4/1 Tugger PMPS +11 108 Dose question

Yesterday's Condo:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10701

Last night was pretty quiet. Thought it might get exciting but if it did he waited till I was asleep. He as hanging steady in the 90's at +5 and I just couldn't stay awake any longer, getting up again at +6 wasn't even considered before I fell into bed. I got up a bit late to get +10 and +11 was spent on the phone with hubby :mrgreen: I may have some very awesomesauce news to share in a little while about that conversation.

Tugger is in a quiet mood this morning. He didn't pester me for food from the time I got up till shot time like usual, he was chillin' on the bed. It's not normal, but otherwise he seems fine. He ate well, he wrestled with Echo while I prepped the plates, not sure if he's used the LB yet because they aren't in my line of sight here at the computer. He may just be tired today.

PMPS 73
+2 44
+2.25 52
+2.5 59
+2.75 68
+3.75 50
+4.5 68
+5.25 77 Left food out and slept till...
+11 108

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148

I'm getting close to suggesting adding a drop to his dose. Hoping to see a nice green cycle instead. Sometimes you have to go back up a little to come back down.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148

+2 80

I was cleaning his ears right before his test, which he looooooooooooooooooooooves so he was all purrs and headbutts.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92

I didn't ignore poor old Tug today, I promise =) We had a power outage of about three hours. I did go out to drop off the dry food and some cat litter at the SPCA and hit a thrift shop. I scored some pet steps for Tugger for $4.25! Also got some better dishes for feeding. Some sort of wide bottom with a bit of a rim seems best so I just grab them whenever I see something that might work. The ones that don't work out I'll just re-donate. I got a really cool lamp for $10 too.

So, the power outage got me to thinking. This time was fine because it was only three hours and the fridge stayed closed the entire time. BUT. What to do when there's a longer outage? This is hurricane country, and while we don't get hit very often here in Va Bch, it's been known to happen. We were without power for a week when Isabelle came through. I always have water and furry kid food in the emergency kit, so how do I deal with insulin storage?

I see that y'all mail the stuff, so you must have a way to keep it cold for a day or two at least. How do you do it? Those of you who live in areas prone to outages, what is your backup plan?

I'm a planner, can't help myself lol. I even made hubby buy me a vehicle that I can pack all 6 of my furkids into and still have room for the bio-kids and luggage :mrgreen: I got a soccer mom van for my fur-kids! You'd know it if you saw it too because for Christmas hubby put all sorts of I love my Great Dane stickers and stuff on it I feel better when I have a plan for things. Because when I get stressed or anxious, logic flies out the window. I need written directions or to have drilled it into my head like they do when teaching new recruits at Basic Training to get around the mental block of stress/anxiety. So, I plan. A lot.

I'm thinking... I've got a little ice chest, the igloo 6 pack size. Obviously I'll need ice. Regular ice, ice packs or do I need to find dry ice? Can insulin get TOO cold? How do you regulate it in there? What else am I not thinking of in my focus on keeping the insulin cold? How long can it stay safely in a fridge that's kept closed once power fails before it needs to be iced? I'm just full of questions today Blame the

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92

I mailed some insulin with ice packs. I did a test with it inside of styrofoam, it lasted about 24 hours. Not sure what you would do for longer than that -- make nice with somebody who has a generator. Wonder if hospitals or some public service place offers assistance that way.

I was out all day so this is my first look see since AMPS -- looks fantastic -- forget about adding that drop that I was thinking about.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92

When the stuff becomes room temperature it doesn't just instantly become useless or anything. You may shorten the lifespan of it, but it'll get you through until you can get a hold of some more. The big reason the temperature is such a concern for kitty insulin, is one of those pens can be as much as 3-5 months of insulin for some cats.

My type 1 buddy who also uses Lantus and keeps the box in the fridge, but once he opens a pen he just keeps it with him.. he uses them up in about 2 weeks (around 22 units a day in addition to his fast acting), because he's one of the weird humans where Lantus doesn't last 24 hours in him..so he shoots a 12/12 schedule just like our kitties .

I initially didn't know about the refrigerating the pens thing.. when I first read about it I'd been using that pen that I didn't keep in the fridge for over a month.. freaked out, gave it back to him for him to try it (wanted to know if that's why Nova's numbers were weird at the time).. he said it was still good, finished off the pen and is still alive so I believe him .. Yeah I have a fantastic guinea pig .

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 +6 106

OMG Tugger is making me crazy today! I don't know what he wants but he keeps coming up to me and putting his paws on my legs almost like he wants in my lap (but he isn't a lap boy)

I've offered him two kinds of food.

I've tested his blooclose (this is what I said the other day to the kid and it seems to have stuck) which is just fine.

I've cleaned his ears again.

I gave him lots and lots of floor time with skritches and brushing.

Water is fresh, not that he drinks it anymore.

We played till he got bored with that.

Gah! Every ten minutes. He's worse than the dog wanting to go outside.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

I'm about ready to open up the next pack of strips. This is two days in a row I'm getting screwy readings.

I tested and got 69 but it took two tries to get the blood in because he flicked. So I did the other ear and got 93... don't know which to use or if either are correct. Or was the 106 screwy. Crap.

I do have another meter... OT Ultra. Just tried it and got 117....

Which freakin' number do we pick??

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

That's good to know Dawn! I'm glad you have a guinea pig =) Thanks for sharing that!

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

On the first meter, what's your bg reading (like with your own blood)?

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

Really? You want me to poke myself... on purpose? Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhisse. OK here goes... dammit, where's the boy when I need him? I also lost my BOS.


