Curve results ~newbie looking for dosing advice

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

We have been doing intermittent testing with some curves so SS isn't full of lots of data yet. Was borrowing AT2 meter but just started using a PetTest meter last night. On SS you can see where we double checked the PetTest against the AT2 and will continue all results with PetTest for here. Now that we have our own meter we will do more testing. Curently all insulin dosing has been advised by our vet. Not super happy with our vet and VERY DISCOURAGED that our numbers aren't going down. We are looking to the folks on FDMB for dosing advice from here. Not sure which protocol we'll follow at this point.
Looking for all recommendations. Is it normal that her BG doesn't seem to be dropping despite being on 3 units?
If you're able to watch our curve results thoughout today, how would you suggest we proceed with dosing?
Butterscotch has been SUPER picky about eating since just before her diagnosis. We feed her 12oz daily and typically get her to eat 6oz twice daily the two days a week when we're both at work but I can be more flexible the other 5 days/wk and feed several smaller meals. Today I could not get her to eat all of her breakfast so I need to feed her another 3oz of food throughout the day. How do you suggest feeding her during the curve as to not falsely elevate BG levels?

Butterscotch's hx is in our profile and I've posted several other threads regarding difficulty getting her to eat, but not sure how to get those threads to link here if you think that could be helpful.

 

[Suzanne Burton]

I'm new also, so I can't really answer your question. But you sure have a cute kittie!

 

[Crista & Ming]

Is there any reason why you’re using the pet meter? Our dosing protocols here use human meters. It may also be cheaper.

Are you feeding twice daily or throughout the day? A auto-feeder might be beneficial if you’re not around to feed. At FDMB, we feed small meals throughout the day and as long as you’re feeding low carb, the numbers shouldn’t bump up too much unless kitty is extra carb sensitive. It’s best to also feed in the first half of the cycle as opposed to the last.

Butterscotch might be in some glucose toxicity and it will take some time and insulin to break through. Most of our cats have been diabetic without us knowing for a long time and their bodies become accustomed to the high numbers.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

I'm new also, so I can't really answer your question. But you sure have a cute kittie!

Thank you! We just want to see our furbaby feeling better . Can't wait to see some lower numbers like your cute kitty.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Is there any reason why you’re using the pet meter? Our dosing protocols here use human meters. It may also be cheaper.

Are you feeding twice daily or throughout the day? A auto-feeder might be beneficial if you’re not around to feed. At FDMB, we feed small meals throughout the day and as long as you’re feeding low carb, the numbers shouldn’t bump up too much unless kitty is extra carb sensitive. It’s best to also feed in the first half of the cycle as opposed to the last.

Butterscotch might be in some glucose toxicity and it will take some time and insulin to break through. Most of our cats have been diabetic without us knowing for a long time and their bodies become accustomed to the high numbers.

We feel more comfortable starting with a pet meter at this time as we were familiar with reading the numbers on our loaner AT2 and we were gifted the PetTest meter.
Ideally we would feed smaller meals everyday but for now we can only manage that 5 days/week. A timed feeder would not work for her at this time. She requires hand feeding for about 75% of her eating and she would likely not even notice the timed feeder as she us do lethargic she moves around very little. She often will not eat the first 2 or 3 things offered to her and I wouldn't know which food to put in the feeder that she'd actually want to eat that day.
We are struggling desperately with her at this time and can only hope that if we can just get her numbers down, her challenges with eating will improve.

 

[Crista & Ming]

Ah I see. I apologize for not reading up on Butterscotch’s history. This does pose some challenges. Maybe you could change the title of your thread to include feeding suggestions and get some more eyes here.

You can also copy and paste the links of the previous threads you’ve made. Let me know if you need help with that

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Ah I see. I apologize for not reading up on Butterscotch’s history. This does pose some challenges. Maybe you could change the title of your thread to include feeding suggestions and get some more eyes here.

