Switching from vetsulin to prozinc: Part 9

Part 8 was getting a little long so on to another chapter:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...-to-prozinc-part-8.173077/page-2#post-1901974

 

Very good PSs. I hope he perks up for you. Steroids are heavy duty meds and that's on top of FD. Poor kitty!

 

1.75 u this AM? I like that he seems to have gotten over the AM BG spike from the steroid since you started giving it every second day. Have you had to give his other meds - nausea, etc. - often?

 

Sorry I forgot to update SS this morning .

 

I have been giving him his other meds.

 

Smokys PMPS at 195 tonight, I may have to put him back on the budesonide every day for a week. He is having problems with his IBD these last couple of days. I am going in to work early tomorrow so can't get in a before bed test today. I'm about to give him his pm shot and am thinking that 1.6U would be a good dose for tonight. Is that too little of a dose since I am giving him the steroid tonight?

 

Sorry I wasn't here to give an opinion, Lisa. I think your choices were fine last night and this AM. You know that you're likely to see some pink AMPSs with daily steroid. At least you can tell there's a positive effect on his IBD because of the symptoms reappearing with less dosing.

Busy Saturday ahead for you because of your move. I hope it all goes smoothly.

 

I'm moving on Sunday instead of Saturday, heavy rain and thunderstorms for Saturday. Smoky had a good BG considering that I gave him the steroid last night. Did you take another day trip?

 

Actually, I was glued to Netflix last night. Guilty pleasure ...

 

I have about a million recorded shows on Fios to get caught up on.

 

I did a little experiment with Smoky. I tested him at +2.5 hrs after pm shot.
AMPS was 241 for Feb 24, gave him 1.75U.
His PMPS was 224 and I gave him the same dose tonight. Normally I give him the budesonide right after his pm shot and do a +2 to +3 test. I'm skipping the steroid tonight and gave him a small amount of HC food to ward off too much of a drop. Smoky still has 3 and a half hours in the first half of cycle so wanted to keep him safe.

 

Looks like he was OK. Packing today? Moving is so stressful! Good luck.

 

Yep I'm packing today, have been doing that all week. I worked half a day today and just checked him at almost +5 and his BG was 49. Yikes! It had been 4 hours and 45 minutes since his am shot. I gave him his LC lunch and two teaspoons of gravy food. I think I probably shld have waited on the HC food. He is almost halfway thru the cycle now. It was a bit of a shock to see that number. I have to wonder if he dropped lower than that while I was at work.

 

Oh goodness! Even though he's halfway through the cycle, there are some days where it looks like he's dropped a bit after +5, so giving him a little boost was probably a good idea. Are you moving nearby? Or far away?

 

We are moving about a mile away.
I just tend to panic with lower numbers.

 

I think I would panic too! Have you done another test to see if he's rising?

 

I'm waiting about 5 more minutes first. It would be about five hours and 45 minutes since his shot then.

 

That 68 looks better!

 

His BG was 68 at +6

 

Whew! Too exciting! Of course, being a cat, he'll do it when you're busy with other things ...
As Sue has said often on here, once they're at/near 50 it's time for high carb food to come out. You can also put a little karo or honey in LC food if you don't have gravy food at home. Or honey in gravy food if you need a stronger boost. I'd do the honey on the gums thing as a last resort. The pure sugar shot is too short in duration. If it's in a bit of food the boost should last a little longer.

 

He is acting much more lively now.
He wants to eat again so guess that is a good thing.

 

It's a good thing we changed our moving date to Sunday. Severe thunderstorms, cloud to ground lightning, and 1 inch hail possible in my area right now.

 

Yikes! It's pouring rain here right now and the snow pack is down a foot. We had thunderstorms last night. Very weird weather!

 

Wow! He really wanted to give you an exciting day huh?

That weather is nuts...it's been in the 70's here...though it keeps going back and forth between freezing and summery weather.

