10/22 Butters 281/+3 320/+7 261/PMPS 140/+2 112/

Makes my heart smile :bighug: Eating AND grooming! Awesome signs. Both take a lot of energy so I am sure she is wiped out after doing the basics. I’m not sure if Butters would like it but I helped T with grooming when he was so sick and he LOVED it. I would even wet a piece soft napkin with warm water and wipe his little mouth after he ate. He is a male though so Butters may be taking matters into her own paws unlike T who was like “yeah, I am NOT licking all of this!”....LOL. It was pitiful. He would eat and then lay there with food on his mouth, his beard when he was done :(. My poor guy.
 
So happy to hear Butters is eating and grooming a little more!! :cat:

I have to say, I’ve looked forward to Butters’ updates more than anything else this week! It’s been so amazing watching her progress and healing. Slow and steady :)

Hope you and Butters have a wonderful day, Lyla! You’re an amazing kitty mama :joyful:
 
I’m also part of team Butters and have been following the updates. Great news!!! They’re very resilient aren’t they? In a few weeks I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self and this will be a distant memory. In fact, you’ll have a hard time believing you both went through this at all :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Slow and steady is so great to hear. Every few days you may notice another improvement. I remember the first time Jax jumped on my bed after he had his infection - I, of course, promptly put him on the ground and made him do it again lol. Have a wonderful day :bighug:
 
I'm so glad to hear that Butters is slowly on the mend...a tribute to your great nursing skills and excellent mama beaning! (is that a word)...we make up words here ya know?

Luci and I are sending get well hugs and healing vines :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Thanks so much for the continued well wishes, support and advice, everyone. :bighug: It means so much.


Tomlin said:
I would even wet a piece soft napkin with warm water and wipe his little mouth after he ate. He is a male though so Butters may be taking matters into her own paws unlike T who was like “yeah, I am NOT licking all of this!”....LOL. It was pitiful. He would eat and then lay there with food on his mouth, his beard when he was done :(. My poor guy.
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Awwwwww:bighug:. I have been helping Butters groom, too. She is inconsistently grooming and mostly sticks to the occasional cleaning of her toes on her front paws. The saddest thing is seeing her laying there with her chin and mouth covered in food after she eats, just like T did.:bighug: So much for her taking these matters into her own paws. LOL. I have been cleaning her off with a warm washcloth after every meal. She seems quite content to have me help her with grooming.
Tomlin said:
The BGs are also some helpful information as you manage the meds. If you increase the insulin dose and BG is improving, you get to your safe zone, but then you reduce or discontinue a med and see BG increasing again, it can be an indication that pain &/or inflammation is at play.
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I'm going to keep my eyes peeled. Hopefully BG is improving before I start weaning her off meds. Everything will be status quo for a while.
We've gone up and down and up the dosing ladder before, and will do it again. My goal for FD up until now has always been is a tightly regulated cat, regardless of how much insulin is needed. The inflammation adds a new level of complexity, though.
 
Olive & Paula said:
Sounds like some progress. How is she eating?
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She is eating well. Eating and sleeping pretty much all day long. The cyproheptadine seems to be working wonders. I also think the high BG numbers have something to do with it.

JaxBenji said:
Slow and steady is so great to hear. Every few days you may notice another improvement. I remember the first time Jax jumped on my bed after he had his infection - I, of course, promptly put him on the ground and made him do it again lol. Have a wonderful day :bighug:
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LOL. This made me laugh. Of course that's what you did! I would do the same.:D

Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
They’re very resilient aren’t they? In a few weeks I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self and this will be a distant memory. In fact, you’ll have a hard time believing you both went through this at all :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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I know how much you've gone through with Minnie, too. :bighug:
I have to keep reminding myself that Butters has been home less than a week. Seeing her wolf down her meals has been bringing me joy. It's the little things I took for granted that seem like big important things now.
 
