Info RECENT REMISSIONS?

I just read on Health that Soccer and Max have both gone a couple of days without insulin. We also know Bix is trying hard.

If you cat has recently gone into remission, can you please report the following information:

1. Date of Diagnosis
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then

Thanks, Terri

Just so it's all in one place, here's Max's story: DX Jan 28, 2010 with a regular blood panel. Jan 29 curve at vet's, 500+ all day on 1U Prozinc. Food switch/Prozinc 1.5U Jan 30, 2010. Meter arrived 2/2/10 and he was testing in the 50's. The next two days we did curves both days, dropping to 1U on the first evening and second morning. Second evening, 2/4/10, we gave .5U. That was his last shot. Average since then: 139. Today brought two new lows, 93 and 91.

Here's to hoping it stays that way

Not sure what timeframe you mean by recently, or if it's only the newer cats you're interested in. In case you want my info, here it is:

1. Buzz was dx on July 27, 2009.
2. She was exclusively on Idexx PZI.
3. We switched to wet food on August 3, 2009. We went cold turkey from dry to wet with no problems.
4. No other insulins were used between time of dx and remission.
5. Buzz went OTJ on 12/10/09. Her last insulin shot was on 11/26/09. Her average BG from that time until she came back from the falls (1/5/09) was 87.

1. Charlie was dx 9-09
2. Started compounded humulin n immediately (was labeled by pharmacy as prozinc)
3. We are in the process of switching from wet & d/m to all wet
4. No other insulin types yet (if/when he needs it again it will be prozinc)
5. Last shot: pm 2/4 was 2.5u.

We had just started testing +2 pm on 2/4. He had hypo two weeks prior, which is why we finally started hometesting. I'm pretty sure we missed his optimal dose.
His numbers were as low as 66 and reached a high of tonight's 158 pmps. So far, (knock on wood) big C's numbers have stayed in the blue/green range. I wanted to do a +1 or +2 tonight, but he wouldn't cooperate. Hopefully we can get it tomorrow night.

[Edit: he was a wannabee, but has since been needing more insulin, so........ never mind! ]

hope to join the list some day

Terri and Lucy said:

I just read on Health that Soccer and Max have both gone a couple of days without insulin. We also know Bix is trying hard.

If you cat has recently gone into remission, can you please report the following information:

1. Date of Diagnosis
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then

Thanks, Terri

Click to expand...

Terri~ I'm not ready to call it remission yet. Maybe the beginning of a honeymoon... But, his #'s are definately not green so he's teetering on a honeymoon.

1. 1/25/10
2. ProZinc
3. 1/25/10
4. no
5. last shot was the morning of 2/6/10. He's been averaging 120 without insulin. We had a low of 88 last night (whoo hoo!!) but are back to 110 this amps. My "no-shoot" is 150 currently but this weekend, I plan to lower that limit to 130.

Thanks for asking about this... I've been wondering what others are experiencing. I had noticed that Max and Soccer are looking very similar. A confound for Soccer: he is obese. He had lost muscle mass on his hind limbs but his abdomen is HUUUUUUGE. We're working on that. :roll:

Michele

out of curiosity, would you say a couple mentioned here then most likely responded to the diet change enough to go into remission? and would they have needed any insulin at all? wouldn't it be nice if vets said "your cat has diabetes. put him on this raw diet (or canned low carb) and take this machine and get some measurements over the next 2-3 days. call me with the numbers every day and we'll see if he needs insulin or not" instead of "your cat has diabetes. he can only eat this prescription food and give him 38,620 units of insulin twice a day. come back in a month and we'll see how he's doing."

oops, got off on a tangent reading the data i guess

Ok, so we're not saying remission yet (don't want to jinx anything) but Aria went "as needed" with a no shoot of 145 on 4/25. She would go for about 5-7 days before hitting a 145 or higher and was only getting .1 unit when that happened. When we went on vacation, the sitter shot on a 145 and the next # was a 170, so in my mind, that was a tiny bit of liver action, so I raised the no shoot level. Since doing that, we've gone 20 days with no shot. The first two weeks were a lot of blue, but in the last week, I'm seeing a lot of green which is very encouraging. I'm holding out for 30 full days without insulin before I do the happy dance.

