2/26 Aria

Hey all! I met a few of you last night when we jumped on the board and I appreciate all the (very quick!) support we've gotten. Ari's eating has been fluctuating in the last few days (some days she eats great, the next day so-so) to the point where i stuck some pieces of pouched human tuna into the top of her chicken FF to try and jump start her eating a little more regularly. Her numbers have been decent (for her) today after last nights spike. Am I the only one who follows my cat around sticking food under her nose? She wakes up from a nap and her dish is right in front of her. Keeping my fingers crossed for the day.

We've been on ProZinc for 3 weeks (might be coming up on 4... time flies.) It seems to be a solid insulin, but after reading through Gator's posts, I think my vet's full 1 unit adjustments were what made the last 2 weeks so insane. I'm going conservative for the day and only gave her 1 unit this morning (the vet wants her on 2 units in the am and 3 units at night but as an early shot at +9 instead of +12.) So if you see odd numbers, know that I'm dosing her on a sliding scale.

 

Hi Hope,
I'm glad to see you here. I'm sorry to hear that Aria is not eating well. Is this something new or has she always been a little picky? There are a couple of things you might try to stimulate the appetite. Bonita flakes which you can get at any pet store are supposed to be good. I buy Blackie the Halo Chicken Liv-a-littles for treats. I use the "dust" at the bottom of the jar to sprinkle on his food if he's not as hungry as I think he should be.

I hope you get some good numbers soon.

 

Thanks Ele. She's always been a finicky girl and extremely private. Friends usually don't even know we have 2 cats. You'll never see her eat, drink or pee if you're not really working at it. It's never been an issue before FD, but since her dx it's like having a newborn in the house. How much did you eat? Did you eat? Why aren't you eating more? As I've said, I feel like my Grandma - always pushing a little more on my plate as a kid. I'll look for the Halo Chicken at the store. I miss being able to give her treats. We save the dark meat from our roasted chicken for the girls, but even they get sick of it after a while.

 

Hope is such a great name. Welcome to PZI Land.

EDIT: I said some stuff but I think I just better sit back and watch. I think that you have taken this on is very cool.

 

Guess I lucked out having a little piggy in the house (three little piggies to be exact!!!). Mine free-feed, so snack off and on all day, but I have found that if I take the food up for a few hours if I am leaving the house (otherwise the clamor would be too deafening to take!) then when I get home they act like they have never seen food before and if I don't put the food back THIS MINUTE the world will come to an end!!! I guess I'm lucky, but I never thought of it that way, LOL!

Looks like you have a good handle on things - I agree that raising the dose combined with shooting earlier is a scary thought. I might try one or the other, but not both at the same time, especially when you are seeing some good #s!

Hope her appetite improves soon.

 

Ari's #'s decided to shoot up today. Bless her furry little heart. Of course, Saturday's are the days that I just can't test as much and she goes all sugar baby on me. I think after a week ago's rebound I'm a probably shooting a bit low. Gave her 2 units tonight. Hoping I can get to the store sometime tomorrow to get the U100 needles. Today spun by. Have started giving her spot tests in the middle of the night when one of the non-furry babies wakes me up. I think DH thinks I might be losing it, but he shows great interest in her numbers and recognizes what they mean now, so that's progress :smile:

Also thinking that maybe the vet's +9 instead of +12 2nd shot is causing me to undershoot since her numbers seem to be rocketing after that. Which would make me think that I'm catching the upswing, but not dosing enough for what it is trying to get to. Did that make sense? It's late. Long day. Going to go see if my fuzzy girl will cuddle up for a bit.

 

Yeah, I would think the 1u to be too little unless you are really shooting early. You did get a nice pretty curve though today, just probably not quite enough juice.

I wouldn't worry too much about this last cycle being high - sometimes it happens & is a mystery.

I know what you mean about undershooting at the +9 - it's really hard (for me at least!) to figure out the right dose on stuff like that, since there are so many variables and unless you really get into a pattern it's hard to have enough data to feel comfortable shooting enough insulin to be effective.

You'll figure it out though I am sure, as you get more data it will help you refine your scale and understand her patterns better.

