7/12 Kozmo, AMPS 183, 194 +12.25, 265 +12.5, +1 513, +4 178, +5.5 50, +6 103, +7 266, +10 279, PMPS

Previous thread.

Stalled then shot at 265 at +12.5

Quiet today. Cuddles but no purring. Big groom though. Half gaba again.

 

Good morning Annie,
I think you would be fine to shoot at 194. Leaving it til 265 is giving the BGs too big a head start.
If you shoot a lower number the BGs don’t drop as low/ quick as when you shoot a higher number. Lantus likes shooting lower numbers.
How is the appetite?
And how are you and Neil managing ?

 

Hi Bron

Again, you’ve made complete sense. Neil suggested we shoot at 194 - it was me that waited until 265 and now he’s an unsurprising 513

We’re learning more each day and sadly, it’s Kozmo that suffers our errors. But! On the upside, we’re doing our best and we’ll get there eventually.

Kozzie has a suspected slipped plate in his pelvis - he was reversed over by a car and his pelvis opening healed too narrow with the diameter no bigger than your pointer finger. It caused major fecal blockage problems and rather than having his lower intestine removed as suggested, we had a plate inserted to keep the opening wide and it worked. But now it’s slipped and is causing constipation problems. I suppose it’s not really constipation, it’s normal poos that can’t fit through.

We lived in Scotland for six years and the vets there weren’t interested in x-raying to see what exactly was going on because the surgery required to repair something like that is too major. The vets here in Plymouth are the same. It would be a job for the super vet.

Prior to his FD diagnoses, we’d smear Laxapet on his front paw twice a day which helped in a small way but he’d stopped grooming himself until now. We’re going to start the Laxapet again and hopefully he’ll keep up with the grooming and hopefully some of the constipation will be relieved.

Would you suggest we test again around +5 today?

 

Poor Kozmo what an awful problem to have. Maybe the vets at the vet school Wendy mentioned can help with getting it sorted out eventually.
With the testing it’s a bit of a guess really. Yesterday he was in black preshot and down to green at +6.
It would be good if we could slow down the drops as fast drops can cause bounces as much as dropping into lower numbers he’s not used to any more. The way to slow the drop is to feed the drop, but that means testing frequently to catch the drop. And we don’t know if he’ll drop this cycle or the next cycle.
The dose he’s on is good because it is getting him into green numbers when he isn’t on that trampoline..
Maybe test +4 and if he’s still high I’d leave it another 4 hours.

 

Thanks Bron. Neil and I are so thankful to have you and our other GA’s. Honestly, we have no idea how we’d cope without you all.

 

We all remember how we felt when we first arrived here. I was at my wits end. It was so good to talk to someone who didn’t say’ I don’t know what else I can do to help’.
We are very happy to be able to help and support all we can. This is a very caring cat loving community and because we have all looked after our FD kitties 24/7 we understand the problems you are facing.

 

178 at +4... based on this number, when should we test next please?

Eating better today.

 

Hmmm... I think I'd test at +5, no later than +6.

Curious how he zooms up, then zooms down, yet isn't a super-bouncer (or at least, not a super-long bouncer). Usually, when cats zip up to reds and blacks, they stay there for a while, but Kozmo just takes a quick look around and back down!

 

That’s a big drop... 335 in 3 hours. Anything over 75 BG an hour will trigger a bounce.
We need to start feeding the drops to try and stop this happening as much.
When you look at when to test next, have a look at how much the the drop has been in the last hour. I would say it was at least 100 points so I would test again in an hour.

 

Hi Nan (and Bron again)

He’s 50.5 at +5.5 but he’s happily enjoying a big eat at the moment.

Bron’s right, I’m getting confused with bounces and not bounces and when to check etc.

 

Eeek!!!!

A snack is OK, but don't let him eat too much right now. You are likely going to need him to eat some carbs to bring him up if he dips any lower.

 

OMG he ate a entire pouch!!!!!

 

Glad he has an appetite !!!!

Don't worry about it right now. If he does drop and doesn't want to eat, we always have the option of using honey. And the food right now should hopefully buffer him against falling too much in the near future.

Hear that Kozmo? This is as low as you go!

 

Oh, and I'd test at +6 to see which way he might be heading.

 

103 at +6

He rarely eats an entire 85g pouch in one sitting. Do you think he instinctively did that because he felt the low?

He’s had two pouches in six hours, that’s a lot for Kozmo.

When shall we test next?

 

Good boy Kozmo!

How about another hour?

 

266 at +7

 

There he goes !!!!

Looks like you can take a break for a while.

I agree with Bron; time to start gaming out an early-cycle feeding schedule to try to slow some of these drops. I'd probably try feeding at +1 and +2 to start, perhaps splitting some of his pre-shot meal off as snacks if you're worried he won't be hungry that early.

You're right, by the way, he was probably feeling a little hungry when he went low earlier, and that's why he ate a whole pouch . Lots of cats show hunger as their main mild hypo sign, and will seek out food when they start going low. It's very helpful when you need them to eat!

