.5, Oren's pancreas and liver panicked. When this happens, they dump a stored form of glucose along with counterregulatory hormones into the bloodstream. As a result, numbers spike up. It can take several days for the bounce to clear.

One trick with testing, if you're able to get a decent size drop of blood, scrape it on to your fingernail and test from there. Another trick is that if you have to poke a second time, try to poke close to where you tried the first time.

Also, if you're not already doing so, a tiny bit of Neosporin with pain relief ointment can help Oren's ears to heal.
 
It looks to me like he's bouncing from those green numbers yesterday. That is in no way your fault, and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Sooner or later, he'll get used to being in the lower numbers and the bouncing will decrease or stop. You might even miss it when it's gone - Rosa doesn't seem to be able to bounce for more than a couple of hours now which means I don't really get a break from watching her numbers constantly!!

You're doing great - you're getting the tests, even if you're not liking the numbers you're getting today. And every successful test is another piece of data you have to add to the information you need. Please don't let today get you down - you're still practicing testing, he's still getting used to it. I still get failed test strips with the E-7 code for 'not enough blood' coming up at least once every other day. And you got the tests even if he wasn't entirely happy about it. I'd give him a break from testing for a bit now - as he's in the high range, he should be safe enough.

If you think his ears need a break, you could try using his paw pad for testing tomorrow if he'll let you, though if you can use a bit of Neosporin on his ears overnight, you'll be amazed at how quickly they heal!

Please, please don't feel like you've done badly today - you're doing really well :bighug:
 
yes, I'm using the neosporin. I guess what I'm supposed to finally be seeing when things are good, are slow, steady fall offs not these large percentage jumps at times?
Tomorrow, I'm back to work and cant do but AMPS/PMPS tests... might I expect these high numbers to stay or might he go green again? It's so confusing to me still...
 
aw, megan, some days are like that. I'm sorry it was a rough one. The start to this Sugar Dance, taking care of a diabetic cat, is pretty intensive and overwhelming for everyone. I felt like I was doing a crash college course trying to absorb it all. Be encouraged though, like anything new that overwhelms you, as you get more experience and understand more, it will become infinitely easier.

Even routine!

For one thing, Oren's ears will grow more capillaries as you poke and it won't be long til they bleed every time you poke. That takes about 2 weeks. Did anyone suggest using Neosporin ointment with pain relief on Oren's ears? That stuff is amazing. I slathered it on punkin's ear every evening at the end of the day and by morning they looked pristine again. I used the same ear for testing him for more than 2 years and you'ld never have known it looking at it. The vet always marveled at his ears.

I'd also pass on the fructosamine. Just tell the vet you'll gather the testing data and share it with them. We can help you one step at a time with dosing adjustments.

For people who have long days, getting a before bed test becomes essential for helping make dosing decisions. Just take it one step at a time. Ask us a billion questions and people will help you figure out how to proceed.

IT really does get easier. Promise.
 
I feel like I may have asked a billion questions already, and have a billion more!..I think I'd cry without you guys. In fact I know I would, and have! Some amazing folks here. THANKS.
I'll put some more neosporin on tonight, though I have been using it already.
 
Yes, the aim eventually is to have him fairly steady in healing numbers for as much of the day as possible. As he gets more used to being in those numbers, he'll be able to spend longer there without a bounce - then his numbers should be more level with smaller percentages of variance within the healthy range. It will just take time to get him there - the green numbers, although healthy were a shock to his system after being in higher numbers for a while so his liver over-compensated by releasing glycogen and bumping up his BG.

A little extra neosporin at the end of the day when you're done with testing will work wonders on his little ears overnight. I was worried about constantly poking Rosa's ears to begin with - a cat's ears always look so delicate - but it really doesn't seem to do any harm at all.
 
What you haven't cried yet?!?! You're one tough cookie!

So we can easily refer back to what's happened in the past few days we link the last condo to the new one. You do this by copying the URL for the previous condo, then in the new condo (you can go back and edit your first post in this one) clicking on the symbol that looks like a chain link/paper clip and pasting the URL in the box that comes up.

You can give him a bit of a Pokie break tonight just one before bedish to check if he's clearing the bounce yet ought to do it - don't be surprised or disappointed if he's not though chances are he's still got some boing to go
 
well, i did paste yesterdays numbers into the beginning of this thread, but I'll link next time. next few days will be lighter on testing, unless i can get some evening numbers. Believe me, there's been tears!

here's 1 billion and one; why is it called a condo?!
 
Because it's their home :)

Crying is excellent at relieving the pressure and removing toxins - highly recommended for those with a newly dx kitty ;)
 
Hi Megan, You are doing fantastic. I know how hard and stressful it is. Sami and I are here for the second time after her being off insulin for 5 year. The second time around isn't any easier at first, but once you get your sugar legs it does get easier. It is a lot of information to absorb, so I highly recommend that you rely the experts here. In the past, and recently too, I have had a tendency to freak out, and only when I stay level headed and listen to the advice of the group here do I see improvements in Sami's numbers.

One thing that I find makes it very difficult is getting advice from the vet and this group. Both have very different ways of determining dosing and you can't go both ways, you need to do one or the other. I found this out the hard way.

One thing that I have tried to do each day, especially on days that Sami's numbers are not so good, is that I try to find something positive about the day. For instance, just two days ago you were barely getting in tests, and now you have four or more in one cycle. That is awesome. The more data you can collect the better. Sure there will be times that you can't get tests, which is why times when you can are so much more important.

Stay strong and it will all come together.
 
Tomorrow, I'm back to work and cant do but AMPS/PMPS tests... might I expect these high numbers to stay or might he go green again? It's so confusing to me still...
Click to expand...
Would you be able to get a test at PM +11? If you can get a test before your AMPS, it will let you know if Oren's numbers are dropping and you can then have a bit of data before you leave for work.

Right now, there's not enough info about Oren's cycles to answer your question with a great deal of certainty. Many cats, at the beginning of this journey, will have bounces that last roughly 3 days. And then there are those cats who routinely clear bounces quickly.
 
and now to bed. +5pm, 455. at least down. and 1 prick test!. Neosporin earlier in the evening already made the ears look a bit better. More on now. thanks all. Night night.
 
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