High Glucose, 9 units on Vetsulin

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Sammy woke me up last night at 2 am to go outside, so I tested him then.

His AMPS was 522 which is lower then average so that is good. By 10 am he was at 321, so he is already having a 60% drop. So it looks like he will have an extreme drop this curve.

I have been thinking about Sammy's physical symptoms. Sammy has not been scavenging for food. In my experience Sammy does this when he is extremely low. I have not seen Sammy walking lethargic or drunk. I have not seen Sammy with droopy eyes. These are other symptoms of him being low. Granted I am quite busy and I do not see him all hours of the day. But when I do see Sammy I am not seeing symptoms of extreme low BG in his actions. This leaves me hopeful that he is not bouncing as low now as he use to when I would see these symptoms from time to time. When I did see these symptoms I would immediately respond with giving him more food or milk. I think bringing down his dose is reducing his bounce, his physical symptoms have been reducing for sure.

I have been very busy with the Graduation, Birthdays and other things. I have not read up on ketones or considered a kit for if Sammy is extremely low. Is there some section here that is full of good things to read? Should I be reading more informative stuff on this page? My vet told me that if Sammy was extremely low to rub something sugary into his gums. I have explained this to all my older children too. This is what we have planned to do if we find him extremely low.

The times in the day that I might miss Sammy being extremely low could be his afternoon nap. When I have sent the kids to bring him up for testing in the +7-+11 afternoon hours he has been really groggy, but has tested higher. I think testing him more often in the mornings will help me catch this.

Thanks for reading and supporting!
 
I found the list of the best articles on the homepage and will start reading through any I have not already read.

I only got to test Sammy twice before his snack today. But his BG levels are improving.
 
Sorry Jeanine. Had to run some errands and am just seeing this now.

One thing to be aware of is that by the time you see symptoms of hypo, it can be a bit of a battle to get them back up to reasonable BG levels and in some cases require a trip to the vet to get them on a glucose drip. Some cats will get frantic for food at low BG levels, some get frantic for food at very high levels and some do it in both cases. Some will get frantic when they get to lower numbers than they are used to but nothing concerning. I used to be able to tell the difference between my girl's low and high frantic episodes but not so much any more. There are also cats, like some humans, who do not display hypo symptoms until they are severe. So any time kitty is acting a bit different, it never hurts to do a quick test to just be sure.

I see you found some reading material so you have probably already seen these How to Treat Hypos and Hypo Tool Box. but I'm including links to them here for easy access. Good idea to post the "How to Treat Hypo" on your fridge or keep a copy in the Hypo Tool Box.

Sammy hasn't dropped as much today but that drop is much better for reducing the bouncing. It will take a few cycles to see exactly how the lower dose is working for him. He is definitely looking better and hopefully the lower dose will smooth him out even more in the coming days. :)
 
Thank you for the Hypo info. I had read the information there and discussed it with my family. I love the idea of posting it on my fridge. Now that I look at the Toll Box I can see how useful that is. I will make one of these and have my family learn about it. Thanks for posting that.

I am curious, in the case of Hypo, how often would I retest? Clearly if he was low with sever symptoms I would have a helper giving him sugar stuff on his gums or rectally while I am driving to the nearest ER. So besides the initial test I am not sure there will be much testing as one person would be driving and the other would be rubbing gums etc... But if the symptoms are not severe how quickly could one expect to see change in the BG levels?

No problem MR WorfMen's Mom :) We all have busy lives! Thanks for fitting in replies as often as you do.
 
If you are just feeding to bring numbers up to a safer level, then retest every 20 minutes after each food offering. Once numbers are up and /or holding then you want 3 consecutive safe readings that have not been food influenced and you can spread those out to 30 minutes to an hour apart depending on each of those readings. So if each of those non-food influenced readings is higher than the last, waiting an hour to retest is fine. I would use 90 to 100 as your goal for a safe number with Vetsulin and start steering at that point with low carb food to avoid having to deal with lower numbers.

