Zeke - Regulation and Diet

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Meridith and Zeke said:
Ok, that makes sense. Basically because of how the vet was increasing him, it caused the bounce more or less. So we have basically just reset him on how he does with the insulin then so he reacts more like he should, it sounds like anyways lol.
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Yup yup!
Meridith and Zeke said:
Eventually I will fully have it down, but then when Zeke is even confusing yall, might not be anytime soon. Lol
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Don't let Zeke ever know you may be figuring him out. He will throw a wrench in the works :p
 
3 pinks yesterday. I went to 1.5u this morning and will do a +4 and +8 with this new dose. Would love to see much less pinks. Seems like we are having one day with yellows and blues, then the next day higher numbers. Since he likes to pilfer, I make sure everything is always put away, sealed, covered etc. I don't even leave something soaking in the sink and make sure the drain plug is emptied so he can't find anything to nibble on. The only thing he gets besides his pate is bites of canned tuna or chicken. Is the food affecting his numbers that much since he is getting higher ones then a couple days ago?
 
Sometimes when you change doses the numbers go a bit wonky. New dose wonkiness is not unusual. Stay the course and don't fret over a pink number here and there. Each one is just one number. What we need to pay attention to is the pattern over time. I know it's frustrating and very puzzling but it's the nature of the beast. Let's see what he does on 1.5u and then re-evaluate. :)
 
I think we are doing good and slowly getting there still. We are on 2nd day of 1.75u and considering staying 1 more day before going up to 2u. Last night I think was a squirrel moment but went back to normal numbers today.
 
Dang them squirrels! Totally ruined the colour scheme! :woot: Zeke is doing well. There's less pink but it would be nice to see a little more blue. Give the 1.75u another day and then adjust if need be. Sometimes it takes some ups and downs with dose to get to optimal. You're doing great!
 
I think we have the feeding schedule down for what works with these guys. Both my gremlin and Zeke gained weight this week, 1.4 pound gain for Zeke! Was worried that the fat boy would gain weight this way but he actually lost some.

Last night we actually had a NS due to how low his PS was, then of course we had fireworks going off til 2am all around us so he got extremely stressed from it. With the NS and then the stress, my daughter got an extra test in to make sure he wasn't going to high. There was so many fireworks happening in town that it was foggy/smokey everywhere!
 
So glad to hear Zeke is finally gaining some weight and that he's doing so well. Interesting how you can track his firework stress and then this morning back to a decent pre-shot. Go Zeke! Just for future reference, if you know there is a major stressor at work causing a high reading, I wouldn't second guess about then giving insulin anyway. As you can see the stress BG comes back down to "their normal" pretty quickly unlike a bounce that can last a few cycles.
 
I think we might actually be getting there. Have had a couple great preshots. Will hold this dose a few days and see where it is staying before any further adjustments.
 
Haven't did one lately since it's been a little nuts around here lately. He has been eating good and not showing any signs of not feeling quite himself and playing more so he should be good. Will get one soon though.
 
We just had a 59/57 peak test (tested a second time when came back that low). I know at 50 start doing stuff for hypo, but what about the # we just got? Already planning on testing at +8, and he also just ate a little more and is still being normal for him.
 
Most likely a bounce ;). He hasn't seen a green since 25 May :D. Since he did go green today, you might want to slightly reduce dose to 1.75U, depending on his PS. Sometimes the lower green numbers can make them more insulin sensitive :)
 
WHOO HOO! Look at Zeke! Next time you get a number like that, as well as feeding Zeke a bit of LC food as Yong pointed out, I'd retest again in 30 minutes just to be sure he's come up a bit from the food so if he is still dropping or not rising a bit, you can give a bit more food. Wash repeat until the BG is holding. With Novolin, I'd give him a bit of food at any reading about 80 or lower because it can drop BG swiftly and you want to try to avoid those really close to 50 numbers as much as possible. It was great thinking to retest when you got that low number, something I'm usually too rattled to remember to do when my girl surprises me! (I'm blushing with embarrassment at that confession!:oops:)

I'd watch him closely the next day or so and if you can, check his BG around +3 or +4 if you go back to 2u, just in case he really is adamant about wanting a dose reduction. ;)
 
We are doing a +3 tonight before bed. Probably will make sure his bounce is finished before taking him back to 2u. Tomorrow will be another hectic day but will be able to monitor him easily.
 
Ok, his numbers are all over the place. Should I raise his dose tomorrow? Yesterday and the day before, other then his morning preshot, the numbers were almost identical all through the day.
 
I think Zeke is a bit of a bouncy fellow. He's getting a decent drop of close to 50% but he zooms back up pretty quickly. You can boost him up to 2.25u and hold that for a few cycles and we'll see what he does. I'm getting the impression that he is metabolizing the insulin quickly and that might be part of why he's bouncing so much.
 
Ok. With the way his numbers were, wasn't sure on the increase, will go ahead with that this morning. Had already planned on doing a +4,+5, and +6 with the way his numbers were going yesterday. Thinking his peak might be +5. If his insulin isn't lasting the full 12 hours, does that mean that we will need to change insulins?
 
Switching insulin is something you may need to consider. That's just a guess on my part and I'd really like to see what Yong thinks about this too. For now let's see what Zeke does with a little more juice. Never know....that tiny bit extra might just be the ticket. Can you get a test at +3 to see what he's doing then? Looks to me like he might be peaking between +3 and +5.
 
