? Gremlin - 29/05 - AMPS 310, +3.75 221, +6 207, +8.25 194, PMPS 209, +2.25 212 PHOTOS

[Laura and Gremlin (GA)]

Hey there all!
I come and I go. Brain fog from chronic fatigue Syndrome means I'm rarely here Life has been a struggle.

But I need help with Grem please! I have no idea what's going on with his numbers this year. He's been steady and stable for so long. Even when the hyperthyroidism made his BGL jump, it settled quite fast. But it's not settling. He's getting worse. I feel like perhaps I should put his dose up, but then he was only 126 last night! And I can't afford for him to hypo. Any ideas?

Background for this year. His eyes had been dilated for a while and I found out he has hypertension. He started meds on the 16th of April. He's on amlodipine 5mg once a day. He's mostly blind but still manages to get around perfectly. I've also had a consult with a pet osteopath and have been doing little "exercises" with him to help his mobility on three legs. He has more down days/moments now but he's not ready to go just yet. I'm not sure he'll make his 18th birthday in October though.

2019 spreadsheet so you can see the difference from last year to now. Considering he had three operations last year! He's jumped from a steady 0.1u dose to 0.5u.

Everything is on his spreadsheet. Thanks for advice in advance! I'll check in on everyone in the morning as I badly need sleep now. I hope all are well, sending vines that need them.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi Laura!
Gremlin looks so well in the photos!
Lovely to hear news of you both.
I think he needs a dose increase to 0.75 units. If you are concerned about the BGs overnight I would always get a before bed test in and if it’s lower than the Preshot I’d get up later and test.
Also do you leave food out for him overnight?
Do you use an autofeeder?

 

[carfurby (GA)]

Love the photos. Sorry to hear about the hypertension diagnosis. With everything Grem has gone through he still looks really good. I agree with Bron. It looks like a dosecrease may be just what he needs to get him back into better numbers. Sometimes they just need an increase to get them back into good numbers and you can go back down in dose. If you are able, you can leave food out at night for Grem to snack on. When I work I can't test Furball during the night and that's what I do.

 

[Laura and Gremlin (GA)]

Hi Bron and Carla, I hope you're both well! Thanks so much for checking in.

I often test Grem before bed but it's only three hours past shot time, he's usually higher and drops much lower closer to his next shot time.

I have chronic fatigue syndrome so getting up during the night is not really a viable option unless I wake up needing to go to the bathroom or something naturally. I'm exhausted. All the time. Waking forcefully during the night, I can feel REALLY out of it. Not ideal when trying to test BGL.

I did have an auto feeder for him but Buster kept eating the food and got really fat. The auto feeder then had to go as I'm not having another cat get diabetes because he's overweight! I actually woke last night and gave Grem food for the first time in a while.

Having already increased his dose twice, I've been so reluctant to increase again. Especially when it would hurt me majorly to test overnight and I'm not home three days a week due to work (though I do use my lunch break to come home and test him most days). And he's had some okay numbers mixed in with the bad. I will increase his dose though if he doesn't give me a good number today (see new thread). I'd have done it this morning but read this after shooting. Here's hoping for some better numbers!

Speaking of Buster. He's an asshole (pardon the language). He's terrorising Luna and I can't figure how to make him calm the farm! I've tried Feliway but it's an expensive option for not a whole lot of effect. I've tried calming treats. I'm pretty sure he once even had a hormone suppliment from the vet! Not diabetes related, but any ideas?