Hope she is feeling well & eating better!

 

Hi Hope,

Just read through your threads on Health and here. I used a modification of Dr H's protocol with Lucy and it was very successful. Lucy, like Aria, was a major zoomer. She'd be doing great and then at +9 or 10, she'd zoom on up into the 300s or 400s. With TID dosing, I was able to get her controlled and then back on a BID schedule. However, even on a BID schedule during the week, I had to use TID on the weekends to keep her more tightly regulated. When we first started TID, I found that I had to use it every day for it to be effective. So often, I had to reduce the dose to make sure I could shoot. I did not follow an absolutely schedule (e.g., every 8 hours) though. I shot when the data said a shot was needed.

Glad to hear you're going to get the U-100 syringes. With 1.0 and 2.0 unit doses, adjustments in the .2 unit range help you bracket a good dose and then hone in on it. I would never encourage anyone to raise a dose by full units. Think of your dose changes in terms of percentage change and you'll understand why.

I'll try to check in periodically to see how you're doing. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me (which sends me and email). I'll answer your questions on your most recent thread.

Terri

 

Well 2 units had her at 97 this morning at +14. She's still being persnickety about food. She'll eat a few bites and then wander off. I guess you can't make a small eater become a big eater, but I would really love it if she would gain a few lbs. No shot for now.

(ETA latest info)
Ok, so now we're at +18.75 and she's at 118. She's eating and in a good mood.

 

That's great news. Now you've narrowed down the range of a good dose between 1.0 and 2.0. Hope you have the U-100s and are prepared to use them. I'd test again in 30 minutes. If she's going up quickly, shoot. If you want to stick with TID shots, shoot something like 1.2 or 1.4. If you want to go back to BID, shoot something like 1.6 or 1.8.

 

Ok, so just got back and she's way up again - 349 at +21.5. Here's where I get into the tricky part. If I shoot now, the earliest I could shoot again is 10pm (which is fine, but I can't monitor as well on the overnights.) But then it doesn't make any sense to not shoot her when she's this high.

I'm thinking maybe .5 u will hold her until 10 pm then I can shoot for morning. Theoretically (if I'm going by percentages), that should bring her down to the high 200's, but realistically I don't have enough data to corroborate that. Historically, .5 units at least holds her somewhat steady, which is better than going up and at mid 300's shouldn't dip her out of the 200's.

 

That's really good that she stayed in good #s past +18. I don't know if that is a definite sign of pancreas action or not, but it's pretty darn good!!! If you are shooting again in 6 hrs, 0.5u makes a lot of sense to me as a holding ground. Hope tonight goes smoothly!

 

Ok, so today is looking a heck of a lot like yesterday. Super low #'s in the morning and now I'm waiting for them to come up before I can shoot. Gotta go give the +13.5 reading in a few minutes. Actually hoping that I'll be able to shoot then even if it's only a .5 to 1 unit. 1.5 last night brought her very low (because she only likes to hit those low numbers when I sleep.) But she was perky and eating good (for her) this morning. If I can shoot this morning and give a full 12 hours until the next shot, maybe 1.5 will be the right amount for tonight.

(ETA Just realized my numbers weren't shared on the sheet I was on. Was working on a new one)

 

She likes the pretty colors it looks like!!! :lol:

I don't know if the advice is different with what you are trying to do, but the advice I have seen with PZI is never to shoot before +6, and always to check for a rising # before shooting. In theory, those 2 steps help to avoid unexpected lows. I think most people usually skip the rising # test at +12 unless there is a reason to suspect a late drop, like a couple cats around here sometimes tend to get. It's recommended for early shooting though, so you don't get a double whammy if they are nadiring on the one shot at the same time the next shot kicks in.

I have broken both rules before so not meaning to sound critical, just wanted to mention it for general information.

 

I'll take any and all info. She likes to hit her low numbers and hold but then spike (rapidly) and it'll be many hours before the +12 comes around. I'd like to get her back to BID because then I can actually get help with the shots if I have to be elsewhere and DH does not deal well with blood, so no ear pricks for him. Ari'd like if it I stopped chasing her around with the BG monitor