Yes I can do that. His numbers might be a little off today because we should be having delivery guys this morning, but then been waiting 3 weeks for them so who knows. If they do manage to finally show, will also test the same tomorrow so will have a stress free day for it.
 
Ok, have done a test every hour for 4 hours and his numbers are pretty much the same. Going to do a +7 and see if we start seeing some change. Doesn't answer the question though of when his peak is.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
I think Zeke is a bit of a bouncy fellow. He's getting a decent drop of close to 50% but he zooms back up pretty quickly. You can boost him up to 2.25u and hold that for a few cycles and we'll see what he does. I'm getting the impression that he is metabolizing the insulin quickly and that might be part of why he's bouncing so much.
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I agree with Linda and with the exception of 6 July, he does seem to nadir between +3 and +5 right now. Not incredibly off from the usual nadir for Novolin. At the same time, he doesn't bounce terribly high before the end of the cycle ;). As you get close to his working dose (since it can change again :smuggrin:) he should bounce less. Should be able to check in more the next few days like usual. :)
 
I do hope the bouncing slows down. Will be nice once we hit that working dose. Been at this for 3 months now. I'm thinking if we haven't been able to get him regulated within another month will get with the vet to see about a different insulin.
 
My boy is technically not regulated, his BG is just under control and he is a little bouncy. I gave Prozinc almost 7 months before switching insulins. Just letting you know in case Zeke is a bouncy kitty too. :cat:

Done any ketone tests lately?;)
 
I have a couple of questions.

1. Since it does seem that his insulin is only lasting him maybe 8-10 hours, would an 8 hour cycle be something that might need considered?
2. I was reading on the type of insulin that he is on, a background insulin. It sounds like it isn't really required for a full meal for dosing, so would that make a 8 hour cycle easier since not having to worry about changing meals?

With the reading up on this type of insulin and it looking like meals aren't as important at shot time, maybe if I put them back to full free feeding of their wet food that could also help in his numbers. Trying to figure out next move since it does seem to be that the last 4 hours of his cycles is when he gets the majority of his pinks and reds.
 
Meridith and Zeke said:
I have a couple of questions.

1. Since it does seem that his insulin is only lasting him maybe 8-10 hours, would an 8 hour cycle be something that might need considered?
2. I was reading on the type of insulin that he is on, a background insulin. It sounds like it isn't really required for a full meal for dosing, so would that make a 8 hour cycle easier since not having to worry about changing meals?

With the reading up on this type of insulin and it looking like meals aren't as important at shot time, maybe if I put them back to full free feeding of their wet food that could also help in his numbers. Trying to figure out next move since it does seem to be that the last 4 hours of his cycles is when he gets the majority of his pinks and reds.
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Dosing every 8 hours can be done but it greatly increases the burden on the care giver. You have to test more to track the effect of one dose before giving the next so you can factor in overlap, etc. If you find Novolin isn't lasting long enough your best bet is to go to ProZinc, Lantus or Levemir which are slower acting, gentler insulins with longer duration.
 
@Kris & Teasel

Thanks for replying. What do you think on the feeding? Right now what I am doing is basically free feeding wet food throughout the day/night and have been picking up 2 hours before I do a small meal for them at 8am/8pm each day. Any more time then that without food and it seems to upset Zeke's belly. Could it help with numbers if I don't pick up the food at all since Novolin is a background one that doesn't require a meal.
 
Even though Novolin N is a basal insulin, it's still better for them to have a small meal on board :). I think your feeding schedule is fine, especially if it's helping Zeke's tummy. Still want to take up food 2 hours prior to PS test so that test is not food influenced ;).

As Kris said, TID dosing is much harder on the pet parents :oops:. If you're thinking of switching, I'd consider the one's Kris suggested; Prozinc, Lantus, or Levemir.
 
I agree with Kris and Yong. Meal times have to be planned according to insulin and more importantly, making sure Zeke's tummy is not upset so do what works for him. If he needs something that lasts longer then another insulin would be the best choice . :)
 
We had a fun night. His +2 was 159, then +4 was 45! Got him going back up then this morning PS was 431! My daughter isn't here this week so I have been getting +3's and nothing later. Last night though we were late getting a load of laundry started so was having to be up later then normal to be able to finish so I decided to do the +2 and +4 just to see how he was doing. If I had went to bed earlier like normal, might have missed it. :nailbiting:
 
Meridith and Zeke said:
We had a fun night. His +2 was 159, then +4 was 45! Got him going back up then this morning PS was 431! My daughter isn't here this week so I have been getting +3's and nothing later. Last night though we were late getting a load of laundry started so was having to be up later then normal to be able to finish so I decided to do the +2 and +4 just to see how he was doing. If I had went to bed earlier like normal, might have missed it. :nailbiting:
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That lime green tells me that the dose should be dropped a little to 2.5 u. You need more of a cushion at nadir with in insulin like Novolin.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
That lime green tells me that the dose should be dropped a little to 2.5 u. You need more of a cushion at nadir with in insulin like Novolin.
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I was thinking on that too. Since his daytime numbers tend to be higher, would it work to just lower the evening dose but keep the morning dose the same?
 
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