If you get a reading of 50 or below, go straight for the sugar stuff. You can mix it into high carb food if he will take it that way or rub it on his gums. The sugar stuff alone wears off quickly so using it with High carb food will give him a quick boost and last a bit longer. If there are any symptoms or numbers continue to fall, it's time to scoot to the vet. If your vet office is close, you may not need to test again on the way, but if it's a long drive, then pull over and test and give sugary syrup/honey as needed to keep him at a safe reading.
 
Today Sammy was at Hi at o, then at +3 he was down to 227, and at +5 he was back up to 598. This curve seems abnormal. I am planning on testing him every other hour to keep a closer watch on him today.

Sammy started licking the gravy off of his food, which is what he did last time before the pancreatitis attack. He did end up eating most of his food. But left some of it uneaten. Maybe a lower glucose means he needs less food? Or maybe this is early indicators of problems with his pancreatitis?

We are going to be watching him closely for the symptoms listed in this article.
http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/endocrine/c_ct_pancreatitis
 
Jeanine, are you checking Sammy for ketones? If not you should just to be on the safe side with his history. If he has a chronic pancreatitis, that could explain his high numbers and the difficulty getting him regulated. Keep an eye on him and get some ketone tests strips from the pharmacy or Walmart and check his urine. Some folks can hold a ladle under their kitty's butt and others put plastic wrap scrunched up in the cat's favourite pee corner of the litter box. You only need a tiny bit of pee to do a test but it is time sensitive so read the bottle for instructions.
 
Thank you. I can see how that would be a good indicator of his pancreas health. I just read up on Ketons last night, and planned to get test strips on our way home from my daughters school event tonight. Sound like I need to get right on it.
 
Just reinforcing the time sensitivity for the ketone test strip and looking at it in really good light :). Most seem to be about 15 seconds but even after a minute or so the colour will darken. Has Sammy been on Vetsulin since diagnosis in September 2016? And have you only been home testing since 27 may or did you have some older data? :woot:
 
So I am telling my husband on the way home from my daughters art show. "I am concerned about Sammy..."
From the back of the van my 6 year old pipes in "Yes, I think that foxtail in his eye hurts!"
Me "Sammy has a foxtail in his eye?"
6yo "Yes I think it hurts!"
I was able to easily pull the foxtail out, his eye looks irritated but fine at this point.

High BG solved, it was caused by stress. Because "that foxtail in his eye hurts!" Lol
Other then a low dip to 72 at +5, that I watched closely. Sammy seems back to normal.

Hello Yong. My Vet had us doing something totally different!!! I did not test at home. I took Sammy in once every 3 days for 1 test and dosage adjusted by full units. It is AMAZING they ever get a cat regulated like that. When Sammy became a tough case I got a tester just to tell me, when he looked drunken, weather he was high or low. He started on Vetsulin, he "stabilized" at 7 units. I then switched him to Novelin N (I believe it was N not R) because it was cheaper. Sammy had a pancreatitis/ ketone attack and was hospitalized for 3 days about 2 months back. We went up to 11 units on Noveline with no good BG levels. Then switched back to Vetsulin. When we were back up to 9 units on Vetsulin I finally found this forum. Now my life has changed with testing all the time. But I feel so much better about how Sammy is doing and am glad to know how to help him manage his BG better.

I missed Sammy's urine tonight. Will try to test Ketones again tomorrow.
 
Wow, adjusting by full units and getting kitties regulated with that method! They were lucky! Most kitties don't adjust well with full unit increases. It works better with humans because we're bigger animals! :p. That's why small increases work well for our fur creatures kids :cat:. Since Sammy had ketones before with pancreatitis, you may want to try to test for ketones 2 - 3 times a week, just to stay safe ;). Time flies when getting these tests though, maybe it's just me :rolleyes:. I feel like I try to get Maury's sample every few days and when I do, I realize on my notes it's been a week :facepalm::smuggrin:. And yes, if you were on Novolin it was N not R. Novolin R is used in emergency rooms when a kitty's BG needs to come down fast like with DKA. However, it is also used for some high dose kitties (we're talking like slow increases and still getting up to 18+ units twice a day). Anyways enough of my babbling :D.