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Butters & Lyla said:
The saddest thing is seeing her laying there with her chin and mouth covered in food after she eats, just like T did.:bighug: So much for her taking these matters into her own paws. LOL. I have been cleaning her off with a warm washcloth after every meal. She seems quite content to have me help her with grooming.
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Awe! Sweet Butters......smart cat.....conserve that energy for what it’s needed for right now. Moms got your back, face, front...LOL.


Butters & Lyla said:
My goal for FD up until now has always been is a tightly regulated cat, regardless of how much insulin is needed. The inflammation adds a new level of complexity, though.
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Here is the good news.....Butters can be just as healthy within a different range—honestly. I crossed that bridge when T was first diagnosed with DM last year and I went on a serious fact finding mission to find out what was in Ts best interest, especially given the underlying condition and not wanting to aggravate it or cause any additional health problems, but also to just understand what the science supports and why.
 
Hi Lyla, happy to hear she's eating good and grooming.
Poor baby is tired , she's just chillin,saving up her energy , as each day goes by
I'm sure you will see her doing more and more .
Looking forward to another update. Give her kisses for me
Have a good night Lyla ♥:bighug::bighug:
 
So happy Butters is improving bit by bit. Eating and resting is probably the best thing she can do right now, I would think. Takes alot of energy to heal. Keep getting better every day, Butters. :bighug: Looking forward to continued happy updates. :)
 
Go Butters! (sorry the cat is black, though this is what I imagine Butters doing back on the beach :cool:)
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Tomlin said:
Here is the good news.....Butters can be just as healthy within a different range—honestly. I crossed that bridge when T was first diagnosed with DM last year and I went on a serious fact finding mission to find out what was in Ts best interest, especially given the underlying condition and not wanting to aggravate it or cause any additional health problems, but also to just understand what the science supports and why.
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I have been doing a lot of thinking about this lately, given what has gone down. I wanted to give her a shot at remission, so I was keeping her very tightly regulated and in between 50-80 a lot of the time.
If (maybe time to ditch the "if") Butters is more likely going to be a long-term diabetic who has chronic pancreatitis, I'd rather figure out for her what you did for T.
I don't know if that's something I wait to do until she hits the one year mark. We are only at 5 months since dx. Either way, thanks for mentioning this. I need to figure it out, but if you have any resources you found that you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd be sooo appreciative.
 
JaxBenji said:
Go Butters! (sorry the cat is black, though this is what I imagine Butters doing back on the beach :cool:)
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LOL!

Also, I'm sooooo not ready for this. I'm still exhausted. I can't imagine having to hover over her ears and poke them all night. I know how selfish that sounds.
 
FWIW, when Neko added her diagnoses of heart conditions and small lymphoma to her worsening CKD on top of acromegaly/diabetes, I still kept the goal of trying to keep her under renal threshold as much as possible. So that's well regulated, instead of tightly regulated. She just felt so much better in that zone. When she had good periods, I'd try to get more greens. Note, for her, tight regulation wasn't going to do anything to increase her odds of remission - that was all up to the pituitary tumour.

And woohoo blue! :cool: Paws crossed for a gentle, easy surf.
 
Only one of us seems to be rushing back to the lagoon, lol. What is she doing? A drop to 112 @+2.

Wendy&Neko said:
FWIW, when Neko added her diagnoses of heart conditions and small lymphoma to her worsening CKD on top of acromegaly/diabetes, I still kept the goal of trying to keep her under renal threshold as much as possible. So that's well regulated, instead of tightly regulated. She just felt so much better in that zone. When she had good periods, I'd try to get more greens. Note, for her, tight regulation wasn't going to do anything to increase her odds of remission - that was all up to the pituitary tumour.

And woohoo blue! :cool: Paws crossed for a gentle, easy surf.
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I'm happy for blue! But not sure this is going to be a gentle surf. Please continue to keep paws crossed.:cool:
It sounds like the goal of well regulated was a good one for your girl and her complex health conditions:bighug:.
I'm thinking down the road that it might be the goal I set for Butters, whose remission possibilities are likely hampered by the pancreatitis. Especially considering she likely has had pancreatitis for quite a while. I've taken her to the vet for nausea, inappetence and the occasional bout of vomiting many times over the years. She was always made better with meds and the episodes were always dismissed by the vets as a tummy bug. Poor girl. I want to find her an excellent vet and it just seems to allude me.
 