For our history, Aria was on a diet change previous to switching Prozinc and we made it up to 6 units a day (2 units TID) before things started going good. At the 6 unit point I was literally testing every hour to 2 hours for most awake hours and if I woke up in the middle of the night I'd grab a test as well. We were truly the example of the 45 day settling in period. But when things went good, our dose reductions happened extremely fast. I was going through test strips like water during the 2 months on ProZinc. Previous to that we were on Vetsulin, which was variable depending on the vial and previous to that PZI (which was solid)

Our vet was really good about me controlling the testing and insulin dosage once I had "proved" myself knowledgeable and trustworthy enough. He gave me a quiz on all the relevant things to know - Somogyi effect, hypo, hyper, rebound, etc. then said I was good to go, but to call and update on dosage.

Terri and Lucy said:

If you cat has recently gone into remission, can you please report the following information:

1. Date of Diagnosis
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then

Thanks, Terri

Click to expand...

Prudence is a oriental shorthair. 8lbs

1. 2/19/2010, but couldn't really start home testing until 3/6/2010

2. ProZinc using ReliOn Micro meter 1 unit BID Switched to TID on 3/13/2010 because insulin wasn't holding the full 12 hours. Took about 8 weeks of tight regulation with TID to get to OTJ.

3. Switched to lc canned on 3/6/2010

4. Only used ProZinc

5. Last shot May 7th - 0.1 units she rides around 70

1. June 7th 2010
2. ProZinc
3. June 9th 2010
4. No other insulin.
5. Morning of July 17th.

So excited I get to post here!!!

1. Sept 15th 2010, Home testing a few days later
2. Prozinc
3. Initially we gave we every few days. Full switch on 10/26 (Merrick)
4. No other insulin
5. Last shot on 10/28, average since has been 80.

1. DX'ed: 3/15/2010 Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

2. Prozinc PZI. Was going to switch insulins a time or two. Big thanks to Gator and H for advising me to stick with it.

3. Switched to Fancy Feast Classic and Wellness canned food 3-24-10 after researching online. Vets were
totally clueless to this method and wanted the cat on dry food (DM). Thank god for the internet and FDMB.

4. No other insulins.

5. Last dose of ProZinc was 4-26-10. Average BGL since around 75-80.

Blue was only on insulin 6 weeks, but it felt like 6 months! Very stressful and frustrating, but so worth the effort. Numerous blood lettings daily payed off in a big way.

Good luck to all and don't give up! Thanks FDMB. drinking24

I've been waiting to be sure before doing the happy dance, but I think it's safe to say Maximilian is officially OTJ and diet controlled!!! dancing_cat

1. Date of Diagnosis - January 8, 2011
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.) - PZI locally compounded (generic of ProZinc prescribed by vet, not sure I would've chosen compounded on my own)
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food - Did some transitioning but official only low carb wet date was February 5, 2011 (dose dropped dramatically from that date)
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it - Vet started us on Vetsulin but I switched within 3 days cause of recall
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then - February 12, 2011 - BG average 70-100 (usually in the greens but creeps up to low 100's if goes long b/w meals)

I can't thank everyone on FDMB enough for all your advice, help, and encouragement. It has made a world of difference to Max and I. He is a happy, healthy kitty again. When Max was diagnosed, I was so sad and overwhelmed with what it meant. As we started the sugar dance, I became increasingly discouraged with the little progress. Then I found FDMB, followed the great advice/protocol, and everything turned around. I realize how lucky I am, and I'm so grateful to all those who continue to pay it forward on FDMB. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

1. Date of Diagnosis = Feb. 28, 2011 to Vet; Results Weds. March 2, BG 500's; spilling sugar in urine
2. Specific (PZI/ProZinc/compounded, etc.)- PZI 100, compounded in Baltimore 3/3/11 - instruction on use 3/7 - This was done by vet tech - limited and mostly wrong. Never showed me how to test, had wrong size needles so demonstrated with saline, injected in wrong location -ruff.
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food. Switched to wet food March 1, 2011.
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it - Only PZI
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then Date of last shot 3/30/2011 Av. BG 70's

Most bizarre part, weird all over the place beginning, almost all doses way below Dr. prescribed 2units

Day before last shot had a high of 411? Talk about odd.