It's great how much better you feel knowing how kitty's BG is doing and if they act weird, we can just test their BG instead of trying to analyze their behaviour in a situation and go full "hawk mode"!:woot:

I am wondering if you should try another reduction with Sammy but just by 0.25U or 0.5U this time. While those blue and green numbers are beautiful, they are big drops for him right now. Just thinking more on what Linda was saying about softening his drops so he doesn't bounce back up as high. I do see his PS numbers trying to come down, so that is a good sign! Most of this section is just me thinking out loud, you don't need to take it to heart but feel free to think on it too :).
 
OMG! Poor Sammy! I am so glad the mystery of the higher numbers has seemingly been solved. That must have been driving the poor guy nuts!

With that 72 last night, he may bounce a little but I'm wondering if taking him back to 5.5u might be a good idea. We don't want him hitting numbers that low until the pre-shots come down a bit more and even then, that is low enough for a cat on Vetsulin. I'm suggesting a 0.5u reduction because at a dose of 6u, a quarter unit dose change is a drop in a bucket. Even the half unit is a small change. I'm assuming that foxtail may have been influencing his numbers for the past couple of days so we may not have an accurate picture of what the 6u was doing for him until last night. Even at 5.5u I'd monitor him closely today.

I'm going to be out most of the day but will check in again when I can, to see what Sammy is up to.
 
I know right! Young. I do not know how the Vets think they will ever get a cat regulated that way. The next time we go in I am going to ask for Sammy's medical records so I can put them in his document.

Today will be his third day at 6 units. Why don't I switch him to 5.5 units starting tomorrow?

The foxtail was stuck between his eye lid and the eye ball. Sammy's eye still looks a little irritated today, but much better. I am sure it did hurt!

I had a cat sitter today while I was off playing with cousins and kids at a splash pad. We did not get as many tests as I had hoped.

I tested Sammy's Ketones this morning. He measured at only Trace. I am glad it is that low!!! I was fearing the worst.... But... Someone on here said I needed to act even if it was at trace. I am making sure to keep him in supply of good fresh water. Other then that I do not know what to do. I will have to read up on that.

I have another kid event today. Not sure how much testing we will fit in today.

Thank you all so much for your reading and suggestions!
 
Jeanine said:
I tested Sammy's Ketones this morning. He measured at only Trace.
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Jeanine, try your hardest to get another ketone test this evening. The reason we say to act even if it's trace is because ketones can build up kind of fast, the earlier you catch them and get them cleared, the better. We don't want you to have to take Sammy for another hospital visit :)
 
Jeanine said:
I know right! Young. I do not know how the Vets think they will ever get a cat regulated that way. The next time we go in I am going to ask for Sammy's medical records so I can put them in his document.

Today will be his third day at 6 units. Why don't I switch him to 5.5 units starting tomorrow?

The foxtail was stuck between his eye lid and the eye ball. Sammy's eye still looks a little irritated today, but much better. I am sure it did hurt!

I had a cat sitter today while I was off playing with cousins and kids at a splash pad. We did not get as many tests as I had hoped.

I tested Sammy's Ketones this morning. He measured at only Trace. I am glad it is that low!!! I was fearing the worst.... But... Someone on here said I needed to act even if it was at trace. I am making sure to keep him in supply of good fresh water. Other then that I do not know what to do. I will have to read up on that.

I have another kid event today. Not sure how much testing we will fit in today.

Thank you all so much for your reading and suggestions!
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Another way to keep him well-flushed is to add enough water to each wet food meal to make a sort of "kitty stew". Test for ketones often right now.
 
