? Nadir

Ok great! no shoot. Esp since that's the number after food.

 

Congrats on your first no shoot!!!

 

He didn't eat much because like I said he snacks on his food lol. He is wanting to go eat right now. Should I let him and then see what he is before 8:30? Oh and I am updating his Human meter SS right now from the test last night which were odd as well lol

 

Would I put the 85 in as his PS number on the sheet since technically thats what he was before he ate? @JanetNJ

 

Janet took the words out of my mouth - no shot this AM. Here's a great guide to Vetsulin that has recently been revised. It covers a lot of different scenarios. I suggest you print it out for ready reference:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.186099/

 

You can do that and then put "NS" in the dose cell. Over on the right side of your SS make a note about what happened - low PS, fed, retested --- minutes later, BG up to 133.

 

Thank you @Kris & Teasel

 

Thank you! I do not know what I would do without you guys!!! @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

Might be a littlr high tonight because of the no shoot, but who knows, maybe not.

 

I checked my meter and it was an hour from the 85 test and the 133 test. So even if he shoots up to 400 today, I will just wait until his next shot time to administer insulin?? Hope you guys will be around tonight. I am sure I will need guidance!

 

Yes, wait until the next shot time. I'll be around.

How are you feeling about sticking with the human meter for now?

 

I feel a lot better knowing that the Freestyle Lite strips are not too far off from the AT2 strips. 300-500 much more of a difference in numbers but I have found that under 300 is not that much of a difference. maybe 50 points or less.

 

Yes indeed - congrats on your first no-dose. Just think, if you had not been testing and you dosed Booger. He probably would have hypo'ed big time. This situation really highlights the importance of testing and being in tune with your kitteh's fluctuations and dosage swings.

For strips - I exclusively use the Freestyle Lite strips. You are right, they are a little different but not by much. And all BG tests are + or - 20%. So a single reading of 100, may actually be 80 or 120 with any brand of strip.

My work schedule has me pretty busy. However I usually check @tags after 8pm CST. It will be a rare day when you find me on the forum before 9am CST. Yesterday I worked (with some breaks) from 9am to ~9:30pm. But the pay is real good.

 

I'm double checking: are you using the Freestyle Lite strips in a Freestyle Meter or are you putting them in the AT meter? We need to know because that will affect our interpretation of your numbers. FS strips in the AT meter give readings close to what AT strips would give whereas FS strips in an FS meter will give lower readings.

Your human meter SS shows lime green below 50 so I assume you're using the FS meter. Just want to be sure.

 

I think I am just going to take the AT2 SS off for now. I am not using it. I am using the AT2 meter with the Freestyle strips. He is now 532 at +4. @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel

 

In that case you should be entering data on the pet meter SS because the FS strips in the AT meter will give readings similar to AT strips. You want the lime green to pop up at any number below 68. The pet meter SS will do that.

 

Big bounce and no insulin this AM.

 

Dang ok. Ill update that sheet then

 

The others on this thread probably experienced those bounces too. Certainly Leo has. We dislike skipping doses for Leo, but on occasion he is just too low to dose.

If Leo is eating well for the last few days and he is 180 or above, then he gets dosed. Otherwise I do not dose if 195 or below. And he does the same thing as Booger just did - Leo bounces right up almost every time. But that's a lot better than dealing with a hypo - from too much insulin and not much food.
.

 

@JanetNJ @JeffJ @Kris & Teasel He is 694 now. What do I do????

 

I am just concerned about Ketones. No insulin and high glucose. There is still 6 and a half hours until he gets insulin.

 

Nothing to do. If you want you could adjust his shot an hour early tonight.

 

Yeah I guess that is what I will have to do. Should I just leave him at the 2units?

 

Yes, leave it at 2 u. Don’t panic and increase the dose because of a bounce inflated number. That can lead to over dosing. Yes, we look at high numbers but the lows always trump those.

 

Test his urine for ketones. It gives peace of mind and an early heads up if there’s anything developing.

 

Always some kind of problem either at night or the weekend man. Why cant things happen during the week during the day lol.

 

Boogie will be OK.

 

You're getting excellent advice from our experts. Boogie will be just fine. Short periods of high BG may be challenging for the kitteh, but no long term effects.

It is definitely tough to watch it happen. And there isn't much to be done about it, except move the PM dose up by one hour.

 

Did you stick with the 2 u dose tonight? Ignore those blacks.

 

Yes I gave him 2 u its tonight. He kinda did an inverted upside down curve today lol checked for ketones as well and that was a negative thank Jesus. Ill be up at 12:30am CST to check his levels.

 

That was a nice nadir last night. Let's hope Booger continues to have similar nadirs this week.