This place is the absolute BEST!!! :RAHCAT :RAHCAT

Bradley is in remission with the help of this wonderful forum!! I couldn't have done this without you guys. I can't stress enough what a difference your help has made to me and my cat. We wouldn't be where we are today without you. flip_cat

1. Bradley was originally diagnosed with diabetes in 7/2010. He was put on insulin under the guidance of my vet. I wasn't sure if changing the food would do much to help (I knew nothing about feline diabetes then obviously and was just learning), but I put him on an all-canned diet anyway. After that, a few months later, he went into complete remission. However, as time went on, he would start to eat more and more dry food again (I have two other cats that eat dry so it was hard to keep him away from it and didn't realize how much he was sneaking in). He then became diabetic again in 2/2011. I was going back and forth every week to the vet's office getting his sugar checked regularly and it was NEVER stabilized. He was peeing all over the floor and he looked unhealthy. The vet was no help. They just kept adjusting his dosages every time I went, up and down, up and down. This wasn't right and I knew I needed to monitor him every day myself but had no clue how to go about this myself. I was desperate and needed help. I found this wonderful website which helped my Brad back on track. He is now in remission and looking great! I will never slack on his diet again since I know that was the culprit. He is doing fantastic on his diet now and he's back to his old self, spry and spunky for a 13-year-old. His coat looks wonderful and he even has lost some weight!

2. ProZinc.

3. Switched from dry to completely wet as soon as I started here in April. He now gets Fancy Feast.

4. Not applicable.

5. Date of last shot was 4/16/11. I don't even check his sugar every day anymore because I can tell by looking at him and his behavior, but his estimated average is in the 60s, I would say.

Rusty is OTJ
He was 1st diagosed 2-11-11
He has been on Prozinc from the beginning. His normal diet before was dry indoor cat food, but I would give them (I have 2 other cats) 1 can of wet food per day.
I switched him to all wet about a week after being diagnosed, after I had found this board and read up on everything.
Rusty's last injection was 4/30 of .5 unit, he is averaging around 85 BG now.

I can't thank everyone here enough for all the support and knowledge. If I hadn't of found this board, no telling where me or Rusty would be now, because the vet originally have him on 4 units in the am, then 2 in the pm. If I had listened to that it could have gotten very bad without the home testing.

Thanks everyone!! cat_pet_icon :RAHCAT :RAHCAT

Callie Mae's success story!

1. Date of Diagnosis 3/25/11

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.) Compounded PZI

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food 5/6/11

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it N/A

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then 5/18/11, she surfs around 80-105

Original dose started at 5u BID and I started home testing on 4/25, her vet increased her dosage by 1u increments until she had graduated up to 9u BID by 5/6. Started transitioning to wet and 1u on 5/7
I found and joined this message board by 5/3
Switched to wet completely by 5/9

I would say that diet had a huge impact on my (Callie Mae's) success. Diet, home testing and learning about rebound.

She had been floating around in the low 100's for a few days, but has since been staying in the green.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

My 11 year old Lynx-point siamese, Sebastian, has been doing great. Not sure if there was a bad diagnosis or we are just in a honeymoon phase, but so far so good.

1. Date of Diagnosis
6/8/11 - he had a 'senior panel' and his BG was in the 600s.
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
PZI, 3u BID
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
Started week of 6/12/11. He was originally on Hills Science C/D dry, started adding wet, went to completely wet food within a week. Now no dry, no treats, only canned.
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
N/A
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then
Last shot of 1u on 6/20/11. Since then his BG numbers have averaged 75 - 85

His vet says to keep up with the home testing and no more insulin. We're taking like AA, one day at a time, but we're getting through this. I never could have done this without what I learned from everyone here. Thanks everyone!

I'm not sure this is the place to pose a question, but please let me know where I should be? Our Callie was diagnosed a few months ago with diabetes. She started out with 2 units twice a day of Prozinc. We took her in to get an all day glucose curve and she told us to increase the dosage to 3 units twice a day. Yesterday we took her back for another day-long glucose curve and she was very low (40s, 50s, 70s) all day. They gave her glucose twice while she was there. We did not give her insulin last night or this morning and we took her back today and her numbers were high - 175 and 300. So, we will try 1 unit twice a day. We have changed her food from mainly Authority Senior dry food to mostly Fancy Feast wet food with a small amount of Blue Wilderness dry food. So, the number of carbs has decreased considerably.

My question is: How often should we have to take Callie in to spend the day at the vet's to get the glucose curve? She is scheduled to go back in 2 weeks for another. This is getting very expensive for us - $186 each time she goes plus the cost of Prozinc and syringes. I would like to be able to test her myself, but Callie is quite skittish with her injections and I'm not sure she would be willing to have her ears poked as well.

Hi canno & welcome! Can you start a new thread with your questions, either here in the PZI forum, or also you can post in Health. I am afraid people will miss it here.

1. Date of Diagnosis: 9/24/2011. Mama noticed he was drinking a lot and peeing as well as getting external infections on his ear flaps. Ozzie is also an asthmatic, and I think the steroids even though they were low dose pushed him over.

