1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=160

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Martica and Fred

Member Since 2010
01/03 Shane-Sebastian AMPS at +18.75! 234; >.25U > +3=160

Hi
Well Shane is doing really really well I think. I haven't posted in a few days because I wasn't doing full curves, wanted to give his ears a break but was aiming for a 0.5U BID dose...however, he was giving me some low PS and/or nadir numbers that made me nervous to give him this full dose, so I tweaked it (0.5- being roughly 0.3ish I guess). Last night I actually fell asleep at +12, but woke up at +13.5 to do his shot and he was 166, after reaching 89 at +7 yesterday. And this after he ate a lot throughout the day, too. I did not give him a shot because, again, I'm afraid for those middle of the night lows and was not going to get up at nadir to do a check and feed, etc. So I skipped him and this morning 7hrs after he was supposed to have his shot, and after having eaten during this period too, he had only risen about 60 points to 234. So I shot him again but very teeny dose 0.25 (even slightly less than is 0.5- prior).

I didn't give him food for 3 hours because I wanted to see if this amount even had any effect or if he would spike, but now at +3 he has dropped another 60pts--to 160..so I've just given him 3oz of NAture's Variety Duck. (I have found by the way, that the NV seems to have very little effect on his BGs)

So any thoughts..is this remission underway? I"m going to get nervous if he keeps getting lower when it comes to shooting. I will go back and read my literature. I'm trying to hold the dose steady to allow for adjustment, but I just can't risk those really low numbers right now and I've seen him drop fast and by a lot on the small doses, so I'm feeling like I need to knock off a drop or two if I feel like there is a risk.

And no, have not checked for ketones.I do have the urine strips but can't seem to catch him in the act of peeing. I did buy the Precious Xtra meter but the two drugstores I went to did not have the ketone strips, have to special order, which I will, just haven't done so yet. But I think he is very happy, purring, wanting to be petted all the time; socializing and growling less with my cats, playing, eating great and peeing and pooping. His diarrhea is back, but then I cut back a little on the FortiFlora, am going to ramp it up again. Shane Sebastian has been with me a full week now...at the vet he was on Zeniquin and Tumil K...I saw that a side effect of Zeniquin is diarrhea, but then how long does that last? He's now going a lot, or uncontrolled, small amount of regular poop that are soft or past day, liquid...how long is that supposed to last and can it be something else?

He is on a steady diet of BG (Before Grain), Nature's Variety and Wellness (occ. Merrick).

Thanks for your feedback. Paws crossed, little guy is doing well!
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

Hi guys .. thanks for the update! Shane-Sebastian is looking really good .. love hearing he is happy and purring so much .. and that your other kitties have started accepting him .. I don't have any thoughts on remission but I like that +3! Have a great day guys!
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

Shane ate 3oz. of Nature's Variety duck from +3 thru +6 and now at +7.5 he is 227...maybe I should not have lowered the dose a bit, but still building courage to shoot him at lower numbers; anyway, we'll see what the rest of the day looks like. He's still good no matter what, nothing crazy.
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

Wow, Martica. You are making great progress with Shane-Sebastian. His curves are flattening and his PS values are lowering. Good for you and S-S!!
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

Hooray for Shane...talk about an upgrade!

I wonder if the better food is contributing to the poopy problem...he probably didn't eat so well before, and combined with the meds, perhaps the richer food will take some getting used to? Just an idea.

You did a wonderful thing for Mr. Shane-Sebastian Cat!
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

it's too early to talk remission, but Shane-Sebastian is doing very well on a small dose!

If you are regularly getting preshots that you're not comfortable shooting, one way to deal with that is to reduce the dose slightly. That should result in raising his whole range a little bit so the preshots will be a bit higher and you'll be able to shoot every 12 hours. Shooting the same dose more regularly should result in flatter curves. Eventually you'll want to learn to shoot lower, though. Because Lantus tends to give very flat curves when at a good dose, most cats will end up at a dose where they can "surf" in blues or greens for days and days on end. Once they are at that point, you can work on sneaking the dose down until it's almost nothing.
 
Re: 1/03 WOW Shane-Sebastian AMPS +18.75! 234; >.25U >+3=16

OK thanks, and this is interesting that, yes, he's been on some pretty flat curves. Fred was never on curves this flat before till maybe the very end. But I also didn't start trying to coincide my feeding and feeding-waiting times with the shots with Fred either. I think that makes a big difference. Fred used to free feed. Shane-Sebastian is somewhat but when he was sort of high I held him off eating for a couple of hours first. Anyway, it's all a big learning curve, but I'm pleased that after that hypo scare I'm being given a break!

Is there a point range high-to-low that is considered and ideal flat curve?

And yes, I'm still curious as to his history. I guess I"ll never know but my guess is he had some owners who fed him crappy dried food, for years...and then he probably got fat, and then got diabetes, and they let him starve to death by not treating it, until he got so bad they dumped at the shelter in DKA. So perhaps simply the food change can make a huge difference, I think he may be younger than we thought at first, although so hard to know. The vet said his teeth were in good shape--which if he'd been eating dried for too many years, they wouldn't be. But hope the poop thing sorts itself out and it's nothing more than that his body is out of whack. My impression is that this vet did the most minimal of testing--which saves on costs I guess--but may mean I have to stump up for another vet visit in the near future if there still appears to be other problems. I just called a local cat and dog endocrinologist--his first visit is $250! And that's no blood tests or anything, just consultation and exam. Whew, welcome to New York City. (other vets are not this bad obviously, he's a specialist)

I like the idea of being able to whittle away at his dose till he doesn't need it, paws crossed.
 
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