Jan 31st | Moose | PMPS = 128; +2 = 65; +3 = 39, +3.5 = 39; +4 = 47; +4.5 = 62, + 5 = 68, +6 = 78

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Moose (GA) & Rae

Moose (GA) & Rae

Member Since 2017
Good morning, FDMB!

Link to yesterday's condo.

Moose is certainly on a mission. All of his "P's" are in order (and per usual, he is as hungry as every!), but he is determined to earn his reduction it seems! Bare with me, as I am having difficulty updating his SS from mobile (I can't access it on my work computer.)

I'm starting to worry/overthink that I'm not dosing his correctly. I have followed all of the Glargine dosing instructions to a T, but I worry that I'm still potentially overdosing him? I do have the syringes with the half marks. I'm going to look into getting a caliper...

My BF last night (after I told him that Moose's blood sugar was low and that I was going to feed him another can of MC food) said something pretty funny. Jokingly, he said, "I wonder if Moose is purposefully decreasing his blood sugar just so that he can eat more." & then we both burst into a fit of laughter, because that's exactly what Moose would do if he had the means to. He doesn't know that his low numbers are bad for him or that they give his mom a scare. He just knows that he gets to eat more! :woot:

Hugs to all kitties & beans! I hope that you all have a safe and happy day! :cat:

Edit: I also wanted to ask...is there any way for me to ensure that the meter is working properly? I've owned the Relion Confirm for many years, and had never used it before this week (I was previously using the Bayer Contour and then the AT2). I don't have any more strips for either of those meters to do a comparison (although I know that the AT2 would be different because it's a pet meter.) I did make sure that the code on the strips matched the code on the meter (F-4).
 
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Moose & Rae said:
I wonder if Moose is purposefully decreasing his blood sugar just so that he can eat more
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Moose is craftier than you realized, isn't he?! :D Not only do I get to eat more, but it's the tasty stuff! :cat:
A quick test of the meter is to try it on yourself, if you are brave enough to take the poke! ;) There is a control solution that is available from Relion. I think you can get it for free if you call and give a batch number from a pack of test strips. I'll see if I can find info.
 
In the User Manual it says you can call 855-776-0662 to get the control solution. It gives a website too, but it only takes you to Walmart's site. I called this number when I first got the meter and they set me up with some for free.
 
Alicia & Maggie said:
In the User Manual it says you can call 855-776-0662 to get the control solution. It gives a website too, but it only takes you to Walmart's site. I called this number when I first got the meter and they set me up with some for free.
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I got the control solution ... more than a month later. The fastest way to make sure the meter is working correctly is to test yourself.

What is happening is the dry food is now leaving Moose's system and he's now in lower numbers. Moose reminds me of my Rex and his crazy adventure on insulin. You are more than welcome to view the SS. I believe it can be attributed to the dry food not being given anymore.

I just read your signature and saw that he went OTJ in 2015. Did you switch him to wet food at that time then introduced dry food back into the picture? Just curious... :bookworm:
 
Alicia & Maggie said:
Moose is craftier than you realized, isn't he?! :D Not only do I get to eat more, but it's the tasty stuff! :cat:
A quick test of the meter is to try it on yourself, if you are brave enough to take the poke! ;) There is a control solution that is available from Relion. I think you can get it for free if you call and give a batch number from a pack of test strips. I'll see if I can find info.
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Ahh yes he LOVES the gravy stuff! :woot:

Silly question, but if I test on myself...what are the normal readings for human who are non diabetic?
 
Funny about Moose self willing low BG's!

I agree with the others to test it on yourself. Human BG normal range is the same as the kittes 80-120. Consider when you ate last when you read the test result on yourself.
 
Mandy & Rex said:
I got the control solution ... more than a month later. The fastest way to make sure the meter is working correctly is to test yourself.

What is happening is the dry food is now leaving Moose's system and he's now in lower numbers. Moose reminds me of my Rex and his crazy adventure on insulin. You are more than welcome to view the SS. I believe it can be attributed to the dry food not being given anymore.

I just read your signature and saw that he went OTJ in 2015. Did you switch him to wet food at that time then introduced dry food back into the picture? Just curious... :bookworm:
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I'll take the poke, no biggie!

Oh wow, Rex went from lots of red/pink to blue/green practically overnight! I saw your note about stopping the EVO (which is a dry food, yes?) and then it seems that the numbers dropped drastically after that.

Surprisingly no! Moose was on a 100% dry food diet (Halo "Spot's Stew" weight control) when he went OTJ the first time. I'm guessing that's why it wasn't a strong remission and he relapsed after a year....
 