You can also copy and paste the links of the previous threads you’ve made. Let me know if you need help with that

Thank you, I'll give it a try


Here are two threads I posted about Butterscotch's hx and her difficulty eating.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...d-and-looking-for-advice.218443/#post-2429116

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/begs-for-food-but-wont-eat.218577/#post-2432536

 

[Idjit's mom]

I hope you can get some further information from the experienced Lantus (and like insulin) users about the BG numbers, as well as getting sweet Butterscotch to feel and eat better. Please don't get discouraged or give up hope.

@Wendy&Neko
@MrWorfMen's Mom
@Nan & Amber

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

I hope you can get some further information from the experienced Lantus (and like insulin) users about the BG numbers, as well as getting sweet Butterscotch to feel and eat better. Please don't get discouraged or give up hope.

@Wendy&Neko
@MrWorfMen's Mom
@Nan & Amber

Thank you, trying to stay optimistic but it's getting more difficult. Starting with a misdiagnosis in March to finally getting answers a few weeks ago, we've been watching our sweet girl look so miserable and finally thought we had something we could do to make her feel better, but we have yet to see more than the tiniest glimps of any change since starting the insulin. It's so discouraging to have her on 3 units and not really see the numbers move. We shed tears for her every day wondering what it will take to help her and if we'll ever get there.
So thankful to have found this community for support and advice from people who are or have lived this nightmare.

 

[Penelope and Mačka]

I hope Butterscotch get better very soon Macka was lethargic and hand fed for weeks before he started to feel better and eat on his own. Hi numbers are still the highest, but at least he has a little more energy. He became also very picky with diabetes, and the only food he will not be picky about is raw. It gave him more interest in food. Good luck!

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

I hope Butterscotch get better very soon Macka was lethargic and hand fed for weeks before he started to feel better and eat on his own. Hi numbers are still the highest, but at least he has a little more energy. He became also very picky with diabetes, and the only food he will not be picky about is raw. It gave him more interest in food. Good luck!

That is reassuring that other kitties got picky with diabetes and needed hand feeding for so long. We tried raw back in April when she was misdiagnosed. Initially she threw up with it several times despite that we introduced it incredibly slowly. She then seemed to like it but I was always worried about contamination and making our already sick kitty sicker so we stopped it. What raw food do you use?

 

[Olive & Paula]

Welcome. Butterscotch is definitely a challenge cat.

Some people have luck with sprinkling food with parmesan cheese or oregano.

Something that worked for me is Vital Essential. There are mini nibs which are complete meals but I use as treats. And the mini patties which are complete meals and I sprinkled on wet food to get my non diabetic to eat wet food. Then started adding water slowly to texture she liked which is on the dryish side. But she eats wet food now. It took 3 yrs to get her to eat wet food.

https://www.vitalessentialsraw.com/cat/food/?filter_pa_product-type=mini-patties

I have 4 cats and use 3-4 brands of food and many more flavors. My cats will not eat same flavor twice in a row.

 

[Penelope and Mačka]

What raw food do you use?

Since you're in WA, you can find Small Batch for cats at any pet store (they only serve the West coast for now). My cat lives for it now

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Welcome. Butterscotch is definitely a challenge cat.

Some people have luck with sprinkling food with parmesan cheese or oregano.

Something that worked for me is Vital Essential. There are mini nibs which are complete meals but I use as treats. And the mini patties which are complete meals and I sprinkled on wet food to get my non diabetic to eat wet food. Then started adding water slowly to texture she liked which is on the dryish side. But she eats wet food now. It took 3 yrs to get her to eat wet food.

https://www.vitalessentialsraw.com/cat/food/?filter_pa_product-type=mini-patties

I have 4 cats and use 3-4 brands of food and many more flavors. My cats will not eat same flavor twice in a row.

Initially sprinkling things on her food did get her to eat until she figured out what I was doing and refused. I topped with freeze dried chicken, vital freeze dried raw (don't remember specific one), bonito flakes, baby food, human tuna, nutritional yeast. Some worked for a bit and then she rejected everything. Now she won't even touch half those things I used as toppers even though she used to love them. She's never been a kibble cat and always preferred wet.
We're trying to rotate foods as I agree that helps but she's now even turning her nose up at the ones we're rotating. She completely rejects weruva which she initially loved and is now turning away from Tiki. All other products seem to be lower in protein and have less quality ingredients and more fiber/starchy additives. I'd love some other options that are higher protein, lower fat, and very low carb (given her high numbers and already on 3 units insulin).

