Again! 3.2 at +2!!!1

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Hercule's mum, Sep 20, 2020.

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  1. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Previous thread here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/uh-oh-4-6-at-2-5-help.235507/#post-2639399

    Hercs is trying to give me a heart attack! I lowered his dose since last crisis, and he spent the whole day on yellows yesterday. Today I was tempted to give a fat 1U, but decide to stick to just 1. He looks absolutely fine, meassured with gluco navii and gave me 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

    I quickly pill the alphatrack 2 and meassured again and gave me 3.5. He is seriously low for sure and we are only at +2 in the cycle! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  2. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Should I take him to the vet? He is acting fine... but it is really low!
     
  3. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    So you have high carb food?
     
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  4. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    20 min past since last reading. What is it right now? How far are you to an open vet
     
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  5. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    3.5 on am alpha is low, but not scary low except that it is so early in the cycle. Honestly it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring him in.
     
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  6. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Yes... please re-test soon (30mins after last test).

    These numbers right now are manageable with carbs, but if he doesn't pop right back up on the next test, I agree that taking him in might be safest-- the insulin is now taking effect and that is hard to fight if his body is also trying to generate low numbers. Given where you are in the cycle it could be a long day.
     
  7. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    My guess is she's on her way to a vet to help her handle it.
     
  8. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    No, sorry! I was just trying to distract myself because was very nervous. The honey seem to have done the trick for now? We are now on blues. Why can't Hercules sugar behave? :arghh:
     
  9. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    I will keep him testing through the day... Thanks for the help!

    Could he be keeping insulin in somehow? Why is the effect so unpredictable?
     
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  10. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    Oh ok. Honey wears off quick, so get some high carb food going. I usually give about 1-1.5 ounces of gravy food and some high carb snacks that are crunchy. The gravy kicks in quick and the dry lasts longer in the system.looks like he's becoming sensitive. Many cats vet sensitive to insulin for a while after a hypo. Also the pancreas could be waking up. Going forward is lower the dose to 0.5
     
  11. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Well, at least he's going up :).

    Yes, I'd keep doing what you're doing, testing on the 30min schedule, for a while.

    Normally, when dealing with low numbers, we can relax after getting a couple consecutive tests in safe numbers (without food propping). I think I'd be more vigilant today just because of where he is in the cycle.

    Well, I don't want to jinx anything, but this could be very good news... his pancreas might be waking up a bit and he seems to be bouncing less lately. This could be just his body starting to heal!
     
  12. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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  13. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    @JanetNJ i gave him a mix of HC and LC for long and short time..... it is still nerve wracking because just 48 hours ago all this kept him flat, today seems to be raising.... It is just so unpredictable!
    I am really worried, because soon I won't be able to be available at all times as I am now. I had really hope that after 3 months we would have settled into something that I could be away from home...It must be possible to have a job and care for a diabetic cat? :oops::arghh:
     
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  14. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    +4 and he is at 11.7

    What is he doing? I have not given him any more honey or LC :confused::confused:
     
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  15. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Honey+bounce?

    The nice thing is, he's timed it for the insulin action, which means you can relax a little bit for that. And he's still not (yet) super-high, so still looking good!
     
  16. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    All the food and stuff is kicking in. He's good now. Just let it ride. It will come back down. Better slightly higher than too low.
     
  17. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    I think he is bouncing big time again, +5 and he 25.7!

    <<frustrated>>
     
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  18. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Nan - super high now.... so weird. Just 2 days ago he had multiple licks of honey and HC and stayed low.....

    Today, he dive within 2 hours and now bounced like crazy. Should I worry there is something else going on?
     
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  19. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    He seems much less happy now than he was when is basically running out of sugar.... His behaviour is clearly not a good insication of what is happening with his blood....
     
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  20. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    He may be feeling funky from the wide swings hes going through. Not a dosing helper and certainly not an expert here.
    I would restest to confirm.
     
  21. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I think he read what I wrote about him not bouncing as much as usual.... sigh....
     
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  22. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Good call JT. I would do this right now...
     
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  23. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    33.2 on the alphatrack! :eek::arghh:
     
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  24. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    wow ... well try not to despair this will get sorted. :bighug:

    could he have gotten into anything? old treat bag? Trash???
     
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  25. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Unfortunately not... I had been watching him the whole morning....
     
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  26. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I wonder if an infection is brewing
     
  27. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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  28. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I think it's just bouncing and/or the honey, but let's see where things go from here.

    I wouldn't worry too much about the AT2 number-- that's always higher than the human meter, and often a lot higher when the numbers start climbing. Just focus on the human numbers.
     
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  29. Critter Mom

    Critter Mom Well-Known Member

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    I hear the Kuiper Belt is lovely this time of year...

    ;)


    Mogs
    .
     
  30. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Look he has gone through the whole colour scale in 4 hours! Is there a prize for this? pretty impressive, han? ......not:arghh:
     
  31. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    I'll keep an eye for an infection. I din't think the honey by itself could have done this. It is some crazy bouncing, but why he bounce so much and a few days ago he didn't? and why did he goo so low on a dose of 1U?

    I guess we need to go back down to 0.5 units again....? :(
     
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  32. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    You DO have one of the most colorful spreadsheets. :p All kidding aside I DO hope this all settles and gets more...workable. :rolleyes:

    Hang in there it HAS to get better right?
    j
     
  33. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    I went with another reduction... hope @Deb & Wink agree?
    Bit frustrated since we were just getting into good numbers..... Please tell me if you think I am being a wimp.... I have a thick skin!
     
