I am looking for some dosing advice. Gizmo's PMPS number is 143. it was 156 and +10. He has been slowly dropping since last night same time and was 381 at that time. So I am trying to figure out if I should give his insulin or not. I imagine that I won't get an answer before 7:30 pm. So I will probably not give it to him. What is the saying "Better to be high for a day, than low for a moment". I just hope that his numbers don't get crazy high again, when we are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I should have asked this sooner, but I guess everything happens for a reason. Any advice that can be given for future low numbers would be appreciated.
These general guidelines can be useful: if close to 200 (maybe 180 and above), stall without feeding for 30 minutes and retest. If BG has risen try the full dose. if in the 150 to 180 range, try stalling up to an hour and if rising do the above. If BG isn't rising much give a reduced dose. How much to reduce is always a conundrum. Maybe try a 2/3 dose. if BG is much lower (say, 100 to 120) give token dose - size depends on what the normal dose is. It's best to avoid skipping if you can.
Ok. Thank you. I was not sure what to do in this situation. I have another question not related to the BG readings. Does Teasel's paw pads ever get dry? Is so, what do you do for it?
Lisa, i have not given the insulin yet. I did not think about the dose in the morning. The latest i can give a dose tomorrow would be 7:15 a.m. I have to be at work at 8 a.m. Should I still give him his insulin tonight or skip.
I just saw the post from Kris and she is much more experienced than me.so I would go w 2 u and assuming amps numbers are ok to shoot at 7:15 you should be fine
Ok. I have given him 2 units of insulin. I will do a +2 reading to see where his numbers are. Thanks again for the help.
Thank you Lisa. This is the lowest number i have had a preshot and I am nervous about the numbers, but i have to be brave for him and pray I am making the right choice.
We have all been there Get a + 2 and go from there. Worst thing is you may get a crappy nights sleep but if you test when you suspect he may take a dive you can always keep him safe.
Hey Heather, I saw you asked about dry paw pads. I haven't experienced that with my cats...are you seeing that in Gizmo?
He did great over night. I am stalling right now because his PMPS is 159. It is torture because he is sitting there staring at me wanting to know when I am going to feed him.
I did ask about dry paw pads. Gizmo does have dry paw pads. I have not used any new liter. The indoor air may be a little dry. I don't know how long they have been dry. It could be days, weeks or months. I just happen to notice it when i was checking his nails.
You could try adding some fish oil to his diet daily. It can help with skin dryness in cats (plus, they love it). You can get some off Chewy to be sure it's safe for cats.
When I was using it, I had capusules from the vet and i would poke one, squeeze it onto a little plate, and Atticus would just lick it up. Putting it on the food would work just fine as well. Since switching to raw Atty's skin issues cleared up, so I haven't used it in awhile and don't remember what the brand or dose was. I think @Caitlin M might have used it with Pita for awhile too, so maybe she knows....?
I will ask his vet next weds at this appt. Gizmo does have dry skin as well. I was told that this will clear up once he is regulated. What kind of raw diet to you feed Sam? Is it difficult to prepare?
I believe Djamila uses EZComplete from Food Fur Life. It's pretty simple I think. She can give you more info on that, but I think you just chop or grind up your meat and add the right amount of the powder to it and it's ready! I make my own raw food following Dr. Pierson's recipe. It took a few months to get in the swing of things, but now I find it very simple also.
I feed both commercial and homemade raw. The commercial is super easy. For the dehydrated, you just crumple it up in the dish, add some water and serve. For the frozen, I put it out while it's frozen, and they eat it in a couple of hours after it's thawed. The homemade is FurFurLife - EZComplete as Rachel said. You buy whatever protein you want. I usually use chicken breast (Sam doesn't like thighs - of course) or Turkey since those are the most affordable. I weigh the raw meat, put it in my food processor, measure in the supplement powder, add a couple of tablespoons of water, pulse a few times, and done. I usually make a few weeks at a time, then freeze it into ice cube trays, toss it in a freezer ziplock, and then give them a couple of "ice cubes" per meal. Atty doesn't like the taste of it, so he gets Primal or Vital Essentials most of the time (I also use a few local companies). Sam mostly eats the FFL and then supplements that by stealing some of Atty's food just to mess with him. FoodFurLife will also send you a sample packet for $1 so you can see if Gizmo will be willing to give it a go before you invest in a whole bag. If he's never had raw before, I would actually recommend starting with a freeze-dried raw (make sure you rehydrate before serving!), and then move on from there. It can take some cats a little time to adjust to eating raw, so the transition process can be important. If you decide to try a freeze-dried, some pet stores have samples you can try. I would suggest not feeding Stella and Chewy's as their company is a little less than forthcoming with their nutrition info. Primal and Vital Essentials are both reputable and helpful.
Thank you Rachel and Djamila. You make it sound pretty simple. How is the freeze-dried raw food different from the freeze dried treats? Gizmo loves the freeze-dried treats, so I imagine he would like the food. What pet stores do you buy the commercial food from?
I buy the freeze-dried from Chewy and the frozen from my local pet store (Mud Bay usually, sometimes All the Best). The difference is that the treats are just the meat. The foods have the added ingredients cats need for a healthy complete diet.
