Aurora 5/2 AMBG 195, +3.75 137, + 6.25 158, PMBG 178, +3 182

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Nicole Z

Nicole Z

Member Since 2017
Good Morning!
Aurora AMBG 195 - not sure if I should give her the .5 of insulin this morning or wait until dinner time tonight.
 
I'm home today - still waiting for guidance - I'm well past my 615am usual shoot time, to stay on track with my normal shoot time do I now wait until tonight and make a decision at that time to give her a small amount of insulin or not?
I guess I need a point of reference because I work full time, I'm in the office the rest of the week and there doesn't seem to be any super early birds around on the board to advise before I typically leave for work - if she's around 200 in the mornings, should I just give her .5 and head off to work? Thanks all!
 
Hi there :cool:

Since Lantus likes consistency, you need to find a dose you can shoot every 12 hours.
Looking at the ss I'd say how about trying .25u for now and see if you can manage to string together 6 or 8 consecutive cycles at that dose?

Please tell us about how the FD dx came about and also how the transition off dry is going.

Hang in there and hang in here :coffee:;)
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
Hi there :cool:

Since Lantus likes consistency, you need to find a dose you can shoot every 12 hours.
Looking at the ss I'd say how about trying .25u for now and see if you can manage to string together 6 or 8 consecutive cycles at that dose?

Please tell us about how the FD dx came about and also how the transition off dry is going.

Hang in there and hang in here :coffee:;)
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Hello!
I have all of the info in my introduction post. Labs and stats are in my spreadsheet link
 
Nicole, it looks like Aurora definitely needs a little boost to wake her pancreas up more. I would think maybe starting at the 0.50u twice a day would be a good start.

Since you are already past your shot time so much, you can probably wait till this evening so you can be closer to your normal 12/12 schedule.

(This is just my 2cents. I'm sure others will chime in.)
 
CassAndGordy said:
Nicole, it looks like Aurora definitely needs a little boost to wake her pancreas up more. I would think maybe starting at the 0.50u twice a day would be a good start.

Since you are already past your shot time so much, you can probably wait till this evening so you can be closer to your normal 12/12 schedule.

(This is just my 2cents. I'm sure others will chime in.)
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Yep, I agree. I will go a PMBG at 6pm and see what it says and can give the .5 at 615pm
 
Nicole Z said:
I'm confused, what do I need to do?
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Just when you start a new condo each day, paste the day before's link in your new thread. This makes it so its easy for us to look at what's been happening if we're new to the party (like Sandy is today).
(Or do you mean how do you copy/paste that? I think we have a how-to for that too.)
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
Thanks @tiffmaxee

Don't worry, you'll be in the swing of it before you know it.

So, how is the-food transition going? Is it almost complete?
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It's a slow process. I am nowhere near completely cutting her off dry food. I stopped free feeding weeks ago when she was initially diagnosed. I give her a small sprinkle in her dish in the AM and PM - I'm really trying hard to have her primarily eating wet food but she's a kibble junkie, it's going to be a slow process completely weaning her off. I feel like I significantly reduced her consumption though so that's a positive step forward.
 
Hi Nicole!
Aurora is doing great! Beautiful numbers considering she was just diagnosed recently.
Just a couple of random suggestions/thoughts......
It's easier on a kitty's pancreas if they get fed several small meals each day rather than meals just at shot times. Many of us use auto feeders (Amazon has several) so that our kitties get snacks every 3 or 4 hours. Some feed most of the day's calories during the first half of the cycle and less during the last half when the insulin is waning. Others find that a +9 snack or meal actually helps lower the AMPS or PMPS number. ECID (each cat is different) so you just need to experiment a bit.
My other thought is that when I see all that blue on Aurora's spreadsheet even though she hasn't been receiving many shots lately.....and I see that she is still getting some dry food....she's doing very very well and that if you could get her completely off the dry food (and I know you've been transitioning her) she might not need insulin. Of course it's very important that she continue to eat so if she's a dry food addict then it will take more time.
You're doing wonderfully and congratulations on the home testing!
 
