6/16 - Oliver Green all day in spite of 2 skipped shots!!

6/15 - Oliver

Oliver's BG didn't spike as high last night as I feared. I woke up at 3:30 AM (+6) and it was 169. It has been dropping since then and was only 103 at +11.

I am beginning to wonder if Oliver should be on insulin right now or if I could, perhaps, control this with diet. His pred. dose was reduced 3 weeks ago and maybe these recent relatively low readings are an indication that he is recovering from the prednisolone induced diabetes. I guess I need to call my vet and discuss.

I was going to try to get back on an 8 AM/8 PM schedule today, but 103 is just too low for me to shoot. I will test again in an hour to see if I will shoot this morning.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver - AMPG=108 -Stalling. Question about Guide

Oliver's BG is fairly low. Thi is with the skipped shot last evening. And he has eaten a whole can of FF this morning.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver - AMPG=108 - Stalling

Morning!

Impressive numbers, even with a skipped shot last night. If you need to skip again this morning, I see no harm in doing that. it is, imho, better to keep Oliver safe. It will be interesting to see what his next test is. Good luck!

Re: 6/16 - Oliver - AMPG=108 - Question about Guidelines

I am assuming that I found a link to these guidelines here on the message board. (I saved the URL for reference, so I'm not sure where I got it.)

http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Blood ... guidelines

Can anyone tell me if these guidelines are based on a human meter or on a meter designed for animals? It makes a significant difference when interpreting the guidelines. For example, a 90 on a human meter equates to about 140 on the Alpha Trak. (Just approximate based on my own tewting. I know it varies greatly.) The 90 is listed as "A commonly cited minimum safe value for the lowest target blood sugar of the day when insulin-controlled." I'd like to know if this refers to a 90 on a human meter or on a meter calibrated for cats.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +1=84 Question about Guidleine

I'm glad I didn't shoot this morning. +1 reading was 84. I'd be breaking out the Karo syrup again this morning.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +1=84 Question about Guidleine

It says on the top of the page that the ranges are with a "typical home glucometer" and not with the ones the vet would use. However, the normal range for a cat's BG using the TR protocol and a human meter is 50-120.

Let's see how Oliver does today. It's great he didn't bounce but this could still be insulin depot although it's interesting he got no food spike.

I hope you rested, Linda. See...it's all good!

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +1=84 Question about Guidleine

I saw that it said a typical home meter. But the numbers seemed odd for a human meter.

I don't know what is going on with my Oliver. I have a vet appointment today for my other cat and I'm going to discuss Oliver's spreadsheet with the vet while I am there. She is not going to be happy with me since she told me to stop testing 2 weeks ago and just to give him 1 U as long as he ate before the shot.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +1=84, +2=91

My poor Fluff Bunny has been really good about all the ear sticks, but I think he has had enough. He bit me twice this morning. I am really curious about how long he will stay below 100, but I think I'll give him a break for a few hours.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +1=84, +2=91

I don't think you need to test this much if you didn't shoot. I'd definitely give him a break.

Remember that your vet works for you. She needs to understand that you are Oliver's advocate. What if you hadn't been testing when he got into those low numbers? He could have had a severe, clinical hypoglycemic event. I would ask her if she would give a child insulin without testing or if, once she'd given it to a child, wouldn't test. Tell her you are keeping Oliver safe.

You might also print out these Diabetes management Guidelines by the American Animal Hospital Association which state that home monitoring is strongly encouraged. Is your vet's clinic an AAHA clinic? AAHA clinics must maintain a higher level of standards and pass inspections. They must also have and use more of the advanced equipment (like digital dental X-ray machine).

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +7=77 Interesting chat with my

I printed out Oliver's spread sheet and took it to my vet this afternoon. She agrees with my assessment that his diabetes is prednisolone induced and she approved of what I have been doing with him. (She has another client who is following "tight regulation", so she is familiar with the protocol.) She said that Oliver needed the insulin initially but that maybe his pancreas is beginning to recover. She okayed a decrease in his pred to 1.25 mg. every other day. I am to continue testing and giving insulin as appropriate. She said that maybe he will need insulin only once/day in the evening when I give him his pred. She also said that I may be able to control his diabetes through diet before too much longer. I am going on vacation in about a month and I had planned to take Oliver with me so I could continue his insulin shots. I don't mind taking him, but the 4 1/2 hr. drive really stresses him out. My sister is house sitting to take care of my other cat, but she could never do the insulin shots or the testing. Maybe I can get Oliver off insulin by then so he can stay at home.

My vet said that if all of her clients were willing to do what I have been doing, she would treat diabetes differently.

BTW, Marje asked about this. My vet is a cat only practice and is AAHA certified.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +7=77 Interesting chat with my

Not to bad of numbers w/o having a shot!
Good luck with the reduced pred.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver AMPG=108, +7=77 Interesting chat with my

great day for Oliver today!

I would consider the PDF that Marje linked above as a much better resource than the PetWiki site. The goal of Tight Regulation is to keep a diabetic cat receiving insulin injections between 50-120 on a human meter. That's what the PDF is about, and it is the only protocol for treating diabetic cats that has been published in a professional veterinary journal. The protocol is tested and proven as a means for getting diabetic cats to go into remission, especially for a newly diagnosed cat. Not every cat makes it into remission, but even if the cat doesn't, keeping their blood sugar in that range protects their organs from the damages of excess glucose in the body.

If you want an insulin that you can shoot more intermittently, but still successfully, you might consider ProZinc. It doesn't last quite as long as Lantus or Lev, but the dose can be varied dependent on the preshot number. I'm not sure, but that might work for you to skip shots when he's not getting the pred, assuming that he holds his BGs down like today, but still shoot when you're giving the pred if it's continuing to raise his numbers. I'm not as familiar with it, but if it's something you want to explore there are people who have used it and can give you accurate information about it.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver Green all day in spite of 2 skipped shots

Anyone have any ideas about what is going on with my Oliver? This is the first day he has been in green numbers all day, and I have skipped 2 shots. Will skip tonight's as well, and I will not be giving him pred. tonight. Please keep paws crossed that this is the beginning of recovery for him.

Re: 6/16 - Oliver Green all day in spite of 2 skipped shots

my guess would be that his pancreas is healing and is beginning to sputter back on again!

it's a good thing!