OK, that sucked like hell.

mine is 80....

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

Meter is fine.. probably just the drop was too small..

Also, you should eat a snack, you are apparently hungry .

Unless your testing a food spike on yourself.. then maybe you should get the meter tested at the pharmacy.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

Nope, you're right. I'm hungry =) About to head to the store to pick something up for dinner. Along with chocolate because I also noticed that PMS is kicking in. I figured that out when I tried to open the instruction manual for the OTU and not only did I yell at it twice but I tore a page and then threw the damn thing across the kitchen. Who makes instructions into a freakin' poster instead of a nice booklet with pages? Ugh. Choco fix required immediately.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

I see that the threat of a dosecrease worked again. Go Tugger!

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

Yes it sure does sound like you need chocolate or something ahahha.

As for the "OK, that sucked like hell.".. hopefully you tested on your finger and not your ear?? It didn't actually occur to me to explain that part of the process...

If you tested on your finger, then I bet Tugger is going to get some extra treats after his tests for a little bit.. since he goes through that on his iddy biddy widdle ear like 10 times a day!! (I got your back Tugger ).. I think the "proper" way to do things is to get the testing solution from the pharmacy for your meter.. I just test myself once in a while.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger AMPS 148 +2 80 +3 81 +5 92 + 6 106 +10 93 or 69

ROFL yes I tested my finger and not my ear :mrgreen: It's just that I kind of have a *thing* about needles. I thought I was over it... till tonight Now I know I'm fine *giving* the needle to someone, just not so fine at the *accepting* part of it.

Tugger got a treat as soon as I was done bleeding! Then I ate the kid's Reese's

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73

Got a good bit of blood this time, tested twice to be sure. One was 73 second was 79 so I called it good and quit worrying. Fed and shot. Time to feed the beans now =)

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44

Soooo Tugger got his gravy.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44

D's threat of a dosecrease really worked! Your condo kept me giggling! Think the kids will notice that their Reese's are gone?

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

Got caught up loving on him between tests so I just updated all the numbers at once. That hour just flew by!

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

Heh, nope I replaced it when I bought myself PMS chocolate. Shhh don't tell!

When Youngerson got back from walking the dog and I told him (almost) all about it, he laughed at me, so frankly, he's lucky I replaced it :evil:

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

Tomorrow morning I give him 1.5, right?

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

:lol:

it's always good to have chocolate in your hypo toolkit, but I don't know that I've seen it used as a reward for the bean testing herself. :lol:

Di gives the best dosecrease threats, doesn't she? Now Tugger needs a downward dosecrease, instead of the upward one she threatened.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

Hey Tug, those are some great numbers!

Stu

P.S. from Ella: When we take our 6-hour car trips we wrap the insulin in 2 small paper bags and put it in one of those small coolers, together with the food we are taking. Then we fold a large paper bag and put it on top of all the food and the insulin. Then we put 3 of those freezer bricks on top of the paper bag and close the lid. This keeps everything cold without freezing the insulin. After 6 hours everything is still cold and the freezer bricks are still pretty solid. If you had a larger cooler and more freezer bricks, I think you could get through a 24-hour power outage easily.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68

I know right? D is goooooood! nailbite_smile Scared him right back on track! I think he just got a little bit distracted and needed someone to snap him out of it.

Dude, all 5 kitties get treats for Tugger being poked, it's only fair mommy gets chocolate. My blooclose was loooow I needed it :mrgreen:

Thanks Ella! That is awesome. Putting that in my notes =) Also... either your kitty is an awesome traveler or I should bow before your patience. I can barely handle a ten minute ride in the car with the pitiful noises they make. Tugger cried all the way across the ocean when I took him to Germany. Thank goodness (for everyone's sake) we were seated in a loud spot so even I could hardly hear him. But he's the nearly silent meower. I can't imagine 6 hours in a car even with him, much less the loud ones.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68+3.75 50

Gave him the last bit of gravy over some leftover dinner food, will check again in a half hour.

 

Re: 4/1 Tugger PMPS 73 +2 44 +2.25 52 +2.5 59 +2.75 68+3.75 50

No need to have Tugger drop too low - he's already earned the reduction. I'm glad you're giving him some MC.

I don't know if anyone answered you about insulin getting too cold. The answer is yes. You do not want to freeze insulin which makes putting it in an ice chest with an ice pack or cubes or especially dry ice a problem. You'd need to make sure that the pen doesn't freeze.

 

I just want to make sure I do the right thing at sot time... When he's earned reductions so far we've dropped him in .25 increments so I am assuming this morning I should give him 1.5 but want to double check before I do.

Was a bit of a long night =) I had a bed filled with kitties once we settled down though. Even Bella has started sleeping with me. She's never done that before, but three nights ago she started this and she seems to have decided she likes it. Tug slept at my feet and I told him before I turned off the lights to wake me up or go feed himself if he started to go down again. I woke up a couple of times and just reached out to pet him and he was all purrs and headbutts but I'm not sure if he ever left his spot. It was cold last night and I didn't turn heat on so I guess they all thought I was the warmest spot in the house lol. He had enough nibbles getting through his low, I guess it carried him through the night.

I might get to make coffee in peace this morning :lol:

 

Morning Marvie! Looks like no one is around this morning, Miriam is usually here but guess we have to fend for ourselves. I would say what you are going to shoot is correct, but what the hell do I know? Was so surprised to find Scrabble so low without getting any insulin last night and with his big ordeal at the vets! Hope I shot him correctly this morning! Hope you have a good day!

 

Am I too late to say go for the 1.5u? HOORAY

 

Nope, I went ahead and did it =)