Otto Is New To The Crew!

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Hello everyone! It's been a couple of weeks. After djamila's last post I did start doing these by myself. And Chris my boyfriend also started doing it by himself in the past two days since I'll be on vacation 2 times in the next 2 months. So we no longer have to hold him down! Have been keeping the spreadsheet updated as much as possible. Will be starting testing in the morning in the next 2 weeks since his numbers seem to be dropping some which is great. We're doing 2/3 dry food and 1/3 wet food. Been easing him into it very slowly since he's got GI issues.

It's crazy how we already feel so much better doing this by ourselves and how much more comfortable we are. Otto also hops up when he sees us bring the testing kit out. Who would have thought!
 
Logan & Otto said:
Hello everyone! It's been a couple of weeks. After djamila's last post I did start doing these by myself. And Chris my boyfriend also started doing it by himself in the past two days since I'll be on vacation 2 times in the next 2 months. So we no longer have to hold him down! Have been keeping the spreadsheet updated as much as possible. Will be starting testing in the morning in the next 2 weeks since his numbers seem to be dropping some which is great. We're doing 2/3 dry food and 1/3 wet food. Been easing him into it very slowly since he's got GI issues.

It's crazy how we already feel so much better doing this by ourselves and how much more comfortable we are. Otto also hops up when he sees us bring the testing kit out. Who would have thought!
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What a great testing success story! :D Keep working at getting your full testing routine going.
 
Trying. Not going to lie - I hate waking up earlier than I have too in the mornings! And always running late. Bad mom. But I do understand we're reaching the point of where we will need to make sure it is safe to test before every feeding/shot. So I have to sadly give all that up shortly but for good measure obviously!
 
Congrats!!! It’s a great feeling isn’t it? We all have been there...figured we’d never be able to do this alone and our cats would hate us...only to find that we test routinely and our cats come running at test time!!
 
That's fantastic!!!! I wish I could click on "like" a zillion times! I'm so happy for you guys! It is so fun (and surprising!) to see them come willingly to all of this. I think they figure out that somehow all of the poking is making them feel better. Oh...and also the treats. :p

Now onto the next thing: have we talked with you about testing for ketones?
 
Before we get to ketones I’m not sure what’s going on right now. We’ve had the same reader with zero issues with it today and have had numbers between 300-500 for the most part. Haven’t changed food levels in 3+ days. But the reader just said 73 and then we tested a second later it said 67 and then tested a 3rd time and it was 58. I’m trying not to freak out because his food levels have been the same as well as the insulin...
 
Hi everyone! We had a low of 179 today! I wanted to know how we understand lowering the insulin. Tonight we only have him 1c because we were worried about giving him 2c’s.
 
Logan & Otto said:
Hi everyone! We had a low of 179 today! I wanted to know how we understand lowering the insulin. Tonight we only have him 1c because we were worried about giving him 2c’s.
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Next time this happens try stalling without feeding him for 20-30 minutes and retest. If the BG has risen you're OK to give the regular dose because the previous dose is wearing off.

Keep working on those AM pre shot tests. You're seeing only half the picture in terms of safe dosing.
 
We will definitely try that! So we’re about 4 hours after the shot and it’s down to 109. Is this okay? Should we give him a little more dry food?

Just scared since we’re now so low with numbers..
 
109 is still quite safe. They can go to 50 before you need to start intervening with anything carb-y. You can always give regular low carb wet food if you start to worry about a number.

If you got him off of that dry food he might get to the point where he wouldn't need insulin. I will try really hard to make this my last plug for getting off the dry food b/c I know nagging is never helpful, but a cat that is put on an appropriate low-carb wet diet and given the right insulin support has about a 70% chance of going into remission within 3-6 months. After that, the odds of remission plummet. It's not impossible later, but the best chance is in the early days of diagnosis, and that chance depends in large part on the food they are given.

The second half of that equation is the testing and dosing. It depends on being able to make appropriate dose adjustments and not just sitting at a dose for too long, or making dangerous changes. It's entirely up to you how hands on you want to be with all of this, but I want to make sure you understand that remission is a very real possibility for a lot of kitties, but it depends in large part on what we as their caregivers decide to do.
 
So the reason we have to go slow with the transition is because he’s a rescue and has really bad GI issues from being unnourished. His stomach is like on the opposite side of his body and his intestines were inflamed and what not. A lot of issues. So we’re working on getting him to a full wet diet don’t worry! Slow and steady for us.

I think we struggle with just trying to figure out what dosage of insulin we need to give him at a certain BG #. Last night went well and today he’s been back in the 300’s at 1c so we’re going to go a couple more days. We also need to switch our needles so we can better measure under 1c as well and will have to look into conversions!
 