 

That is weird weather figuring out smokys dose for tonight. I was thinking 1.5 units, any thoughts? I'm giving him the budesonide before bed tonight.
It will be a stressful day for him tomorrow.

 

Heyyyy that I got that storm too. Very glad Maury is not afraid of T-storms like my first boy because I'm sure it would effect his BG levels

 

Try 1.5 u. Test at +2?

 

If I can stay awake that longI'm totally beat and we still have the big stuff to move tomorrow yet

 

Then you need the rest. Dose accordingly.

 

I gave him the 1.5 units and am giving him the steroid about two hours after that. The pharmacist said it is better if the cat doesn't have a full stomach. The budesonide works better to treat the IBD that way if it doesn't have to compete for space with food.

 

Pharmacists are great sources of info on meds. Better than doctors.

 

I just gave Smoky a little bit of HC food.
His BG was 139 at +2 and will leave him his usual half of a 3 oz can of LC food in his feeder overnight. I'm falling asleep on my feet so going to bed to try to get some sleep.
I think he will be OK between the boost from the food and the steroid.

 

Feb 26, Smokys BG at 321 for am PS.
Not totally unexpected though with the HC gravy food last night plus the steroid.
I'll be busy moving furniture today so can't monitor too closely. I think the 321 might be a combo of a bounce, the HC food, and he is stressed from all the moving activity.
I don't feel comfortable giving him 2U even with the 321 PS for am since it will be hard to watch him today. I'm thinking 1.5 units to keep him safe. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I agree with the lower dose, Lisa. You don't need to be worrying about Smoky's BG in the midst of a move. Good luck!

 

Happy moving day, Lisa! I hope everything goes well for you all today!

 

Cld someone look at Smokys ss for today and let me know if they think he is OK so far with his BG.

 

You're well away from the BG of 50 (on a human meter) where you have to intervene. You could give a low carb snack and retest in 30 minutes or give high carb to keep him up a bit. Retest in 30 minutes if you can.

 

@Lisa and Smoky - What is this magic you are doing to get those beautiful green numbers? I'm jealous! Looking through your threads and your spreadsheet, you've really worked hard to care for Smoky! Hope the move is going well today!

 

The move is going OK so far. The last time I checked smoky was at +4 and he was at 87. Going to do a +8 check in a few minutes.

 

Smoky BG at 241 for PMPS. We moved most of our belongings to our new place. We will finish moving tomorrow. I'm only giving smoky a token dose of 1 unit tonight. I'm too tired to watch him tonight and have to go to a work meeting from 8 to 10 am tomorrow.

 

Good plan!

 

Congrats on getting most of your things moved! Have a good, and well earned, night's sleep!

 

Smoky PMPS for Feb 27 was 201. I think that's pretty good for 24 hours w/o insulin.

 

Really good! I think he's a candidate for remission at some point. All settled in? First day at your new job tomorrow?

 

First day at new job on Wed, last day at old job tomorrow. I gave Smoky 1.5 units tonight and no steroid. He was 104 at +3 so gave him a can of LC food.

 

We finally moved everything at last. I still have to unpack half of my belongings though. Smoky is doing pretty well with his BG since the move. I've been seeing some yellow numbers even with him taking the budesonide.

 

Yeah for being done! (at least with the moving part) How was the first day at your new job?

 

It was different but very busy. Inventory control keeps you on your toes.

 

Just checking in, Lisa. I know you're very busy with the new job and settling into a new place. I see that Smoky gave you some excitement last night! How is he doing?

 

He is doing OK so far. He threw up his food on Thursday morning. I forgot to leave food out for him that night. He was pretty hungry and ate it too fast. I have to take him back for a recheck next week and get a refill on the budesonide. How are you and Teasel doing these days?

 

We're doing fine. Teasel gives me a couple of days with long stretches of nice blues but follows that up with some pink and yellow to remind me he's still a Rubber Kitty. I think he feels better over all on Lantus because of less dramatic fluctuations in BG. It's still early in the Lantus game but there's positive progress.

