Re: 5/8 Zack AMPS 478, +5 326,+7 326, PMPS 527
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=118392
Welcome to Lantus Land Holly! I posted the link to your post on the Health forum for you. Tomorrow, when you do your next condo, you'd want to post the link to this one in it so people can quickly go back and see what's been going on
In reply to Mary Alice's concern about a furshot. Since he did come down over 150 points, I doubt if it was a total furshot.
Holly, a furshot is when you don't get the insulin INTO the cat...you never assume that none of it got in though, so even if you're sure you gave a furshot, you don't try to give more. We've seen so many times when someone thought they did a furshot, and then their kitty went into low numbers later in the cycle, so even if you think you did, you just keep going (but add the info into your spreadsheet in the Remarks area)
With Lantus, there's a VERY distinct smell (you might put a drop on your fingertip and smell for yourself). It smells kind of like a band-aid factory..or some say it smells like Scotch (I don't drink, so wouldn't know...lol) After you shoot, you should gently feel for wetness or if you think you might have given a furshot, sniff your cat! :lol:
The first time I gave China a furshot, there was no way of mistaking it...I smelled it immediately!
Now that you're over here in LL, you'll get the most experienced eyes watching Zack and giving you the benefit of their wisdom. People here are very generous with their time and advice!
Since today was the 7th cycle and you're still "filling the depot", I think you should just hold the 1.5 for now. I know it's awful seeing those high numbers, but it's important that you don't try to rush it. If we don't see some better numbers at nadir by tomorrow night's cycle, I think it would be find for you to increase to 1.75, but then the "cycle clock" starts over.
You should be testing for ketones too. I know I've posted the tips for urine collection on Facebook, but just in case, here they are again.
Urine Testing Tips IF you get a trace or less, you can sometimes handle it at home, but if more than a trace, it's an emergency and you'll need to get Zack to the vet.
When you first start, you hold the dose for 5-7 days (10-14 cycles) . Then we can re-evaluate every 3 days (6 cycles) and see if he needs to go up. So IF he doesn't get into better numbers at nadir, I think you'd be OK to increase on Saturday morning's cycle, but let's cross that bridge when we come to it. (And hopefully we'll get other opinions in here too!)
Right now, you're in the beginning of the protocol here:
"General" Guidelines:
Hold the initial starting dose for 5 - 7 days (10 - 14 consecutive cycles) unless the numbers tell you otherwise. Kitties experiencing high flat curves or prone to ketones may want to increase the starting dose after 3 days (6 consecutive cycles).
Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).
Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.
IF his nadir doesn't come down, you'd enter this phase of the protocol:
Increasing the dose:
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
if your cat is new to numbers under 200, it is recommended to hold the dose for at least 8-10 cycles before increasing.
when your cat starts to see nadirs under 100, hold the dose for at least 10 cycles before increasing.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.
At the top of the board are several posts with "Sticky" ...These are important for you to read and you'll gradually learn more and more about how Zack responds to both food and insulin and these "rules" will help to guide you too.
Again, welcome to the Lantus Land family and we all look forward to helping you learn the steps of the "sugardance"!
Edited to Add...I see on your spreadsheet that the PMPS cycle tonight didn't "color"...it should have colored in black. You may need to manually do this by clicking on the PMPS "cell" (where you entered the 527) and then clicking on the little icon at the top of the spreadsheet that looks like a little paint can starting to tip over. Then you just choose the correct color (in this case, black)
