8/7 PetSit & red. earned-GusPMPS 144,+2 163,+3 80,+3.5 138, +4 135

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...2-68-2-5-57-3-77-4-76-5-78-6-85.162580/unread
Hi All, just a quick post before I head to grab a nap. It's been a wild couple of cycles! Got the last test in last nite at +8 last nite ( this morning) 3:30 my time. It was 117 up from 80 the hour before. At that we called it a night with fingers crossed!
His AMPS is just 10 higher this morning so I felt OK to shoot knowing he will probably have a similar cycle to yesterday's cycles.
I have to get a nap so will be back after +2 unless the consensus is that I should get a +1?
Thank you so much to all who have helped staying up into the wee hours with us these many ( or so it sure feels like ) nights.
Les

 

Grab a nap while you can....+2 should be fine. Here that Gussie?

 

I hope you get a good nap in. Gus surf safe for mombean today.

 

Great advice from Karen and Carla. These fast trips down the dosing scale can be grueling so take every chance to care for yourself.

You did super last night and I hope Gussie got some rest and extra neosporin on his little ears!

 

Here we go again, +2=67

 

Sheesh!

 

Yeah at this point do I continue to try to make him surf or let him earn the reduction he so obviously wants/ needs? Every time he gets this dose he dives and dives fast. I'm so exhausted and now so agonized over the fact I have to have a pet sitter in starting Wednesday and and a pet sitter dose starting Monday. Just seems like why did I do this to him again? Sorry, but I'm just tired and he's pretty sick of this too. I'm not sure how much I will be able to get him to eat this cycle, he's pretty fed up with it all.

 

ate a bit of LC w dash of HC gravy

 

He's choosing not to!

 

That is a pretty fast drop. Since Gus likes to drop a lot in the first 4 or 5 hours some MC food might be a good start

ETA The LC with a bit of HC gravy sort of equates to MC. I would retest in about 30 minutes. Sheesh Gus what are you doing??

 

They say he'll earn it anyway but I tend to have the thinking..enough is enough with the steering if he wants the reduction, let him have it.

ETA: It's the 4th cycle along with a BCS/late shot since the reduction. The depot IMO is not much of a factor anymore.

 

Gussie is on a misson again.
Gussie just dont do stupid things today!
And btw i agree with Tuxedo Mom. I would grab MC.

 

Ok thanks

 

I tend to agree with Karen.

Gus has been pushing the numbers for days now. He is seriously on a mission.

 

Karen, I'm at that point too. Looking at what he is trying to tell me that is what my gut is hearing. And if we are starting a new pet sitter dose Monday aren't we going to be reducing his dose then? Sorry, I'm just so tired and he so obviously is telling me there is enough insulin circulating in his system.

 

That is another thing...you need to set a safe babysitter dose AND get some sleep before you end up sick yourself. Sometimes you just need to weigh all the factors in when making dosing decisions.

 

You all are going to have to bear with me, I'm so tired I may not be processing things correctly or as fast as I'd like to so if I need a shake feel free to give it if I'm not getting what you are trying to tell me!
Going to put on the coffee and the Mountain Dew on ice...

 

I'm going to start a controversy here most likely. If it were me I'd bring his dose down to 2u tonight. This way you'll have a few days to adjust the dose again for the pet sitter if needed. It could cause a set back but at this point who knows with Gussie. Now that I started it, see what others have to say..

ETA: Going down to 2u tonight will give the depot a chance to drain and would be a good babysitter dose since it's on the line. My hope is that it would be a nice safe dose for him.

 

I agree. When are you leaving?

 

I will be controversial with you--
Dre sometimes holds depots big time and I skip to drain and get a break--if I am broken mistakes happen...

 

Sounds reasonable all round

 

Wednesday morning after his am shot. Hence my extreme trepidation over all of this!

 

? Not sure about the broken sentence? What did you mean by that?

 

I think Karen's suggestion of dropping to 2.0 units has a lot of merit. It will give time to drain the depot. hopefully let you catch up on your sleep and you will see how Gus does at that dose before you have to go away.

 

Oh I think it it, you skip to get some rest so you don't make mistakes because you are so tired..haha that ps why I had to read this twice!!

 

I think you need to reduce tonight since he is on a mission. That will give you a couple of days to see if he needs a bigger reduction for the petsitter. I forget if you mentioned this, but how often will the petsitter be able to test?

