? 6/2 Jessi, AMPS 289, +2.25 215, +4 101, +4.5 81, +6.5 120, +7 193; PMPS 321, +2.25 245

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...246-8-165-pmps-220-5-107.278147/#post-3076529

I was a little too relaxed. this one caught me by surprise. She is eating a second half of a can of her food.

Libre shows me 56, in the red zone!

 

Are you able to get a test with the hand held meter?

How many hours after insulin was the 56? Please update your spreadsheet

don’t feed too much, a tsp will do.. if this is early in the cycle you don’t want to fill that belly

 

She had already eaten a half a can of her usual because it was past time for her, then I added a second half for her but I don't think she finished it. These are 80 g cans.

She is purring but clearly a little off.

56 was at +2.75

testing with a glucometer is very hard and stressful with her

 

Libre is showing me 65 at +3 and holding now. This has happened a number of times before.

 

Thanks for updating you sheet.

She’s got a tiny food bump. Keep monitoring closely, you still have a few hours until nadir.

looks like she’s earned another reduction. New dose is 0.75u

Can I ask, is she ok with blood tests? I’ve seen the Libre read much lower than the meters quite often, 20-30 point even. The Libre is a handy tool but when you get those lower numbers it’s a good idea to do a check with the blood meter to verify the number.

 

Down at 54 now on the Libre

Blood test is a very big deal with her and we have very little experience with it. I just made one attempt but unless I wrap her in a towel and hold her down with a lot of force, which will terrify her, it won't happen, and even then it's unlikely I'll be able to get the blood drop on the meter

I know the Libre reads lower usually but it's still kind of scary

 

Absolutely, if you can’t get that blood test, we need to treat those lower numbers as if they were true.

Will she eat a tsp of LC food?

 

She just ate almost an entire can of LC food, so I don’t know why it’s not having an effect

 

Since you do have the Libre, I would try to condition her to be ok with the test, it’s the perfect time.

When we first started, Gus was not the happiest about it all. We ended in a small bathroom, I brought all the supplies, sat down with him let him wonder a bit, lots of pets, treats. He’d eventually start to get more comfy and lay down with me. I’d play with his ears, use a rice sock (let him sniff it) to warm his ears… we basically would do everything we would do for a test, minus the poke.. I even had a pen cap to simulate a poke. This didn’t only help him but me too.

Eventually I worked up the courage and tried the poke, he was a little taken by it but shrugged it off pretty quick. Each non poke and poke sessions got easier and easier for both of us.

Also remember that they feel your energy, if you’re nervous they’re like why, if you’re scared they are too. I would actually talk Gus through every step I took, calmly. Some folks will sing a little song - I just figure that would scare Gus more than the poke, so we talked calmly instead

 

Like I said it only takes a tsp to bump them.. you could (but shouldn’t) give a full can and it would do the same thing for the same amount of time. This is why when you’re seeing lower number you only feed small portions because you don’t know how long you’ll need to continue feeding them

 

Ok, now I know for next time, but what do I do right now?

 

Do you mean I should do this right now?

 

I don’t mean at this moment but it’s ideal that you have a Libre … perfect time to get used to blood pokes I just want to share how we got over the hurdle of learning to test.

If you want to give it a try, it wouldn’t hurt though.

 

Let’s see what that number is in 15mins from the last test but see if she’ll eat any in the meanwhile

 

How do things look now?

 

She ate a little more, basically the leftover of the can. After a moment she got up and started walking around the house. She actually looks quite alert. It's weird. just moments ago she was all conked out. I got her up to eat and move a little and now she's looking almost spry.

But this is the longest one of these dips has ever lasted, at least as far as I'm aware. There could have been other moments while I was sleeping or before I got the Libre.

So what now...keep waiting...feed higher carb food...

these numbers are holding still, 55 as I'm writing this

 

Rinse and repeat.

she’s flat and holding it, which is worth a small happy dance

if she drop under 50, you’ll give some gravy (since she’s iffy on food, all we need is the gravy from the high carb food).