Agree you need to keep an eye on those ketones. May be a product of those higher numbers the last few days, the inflammation from the foxtail and his lack of appetite. I take he is eating better again now? Keep an watch on his eye too. Seems foxtail is a member of the lily family and has toxic berries. Not sure if what got in Sammy's eye was prickly and could have scratched his eye or not, but if the inflammation isn't gone by tomorrow, I wonder if it might be a good idea to have the vet look at it just to be on the safe side.
 
I am always so impressed with how well you guys keep up with some random persons cat!! Thank you.

Today Sammy's eye is looking normal. I do not see anything wrong with it. Which is good. I plan to keep an eye on it for a few more days to make sure.

I have a large family and manage my various family members testing him and taking care of him. My instructions do not always get followed, or I forget and miss an instruction to give them. But we do our best. This morning I had to be away so I had my husband be in charge of his morning shot, but I forgot to tell him to take Sammy down to 5.5.

I am happy to report that Sammy's appetite has returned. Which is such a relief. He is eating all of his food eagerly again. Sammy's looks normal and healthy, I do not see any of the symptoms I would be concerned with. So that is a relief too.

We have a concert tonight. So we are floating his shots back so that we can give him his shot a little later tonight when we get back.

On 06/04 his PMPS was 355.
On 06/05 PMPS was 486.
On 06/06 PMPS was 515 (this is the day Sammy had a faxtail in his eye).
On 06/07 his PMPS was 425.

I am encouraged by this. It seems the over all pattern is that Sammy's PMPS is floating down. All of these days were below 490 except for the foxtail incident. Today his AMPS was 438 so I hope to start to see a trend in that floating down too.

On 06/06 his BG took a deep dip in the evening at +5 down to 72. I think this was in response to how high his BG was that day because of the stress of the Foxtail in his eye.

Looking at the last 4 days, other then the foxtail incident, the lowest Sammy has been is 151. Again I see this as encouraging. It seems that overall his bouncing is becoming less extreme. He is not bouncing as high or as low as a trend. I find this encouraging.

It seems like every summer Sammy gets a foxtail in his eye at least once. We live near a nasty field of foxtails. We often comb out foxtails out of his fur. I was super worried the first summer, but now I just know to watch him closely. There is always a chance this time might have scratched it worse then last time, but so far he has recovered well.

I just got a chance to test Sammy's ketones. He is at trace again.

Thanks for reading
 
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Good suggestion on the Kitty stew. Sammy has really liked that in the past when we did it after his hospital visit. I can start doing that again.
 
Jeanine said:
Good suggestion on the Kitty stew. Sammy has really liked that in the past when we did it after his hospital visit. I can start doing that again.
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Definitely :). Sometimes I forget to suggest these things because they are part of my normal routine now :smuggrin:. Like telling someone, "go get ready" I would probably forget to mention something simple in one of those steps lol.

Anyways, still try to test him for ketones daily :cat:
 
I was hoping those BG's over 500 at +5 and +8 were abnormal on 06/06 because of the foxtail. But then Sammy had over 500 at +6 and +7 on the 06/08. I need more information about his cycle so I am planning on testing him every other hour. I will be home most all of the day and not have sitters taking over so today is a good day to do that. Also I will try to get a ketone test in.

Last nights concert went late so we called in a family member to give Sammy his shot. But this person was not trained on testing BG so we did not get a pre shot test.
 
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The hospital did not tell us the Kitty Stew would help increase water intake, we were told it helped with upset stomach. I am going to do that now to help with the water. Also Sammy drinks every time his water dish is refreshed, so I plan to refresh his water often.

In the hypo kit article I learned that the Fancy Feast should have been the classics because the gravy ones are high in Carbs. Ooppss.... We have been feeding Sammy gravy's. I have switched to classics and saved some of the gravy's for his hypo kit. Making Kitty Stew is helping him transition from the gravy cans, because he likes those much more then the pate.
 
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Oh! Good that you discovered the gravy food is considered high carb. While it is not super high like dry food it's enough of a difference that it could effect Sammy's insulin requirements. Keep a good eye on him today while switching to the pate. You are already reducing his insulin and trying to see if less insulin is needed and lowering the carbs will likely mean even less insulin. Some cats are more carb sensitive than others but it's something to be aware of and monitor closely when making food changes.
 
