Susie, Diabetic Cat
Index & Contents 

Susie's Insulin Graphs, 2002

• In some of the graphs there are periods where it looks as though her dosage was constantly cycling by 1/4 unit.  This is simply where I decided to change her daily dosage by 1/4 unit, so that her morning and evening injections were slightly different.

• Variable (whenever I got a sample) - sometimes more than 1 per day, or could be several days between samples.

• If the urine glucose reading fell between 2 of the colours I simply took an average.  If the colour on the stick reached the highest point, I took this as 2% if it took the full 30 seconds.  If it reached 2% more quickly I estimated a higher figure (e.g. I assumed 2.5% if it only took 25 seconds).  Whilst this was only a rough approximation, it illustrated more effectively where Susie's urine glucose was clearly high.

• During January I was able to reduce Susie's insulin dosage several times, so that she finished the month at 3.5 units twice daily, the lowest dosage for 6 months.  This coincided with a period of much closer control of her diet.  This dosage was maintained throughout the whole of February and March.

• The period of good stability continued throughout April, so that for the first time Susie went for 3 months without needing any change to her insulin dosage.

• This changed significantly in May when Susie hurt her leg, requiring several visits to the vets and medication, accompanied by complete loss of appetite for several days.  During this period, I tried to match her injections to the amount of food that she was eating.  This wasn't easy, but things were beginning to get back to normal after a month, although with lower insulin dosages.

• The gradual increases in Susie's insulin dosage continued, with her urine glucose levels frequently 1% or above.  By the end of August, Susie was back up to 3.5 units twice daily, the same dosage that she was receiving prior to May.

• In August, Susie's fructosamine level was 414 µmol/l, still in the "good" range, but the highest that it had ever been.  I interpret this as being because her urine glucose figures were generally higher than normal, suggesting that her average blood glucose level was also higher during this period.

• A welcome return to relatively good stability once again with just 2 changes to Susie's insulin dosage.  The reasons for the changes can clearly be seen in her urine glucose figures.

• Susie's routine fructosamine test in December was 390 µmol/l, back below 400 once again.