She prefers soft pate and mousse texture. Spits out any shreds of meat or chunks. She's unfortunately a fish addict I think. Used to like Tiki grill but is growing less interested, likes Tiki mousse, but only certain flavors of each.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Wish I could help on the feeding suggestions. It's so tricky...

Looking at Butterscotch's spreadsheet, the most notable thing is the 1U increases. That's generally too much at once, it's better to increase slowly (by 0.25U) to make sure you don't miss the right dose. That said, she's been in high numbers any time she's been tested, so I'm not comfortable suggesting any dose reductions at this point from the data you have (although others with more experience might be able to do so). Some kitties do just need more insulin.

Now that you're able to test more, I think what would be really useful in guiding further dose changes is to have a few mid-cycle (any time between shots) tests on several consecutive days, to see if you can catch her ever going low at all. So, instead of a full curve on a single day (which might have been unusual), test at a couple different times on each of several days to (hopefully!) get a more representative picture.

Butterscotch really is an adorable kitty! I hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Wish I could help on the feeding suggestions. It's so tricky...

Looking at Butterscotch's spreadsheet, the most notable thing is the 1U increases. That's generally too much at once, it's better to increase slowly (by 0.25U) to make sure you don't miss the right dose. That said, she's been in high numbers any time she's been tested, so I'm not comfortable suggesting any dose reductions at this point from the data you have (although others with more experience might be able to do so). Some kitties do just need more insulin.

Now that you're able to test more, I think what would be really useful in guiding further dose changes is to have a few mid-cycle (any time between shots) tests on several consecutive days, to see if you can catch her ever going low at all. So, instead of a full curve on a single day (which might have been unusual), test at a couple different times on each of several days to (hopefully!) get a more representative picture.

Butterscotch really is an adorable kitty! I hope she's feeling better soon.

Thank you so much for the insightful reply and for the compliment (I may be biased but she really is a beauty). From reading all the protocols, I too now feel the dose increases were too much. We relied solely on our vet's instruction. Buttttt, something isn't working here because her numbers aren't coming down despite the higher dose. I know it's a gradual process but I guess I expect to see some decrease. Rather it actually seems like numbers have increased? I will definitely be doing more testing to try to capture changes now that we have our own meter. What times should I check do you think? AM/PM preshots, and a random time each day (like doing a curve spread out one value each day of the week?), or just try to aim for when the nadir would be?
Any advice on how I should adjust her dose today? (She's been on 3 units just over a week so it's time to try something else after today's curve)
Thank you in advance.
Looking for as many suggestions as possible. Stressfully waiting to see some changes with her and feeling so helpless and defeated in the meantime.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome here. I am glad you have started home testing. We suggest testing before each and every shot, to make sure it's safe to give insulin. Then, when possible, get some tests around the middle of the cycle to see how low the dose is taking Butterscotch. We use those lows to determine what to do next with the dose. I would get a couple more days with AM and PM preshot tests, and some mid cycle tests if you can, to help us decide next what to do with the dose. I don't think we have enough data yet to say how low this dose is taking her.

If you haven't already, I would read all the yellow starred Sticky Notes at the top of this forum.

I echo the others on getting a human meter, or even sticking with the AT. We don't have much experience here with the PetTest, so not sure how it reads. There was quite a difference last night in your mid cycle test between the PT and the AT.

As for food, 12 oz daily is HUGE! Any chance she is picky because she is full? My 14.5 lb girl did fine on one 5.5 oz can, or around 200 calories per day. Some of the Tiki Cats and Weruva are very low calories, so maybe you need to find some flavours that are higher calories per can, so you don't need to feed as much. I did feed Neko raw most of the time, and that would be about 1/8 of a lb, or 4 oz. I mostly fed brands available on the west coast in Canada. One other thought, if she is hungry but not eating, any chance she is nauseous? Going up to the food, licking it or sniffing and turning away?

