2/1 Sami AMPS 244

Yesterday's Condo


Sami hasn't really broken through the 200 mark in 24 hours, well she did just barely yesterday mid morning, but that was the last of it. I am hopeful that this was just a bounce and we will start to see some improvement today. She was 274 at +10.5 and at AMPS she was at 244. So maybe that is a sign of things to come.

I also did something a little different this morning than I had been doing the last few doses. This morning I allowed Sami to eat before giving her the shot. I had been doing that before, but the last few times I was a little late in testing, meaning I was testing right at shot time rather than 15 minutes before, so I tested shot and then fed. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Before I was testing 15 to 20 minutes before shot time and allowing Sami to eat her meal before I gave her the shot.

It is just really confusing that she could drop from 333 to 46 one day and only drop from 213 to 182 the next. I know there was a slight change in dose, but I would think we would see more movement than that.

Anyway, I had hoped to let Sami have the week off from work, but with things fluctuating so much I don't see how I can let that happen. I feel like I still need to be collecting data at this point. And with the threat of possibly dropping too low I just don't want to take any chances, especially since I don't have to.

I am sure hoping we get back to those greens today.

Libby and Lucy said:

this is just rebound, if it doesn't clear out by tomorrow night we can look at going back up in dose but I wouldn't rush it yet.

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Is there a formula to determine if it is rebound or the dose decrease?

Hi Tina,
Im a little confused with your explanation of when you are shooting, feeding, testing, etc. Sorry, Im still working on the coffee over here! I think you already know this, but to be sure -You want to make sure you are testing w/o food on board for your preshots. The general rule is to test/feed/shoot. A lot of people seem to be able to shoot while the cat is eating. I would think you could prepare sami's food, test about 10 minutes before shot, let her eat and shoot while eating...or interrupt eating (if it wont cause too much trouble) to shoot and then resume b'fast.

latte takes hours to eat and is unreliable, so I have to do things a bit different. It took us a while to figure out the best way to do it. Maybe someone else will have some ideas.

As to a formula if its a bounce or not, I think you just have to collect data and wait things out to see. Cats never follow rules or formulas! :mrgreen:

Hope you two have a good day at work!

Re: 2/1 Sami AMPS 244; 188

carolynandlatte said:

Hi Tina,
Im a little confused with your explanation of when you are shooting, feeding, testing, etc. Sorry, Im still working on the coffee over here! I think you already know this, but to be sure -You want to make sure you are testing w/o food on board for your preshots. The general rule is to test/feed/shoot. A lot of people seem to be able to shoot while the cat is eating. I would think you could prepare sami's food, test about 10 minutes before shot, let her eat and shoot while eating...or interrupt eating (if it wont cause too much trouble) to shoot and then resume b'fast.

latte takes hours to eat and is unreliable, so I have to do things a bit different. It took us a while to figure out the best way to do it. Maybe someone else will have some ideas.

As to a formula if its a bounce or not, I think you just have to collect data and wait things out to see. Cats never follow rules or formulas! :mrgreen:

Hope you two have a good day at work!

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Hi Carolyn,

Before, I was Testing, feeding, and then shooting, but over the weekend, I switched it up and tested, shot, and then fed. I don't really like to interrupt her meal so I try to wait until she is finished. Sometimes she takes longer than normal and her shot might get delayed, then I will interrupt to shot, but typically I try to let her finish. So either way the test was without food, it was just whether the shot was before or after the meal.

At this point, +4, she is showing some signs of recovering from rebound. She is currently at 188. If she follows the same lines as Friday she could be down another 50 points in the next hour and then down further by +6. I will probably test at +5 and then feed at that point. That way if she does start to drop more quickly she will have more food on board to help counteract the steep drop. I would love to see her in the green, but I don't want to send her too low as I would like to keep her on this dose for awhile to see how she does on it.

Hi Tina
I think as they get used to their numbers, rebound might clear faster, but you know that
I really don't know for sure, lol.
I was expecting huge rebound in Max and today he is looking nicely, and like yourself, I wasn't all that happy about a decrease yet but you got to listen to Sami.

BTW, I know how you feel about shooting while they eat. I was worried Max would stop eating or not eat if he associated the shot and food. Well, that's the easiest way to get him and really, he is so absorbed with his food he does not pay attention to me.

This is my routine: Prepare my essentials to test Max. Back to kitchen to prepare plates of food. Once plates are done (feeding 3 cats), prepare insulin. Food put on floor and while he eats, he gets his shot. Are you still shooting the flank? I don't know what postion is best if that is what you are doing but you never know.

Randi & Max said:

This is my routine: Prepare my essentials to test Max. Back to kitchen to prepare plates of food. Once plates are done (feeding 3 cats), prepare insulin. Food put on floor and while he eats, he gets his shot. Are you still shooting the flank? I don't know what postion is best if that is what you are doing but you never know.