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)roZinc. Started with 2 units, bumped to 3 by the vet, then back down to 1 by everyone here on PZI.

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food: 9/24/2011. Started with DM wet and FF. Now just FF and trying to find a better quality food both cats like! Cookies are wellness pure bites.

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it: N/A

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then: Ozzie's last shot was on 10/12-.25 units. He averages now between 64 & 100. Morning numbers always higher.

Ozzie is doing great! Bounds upon Bounds of energy. Major improvement!!!!

Samson, Badams (Bennie Adams) MommaBean


1. Date of Diagnosis 10/1/11
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.) ProZinc
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food. He was actually on wet food most of the time before, but changed from Fancy Feast gravy types to mostly Fancy Feast Classic, but some 9 Lives and Friskies wet locarb
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it. N/A
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then. Last shot 10/28/11. Spreadsheet attached shows readings since last shot.

:RAHCAT

I will be testing a couple of times a week....if I am able to drop back that much....I'm still afraid it will shoot back up any minute.

Samson and I both are so grateful to the people on the board....for the knowledge, advice, support, for us to be able to make it here. All fingers and paws crossed that Samson's little pancreas can keep doing the job.....with the help of the wet locarb food, of course.

Hoping to see many more kitties showing up on this thread soon!!

1. Date of Diagnosis
August 2011, started noticing symptoms (excessive urination, peeing outside the box etc. July 2011) Couldn't start treatment because was away for work for all of september. When he was diagnosed his average BG was ~ 28 (500)

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
compounded BCP PZI

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
Did a half switch for all of september 1/2 purina DM wet and 1/2 Dry. No change in BG's or symptoms. All wet on October 2 2011. His average BG went from 28 (500) to about 20 (350) from the change to all wet (fancy feast and purina DM wet)

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
Originally prescribed caninsulin, on it BID for 4 days, learned to home test, did a curve and it was terrible, showed my vet and got a script written for BCP PZI

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then
November 23 2011
He is def. a diet controlled diabetic. He ranges from 3-8 (60-100) but a few AM's has been in diabetic numbers, 9-10 (150-170) but has been able to bring himself down with food. He goes up if he eats any dry, so I have to watch him carefully, he also needs food available for grazing, but he is OTJ!!!!!!

This is day 14 so Harry is OTJ!!!

1. Diagnosed on 11/10/11 with bg in the 400's

2. Used Prozinc - started with 2units bid while on dm dry

3. Switched to all canned on 11/22/11and lower dose - by 12/1 he was getting numbers under 200. Currently eats fancy feast and friskies

4. N/A

5. Date of last shot was 12/7/11. His average bg is around 100 but I think this number is still dropping as more time passes.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone on this board that taught me everything I know about FD!!!!

1. DX 1/17/2012
2. ProZinc
3. Switched to canned immediately but Curt was sneaking dry food on his own for several days later. Totally off dry food 2/4/2012
4. none
5. 2/4/2012. BG tested daily or twice daily. Less than 100 each time! Officially OTJ and in Remission on 2/19/12!!

Okay, here's Stinkyboy's info:

1. DX 1/12/2012, with BG at 480
2. ProZinc, starting at 1 unit 2x daily, then down to .5 2x daily, then .5 once daily, then .5 as needed (usually only every three days or so)
3. Has always been on mostly canned with a 1/3 cup of EVO dry left out during day for both cats. Switched him OFF Feline Greenies treats that day (they are full of carbs and he ate a lot of them), and in wet foods switched to Fancy Feast Classics, Wellness pate and Gerber's Turkey & Gravy babyfood. (Stinky was underweight, so the doc wanted him to gain half a pound.) Still leave out one tablespoon of EVO dry during day, per vet's instructions.
4. n/a
5. Date of last shot was February 27th. He is on a no-insulin trial per vet's instructions. Testing 2x daily, I get BG readings of between 108 and 130, with the exception of last night when he went up to 155 for some reason.

1. Date of Diagnosis: 1/17/12
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.): ProZinc
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food: 1/25-2/7 (Scout was getting into the dry food on the desk during this period. On 2/7/12 I removed all dry food.)
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it: N/A
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then: 2/8/12, average for the first week OTJ was 108, from week 2 OTJ until now, it's 73.

I feed only Evo, Wellness, and Purina DM wet food (using up the DM stuff I bought at dx). Scout gets freeze dried chicken, fresh chicken, fresh fish, and tuna flakes as treats.