Are you testing daily for ketones? With her in high numbers, inappetant, and lethargic, I would test daily for ketones.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Hello and welcome here. I am glad you have started home testing. We suggest testing before each and every shot, to make sure it's safe to give insulin. Then, when possible, get some tests around the middle of the cycle to see how low the dose is taking Butterscotch. We use those lows to determine what to do next with the dose. I would get a couple more days with AM and PM preshot tests, and some mid cycle tests if you can, to help us decide next what to do with the dose. I don't think we have enough data yet to say how low this dose is taking her.

If you haven't already, I would read all the yellow starred Sticky Notes at the top of this forum.

I echo the others on getting a human meter, or even sticking with the AT. We don't have much experience here with the PetTest, so not sure how it reads. There was quite a difference last night in your mid cycle test between the PT and the AT.

As for food, 12 oz daily is HUGE! Any chance she is picky because she is full? My 14.5 lb girl did fine on one 5.5 oz can, or around 200 calories per day. Some of the Tiki Cats and Weruva are very low calories, so maybe you need to find some flavours that are higher calories per can, so you don't need to feed as much. I did feed Neko raw most of the time, and that would be about 1/8 of a lb, or 4 oz. I mostly fed brands available on the west coast in Canada. One other thought, if she is hungry but not eating, any chance she is nauseous? Going up to the food, licking it or sniffing and turning away?

Are you testing daily for ketones? With her in high numbers, inappetant, and lethargic, I would test daily for ketones.

We invested in the PetTest meter for now after much research including other users comparing it to AT2 on this board and being happy with it. The differences between the AT2 and PT that we got were within the 20% margin of error allowable for all glucometers. So even though the results differences were alarming at first, I suspect that they'd likely be that far off when comparing any two meters. We may plan to switch to a human meter long term but for now we're more comfortable with the pet meter.
Not sure what to do about food. She seems constantly hungry and is continuing to loose weight. She feels like just fur over her skeleton. She dropped a half pound per wk at the vet, total loss of almost 2 lbs that we know. Haven't weighed her in a couple weeks but she feels lighter/thinner. She's always been a grazer so hard to know how much she needs. We like the Tiki ratio of higher protein to fat and basically no carbs on most items. All other items we find seem to be so much higher in fat and we don't want to overwhelm her pancreas. (We aren't sure if she could have underlying pancreatitis or other illness and can't afford more vet bills to rule everything out, we've already spent thousands and visited multiple vets). Worried about getting enough calories due to her weight loss.
We initially suspected nausea or reflux and tried pepcid and Cerenia but they did not help at all. I suspect more of a dental issue at this point. She drops food, flings it from her mouth, turns head into her side when chewing, and licks lips a lot. Gums are swollen and red and lots of tartar on back teeth. Trying to get clear pricing and risk/benefit info from local vets regarding dental work but not getting the info we need. Don't want to take her in and get a crazy bill and/or discover this doesn't help her or have her not tolerate the anesthesia. More details on her eating/dental in prior thread which I linked to above.
We have not started testing ketones yet so thank you for reminding me that we need to go out and buy the test strips. She did not have ketones on diagnosis thankfully.

I've read many of the stickys on this forum including all of them on Lantus. Thank you so much for compiling and highlighting so much helpful info. Taking lots of notes and rereading. Trying to figure out how to dose her right now is the biggest question. We were following the vet but I don't feel that her istruction is always the most helpful. Looking to all of you wonderful experienced sugarcat parents for guidance. Thank you.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Don't worry about fat bothering the pancreas, that is a dog thing, not a cat thing. Some cats actually do better on a bit more carbs. Here is a post on that: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/feeding-lowest-zero-carb-vs-lower-carb-foods.144220/
Pay more attention to daily calories and make sure she is getting what she needs. Maybe you'll have to purree her food for a while and see if that helps her. The Magic Bullet worked for me.

