1/20 Rich & Rex AMPS 462 +6 251 PMPS 231

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RichNW & Rex

RichNW & Rex

Member Since 2012
Hello FDMB,

My name is Rich and my baby boy is Rex. He is a Chocolate Point Siamese. We found out Rex was diabetic last summer when we took him to the Emergency Room. I came back from a business trip and notice he didn't look so good. He lost some weight, was not really eating/drinking, and his gate was off. He spent an entire week in the hospital to get his BG, potassium, and electrolyte under control.

Our vet had us on a feeding/insulin plan but last Monday(1/14/13) Rex was acting odd. He was sleepy and was not interacting with us. I took his blood reading and it was 26. We were able to get his BG up and tested hourly till the morning. He spent the day with the vet for a BG curve. Our main goal was to keep him from being hypoglycemic.

I have been trying to get up to speed on the board and the SS.

Looks like we are going to increase our testing, learn about Ketones and understand the Tight Regulation Protocol. (onset, peak/nadir, ...)

My first questions is how do you test for Ketones?
How important is it that we stay on a 12 hour feeding schedule? Is it ok to shift back and forth up to 1 hour?

Thanks,
Rich & Rex

P.S. We totally went through the shock like everyone else.
 
Welcome Rich and Rex! You've come to the best place you never wanted to be!

Thanks for having his SS up. Looks to me like he had a pretty dramatic response to the 26. When a cat is first dx with diabetes, they've probably been high a while and the liver has adjusted to that high BG as normal. When they come down fast, come down to a number lower then the liver is used to (not even necessarily a low number), or they actually come down low like Rex did, the liver releases counterregulatory hormones and glucagon to bring the BG up. We call this a bounce. It can take up to six cycles ..and longer in some cats...to clear the bounce. So Rex was bouncing from late in the PM cycle of 1/14 until he cleared it on the morning of 1/17.

The dose should have been decreased to 2.25u when you started shooting again. We don't normally reduce in increments as large as your vet had you do unless we suspect overdose. No matter how high he is at PMPS, it's important to get at least a before bed test...with no tests at night, you are missing half your data and he's shown he can be high at AMPS and PMPS and lower at midcycle.

You can buy Ketostix at your local pharmacy. Mark the cap on the day you open it. You want to dip it in a fresh urine catch. Seem people have to use the special gravel but one member just puts a dipper spoon under her kitty's bottom and catches it, I use little foil trays that I make and slip under Gracie as she squats, some use Saran Wrap in the box. Then you dip the stick in the urine, wait exactly 15 seconds and compare it to the color codes on the bottle. You can also get a blood ketone meter...it works the on the same premise as the glucometer but the strips are very expensive. It is more "real time".

I notice you are feeding Purina DM. We typically recommend members feed a higher quality, lower carb diet. Most of us use Dr. Lisa's food charts. It's great that you have him on canned food.

Let us know how we can help. Glad you are already reading the stickys.
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!!

It sounds like Rex has thrown you a couple of surprises!

Marje mentioned using Ketostix to test for ketones. Gabby will let me past a strip to get a test while she's peeing. That's the easy way of testing for Ketones.

With the Tight Regulation Protocol, you'll need to get at least one test, in addition to your pre-shot test, during the PM cycle. Many cats experience lower numbers at night so testing is important. It's the only way to make sure Rex is safe. In addition, if you don't test at night, you're missing half of your data.

As far as sticking to a 12-hour schedule, with Lantus this is pretty important. A late shot acts like a dose reduction while an early shot acts like a dose increase. You have no more than 30 min. of flexibility at any one time during a 24 hour period before moving the shot time starts to exert an effect n the numbers.

There's an overwhelming amount of information in the starred sticky notes. Please let us know if you have questions. People are very generous with their time and their knowledge.
 
Welcome Rich and Rex! I'm fairly new myself, so I don't have much in the way of advice.
However, I can say that I've had no luck with ketostix because Zoozey can be picky and stubborn about the litter box, so I do check his ketones using a meter. For me personally it's worth the cost.
 
Re: 1/20 Rich & Rex AMPS 462 +6 251 PMPS 231 +3.5 107

Hello Gang,

Thanks for all your advice! I am totally blown away with your generosity!!

I will start testing in the evening - plenty of supplies (will start buying via links from FDMB).

I totally did not realize deviating from 12 hour cycle more than 30 minutes was an issue - will keep his 8am / 8 pm schedule!

We started our food research, Dr. Lisa's site is awesome! We are looking at switching him to Merrick - Cowboy Cookout.
Calories %
Protein 52, Fat 42, Carb 5
Dry Matter %
Protein 62, Fat 21, Carb 8
Phos DM 0.84

Notice kcalc/5.5 oz can is only 162. Rex is 10lbs - would that be enough?

Thanks So Much,
Rich
 
Hello, Rich, and welcome!
You'll find that this place is home to many amazing, helpful people who love answering any questions.
My sugarcat was diagnosed about 2 1/2 months ago, and if I had followed the instructions provided by my vet, I would likely have lost her within the first week. I have received so much help and positive guidance here; and I'm sure you will, too.
You're already taking such good care of your Rex!

~Josie
 
Dr. Lisa's site IS amazing. She uses this formula to calculate a generous number of calories a cat needs per day:
Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70​

She does note that if Rex starts to gain weight, to cut back on the amount of food. (The info is in the Obesity section on her site if you want to read more.)
 
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