THANK YOU ALL for your help getting Scout OTJ!

Lori

1. 2/9/12 BG 450
2. Prozinc
3. Exclusively semi-raw diet starting 2/24 pm, previously dry hills w/d :roll:
4. Only Prozinc
5. 3/10/12 pm 0.05u, average excluding the first two days of the trial is 41

I tried a few days without insulin after the diet change, and one cycle she was able to regulate pretty well without insulin but then her P stopped working. With micro doses we were able to get her P and liver retrained, I do not think she would have self-regulated with diet alone.

Cathy

1. Date of Diagnosis
Diagnosed May 12, 2012.

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
ProZinc

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
Switched to Purina DM on 5/12/2012, switched to FF Classics about a week after that.

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
Leo was always on Prozinc.

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then
Last shot of his .1u dose was on 5/28/2012. He had very long cycles (30-50 hours) for several cycles before that, with BGs in the 60s to 130s. His final injection was a tiny droplet-small enough to fit in the bevel of the needle, on June 1st, 2012. Since then, his BG runs from the 60s to the 80s.

1. Date of Diagnosis
4/24/12

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
ProZinc

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
Switched to Purina DM dry and canned on 4/24/2012, switched to FF Classics about a week after that.

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
Max was always on Prozinc.

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then
Max's last shot was .2u dose was on 7/20/2012. BGLs were between 100-150 for five days, then dropped below 100. He ranges between an average of 55 to 85 now and seems to be getting lower and lower.

Max's Story
Max was diagnosed with FD at the end of April 2012 after we noticed the water bowl was always empty and the cat litter had become nearly impossible to scrape out of the litter pan. It was like wet cement that was almost dry. Max had also lost some weight but seemed to be hungry all the time. He has never liked people food, but suddenly he was getting on the table and trying to eat our food at any chance he could find. Off to the vet we went.

After confirming diagnosis, my vet started Max at 1.5u of PZI and sent me home with an Alpha Trax Meter, a bag of Purina DM and a box of canned Purina DM. Suddenly life got a lot more complicated and I was frustrated. While researching FD, I found this website, registered and started taking the advice of the experts on here. Things got a little better, we adjusted and I figured that Max would be on insulin for the rest of his life. Then fate took us by the paw.....

Back in June, my Mom was watching Max at her house while we were on vacation. After the first day that she had him, his bgl dropped to 87. I was terrified that it would drop too low and that she wouldn't know what to do, so I instructed her not to give him insulin for the rest of the week. She continued to test him twice daily and fed him his Fancy Feast, putting him on a schedule to eat 4 times per day. When I picked him up and scanned through the meter, I was surprised that his bgl's had stayed consistently in the low 200s without the insulin.

After we returned home, his numbers started going back up, despite starting him back on insulin injections, again. At that time, I only fed him twice a day. I began to wonder if that wasn't part of the problem, so I bought the cheap PetsSafe autofeeder from Petsmart. Since it was $35, I thought it would be a good one. The feeder was so inconsistent about opening that I gave up on it after a few days. The only other option locally was the more expensive PetSafe 5 Meal Programmable autofeeder. Given that it was also a PetSafe model, I decided that I didn't want to waste anymore money.

Max's numbers weren't getting any better and started to climb to the 400 range. I started researching autofeeders again and came across a post on this forum that raved about the programable model by PetSafe. I searched for reviews and most were positive, so I finally bit the bullet and bought it. I started using it consistently, cutting the Fancy Feast servings in half and freezing them for the autofeeder. I still feed him half of a fresh can in the morning and the other refrigerated half in the evening. During the rest of the day and night, the autofeeder feeds him the frozen food (which thaws pretty quickly).

Once I started this routine, it didn't take long and his numbers started dropping. I can't believe that they are as low as are right now. I never dreamed....So thank you guys for this board and working with all of us newbies. It has made all the difference! If I had listened to my vet, Max might be more sick right now. My vet meant well, but he is just listening to the advice of other vets (most of whom also have no clue about how to properly deal with Feline Diabetes). I know that Max will always be a diabetic and we will have to continue to treat him that way. But we are celebrating our OTJ party today. Yay! I have high hopes that we will be able to continue to control his diabetes via a low carb canned food diet and frequent small meals instead of having to give insulin.

I would like to thank everyone here for all the great advice. This could not have happened without all the information I received here.