Dental issues are a big deal and make it really hard to regulate a cat. Ask your vet is there is a vet dental specialist nearby. They are good at handling special cases, including diabetics. The bloodwork and a heart exam will let you know if she can tolerate anesthesia. Your other post looks like others agree on the priority of a dental.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

The only other thing that I would suggest given the huge weight loss in such a short period of time despite 12oz of food daily, is to have Butterscotch checked for hyperthyroid. It's quite possible you are dealing with multiple conditions all of which need to be addressed to get Butterscotch feeling better.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Don't worry about fat bothering the pancreas, that is a dog thing, not a cat thing. Some cats actually do better on a bit more carbs. Here is a post on that: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/feeding-lowest-zero-carb-vs-lower-carb-foods.144220/
Pay more attention to daily calories and make sure she is getting what she needs. Maybe you'll have to purree her food for a while and see if that helps her. The Magic Bullet worked for me.

Dental issues are a big deal and make it really hard to regulate a cat. Ask your vet is there is a vet dental specialist nearby. They are good at handling special cases, including diabetics. The bloodwork and a heart exam will let you know if she can tolerate anesthesia. Your other post looks like others agree on the priority of a dental.

Interesting info you shared about the pancreas. Everything is so conflicting its making it difficult to make decisions. I had told the vet I was going to switch to higher fat content to increase her calories while allowing her to eat a smaller volume since it is such a struggle to get her to eat and they scolded me saying that the fat would hurt her pancreas. Maybe we will do one Tiki cat and something else that is higher fat/calorie so we can meet somewhere in the middle. Do you have any food suggestions? We've probably offered her 20 different foods by now and she often will try things and then when we buy more she refuses to eat it. I have tried blending her food but it seems once she's decided she doesn't want it, it doesn't matter what texture it is. We've tried all the tricks, blending, heating, adding water, topping it with all the yummy things but she's not easily fooled/persuaded. Still not sure if its dental, nausea, or maybe both. She has mannerisms that suggest dental once she's started eating, but then again she often won't even try a food but sniffs it and abruptly turns her head away.
We 100% agree with everyone else regarding the dental. Its not a matter of us not realizing that this is probably a leading problem in her aversion to food and why her surgars are so high. We have sent questions to several vets asking them to explain how they do dental in their office and what a typical exam looks like/costs and what typical procedures for cats meeting her description might cost (range because we know they wouldn't know in advance what the extent would be). No one will produce even the slightest answers. Our current vet won't even consider dental right now because she wants to get her sugars down first and keeps saying "one condition at a time." Which, we disagree with since we know dental infection/inflammation can increase blood sugar while increased blood sugar also increases the infection. We are beyond frustrated. We've already seen multiple vets (all with glowing reviews online and from actual people we know), and paid for multiple exams by each one to end in the same position, no answers and looking for a new vet. The cost of all of her visits and tests, added to the continued cost of special food and diabetes supplies has added up fast. We really can't afford to see another vet just to get the same lack of response. If we knew a new vet would be a good fit (by way of actually answering our questions up front) it would be a different story. We also don't want to push for a dental if she's going to come out of that with even more difficulty eating while things heal (we already spend the entire day trying to feed her and are running out of patients), and if this isn't actually what's causing her food aversion but rather a GI thing.
Maybe I should ask if there is anyone on here that is from the South Sound/greater Tacoma WA area that has a vet that they'd recommend?

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

The only other thing that I would suggest given the huge weight loss in such a short period of time despite 12oz of food daily, is to have Butterscotch checked for hyperthyroid. It's quite possible you are dealing with multiple conditions all of which need to be addressed to get Butterscotch feeling better.

They did do a basic thyroid test back in march and again this august and both were normal.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Maybe I should ask if there is anyone on here that is from the South Sound/greater Tacoma WA area that has a vet that they'd recommend?

That's a good question for the Feline Health forum.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

They did do a basic thyroid test back in march and again this august and both were normal.

I see on the labs that ft4 was done both July and Aug. The test in Aug is more than double the value in July and you have a notation that the sample may have been diluted. This suggests to me that a follow up ft4 might still shed some light on the situation.