Mandy & Rex said:
I thought I would hop in and say hello. I'm Mandy with the tricky cat Rex. I didn't know @Squeaky and KT (GA) mentioned me last night in your condo.

Watch Aurora as you complete the food transition. That made a huge change for Rex when I got him 100% onto wet food.
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Hi Mandy! Nice to meet you! How long did it take for you to get Rex completely off dry kibble?
 
Judy and Boomer said:
Hi Nicole!
Aurora is doing great! Beautiful numbers considering she was just diagnosed recently.
Just a couple of random suggestions/thoughts......
It's easier on a kitty's pancreas if they get fed several small meals each day rather than meals just at shot times. Many of us use auto feeders (Amazon has several) so that our kitties get snacks every 3 or 4 hours. Some feed most of the day's calories during the first half of the cycle and less during the last half when the insulin is waning. Others find that a +9 snack or meal actually helps lower the AMPS or PMPS number. ECID (each cat is different) so you just need to experiment a bit.
My other thought is that when I see all that blue on Aurora's spreadsheet even though she hasn't been receiving many shots lately.....and I see that she is still getting some dry food....she's doing very very well and that if you could get her completely off the dry food (and I know you've been transitioning her) she might not need insulin. Of course it's very important that she continue to eat so if she's a dry food addict then it will take more time.
You're doing wonderfully and congratulations on the home testing!
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Hi Judy!
So what kind of food do you put in the automatic feeder? Wet? Is there a particular auto feeder that everyone really likes that you can maybe PM me the link? I'm open to anything. We work full time thought I work remote at home 1 day per week so the auto feeder would be a good choice. They typically don't clean their breakfast plates all at once - they eat some, and come back thru the day for nibbles. Usually by the time I'm home the plates are clean. The vet really gave me a hard time about Aurora being too fat, she's currently 14 lbs but she's a big girl and I'm not making excuses for her, she's muscular and husky, I don't think she's overweight but the vet insists I get her down to at least 12 lbs. She thinks this is achievable with the RX food which I'm totally against - I think the foods I'm feeding meet the low carb requirement for the diabetic requirements and also the protein is good so I'm pretty comfortable just sticking with the foods that I am using. I didn't buy anymore of the Natures Variety Pride yesterday because I realized that one has gravy. Another member suggested the Dr. Elsey's chicken dry food so maybe that's a better choice vs. the nulo if I have to continue to give her some dry? I thought the Nulo was a lower carb variety - I hate to switch her dry food again if I can help it....
 
You have several things going for you; her BG is not that crazy, no other chronic or acute conditions and being recently diagnosed.
Most of us would give (or have given) our eye teeth to have shown up here with those advantages.

If she were my cat and there was even the remotest chance that transitioning to all low carb wet would would mean no insulin required, I would move heaven and earth to make that happen.

Don't waste time. Ditch the dry. It will be worth any and all effort. :cool::coffee:
 
If dry food can't be eliminated, Young Again is lower than the rest. It can only be purchased on line but if you write to them they will send samples. I think Jayla found another new dry food by Dr. Elsey's. I'll tag her for more info. @jayla-n-Drevon
 
Just took another reading and she's now 137! She just sits by her dish begging for dry food. I just gave her a 1/2 small can of tiki cat and she ate most of that. Hopefully that will tie her over until lunch.
Thanks for the links about the feeders! I will have to research these as well!
 
Nicole Z said:
Hi Mandy! Nice to meet you! How long did it take for you to get Rex completely off dry kibble?
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Before, the 4 cats were free fed up to 2 cups a day altogether. When Rex was diagnosed, I cut back to 1 cup because I think it was you as well that was feeding Fromm's Wild Game dry food. I was going to transition to EVO. But then one day, I gave a little EVO as a snack and watched Rex's numbers shoot up so I pretty much stopped it cold turkey. The cats do miss the dry food, but I have actually witnessed less puking once I got them all switched 100%. I wish I had done it a lot sooner.
 