 

Sounding good to me! I really feel I need to be here for that because of how bound for glory he seems to be when it comes to dose reductions. I am SO, SO grateful his pancreas has apparently been one of the lucky ones that has reactivated, it's not my doing, that's all kudos to his tenacious body, but really need to know as much as possible that he's on a safe dose and not going to do this high diving while I'm away. He drops too low too fast, as evidenced by how fast and hard he kept dropping when I mistook LC for HC and in essence was not putting on any brakes for him.

 

Only at am preshot and pm pre shot. Nothing inbetween and I don't have anybody to ask to come in between. My back up pet sitter is on this trip with me!

 

Then I definitely think it's a good idea to reduce tonight so you'll have a couple of days to get an idea of how much more you may need to reduce for the petsitter.

 

Do you have an automatic feeder? Or someone who could at least come in and feed between shots?

 

Nope, I have the feeder but he won't use it, and the others eat his portions

 

Well he's +2.5 swimming with sharks @49 so we are at an earned reduction anyway.
LC with some ZhC gravy and Karo mixed in just given. He really hates Karo, and honey doesn't go over any better. Hope I can keep him eating gravy with it mixed in..

 

How much time will the petsitter have at test/shot time? Would they be able to stay long enough to do another test and leave out extra food? Grasping at straws here.

 

Well there is NO question about earning a reduction and because of the circumstances he gets a "double reduction". Gus needs that depot drained for you to find out if the 2.0 units will be low enough when you go.

 

Not likely especially in the AM, they have to get to work . Yeah I've exhausted al, those straws myself..

 

Gus you need to settle in there and stay in the safe numbers. Your momma bean has barely slept in weeks!!

Leslie when I look at Gus's S/S there are hardly any blank squares for weeks now..you must be totally exhausted.

 

Yes I am, totally! Thanks for looking at his SS ​

 

+3=53 LC +HC+dollop of honey mix

 

At least Gus is holding the numbers and not dropping any further. If he could only do that without HC and honey though

 

Just have to nurse him thru it again. Good thing Amazon delivers FF, have more arriving today!

 

I am really glad for the dose reduction...I've been so worried about all of this w that trip coming up.

 

Congratulations on the reduction! (and congratulations on the gravy Gus!). Safe surfing

 

Honestly I am in awe that you do this with two!!

 

My two don't give me all the drama that Gus has been giving. Thank goodness they are easier to bring up and they take turns doing dives rather than both at the same time

ETA There are people on here with 5 and 6 FD cats...not that is astounding!!!

 

+3.5 bumped up to 81. He's not wanting to eat, will let him digest for the next 30 then test and feed depending on his numbers then.

 

Yikes!

 

Since he is coming up nicely don't try to get him to eat any more right now. He is in good numbers. You could retest in 30 minutes and if he is still holding close let the tests go for another hour.

 

Thank you, sounds like a plan. That test coming up in about 5 minutes

 

Hi this just came thrubw Karen's quote. Did you add something I missed?

 

Now I see the addition. I wondered why you left last nite!
Was hoping there wasn't something like this happening!
Your advice is always super welcome, we've been hashing this out together from the first posts and has been invaluable. Heck you probably know my cat as well as I do! Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say but please don't stay away, I weigh everything and go from there with what my gut says makes sense for him. I Need all the input to be able to look at the scale!

 

I think Elise (tiffmaxee) was responding to Karen's post and her reply came through as part of the quote. She was saying:

"That is why I suggested she do that yesterday. I stayed away because I would have done things different than the pros and the protocol. My thinking was Gussie is dropping and needing to be kept up with hc and Karl. Leslie was exhausted I think and worried about going away soon. I knew the depot might be in play yesterday but felt dropping to 2.0 was
a chance to start figuring out a dose. If my cat I would have shot it again last night. Anyhow congrats on the reduction."


So she is in agreement with the dose reduction to 2.0 units

 

+4=89. Holding without food/gravy or honey for last half hour. I think he just needed to prove the point that he needed that reduction!

 

Thank you!

 

I posted from my phone so sorry if something went wrong. I didn't want to be controversial and confuse you Leslie.

 

That's much better Gussie!!
Now remember...you're safe for now, but the sharks are still out there!!!

 

Since he is holding and slightly increasing without added food you can take a bit of a break from feeding and testing...maybe try to grab an hour or so of sleep, before the next test.

 

No please see my reply! You did nothing of the sort!

