Should I give a shot tonight?

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry to be such a pest with regard to dosing Splunk -- I just don't want to make any mistakes, and really value your input. His sugar is 8.4 tonight. Do you think I should give him a dose? I don't think I want to give 0.25, but could drop half that, I suppose... or maybe it's not necessary. I did give him 0.25 @ 8.8 a few days ago... just not sure where to draw the line. He had barely a drop of insulin last night, and was 6.6 this morning.

Thoughts/advice appreciated!

 

Have you tried the technique of pushing the plunger firmly into the syringe, inserting the needle into the insulin vial while maintaining this pressure and then releasing the pressure while the needle is in the vial? This suction effect will draw a tiny amount of insulin into the needle, less than 0.25 u. Maybe try that?

 

I think if you can monitor, you could give him a drop of insulin (half of 0.25). If you don't feel comfortable with that, I think it's okay to skip. You're at that point in dosing when you have to go with your gut a little bit, and then monitor.

And you're not being a pest. This is my second round of FD and I still ask for help!

 

Did you do the half of 0.25U last night? Maybe do what you did last night .
Second to Djamila, you're not being a pest

 

Thanks everyone! I gave him a tiny drop and will monitor all night.

SO appreciate your help!!

 

P.S. Hope everyone is having a good night. Love from Splunk to your kitties.

 

The 0.25 the other day at 158 was perfect. I don't think you have to worry.


Is she still licking obsessively?

 

Ugh, we're down to 6.1 at +2.65ish (rounded to +3 on the SS). I have the alarm set for every two hours to check on him tonight.

Nope, he's stopped licking, thankfully. He's been full of beans today, actually.

 

Looks like he did fine last night.

 

Beautiful cycle last night!!

 

Thanks guys. Yup, he did fine. He was hungry, though, and he's a bit higher than I'd like this morning, so maybe I won't be quite so cautious with the amount next time he's in the low 8s. Gave him 0.25 this morning, and we'll see how it goes. Thanks for checking on him!

 

Hi Jennifer! Just saw the note on your spreadsheet. That is a curious number. Are you able to get any mid-cycle tests to see how Splunk responds to the insulin today?

 

Yeah... we're down to 3.5 at +6.5. Things are definitely a little out of whack. Thanks for checking!

 

Looks like increasing the dose was a bit much...do you have some medium carb food you can give? It's late enough in the cycle, that you can probably steer with something milder than honey.

 

Yes, I gave him some gravy FF food from his "hypo kit" when I saw the number. There's no change in his behaviour at all, so he should be able to eat his way to higher numbers. I'll check again in about 20 minutes. I'm baffled about his numbers over the last 36 hours... I've definitely given 0.5 on a 15 (and less) before, so I wasn't at all worried about it, but you're right, it was obviously too much. No idea what's going on. He's been off antibiotics since the 4th, and has been really hungry the last couple of days... I'm sure it's all related, but I don't know how...

Thanks for checking in... we really appreciate it. Love to your fur-kids.

 

On such a small dose, it's generally not a good idea to chase the pre-shot number up. Meaning, even on a higher than normal pre-shot, you'd still shoot the micro-dose and see what happens. Cats on micro-doses tend to have strong enough reactions to insulin that they don't need an increase even if the number is higher than normal.

You do however adjust down if you get a lower-than-normal numbers. In this case since you're at the bottom of the scale, you would just skip the shot.

You would consider an increase only after getting a few more higher numbers, or if the cat has a few cycles that show he is no longer responding to the small dose.

This stage is a little tricky since he's right on the edge of getting off of the insulin. It's kind of a guessing game.

 

Oh, ugh, ok, thanks. This dosing thing is so nuanced, and I feel very ineffective about it all.

The vet warned me about being too stingy with the insulin, so I thought I was doing a good thing by trying to nip the higher numbers in the bud.

I appreciate all your time and attention to our little drama over here!!