 

Yeah I was half asleep when I checked him. I think he got in the cat food container with the Cat Chow for my other cats. He was high at 4am and the container lid was open at that time. He is getting sneaky.

 

The sugar kittehs are the best food thieves. Leo is an expert. If crunchies are out for an extra 10 seconds he is right there wolfing them down.

 

I have been very happy with Boogers levels today. His lowest was 91 at +7 which I found weird because he is normally at his lowest between +4 and +6. I will be posting here shortly with his PMPS. Tell me what yall think... @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

Yes, indeed! Very nice curve today!

 

That is a nice curve today. I hope he comes back up to the 200 range for the PM dose.

 

@JeffJ @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel He is 267! How much should I give him? Keep him at 2units or lower?

 

Its time to give booger his shot. I'm wondering home much I should give him... @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

I'd probably keep it at 2 as long as you can monitor, because it looks like it's going to keep going up. If you are nervous or can't monitor tonight, then you could do 1.5

 

hopefully this is a sign of less bouncing!

 

can you catch a +3 to make sure he's not dropping too quick?

 

Just seeing this now. You could give 2 u and get a +2 or +3 test as Janet suggested. If that worries you maybe drop to 1.75 u or 1.5 u. Your call.

 

I am just feeling distraught. I am seeing so many kitties on here that have other issues as well as diabetes and it makes me think that maybe diabetes is a death sentence. I know they say it is not but I have read so many posts about kitties crossing the rainbow bridge and having other issues. Makes me scared for Booger thinking that these posts I have read could eventually be him....

 

You gave 1.5u. That is a safe dose. Sorry I missed this earlier. I bet Booger goes back to 400. He seems to like the high numbers.

Just how did Booger get his unique name?

 

We have had a number of losses recently. It is real hard on the owners. I take it hard too...I get attached to the kittehs and their owners.

But diabetes is not a death sentence. Leo is diabetic for almost 3 years now. He also has acro and small cell lymphoma. But he is alive and doing well, as he always lets me know when it is meal time!

It is easy to find the kittehs that are gone. But if you look through the subforums, there are other longterm diabetics as well. You are doing good, and Booger has a good potential for a long life. We just need to get his dose dialed in. I still recommend Levemir or Lantus when you run out of the current. The depot insulins round off the edges of the 12 hour curve.

 

His previous owner named him Booger. I rescued him from an animal shelter when he was about a year old. I was going to change his name because I thought Booger was a silly name but he responds well to it so I just kept it. I call him Boogie, Boogie-Boo, Booger-Booger Boo as well. lol Cats respond better to -ee sounding names hince the nickname Boogie.

 

+3.5 he is 177

 

That's good, and expected. I would feed him whatever he wants.

Leo doesn't eat much at night. Usually a late night meal around 11pm. I give a reduced dose (9pm). But that is Levemir.

 

Yeah he's been acting like I don't feed him lol. Ill probably wait to see where his level goes. If it drops below 100 he will definitely be getting wet food. He's already eaten like 4 times today. About 1.5 cans of FF.

 

I don't measure Leo's food. I watch for longer term gain or loss. Leo gets a few kibbles every day. The kibbles are a very small percentage of his diet, and he deserves the feeling of treats.

I'm signing off tonight. So far so good with Booger at +4 and 151.

 

@JeffJ thanks for your support last night. He was 107 about 12:30 so I gave him half a can of FF and I swear you would have thought he hasn't eaten in days lol. He was stuffing his face smacking and all hoovering his food down. He finished that so I put the rest down and he hoovered that up too! He did well. He didn't shoot up to the 500s like I had expected after eating a whole 3oz can of FF. He was a little high this morning but i have to keep reminding myself that he is actually a little lower than the readings. These insulinx freestyle strips are running a little higher and the last comparison I did with the insulinx strips and Alphatrak strip, the insulinx strips read 13 points higher. I have been very satisfied with these strips. They seem to read closer to the Alphatrak strips than the freestyle lite. Too bad I just spend $40 for 100 freestyle strips! They should be here tomorrow. I wasn't sure how these insulinx strips would work out when I ordered them. I couldbhave used that $40 and got 200 insulinx strips lol. I thought about returning the freestyle strips when I get them tomorrow but I will need strips before the insulin strips woukd get here so I'm stuck. Going forward I plan on buying the insulinx strips as long as they are cheaper than the others. Anyway he was 411 at AMPS so he was likely in the high 300s with the difference between insulinx and AT2 strips. Still a little higher than desired but that's ok. Hope all is well with you and Leo and hope y'all have a relaxing but blessed Easter Sunday.