I’ll be around, I’m out in the garden but I’ll keep checking in. Keep us updated

 

spry didn't last long, she's conking out again, I mean, she's awake, but eyes closed and seeming a bit off

 

ok, I guess it's another night of no sleep for me...I wish I could do a happy dance but I'm just so tired...

She likes her wet food fine it's just that she's full. I didn't know that a spoonful had the same effect as an entire can. How does that work?

I also have LC treats I could give her. And I have medium carb food but we haven't tried it yet. Oh, and then there is there is her absolute favorite, corn! If all else fails I can give her a little pureed corn and she laps it up.

Should I give her a few treats or just wait now?

Thanks for being there, it's nice I'm not doing this alone.

 

Remember, it does take some time for food to break down and get into the bloodstream. Save the MC food and treats for now.

It's not unusual for her to be working on a nap either. Cats have a routine....Hunt, Kill, Eat, Groom, Sleep. Doesn't matter if it's a pride of lions after snacking on a zebra or a housecat just eating a can of food.

As long as her numbers stay above 50, I'd try not to worry too much.

Update us in about 15-20 minutes unless she starts to act "drunk", staggers, acts like she's blind or collapses. In any of those cases, rub some Karo (corn syrup), honey or pancake syrup on her gums and let us know.

 

Corn?? Sounds like she never read the book "All about cats"!

Chapter 1. Cats eat meat and fat....grains, fruits and veggies are for the humans...LOL

 

Hi, Stefania! Kim asked for a few others to keep an eye on you and Jessi too.
I had also used the Libre on my guy, Max. I was looking at your spreadsheet and notice a note you had about sleeping through alarms and missing a test. Do you not have the ability to see a graph with your Libre? I used the app on my phone but I know the Libre readers can show a graph.

As for trying ear sticks like Kim suggested, I actually had to use the Libre because Max would attack me if I tried to test his ear. I can go over with you what I did to eventually get success, if you are interested at a later time…right now, let’s just make sure Jessi keeps holding steady!

 

Wait, so why do we do a happy dance when we're in these low numbers?

Isn't this hard on her body to go so low like this? She sure doesn't look like she's enjoying it.

 

I know, I never give it to her. I just have it for emergency. I found out by chance years ago that she loved it because I was eating corn on the cob and she was sniffing it. I just let her smell it like I do with lots of objects and she suddenly bit into it. She wouldn't let it go. It was just the bare cob with almost nothing left on it, but she was like a dog with a bone. I didn't do that with her ever again because I knew already about carbs and cats back then. But that's how I found out she is a corn junkie!

What can I do, she's adopted, who knows what they fed her in the years before she came to me!

So if I need to get her BGs up fast, that's a sure bet.

 

Healing greens the more time spent in the green the better. Each time the body will get a little more used the lower normal numbers and the liver won’t panic and release stores glucose and hormones that cause the bouncing

Corn… lol.. silly kitty

 

Like Kim said, they help heal. The goal is to keep them in the low blues and greens, then greens as much as you can. The fact that you took a reduction just a day ago can be good and bad. It could mean her pancreas is starting to so something, but the bad part is back to back reductions don’t always stick. If her numbers stay lower, then yay. If they go back up, you the bring the dose back up (that’s called a failed reduction).
It was a scary feeling to see my guy in blues and greens at first, but then I got used to them. If I saw a yellow, I’d freak out. Odd how the tables turned.

 

Yes, there are graphs for sure. I use the App too. In fact, I have been wanting to understand them better. It often seems like the sensor is recording even when I'm not scanning and charting a graph with this information, is that what you're talking about? But when I asked a Freestyle rep about this he said no, it wasn't so. I guess he didn't know what he was talking about. I wondered why I was told I needed to make sure I scanned at least once every 8 hours. So the sensor keeps gathering levels and charts them on a graph even while I'm not scanning, right?