 

Yeah, this phase of the journey is honestly more guessing than science. You had two NS cycles at 0.25, which indicates that you're not being too stingy. But you've also had a couple of cycles that stayed higher than you'd like. If you look at Sam's spreadsheet, we're in pretty much the same boat with you right now. A few cycles that stayed higher and blue-er than I wanted. And when I got the 151 the other evening it took a lot of self-talk to keep myself from increasing the dose to match it. I ended up posting and asking for advice. It helped when everyone else said to hold the dose low. Sometimes those extra voices help me be more patient than I feel on my own!

I would say to stick with the 0.25 and try to be patient too. You might need to increase again since there can be some back and forth at this phase, but I would only increase if you really have to.

 

Ok, thanks so much -- that's really helpful. Yes, I call this "nursing by instinct." I guess my instincts were off this morning. The vet hates that I'm giving him such a low dose, and that I'm testing all the time, so I know I've been influenced by that.

I have been looking at Sam's spreadsheet... I guess we are in kind of the same boat! I'm a bit worried we're in for higher numbers than usual tonight now (Splunk is up to 8.8 at the moment), but I'll stick to 0.25 and see how he is in the morning.

Thanks again!!

 

A bounce to high numbers is a normal healthy response after a low like that. Just ignore it, no matter how high it is, and stick with the 0.25u. He may give you a couple of wonky cycles while his body recovers from the low.

It is hard when a vet gives different advice than you read here. For what it's worth, my vet thought I was crazy the first time too.

 

Thanks! I'll definitely stick to 0.25 (or lower, as necessary) for the next few days. He's 10.2 now. Do you think it's safe for me to go out and leave him for a couple of hours?

 

Yes, he's on his way up. Have a good afternoon!

 

Thank you so much! You too! Head-butts to Sam and Atticus.

 

Ugh, so now he's 10.1. I don't know if I'm comfortable giving any insulin tonight, based on what happened today. He hasn't rebounded nearly as much as I expected.

 

Did you feed already? Might stall and test again in a few to make sure he's still headed up...

 

I do think you could give 0.25. You've done that several times on similar numbers recently and it was fine...just grab a +2 if you can to see where he's headed.

 

Thanks Rachel. I've given him 0.25 on a lower number, for sure... I just really expected him to be quite a bit higher after his "light green" scare & subsequent carb-loading today, and I'm really worried he's unstable right now. I'm giving him some food, so I'll check again in a bit and see if there's any change.

 

I know it seems like just drops, but there is a big difference between 0.5 and 0.25. I am inclined to agree with Rachel that you'll probably be fine with a 0.25 dose. We always say though that you hold the syringe. You need to be comfortable with the choice. If you want to just give a drop, or even skip, it's just fine to make the decision that sits best with you. As Rachel told me when I first started and was nervous about a dose: all data is good data. Whatever you choose, you can collect the data and learn from it.

 

Thanks to you both -- this is very helpful. He's eating like a fiend right now, so I'll test again and make a decision in the next few minutes. I wonder why he's so hungry these days. He was never hyperphagic like this when his sugars levels were really high.

 

Could be that the really high levels made him feel icky and he's feeling better now therefore...more willing to eat.

 

Oh yeah, maybe! It would be great if that's why he's eating. He lost over 2.5kg, and he's definitely putting on weight now.

 

It's so funny how weight and diabetes work. Some of our kitties get it by being chubby (mine), while other kitties end up so so skinny from it! Glad to hear that Splunk is putting on some weight now!

 

Thanks! Yeah, we moved last August, and he had quite a bit more room to run around, so at first I thought he was losing weight because he was exercising more, but he just kept losing and losing... it was scary. SO nice to see him put some weight back on... but now I'm worried he'll just keep eating and eating and put too much on!

 

Ok, so I decided no shot, because I just have a bad feeling about it, and now at +3, he's at 9.1. Is this weird? He's also very active... hyperactive, even. I'm so confused...

