3/3/10 - Bashful - AMPS 303 - Input needed

Last Condo: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7215

Yes, lovely people, I've been a slacker about posting the last week, but I finally updated my SS and got my butt back on here.

Recap: Bashful had his dental on 2/20/10 - no extractions, but bad gingivitis (sp?) so they put him on amoxycillan BID (and boy does he HATE that stuff). He is also now on Cosequin BID because I think he is having arthritis pain (he walks like an old guy and has trouble jumping onto anything higher than the couch).

WCR: Bash seems to be doing well, he's eating fine and all the P's (except playing, cause he really doesn't do that anymore...just wants to lay next to you and get loves...and is very insistent on the matter). He HATES the AB, but I'm getting a little better about getting it into him as quickly as possible. But then he goes and hides from me cause I am an evil nasty Momma Bean who apparently likes to torture him. I haven't noticed any significant change from the Cosequin, but it's only been about a week, so I'm sure it takes longer than that to take effect. He seems to be feeling pretty well though, pretty perky, gives the other civvie kitties baths, goes for walks outside and his numbers have definitely improved post dental - altho still up and down a lot. No problems with diarhhea this time from the AB, for which I am happy.

I probably need to go get some new cartridges, since my vial is over 30 days old, so that's on my list for this week. He's still dropping on this vial tho, and it's hard to tell if IT's being inconsistent, since HE's inconsistent. For instance, last night he was at 130 PMPS (and OMG I STILL shot his 2 units...BOS..lol) and then dropped to the 60's within two hours (ack!) (I was feeling him LC and HC mix for hours to keep him from dropping too low). Then he was back up to 303 this a.m., which probably was a combination bounce and the HC food he received. I dunno...since he's all over the board with his numbers it's hard to gauge.

Any thoughts?

Happy Hump Day!
Theresa & Bashful

Definitely looks like a bounce. But there isn't any need to give HC unless they fall below 50. I have learned that the BG drops are less drastic as they get lower in the numbers, and I believe you want to know if Bashful goes below 50 because then that might mean that his pancreas is starting to kick in, which would also mean that the dose might need to be lowered.

Thanks Tina. I was mostly concerned about him dropping too low since he was at 68 at only +2, so nowhere near Nadir (he's had a tendency sometimes to do big drops, but I didn't realize it doesn't always happen when they are in lower numbers). So I'll just give watch carefully next time and give regular LC if needed until I see if he drops below 50. I really appreciate the input.

The lower numbers still really scare me (he used to have horrible low drops (to like 24) when he was on PZI last time before he went to the falls) so it's hard to retrain my brain to understand that Lantus works much differently.

Thanks!

Hey Theresa - good to see you and Bashful back.

I would encourage you to think strategically about how you feed MC or HC. If you have a sharp drop early in the cycle, you might think about that differently than a drop later on in the cycle. As Tina pointed out, a surf in the 60s is a good thing -- it will promote Bashful's pancreas healing as well as help his liver to get used to lower numbers. If the drop is in the 40s and there's not a lot of momentum behind it, I'd try MC and retest in 15 - 30 min. to see where the numbers are going. If they've bumped up into the 50s or higher, then use LC to keep the surf going. If the drop is later in the cycle or it's a slow drop early on, try LC first. You don't want to abort what could be a dose reduction or move Bashful into higher numbers unnecessarily. You want a keep a green surf going. Remember, numbers from 50 - 80 are perfect for surfing and up to 120 is a normal BG range.

Thanks Sienne (and Tina), that's exactly the kind of input I needed, much appreciated!