How to do Curves??

Before I ask the vet to change poopy's insulin I want to do a curve. I don't know what it is or how to do it. Can someone advise me on this. Thank you

 

To do a curve, you take a BG test prior to giving the insulin shot (making sure the cat has had no food for two hours prior) then every two hours after. If you are doing a 12-hour curve, your last test will be the one before the next insulin shot.

 

This is the classic "More art than science" and "subject to interpretation" part of diabetes. When you test blood sugar levels throughout the day at specific intervals and plot them on a graph (I hated my math teacher too) the line will curve from the highest blood sugar level gently downwards to the nadir (mid-point low) and then curve back up to the point at which Poopy will need more insulin. So I just said nadir and Poopy in the same sentence and made your head spin around.
Basically you're just seeing how low Poopy goes sometime around the middle of a 12 hour cycle to see how much effect the insulin is having. For me it was easier on paper because I'm a visual learner. It's something you'll be able to wrap your head around after you've done it several times. Just remember it's not a test and it's not a yes/no thing.
Then you sacrifice a chicken and do the FMDB chant to our spirit God. Oh mighty one, save me now! Dickson, you're not helping!

 

To try and skip the math part what doing a curve means is:

1. Testing every 2 hours for a period of 12 hours starting with the AM preshoot and ending with the PM preshot or
2. Testing every 3 hours for a period of 18 hours starting with the AM preshoot and ending in the middle of the night cycle ( this one would require a bit of going to bed late)

You do not actually have to draw the curve ( it looks cool though if you like making graphs with numbers) you just take note of all the results in the SS and show them to your vet and you do your routine (feeding time, meds, etc ) as any other day and as any other day you do not feed two hours prior shooting time

@Noah & me you think we could skip the sacrificing of a chicken and just do the chants ?

 

Let's just drive by a KFC. Rupert's mom, you might have met me at your job which might explain a few things. I'm going away now to be more productive.

 

Question for everyone: Because my cat is a nibbler, and NOT a great eater, even when hungry, I have not been pulling food up 2 hours prior. I understand this is perhaps best practice, but can someone chime in as to what harm I could be causing by not following this protocol?
I haven't started his spreadsheet yet (that's why I logged in, actually). I gave him 1u of insulin yesterday at 383, and 6 (nibbling) hours later, his glucose was 110. This morning, 18 hours after insulin, his glucose was only up to 163. Because of the sharp drop yesterday, and because I am not home to observe, I did NOT dose him this morning. I will be headed home in another hour or so for a test and decide at that time if dosing is wise...

Thank you for the helpful info!! I'm already feeling more confident from the info here, vs what I "learned" from his vet!

UPDATE: I did not mean to hi-jack this post! My question is specific to the curve completion, not his health in general!

 

You want no food for at least 2 hours before so that the pre shot BG test is not food influenced. Even small amounts of food can elevate the BG. You want to know whether the planned dose is appropriate for the actual BG. It might look acceptable relative to a food elevated BG but once the food effect is gone, the dose is actually too high.

 

I am also a visual learner... You can talk til your blue in the face & unfortunately I still wont get it. I see it I get it right a way

 

Sacrifice a chicken eh? You're a bunch of perverts!