 

Not weird. Good. It means his pancreas is producing more insulin on it's own, and he's able to push his own BG down a bit. It's a really good thing.

 

I know that in theory, I just *really* wasn't expecting to see it today! But hooray! He's having a good night -- he just "helped" me make the bed, which is an old favourite game he hasn't played in a while. Here's a pic from just a minute ago.

Thanks again to you both for everything.

 

Oh my gosh!!! He even looks like Samir! Maybe they're long lost cousins....

 

Aww!! Splunk says he would be honoured to have Samir as a cousin! He says they can be sugar-cousins anyway.

 

Cute boy! Teasel likes to help when I change the bedding too.

 

Aw, a kindred spirit! Splunk loves the way sheets and blankets turn him into an invisible bed shark.

Sooo... he was 8.1 this morning! I gave the tiniest of doses and will watch him carefully today.

 

Aaaaannnnnnd... 5.2 at +3. I don't know how I could have given a smaller dose... maybe I shouldn't have given one at all. I guess I'll keep feeding him, and keep checking his sugar...

 

Oh my.... Yes, keep feeding him, but too much in case you reach a point where you need him to eat -- you don't want him to be too full. Hopefully he'll just surf for awhile today, and not dive.

It looks like you may need to raise your NS number a bit higher. I wonder what happened with that 275 yesterday. Where did that come from? Do you have other pets that eat different food? Did he maybe get into something?

 

NS number is definitely getting raised.

Nope, the other cats eat what he eats. There's no chance he got into anything. It's a very weird number.

 

Try not to let it stress you too much. Keep testing, of course, but my bet is that he's going to be fine today. (I will apologize later if I'm totally wrong )

 

Jeepers, he's a sensitive guy. Fed him a bit, now he's up to 8.8. I guess we're probably good for the rest of the day now. Hopefully his numbers will start to slide down slowly, instead of continuing to rise. Thanks for the advice!

 

So, my little Splunky-Monkey has gone from 14.6 at +6 (over-correction!!) to 8.3 at PMPS. I'm so proud of him... and I'm DEFINITELY not giving him a shot! Lesson learned!

 

Means you get a good night of sleep tonight since you don't have to worry!!!

 

Yay!!! I'm soooo looking forward to it!

 

Splunk gave you a 122 after no insulin for 24 hours? Hmmm...interesting....

 

I know, right?? I didn't want to say anything...

I don't think he ate much today, but still...

 

Well, look at that!!!

 

I know!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!

Splunks says thanks for checking on him!

Looks like Samir is doing pretty well, too, even if he's not quite ready for NS.

 

Sigh....nope. Sam seems determined to stay on a mini-dose. Maybe he's just doing it to keep the steady stream of attention and treats?

So good to see that green this morning for Splunk!

 

Wowwww! GO SPLUNK!!!

Djamila, Sam does look great too!

 

Ha, maybe! Splunk doesn't like the needles, but I know he likes the attention.

While Sam was in remission the first time, did you keep testing regularly? Or did you know he was coming out of remission because of his symptoms?

Our paws are crossed that he won't even need a mini-dose soon!

 

Splunk says THANK YOU!

 

I was testing about every 2-3 weeks throughout the year+ he was in remission. He was always in the greens, then had one test that was 121, and two weeks later he was in the 300's. The day I got the 300+ test I had also noticed he was drinking and peeing too much. So it was a combination. I had been lazy about a food choice and hadn't contacted the manufacturer to verify the actual carb content - I just went with what it said on the package. So forever and ever, please be very careful about what you feed Splunk!

 

I will, thank you! It's terrible that the carb content on the packaging wasn't accurate... I don't know if I would think to contact the manufacturer to verify. I figure I'll just feed Splunk forever what he's getting now. If I can figure out how to get my hands on some YA food, I might add that... carefully.

Love to Samir & Atticus!

 

Keep it up, Splunk! Rather, keep it low