Chloe 7

PM is 319. Today she started YA food. How long does it take to start making a difference in the numbers?

 

Not just saying it to say it, every cat is different. Some see differences in a couple weeks, some in a couple months. Just like improvements to BG numbers, depends on the cat

 

This is just like pottery: no matter how much planning you do, you never know how it's going to look when it comes out of the kiln.

 

AM= 503. not hungry, didn't eat. gave shot anyway.

 

She might have gone low last night. At least one mid day or before bed shot every day is essential.

 

What type of 9Lives were you feeding before the Ya, was it a Pate. If it was a pate it was also considered low carb.

 

Yes, I only give them pates. Fancy Feast Classics is one. But now Chloe is on YA, so I give the 9Lives to my other cats.

 

@srk3cats are you willing/able to get a mid cycle or before bed test each day as Kris asked?

 

Are you saying a mid-cycle around 1 pm or a before bed at +3 (10 pm)?

 

Both would be great! As much as you can get is really helpful!

 

Are you free feeding her the YA? If so it's best to measure out weigh it before putting it out for her then 2hrs before shot time pick it up and measure it weigh it again. Just to keep tabs on how much she is eating. The president of YA company gave me this tip along with others here.
Chuck wouldn't eat even 12 hours after eating too much YA then puked all over my kitchen and ended up eating his wet food a bit later.

 

I can't free feed her because my other cats (mainly Chico) push her aside and eat it. I like your idea about measuring by weight. I even have a food scale that I can put to use. Now, with the other 2 cats locked in Fuzma's room with regular food, Chloe is eating a bit of her YA. I am worried she doesn't like it anymore because she doesn't go at it with gusto. When your cat is done eating it, do you put it back in the bag to keep it fresh? I think I'd better start doing that because she gets a lot more excited when I go to the pantry and pour it out of the bag.

 

170 this morning! No shot.

 

I think I should have given her a reduced shot this morning, maybe 0.5 u. I don't like the way she jumped to over 400 in the PM. From now on, if she's between 150 and 200, I will give her a half dose if she is eating well.

 

Don't give up on those extra tests, Roberta. They're essential in knowing what the dose is doing. If daytime isn't possible, then before bed has to be the time.

 

She's been on the same dose for quite awhile and seems to be improving, except that she is unsteady on her legs. I don't know how I should be giving the Zobaline when she is on a dry food (YA) diet. Maybe it's arthritis. I should start giving her glucosamine again, except I have the same problem: I don't want to stray from the YA diet and don't want to start shoving pills down her throat.

 

You completely stopped wet food?

 

You'll know if she's improving once you get those mid cycle and before bed tests.

 

Giving a half tsp of wet food with supplements shouldn't make her stray from YA. You can try crushing some YA and mixing a bit of warm water with it with the supplements.
Keep in mind that they don't eat a lot of the YA. It's only like 3 tablespoons a day. Or more to gain weight. So if you measure it before and after she eats you can keep track of how much she's eating.
Ya people really advocate for free feeding. I'm not sure picking it up and putting it away after she eats a few bites is a good idea. Unless she's eating the amount she should in one sitting. OR if you can put her food down for her a few times throughout the cycle and day. I know you have others that will get into it so that makes it a little harder.
ETA: The president of the company told me that cats who can't free feed (like Chuck because he eats every piece in one sitting) using a timed feeder or feeder that will spill out a little at a time throughout the day would work best.

 

I let Chloe free feed today and let Chico have some, too, without shooing him away. Like you said, they don't eat very much. I saw Chloe nibbling on her food before I took her PM reading. Tomorrow, I'm going back to the Relion and will switch back to my original SS. I will use the Everpaw only for curves.

 

yes. nothing but free-feeding YA. No more early morning yowling.

How do I change the titles on my spreadsheets? Never mind, I think I figured it out. Please let me know if you're not seeing it.

 

PM 410 and raised dose to a fat 2. I'll do a test at 10pm (+3) to make sure she's not hypo.

 

I think Chloe has been putting a bit of weight on. I'm liking YA food and free feeding.

