Frosty in the blacks again on 0.75u :’( amps 543. Help

I don’t understand what’s going on or what to do. Yesterday’s spot checks during the day showed his sugar only going down to 300s. Why is this happening? It’s not that he’s going down low and “bouncing”, it’s as if the insulin isn’t working at all.

Could the pen be bad? It was brand new when I opened it when I got Frosty in the beginning of Jan. It’s been 2.5 months and I’ve kept it in the fridge.

I only have one more pen, but it was partially used by the person who gave it to me. Should I try that one? Should I buy a new pen or vial? I really don’t know what to do. As you can see from earlier curves, he has always responded to insulin well, and never had sugars in 500s.

Thanks.
Ana

 

So, if it's been 2.5 months and you haven't changed anything else (no food change? no syringe batch change? no injection location change) you might want to have a go with the other pen, as you've got it already, and see if it makes a difference. Another thing that could explain higher numbers is an infection -- is it possible anything like that might be going on?

How is he doing? behaving normally? what about eating, peeing, etc?

Sorry you're having a hard time. Seeing black when you thought you'd left it behind is disheartening.

 

It could easily be a bounce the yellow the day before yesterday. They don't have to go low to bounce. Just lower than their norm.

 

Could be the pen, use the other one for a cycle or two and see if there is a difference but from what I see, you are getting action from the insulin. He is dropping and then coming back up.

Those numbers on the day cycle of the 12th look very bounce like and he may have cleared that bounce went lower than normal and bounced right back up again by the morning of the 13th.

I would try to ensure I got some more evening tests in there when I could and make sure to get those pre-shot tests in.

Like Stephanie I also would be a concerned of infection/inflammation going on.

I would hold this dose for another 6 cycles, as the dose has changed a bit over the last couple of weeks. What you maybe seeing is some wonkiness from all those changes. I don't think he will earn a reduction, but then he is a cat. I would then see about a dose increase.

 

He is currently on oral antibiotics because he had a hole in his skin down to his muscle. So if anything he should be improving. He’s acting normal, just drinking more water, which is expected.

I can’t stay up all night checking his sugars because I work 9.5 hours a day 5 days a week and commute 1 hour each way. I go to bed 2 hours after his evening feeding and shot. I try to keep the curves to the weekends, but this week I was lucky and my bf was off for a couple or days.

What I don’t understand is why is he only going down to 300s and not 200-100 like he was on then 0.5 and the 0.75 units previously. It seems his sugars are worse on the 0.75 than on the 0.5, but I can’t catch him going low. 1-2 hours post shot he’s usually higher than the pre shot. After that he goes lower, but only 300s. It’s like he’s resisting the insulin

I increased his feeding to 2 cans of FF pâté per feed from 1.5 bc he lost weight, but it’s onlt 3 more grams CHO at the most. I do give him different flavors to switch things up, and his apprwrit is always excellent. He will eat a horse if given the chance, lol.

I just want to get control over his sugars :’(

Ana

 

I did get BD syringes that are specially made for pets with 1/2 unit markings instead of the ReliOn ones I had bc i was told by Walmart thay they discontinued the ReliOn syringes. This was about a month ago.

 

Oh, I get the long hours! I am away from home nearly 12 hours. "Thankfully" I was ill almost the whole time Quintus was on insulin.

Bedtime 2h after shot is good because it allows you to grab a +2 "before sleep" test. I see you've been doing that pretty regularly, keep it up!

Hmmm this could be something -- when did you change that? Also, different flavors might have different carb values or carb mixes (slow carbs/fast carbs). How about trying to stick to one?

Also: does he get the same amount of food on each cycle? (just checking)

 

How are his teeth? The increase in food should not be affecting his BG's like that if it is all been used before.

Is he getting into any contraband? Dog food, bread, milk?

 

The blacks look like a bounce. Any time I suspect a bounce, I look at the data the cycle before to see what might have caused the bounce. It's usually from a steep drop or a lower blood sugar than they are used to. In the case of Frosty's SS, I'm seeing a blank in the spreadsheet on the cycle before. If you go to bed at +2, that's an excellent time to get a test, just before you turn out the light. The +2 test can tell us a lot about how the cycle is going. It'll help us know if he's going low and could need a reduction, or if he's staying in high numbers and needs an increase. Out the door/in the door to and from work are also good times to grab a test.

Don't bother looking back beyond two weeks in time to see what he did on a particular dose. The last couple of weeks of data is the most useful. A cat's insulin needs can change over time. One of the many reasons we advocate home testing. It's possible Frosty developed a little Glucose Toxicity on the lower dose while you are gone. Sounds worse than it is, basically means they get used to higher numbers and you have to increase to get over it.

I used a pen/cartridge for 100 days, to the last drop. As long as you've been careful with it, and it's clear with no floaties, it's likely not the pen. More often than not it's the cat.

ETA: Here is the link to your previous post, for continuity.

 

No. He’s not allowed in the kitchen at all.

 

Thank u! I was trying to find the post where you guys tried helping me post the link to my previous post, but could t find it