 

It's very sad reading about kitties passing on here but try not to focus on that too much. Diabetes is definitely treatable and Boogie can do well and be healthy. Yes, they need more attention to food and health status - dentals, blood panels, fast treatment of infection/inflammation, etc. but it's very manageable. You're in the right place to get help and support.

Have you decided on this AM's dose? You could try 1.5 u again or go back up to 2 u. You're still in the data gathering phase and building up a "reference library" on your SS.

 

I decided to give him 2units this morning. He pretty much ate a whole can of FF so I figured he would probably end up in the high 400s or low 500s from that. Last night being 200 something I wasn't sure how high he would get after eating and he's been dropping like 200+ before nadir so I didnt want to bottom him out. I need to do another glucose curve for the vet but I figured I would wait a little bit since he went hypo last week and let him get back on track before I do it.

@JanetNJ thanks you so much for the recommendation on the syringes from ADW diabetes. I got the ones you suggested and I love them! Yeah that's weird saying you love syringes but they are smaller than the ones I got from the vet and much smoother movement when measuring out insulin.

 

Oh good I'm glad you like the new syringes. They are easy to see and work well.

Crossing fingers for good numbers today. Looked good last night. My goodness though, make sure you are getting enough sleep! You've got to take care of yourself!

 

I try! But I worry so much about him and him dropping too low. I may not sleep for a straight 8 hrs but I take lots of naps lol.

 

Naps aren't enough. You need deeper rem sleep. Your cat usually is at the lowest at 5 hours after, so do a test at +4-5 after and if it's safe, go to sleep for the night.

 

Yeah he was at his lowest between +4 and +6 and I thought I had that down but now he is at his lowest between +5 and +7.

 

It'll move around. That's why scattering the tests in the +4 to +8 range can help.

 

Mine is the same way; I think pulling the food up 2 hours before the PS test actually helps her eat enough at shot time. And then she seems to nibble every two hours after that. It is such a relief after the lack of appetite due to pancreatitis.

 

That's good to hear that he is continuing to eat well. Poor eating or no eating leads to a lot of issues with our diabetic kittehs. Boogie had some good numbers last night.

Strips
I no longer use any Alphatrak strips, and I only use Freestyle Lite in the AT2 meter. Maybe insulinx might be cheaper. I get the Freestyle strips from ebay. Last purchase was $220 for 600 of them. I was tired of running out. So that is $0.36 apiece. But others have gotten better deals.

 

Sooooo... I don't think Booger got his insulin this morning. I injected him and felt the syringe go in but I think it went through and through. After I injected him about 3-4 inches to the left I felt little beads of wetness..... Ugh.

 

Ah well. Fur shots happen to all of us. Don't reshoot

 

Dang with the Freestyle Insulinx strips you could have paid $120 for 600 lol.

 

Oh I'm not but so much for good numbers today... I'm mean they arent horrible. He could be higher than he is right now. He wants food. I just don't want him to shoot up to 600 or 700

 

Yes, fur shots happen. You can't re-dose in case some went in. That's why I use 5/16" needles. They are too short to poke thru a skin flap.

I'll consider Freestyle Insulinx next time. With long term diabetics, it is a pain getting supplies. So these days I try to procure 6 months of whatever content I need.

 

Where did you get that good price for Freestyle Insulinx?

 

Posting this here as I accidently posted it on another thread lol.

Booger was giving me a hard time testing him this morning. First check he was 91. I wasn't sure if it got enough blood for a good reading as he wouldn't stay still so I did a second test which said 149. Pretty sure him being irritated with me picking him pushed his level up from 91. Goding to wait until shot time and test again to see where he is to see if insulin is needed at this point.

 

Just checked Booger after he ate, waited 30 minutes and he is up to 303. Should I shoot or don't shoot?? @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

I'd give 1.75 u and get a +2 or +3. Change your AMPS number on your SS and make a note on the right side of what happened wrt BGs this AM.

 

Awesome thank you!

 

Next time you are stalling a shot, do it without feeding first or the food will artificially make the number higher.

 

Dang it @JanetNJ I totally forgot! He had been bugging me and woke me up at 4am. I wasn't thinking straight.

 

I waited and just checked him again. He is 321. Should I still give him 1.75 u or less?? @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

Ok I just went with 1.5 unit this morning. Just to be safe. Rather give a little less to be safe than mess up his progress. Don't want yall to think I do not value y'alls advice.

 

You are in the correct range for dosing. If you want to feel safer, then dose a little low like you did. Some of the members are into tighter numbers.

Any food you provide will take about 1.5 - 2.0 hours to get soaked up. So it will always affect BG.