 

[Olive & Paula]

Have you tried fancy feast pate food? Another to look for in grocery store is Paws brand. It's comparable to fancy feast (at least the chicken flavor) but made in Canada. I can only find it in one store though. That store now orders 2 flats a month for me. All my cats love it and have been eating it a month now. The other food they use to eat they turn away from, but they will eat it occasionally, so have awhile before it's gone.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

I see on the labs that ft4 was done both July and Aug. The test in Aug is more than double the value in July and you have a notation that the sample may have been diluted. This suggests to me that a follow up ft4 might still shed some light on the situation.

Sorry, the dates for those values was confusing. It should have read FT4 March 2.8 (sample may have been diluted) Aug 1.8

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Curve for Today (completed with PetTest meter)
AMPS 385 at 5:30 am
Fed 3oz LC combo of foods due to pickiness at 5:30-6:30am
3 units Lantus given at 6:30am
+2 482
+4 399 (fed 1 oz Tiki cat wet canned)
+6 410
+8 312 (fed 1 oz Tiki mousse)
+10 229

Plan to feed at 5:30pm (probably will take 1hr to eat)
Lantus to be given between 6pm-6:30pm

When should I test next BG, right before feed, or some other time?

Please advise dosing. Per SS her numbers have been high consistently but I also don't have great data due to new testing. I was going to say she needed an increase but now I'm not sure given this curve because I'm wondering if she is bouncing still? She has been on 3 units just over 1 week so I'd think her body had adjusted by now.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

I'm confused. So you mean the 3/8/19 are March tests and the 8/7/19 tests are from August and that fT4 actually went down and was a diluted test?

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Personally, I think that it would be best to stick with the 3U for a couple more days to gather some more data. She may need more insulin, but there's a chance she might need less, too, and she increased so much so fast, we want to be sure before we increase any more.

That 229 at +10 is your lowest number yet. Could just be a wonky strip, but it's also possible she's breaking a bounce and is on the way down. Let's see where she is at shot time!

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

I'm confused. So you mean the 3/8/19 are March tests and the 8/7/19 tests are from August and that fT4 actually went down and was a diluted test?

Yes, that is correct. (we reformatted the dates on the SS to make it less confusing, we realize different countries abbreviate dates differently). Hubby wrote that note in there about a diluted test, that isn't entirely accurate but was likely his assumption/interpretation (we edited the note just now to be more accurate). Sorry for all the confusion as we try to drop all the values into the SS.
The vet said in Aug that they had a very hard time trying to obtain the sample. Given that info, plus the fact that her glucose was normal on that day, despite having the exact same diabetes like symptoms that prompted our visit both in Aug and March, we are concerned that the sample may not have been accurate in Aug.
The lab report also said "cats with no clinical signs of hyperthyroidism and T4 within reference interval are likely euthyroid. Older cats with consistent clinical signs and high normal (2.3-4.7) T4 may have early hyperthyroidism or a concurrent non-thyroidal illness." Butterscotch was 2.8 at that time (March) and is older and has some clinical signs. But the repeat T4 in Aug at a different vet was 1.8 which is normal.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Personally, I think that it would be best to stick with the 3U for a couple more days to gather some more data. She may need more insulin, but there's a chance she might need less, too, and she increased so much so fast, we want to be sure before we increase any more.

That 229 at +10 is your lowest number yet. Could just be a wonky strip, but it's also possible she's breaking a bounce and is on the way down. Let's see where she is at shot time!

I agree I'm wondering if the strip/sample was wonky at +10 (it is also a new meter). When should I do the next BG? Normally I start feeding her at 5:30/5:45pm and it takes her 30-60min to eat enough for me to comfortably give the insulin. Should I test her before I feed her even though its only been 1hr since her last BG reading or should I wait until after I feed her and test right before the insulin?

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

I think you can test at either time, but the earlier time won't have any food influence, so it might be a better read of the situation (up/down) even if it is pretty close in time to the previous test.

Lantus doesn't need a full meal before shooting, by the way, just as long as you are sure she'll have enough food in her by the time of onset, a couple hours after the shot.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Most of us here test, feed, and shoot all within 15 minutes or so. Lantus doesn’t onset for a couple of hours so you have time to get food in.