 

Elise, this is a peer reviewed forum, and all opinions are welcome and valuable. As long as you don't mind someone disagreeing with you, tell us what you think!

Leslie, I'm so glad Gussie finally removed all doubt about needing a reduction. I also think it's a good idea to go to 2.0 tonight. Draining the depot this much ahead of time will let you evaluate the dose much better so you pick the right amount to have the sitter shoot. You are doing an amazing job, despite all the curves Gus keeps throwing!

 

Thank you. I wholeheartedly agree with everything ( except the pat on the back praise, I accept that humbly!)

 

Nice surfing Gus!

 

Ok now here's a new question I have, all opinions welcomed, heard and learned from btw!
I recall from an early condo that some cats did not do well without carbs, I was linked to the info on that. Gus was a basically carbs only kitty before I got him at age 16 ( guesstimate based on how long he was my neighbor kitty) high carb FF gravy and cheap high carb filler chow. Could it be that he is sliding down the dosing scale so quickly because this process has added some carbs ( sheesh better say LOTS) back into his diet? That his system actually needs them to function optimally? Any thoughts ?

 

Threat of Kato on the gums or somewhere less pleasant at work!

 

It's true that some cats actually do better with "some" carbs, but we're not talking about going back to high carb foods

What we've seen is some cats that have been fed ultra-low carb (like 0-1%) will sometimes do better with something in the 4-7% range....it's all about experimenting and keeping really good data on how your cat responds

Anything under 10% is considered low carb....the difference seems to be between "ultra-low" and "some"

 

Thinking aloud (as it were) I've been wondering about that aspect of raw food too--as I have a harder time smoothing out the drop from shot to nadir with raw than I did with LC (I think I was feeding about 5% canned). Many of the commercial pre-made raw foods contain some non-meat ingredients that can raise the carb % a little, and I've been contemplating adding a little bit of such stuff (mostly vegetables: Wendy suggested yams, zucchini, or squash/pumpkin, I was also thinking of mashed potatoes, but that might be a bit overboard) to my homemade raw to increase the carbs just a tiny bit. I imagine that pure raw is perfect for a cat not on insulin or on the perfect insulin dose, but maybe a few carbs can help with cats who respond strongly to insulin, but need a little more for duration? I'm not sure about any of this--but that's a little of my thought process.

 

+5 +79, LC surf snack. Haha I'm so glad I bought the Weruva ChickenFrikaSea because it is what he will eat as a surf snack! Also glad I found out the hard way that it is LC!

On the carbs question, it's an interesting food for thought topic!

 

Interesting. Pumpkin might be good, it might eliminate the need for frequent Miralax with Gus..might experiment with that myself once I'm back in town and working on better sleep patterns!

 

Didn't see your post yesterday. The thread got to long so I just stayed out of it.

 

Hi I know, sorry about that.Glad to have you back keeping eyes on! I need to work on posting less

 

No you are fine. You had good eyes helping you out and there's a time when it's best to let just a few people guide you!

 

Thank you! We've bed. On a wild ride and Everybody's help has been invaluable every step of the way..so grateful

 

This might be a premature question but I need to ask to be sure I understand
The reduction trigger today was not likely because of depot influence am I correct?
And
When we take the reduction both for having earned it today and to reduce for the vacation dose, we are not reducing and letting his depot get ahead of him correct? The depot has already drained from the higher dose as we kept him surfing for a few cycles?
If I'm misunderstanding please help me get back on track re how this works!

 

You should have passed the effects of the 2.75 unit but there may be some carry over from the 2.5 unit dose this morning. and last night. By tomorrow's PM dosing you should be seeing what the 2.0 unit dose is going to do. It can take a day or two to see the effects of a reduction or an increase.

 

Ok thanks for clarifying that for me!

 

+8=92 Holding in surf at the lagoon now without food

 

Gussie, it's time to give momma bean a break!

Congrats on the reducie! I hope he surfs safely!

 

OMG! I just got caught up. What a ride you are having. Hope you will see some calm soon. He is racing down the dosing ladder and to answer your question about the food fed now as compared to before, it sounds like he was on HC filler food and I would think that his diet now is much lower carb causing the BG to come down than the other way around.

