WHOA. Just had our first brush with too-low numbers. Today is Riker's first day on Prozinc (switching from Vetsulin). Out of the blue he was 43 at +6!!! (No visible signs of hypo, but still.) Thanks to this forum, I knew exactly what to do (I literally read "feed the 40s" on this page just yesterday!) Immediately gave him food, with a little of his sister's higher carb Friskies pate mixed in. Then one high-carb treat from the old days just for good measure. Waited 20 minutes, tested again, and he's at 68. Will test again about 30 minutes just to make sure things keep moving in the right direction. He had a nice groom after the generous snack and is now snoozing in his bed. Never a dull moment in the #sugarkittylife. Question: I should probably reduce his PM dose a little bit to avoid this happening again tonight, right? The new cat-only vet we saw yesterday put him on 1.5u. Thanks!
Update: Just tested again (this is about an hour after the initial 43 reading) and he was back to 55. Fed again and gave a tiny bit of Karo. Still no concerning physical signs, he's grooming and pleased as punch with all the extra food. Update #2: His new vet just happened to call and check on him so we discussed. She wants me to call back with his BG number in 2 hours, but for now is saying we should skip tonight's dose.
Hi Beth! Welcome and good job on monitoring and quick acting on those low numbers. I'm sure some of the more experienced people here will chime in, but I'd definitely decrease his dose tonight, especially since it's his first time on ProZinc so you're not really sure what a safe dose should be. At least down to 1.25 but maybe down to 1u? Others I'm sure will have better advice. Can you check on him in the middle of the night to see where he's at regardless of how much you give?
Hi! Thanks for the quick response. Yup, I will reduce no matter what, but since my chat with the vet (see updates above) it looks like skipping might also be on the table, depending on how his numbers shake out. I'll definitely be on high alert for the next 24 hours, lol, so will be able to test during the night.
Update: He's up to 80 now and still acting totally normal but the vet says to skip dosing tonight. I'll watch/test him overnight and we'll try again tomorrow, I guess. At a lower dose of course
Hi Beth, and welcome to Prozinc! Looks like you had quite the intro to your new insulin. Given Riker's normal numbers, i think skipping tonight is a bad idea. I would suggest a reduced dose. It looks like if you skip he has a good chance of being in the blacks come morning, and those numbers are high enough to be damaging. How long until your normal shot time? Let's see where he's at and then decide on a reduced dose. If no one is around, and he's 200 or higher, go with 1u, but let's see what the actual number is before deciding for sure.
Hi! Ok, his normal shot time is in about 20 minutes, so I'll test around then and let you know. Yeah, it would be nice not to wake up to a really high number.
When the number is too low to shoot, you're supposed to stall without feeding for 20-30 minutes and then test again to find out if it's going up or down Since we won't know, it's going to be a toss of the darts to see what the dose should be. I still think skipping is a bad idea, but don't want to go overboard since we aren't sure what he's doing at this point. How about 0.5u and test at +2 or +3 to see how he's doing.
Oh sorry, I didn't realize I was supposed to stall. FWIW there was no feeding between the 80 reading and the 164 reading (about 2.5 hours apart). OK will try .5u.
That's great, and worth a lot! It tells us that Riker was on his way up even before the food, and so he should be fine, but I would definitely still second Djamila's advice and get at test in a couple of hours to see where he might be heading this cycle.
Sorry I disappeared last night - yes, the absence of food in there did show that was a rise, and great job with the 1u this morning. Hopefully he'll have a calmer cycle today!
@Djamila No problem at all! Thank you for thinking of us this morning. So far so good! I'll test in again in about 3 hours.
Hi All! Riker's AMPS was 83. I am currently stalling without food. If anyone is around, I'd love advice on when/if to shoot and what that dose may be.
That looks like a no shot number to me. It's unlikely he'll rise high enough with stalling to get to a shootable BG. He'll likely be high this evening but we can think about the dose then.
Thank you @Kris & Teasel! I agree and you're totally right. He was 77 after stalling 20 mins so I fed and will skip. I'll test a couple times throughout the day to see where we're headed and post again before shot time tonight.
Well, Riker is definitely bouncing from the low numbers this morning. Already in the 500s and about 4 hours to go until shot time. I'm assuming we'll stick with 1u tonight, but let me know if y'all think differently. Also would love to know: if I see the same low AMPS numbers again, should I do something differently next time? Stall for longer and perhaps shoot .5u if he starts to come up?
Try1 u tonight. If you are at home to monitor you could try 0.5 u IF you’re certain he’s on the way up. That AMPS was awfully low to attempt a shot. Safety first, always.
I missed all the excitement, but I have to say that I love your cat's name! Is he named after Star Trek?
