Victor's AMPS Level/Dosage Question

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Yes, I'd try the 2.5 u dose. Test again at +2. That test can sometimes give a hint about what's ahead. If it's quite a bit lower than AMPS (say, 100+ points) it can mean that he'll be lower than you've seen so far at nadir. That doesn't mean hypo. It does mean that you can give a few kibbles to try to slow the drop. Post here if you need help.

These lower PSs are what you want. As long as his nadir isn't below 90 it's a good dose.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, I'd try the 2.5 u dose. Test again at +2. That test can sometimes give a hint about what's ahead. If it's quite a bit lower than AMPS (say, 100+ points) it can mean that he'll be lower than you've seen so far at nadir. That doesn't mean hypo. It does mean that you can give a few kibbles to try to slow the drop. Post here if you need help.

These lower PSs are what you want. As long as his nadir isn't below 90 it's a good dose.
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Okay, thanks, Kris. I'll try not to worry too much, since this may be the first time seeing such low numbers, which is kind of scary.
 
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Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, it is. It's a part of getting to better BG levels that you have to go through. Make sure to get that +2 test. :)
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I will, for sure. Also @Chris & China suggested getting some Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers to have around just in case and I was just wondering if it matters what flavor you get? Should I also maybe try to get another test around the +3 or +4 range since that seems to be where his numbers are lowest?
 
H.M. Victor said:
I will, for sure. Also @Chris & China suggested getting some Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers to have around just in case and I was just wondering if it matters what flavor you get? Should I also maybe try to get another test around the +3 or +4 range since that seems to be where his numbers are lowest?
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Yes, having some of any gravy style food around in case of low numbers is a good idea. Friskies is cheaper and has a lot of gravy varieties - any flavour will do. It's the gravy you'd use to prop up low BGs.
Test at +2 to see how he might be reacting to 2.5 u on a PS of 290. As we say, all data is good data so another test somewhere between +3 and +6 will give you an idea of his nadir. Note: nadir time is roughly mid cycle but it can move around day to day. As you accumulate more data you'll discover Victor's patterns.

I have to go out for a while. Post your +2 and ask for help if it's quite a bit lower than PS. I'll check in later.
 
@H.M. Victor that very well could be because of the food he ate which could be causing that spike. I would check again at the +3 and maybe even +4 to see what he is at. May I ask what time zone you are in? Your spreadsheet doesn't say your preshot times so I'm curious of when those are each day/night?
 
AshleyDiamond said:
@H.M. Victor that very well could be because of the food he ate which could be causing that spike. I would check again at the +3 and maybe even +4 to see what he is at. May I ask what time zone you are in? Your spreadsheet doesn't say your preshot times so I'm curious of when those are each day/night?
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We are in MST time zone (Utah), and we do Victor's preshot tests at 8AM and 8PM, then we feed him at 9AM/PM and usually give his shot before 10AM/PM, because it usually takes him between a half-hour to forty-five minutes to eat his food.
 
H.M. Victor said:
We are in MST time zone (Utah), and we do Victor's preshot tests at 8AM and 8PM, then we feed him at 9AM/PM and usually give his shot before 10AM/PM, because it usually takes him between a half-hour to forty-five minutes to eat his food.
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OK....there's a problem.

If you want to shoot at 10/10, you want to do your Pre-shot tests at 9:30, immediately feed him and shoot at 10 (as long as he's eaten close to a "normal" amount and is willing to eat more)

You don't want him eating between 7:30-9:30 so that when you do your PS test, he hasn't had any food for 2 hours.

IF your schedule allows it, I'd suggest changing your Pre-Shot test time to 7:30/7:30 and shoot at 8/8.....that would allow you to get some later tests on the PM cycle without staying up all night (but you'll have to work your way back to these times if you decide to try it....you can't just shoot this early tonight)
 
@H.M. Victor, you are right that Victor should not eat at least 2 hours before test time but you don't have to wait until Victor has eaten all of his food to shoot. I find that it's easier to shoot Bama while he's hunkered down over his bowl. I do a PS test about 45 minutes before shot time, feed immediately after the PS test and hold a small amount of food back to offer at the time I shoot him. Just think of the PS test as a snapshot of where Victor is right now, BG-wise, knowing that food and other factors are working to affect his BG. You are doing great. This is a lot of information to absorb but you are getting the hang of it.
 