tiffmaxee said:
If dry food can't be eliminated, Young Again is lower than the rest. It can only be purchased on line but if you write to them they will send samples. I think Jayla found another new dry food by Dr. Elsey's. I'll tag her for more info. @jayla-n-Drevon
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Yes! She told me about the Dr. Elseys yesterday. So Nulo is still too high?
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hi Nicole! Just wondering if you know the carb count of the dry food you are giving her ?
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I'm the worst person with figuring out food. I just cut/pasted from their web site
INGREDIENTS
Deboned Trout, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Whole Peas, Lentils, Pea Fiber, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid), Deboned Duck, Natural Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Dried Chicory Root, Dried Kelp, Dried Sweet Potato, Dried Cranberries, Calcium Carbonate, DL Methionine, Taurine, Zinc Proteinate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Iron Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin Supplement, Dried Bacillus coagulans Fermentation Product, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Rosemary Extract.
CALORIE CONTENT
(ME calculated) 3,428 kcal/kg, 430 kcal/cup
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (Min) 38.00%
Crude Fat (Min) 14.00%
Crude Fiber (Max) 5.50%
Moisture (Max) 10.00%
Calcium (Min) 1.30%
Phosphorus (Min) 0.9%
Magnesium (Max) 0.13%
Vitamin A (Min) 5000 IU/kg
Vitamin E (Min) 300 IU/kg
Taurine (Min) 0.2%
Omega 6 Fatty Acids* (Min) 3.16%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids* (Min) 0.46%
Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)* (Min) 65 mg/kg
Bacillus coagulans* (Min) 80,000,000 CFU/lb
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She pulled herself down nicely this morning didn't she. Just checking in, will catch up later....

HUGS! I know this is confusing right now....
 
Sandy and Black Kitty said:
You have several things going for you; her BG is not that crazy, no other chronic or acute conditions and being recently diagnosed.
Most of us would give (or have given) our eye teeth to have shown up here with those advantages.

If she were my cat and there was even the remotest chance that transitioning to all low carb wet would would mean no insulin required, I would move heaven and earth to make that happen.

Don't waste time. Ditch the dry. It will be worth any and all effort. :cool::coffee:
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Ugh, I know, I know.....it's just so hard, she just begs and begs for the dry food. Do I just completely cut her off and that's it? I'm strong but in that area, I'm weak. I know I shouldn't feel bad, I'm doing her a favor. What are the options for giving her something crunchy to trick her into thinking it's dry food but compliant?
 
Squeaky and KT (GA) said:
She pulled herself down nicely this morning didn't she. Just checking in, will catch up later....

HUGS! I know this is confusing right now....
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Yes, very confusing. I'm trying to hang in there and keep up with all of you - so much to remember! I hope I'm doing well so far. Curious on what the condo thinks about Aurora's labs - does anything there stand out to anyone? I should go back into her file and post her labs from when I first adopted her in March 2016 - I will do that this afternoon and update.
 
Her pancreas definitely is working.

Have you ever tried freeze dried chicken or turkey? I used Whole Life. Its 100% protein.

Those labs are BEAUTIFUL!
 
Nicole Z said:
Hi Judy!
So what kind of food do you put in the automatic feeder? Wet? Is there a particular auto feeder that everyone really likes that you can maybe PM me the link? I'm open to anything. We work full time thought I work remote at home 1 day per week so the auto feeder would be a good choice. They typically don't clean their breakfast plates all at once - they eat some, and come back thru the day for nibbles. Usually by the time I'm home the plates are clean. The vet really gave me a hard time about Aurora being too fat, she's currently 14 lbs but she's a big girl and I'm not making excuses for her, she's muscular and husky, I don't think she's overweight but the vet insists I get her down to at least 12 lbs. She thinks this is achievable with the RX food which I'm totally against - I think the foods I'm feeding meet the low carb requirement for the diabetic requirements and also the protein is good so I'm pretty comfortable just sticking with the foods that I am using. I didn't buy anymore of the Natures Variety Pride yesterday because I realized that one has gravy. Another member suggested the Dr. Elsey's chicken dry food so maybe that's a better choice vs. the nulo if I have to continue to give her some dry? I thought the Nulo was a lower carb variety - I hate to switch her dry food again if I can help it....
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I don't think you'll find a dry food that actually has low carbs.
I use the petsafe5 as do quite a few members here. I'll try to find a link for you!
So I guess Aurora didn't lose weight prior to be dx diabetic?
I used to use the Fancy Feast pates.....I believe they are called "classic" in the US. There are various Wellness varieties that are low carb, Weruva, Wild Calling (I see you use that). You just have to find the right one that appeals to Aurora!
For what it's worth....I have another cat that I recently transitioned from kibble to canned food. To get it to happen I had to stop him from grazing. So I used an auto feeder for overnight and had it turn to an empty dish around 4:00 am so he had no access to food until 8:00 am (which is my diabetic cat Boomer's AMPS). Then I fed him at 8:00 and then every three hours (because Boomer is on 3 hour feedings so it's easier to feed them both).
 