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That sounds like you have a very relaxing routine. For me it isn't that relaxed. I have 5 cats and usually all 5 of them are in the kitchen wanting their food. I can barely get Sami tested and get the bowls out before the are climbing up the walls. Typically what I do is I ask Sami to get on the counter where I do her testing before her meal. If she is on the couch resting and it isn't meal time I usually just test her wherever she is. She is good about coming when I call her for a test. Then once the test is done I have to hurry and get the food. I can't even get all five bowls filled before Sami is taste testing each one, and the other 4 cats are on the floor crying for their meal. Once I put the bowls on the floor I can relax for about 10 minutes while they eat, but sometimes I go ahead and prepare the shot, since sometimes it takes longer if there are air bubbles I can't get rid of.

Yes, I am still shooting in the flank. It seems to bother her the least so anything to make it more comfortable for her the better.

Tina,
How long does it take her to eat? Honestly, it sounds like it is working fine that way. How is it different or better to shoot before she eats?

There is usually a window of time before the insulin starts taking effect. Every cat will be different, but I think the generally it is about 2hrs. Collecting data over time can help you determine what the onset is for Sami. You definately want to make sure they have food on board well before onset.

As a side note, I DO shoot before I feed (in case you ever read our condo and wonder why). HOWEVER, we have a bit of a different situation over here with her various disease processes. I spent a lot of time gathering data to find her onset, and how she does with and without food after insulin. I monitor closely and also have a variety of tools, including syringe feeding if need be. In our case, if I shot after she ate, half the time she would not get her insulin. The other half would be at very random times. I would not advocate our approach, as it can be a little more nailbite_smile

Re: 2/1 Sami PMPS 145

carolynandlatte said:

Tina,
How long does it take her to eat? Honestly, it sounds like it is working fine that way. How is it different or better to shoot before she eats?

There is usually a window of time before the insulin starts taking effect. Every cat will be different, but I think the generally it is about 2hrs. Collecting data over time can help you determine what the onset is for Sami. You definately want to make sure they have food on board well before onset.

As a side note, I DO shoot before I feed (in case you ever read our condo and wonder why). HOWEVER, we have a bit of a different situation over here with her various disease processes. I spent a lot of time gathering data to find her onset, and how she does with and without food after insulin. I monitor closely and also have a variety of tools, including syringe feeding if need be. In our case, if I shot after she ate, half the time she would not get her insulin. The other half would be at very random times. I would not advocate our approach, as it can be a little more nailbite_smile

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She can take upwards of 15 to 20 minutes to finish eating. Sometimes she stops after 5 or 6 minutes, but that is usually just a short breather and if I am not right ther to catch it I have to wait until she is done.

The only benefit I see for shooting before she eats is that I can go back to bed or get a few things done while she is still eating and I don't have to rememeber to get back to shoot.

I realize there is a window of time before that dose really takes effect, but after the changes in her cycle over the weekend I just got to thinking that maybe that played a role. It was probably just a rebound and when I shot, before or after food, probably didn't make a difference.

I am very happy with where she went today and now I am almost certain that her rise yesterday was rebound and not dose decrease. She didn't make it into the green today, but she dropped down to 118 at one point, and she is 100 points lower for her PMPS then she was for AMPS. Hopefully she will hold that drop and we will see 145 or lower for her AMPS tomorrow. Although I know AMPS usually is a little higher. I will try to get a few spot checks tonight, but I am exausted. I will probably take a nap not and get up for her +4, then set the alarm for +6. As long as she sin't too low at either of these readings I will probably call it a night after that. I will get up for a +10.5 so we will still have a reading then too. Because it looks like Sami is a double dipper on some occasions like this morning before AMPS she was 275at +10.5, and at AMPS she was 244. And tonight the same thing at +10.5 this afternoon she was 153 and at PMPS she was 145.

Maybe we will get lucky and see some green tonight. For now I am off to take a nap.

Looks like Sami had a pretty good day today in the blues. Is she headed for a green night? :smile:

Tina & Sami said:

Is there a formula to determine if it is rebound or the dose decrease?

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Nope. There's no formula other than time. It can take up to 72 hours for the hormones associated with a bounce to clear. If the dose reduction isn't holding, the numbers will stay up.

what a nice cycle, maybe green tonight! (or maybe more blue surfing, that is really good too).

Libby and Lucy said:

what a nice cycle, maybe green tonight! (or maybe more blue surfing, that is really good too).

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I am hoping for the green, but I would be just as happy with a surf. I really need to get some more sleep tonight, but I feel compelled to get up and test at +6 just to make sure she isn't too low. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to put more food out. Even when I leave out extra food, on of my kitties still feels the need to wake me up at 3:00 am if there isn't food in the dish. The problem is that I have given in to him so many times he really knows how to push my buttons, or in this case knock stuff off the dresser, headboard and night stands. Anything to get us out of bed and to feed him.

So I guess we will see how it goes tonight. She is lined up to go green and hopefully on this dose she can go green without going too low. Surfing the 70's would be great.

Sami Does look like Moonie!! BTW sometimes Moonie eats right after her shot, but sometimes she wont eat--Then I have to make sure that she eats on her own within 2 hrs..that's onset.
We all develop our own technique, and I'm sure you will too.