Hey everyone! Just another update since it has been a couple weeks. Otto has actually been insulin free for a few days. We haven't gotten to get the smaller needles but his BG levels have been in the 120-300 range as of lately. Is this a safe area to keep him? Should we try to get it lower than that? We have been so slammed with work that we haven't gotten the new needles yet but I am hoping to get them tonight or tomorrow. Let me know your thoughts!

Edit: Chris also just tested his BG levels without insulin today and it is 84.
 
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Logan & Otto said:
Hey everyone! Just another update since it has been a couple weeks. Otto has actually been insulin free for a few days. We haven't gotten to get the smaller needles but his BG levels have been in the 120-300 range as of lately. Is this a safe area to keep him? Should we try to get it lower than that? We have been so slammed with work that we haven't gotten the new needles yet but I am hoping to get them tonight or tomorrow. Let me know your thoughts!

Edit: Chris also just tested his BG levels without insulin today and it is 84.
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That dark green is lovely. You'd want his BGs to stay in dark greens to low blues without insulin for a lengthy period before concluding that remission is in the cards. Looking very promising. :)
 
So update, Chris got our PMPS wrong and the numbers switched. It was actually 58 earlier and then an hour later 73. Plan on testing him again soon... how come the numbers are so low with him on zero insulin for 3 days and on full wet food?
 
Ok great to know. I guess right now we will just be monitoring his numbers! And keep going without any insulin.

Can he drop low (under 50) without insulin and being on low carb food?
 
Yes, some cats will naturally run in the 40's. As long as you haven't injected insulin you don't have to worry about a slightly lower number like that.
 
Wow this is great news!! Chris and I have been a little worried about all of that. Fingers crossed that we may be on the road to remission!!!
 
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Please continue to test daily (at least twice). After 2 weeks of no insulin and numbers under 120, you can use the R word. If his numbers go back up you want to post right away because allowing him to run higher can reduce his chances of reaching a full remission. His pancreas is very fragile right now so don't get complacent about the testing. I can tell you from first hand experience how difficult it is to have a cat fall out of remission. It's very important to be careful with this.
 
I like "the R word" reminds me a little of Voldemort from Harry Potter :D. Ok this is very very good to know. We will definitely keep testing normally before feeding and add in a few others just to keep watch. We also got the smaller needles so that if he does get above 120 we will be able to give him under 1u of insulin.

So should I post if they go over 120? Just want to make sure everything is clear right now since this is a crucial time.

I really appreciate the kind words Sam! Thanks for making sure I am fully in the know of things with this. This forum has been a lifesaver - literally!
 
Yes, post if he's over 120. We'll all keep our fingers crossed he holds steady in those lower numbers!

PS: my name is Djamila. Sam is my cat. Though he does often walk across the keyboard and help me type...;)
 
Wow that's a beautiful name! Thanks for the correction!! And yes fingers crossed big time.

I'd say Otto would help me type but he's just food obsessed. Maybe if my keyboard was made of string cheese he would help. I think he misses being 20 pounds. He's also gained a little weight back (not sure how much) but we can tell. Coat has been INCREDIBLY healthy as of lately too, no more dandruff and looking straggly.
 
Logan & Otto said:
I'm cracking up right now!!! That is hilarious. Let's hope this trial of OTJ ends up going well!
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Otto’s green numbers look amazing!!!! Majis are not that low by far (we are using a pet meter which reads higher but even then Majis would not be as low). Good going! It seems the biggest change...if I’m reading this correctly, is as soon as you got Otto completely off dry food, the big drop happened- is that correct??? And then the need for insulin disappeared and you started getting those really great low numbers?
 
Yes once we got him off dry food it's been going really well. It just sucked because we had to take it 2x as slow as normal since he had previous GI issues. We're hoping the Friskies doesn't upset anything in the future but we will cross that bridge when and if it ever comes. And then I noticed his numbers were getting really low so we laid off the insulin one night, next morning they were still low and laid off the insulin again. And have been doing that since!
 
Logan & Otto said:
Yes once we got him off dry food it's been going really well. It just sucked because we had to take it 2x as slow as normal since he had previous GI issues. We're hoping the Friskies doesn't upset anything in the future but we will cross that bridge when and if it ever comes. And then I noticed his numbers were getting really low so we laid off the insulin one night, next morning they were still low and laid off the insulin again. And have been doing that since!
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Just awesome...so awesome and it really happened so quickly - amazing how food is so key to all of this, just a slight (or not so slight change) can make such a big difference! Otto is a great example of how this works!!!!
 
With no insulin on board, that number should be fine...but I agree that it's probably not really that low. Most likely a wonky strip or something...I'd probably retest to be sure. :)
 
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