I think I figured the abnormal highs out. I started giving Sammy his snack earlier to try to avoid the lows, Looks like the snacks have turned into those irregular highs.

Good to know about the food change, thanks.
 
Towards the end of yesterday I was excited to get a chance to tell you guys that Sammy was not in the black for 2 days straight (500 or higher). But just after he started having abnormal black readings...... Based on the readings I am wondering if I forgot the shot?? Maybe I entered the test time and not the shot time? IDK

But. Overall I am seeing an improvement. Most of the highs for a while were red or lower. The lows never got into the greens, all stayed in the blues. So that seems like things are getting much better.

The difference in the highs and lows on two recent days was a 40% difference, which is much closer to that 50% I am shooting for. This is also an improvement over the 9% to 29% difference I have been getting on other days. Since I am still not at a 50% difference between highs and lows it seems like the thing to do next is go down another 1/2 a unit?

So, my plan right now is to take Sammy down to 5 units tomorrow, for three days. LMK what you think of this.

Ketones. OMGoodness! Sammy has been difficult to test. Maybe he has caught on to the fact that I am going to stick something under his but while he pees, so he is trying to avoid me?? I have been watching his litter box usage closely for the last two days, and he has not peed when I can see him.
 
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A 40% drop in BG is fine. You are aiming to have him drop NO MORE than 50% but he doesn't have to go down that much. :) The best case scenario would be to get pre-shots down and then the drops won't be so dramatic especially when he is bouncing. Looks to me like he's still pretending to be a trampoline artist but he's not jumping as high for the most part. You can try taking him down to 5u and see what he does. While it looks like you may have forgotten to give the shot last night (it happens! :banghead: ;)), it doesn't look like a furshot this morning to me. Why do you think it was? Was his fur wet after the shot?

If you can't get a ladle under Sammy's bum, you could try putting bunched up plastic wrap in the box in an area he prefers to pee in, to hopefully catch a small sample when he does go.
 
Sorry. I think my numbers are backwards. I should figure out how to rework my spreadsheet. The lows are only 40% of the highs.... so... That is like a 60% difference between the Highs and the Lows... I will have my husband look at my math today so I can get my numbers to look right, so we are talking about the same numbers.

Loved that emogi! :banghead: That is totally how I feel!!

Lol! Trampoline artist! That he still is!

I am going to get out the plastic wrap and rig up his litter box, thanks for the tip.

On the fur shot. Looks like most of it made it in, so that is good! I normally stick him, then rub the skin in the area afterwards. When I rubbed the fur was somewhat wet.
 
Love love love that fox video. Glad I visited the ladies before viewing! :woot:

Just a warning. Don't rub the injection site. You can apply light pressure for a moment and lightly brush the area to check for wetness but rubbing can cause the absorption of the insulin to speed up. I know you were probably told to do so by the vet or vet tech but it's not advised with insulin. :)
 
Scratching my head today?

Yesterday his AMPS was abnormally high, 599. This was three days after the switch from high carb Gravy to Classics.... Could it be that his insulin was too high, since he was on lower carb food and he was starting to bounce more? IDK I do not have an explanation for it.

Today his AMPS was abnormally low, 243. I was curious to see what that low reading would mean. In hind sight I should have been like "Oh no here comes a potential Hypo spell! Baby him and watch him closely!" Because he later dipped into the Hypo area.

Once I was aware he was Hypo I started feeding him and retesting about every 20 to 30 mins. A little over 2 hours later and he was back above 100.

Sammy did not eat all of his breakfast this morning... That could have been another indication he might go hypo.... But.... I was thinking at the time that he was more regulated so he might need less food. We technically are over feeding him right now. I figure his need for food will come down and he gets more regulated. I assumed that him eating less was an indication he was better regulated.