As for testing, I'm definitely open to trying again, but it is VERY challenging. Jessi doesn't ever attack me, EVER, she's a very unusual cat that way. But what she does is use everything she's got to get away. She becomes a wild thing twisting, turning, jerking, jumping...whatever she can do to get out of my grasp. She is terrified of being restrained and becomes afraid easily if she thinks anything will be done to her. And when she gets to those levels of fear, it sticks, it becomes a trauma, a bad memory and it takes days or weeks to subside. And in the meantime she will run and hide from me all day long and be hyper vigilant. So that is why I opted for the Libre.

The only reason I can even do the insulin shots is that if I get it right she barely notices and I don't have to hold her down. But if I start trying to test her, even the shots will become a struggle.

Still, I am willing to try out new approaches because I know it would be better if we could use the glucometer.

 

Greens are scary at first, but it means they're in the zone where the pancreas can heal and hopefully get back to work soon!

They also become addicting once you get used to them....and then you're heartbroken if they're in higher blues!

Check out my China's spreadsheet link. She was the most tightly regulated cat for several years before she passed from what they think was cancer.

 

Green is a much better color than RED. On the Libre these numbers are fire engine red!

 

just nose dived below 50

 

I'm giving some HC food, ok? This is the lowest ever and the Libre doesn't even give a number it just says LO

 

And now I can't get a scan, it's telling me to try again in 10 minutes! great!

Now I wonder if the sensor is dying. They told me that as it dies it can show super low numbers, if that's what's going on then I have no way to know if the numbers are true.

 

sounds like the Libre is kaput...which is one of the main reasons we aren't big fans of it. They hardly ever last 14 days and we've had then stop an hour after placement and there is no "free replacement".

Since we don't know for sure what her BG, we'll have to go by how she's acting. If she was really low, she'd probably be desperately begging for more food.

How's she acting?

Do you think she'd let you test on her pawpad instead of her ear?

 

She's acting fine actually. I just gave her a little HC food, I couldn't hold out any longer.

Paw pad is worse. She protects her paws much more than her ears. It's also 3 am here and I am exhausted. I can't imagine it will go well to try pricking her ears right now. I would have to use a lot of force to hold her down and even so, it would be hard to get that drop of blood on the test strip.

Just tried again and Libre is giving me 74 now. I guess the HC worked. It's crazy that her normal LC food didn't raise the numbers at all. It wasn't like that before. So maybe these numbers aren't accurate. I don't know....

Now what do I do...I really need to get some sleep, I'm feeling ill from sleep deprivation accumulated over months now. How long until I know I can go to sleep do you think?

 

One thing you can try is to gently press down on the sensor. It may or may not help, but it did help one of Max’s when that happened. It may not be the battery dying but rather the filament may have moved up out of the skin a bit.

 

How long has it been since shot time now, +6?

 

Nothing doing, it's giving me 64 again

 

we're at +6 in a few minutes

 

It didn't change the reading to do that. Actually, I just did it again and now it's showing me 93 and rising!

She is hungry now in a normal way. I would like to give her some of her normal LC food. I could also give her more HC. I'm having trouble typing this message because I'm falling asleep. Soon I won't be able to do much for her. I may need to just put some food out and go to sleep. I just have to decide which food, LC or HC or some of both.

 

Do you have any medium carb food? If not, you can mix a little LC with HC and feed her, leave some LC out if you want and call it a night.

Just another reminder that next dose is 0.75u, reduction was earned tonight. well done. I hope you can rest well and regain your energy

 

Ok, so you think it's safe for me to go to sleep now as long as I leave some food out for her? I'm so exhausted these days that once I hit the pillow almost nothing wakes me up. Except Jessi, that is. and occasionally my alarm clock!

I think I will do what you're saying mixing the two. That way I am sure she will eat them because she likes both. A little is a spoon or two?

 

You can give her a few spoonfuls at this point. We want her to have access to it if she wants it.

We are approaching mid cycle now or just over and I think she should be ok.

May as well leave out MC too (I said LC earlier)

 

Oh, I mixed LC with HC, I hope that's ok.