1.Madison was diagnosed 7/31/2012
2.She was only on ProZinc. She went into remission about 5 weeks after starting treatment.
3.I switched her to all wet food during the first week she was diagnosed. She eats Fancy Feast classics.
4.Her last shot was 9/3/2012 and her average BG now has been between 60 to 90.

Thanks again!!
Sheryl & Madison

Milo could not have done this without the help of the selfless people here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It has been quite an emotional journey.


1. Date of Diagnosis: 1st week November 2012
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.): Hypurin Bovine PZI, for 4 weeks
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food 2nd January 2013
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it Caninsulin. From DX to 19th January 2013 (11 weeks)
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then: 17th February 2013 - 14 days ago! Ave BG 4.2mMol/L or 76mg/dl

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

cat_pet_icon

Yea!!!! We're OTJ as of this week-


Henry was diagnosed as diabetic on Feb 8th- Our ( now ex) vet prescribed 3 units of Prozinc 2 x a day, and said to come back in 10 days. She gave us a case of Hills Science Diet W/D canned and dry. She said that "eventually, I could home test.

I was told by several people that Hills food is NOT GOOD- So I began researching this, and found Dr Lisa Piersons (DVM) "catinfo.org" site on the web, and started reading about feline diabetes, nutrition, and the effect of high carbs on diabetic cats.

I spoke with this pioneer several times, and she coached me on getting a spreadsheet started, told me to home test IMMEDIATLEY, and got me on the FDMB.

A nurse friend said, "stay away from those message boards- they can drive you crazy!"

THANK GOD I DIDNT LISTEN- !

But I did think, how can I rely on faceless people on a message board?? Well, guess what?? IT WORKS. The people on the FDMB rallied around Henry and me, every step of the way. I would send a post, and within minutes- almost every time- a reply could come.
There is a tight protocol that the veterans on this board follow. They are knowledgeable, and share their vast experience with us newcomers.

They comforted me, taught me, listened to me, and let me know that all would be well. AND?? On very delicate dosing issues, etc, they actually conferred with eachother BEFORE replying to me- to ensure that they all agreed on the course of action.

I even spoke to 3 of them on the phone, because they graciously gave me their phone numbers! I was a mess- I felt so overwhelmed, and my knees would shake every time I would home test him.

The long story short?

On 2-19, I ditched the Hills food (which Ive learned is "crap" and I've nicknamed it Kills)- put Henry on FF classic, and Friskies low carb, and began to see BIG changes...

His numbers eventually began to show yellows, then blues, then greens! His fur became shiny and dander-free, he lost the extra weight, and began acting like a much younger cat!

Henry and I are blessed to have a change in diet make the difference between insulin dependent, and insulin free!

Our last shot was on Feb 19 (except for a "panic" shot I gave him on Feb 23- in error)- whoops- I didnt check woth the board first--

His average BG since testing is 106, and hes been non-diabetic for 2 weeks-

I found a new vet who is on board with home testing immediatley, and supports the wonderful people on this board. I shudder to think of Henry's fate if I had not QUESTIONED AUTHORITY! My old vets plan would have probably killed my cat-

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE AT FDMB!

My Rusty is 10 years old. was diagnosed with diabetes on 09/24/2012 with DKA. Afrer 2 days with IV at the vet was put on ProZink 1U, after a week on 2U after another week on 3U. Was switched to canned food recommended by this forum right away, that is FF Classic. Stayed on 2-3U for a while with pretty high BG 300-500. In the last three month Rusty started to have 4-5 days periods of lower BG that allowed us to start reducing his insulin dosage. Right before the beginning of his no need of insulin days ( i am still afraid to call that remission) he was on 0,5-1,25U. During the last couple of months he had couple of no insulin days or almost no insulin few times followed by a higher days , so very gradually his need in insulin was dropping. Almost like rolling hills. Now it has been 8 days since 04/23/13 of normal BG and we are trying to make it to 14 days to get a clean bill of remission and stay this way forever.

I greatly appreciate all the advice and help from people of this board. You have the deepest knowledge of the subject and always ready to help.