I have two test strips left before I get the car again later tonight. So I will test him twice more, once for his PMPS. Assuming his curve looks mostly normal... I think I will still feed him 1/2 a can... But... Should I still give him 5 units? Or should my units come down? IDK what to think

Ketones update - Sammy continues to avoid peeing in the litter box up by me. He will poop in it, but he wont pee up here any more.... At least when I am around. He did end up peeing in it when the plastic wrap was in the litter box, but he peed beside the plastic wrap so I caught nothing. :S Kids suggest I plastic wrap the whole litter box. I don't think Sammy will even go in it then.... Maybe it is time for me to schedule another vet visit and get a blood work up? IDK
 
P.S. Did some more reading today to try to guess more at what might be going on with Sammy.

Found this "Diabetes with Ketone Bodies in Cats" a possible symptom is "Rough hair coat". Sammy's fur has been getting more and more luxurious, soft and fluffy! When we pet him we are astonished how nice his fur is getting. His soft fur makes us feel like he is getting better and more healthy.
 
Wow Sammy gave you some excitement today but you handled it well :cat:. I still think 5.0U is too high for him in general, especially if his preshot numbers start coming down. I wanted to try to explain/say more but my brain clocked out a few hours ago and I can't convince it to get overtime :smuggrin:
 
HOLY COW! What a ride Sammy took you on today! Sammy didn't go hypo but he was right on the edge of going hypo and with Vetsulin, you don't want him that low. I'd aim to keep him no lower than about 90 or so at nadir and intervene if he drops under 90 to prevent close calls! That said, they throw surprises at us every so often but you caught him in plenty of time and handled it like a pro! KUDOS! :cool:

Your decision to reduce the dose is right on. I'd still keep an eye on him tomorrow. Tonight he's bounced and may still be up some tomorrow but they can be a bit more sensitive when go that low. Your analysis is spot on and he will need less food once he's regulated. Diabetics cannot efficiently use the food they take in, thus the extra hunger. The interesting thing is that often cats will be frantic for food if they are high or going very low but even that pattern can change with time. Some cats like some humans can be unaware of their BG dropping toward unsafe levels. Every cat if different. His AMPS this morning was much lower and that was probably because some or all of the bouncing had cleared. That could have reduced his appetite and less food could have in turn, contributed to the low BG.

Sorry I am so late to the party and glad Yong was around to confirm your decision. My girl had me testing her every few hours last night so I've been grabbing cat naps all day and now finally, when I should be hitting the sack again, I am awake. :arghh:.
 
Thank you for coming by to look!

I just looked at your girls chart. Looks like she kept you quite busy! I am tired for you! I am glad she came back up for you eventually.

Thank you for clarifying about hypo and 90.

I think your theory about him bouncing makes sense.

I hope you can get some sleep!
 
Thanks Jeanine. I'm glad Menace's BG came back up but she went too far now!:banghead: She's now busy on her trampoline :woot: so at least I'll get some shut eye tonight if I can make myself tired enough to sleep! :rolleyes: I'll keep popping by to see how Sammy and you are doing.
 
Sammy is back to his trampoline, bouncing with highs and lows. So I am taking him down 1/2 a unit to 4 units.
trampoline-cats-W630.jpg
 
Good decision Jeanine! You're figuring out your little man slowly but surely! Hopefully he'll smooth out a bit more very soon.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the trampoline kittens! :joyful:
 
Thank you for checking in on us. Sorry to scare you. We have not been putting in his numbers on the spread sheet because we have been test driving new vans all day. My kids have been the ones taking care of Sammy.

So last night late I tested Sammy, I was concerned about how low he had already gotten. But I planned to be getting up at 6 am the next morning to drive out and test drive a car an hour away before that family went to church. So I piled food in front of him. I gave him extra canned food, extra treats, and milk. When I saw that he had eaten good I went to sleep, feeling pretty confident that all that food, before the low dip, would carry him through. Maybe that was too big of a gamble?

In the last two pre-shot tests Sammy stayed out of the black, so that was good.