 

Ok so Booger just went to the litter box squatted to pee but nothing came out. Could this be the beginning of a UTI? Should I start him on some Clavamox??? @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

I wouldn't worry about one squat. Lol. Keep an eye on it though

 

He did it last night too.

 

I wish I would have remembered to withhold food and check him in 30 m -1 hour. But since I didn't, I should have listened to my gut that even 1.5u was too much. Just checked him and he is 58. I checked him at 11 and he was 147. I gave him some food per the information on her about vetsulin and some care givers give food after 2 hours of administering to help slow down the dropping in BG levels. Just gave him some more food as well. @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

You probably wonder why I tag the three of you all the time lol. I feel like you three offer similar advice or always agree with one another so any input from one of you is good for me

 

Well, son of a gun! I'm glad you didn't listen to me! I've been out all day so I'm just seeing this now. That lime green means an immediate dose reduction to 1.25 u this evening. If PMPS is lower than usual, do the stall without feeding thing and retest after 20-30 minutes. Post here for advice. If PMPS is above 200 go with 1.25 u. I'll check in.

 

Ok Booger was 456 before eating tonight. Should we still stick with 1.25 units? @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

Yes. That lime green is a sign that 1.5 u is too high right now. The PMPS is a bounce inflated number.

 

Yes

 

We have been on other threads together, and helped other kittehs. We also tend to give similar advice. I think that once you have dealt with 20 or 30 cats and their nuances, you get a feel for it. And each of us has helped with far more kittehs than that.

As I said, I tend to be a little more conservative. But I've met even more conservative people on the forum. There was a case in the last year (keeping it anonymous). The person would not increase the insulin levels. And the kitteh was in the black. So I kinda stopped helping there.

Sorry I wasn't on today. I worked on data center and virtualized cloud configs for 10-12 hours. It always sounds neat "oh boy he gets to work from home". Yeah right. I probably put in more time from this computer than I would in an office.

 

Trust me I understand. I have been working from home for 6 years now. I feel like I can't ever get away from the computer lol

 

+4 check he is 171. I guess its time to feed him a little food.

 

Just checked booger at +4 he was 171. Gave a little food so i can try and sleep for a few hours lol

 

Sleep is a good plan! You need to do that more! Lol. That looks like a fairly safe number for that hour. I'm glad you reduced.

 

Yeah and got some much-needed sleep. Woke up at midnight and he was like 171 gave him some food. I did check him at 2:30 ish and he was 439 so I slept until 7 this morning. lol I am out of freestyle strips. I had ordered some and they were supposed to be here yesterday but they are caught up in the postal system and wont be here until tomorrow. So for now, Relion monitor it is.

 

Lowest he got today was 128 on human meter. I probably could increase back to 1.5u but I do not like the readings on the human meter, They are just too far off usually. Today about noon on the AT2 with a FS Insulinx strip he was 253 but on ReliOn he was 171. That may not seem like much of a difference to most people but to me I see 253 (not great) and 171 (great). Can not wait until I get the FSL strips tomorrow!!! I am like a kid on Christmas over here. lol OH and that 400 PMPS I used my LAST AT2 strip.

 

Are the FS Insulinx supposed to be the same as FS Lite? Or do you expect different results between those strips in the AT2 tester?

I hate running out of strips. So many times...down to the last 10 strips. That's why I bought 600 FS Lite strips, a few weeks ago. Those should last awhile.

The 128-171 numbers look good. To me that would be a perfect nadir. Yeah, some beans try to get their kittehs in the 90-100 range. I'd rather be safe.

 

With the freestyle lite strips there was a little more of a difference in numbers when compared to the at2 strips. I will use freestyle lite or the freestyle insulinx. I feel that the freestyle insulinx are just closer in numbers to the at2 strips.

Those 120-171 in accuracy terms are actually in the 200s if tested on at2 meter with at2 strips or even the fsl strips.

 

I just got my insulinx strips yesterday and so far I'm happy with the comparison. These numbers were all taken with the same drop off blood in an alpha meter.

 

Now you see why I like them more than the freestyle lite lol but the freestyle lite work well too. Anything is better than the relion meter in my opinion since I'm such a perfectionist lol.

 

Very stressed. Booger moved when I gave him his insulin tonight... ugh. His numbers are going to be all over the place yet again. I wish I had two more hands. Then I could hold him still. @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel @JeffJ

 

Bummer. So you think any got in?

 

a little if any.

 

We all have dud shots from time to time. You’ll get him back. Don’t reshoot in case some went in.

 

For Leo's dose. I ensure he is chomping at the bit. I put the food down. He starts inhaling. I pull the skin tent and in it goes.

The few times I have deviated from that procedure - leads to iffy doses.

 

Definitely didn’t get his insulin. He’s 643.