11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 PMPS 306

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4)

Good luck with day 4. I hope Maverick has a good one today. 264 is a nice place to start.

I'm not very good with the alarms either... just sleep right through them, and never remember turning them off. aiyee!

Enjoy your caturday!
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

I'm confused about his numbers. I wonder if the food I am giving him is not low carb. Its on Binky's list. Maybe they changed the ingredients though. Should I post on the main health board or this board about wet food people feed their cats in Canada. Maverick is EXTREMELY picky. He will not eat if he doesn't like it and he's already had FHL once - he almost died.

I could not be home to do the testing but I knew from the past four days he wouldn't go low. So the first test I was able to do was +5 and its higher than his AMPS.

Considering what his numbers did just the very first day when the vet had him at 2.0 (and I reduced it to 1.0 on his PMshot)... I thought 1.0 would have a bigger effect. Course feeding him non low carb food the day before and day of his lower dose probably didn't help.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

Can't give any answer but you're doing great testing and keeping track of Maverick's progress. I tried to get up by +6( 2 am)fell back to sleep. :roll: You're not alone. Hope he gets lower during the day.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

You are reminding me of me, at the beginning!

I rather suspect you (like I did!) are unrealistically expecting results too soon from the changes you've made already - here you are, only at day 4... but Lantus takes at least 4-7 days for the initial dose to stabilize before you can really tell what's happening. So don't get confused, you can expect things to be a bit wonky, for a little while yet! The important thing is, you are home testing and the more testing you can do, the merrier! BG data is KING around here. Also remember that with Lantus it's the LOW numbers in the cycle that matter the most, not the highs... good that you are on LC and I hope you get some advice about Canuck brands soon!!

(BTW not to be snippy, but you might not want to be putting 'day x' in your topic line much longer - that is going to get rather old, rather quickly!)
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

Hi Kelly,
Just popping in, but after looking at the SS, you and Maverick are in great shape for being so new to the game. Yellows are really not a bad place.

Things I would do:
1) Check your labels against the food charts. I noticed you are feeding FF, which has so many "beef" flavors it's easy to get confused. Usually "gravy" means high carb. But be VERY specific when you go to the store and look for low carb FF flavors.

2) sit on your hands and breathe. Maverick's building his 'shed' and it'll take at least another day before the protocol lets you increase the dose. Sometimes, there's a "high" before the break when the numbers come down.

3) repeat after me: "Maverick is a cat. Cat's are unpredictable. Maverick is unpredictable. That's why I have opposable thumbs and I can test his BG." This diabetes dance is confusing sometimes, and that's normal. We just collect the data (i.e. BGs) and try to do our best.

4) if you need something to do, read and re-read the protocol. It takes a few good readings to 'get it' and then after than, you still learn something nuanced when you read it again!!!

good luck!
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

Hi Karrie

I'm in Canada also and had a hard time finding LC food.
I don't know about Ottawa, I'm in Edmonton and I usually go to Pet Planet.
The woman that works there also has a diabetic cat that is no longer on insulin.
She suggested 2 brands.
almo nature - 100% natural chicken breast - the only ingredients in it are chicken breast and water sufficient for processing.
It looks just like flakes chicken breast. Both my cats love it.
before grain - 96% - they have a variety of flavors - the paperwork in the store said they are between 2 & 5 carbs
Neither of my cats like any of the flavors and I tried 1 can of each.

I also feed some of the canned Friskies and Wellness Core.
I have also tried EVO, but they won't eat the canned only the dry.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

:::::almo nature - 100% natural chicken breast - the only ingredients in it are chicken breast and water sufficient for processing.

You guys in canada and the US are spoilt for choice! Sounds like cat food heaven over there!

Karrie, I was another who wanted immediate results - but I waited a couple of weeks before I started getting antzy and voicing my concerns on the forum. Try not to worry that Maverick isn't eating too much. I'm not sure what FHL is so don't know if it's related to his not eating enough. It's better if our kitties weigh less. I am constantly reminding myself that I don't have to give LB as much food. Since I've been able to feed him less his numbers have dropped. Plus he's improved since he's been on nearly all protein with only a few carbs in one tin of FF daily (about to stop it as he's allergic to it). My personal experience makes me feel that low fat food is very important in their recovery too.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

Thanks guys!!!

Just so everyone knows I'm not worried or concerned - just confused. Only because I saw such immediate action with the one shot of 2.0 followed by one shot of 1.0 - the week my vet got upset. So I think I expected the same thing but on a smaller scale when we restarted at 1.0. I've read the protocol multiple times and do understand for the most part - I haven't asked about dose increases haha. Just want to make sure I'm doing things right - like not doing furshots or messing up with his food. I read about fancy feast changing their recipe and people have seen reactions with BG even though the label didn't change. So I'm going to experiment with foods and see if he will eat anything while he has a diabetic appetite. I'm going to check up those two foods. I haven't sought them out but will see if the specialty pet store stocks them or if they can get it in.