Sammy seems to have an ear infection in his left ear. Yesterday he held his ear bent forward a lot, and did not want it touched. Today, Sammy seems to be less irritated in that ear today, but still irritated. Yesterday Sammy had not cleaned the burs out of his fur form his recent romp outside. Normally unclean fur is a sign Sammy does not feel good. Today Sammy has cleaned himself. Sammy is eating less. He licks up the "gravy" water from his "stew" and leaves the chunks. Concerned he is not eating enough I re-hydrate the chunks, he drinks the water again and leaves the chunks again. Sammy is still avoiding peeing where I can't see him. Wow, I guess me waiving test strips under his bum was rather upsetting to him. He pees around the plastic wrap, but I will keep trying. I feel like his eating patterns are abnormal. I called the vet on Saturday. They could not get him in until the 27th. Sammy still asks to go outside, and his movements seem normal. My plan has been to watch him closely over the weekend and call the vet first thing Monday to see if they have any cancellations. If I can not get Sammy into the normal vet, and if I am still concerned about him, I will try to get him into another vet. But I would really rather deal with the same vet I have been dealing with. Because, when I was having Sammy's blood being tested every three days I saw several vets. They are all so convinced that there is one only right way to do things. Only one vet I have taken Sammy too can think outside the box at all. So I would like to get in with him, show him Sammy's chart, and give him a flyer for this group. I am pretty sure he will be eager and glad to know about this group. Though if Sammy seems to need help tomorrow it is more important I get him into anywhere.

Thanks for asking. Plugging along, mostly good, we will see how Sammy continues to do.
 
Ok. I think Sammy is doing good. Here is some more information.

I left extra food out last night. That could be why he ate less tonight.

When I called Sammy to come eat he came bouncing and bounding across the back yard grass full of energy. His Eyes ere bright, his fur was clean and in good condition.

Last Ketones attack we were told dehydration was a symptom to watch for. I watched these videos


By all indicators Sammy is not dehydrated. So I am feeling better about Sammy at this point.

Also his ears are straight, and he is not scratching them, but I will keep watching that.
 
So happy to hear you and Sammy are safe and sound. :D I saw that huge drop on the SS for last night and then no reading this morning and that just wasn't normal for you so I started wondering if he had continued to drop and you'd had to take him to emerg for a hypo situation. I think you might want to consider taking his insulin dose down a bit more yet again. I don't think it would be unreasonable to drop him back to 3 units. His drops are so huge that it's causing a lot of what appears to be bouncing and that alone can make Sammy feel poorly. It would be better to try to get his BG down a bit slower to give him some time to get reacquainted with the lower BGs. He's dropping more than 50% from pre-shot to lowest point (aka nadir) and that causes the bouncing. Once the pre-shots come down, so too will his mid cycle numbers. That said, be sure to monitor him when you reduce the dose because when the bouncing breaks, he could go lower still and need some steering with food to keep him safe.

Sounds like he may just have been off yesterday due to the big drop in BG. Not eating and drinking enough and high BGs are a recipe for ketones so as long as he is eating well, getting lots of fluids while you are working on getting his BG down, he should be fine. Amazing how they will pee right in front of you until you want a test! Hopefully the ear is not a problem. I can't believe you couldn't get an appt. until the 27th though! o_O. That's worse than human doctor's offices! That vet must be very popular. If the ear problem returns, I'd try to get Sammy in to see whatever vet you can ASAP because infections can play havoc with BG levels.

I hope your test drives were a success and you found something you liked! :D
 
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Hello. I have been MIA for a few days. Been working through some difficult things here. My daughter was in a car wreck, she was not injured. Our car was totaled. So after several test drives we ended up getting a new car that was an upgrade. Which is good. In addition to all that we had some other drama.

The testing of Sammy has been spotty at best these last few days. I try to remind myself that I am testing on average of 6 times a day, giving 2 shots, and feeding 4 times a day. So as much as sometimes I feel like I am neglecting Sammy, I really am a highly involved pet owner. Sammy seems to be surviving, and getting healthier, so hopefully it is enough.

