Yippee!! First time getting AMPM values in the 200s

This is the second BG curve I have done. The first one I've done since his dose went up a few days ago to 4U, 2x a day. His AMPM BG was 230! What a relief that it is under 300. Also, when I did the first post insulin test (+2 from injection), it only took me 1 try to get enough blood for a test. Yahoo! I am so relieved by this!!! The 28 gauge lancets are definitely better than the 30 g that came with the meter. The first BG curve I did on Monday left me a bit traumatized because it was so hard to get a drop of blood. Phew!

I'm hoping we stay in the target range and don't have to up his dose again.

ps..I'm still working on setting up my spreadsheet, I got as far as downloading it and saving to my google drive account.

 

Progress is good. Keep trucking along.

 

Thanks! Just posted spreadsheet to signature. I hope it worked.

 

It does if +2=287

Good job.

 

Good news!

 

+4 185!!!! Whoot whoot! First time he's been in the blue.

 

Looking good! Congrats on the levels and getting the spreadsheet up.

 

Thanks Everyone!

I am a bit worried now though, +6 (more like +6 and 20 min) was 179, +9 (more like +8 and 45 min) was 147 ! I'm worried that he hasn't started going back up. I guess he might have a late Nadir and might just be living up to one of his nick names (Stinker Cat, because as a much as I love him, he CAN be a real PIA).

Pre diagnosis about 2 weeks ago, my husband used to feed him around 4:30-5 (+9 ish), so to train him to the new schedule, the doc OK'd 1-2 tbs of crunchies as a snack, which my hubby gives around +7 or +8 usually, just to hold him over a bit. I haven't been giving him that snack today. I wanted to see how we were without the snack. I was giving just 2 pieces of W/D dry kibble as a treat for being a good boy and letting me do the blood draw.

I'm not ready for a 911 post, but I don't think I should inject if he isn't at least going back up closer to 200.

 

I wouldn't worry just yet. Sometimes kitties have late nadirs...just keep an eye on things. I agree, if he is still going down, you won't want to shoot tonight. But if heads back up and is around 200, I think you'll be okay. I would be surprised if he keeps going down for the rest of the cycle...it could happen, but not likely.

 

OK, so testing at +11.5, before feeding, and Bowie's BG is 155. I'm Chicken Excrement about giving insulin at this point. I texted his vet. She's lives around the block from me and we are Facebook friends/acquaintances. She texted me back, and said she is not worried. I'll follow her directions, but I'm going to be testing tonight

 

So how much are you planning to give? As he is dropping mor than expected, I would be cautious?

 

I would do a second test, just to be sure he is rising, not still falling.

 

She said it looked good and to go ahead with the 4U, I plan on testing him at +3,+6 and see how he's doing.

 

Whoa...4 units when he is still dropping and below 200? That's a LOT to give considering that he was in the low 200s this morning and 4 units has lasted over 12 hours...for all we know that insulin is still on board. Did you already give it?

 

I texted her the values and she said she thought they were pretty perfect. I am
Kind of nervous about it.

 

I'd definitely plan to keep a really close eye on him and test and be ready to intervene if needed. Do you have high carb food on hand? Remember that if you need help, you'll want to post here and on Health since it's not likely many will be around this forum at night...but there's plenty of folks to walk you through any problems on Health pretty much all the time.

 

Thanks for the advice Rachel. I have Hills W/D which is what the vets recommended I switch him to. I have cans (which is what we feed ever 12 hours) and a bag of the crunchies (which we sometimes give 1-2 tbs in the afternoon for a snack). I bought the crunchies before learning they were so high in carbs. I also have an unopened bottle of Karo Syrup. No getting tipsy tonight!

 

OK, feeling better. I'm at the +3.5 hour for the PM insulin, and he's at 206. Whew! I still plan to test again in a couple of hours, but this makes me feel more relaxed.

 

I hope he stayed in safe numbers. The WD may be a big part of keeping him higher.

You might read some of the info on this forum (The FAQs are a good place: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/ and the stickies in my signature in blue, which pertain specifically to ProZinc. We feed our kitties wet low carb food. A vet explains why here: www.catinfo.org. The level we try to stay at or below is 8-10% carbs. WD is 25% carbs for the dry. I can't find the carb content for the wet but it contains cellulose, corn starch and oat fiber so the carbs will be fairly high. There are also lots of low carb treats. www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/list-of-low-carb-healthy-treats.9172/ The same vet has a food chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf.

We take a slow careful approach to giving insulin, starting at a low dose and increasing as home testing suggests. If you want to consider our approach and switch to a lower carb food, please be careful, maybe reducing the insulin and testing often. Switching often takes a cat's levels down 100+ points for the next shot level and/or next cycle.

 

Glad it looked like safe numbers last night! What happened after +3? I'm interested to see his AMPS.

It does look like your increase in dose was pretty big...we usually don't jump an entire unit since that can help us miss the ideal dose. That may be why that 4 units lasted so long.

 

He did well, I had planned to retest at 3 am, but got lazy when my husband checked on him and said he was fine/alert.
This AMPS was in the 260s. Bowie was not happy and was a bit aggressive when I tried to test his blood this morning. Maybe his ears are sore Maybe he's fed up. He scratched my hand. It took me giving him a break and coming back to it, to be able to test him, and feel OK with feed/shoot.
Thanks for the diet tips. I've learned more about the foods from this board and the links. Since we are newly diagnosed and adjusting meds, I am taking 1 switch at a time. We just switched to a higher insulin dose 5 days ago, based on yesterday's values, the vet wants me to do another curve in 3-4 days. She is thinking we might be able to bump it down a bit.

 

Hmmm...do you give a treat when you test? That's the secret...those bribes always work well Also, try a bit of neosporin with pain relief (the gel, not the cream) and that might help. I usually put that on before testing as it helped to make the blood bead up some and whether it ACTUALLY helped or not...well, it made me think it did.

Yes, one change at a time is the way to go. If you do change foods, you might do it slowly by mixing them together and adding more of the new food and less of the old over a few days. That can help reduce any stomach upset.

 

I usually give a couple of crunchies after the fact, but did not want to reward the scratch this am. Thanks for the neosporin tip.