Checkers amps 200, +3.5 146

It seems like checkers has finally leveled out from his recurring high AMPS. I lowered the dose down to 1.25+ although its hard to do quarter units with the syringes i have so i will probably be between 1.25 and 1.5.

He seems ok currently and i'm looking forward to getting a little stability now that he isn't bouncing every morning. I'm going to stick with around 1.25 for atleast 4-5 days assuming no hypo problems and see how he is doing on that dose.

my only real issue right now is my cat hates being tested and is even resisting his paws being tested now and also his readings do not seem very accurate. i've tested a few minutes apart several times with a pretty big difference between the two, i'm going to use an average of the two numbers when i do double tests but losing confidence in your meter really sucks.

luckily its the holiday season so hopefully i can spend this time getting him stablized so i can not stress too much when not at home.

thanks everyone for your support yesterday.
yesterdays thread

side note, yesterday i noticed nearly every cat picture being used as an avatar were black and white cats, do they have some kind of a predisposition towards diabetes or is it just random badluck?

 

My vote is random bad luck as to the black and whites. You might want to consider getting some digital calipers. I use them even with my syringes with half unit markings. It's amazing how the starting line can differ from syringe to syringe.

Are you giving a treat after each poke? I use his ear as he doesn't like his paws handled.

 

Hi Luke, Checkers is looking good today. Great picture of him.

Don't worry about this.
All meters have a 20% variance, and we're looking for trends more than actual numbers.
The good news is, because it's a % variance, the smaller the number, the more accurate it is. Once you're in double digits you should be able to get readings within a couple points from the same blood drop.
You'll almost never get the same results from different blood drops. Sugar varies through the body, through the bloodstream, and is constantly changing.
High is high, who cares if it's 320 or 350. It's too high.
When you need accuracy in the low numbers you have it.

Here is the post about dosing with calipers
I use them and it gives a lot more confidence knowing that you are giving the exact same dose every time. I lock the measurement down with the set screw until I change the dose again.
If you have questions about it please ask! It's easy but there are a couple tricks.

Probably half and half. The Burmese breed, all black with yellow eyes, is more likely to contract DM. Pimp and Hustler are part Burmese. Pimp's the only diabetic.

 

Not true - random factors says that happens occasionally. I got 49 twice in a row last week. Different ears. I always double check the low ones.

And chiming in as another black and white - it's mostly random other than more burmese. Neko has two high dose conditions, and it's the acromegaly that causes her diabetes. About 1 in 4 diabetic cats have acromegaly. It's a benign tumor on the pituitary gland. And "research" has shown it's mostly short haired males that get it. Neko is a long haired girl cat. At this point in time, I think half of the cats here with acromegaly are girl cats. I'm just using this as an example that what you see at this board at any one time varies and may not match research. For a while it was largely brown tabbies. Though the we do tend to have more male diabetics. The last Checkers we had here was gray and white.

For dosing, if you don't have calipers, another trick is to get a used syringe and fill it with coloured liquid to the right dose. Then you can use that to compare too. Other people have used paper rulers.

 

Touche,Wendy.

Hopefully that helps Luke feel better about accuracy at lower numbers.

 

after what seemed to be a good day checkers is not a happy kitty. I realized the litter box seems to be missing BM's so i think he's constipated, he doesnt seem to want to eat. I hope those treats havent caused some issues. I'm going to hold his dose until he looks up. looks like near the end of the cycle he probably got close to 50, he's above it now but hes sullen and not himself. I tried massaging his belly abit and trying to encourage him to eat but he only ate a couple bites and havent seen him near the litter box. i guess it will be a watch and see evening.

 

The depot of a higher dose can last 4-6 cycles after a reduction. You were probably seeing some of the depot from the 2.0 depot today. I would encourage you to pick a dose, maybe 1.25 U, and stick with it for 6 cycles so we can so how Checkers does on that dose. Unless he goes below 50. With all the jumping around on dose, it's hard to say what is working for him.

For the constipation, are you adding lots of water to his food? That can make him not want to eat much. Here is another site with more than you ever wanted to know: http://www.felineconstipation.org/

 

Someone may have already mentioned this, but I found it helpful to spend time giving Furball loving right before and right after testing. That made it less stressful for her. Treats always help too.