  34. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I dont know what to think...I guess you'll have to see where this takes Herc. o_O:confused::facepalm:
     
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  35. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    2 hours after night shot and he dropped considerably.... still at 21, but from 29 at preshot and half a dose is quite a big drop, no? Worry where the night will take me....
     
  36. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Well Herc certainly has a mind of his own sigh :confused:
     
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  37. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    I think.6 is a good idea. At least until the bouncing settles.
     
  38. Deb & Wink

    Deb & Wink Well-Known Member

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    Herc's EARNED that reduction, when he dropped into the neon green BG numbers. Readings that low, especially early in the cycle, are scary and you absolutely needed to do the reduction.

    The dose may fluctuate up and down quite a bit. His pancreas may be producing some insulin on it's own, and giving the syringe of insulin a bit of an extra boost.

    No, you are not a wimp. You are a caring cat owner, who knows their cat better than we ever will. You are there to observe Herc's and see what his behavior is and know when to intervene with food when you get a very low BG like that 2 mmol/L (Yikes!!!! 36 mg/dL)

    So Hercules bounced, and he bounced big time. Better high than too low.
    Keep the dose reduction, until you see him clearing that bounce. Then you and we will reevaluate.

    OK?
     
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  39. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the reassurance, Deb! It has been quite a rollercoaster recently.... Here is hoping for a few calmer days....
     
  40. KyraCat

    KyraCat Member

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  41. SashaV

    SashaV Well-Known Member

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    Oh dear!
    Hang in there!
    Huge hugs :bighug::bighug::bighug:
     
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  42. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    So, Hercules did not seem very happy today again. We started the day in the blacks, and the insulin dose did not seemt o have much effect. I assumed he was still in his bounce. Does that sound right?

    But then.... at +7 a pink showed up, and I remebered @Panic suggested that pink and yellows are usually actual responses to insulin. So I thought, Ok this is the response and is not good enough.

    However, to my surprise we got BG going down from +7 to PMPS :confused::confused::confused: How to interpret that? I would think that at PMPS, it could not be insulin response anymore? So the clearing of the bounce is revealing a low basal BG? Or as some of you suggested his pancreas is splutering and contributing insulin at its own accord....

    Anyone have a suggestion of which is it, or can I investigate it? If he is just randomly producing insulin and bringing his BG down at any point in time, How do I manage this? :nailbiting::nailbiting:
     
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  43. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    uh-oh... we are having an inverse rainbow day.....:confused:
     
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  44. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Hey-- something weird has happened to your spreadsheet, I can't see the grid at all just a blank header for a google doc....
     
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  45. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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  46. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Yup, now I can see it, thanks!
     
  47. Deb & Wink

    Deb & Wink Well-Known Member

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    If we could figure that out, why those BG levels fluctuate so wildly, and sometimes do the opposite of what we expect,we'd win the Nobel Prize.
    Combinations of all these factors, sputtering pancreas, clearing the bounce, lower nadir, double dip late in the cycle, are all possibilities.
    Some times, the numbers are just "odd" or "wonky" as we say.

    But Herc's is still high enough to get his insulin, and he got it.
    He did not drop too far down BG wise, only into the blue number ranges.
    All is good.
     
  48. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Hi @Deb & Wink . I totally understand what you are saying about how hard it is to actually sort out what is going on, and it is true that so far we have managed most of the crazy swingings.

    The worry is that from next week I will have to leave him for large amounts of time, due to work being back in. I am not sure how to manage his doses as we are going right now.

    Last night I woke up to meassure his night nadir. Not that low: 18. But then in the morning is much lower again....13. Looking through his sheet he usually has his nadir at +6/+7 as expected, but quite often he has a deeper dip later in the cycle. So which low numbers do I take into account when following MPM?

    Also, if I start the cycle low, I panicked about giving him insulin and walk out, because we can have a crazy dive in the first 4 hours, as we have seen too.

    So, it seems like the only solution is to go really conservative with the dose? :oops:
     
  49. KyraCat

    KyraCat Member

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    Steadier day today - well done Hercs!!
     
  50. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    Hi Jemma! Thanks for checking on us. Yes, it was looking a bit better, wasn't? Unfortunately he did a big bounce again in the evening, which is weird because he did seem to have a steady, gentle day?
     
  51. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    I SWEAR cats have a secret stash of Temptations...:banghead:
     
  52. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    That must be it, Jeanne!:smuggrin:

    He must have eaten too many of them, because he threw up his first feed this evening... :( and seems very unhappy again. Is weird to see how his behaviour changes with BG....
     
  53. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    You are testing for keytones right?
     
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  54. Little Bit’s Mom

    Little Bit’s Mom Member

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    I LITERALLY looked all over my house today for potential stashes of dry food! Haha
     
  55. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    GIGGLING here:p
     
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  56. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    I probably should test more often the I do...is not often that i see him peeing...
     
  57. jt and trouble (GA)

    jt and trouble (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Its tricky for sure.
     
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  58. Deb & Wink

    Deb & Wink Well-Known Member

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    Leave some wet food out for him to snack on while you are gone. Most cats will seek out food if they feel their BG levels dropping low.
     
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  59. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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    neither him, or his partner in crime will ever leave any food anywhere.... :rolleyes:
     
  60. Hercule's mum

    Hercule's mum Well-Known Member

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