 

Thank you all for your help! Even though I'm exhausted, this was such a better way to go through this because you were there. Many many thanks!

 

Perfect… make sure you see her eating some and leave some out.

 

Hi all,

since I started this thread in the wee hours of morning of 6/2 I probably shouldn't post a new thread today, right? Just use this one and change the title to include the usual info?

 

Thank you! We did the reduction. I rested 3.5 hours, not exactly regaining energy, but it's something! LOL! Would love to nap now but I see her numbers going down so...not sure I should sleep. Laundry instead maybe...

 

Wow, not much of a bounce. Feed a little MC to slow her down. 10-15% carbs.

 

Feeding now. It's a mix of her LC with Fancy Feast, like I did last night. I think FF might be a little lower carb here than in the States. Checking now. But it worked well last night without spiking much.

No, I take that back, FF is super high carb here too!

I just gave a little mixed in with some of her food. She ate some, not a lot. She seems to lose appetite at a certain point as the BGs go down and then in other moments gets more hungry. I think she just feels weird so she doesn't even know if she's hungry or not...her instinct is to curl up and sleep. I try to get her moving around and interacting so I see how she's doing.

 

And now the sensor won't give me a read, yey!

How I know she's ok right now is when I do a pretend ear poke to test the waters she pops her head up shakes it vigorously and looks disturbed like she's about to get the heck away from me if I do anymore. Yep, she's still fine.

 

FF pate is low carb here on the states. The gravy is about 15%, so it's just on the edge of MC/HC... The Tuscany gourmet is HC, as it has rice, about 19 or 20%.

 

I have the one with chunks in gravy which I was told by someone here on the forum was the highest carb one. I just calculated the carbs and if the calculator is right it's a whopping 29.72!

I used this carb calculator:

https://www.caticles.com/carb-calculator-for-cat-food/

Protein 7.5
Fat 3.7
Fiber .5
Ash 1.3
Moisture 81.5

Carb % 5.5 including moisture
Carb % 29.73 dry matter basis

It seems insanely high, does that seem right? I use this carb calculator all the time so I hope it's accurate.

She's a little allergic to rice so hopefully that isn't in this one. She has a bunch of food intolerances. I have no idea if any of them are in the FF I got, but for these purposes I think it's ok. I just hope she doesn't decide she wants only FF from now on! LOL!

Trying to stay lighthearted as my kitty's BGs are plunging again...

It's usually more extreme at night, but nothing is sure ever since we started Lantus!

 

Since I can't get a read on the sensor I am thinking of giving her some more food with some HC mixed in. She looks kind of out of it as usual when BGs go low. She also feels kind of warm to the touch, like she's overheating. I notice this often in these moments and breathing through her nose more noisily, although this might just be a Jessi thing. But weirdly, she has been doing this more since they put the sensor on.

Sensor seems like it decided to quit completely. I think it may have come out partially. It's day 9 so it lasted quite a while and several days more than last time. But now I have no numbers again. It might suddenly come back, but this is a clear indication that it is on its way out. It makes me wonder how much of last night's lows were true. I never saw it stay in the red (on the Libre) for so long... Usually when t is malfunctioning it dips down briefly to super low numbers then back up again.

I could try the ear pricking but I'm afraid it will just make her hide somewhere I can't get to her easily and of course stress her a lot, and me too. Meanwhile, I'm falling asleep sitting up as I'm writing this.

 

I just got a read, +131. But the graph is broken so the sensor is definitely on its way out. I think it's actually that loosened, so the needle isn't all the way in all the time. The sensor itself seems to still be working.

Well, that's a relief for now. But what about the dose? and how will I get through the night without this thing? I may have to preemptively give her a little extra carbs in her meal just to get us through without too much risk.