For those who don't know - FHL is feline hepatic lipidosis/fatty liver. What happens in a nut shell is that cats can't lose weight like humans can. It has to be done slowly not rapidly. When cat's livers process body fat for energy (when they aren't getting enough food to maintain their weight) their livers can clog with fat leading to liver failure. With Maverick it was caused by a combination of stress (changes at home) and a change in his food two years ago to low calorie food. I didn't notice his weight loss, but also didn't realize it was unhealthy. Vet said he should lose weight but didn't warn me about FHL. He was jaundiced by the time I brought him to the vet and had to get a feeding tube until he was eating on his own again. This is why I tell everyone I know about FHL and for people with inappetant cats, the importance of assist feeding to get their cats through a blip or through a crisis. We caught his diabetes early both times because I weight him every few weeks on a baby scale and we caught a weight loss trend both times. We never ever want to deal with FHL again and I never want anyone to have to deal with it either.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

I'm having trouble finding a non fish based low fat food also. They seem to be 60-70% fat unless its a seafood based wet food.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

One thing you can do to decrease the percentage of fat in the diet is to simply add some chicken...it's low fat, low carb, high protein. I use boiled chicken breast meat cut into bite sized chunks as testing treats....but you can also just add some to the food or use it as a supplemental snack in between. Naturally, you want most of his diet to be properly balanced, so using just plain meat as the bulk of the diet is NOT recommended....but you can use it to improve the diet.

Tinkles is one that can't eat the LC Fancy Feast...even before they changed the recipe, he got big food spikes from it. I use it as a MC food. I try to stick to 0-4% carb foods as much as possible.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

One of the thing I love about this board is the kitty names. I get a kick out of them.

The chicken breast is a great idea also. Thank you. He would just love this added in with his food. We give him a couple small pieces of purebites chicken for testing treats and he purrs his head off for these. I leave the bag on the bed in front of him so he knows he's going to be rewarded.

I'll be going to the specialty food store tomorrow and getting a bunch of ones that I'm confident are low carb (EVO and wellness are out - Maverick won't touch them). I called Presidents Choice and they won't give carb info so I don't know how Binky's list has it. They don't have it on their website either. So I don't think I trust it. I can only find special Kitty at walmart - so not the classics for some reason (Binky's list has these as separate lines). And fancy feast only the chicken feast and turkey and giblets (non fish ones) are available up here.

Thanks again for the recommendations.
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

Can you get By Nature in Canada? That's a good choice. The "organics" line is a bit fluffy and Maverick might not like this texture, but the 95% line, especially the 95% Turkey and Turkey Liver, was Stu's favorite. Merrick Cowboy Cookout (5% carbs) is a good choice, too. I would be careful of the canned food that has 100% meat: these foods do not contain the added vitamins and minerals and therefore must be supplemented.
Good luck!

Ella
 
Don't see it at Global Ryan's.

I fed him a new food - Presidents choice chicken and liver. Supposed to be low carb - his blood glucose is 306 - the only pink number in four days. I think I'm ditching the Presidents Choice line.

I'm spending the next few hours researching foods. Binky's list is from 2006?
 
Re: 11/6 - Maverick AMPS 261 (day 4) +5 270 confused

klkelly said:
One of the thing I love about this board is the kitty names. I get a kick out of them.

The chicken breast is a great idea also. Thank you. He would just love this added in with his food. We give him a couple small pieces of purebites chicken for testing treats and he purrs his head off for these. I leave the bag on the bed in front of him so he knows he's going to be rewarded.

I'll be going to the specialty food store tomorrow and getting a bunch of ones that I'm confident are low carb (EVO and wellness are out - Maverick won't touch them). I called Presidents Choice and they won't give carb info so I don't know how Binky's list has it. They don't have it on their website either. So I don't think I trust it. I can only find special Kitty at walmart - so not the classics for some reason (Binky's list has these as separate lines). And fancy feast only the chicken feast and turkey and giblets (non fish ones) are available up here.

Thanks again for the recommendations.
Click to expand...

Make sure the food says "nutritionally complete" or something on it. AFAIK, the BG (before grain) may not be. Cat's need taurine.

My Cosmo was dx with DKA, HL, and pancreatitis when he got sick. The HL was by far the most difficult to treat, so I can appreciate your concern about his weight loss/gain and appetite. Do you have mirtazapine (Remeron) on hand for any cases of inappetance? We used it with great result. After his bilirubin level went back to normal, I still had a script for it b/c it helps to treat pancreatitis too. I also got very familiar with enticing him to eat (warming food slightly, mixing in roast chicken, sprinkling food with fortiflora, parmesan cheese, or other toppers, etc etc).

I know for sure that all flavors of Wellness Grain Free are low carb. I've also fed By Nature Organics, Innova Evo 95%.

Good luck!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top