Dixie's Dosing Thread - Part 2

FarmKitty

FarmKitty

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Previous Thread

To summarize the previous thread for anyone new:
* Been on insulin for 5 months
* Dose has ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 units
* Switched from SLGS to MPM almost 2 months ago
* Dental with 6 teeth extracted 2.5 weeks ago

The combination of MPM and the dental has brought her BG levels down a lot! She now spends a lot of time in the dark greens.
 
Dixie had a dental checkup with the vet tech and they said that her mouth looks great! I just need to wait a few more days before I can feed her hard food (like her freeze-dried chicken treats).

I have one question...

Since a few days after her dental, she has not been eating very much. For her main breakfast/dinner meals, she will sit and eat at her bowl for the same length as time as before the dental, but when I go to check then there will be a lot of food left. She won't run to the automatic feeder anymore and will usually stay in a deep sleep or just wake up briefly and then go back to sleep. Occasionally she will go check out the feeder and eat a little bit.

If I pretend to shake her freeze-dried chicken treats onto her meal, she will eat some more. If I actually put the chicken flakes on it, then she will go a bit crazy and want to eat even more. She also gobbled down the MC food when she went lime-green. But generally, she just doesn’t seem as interested in the food.

What should I do in this situation? Try new foods? Coax her to eat every meal with treats (although I don’t want to enable bad habits)? I was planning on doing a full vet checkup at the 6 month mark, so that would be in a month but I could do it sooner if this seems like a serious issue.

Her BG levels have been dropping after we reduced her dose from 1.0 to 0.5 units, and I wonder if her lack of eating could be causing it.

The only other changes (other than the dental) are that she was constipated but the 1/8 tsp of PEG powder seems to be doing the trick. I also cured her ear infection with Surolan, and I recently added B12/folate to her meals.

I haven’t measured how much food she is consuming, but I might estimate it is half of what she usually gets? I will measure it and report back.
 
FarmKitty said:
Dixie had a dental checkup with the vet tech and they said that her mouth looks great! I just need to wait a few more days before I can feed her hard food (like her freeze-dried chicken treats).
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Yeah! That's a good report from Dixie's dental checkup.

FarmKitty said:
If I pretend to shake her freeze-dried chicken treats onto her meal, she will eat some more. If I actually put the chicken flakes on it, then she will go a bit crazy and want to eat even more. She also gobbled down the MC food when she went lime-green. But generally, she just doesn’t seem as interested in the food.

What should I do in this situation? Try new foods? Coax her to eat every meal with treats (although I don’t want to enable bad habits)?
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Is she holding her weight steady, even though she is not eating as much?
Do you have a way to check her weight at home?

I'm glad to see you are doing a dose reduction, because she earned one last night when she dropped into those lime green BG numbers. So Dixie's new dose should be 0.25U now.
 
Is she holding her weight steady, even though she is not eating as much? Do you have a way to check her weight at home?
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I hold her when I step on my body-scale and her weight is the same as pre-dental.

I'm glad to see you are doing a dose reduction, because she earned one last night when she dropped into those lime green BG numbers. So Dixie's new dose should be 0.25U now.
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Yes! I am so surprised with how well she is doing on these dose reductions. She hit 64 (3.5) last night on only 0.25 units! :D

I have started to encourage her to eat every time the automatic feeder turns. I call her to it and crunch up some dried chicken flakes into it and that seems to be doing the trick. It seems like some days she is very off and doesn't eat much at all and other days she will eat a lot.

She is still inconsistently pooping where some days she doesn't go at all, and other days it is large and soft, and other days it is hard. I have been referencing this site https://petdiabetes.fandom.com/wiki/Constipation quite a bit. It mentions that osmotic stool softeners (like the PEG powder I give her) shouldn't be used long term because it can dehydrate the cat. I have ordered her a cat water fountain (Pioneer Pet Ceramic Fountain Raindrop), so hopefully that will encourage her to drink more.

I suppose if I start to see her lose weight, or if she doesn't eat even with encouraging then I should start to get worried! It can be hard for me to judge what her normal behaviour should be because I have really only known her habits as a diabetic (super hungry/thirsty and using the litter box all the time!).
 
You might want to think about practicing drawing up a smaller dose, 0.1U. Dixie looks to me like she is getting close to needing another dose reduction, even using the MPM dosing protocol.

It's good that Dixie is maintaining her weight, even though she is eating less. Once cats get such good BG numbers, such as Dixie is getting, they often need less food.