Why are her BGs plunging so much??? I know, I keep asking that. I just wish I could understand all this more. Maybe I just have to accept that there is only so much I can control. Ultimately, it's up to Jessi and her body how the insulin is utilized

Falling asleep at the computer again. Maybe it really is nap time now. I'll give it another half hour or so. We're at +6 now so waiting until +7 and then napping is probably good. I'll give her some extra food with maybe a tiny bit of HC on it, how does that sound? Or maybe she doesn't need the HC anymore since we're later in the cycle.

 

Do we take a reduction? I can't tell if she went below 81, maybe not. Of course, I fed to bring her up so it could have gone down more if I hadn't. So do I keep the same dose tonight or reduce? I know the sensor has a 10% difference at least so, it could be that she never actually went below 90...

What are your thoughts?

 

I don't give dosing advice, but I will tag a few members who can guide you regarding that.

@tiffmaxee
@Wendy&Neko
@Suzanne & Darcy

The carb count sounds a little high as far as the FF, even the gravy varieties usually max out at 18%... There is a food chart that @Angela & Cleo probably has the link to, at hand!

The diving is part of her body reacting and getting used to the fact that now she is getting insulin and her body is using it. Once you have more data, you'll be able to see patterns, to predict drops, etc. Try using the LC food to hold a number, MC for a slight bump, and HC for deep dives, or low numbers under 60/50.... 1 teaspoon-ish at a time, so she will continue to eat if required.

Jessi might seem a little out of it in numbers she's not used to get. I don't think her feeling warm has anything to do with anything.

 

Ok, thanks. I'll wait to see what others say.

Maybe you can help me with another question. I want to lie down to take a nap now. She ate about a half hour ago, I think about a half 80g can. I will feed her in about 3 hours, a little less. Normally, I would leave some food out for her. But now that we are on Lantus I don't know if after the Nadir when numbers are starting to rise, I should leave food out or not. What are your thoughts?

 

You are good for a nap till PMPS. Every drop below 90 is a reduction with SLGS .

 

Hi Stefania,

With that AM+7 at 193 Absolutely take a nap!

When following SLGS, any BG reading under 90 is a reduction. Looks like Jessi's new dose is going to be 0.50. Congrats!

Here is a link to the Food Charts

 

Stop cross-posting!

 

THanks BHooma and

Ok, thanks y'all! I will nap a little. Food? Leave some out for her while I nap or make her wait until PM meal? I'm inclined to leave some out.

Who's cross posting? What is cross posting anyway?

 

You two twins, cut it out!

 

Congratulations on the reduction, Stefania and Jessi!

 

She has risen to high blues and in very SAFE numbers. I would not leave out anything until its times for PM meal. Feeding after nadir (the lowest BG in the cycle) shortens the duration of the insulin.

Cross posting is when different members respond almost at the same time and therefore their posts crossed. Both Bhooma and I said basically the same thing at the same time in posts #58 and #59

 

Oops! I had already given her some and gone to sleep. Next time I will know not to.

How much do I give her at PM meal time? I normally give 1 to 1.5 cans depending on her appetite. I gave her half before the shot, should I go ahead and give the other half or wait a little longer?

 

Hi Stefania is the libre working?

 

so far, yes, but it is definitely hiccuping. there are moments when it doesn't give me a read

 

About the food...she's waiting hungrily for me to feed her more. We're almost at +1.5, BG is still high, 256, but definitely going down, do I wait to give her more? She's used to getting at least a can if not more at PM and AM mealtimes.

 

I would feed her as you normally do.
When you have some time, read this thread on Using Food to Manipulate the Curve. I found it very useful.

 

I fed her the other half at about +1. BGs are still somewhat high. Thanks for the reminder about that thread, I had taken a look at it before. I noticed it said that this was for more experienced users so I am using it lightly, giving her small frequent meals throughout the day, but I still don't know enough to really manipulate the curve and I want to be careful I don't do anything that could put her in danger.

 

Good job so far with all the reading and keeping Jessie safe
The stickies really do help (and also calm the human's nerves )
Keep posting, asking questions, share your fears thoughts and concerns, keep reading. It's all important and helpful for keeping kitty safe and keeping human sane