this is not a bounce 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341 +2 304 +4 346 +9 274

Good afternoon,

Yesterday's condo:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=118443&p=1240459#p1240459

As figured, this new dose increase to 1.25u is doing diddly-squat for Rocky. This is just F***king horrible.

Is there a protocol for shortening the amount of days a cat must wait before increasing the dose, when a cat is not bouncing? What is the SHORTEST amount of time a CG can wait before increasing the dose, and by how much? confused_cat

I mean, come on now, since 4/30-- nearly 10 days ago, Rocky's pancreas and liver have spent only 10 hrs in the healing blue and green numbers, and those were MOSTLY blue numbers.

Why have I not been increasing by .50u, and instead increasing by .25u?

I guess poor Rocky gets to unfortunately spend the entire month of May in black and red numbers as I increase his dose, one drop at a time, every 6 cycles..

Re: dose question 5/9 Rocky AMPS 255 +2 304 + 5.5 404 +6.6 3

Your ss looks like you went from 1.00 to a fat 1.00 to a 1.25.
You could have increased by a whole 0.25 units.. from a fat 1.00 to a fat 1.25.
I would just wait now, and next time if needed, increase by 0.25.

He could still be bouncing from those green numbers and come down tonight.

Re: dose question 5/9 Rocky AMPS 255 +2 304 + 5.5 404 +6.6 3

I agree with Dyana - it's best to increase by .25U next time. Another explanation for higher numbers today is NDW - it can happen for the first couple of cycles. The protocol recommends waiting 6 cycles before increasing.

Come on Rocky - time to work that extra juice!

Re: dose question 5/9 Rocky AMPS 255 +2 304 + 5.5 404 +6.6 3

what's the status of the ringworm? any luck getting him out for exercise? that would likely lower his BGs as you wait for the next increase.

Re: 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341 +2 304

Dyana and Wendy, I have no idea how to increase to a fat 1.25u. I don't believe there is a good way to interpret the "fat" part of that with the Relion syringes and I do not have calipers.

Julie, have not had any time to get Rocky any exercise. I suspect the ringworm is still there on his fur. I have to keep giving him the lime--sulfur dips but do not have time to do that more than 1x a week. The other thing is, that stuff has to dry on his fur and I cannot rinse it off. I wait for the hottest day so that he does not get a chill from being so wet.

The protocol :roll: doesn't make sense to me that we have to wait so long to increase a dose when we are so fast to reduce it.

I am back to feeding him the zero carb food at least until I see a string of blue or green numbers.

Re: 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341

The next increase you can do to 1.5, if you have to increase again. The lines make things so much easier. The other option for making a fat 1.25 dose is to fill the syringe to 1.5, then twist off one or two drops, depending on the size of your drops.

The protocol takes into consideration that Lantus/Levemir are depot insulins. It takes around 6 cycles for the depot to fill at a certain dose and it's not until it's full that you can see the full effect of that dose.

Re: 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341

I might already be at the 1.50u dose, Wendy. It's so hard to tell with these syringes.

The way I've given the shot-- the plunger is centered, right in the middle, of the 1.50u line. This makes it so that there is a tiny space between the top of the plunger and the 1.0u line..so the top of the plunger is not touching the 1.0u marker line at all.

I guess when I increase to the 1.50u that I will move the plunger so that the 1.50u marker line is resting right at the top, inside of the plunger. :roll:

Re: not bouncing 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341 +2 304 4 346

So, what is there to say about the 'effect' of the (f)1.0 dose? I put him through 8 cycles of not enough insulin..

If this 1.25u is suppose to be enough insulin for him, I'm suppose to see blue and green numbers all of a sudden in cycle 6? There has to be something else that can pinpoint it sooner that the dosecrease is working, or not, for the cat.

I don't believe that this 1.25u is enough insulin for him either. He's already in the 3rd cycle of this 1.25u and his overall BG is trending HIGHER, not lower..:cry:

Re: not bouncing 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341 +2 304 4 346

Hi Tina. I can't picture what you are saying about where the plunger is. I think you just have to be consistent in the amount regardless of what the dose actually is. Why don't you order the calipers? I think they make it somewhat easier and they aren't expensive. Mine came in just a few days. I hope Rocky starts to slide down for you.

Re: this is not a bounce 5/9 Rocky PMPS 341 +2 304 +4 346

Tina:

If you can't reliably see the lines on the syringe, either get reading glasses with a high magnification or get a magnifier at a craft shop or some means of better seeing the lines on the syringe. If you can't measure a dose reliably, you're going to get weird numbers. The key isn't what you call the dose it's that no matter what you call it, you measure the dose the same way every time.

It is often best if you have a cat that isn't holding dose reductions well that you reduce the dose by shaving and increase by a full 0.25u unless the numbers dictate otherwise. At least to me, Rocky's numbers do not suggest that shaving the doses is working to keep him in better numbers.

As for the ringworm, I've been there with Gabby. It is critical if you want to beat the fungal infection back that you use the lime/sulfur dip every week. Do not let more than 7 days go between treatments. I had to dip both cats and I did so in separate bathrooms and kept them in the bathrooms until they mostly dried. I would not wait until the weather cooperated. The other key factor is that you have to clean like a mad woman. I had both cats confined to my bedroom. While they were drying, I was cleaning. The linens were stripped. Any surface that could be washed, was washed on a weekly basis with a dilute bleach solution. Anything that could be thrown out due to contamination was discarded. All of my upholstered furniture was professionally cleaned. My area rugs were also taken out and professionally cleaned (they were put in an airtight container and treated with argon gas which will kill the spores and then washed). The bottom line is that ringworm is persistent. It is a fungus and the spores can be anywhere. The only way to know whether you've gotten rid of it is that you get two consecutive clean lab tests.