 

Hi thanks, would think that was the case too.. He's been eating the Raw only since 10/2014 but wondered if his system somehow had been affected by all of the years of eating nothing but crap. That maybe I somehow shocked his pancreas when I switched him to real food. i guess I did it gradually as when I started pet sitting for him I threw out the FF gravy cans and started feeding him the classic pates. That was about 3 months then he switched to straight raw within a week of being in my house.

 

Guess I'm at the point where I'm trying to puzzle out how he came to be diabetic...

 

I think that is contributing to the mission that boy is on!

 

Me too! Tho it's just a wild guess on my part!

 

I did not expect diabetes at all, I figures that was not in play since I've had him on a raw ultra low carb diet for almost 2years now, was shocked to say the least!

 

A lot of it is just the genetic lottery ....nothing you did or didn't do

 

He probably had diabetes for a lot longer than he showed symptoms for and could be that the cleaned up diet he's been on for the last two years has helped him with the great numbers he's showing. He's only been on insulin since the end of June. That's really a nice response to insulin in a short time.

 

I was thinking that he was diabetic a lot longer too. I think a lot of what I now know are symptoms were chalked up to being an old arthritic cat because given his diet diabetes was nowhere on the radar. I'm thinking too that the stressors of being left alone in his owners condo for 3 months, his life was normal and predictable and wham over night it was upside down, and 2 rapid fire placement changes probably played a role in flipping the on switch too..lots of changes in his twilight years!

 

Thank you! Hoping that's the case! Glad he has some strong pancreas genes too!

 

Hi getting close to PMPS time and dose reduction earned plus pet sitter reduction.
Just confirming that what we figured out was a good dose to give him tonight is 2.0 units down from his last 2.5 before today's earned reduction.
Thanks for the advice and input in helping me decide what will be safe while I am away.

 

It was agreed that you should drop Gus to 2.0 units tonight. That will drain the depot and allow you to see how Gus is going to respond with the vacation dose. Also it will hopefully allow you to get some sleep.

ETA That includes his reduction he earned today and a further reduction for the holiday dose in case anyone wonders why you are doing a larger reduction.

 

Will be shooting a new dose of 2.0 as that seems to be what the general consensus was

 

Thank you!

 

Correct. Tonight is 2.0, and you'll hold on to that dose (unless Gus insists otherwise, which he better not!) for a few days so we can determine if it's a good dose for the sitter to shoot. Don't be surprised if we end up deciding to go lower - Gus is on his own schedule.
And yes, for lurkers: this dose reduction is based on Leslie's and Gussie's current circumstances.

 

Just me, but if it were me, and the circumstances of my vacation permitted it, I'd pack Gus up, and take him with me. Also I kind of wonder, if besides you getting way exhausted, is it possible that so many quick changes are tiring for Gus?
But what do I know right?

 

Thank you so much. Boy am I keeping my fingers crossed.....
It went in @ 7:25, right on current cycle. Should I get a +1 or a +2 to start??
Thanks

 

I would wait for +2. I never saw much benefits from a +1, unless you were shooting a dropping number. That said, if you'd be more comfortable getting a +1, by all means do it.

 

I so would if I could..but can't unfortunately. Hoping keeping him at home and not stressed will be at least helpful! This trip is fraught with worry obviously! Given how he hyperventilated in the car a long drive bout does him in! He seems to be rolling with this chaos of careening down the dosing scale pretty well, showing his impatience only infrequently. Part of why I think keeping him home in his own environment is best while I'm away..I'm just thanking the stars that I did not plan a longer trip......

 

Ok thanks. I'll watch him pretty closely. But being a test-a-holic you may see me post a +1

 

All input greatly appreciated and valued!!you know plenty!

 

Ahh. TiTi howls at first, but after a short time, I let her out of her carrier. Once she checks out the car, she calms down, and watches the road. The kitty litter is under the dash, so convenient. All my cats travel well. Probably because I travel a lot. They sort of have to travel well. But none of them are 18 before needing to travel, and I do think if they were elderly before doing any traveling, as is Gus, they might not do as well.

 

Wow that is nice! I had a cat (GA) who travelled well, also a big yellow boy. So long as he could sit on the passenger seat and see me he was fine. Rolled with everything! I bottle fed him from 3 weeks and had him for 21 amazing years. I have to say it was great having a traveling cat who could come with! I'm so happy for you TiTi gets to go with!!Happy kitty happy bean! Gus is another story when it comes to riding in the car or going anywhere not of his own choosing

 

Guilty of the Need-to-Know
+1=163. Nice good bump for him!