 

March 1: Smoky PMPS was 28!
I gave him a can of HC food. I'll check him again in a little bit. What the heck happened from this morning?

 

Did you retest immediately in case it was a wonky reading? Any signs of hypo? You've had more green and two lime greens so his pancreas might be sputtering and adding its own insulin to the mix. Another thought: maybe the budesonide has made significant inroads on his IBD and that's causing BG to fall because of reduced inflammation.

 

I did retest right away and got the same reading. I'm not sure if the meter is wonky so might test one of our civvie cats. He is extremely hungry but has no other symptoms. He is a little restless and meowing louder than he usually does. I'm getting ready to test him again.

 

Maybe test yourself if you can't get one of the other cats. Let us know what the next test shows.

 

I just checked him at +1 after PMPS. His BG is now at 40. He already ate a can of FF gravy lovers turkey feast. He is now going back to his can of FF chunky turkey feast. I also put out some high carb kibble my roommates civvie eats to graze on.

 

Wow! I'm so glad to hear he's eating and rising! I saw your post come through and have been biting my nails for you.

 

Phew! Keep us posted on how he does...that's just crazy!

 

I'll keep you guys updated with smokys progress.

 

I'll be checking his BG again in 15 minutes, wld be a +2 after PMPS. He seems super tired right now.

 

Did you get his +2? How's he doing?

 

Sorry, he was at 100 for +2.5 so going up.

 

Yeah! That's better!

 

Phew! Glad he's going back up.

 

Whew! That's better! Do you get Saturday/Sunday off at your new job?

 

I work some weekend so it's not bad

 

I see the blue AMPS - nice! This boy is thinking about wanting to reduce his insulin habit.

 

I gave him a reduced dose for am today.
I wanted to err on the side of caution.

 

It's so weird that smokys BG was 28 at PMPS last night and 184 for tonight.
I'm nervous about giving him too high of a dose after his hypo last night. I'm giving him the budesonide before bed tonight.
I need some advice about dose to give him for tonight.

 

Would 1 u be too uncomfortable for you? His AM/PMPSs are similar today.

 

I'm fine with giving him the same dose as AM Kris. I was worried about giving him 1.5U. I like your thoughts about why his BG nay have dropped the way it did. I never really thought about it from that angle.

 

You had a nice PMPS after 1 u this AM so why change it? Re BG drop: he's been on the budesonide long enough for it to have done some work on his IBD. Look at the overall drop in his numbers over the past week or so. Inflammation can raise BG so why couldn't reduction in it lower BG?

 

That makes total sense to me. I was thinking that giving him the steroid tonight might elevate his BG substantially.
I'm getting his shot around now so had wondered if he needed a larger dose due to that. He is eating well today, so far six cans of FF since this morning.

 

Glad he's eating well! Here's hoping this is a good sign...

 

March 5, Smoky AMPS at 254 up from his PMPS of 184. I'm thinking 1.5 units for am shot. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to get him into those nice darker green BG numbers more often. I know it's a marathon and not a sprint but it's so frustrating trying to treat him for so many health issues. I noticed his BG is getting better but overall he hasn't improved much in the last six months. He still hasn't gained back the weight he lost back in August of last year. He went from 14 lbs down to 7.5 lbs and has gone up to 8.8 lbs at the most. How long will it take him to improve with the IBD? I guess I'm just ranting again but hate seeing him this way. I miss my old Smoky and his quirky personality.

 

Periodic rants are good, Lisa. It all builds up over time and you have to get it out.

I think you had nice blue PSs yesterday because of the increased insulin sensitivity caused by the low greens. Now he's back to his more normal BG range. It could be a very mild bounce too.

 

I'm getting ready to do his am shoot now.
I think giving him 1.5U would be a safe dose. Thanks for reminding me about the increased sensitivity to insulin following a hypo. I had forgotten about that aspect of it. I had thought giving more than 1.5 units would be too much for him right now. Is that a correct assumption?
I am home to monitor today.