tiffmaxee said:
Her pancreas definitely is working.

Have you ever tried freeze dried chicken or turkey? I used Whole Life. Its 100% protein.

Those labs are BEAUTIFUL!
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Ok good re labs! No I have not tried the freeze dried chicken or turkey. I'll try whatever you all recommend - do the big box pet stores carry this? I will check at the place I buy from and see if the have this.
 
HI Judy
Nope, Aurora did not loose weight at all. I was completely shocked about her diagnosis - I guess we did miss the signs because there were monster pees in the litter box and she was drinking quite a bit but silly me just figured oh good, she likes to drink water, perfect, better than her not liking water. I never once suspected anything was wrong. Apparently, the 2 times I have taken her in for the curves, she has gained, only in ounces but enough for the vet to keep on me about getting her to loose weight. LOL Go figure! I have the diabetic cat that gains weight! We play to ton with both girls, wand toys, mousies, we play nightly for at least an hour so they're getting exercise whenever possible. I was feeding the Weruva flavors like paw lickin chicken, Mideast feast, 9 liver but the 2 fussy kitties weren't cleaning their plates so I switched foods and tried the other ones in my signature. I feel like they are hot on a food for a month or two and then they don't want it anymore. I'd be willing to wager a bet that I have purchased almost all of the foods at the store I shop at so far! My old kitty used to eat the same food for almost a year before she'd get sick of it so these girls definitely keep me on my toes!
 
Max gained weight as well. I diagnosed him and then my vet confirmed. There was lots of fd talk on my yahoo list so when he started drinking and peeing more I tested his urine. I was thinking CKD before all the talk. He was overweight. Since Aurora is young I would try to get her to her best weight. Eliminating dry will help with that as well. I've gotten a friend's cat on a diet. He's way overweight and has lost a pound already. Does Aurora like to play? Exercise will help.
 
yes, Aurora loves to play, she's in my office now and we're playing with a wand toy. I think I will go back and purchase the rad cat and give her that to eat as well with the canned food. I just talked to my husband and quoted @Sandy and Black Kitty and he agrees. I will not give her any more dry food. I really think on Sunday when he gave her a bunch as a "treat" that really made her spike into the higher 200 #'s. She surely has to loose weight if I cut the dry completely. I'm surprised the hasn't dropped weight in the past month with me stopping free feeding the dry kibble.
 
HUGS and hugs Nicole...just breathe and ask questions like you are...Aurora isn't a 'normal' case - yep, of course you would be the one to get that huh. :)
 
Squeaky and KT (GA) said:
HUGS and hugs Nicole...just breathe and ask questions like you are...Aurora isn't a 'normal' case - yep, of course you would be the one to get that huh. :)
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Oh yes, of course not! I'm the girl who adopted the 2 complicated kitties! My other one Mulan came to us with severe allergies, took us a year to figure that out - she's now on atopica to treat her severe itching. Due to the atopica and her lowered immune system, that is why I had to stop feeding the rad cat raw - I had them both on it and they absolutely LOVE it however the dermo said no more since Mulan is at risk for toxoplasma from the raw ( which I called the manufacturer and they pretty much said it's kept below 0 degrees so there is absolutely no risk of toxoplasma but dermo still said No ). If I had it my way, they'd both be fully back on the rad cat with no dry for Aurora and we'd all be happy campers. It's just so hard to separate the 2 for meals - I feed them side by side ( Mulan is 2.5 years old, Aurora is 9.5 and Aurora views Mulan as the pesty little sister, she tolerates her but wouldn't be sad if she took a hike either. LOL )
 
Just checking.....did you give insulin this morning? If not.....her BG dropping like that after having food is a sign that her pancreas is working! Like Sandy said earlier, if I were you I would be moving heaven and earth to convert her to canned!