Moose & Rae said:
I saw your note about stopping the EVO (which is a dry food, yes?) and then it seems that the numbers dropped drastically after that.
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Yes, it was supposedly a low carb dry food that I switched to from another dry food I realized was super high in carbs when Rex was first diagnosed. I thought EVO was low enough in carbs, but it wasn't. I was giving the cats a mid-day meal of wet food from the start so it was easy transitioning them to all wet. I just looked at the Halo food and it is similar in carb count as my old dry food (Fromm's).
 
Mandy & Rex said:
Yes, it was supposedly a low carb dry food that I switched to from another dry food I realized was super high in carbs when Rex was first diagnosed. I thought EVO was low enough in carbs, but it wasn't. I was giving the cats a mid-day meal of wet food from the start so it was easy transitioning them to all wet. I just looked at the Halo food and it is similar in carb count as my old dry food (Fromm's).
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And that is why FDMB sings the LC wet food praises! I'm glad that it was an easy transition for Rex to the wet food. It's upsetting to see the cats on this sub who have such a difficult time with the transition, and how frustrating it must be for their beans who know how much the LC wet food will benefit them.

The only thing that I can think of that helped with Moose's OTJ the first time was his weight loss. He went from 23lbs to 16 lbs when he was eating the Halo (not really sure what I was feeding him before that...probably some Purina dry food or something...I didn't really started looking at his diet until he was diagnosed...:()
 
New question, if I do give a shot tonight...would I reduce the dose? According to the TR protocol, Moose has not earned a reduction:

If kitty drops below 40 (long term diabetic)
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He has not fallen below 40 ever... I have reduced him each time that he fell below 50... Shouldn't I be waiting for him to drop below 40 (as scary as that sounds...) for him to earn his reduction?
 
You can do 3 times under 50 as long as you can monitor. Nobody does under 40. Not enough wiggle room. Safety first.
 
You might want to get a second Relion meter, either Confirm or Micro. It's always good to have a backup in case something goes wrong with the primary one. That way you can make sure your tests are valid too. And it's less painful than poking yourself. :p

tiffmaxee said:
Nobody does under 40.
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Not true - check out Rusty's condo/spreadsheet. I can name others who have done the under 40 as well. Like Boomer, China, ... Speaking of which, the other way to earn reductions for long term diabetics is staying all green for a week. Here is a post on Earning Reductions.

Having said that, I would reduce to 0.75 because you skipped and still got an under 50 last night. Speaking of which, I don't see any tests after the +4.5 last night when he was still under 50. It's not safe to go to sleep with kitty still under 50. I would have tested to make sure the MC was doing the job. With that 57 this morning, not sure the MC was enough.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
You might want to get a second Relion meter, either Confirm or Micro. It's always good to have a backup in case something goes wrong with the primary one. That way you can make sure your tests are valid too. And it's less painful than poking yourself. :p
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I will! Since I already have the Bayer Contour, I'll go ahead and pick up more strips for that one.

Speaking of which, I don't see any tests after the +4.5 last night when he was still under 50. It's not safe to go to sleep with kitty still under 50. I would have tested to make sure the MC was doing the job. With that 57 this morning, not sure the MC was enough.
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I know :( I had planned to stay awake and then accidentally dozed off to sleep...haven't been getting much sleeps these days...none of my alarms went off today either. I felt like such a bad sugar cat mama when I woke up in the morning...:banghead: Don't worry, that will not happen again. I'm still experimenting with the best time to give the shot that I will be able to monitor after the PM shot for a while, while still getting to bed at a decent time so that I can up for work at 6am. No excuse though, I should have gotten some coffee and stayed awake. I don't want anything bad to happen to my boy...I promise that it was not intentional.
 
A second meter is cheaper than a second set of strips. Since types of meters can vary a little, it can be confusing switching from one to the other. But when I tested my Micro vs. Confirm, there were very close.

We all fall asleep - it happens. :bighug: Maybe just a note on the SS remarks so people know it was accidental.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
A second meter is cheaper than a second set of strips. Since types of meters can vary a little, it can be confusing switching from one to the other. But when I tested my Micro vs. Confirm, there were very close.

We all fall asleep - it happens. :bighug: Maybe just a note on the SS remarks so people know it was accidental.
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Ok sounds good, I will go with the second meter. Thank you!

:bighug:
 
Apologies for all of the questions, but I do have another...

Is it bad that Moose eats dinner 2 hours earlier than his shot time? I get home from work around 5:15pm, so he usually eats dinner right about then. His shot time is 7pm. Should I wait until right before shot time to feed him dinner? He will not be happy with this...or maybe I can split his dinner in two (half a can at 5:15pm, half right before his shot at 7pm)? I'm not usually able to feed him multiple meals a day because of my work schedule. I will look into a timed feeder. I have one but I think it is only for dry food.
 
Hmmm, that's interesting. Couple things going on here:

1. The two-hour gap between dinner and shot time is good for getting a non-food influenced pre-shot test
2. Lantus onset is usually a couple hours after the shot, so it's not really necessary for him to have food on-board right at shot time, but
3. I'm wondering if some of his deep dives are influenced by the fact that, by the time lantus onsets at +2, he's four hours away from his last meal (assuming no snacking).