Lyla I was just reading your post and you are not being selfish at all.
You must be physically and mentally exhausted.
To be honest I don't think Tyler will ever go into remission.
I've come to accept that, as long as I can keep him well regulated and he's ok
that's all that matters.
Sometimes I am so tired at night if I have to stay up late and test him,
or if I have a doctor's appt and I know I have to be back at a
certain time for him it's draining.

Just hang in there and get her well again and then deal with what goal you
want to set for her.
I hope you aren't up to late tonight.
Talk to you in the AM :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Selfish? I hardly think so. Look at your Spreadsheet, it's amazing!! I would've been exhausted before the pancreatitis happened. I'm sure you're moreso now.
Butters has a set back and your doing everything possible for her, and that's all that anybody could hope for. Honestly when Jazzy was diagnosed, my immediate thought was is he going to be ok, and how do I get him into remission? That was my goal. But I've come to realize that if he's regulated and healthy, I'm good. Remission may never happen.
I'm sure Butters is feeling better just because of your devoted care and attention. She'll get back to herself and feeling good soon :bighug:
 
:)Congrats on the nice BGs :):cool:!! Awesome and hopefully, the inflammation is subsiding and that is why you are seeing improvement :bighug:. I’m hoping you were able to get some sleep!

I am so happy Wendy brought up and differentiated between the ideas of “well regulated” vs “tightly regulated” given that the TR protocol and it’s ranges were specifically developed and used for attempting to get cats into remission when initially diagnosed with DM vs for use as long term maintenance of DM.

By moving from TR to WR, I do not think this is
de prioritizing DM or being selfish, but instead, keeping DM a priority while also practicing what would be considered evidence based management of DM.

Some how the TR protocol seems to have become extrapolated and used or interpreted by some as the “preferred”’or “best” way to keep a cat with DM healthy and also the way to avoid issues with kidney disease etc.similar to what has been done within human medicine in the past.

The fact of the matter is there are no case reports, small studies, large studies or even support from the thought leaders that a cats health, for cats who have DM, is better or protected against disease, helped with disease such as chronic pancreatitis, below 100 vs in the 100s or even 200s for some cats The caveat being, with some cats, once they hit 250 or a little higher, and it is not every cat, they will show subtle signs of hyperglycemia such as eating more or drinking more, etc. Obviously, if this is the case for your specific cat (and it is for T who eats a lot if he runs higher—AlphaTrak 220-230) then you aim to keep their BG below that specific point. Others will not see symptoms or issues and for those cats, the BG Max might be as high as 300. Again, the goal is to have a nice, healthy range and that range is one in which your cat does not spend significant time in the higher end of the range nor are they at risk of falling into hypoglycemia if their body, the insulin, any number of processes doesn’t function exactly right one day (or your cat decides to sleep through some meals or doesn’t feel well)

Even with humans, euglycemia is modifiable and individualized by patient circumstance (from ADA)

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“Well regulated” should be individualized for your cat and you. It is one thing to be sleep deprived, stressed out, playing with carb foods, poking the cats ear & limiting your life for a limited period of time when trying for remission (OR if it would help your cats health), but once that ship has sailed, it is time to grab that sail and adjust it for the long journey (God willing) ahead:bighug:.

As with the Libre, it would be so nice if the SS used here could be modified (or ideally a 2nd SS created for cats no longer following the remission protocol) to have a customizable single colored range for BG (maybe a nice green color) indicating the well regulated range or ideal/safe range for YOUR specific cat vs utilizing the SS and color scheme incorporated for TR. As with the Libre, there would be red only if the BG drops below the designated range and maybe yellow if it goes above the range. In the end, one larger range and, unless and until you see something dropping out of that zone, there are no changes in colors and no emotional response to those colors :p.....just a relaxed & happy cat AND cat parent.
 

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