Today is cycle 13 on the drop dose and her all green. In yesterday's post, I did say you could include the 100 7 night ago as green if you squint, making today cycle 14. Anyway, 7 days/14 cycles on this dose means it's time to start an OTJ trial tomorrow. Barring any odd blues before tomorrow.
Here are the OTJ trial instructions:
- Start the trial on the next green pre shot.
- If he/she is green at your normal test times, no need to test further until the next "PS" time; just feed small meals and go about your day. If he/she is blue at your normal "PS", feed a small meal and test again after about 3 or 4 hours. If his/her number is lower 3-4 hours after a meal, then the pancreas is working!
- Post every day so we can monitor your progress and see if any tweaks are needed. He/she may have a sporadic blue number. Don't panic but post before you decide whether to shoot so we can have a discussion.
- After 14 days of no insulin, we have a party!!
Sometimes the trial doesn't work the first time and we have to give a little more support in the form of resuming insulin. It's not the end of the world if that happens; we just give him/her the support needed. Our goal is a strong remission and it's better to take our time to get that than to rush into remission just to have it fail later on.
Once he/she is through the trial successfully, you enter a new phase. Your cat is still diabetic but has now become diet-controlled. Continue feeding low carb food in the manner successful for your kitty. If you decide to change his/her feeding schedule, let your meter be your guide to the best times to feed. Avoid medications with sugar in them and steroid medications unless they are medically essential. Continue testing blood glucose weekly for the first month and then monthly forever. It's a good idea to weigh him/her monthly. Weight should remain stable. If he/she seems "off" or sick, or is showing signs of diabetes (excessive drinking, eating, urinating, weight loss), test his/her blood glucose right away. Keep the teeth and gums clean and healthy; dental issues can bring a cat out of remission. If you see rising blood glucose numbers, it's time for a visit to the vet!
Good luck with the trial!!!
Note, if you do decide to go out of town, you can probably do the trial without all the tests as I know you said it'd be hard to get a petsitter to do those tests. This wouldn't be the first time someone has had to leave town during a trial, or even start a trial a bit prematurely because they couldn't be around. I think as long as you get a couple days of tests in before you leave (if you do), it'll give you a good picture how she is doing without insulin. And you can test again when you get back.