Just a suggestion but when I was trying to convert our civvie Allen to canned from dry, I took away his ability to graze (but please don't do this until you have an auto feeder or are at home to be able to feed every 3 or 4 hours). If a kitty is used to grazing they never really get hungry so they can easily walk away from a food. I used an auto feeder and had it turn to an empty dish at 4:00 am so by 8:00 am he was hungry and would eat the canned food. It does require a bit of stubbornness on your part!
Also.....there are treats you can get that are low in carbs.....I use Purebites and there are different flavours. Perhaps add a few to Aurora's canned food and then gradually decrease the pure bites until she is eating just the canned.
 
HI Judy

No, I didn't give any insulin this morning. I am really going to heed everyone's advice and I am going to completely stop the kibble today. I already stopped 3 weeks ago leaving kibble in her dish for the day. Since her DX, I only give a small sprinkle, literally maybe 40 little bits, we call it a dusting in her dish with her breakfast and at dinner. There is nothing out during the day for her other than the wet food that they didn't fully eat at breakfast. When I get home from work, they usually have cleaned the plates and they're hungry for dinner. I'm going to go and pick up some of the rad cat raw and start feeding Aurora that separately when she's looking for a kibble snack - I just have to make sure that Mulan doesn't get any of it. Auroa is absolutely nuts for the rad cat raw - it's literally the only food she wants 2nd's and 3rd's of. The dermo really scared me off the raw for Mulan due to her concern about the toxoplasma but ideally like I said, I'd like to feed both just the raw again but I guess there is a risk that something off could happen and I'd never forgive myself if Mulan got sick due to her lowered immune system from being on the atopica medication.
 
Nicole Z said:
HI Judy

No, I didn't give any insulin this morning. I am really going to heed everyone's advice and I am going to completely stop the kibble today. I already stopped 3 weeks ago leaving kibble in her dish for the day. Since her DX, I only give a small sprinkle, literally maybe 40 little bits, we call it a dusting in her dish with her breakfast and at dinner. There is nothing out during the day for her other than the wet food that they didn't fully eat at breakfast. When I get home from work, they usually have cleaned the plates and they're hungry for dinner. I'm going to go and pick up some of the rad cat raw and start feeding Aurora that separately when she's looking for a kibble snack - I just have to make sure that Mulan doesn't get any of it. Auroa is absolutely nuts for the rad cat raw - it's literally the only food she wants 2nd's and 3rd's of. The dermo really scared me off the raw for Mulan due to her concern about the toxoplasma but ideally like I said, I'd like to feed both just the raw again but I guess there is a risk that something off could happen and I'd never forgive myself if Mulan got sick due to her lowered immune system from being on the atopica medication.
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It may be painful for you! But trust me it will be worth it! But please make sure she does eat!
You should hopefully see her levels come down further when she's not getting any dry food. So please keep that in mind if/when you're considering whether to give her insulin.
 
Yeah, that dry you are feeding is very high and I bet without she could be OTJ soon. Young Again Pet food makes a dry food that is less than 1%. That is what I give to my two when I can't home and need to leave food in the auto feeder. They eat raw meat and I don't want to leave raw out for any more than 1/2 of an hour. My guys love the YA ( they only get 1 tbsp. a day sometimes 2) The company will send you a free sample to try before you invest in buying a bag. It is pricey but it is very protein dense and they won't need much. But, since wet is always the best choice because of the moisture they get in canned food and since cats notoriously do not drink enough water, I would keep feeding the wet and really limit YA dry.
 
I'm just going to bite the bullet and stop the dry food cold turkey and only give her wet. I'm also going to try the Whole Life that @tiffmaxee suggested and try sprinkling that on top of her dry to trick her into thinking it's kibble.
 
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