Janetta and Rusty

Ferdinand's remission story

My Norwegian Forest Cat mix Ferdinand was diagnosed with diabetes the latter part of March this year, 2013. Ferdinand started out on what I now know is a high dose of PZI, 4 units in the am and 5 units in the pm. We put him on Science Diet M/D dry for diabetic cats, as he was a dry food addict. I began very slowly switching him over to wet food about 3 weeks after his diagnoses. His bg levels were all over the place. I now know he was just getting to many carbs even on a low carb dry food. It took almost a month to switch him totally over to the wet food. For a long time he still needed a little dry mixed in.
As I began reading on the boards I realized that he was on to high of a dose. So gradually I reduced the dose while still checking his bg levels. At one point he was at .05 units! Toward the middle of June his bg levels were consistently down to around 120 or 140. A level at which my dh and I did not want to shoot. Within in at least a week his levels were consistently between 66-99!
Today I celebrate the 4th of July with a cat that has not had an insulin injection in almost a month! He has lost a little weight (which he desperately needed to do) and is brighter eyed and more playful than I've seen him in years. He hasn't had an inappropriate pee pee accident in over a month as well. We are all so happy in this house about Ferdinand and thank God for answering our prayers and healing him.

Congratulations Ferdinand! YAY for OTJ! No dancing kitties cause since the board change, I can't seem to access them, but still giving you a huge GREEN Smile! High five to you both!!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

15 yo Bubbles was diagnosed 09-04-13
Started that evening on Compounded U-40 PZI, 2u every 12 hours. Her dose was lessened according to her PS BG's.
Over a 2 week period she was transitioned from Friskies Indoor Cat Dry to Fancy Feast Medley, then started Fancy Feast Classic on 09-17-13.
Her last shot was 10-04-13, and her average BG for the past 2 weeks has been 88, using the ReliOn Prime.
We Are Doing the OTJ Dance!!
Thank you All for the advice, support and encouragement!
We could not, would not have done this without YOU!!!!!
:mrgreen: :lol:

Hooray!

Thank you, BJ. You really helped me so much. I am still keeping a close eye on her...so far, so good.

What a beautiful spread sheet Bubbles! Congrats to you both and may you continue to be "in the green" for the rest of your days! I can't wait to be here!!

Simon's last shot was 11/20 in the morning. Day 14 of the OTJ trial today. He is no longer needing insulin at this time although his pre shot numbers seem to be over 100 and generally under 130, food brings him nice and low - between 70 and 100 generally. I am not shooting him unless he consistently shows numbers over 150 and he has not had one of those since 11/20 in the morning. I am considering him to be in (that word) at this time! We are very excited and cautiously optimistic!

Diagnosed 5/9/13
ProZinc only
custom dosed based on numbers
FF classics since day two of diagnosis

Still no insulin and last shot was 11/20. Simon is indeed in remission! :mrgreen:

I am not a regular poster on this board or FDMB, but I do follow them. Brody had a fructosamine test today as he has not had insulin for 4 weeks. His test results came back and he was right in the middle of the "normal" range I did not home test as regularly as many of you do, but I did do regular curves and would do spot checks. All of Brody's numbers the past 4 weeks had been between 90-110. When diagnosed he was over 400 and getting 4.5 units twice a day of ProZinc. It took me about 5 months to decide to listen to the FDMB folks and switched to all canned food and got my own meter. Because Brody had a bladder stone removed the year before his diabetes diagnosis, he has to be on a low phosphorous diet as well as low carb. He eats Wellness Turkey and gets freeze dried turkey or chicken as a treat. Over the past 18 months he went from 4.5 units to 4, then 3.5. then 2 (complete switch to wet food), 1, then .5 unit, and now 0.

Last May he accidentally got two doses one night and got sick and was in the 40 range (thank God I had a meter). No other signs of hypo at all, he just got sick. On .5 units I was getting readings in the 70s and 60s with preshot numbers in the 110-120 range. He got sick a few times and every time he got sick, he was below 70. So I think that was his way of saying, "I'm good in the 90-110 range".

Thank you to all of you the do post on FDMB and share so much information with others. My vet seemed quite shocked this morning when I showed her Brody's numbers and she saw his fructosamine results. I don't think they have very many clients who have gone OTJ. I always respected their advice, but in the end, I did what I felt was best for my cat. And it worked, thanks to all of you.
:RAHCAT

Congrats to Brody Cat and Momma Bean! My cat runs a little higher most of the time too. Some cats do not like the lower numbers. Congrats to you both on remission!

1. Date of Diagnosis 10/11/13
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.) ProZinc
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food 10/13/13
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it N/A
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then 10/31/14 Avg BG is in the mid 80's to the low 100's.