I've been giving my non-diabetic cat stool softeners for years. She gets both a osmotic type (Miralax generic) and/or some psyllium husk fiber added to her meals. Without those stool softeners, she has rock hard stools due to another medical condition. I use a very small measuring spoon, to make sure I get the same dose of the powder each time, and keep the spoon right in the container of fiber. I don't have to worry about dehydration with my civie, as she drinks plenty of water on her own.

I'm mentioning what I do, so you could check to see if you are consistent on the amount of PEG powder you are giving your cat.
 
You might want to think about practicing drawing up a smaller dose, 0.1U. Dixie looks to me like she is getting close to needing another dose reduction, even using the MPM dosing protocol.
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Thanks, I will look into that one.

I'm mentioning what I do, so you could check to see if you are consistent on the amount of PEG powder you are giving your cat.
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That is a very good point! I use a 1/8 tsp plastic measuring spoon that has flat sides that often carry extra PEG powder so I haven't been measuring exactly :rolleyes:. I'll switch spoons and be certain to keep it consistent!
 
Dixie's PS numbers have been rising the last week. She even hit 185 (10.3) this morning. It also seems like her nadir has shifted from +2 to +4.

The only change I have made is switching to a corn cat litter (World's Best). Does this seem like the kind of effect it would have on her BG levels? I haven't caught her eating the litter from the box or anything, but I do notice that she licks the bottom of her paws each day. Before, she had clay all over her paws and would lick them (which is one of the main reasons I wanted a non-clay litter). I just checked her paws now and they look very clean. I don't think she eats from the litter box because we live in such close quarters, so I can keep my eye on her.

I'm considering just taking the $ loss and switching to something like walnut litter in a couple of days. Dixie's numbers were doing so well and now she is creeping up towards the renal threshold :mad:.

It is so strange because her nadir numbers are good (nadirs at 92 (5.1) or lower). She had a 50% drop today on only 0.25 units of ProZinc.
 
It's possible that the little bits of litter that do stick to her feet could be licked off and ingested, and that could be impacting her BG levels.

Other ideas in case you think the corn cat litter could be an issue.
1. Wood stove pellets. Not sure if your cat would like the texture. Available at a feed store or similar establishment.
2. Ground up wood, or sawdust. I use a product called Cedarific (mixed with the clay litter). Yes, it tracks since it is so light. All litters track though, and for me, changing to a mix of litter types meant the litter box would be easier to clean. Pure clay litter would stick to the litter box like cement. After scooping, I also clean the stuck on spots with a wet paper towel, dry, and then spray the bad spot with a cooking oil spray. You could use plain liquid cooking oil, but I find the spray easier to use.
3. Paper litter like Yesterday's News which is recycled paper.
 
I tried Yesterday's News Sensitive Paws but the non-clumping was a big issue. The whole litter box would get pretty disgusting real fast and it was hard to tell which parts were soiled and which weren't. I think the only way I could use that one is if I was throwing out the whole litter pan every few days (and I would need to ask my landlords to get a bigger garbage bin!). Dixie adjusted very well to the pellets though. I also tried Hartz Clumping Paper Litter which worked great, but it is very expensive and I think made of some plastic or something? So I wanted to find an alternative. The only others I have tried are clay litters, which work well except for all the clay that gets stuck to her long-haired paws and smelled all perfumey.

I know that everyone uses the pine pellets, but don't wood cat litters have something in them that can aggravate allergies? I just remember when doing research on supplies for pet rats and a lot of sites warned that we shouldn't use wood bedding because of respiratory issues. I have also heard similar things for humans working around sawdust and whatnot. However, I never read anything negative about it for cats. Wouldn't it make sense that they could also cause issues for cats? Or is that too much of a jump? The fact that so many people use it and nobody complains about it does offer counter-evidence to my thinking.

I found this site on cat litters that goes through the different options, but it does seem a bit intense with its concerns. Basically, there is no perfect cat litter :(. That is why I thought I might give walnut a try. At least she isn't peeing anywhere near as much as when she was first diagnosed so the cost won't be too bad.

My main concern is that it is OK for Dixie to breathe in (the vet thought she could have asthma although I have seen no symptoms), is OK for her to lick off her paws, and it won't stay soiled in the litter box (so clumping only). Dixie has been an outdoor cat most of her life (not anymore) and adjusts to any litter right away :smuggrin:.
 
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