If you get a preshot test, a next good one is +2. It will give you an idea of what the cycle will look like. A lower +2 means a more active cycle with more testing.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

Just did a PMPS and it was 269. Fed 3oz. Ok to give the 3 units?
She's just never had a number this low but its hard to tell if its the new meter. The trend looked appropriate at the end there +10 was 229 and this was about 1hr 15min later it was 269. So I don't think the strip was faulty. Got really big blood droplets for all tests to ensure good samples Her appetite is also unusually good and she hasn't been drinking as much water the last few hours, so regardless of the actually numbers, I do think she's lower than she was this morning.

@Nan & Amber (sorry if its not ok to tag ~stalling to give insulin which is due now, just nervous about these new readings)

I drew up a skinny 3 units

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

It is definitely nice to see some lower numbers! Sounds like she's feeling a little better, too.

With meter variance, the two numbers are pretty close so at least she's not heading down fast, but just in case, do you have some high-carb food or honey/syrup to help bring her back up if we need to?

If you're comfortable with that, give the 3U, but definitely also get that +2 that Wendy suggested.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

It is definitely nice to see some lower numbers! Sounds like she's feeling a little better, too.

With meter variance, the two numbers are pretty close so at least she's not heading down fast, but just in case, do you have some high-carb food or honey/syrup to help bring her back up if we need to?

If you're comfortable with that, give the 3U, but definitely also get that +2 that Wendy suggested.

Just really strange to see the low numbers out of the blue. Just two days ago her PMPS was double this. I do have syrup and lots of food choices on hand. Will shoot now. Thanks.

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Cats can "bounce" into high numbers from one low, and stay high for up to three days. That's what makes it hard to judge what's going on so far with Butterscotch-- without consistent data day-by-day, those high numbers you've seen with the spot-tests and weekly curves could be misleading.

With luck, we'll find out more soon!

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

It is definitely nice to see some lower numbers! Sounds like she's feeling a little better, too.

With meter variance, the two numbers are pretty close so at least she's not heading down fast, but just in case, do you have some high-carb food or honey/syrup to help bring her back up if we need to?

If you're comfortable with that, give the 3U, but definitely also get that +2 that Wendy suggested.

3 units given, I will recheck BG in +2

Thank you again for helping! My adrenalin sure is pumping. Its hard to see numbers in purple and red all the time and then suddenly see a couple yellows. And I know there is the variable of the new meter. I've never had to worry about giving her injections before because all of her numbers were always so high! I know the 200's aren't low but it is a huge drop for her.

 

[Butterscotch's Pawrents]

+2 result was 263 so were hanging out in the same range as the PMPS.
I would have expected this number to have been higher due to having just eaten 2 hrs ago and given that the recent dose shouldn't be working quite yet. But I'm super happy to have a consistent reading and its such a good one for her!
Should I be concerned about her over night? I will be feeding her again in a couple hours right before bed.
Still not clear on when I should be doing her testing for the next few days. I will of course do a AMPS and PMPS, but what other time should I choose to test during the day?
Seems like she started going low around +8 which is the same as when she went low on her last curve. Realistically would like to only test a total of 3 times per day but I'm listening to your recommendations.
Thank you everyone for helping us get through the day!

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

She's doing nicely!

I know you've tested her a lot today (her poor little ears!) but if you could possibly manage another one when you feed her, it would be good to have that info. Right now, with her still in the 200's, there's no immediate reason to worry about the overnight, but staying flat at the +2 sometimes means they're planning on some movement during that cycle.

Most days, you won't have to test anywhere near as often as you did today, but it would be good to plan on trying to get at least one test between each shot in addition to the pre-tests. What time you get that test is up to you (may depend somewhat on the preshot numbers, too), but it can be helpful to mix it up, so that (eventually), looking over several days you can get an idea of how soon she onsets, when she tends to nadir, etc. It's interesting that she showed movement at +8 a couple times. Today/tonight she could also be breaking a bounce from a low you didn't see a day or two ago-- really hard to say at this point.

I have to log off now so I won't see any updates until morning, but I'm feeling good about Butterscotch's night so far! She's looking good in yellow after all those pinks and reds !