Re: 6/26 Merlin AMPS 398,+5/255,+7/249,+9/330 PMPS 352
Hi Cindi,
I like your's and Sue's idea of trying the 0.6 to see what that looks like. I'd do one change at a time so you can figure out which variable is making a difference.
With regards to the 11/13, I'm thinking that probably works better when a kitty pretty consistently has one "good" pre-shot and one "bad" pre-shot. I'm thinking Merlin's PS's are all (mostly) higher than you'd like to see. I'm thinking that experimenting with trying to shoot either as needed (sort of akin to "tight regulation" version of PZI but more conservative), or on a different schedule, should probably wait till you've nailed down the smallest possible dose that will get Merlin into greens at nadir.
I'd hold off on food manipulation for a little bit yet too, just to get a feel for what the 0.6 will do first. If it looks like he's going to do OK on the 0.6, you might want to start experimenting with trying to slow Merlin's drops. Ultimately, you may be able to shoot a higher dose if you flatten him out some with food. In terms of carb levels, it looks like the highest you've got in the rotation right now is about 5%. There's some line of thinking that anything in the "low carb" range is pretty much all the same whether it's 0% or whether it's 5%, since there is variation from batch-to-batch, etc. I think it also sort of depends on how carb sensitive a cat is. Food management really is an ECID thing. To figure out a starting point, you might just try the 5% to start with, and see if that's enough to slow him down. If not, you might try something a bit higher, like in the 8% range, and if that doesn't cut it, maybe something in the 10% range. Cats can even respond differently to different brands of food that are the same carb level. For example, with Eddie, I try to avoid foods with grains, glutens, etc., as part of his main diet. For slowing him down when he's dropping like a rock, I actually have had good luck with Fancy Feast Medley's which has greens and other junk. I know Marje's Gracie also seems to slow down a bit better with a food that contains grains. If I recall correctly, I think Marje uses a 13% or a 10% to slow Gracie down when she's dropping. Elise and Max in LL are also doing food manipulation, and she's basically mixing HC and LC to create a medium carb to help slow his drops. With food manipulation, you're really focused on the first part of the cycle, and slowing the momentum of the drop with food. For Eddie, I had to use higher carb levels earlier in the cycle, and then as he approached nadir and the rate of his drop slowed, a lower carb food worked to keep him "surfing." Once he was at nadir (unless he was going below 50), usually small amounts of lowish carb food kept him nice and steady.
While you're experimenting with the 0.6 it might be a good opportunity for data gathering, to get a handle on how big of a food spike Merlin gets after eating (around a +1 test), when he onsets (probably around +2 to +3), when he typically drops fastest (maybe in the +3 - +5 range?), how long he surfs (usually till about +7 or or +8 so possibly?) and when the insulin seems to go kaput and he starts a definite rise (seems like he's often well on his way by about +10 or so). You don't have to get all of these tests in every day, but gathering this data will help guide when to intervene with food, and also hopefully give you an idea as to the action of the insulin for purposes of developing a shooting schedule that works with Merlin's typical cycles.
