9/7 Tink AMPS 314, +2=269, +3=212

Yesterday's crazy condo: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=124821


The bean got some sleep! Tink decided to hang out pretty high last night so I took the opportunity to skip my "crazy-hours" tests and get some rest. He scratched at the door once, about 1am... but I had Mr. Squirtbottle armed and ready to go. One squirt and we were done scratching on the door for the night.

Unfortunately, I did not see Sandy and Black Kitty's suggestion to try to get a +10 or +11. Darn it. I'll try to start getting more of those - 3am isn't hard to do if I'm not also doing 11pm and 1am. @-)

Today looks like it'll be a smidge quieter than yesterday. I did give a sliver of his regular food at +2 just to prevent a fast drop and then fed their regular meal at +3 instead of +4. So far, I he has not gotten any additional food... just spread his regular meal out. I'll test again at +4 and see where we are. Considering he likes to bounce even from blue numbers, I think as a few of you have suggested, his bounces are often from dropping too fast, rather than from the numbers themselves. Given that he's still over 200, I dont want to push too much food into him... but he's also dropped 100pts in 3hrs... so??

WCR = Tink seems content this morning. He's sitting on the computer desk watching me type - maybe to make sure I'm not telling stories about him?? OR maybe trying to figure out how to use this amazing device to communicate with the outside world. :lol: At least he has the courtesy to sit on the edge this morning, instead of right in front of the monitor. I have not been able to catch him peeing for a couple days, so am anxious to get a ketone test. With 4 cats and 3 litter boxes... there's no shortage of cat pee... it's just finding the RIGHT cat pee at the right time that's the challenge. :lol: He's been playing and cuddling with the civvies.

the great thing about FD is there is almost always another opportunity to try something you're interested in! You'll have another opportunity (hehe in every cycle) to catch a +10 or +11!! :lol: it's just good to fill in some of those less-commonly-tested cells. they do help with the overall picture.

Yesterday Jenks' bean was asking about smoothing out the bouncing. I'll repost that response here for you:

julie & punkin (ga) said:

there are some strategies that people use if just going straight by the protocol (Plan A) isn't getting the job done.

In general, when a kitty is bouncy, the idea is you want to get enough insulin in them to bring down the high numbers, while preventing them from going too low in order to keep the cat safe.

One strategy is to "feed the curves" in order to smooth out the cycle. The goal here is to prevent any big drops. If you can prevent the big drops, you can often prevent the bounce that results. reducing the bouncing smooths out the cycle.

One way to do that is to increase the nadirs by feeding higher carbs (say try 10%) in the hours when you expect Jenks to drop down. Then you increase his insulin slightly, giving the regular low carb in the hours that you don't expect him to go low. You want to hold his nadirs up for a few cycles, which often is enough in itself to bring down the high numbers. Sometimes just a few cycles of doing this can really make a change.

I have 4 condos bookmarked where different people talked about Feeding the Curve and Bouncing. Take a look here and see what you think and consider if implementing a food strategy might help Jenks.

8/10/13 Tashie
6/1/14 Rocky
8/29/12 Charlie, Bouncing & Somogyi Rebound
10/29/11 Jetta

Click to expand...

Thanks for the condo links. Helpful to see that others have the same idea. I have been playing with his food schedule trying to accomplish this - though just started recently. While he was on ProZinc, I was feeding at PS and +5, to prevent a super low nadir around +6. He was bouncing on ProZinc too. It took me awhile on Lantus to realize I needed to feed differently. Still working it all out. With Lantus, I'm basically loading him early in the cycle and then he doesn't eat the rest of the day. Doubt HE likes it, but he doesn't seem to need the fuel later in the cycle.

Problem is... when I work, I'm not sure what to do. He isnt' showing predictable patterns yet - though the +2s are helping me know what's coming. I hate to feed the curve when it's not needed, as that's just going to hold him needlessly high. But I dont want him crashing when I'm not around to prevent it either.

Starting tomorrow, I will set the feeder for +3 & +4. He usually eats at +4... but I'm thinking about moving that back to +3. I'll put some zucchini in the other slot for him, or extra food if his +2 shows it might be an active cycle. I can also feed at +2, depending on what I see. So that covers PS, +2, 3, 4. I can add more in there if needed, since I'm only using 2 of 4 closed slots in the PetSafe5.

I wish I could program his microchip to just transmit bg to me when I asked. How's THAT for an invention!!!! ;-) Sure would make life easier!

On the bright side, DD is usually home in the morning for a few hours, so she knows to watch for any drunken behavior or anything. We're still working on getting her to the point she can test. She's having a really hard time with it. I think it's more about needles/blood than anything else... she's a bit squeemish. I was too... till I couldn't be.

i was a bit needle-phobic before, too, but ya summon up your courage and do what you've gotta do to take care of the one you love.

Oh I hate needles! I cried in the vet's office when we did the insulin and couldn't get my hands to stop shaking when learning to test.....


Hopefully Tink behaved for you today!

Today's been quiet. A bit high... but quiet.

I'm back to work tomorrow... so I'm hoping for quiet cycles! Lower than this... but still.

I never thought I'd be able to do needles. Then working rescue, I got into doing my own vaccines (SO much cheaper). That was a bit different though, since you don't SEE the needle go in, and there's no blood. Fast forward to now... I still don't like needles going into skin... but I've learned to manage. I still feel bad poking his ear - especially if he flinches. But, we gotta do what we gotta do.

I really need to learn to draw blood now. I have goats and taking them to the vet for routine stuff is a real hassle. So many folks draw their own blood samples and send them to the labs for various tests (disease, pregnancy, etc) - I need to learn.

Hi there

Nice AM cycle!

Regarding PM +10 and +11s-

JenM said:

I'll try to start getting more of those - 3am isn't hard to do if I'm not also doing 11pm and 1am

Click to expand...

That's what I figured.
Those are the opportunities you want to take advantage of. Those numbers will be very valuable as you progress.