UPDATE - First GREEN NUMBER :) First BLUE number!!

I know it's just the first and we still have a long dance ahead of us but I'm celebrating the small victories I just wanted to celebrate with my family ♡♡♡ Thank you for helping us get this far and thanks in advance for helping me through the next freak out LOL

 

How is Lou feeling? 5 P's and appetite good?
Signs of diabetes getting better?

 

He's being a **** - headbutting me while I'm drinking my coffee, knocking things off the tables, yelling though the house.....so he seems to be feeling pretty good

I'm not sure I know the 5 P's - poop, pee, and then I'm stumped.

 

Good going Lou !! Show Mama you can keep those blues coming.

 

5 P's - peeing, pooping, preening, playing, purring.
That plus the appetite is a good quick visual assessment of how your cat is doing.

 

Next freak out can be over deciding when you want to raise the dose.
Since there are new Prozinc dosing protocols, you have your choice.

SLGS (Start Low, Go Slow) which is what you've been doing do far.
Or
Modified Prozinc Method (MPM) which would raise the doses sooner, still has built in safety points, could get Lou to lower numbers sooner than SLGS.

Ponder that. Here is the link to the new sticky that explains the 2 methods.
Sticky PROZINC DOSING METHODS

 

Peeing - good
Pooping - always been smelling, extra smelling since all wet food and the gas would knock a buzzard off a s**t wagon
Preening - finally started doing this again - he had not been
Playing - starting to again
Purring - never stopped - he's my lover boy

 

I read it....then re-read it. The SLGS makes me more comfortable because I am scared to death to do anything too fast and hurt him but getting him regulated faster and possibly into a remission sooner would be awesome....IDK?!?!?!? I'll keep pondering for a little bit....maybe read it a 3rd time. UGH!!

 

Read it as many times as you need. I still am.

 

Nicole, the SLGS is a fine method. Do it, if that's what you are comfortable with. Huzzah for the first blue number! And for the head butting and knocking things around! That's a real sign he's feeling better! I just wanted to say, don't be upset if his numbers shoot high again, you're still making progress. After a lower number like that (even though it's still high) his body might over react and dump some stored sugar into his system. That's a normal bounce reaction, and it will even itself out as Lou's body gets used to the more normal numbers.

 

There is no right or wrong answer on which dosing method to use, Nicole. There is no rush.
If you choose one method and then feel uncomfortable with that method, it's ok to switch back.
SLGS is a good method.
What are you AND your vet comfortable with on how to dose Lou.

Doing a bit more data collection can be helpful, whichever method you use to dose the insulin. That means more BG tests.

You might think about Lou's spreadsheet as filling in the pieces of a puzzle.
Right now, you have the border of the puzzle worked out. (The pre-shot tests.)
You have a little bit of the middle filled in. (the +6)
You might think about testing around that +6 middle of the cycle.
Maybe do a +5 or a +7 one day (and night).
Maybe do a +4 and/or a +8 another day.
Sometimes cats on Prozinc can have a very steep rise in the BG levels from +11 to +12 (your pre-shot test.)
So a test now and then at +11 or even +10 can be useful information.

So try to "sprinkle" some testing around at different times.
Randomize the testing a bit. Venture out beyond the +6 time frame.
Not all cats have their nadir at +6 and it doesn't stay the same for all cycles.
Experiment a little bit, to find Lou's nadir time.

Doing a curve now and then can be helpful. A curve done at night, during the PM cycle, might show you something totally different than a curve done during the daytime AM cycle.

 

I'll start randomizing my testing. I am a creature of habit so I just have been setting my alarm and testing when I feed him but I will start setting different alarms and going that way We have another follow up on Monday with the vet tech so I'll likely stay with SLGS until I see them and discuss it with them.

I'm thinking since we've been on 2.25 for 5 cycles I am good to move to 2.5 this evening. Do you agree based on the readings I have so far? I will go ahead and get a + right now to see where we are since it's time.

 

Ducks arriving soon?

 

2nd week in March!! Chocolate, Blue, Black and Fawn Runners

 

I have bumped him up to 2.5U and he started eating FF yesterday. So I'm not sure if we finally found his dose (or close to it) or if the 3 oz a meal vs 2.25 a is keeping him fuller or the FF vs the Friskies or a combo is doing it but WOOHOO! His first GREEN number today!!! So excited. I tested it twice just to be sure

 

Woo hoo! First green is very exiting. Cool Lou.

Nicole, Please be sure to test Lou for ketones every single day, without fail.

We just had our third member in the last 2 weeks with a cat that was fine one day, ketones and DKA and expensive emergency clinic care needed the next. We're talking $1000+ a day and a minimum 3-14 days stay in the vet clinic for DKA.

Be safe, not sorry and test for ketones. Go buy a blood ketone test meter if your cat is a shy peer and doesn't let you get a fresh urine sample. Strips are like $1 each, but compared to a DKA stay, inexpensive at that price. Use the blood ketone meter only for testing ketones. keep your regular meter for the normal blood glucose tests.

 

I most definitely will! We are heading out to dinner so We'll stop and get one tonight!

 

Not sure if local stores carry the meters that test for both glucose and ketones in the blood. You may need to order it online.
Amazon, ADW diabetes, etc.

 

I'm going to start a new thread to ask what meter most people recommend. There a quite a few to choose from and I don't want to drop the cash on a crappy one.

 

There is also the Consumer Reports article from 2018 that lists a few good meters, part of this link.
Blood Glucose Meter Ratings, Comparisons, and Recommendations

There hasn't been an update to that article since 2018. It is what it is.
Some meters need larger sized blood drops. Take that into consideration when you select a meter.
Take the yearly cost of test strips into consideration also.
Figure out how many strips you go through in a month. Add how many you might need for a hypo situation or closer monitoring.

 

Sorry, that article was for blood testing meters only.
Be specific, and ask in your new thread what "ketone" meters people recommend.

p.s. Duh, Deb is tired and starting to make more mistakes. Time to call it a night soon.

 

Huzzah for your first green number! And it's great you are getting a blood meter for the ketones. More expensive than ketostix, but more accurate and so much easier.