3/7: Sammy - AMPS 121; +2.5 45; +6 69: PMPS 88; +4 66; +5 70; +6 57

Yesterday's Condo

Just a quick post this morning. I am having knit club today and the girls will be arriving in the next couple of hours and will be here all day. I will try to check in later this afternoon, but it might not be until after PMPS.

We dropped the car off last night and hope they are able to get it fixed today. It is such a pain when you don't have a car to get where you need to go. At least I don't have to go anywhere until Monday.

I thought I got another reading last night after +6, but I either didn't write it down or it didn't happen. Honestly I really don't remember. I could have sworn I got up at 1:00 am to test, but maybe I didn't. LOL! I chalk it up to sleep deprivation.

Anyway, Sammy has just fallen below 50, but I am wondering if it is a true decrease earned. This morning I gave Sammy his shot and then realized there was still a drop left in the syringe, so using the same syringe I went ahead and shot the last drop. Should I have done that????? Or should I have just marked that it was a skinny shot? I am wondering if I should give him the reduction to 1.0 units tonight or if I should hold off and see if he falls below 50 tonight. Or I guess I could see how the day goes and if it is a struggle to get him above 50 I guess we will take the reduction. Only time will tell.

Hope everyone has a fabulous Caturday!

 

That sure was a big drop this morning. No dosing advice from me except that if you have a hard time keeping him up I'd reduce.

 

Knit club is over and I had a fabulous day with the girls. Both Sammy and Crystal enjoyed themselves also. Both of them went from lap to lap today and got lots of snuggles from everyone.

I went ahead and kept Sammy at the 1.25 unit dose for this evening. This morning it only took 2 teaspoons of 8% food to bring him back up over 50 so I thought I would try again at this dose, and if he goes below 50 again this evening, even if it is easy to bring him up, I will reduce to 1.0 unit in the morning. I am just wondering if the pushing back on the shot time could be effecting his numbers a little bit and should we try to hold this dose through tomorrow. I guess I will wait for feed back on this, or see how tonight goes. I am interested to know if this time change of shot time is affecting the numbers and what we should do about it.

 

i'm assuming because he's a long-term diabetic, that you are using the three drops between 40 and 50 or one drop below 40 or one week at normal numbers for reductions, and if so, he's only been between 40 and 50 twice on the 1.25u dose. If he were my cat, I'd have him earn the reduction unless, as Elise said, you are really really fighting to keep him above 40. By that I mean you give HC, he comes up a bit, goes back down, you use HC again, he comes up and goes back down, etc. So, I'd continue to hold this dose unless he goes between 40 and 50 once more, he goes below 40 once, he stays in normal numbers for a week, or you are fighting hard to keep him above 40. IMHO.

Actually, in regard to the drop, I've had that happen many times with the Terumos. No matter how hard I push on the plunger, sometimes there is still a drop on the end and I just reinsert the needle and shoot the last drop. Sammy is on a mission!

I saw this yesterday and thought it was hysterical:

 

@Marje and Gracie, I am actually running with the newly diagnosed and giving a reduction for under 50. I don't know if you were around when we had the discussion on whether or not to consider Sammy long term diabetic or newly diagnosed based on the short amount of time he has actually been on insulin. Here is the condo where I gave a full detail of how long and when Sammy was on insulin, post number 4. I would love to know your opinion on this circumstance.

Love the picture, and that boy friend will never leave you, no matter how ugly the sweater is. LOL!

 

It's fine to finish the shot the way you did, you just don't ever want to load up more insulin and go again if you think some was missed.

If you're treating Sammy as newly diagnosed you should probably have taken the reduction, any leftover depot effect from his previous dose would have cleared since it was his 8th cycle at the reduced dose. Depot effect can last up to 6 cycles following a reduction.

 

Thanks for letting me know it is okay to finish off the shot like that. I just didn't know if it would make him drop quicker and farther due to two separate spots of insulin. I will reduce to 1.0 unit tomorrow morning. Thanks.

 

That is interesting. I always have a drop left and just figure that's the say it is. I never thought to reinsert the needle.

 

I think you have to use your best judgement for how big the drop is and what is consistent. If you always have a drop left, it's consistent to not reinsert the needle. If you just have it occasionally and it's very big (again, ECID...some cats it wouldn't matter), then you can reinsert and finish it. If there is just a tiny droplet on the end of the syringe, I don't worry about it. Sometimes it is much bigger and I know even a little bit does affect Gracie.

I don't think shooting it in two separate spots would matter.

 

Sammy decided to surprise me at +6 tonight. I tested at +5 and Sammy was on the rise after being at 66 at +4, so I thought I had some time to get some shut eye. I gave Sammy a snack and headed off to bed. Twenty minutes later Sammy was being rather rambunctious so I got up to see what was going on, he seemed like he wanted more food so I gave him a bit more LC food, and went back to bed. Another 20 minutes go by and now Sammy is in the bedroom getting behind the TV and just not settling down, so I decided to test him. He dropped from 70 to 57 in under an hour and after 4 teaspoons of food.

So much for sleep right now. I am now on Sugar Watch to make sure that he comes up after giving him a bit of 8%. I know he probably didn't need 8% until under 50, but because he was dropping so fast and after fluids and an earned reduction (that we didn't take this evening) I didn't want a crisis on my hands. I will check him again in a few minutes to make sure he is back on the rise and then I will try to get some sleep for an hour or two. Depending on where he is, I will probably give him a bit more 8% food after that test to be sure that he doesn't drop back down too quickly.

 

I'm on sugar watch as well right now, can't get any sleep so thought I would check out the posts. Hope Sammy comes up and you are able to get some rest and a crisis is averted - good luck.

 

I'm also on sugar watch. Time for what we used to call an International Coast to Coast PJ Party!!!