Tommy's story.
I had been noticing that Tommy was going to the litter box more often and when I cleaned the litterbox there were huge amounts of wet litter. Tommy has been prone to bladder crystals so I didn't connect right away. I know about diabetes in us beans and on the 11th of October I decided it was time for a vet check. She confirmed my fears that Tommy indeed had diabetes. Diabetes in of itself doesn't scare me as my daughter has had diabetes most of her life. (She is now 35.) I told the vet that I had no problem with giving him insulin, and as most vets do, she sent me home with a bag of D/M dry food, syringes and a bottle of ProZinc. I had the next day off of work and I started researching feline diabetes. I found this site, read and read and read. laptop_smiley I registered and began the journey with Tommy to reach the Falls. Later that day we went to Walmart and bought what was needed to start hometesting and feeding all lc food. So to be sure he wasn't getting dry kitty kibble from his brothers, they all went on lc food together. I watched the videos and asked a lot of questions. He slowly became more controlled on less and less insulin. A couple of times he went a couple of days w/o insulin but would jump right back into the dance. It has been a long year struggling with Tommy's numbers. In reading the other posts I see that most of your fur babies went into remission quite early in your journey. At one time I really believed that Tommy would always need insulin and actually came to terms with it. He was happy, had the normal 5 p's, had a full shiney coat, and teased his brothers all the time. ohmygod_smile Two weeks ago his numbers were too low to shoot, then day by day the numbers stayed too low to shoot. Tommy has the ability to find any dropped dog kibble his sister leaves, and happily tears into any bag of bread that my dh fails to put away. The one time these past two weeks that he found some contrband food he quickly went back to no insulin after a tiny boost to get rid of those "nasty" carbs.

The main thing I want to say is that Tommy would not be where he is today without all the love, advice and encouragement of my primary advice givers here in ProZincland. THANK YOU!! You are incredibly caring and amazing people!!!!! Secondly, NEVER give up hope!! Whether your sugar dude is quick to the Falls, or lags behind like Tommy did, just keep doing all the right things and your journey will most likely take you to the Falls! party_cat

1- Date of diagnosis 02/12/2012
2 Prozinc
3- 02/12/2012
4- N/A
5- Date of last shot: Don't remember the specific date but it was towards the beginning of October/2014

Although I only posted in this forum for few months after Sam was diagnosed with diabetes, I am thankful for the support I have received from this board. It was very informative!
Sam now has hypothyroidism but at least the diabetes is gone!

1. Date of Diagnosis

Cass was dx'd Aug. 1, 2011

2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)

Prozinc

3. When did you switch from dry to wet food

Gradual transition after dx. He wouldn't eat the wet at first.

4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it

Just Prozinc.

5. Date of last shot and average BG since then

Jan. 11, 2015. (Feb. 1 was 3 1/2 years since dx.) He's been generally running in the mid to upper 80's. There were a couple higher on days he was constipated but he came right back down.

Terri and Lucy said:

I just read on Health that Soccer and Max have both gone a couple of days without insulin. We also know Bix is trying hard.

If you cat has recently gone into remission, can you please report the following information:

1. Date of Diagnosis
2. Specific PZI (ProZinc, Idexx, BCP, compounded, etc.)
3. When did you switch from dry to wet food
4. If you used any other insulin besides the PZI, which one and how long were you on it
5. Date of last shot and average BG since then

Thanks, Terri

Click to expand...

Hi, Terri. Just a few words about remission (Bat-Bat was in remission since 10.04.13 after 8 wks on Lantus - did so well that time.) We're still working hard to get to good BG #s this time, 10 days into treatment - and here's what I've just learned the HARD way:
1. Never take remission for granted - even if your kitty's at a very good weight, is active and eating well.
2. NEVER stop measuring water consumption every 24 hrs., no matter how healthy your DB kitty in remission appears to be!
3. If you note water drinking that's above normal-cat levels, immediately ck. blood glucose.

No doubt other members will have some other great caveats to add about the need for ongoing vigilance - please do, members!
(For instance: I'd like to know how often I should have been spot-checking her BG while in remission ...)

I am still kicking myself for believing Bat's diabetes was "cured" after her rapid success on Lantus. (What was I thinking???!!!) She seemed quite healthy ... until the moment she suddenly wasn't. Lesson learned. Ouch! (Especially the ouch for my poor kitty; my bad. My VERY bad.)

My best to you and Bix! Hang in there. (Thank God for the wonderful folk on this Board!!! I'm so grateful for this community.)

Oops, sorry Terri & Lucy! I see Bix is someone else's sugar-kitty.

I am thrilled to be able to comment on this thread!!! Colby is going on 3 weeks without insulin and his glucose has been consistent in the 40-50 range. He is a happy boy and we are one happy family to with now a non-diabetic kitty!!!