After a huge number this morning, Tucker landed with a reasonable PMPS of 117, and seemed to be back to the blues. At 1am he crawled onto my chest and patted and nuzzeled my face. This being unusual I decided to test him and got this 2.2(39.6). I've given med carb food and a splash of milk which usually gives him an immediate boost.
Good idea! I would test again in 15-20, geeze, he really likes to take some dives eh? Take off the scuba gear Tucker!
Wow! Thank goodness he came to get you! I'm new, so I don't really feel I'm the best one for advice, but if I were in your situation I'd consider using high carb food if you have it. Hope other wiser folks chime in. Really hope he's back up soon.
I'm out the door to a medical appointment and can't stay with you. You know the drill. Test 20 minutes after the last test. If the med carb has not brought Tucker up, add a bit of honey or karo, or hit the HC. Chocolate for yourself.
Please get another several tests: If your cat is testing in low numbers and you are not getting a quick response to your post, there are several things you need to do. (Low numbers are under 50mg/dL or 2.8 mmol/L.) Depending on how carbohydrate sensitive your cat is, feed approximately a teaspoon or less of gravy from high carb food or high carb food only. (If you have a cat with GI issues, using a couple of drops of syrup plus low carb food is an alternative.) Test again in 15 – 20 min. Depending on the numbers, give more HC food. Repeat the above steps every 15 – 20 min. until your cat tests in the 50 mg/dL (2.8 mmol/L) or above range for 2 consecutive tests. Continue to feed in small amounts to keep numbers in a safe range. Test in 30 - 40 min. and repeat the test and feed process until there are 2 consecutive tests where numbers are stable or rising. Test in an hour and follow the same steps. DO NOT become complacent. If numbers have risen after one or two tests, it’s important to continue testing. Numbers may bobble up and down as the HC food and/or Karo wear off. DO NOT get one test where your cat has risen from low numbers into the 50s and go to sleep or leave the house. You are putting your cat in a risky situation. When in doubt, leave HC food out.
+20 minutes 2.2 ( 39.6) +20 more minutes 3.6 (64.9) + 2 hours more 140... So some sleep AMPS= Big Bounce 288.3! +3= Bigger bounce! 358.6. . He's not feeling very well right now.
Wow ... thank goodness he woke you up. Glad to see he is coming up for you, but looks like it’s gonna be a pj party to make sure he stays up once all the food wears off.
Thank you. I've copied and saved this post. Thank you, I've copied and saved this post. I'm actually struggling right now - it was our 30th anniversary last night and I'm regretting having had champagne right now (2:15am). I have to be at the hospital at 8:30 for tests... Exceptional timing Tucker
Happy Anniversary Patty. Sorry to see Tucker had another hypo. Glad to see you got through it fine, and that he is on a reduced dose. I hope the new dose suits him well and he lets you sleep more this week.
This morning Tucker had a huge bounce after his hypo. Then at noon I checked and he had climbed even higher. At dinner time he was ravenous but his eyes looked wonky and he wasn't happy. He was 363. He came down during the night and at 11pm he is all the way down to 2.7 (48) after the dose reduction. Isn't that a fast drop?
Yes that is a fast drop. Did he get enough at dinner? And does he usually get fed after dinner as well (besides skittles and potato chips)? Bounces happen for different reasons, and we see them a lot after hypos. I hope Tucker stabilizes on the new lowered dose.
Thanks Jeff. Funny you should say that... We got home late after seeing The Book of Mormon, and I got the low reading. As I was getting out the hc good Kurt says "Just give him some pork flavored potato chips - they worked great last time "... ... What I'm up against.
I just love it. Whatever works Just looked up your weather, which is 10-15C, translated to F is less than 60 degrees. So I'm attaching some heat for you and Tucker to stay warm today. We are in our average summer temps now, 99F is daily.
We are never going to get used to the South Australian winters... Have that thin California blood. Luckily, Tuck is currently on a thick mink blanket and we have the heated mattress cover cranked up...very cozy. Time for a retest! I'll post in a sec.
Whoa. Time to carb him up. You know the drill by now. We relied on Karo a lot with Leo. His hypos were often severe. But he liked the FF gravy (HC) as well. I like the hypo treatment summary (above) from Sienne and Gabby, concise and to the point.
My GOD is Tucker dramatic! he doesn't make it easy for you, but I can tell by his sweet sweet face that he is worth it
3.5(63.1) after carbs. It's pushing 2 am... But sleep is overrated anyway... Once I gavr him 4 pieces of Science Diet dry food when he was low - popped him up to 90 and he stayed up for hours. It's pretty tempting right now (yawn).
Happy to see he came up easily. That is usually the case with Tucker - good responsiveness to carbs. The general rule is: - Are they at a safe and stable BG level, 2 hours after the last food With Tucker, he usually comes up and stays there because he is a good eater. Sleep is not over-rated. A lot of cat owners here are sleep deprived, and it is not good for their health. I already feel healthier since Leo has been gone, as I am getting more quality sleep. But Leo was worth it. You are doing a great job handling Tucker and his bouncy numbers.
So you are happy with the 63, and I should use that as the date basis for not giving more food? Do if he maintains that 63 until 3:30- I can go to sleep??
At BG=63, if he maintains that value or higher for 2 hours, then go to bed. That value (63) is a nice safe number. Tucker is at mid-cycle, so he will probably start coming up anyhow. Another option is to give him some more food now and test - 1 hr, then 2 hours from now.
Ok, thanks. I had a crazy day yesterday between seeing my surgeon, having a stress echo exam, anniversary theatre date... I'm exhausted so I suppose I'm looking for a cheat way out since it's pushing 2:30 here... Bad cat mom!! I'll set alarms if I have to!
We had a new (and temporary) member here last year. The cat was low, something like BG=45. I can't remember the specifics. It was 1am or similar, and she barely got the cat to 55 or similar. Then she said "now it is the hands of god, and I'm going to bed". The cat wasn't stable but it lived through that episode. Arggggghhh. For Tucker (and all cats), we just need to ensure they are stable for 2 hours after going low. With sufficient monitoring. Let's keep the current dose for at least 4 cycles. It should be 6 cycles. But you need your health too. For a long period, I did reduced PM dosing for Leo. Partly to compensate for the morning pred. Mostly to keep him safe at night. Yeah, not the protocol, but it worked.
Wow, I don't know what I would say to someone who took the time to check in here, got support and then bailed out on their cat. I'm going to set an alarm because I can't keep my eyes open and it's now pushing 3am. I've done another round of non- food BG testing and he has crept up a little bit more to 70.3.
That was certainly a challenging night. Perhaps a 1/2 dose (1.0 or a skinny 1.0) for the upcoming AMPS. You are going to need some real sleep to monitor his AMPS+6 timeframe.