Guess what we found in Sammy's ear?? A foxtail. Took four people holding him down, one with a flash light and me with q-tips to finally get it out. Once out Sammy went instantly from mad to relaxed and relieved. I think in Sammy's perfect world there would be no foxtails!

I have changed my name to Sammy's G-ma. Technically Sammy belongs to my oldest daughter. As I have been taking care of Sammy's medical condition I have gotten to spend so much more quality cat time with him, it has been enjoyable.

The jumping cat at the top is in honor of Sammy's large bounce yesterday. According to your suggestions Mr WorfMen's Mom I did bring him down to 3.5 units. Then when I saw his big bounce yesterday I brought him down again to 3 units. I am going to do my best and watch Sammy closely today so that I can get back in touch with his curve patterns.

My oldest teens are off to camp this week, and my younger teen has been assigned a few times to take care of Sammy. Unfortunately the younger teen did not follow instructions. I think the low BG yesterday was a lot because Sammy was not fed when he was suppose to be fed. This teen seems to have learned the importance of taking care of Sammy. I expect this teen will respect the need to feed Sammy at the right time more now.

Thank you once again to coming in and keeping up to date on Sammy's care and needs. I think I may try to find time to join in the conversations more here in the future. Is there an area of the forum that is more interesting then the others?
 
That is so sweet that you are looking after Sammy for your daughter. Seems you and Sammy are forging a great Grandma/Grandson relationship! Not many G-ma's would take this on! Hope your daughter knows how lucky she and Sammy are to have you!

Boy you've had some excitement going on! So sorry to hear about the accident but so glad to hear your daughter was not hurt and you've got some new wheels. As far as the foxtails are concerned, Sammy's having a real problem with them isn't he? I can just imagine how irritating that must have been. How did you discover it? Was he pawing at his ear or shaking his head? Oh that they could just tell us what's bothering them! Probably had some effect on his numbers the last few days. That 159 was a great number...right in the normal range and not too low so he's looking pretty good. Looks like his numbers are improving now that the nasty foxtail is out of his ear.

I'll keep checking in to see how Sammy is doing on the new dose. :D
 
Glad to hear your daughter was OK and one of your teens is learning about caring for Sammy :). At least with the foxtails, you'll know if his numbers are higher to look for them ;). I would be curious to see the 3.5U dose again sans foxtail :cat:
 
Thank you Young. If I don't get good numbers at 3 I can go back up to 3.5.

Looks like, based on my earlier posts, Sammy had the foxtail in his ear from the 17th to about the 20th. His ear scratching dramatically died down after the first day. I think eventually the foxtail was coated in goo so that reduced the irritation. But I still would see him scratch from time to time, the irritation became much more mild so it did not really stick out to me. I finally realized he was still scratching and that it could be a foxtail in his ear so I went looking.

The 12th through the 16th Sammy's numbers were higher. I stopped rubbing the injection sight on the 12th, interesting.

Glad to know both of your insights on the 159, I thought at that point in the curve it should be higher.

My oldest is a great cat mother. She was his primary care giver until I decided to try the new methods here. This was much too demanding for her to take on when she was still in high school. I rely a lot on her to make sure we keep up with his rigorous schedule. Which is why it is harder to keep up with her gone. When Sammy was hospitalized she paid half of his medical bill. I took over Sammy's care with this method because I wanted to avoid any more hospital bills. It has been a good experience getting to spend more time with Sammy. My daughter keeps up to date a lot with the changes I make to his dosing etc. If/ when I get Sammy more regulated, with less changes, I will start to transition her back to taking over more of his care again. She is more of a cat person then me, I am more of a bird person.

Thanks for checking in and giving me advice.
 
Lol. I woke up at 2:30 am last night to try to catch the dip in Sammy's curve. He came said hello, ate a snack, then ran away outside from me before I could test him! lol I normally test before he snacks, but I was moving slow and he beat me to his snack.
 
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