 

I suggest you add some text to the black bar on your SS explaining what it means - switch back to human meter? I also recommend doing a curve today while you're off so this dose can be assessed better.

 

I'm off work for the summer, so I can do a curve at any time. Tomorrow will be busy, so I'll do one on Tuesday. How often do you do curves?

 

How often to do a curve depends on the numbers you're getting. A full curve probably every week right now because Chloe's numbers are inconsistent. But if you're around more and can get mid cycle numbers, it would be really really helpful to figuring out how to help her. Especially when you can get tests in the hours between +4 to +7 when she is likely to be lowest. It might help to look at other people's spreadsheets in other threads here and see how much people test when they can.

 

On ProZinc I was doing a curve every cycle! I'm a "serial poker" and my SS proves it but I can't stand not knowing.
Now that Chuck is on lantus I still do curves just about every cycle... But I'm more relaxed about it.
I like Djamila's suggestion of once a week with spot checks for Chloe. Now that you stopped the LC wet food completely it's a really good idea.
When cats free feed they won't overeat every time they're at the bowl because they know it's still going to be there when they go back for more--- at least this is the scenario YA told me. So she might start eating even less and that could reduce her dose requirements quicker.

 

1

159 at +3. I'm liking her numbers.

 

Are you testing again tonight? I would get +5 at least. Just to be safe since she has 3 hours to drop still.

 

Yep any spot checks you can get along with weekly curves will help. A lot of folks try to grab a spot check or 2 throughout the week at different times...that way at the end of the week you have a good representation of all the hours in the cycle and then get a curve to see how it is in one day.

 

Thanks, great idea. I guess I spoke too soon on my last post and jinxed it. This morning, she's at 560. I'll test again at +2.

 

Oh no! I didn't get your post until this morning! Do you think she had a hypo during the night?

 

It's possible. If not hypo chances are strong that she had greens. So I would bet money this is a bounce.

 

In the future, if you give the same dose on a similar number I would plan on a curve. Only way to know for sure.
I would make the dose a little smaller for similar numbers until you get a curve. Today isn't the best day for a curve because she's bouncing. If she's lower for pm cycle you could try a curve then or wait til tomorrow morning like you had planned.

 

I was going to test at +2, but I'll wait until later. If she bounced that high, won't she go down too low mid-cycle?

 

Not necessarily. Generally speaking, when cats have a bounce, it's followed by a high, flat cycle. When they get back into more normal numbers, it's a sign they cleared the bounce. That can take any amount of time...3-6 cycles is normal.

 

I see you increased the dose. Have you decided when you're doing a curve? It's a good time to do one due to the dose increase.
How's Chloe?

 

Steph, the 'alert' isn't going on and I didn't see your message until now. She's at 69 and vomiting clear liquid. I'm treating it like a hypo. I'll test again in an hour. I'm really upset that there was no alert.

 

@srk3cats Looks like that was at +11. She might just be hungry. But food will help either way.
I suggest skipping her shot tonight.
I would also test again in an hour **if you haven't given her the pm shot**
If you gave her the pm shot then please do treat her as hypo and keep testing every half hour to make sure she doesn't bottom out. Syrup and high carb gravy. Have vet on standby would be a good idea too.
Chances are she went pretty low if she is 69 @+11. You might see high numbers again but I suggest going back to 2 units tomorrow morning.

 

Thank you. I couldn't get her to eat anything. I'm going to test her again in 20 minutes. That will be her PM test.

 

Keep in mind the pm test will be influenced by the syrup. I still think you shouldn't shoot tonight.

 

I definitely won't give her any insulin tonight! She only went up 10 points. I'll test again in +2.

 

Ok. Leave her food out so she can eat when she feels up to it.ETA: Just remembered you are free feeding YA. Maybe leave some wet food juice out for her to give her a little more carbs than dry. If she starts going down again you might have to entice her to eat. But the insulin should be wearing off soon but a dose that ends up being too big can last longer than 12 hours.
Hopefully she'll start feeling better once she starts going back up.
I'm signing off for the night. I have an early morning tomorrow. (I really dislike getting up before the sun!)