 

Any more testing before PMPS?

So feed a snack before +1 and +2 test or after?

 

I think I'd just test once more, maybe at +10 or so, but it's up to you.

Yes, I think at +1 and +2 you want to test and administer snacks. At the very least, we want to start testing intensively in those first few hours to try to get a better handle on these drops. Hopefully the snacks can help slow him down a bit, too. You may have to do more than just the +1 and +2, this is just a suggestion to start.

 

Thanks Nan, I’ll stop in and add his +10

 

Just a thought...

The jump to 513 from your +12.5 was huge. Whenever Gabby would throw what seems to be an odd number, I would re-test. I wonder if it was a bad test or bad strip.

 

Sienne, I had the same thought (bad strip) about yesterday's AMPS, but on both days he kept going down fast, so now I'm not sure...

By the way, @Annie & Kozmo , you're missing some numbers from today on the spreadsheet (in particular the 50 at +5.5, which is important for getting today's picture).

 

Definitely agree that numbers like those wildly high ones merit an immediate re-test, too.

 

Hi Sienne, we’ll retest from now on

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to add a .5 to the SS... I’ve added it in now in the +5 box. There weren’t any other numbers missing though.

 

279 at +10

 

PMPS 441 (recorded immediately on SS but forgot to put it here)

Will test at +1 in 15 minutes then post result here.

 

477 at +1

Do we offer a snack and test in an hour it is that only when the number drops?

 

Hmmm.... how about a small snack here, and test at +2? He's not dropping yet, true, but he also isn't showing a food bump from dinner, so he might benefit from a little boost.

You also have the option to wait a bit, and just call this a data-gathering run on his patterns without intervention. The unfortunate truth is that this kind of food-steering takes a lot of experimentation before you figure out your cat's patterns and what works, so there's really no wrong answer at this stage .

 

I forgot to mention that he only had a couple of bites of his dinner. I couldn’t work out whether he was being obstinate about us introducing ⅓ new LC wet to his pre-dx wet or if he was still full from his munch out earlier.

We discovered he was being obstinate just now... wanted to go crazy with his snack of full naughty wet.

 

Hah! The stinker!

Is it all LC and just different flavors, or does that mean he's now had some MC/HC? I know you were being lenient with the carbs when he wasn't eating after the DKA, most of the recent spreadsheet entries talk about LC, I'm just curious if we need to take that into account.

ETA: in any case, it's good he got the snack if he didn't eat well at dinner, we do want him to have a meal on board when the insulin hits

 

We had him mostly converted to a new LC wet diet but then post DKA we’ve let him have his old wet food.

I entered the analytical data into the carb app and it came up as 7 point something percent but I now know not to trust it. I was entering that as LC wet on the SS but he was also eating some real LC wet too.

His old stuff is Whiskas 7+ poultry gravy and I immediately took him off it but noticed that Whiskas 11+ poultry gravy is on the FDMB UK approved low carb food list. That combined with the 7% result in the app made me believe that it probably was LC.

I’ve been in contact with Whiskas directly to ask for the actual total carb percent and they fobbed me off.

Now we’re battling with Kozmo to introduce the new food but we will persevere.

Sorry, I just wrote a book!

 

490 at +2

That might be indicative of his rather large snack at +1?

 

Hmmm, maybe some food bump in there, yes. Looks like he's not done with bouncing from this morning's high dive act, mostly.

 

Thanks Nan. Is it safe to sleep through to PMPS?

 

I'd get at least one more test before bed if you can. Kozmo has such short bounces, you can't assume he'll bounce all night tonight. But maybe if he does start coming down the extra snacks will make help him a little less dramatic than usual .

 

He’s had a decent snack just now and we’ve jumped in bed (before I picked up your message).

Have set the alarm for an hour an a half(ish) which puts us at +5 is that okay?

 

Oh, I'm sorry!

I was going to say, just test at +4.5 before going to sleep, but I guess it has already been a half hour. He'll likely still be high, so now I feel guilty for making you set an alarm, ack!

 

Don’t feel guilty! It’s Kozmo’s fault All this stalling is putting our timing off and bedtime is getting later.

The test will put my mind at rest... or not if he’s dropped a lot

 

Just catching up on the day.
Good catch at 50.
With feeding the curve it is trial and error and as Nan said it is experimenting to see what works. If you don’t feed at+1 when there is a red number he’s sure to drop and if you do feed at +1 he’ll stay high.
It is just a matter of trying and persevering. that is what I did with Sheba back in 2015 when she was a champion bouncer. It works but just needs patience to get the feeding v when coming off the bounce right. The food needs to be in the system before the drop starts if possible.

 

329 @ +4.5 Rather than set an alarm for +5, I entertained myself in the FB group and tested a little earlier.

Morning Bron

 

He’s on the way back down. Did you give him some food?
How is the supply of cerenia going?