With Truffles he had his shots at 9 and 9. I would test feed and shoot whilst he was eating. I know some people wait but it worked for him. His lowest point was +6.
 
Did the +4 hour test and his number is 332.
Feeling really frustrated and discouraged, like we're doing something wrong, and that makes me feel like we're failing him which is the last thing we want to do :(
 
H.M. Victor said:
Did the +4 hour test and his number is 332.
Feeling really frustrated and discouraged, like we're doing something wrong, and that makes me feel like we're failing him which is the last thing we want to do :(
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Don’t feel like that. Check out Truffles ss he was all over red and pink to start off with. His dose was reviewed every 2 weeks to start with. It takes time but you will get there. I was just pleased to get out the Black!
 
H.M. Victor said:
but we don't give him any food before we do his preshot tests, we feed him after we test him.
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Correct....When you do the Pre-Shot tests, you want that test to be done when he hasn't had any food for 2 hours.

Then you do your Pre-shot test and go ahead and feed.....since you're using Humulin, you want to wait about 20-30 minutes before you shoot so the food has some time to get into the bloodstream.

So if you want your shot times to be 10/10, make sure he doesn't have any food from 7:30-9:30....get the Pre-Shot at 9:30 and feed him …….then at 10, it will have been about 30 minutes since feeding and you can go ahead and shoot.
 
Chris & China said:
Correct....When you do the Pre-Shot tests, you want that test to be done when he hasn't had any food for 2 hours.

Then you do your Pre-shot test and go ahead and feed.....since you're using Humulin, you want to wait about 20-30 minutes before you shoot so the food has some time to get into the bloodstream.

So if you want your shot times to be 10/10, make sure he doesn't have any food from 7:30-9:30....get the Pre-Shot at 9:30 and feed him …….then at 10, it will have been about 30 minutes since feeding and you can go ahead and shoot.
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We usually give his shot between 9:50 - 10:00AM/PM, so if we changed it to giving his shot at exactly 10/10, it wouldn't cause any problems since it's only a few minutes difference?
 
H.M. Victor said:
We usually give his shot between 9:50 - 10:00AM/PM, so if we changed it to giving his shot at exactly 10/10, it wouldn't cause any problems since it's only a few minutes difference?
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No I don't think those few minutes minutes will make a difference. But like mentioned above I think you were spreading everything out way to far. If you want to stick to 10am/10pm shot times then you should get your preshot number by 9:30am/pm (so no food from 7:30am/pm up until 9:30am/pm) immediately feed after getting your number, and give the insulin right at 10am/pm. Also you want to start grabbing some evening numbers when possible to see how he is doing after that night time dose. They tend to go lower at night and those numbers can help with a lot of info.
 
H.M. Victor said:
Did the +4 hour test and his number is 332.
Feeling really frustrated and discouraged, like we're doing something wrong, and that makes me feel like we're failing him which is the last thing we want to do :(
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Took my cat almost two months to see a yellow number. He’ll get there.
 
AshleyDiamond said:
No I don't think those few minutes minutes will make a difference. But like mentioned above I think you were spreading everything out way to far. If you want to stick to 10am/10pm shot times then you should get your preshot number by 9:30am/pm (so no food from 7:30am/pm up until 9:30am/pm) immediately feed after getting your number, and give the insulin right at 10am/pm. Also you want to start grabbing some evening numbers when possible to see how he is doing after that night time dose. They tend to go lower at night and those numbers can help with a lot of info.
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So even if Victor hasn't finished eating by 10, we should still give him his shot and let him keep eating afterwards? @Kris & Teasel Do you agree with this and the other advice about this so far?
 
H.M. Victor said:
So even if Victor hasn't finished eating by 10, we should still give him his shot and let him keep eating afterwards?
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Yes I would. Its not usually common for cats to eat their hard food all at once. I think you will find once you switch him to wet food this will all come easier for you.
 
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