2/21-Jupiter AMPS-443, +11.25-66, +11.5- 54 skipped shot +14-66

Need dosing advice for tonights shot. Im unable to stay up all night and test. Should I reduce and if so how much? Or should I shoot later?

AMPS-443
+4-321
+7.5-213
+9-133
+9.75-147
+10.5-82
+11-74
+11.25-66

 

30 mins til shot time. not sure what to do



ALSO HE EATS WHEN HE WANTS. FOOD IS ALWAYS OUT


+11.5-54

 

I'm not going to give dosing advice but if you delay the insulin to see if he is going up you still might need to stay up plus you would need to shoot 12 hours from the new shot time. If you delay you wouldn't feed until you shoot. You could give a reduced dose but you need to feel comfortable with the PMPS number as the depot could have an effect on tonight's numbers.

 

hes already been eating. foods always out. he just got done eating some more low carb food...

 

Do you have all the supplies you need if he drops too low? Plenty of strips, HC food, etc?

How long can you stall and still stay on an every 12 hour schedule?

Also, just a suggestion...when you have some time, it'd be really helpful if you'd transfer some of your test results to a new spreadsheet. It takes forever for yours to load since there's so much on it.

 

The effect of a reduced dose is unpredictable so I don't like to give advice about them. Hopefully someone that's comfortable talking reduced doses will come along before shot time otherwise, if you can't monitor, you might have to skip again or just give a token dose. When can you monitor til?

 

I can monitor til +3 after that I dont know. Dane wont be here to monitor..... and I cant be positive I can test with my sleeping meds and when Jupiter hides I cant get him out from under the couch. kidney issues still

 

Vyktor is free fed too but when on insulin I always removed the food at +10 to make sure his PS number wasn't food influenced, even if you see a rise now you won't know whether or not it's just the food talking.

 

I was never comfortable shooting that low, even when I could monitor like a maniac.

 

He he he that would probably be just long enough for Jupiter to let you know he wants you to stay up with him all night. I'm leaning towards a token dose of say 0.5 units or a skip and either way start back with 1.75 units tomorrow so you can comfortably shoot both cycles. It seems that 2 units may be a little too much right now since he's come down so low again already after last nights skip. hopefully others will have their ten cents about the idea of an unearned reduction before tomorrow's shot too.

 

If you can't be sure you can monitor, you're better off skipping the shot

The other option would be to give a BCS to keep a little "in the tank" instead of giving absolutely nothing

 

we didnt skip last night,. dane forgot to put that info on his SS

 

if i give him a big chicken shot.... how much?

 

As I said I don't give dosing advice but with him not eating much and that low I would skip.

 

It looks like he bounced off the 52 yesterday and is clearing that bounce (fast!) today

I'd go with the .5 tonight if you don't want to skip completely with him racing down that fast

There's really no right or wrong answer. It has to do with how much you can test and how comfortable you are with shooting while he's that low and dropping

 

Chris, she can only stay up until +3.

 

I could TRY to wake up and test but theres no guarantees. my meds knock me out and i dont hear the alarms majority of the time +12.25- 59

 

You just tested your cat’s preshot number, and there is a much lower than usual number staring back at you. What do you do?

There is no one-size-fits all answer, but there are some general guidelines. As with everything else, each cat is different (ECID) and each caregiver is different too.

The short answer is that most kitties can be shot at +12, almost regardless of the number, once you are data ready to do so. The exception is that shooting 30s or 40s is not recommended for most cats, so if the cat is less than 50 then usually the best option is to wait until they are above 50 to shoot. While you’re waiting, the shed is draining, so you want to get the insulin in as soon as it makes sense to shoot.

If it is your first time shooting green, then we will likely suggest that you stall the first time, even if the number is 80-100. That will let you collect data on what your cat will do when you stall. One thing you can do if you are having a low cycle is to get a +10 and +11. Those will give you a good idea of how quickly the cat’s numbers are rising (or not) when preshot time arrives.


Beyond the general guidelines, there are other factors we consider when we are helping someone with a low preshot.

• If the low preshot is not part of that cat’s normal pattern or there is reason to think something might be wrong, we will be more conservative.
• If the cat is not a food spiker or tends to have an early onset/early nadir then they may not want to shoot as low. If the cat has a late nadir, then they will HAVE to learn to shoot low.
• We will also be more conservative in some cases because of the person – if you are not able to monitor then you want to be more careful, or if you are not sure that you can get back to the board to keep us updated throughout the cycle. Trust me, if you shoot low, we will be watching for your updates and we will worry if we don’t see them.
• We have to be a lot more careful with the cats who eat only dry food, because they don’t have access to the tools the rest of us use to keep our cats safe.
• Also, when it comes to very low preshots, there is an unwritten rule that whoever helps that person shoot low should expect to sit with them through any low parts of the cycle. There have been times when I knew a cat’s number was likely shootable, but I also knew that I could not be around to help if the shot resulted in low numbers later in the cycle. For safety’s sake, if I could not find someone else who would be available to support for the next several hours, I would most likely suggest that the shot be reduced or skipped. I will not encourage someone to shoot low and then abandon them.
• There are a lot of other scenarios, and you always want to keep your cat in mind.

I think I'd skip tonight and let's see where he's at in the morning then

 

Okay we will skip tonight thank you all for the help

 

I have shot low numbers like this before, just really scared because I dont trust myself to be able to wake up to test.

 

Just a suggestion ....if you could pick up the food in the house 2 hours before shot times, it'd help a lot. Knowing what that pre-shot number is without the influence of food can make the difference between shooting the scheduled dose and shooting a BCS(or skipping)

If he hadn't always had access to food, I'd say he usually gets a pretty good food spike, so probably going to be OK to shoot, but since all his numbers could be food influenced, that's not something I can advise you on.

 

Always better safe than sorry

 

I'm glad you decided to skip. Safety first plus you need to take care of yourself. I would still get a test before you go to bed. The info will be helpful later.

 

+13-72
+14-66

glad i didnt shoot....

 

I think it's fine to skip tonight because of your circumstances, but personally I wouldn't reduce the dose until he goes under 50. It's likely to take a few cycles for his depot to recover from the skipped shot tonight. when that happens you're likely to see a lower preshot again.

During the next little while it would good to spend some time doing 2 things. If I were you, I'd read up about how lantus works when you shoot a green number. It's an opportunity, not a curse. Of course, the first few times you have to be able to monitor. The second thing I'd do is come up with a game plan on how to be able to monitor. I Don't know your circumstances. ..can you ever skip the sleeping meds? Take a reduced dose after midcycle? Are there times Dane can cover? Can you shoot a normal number if its the morning? Maybe none of that is possible, I'm not criticizing, just trying to brainstorm.

When I get to a computer later I'll get you some links to read.

 

As promised, here's some interesting info for you:

Shooting a dropping Number - take a look at post #6 in this thread for some encouragement
Shooting normal numbers - scroll down to post #16 - it includes some spreadsheets of cats that show the transition that happens when you shoot the full dose into green numbers, along with some explanations.

Again, I'm not criticizing at all - you always want to choose safety first, which is what you did. Just trying to provide you some help for being prepared for the next time. Holler if you have any questions, Jamie!