So with all that, I think experimenting with a mini-meal/snack between shot time and +2 would be an excellent idea! It might slow him down a bit and prevent some of those 2am lime greens, which I'm sure you'd appreciate ;).

What many people do with the timed feeders is to freeze chunks of wet food for the later meals, so it can still work.
 
Nan & Amber said:
Hmmm, that's interesting. Couple things going on here:

3. I'm wondering if some of his deep dives are influenced by the fact that, by the time lantus onsets at +2, he's four hours away from his last meal (assuming no snacking).
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That was my train of thought. He's been having so many deep dives in the PM that I wondered if the food schedule had anything to do with it...although he has had a few NS in the AM lately so that's why he hasn't been dipping too low in the morning.

So with all that, I think experimenting with a mini-meal/snack between shot time and +2 would be an excellent idea! It might slow him down a bit and prevent some of those 2am lime greens, which I'm sure you'd appreciate ;).
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Excellent idea! Oh boy, Moose is going to be so excited about an extra snack :woot:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
You might want to get a second Relion meter, either Confirm or Micro. It's always good to have a backup in case something goes wrong with the primary one. That way you can make sure your tests are valid too. And it's less painful than poking yourself. :p


Not true - check out Rusty's condo/spreadsheet. I can name others who have done the under 40 as well. Like Boomer, China, ... Speaking of which, the other way to earn reductions for long term diabetics is staying all green for a week. Here is a post on Earning Reductions.

Having said that, I would reduce to 0.75 because you skipped and still got an under 50 last night. Speaking of which, I don't see any tests after the +4.5 last night when he was still under 50. It's not safe to go to sleep with kitty still under 50. I would have tested to make sure the MC was doing the job. With that 57 this morning, not sure the MC was enough.
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Got it. Doesn’t seem safe to me though. Guess I will say rarely next time. Never say never.
 
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+3 = 39...Fed HC + Karo...He's acting normal but this is his lowest number to date. Alarms are all set...I'll be awake until he's stable.
 
Well, I think Moose has earned a reduction to 0.5u. Obviously 0.75u was too much. Congrats!

Check every 30 minutes until he's above 50, then every hour until his numbers level out or raise without the food influence.
 
Mandy & Rex said:
Well, I think Moose has earned a reduction to 0.5u. Obviously 0.75u was too much. Congrats!

Check every 30 minutes until he's above 50, then every hour until his numbers level out or raise without the food influence.
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He is super determined!

Alarm is set for 30 minutes. Thank you...it helps to have someone to detail every step, especially since I'm feeling a bit AHHH :eek: Thank you, thank you a million times!
 
Also, you need 2 hours of no food, unless Moose gets food at certain scheduled times, when you're watching his numbers. If he goes back down and you need to feed, the clock starts over. :bighug::bighug:
 
Mandy & Rex said:
Also, you need 2 hours of no food, unless Moose gets food at certain scheduled times, when you're watching his numbers. If he goes back down and you need to feed, the clock starts over. :bighug::bighug:
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Got it! So I just fed him 2 TBS of HC @ 10:00pm, so I shouldn't feed anything until 12:00pm unless he...goes under 50?
 
Please keep testing every 20-30 minutes while he's so low, and give him HC (less than 2Tbs-- you want to keep him hungry enough to eat when you need him to). If he bumps up over 50, don't feed but test in another 30, then again in 30, repeat as necessary until you have a couple tests above 50 w/o food.
 
Moose & Rae said:
Got it! So I just fed him 2 TBS of HC @ 10:00pm, so I shouldn't feed anything until 12:00pm unless he...goes under 50?
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You feed if his number drops from one test to next, unless he has a huge bounce to like 200, then one more test to confirm the bounce.
Nan & Amber said:
You mean two tests in a row above 50 without food influence, right? Which if you're testing every 20-30 minutes is just an hour or so.
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No, I was told 2 hours of no food influenced safe numbers.
 
Nan & Amber said:
Please keep testing every 20-30 minutes while he's so low, and give him HC (less than 2Tbs-- you want to keep him hungry enough to eat when you need him to). If he bumps up over 50, don't feed but test in another 30, then again in 30, repeat as necessary until you have a couple tests above 50 w/o food.
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Less than 2 TBS? I don't know if it makes a difference but he is ALWAYS hungry and never refuses food. But I will do as advised!
 
The high carbs can wear off after 2 hours, so you want to keep testing for a couple hours to make sure they don't drop back down.

Below 40, I added a drop of karo for insurance.
 
Aha, OK, sorry for confusion. I always think of it as needing just a couple of safe and rising tests, but I can see the reason for extending, especially on nights like this when the action is happening early in the cycle.
 
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