2/5 Ozzy AMPS 296, +3 303, +5 263, +7 229, PMPS 291, +4 267, +6 293

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Ozzy Pawzbourne

Ozzy Pawzbourne

Member Since 2016
Yesterday

Should we hold Ozzy's .5Uf dose or go back up to .75U? He took a few back to back reductions (3 in one week due to multiple drops) and seems to not be getting back to the greens.

Here is the sequence of recent events that led us to where we are today:

  • On 1/28 he was on .5U and dropped low at +2 but we fed him out of the drop so he didn't go below 50 (but he was absolutely heading there if we had not intervened). This was the second time he dropped low on .5U but the prior drop on 1/23 was 10 cycles previous so I don't think there was any hold over effect/depot from the higher dose and he had been on the .5u for 13 cycles by the time of the 1/28 drop. Then he bounced.

  • Since he had been clearing bounces pretty quickly, the following Monday 1/30, I was afraid to give him the full .5u dose (since he had just dropped lower on this dose two nights before) so I gave him a skinny .5U dose for the next couple cycles because neither Hubby or I could he home to monitor past +1 for the entire work week. This is when all the momentum we had been achieving unraveled. I don't know what happened during the AM cycles on the skinnied .5U doses, but he was not getting out of yellow on the PM cycles so I assumed the AM cycles were the same.

  • Then we went back to the .5U for 2 AM cycles, but his PS numbers kept creeping higher into the pinks so I started giving him .5U+. He did achieve blues and green on this dose from what we could monitor. I am not sure what happened past the +4 on the night of 2/2, he could have dropped lower than the +4 98 reading and most likely did. This night he had an over 200 point drop so I suppose that could induce a bounce on its own even if he did not go below 50. It appears he bounced for the next two cycles and then yesterday he had some good blue cycles AM&PM but no green that we could see. And now today we are stuck in pink and yellows again and I don't know why. ??
So I am not sure what is going on other than me admittedly sliding scale dosing him which was probably the wrong thing to do but we could not monitor. So where do we go next? I go back to work Mon-Thur and will lose all ability to gather data again on the AM cycles to know what is going on. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I also would say I have no clue when his nadir is so I know when to stop monitoring. It seems it's mostly around +5 but he has gone from +3 - +7 so I really don't know.

Other than this....Ozzy is doing fantastic!!! He has not thrown up food in about a week. :)He still has some liquid toss ups in am or pm before meals but those are getting less and less and his poos are perfect! He seems to be happier and much more alert. He has also lost about another .5lbs since coming home from the vets after his DKA. He now weights 15lbs (before DKA he was about 18-19 lbs) so about 20% of his body weight. I never thought I would see my fat kitty look like this again. He has discovered with his lighter frame he can jump up on the table now without going on the chair first...so he is finding ways to get in trouble!!:woot::woot:
 
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Oh Ya, Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Hubby is BBQ'ing for family and I am going to go shopping (figured the mall shouldn't be too busy, right??)
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Nadirs move quite often and Ozzy just seems a bit bouncy to me. He might have seen green last night and is mini bouncing today. It looks like you do have room to increase with following TR. I'm not a fan of it when all you can get is a +1 during the week but that's just my opinion. Are you checking for keytones? With DKA and some of the higher numbers you're seeing that's pretty important. Hopefully others will weigh in soon.
 
I agree with Karen that it looks like Ozzy is bouncing - maybe from those blues yesterday, or an unseen green. If you are giving him a fat .5, going up to .75 won't be a huge change. The only thing I am leery about is the idea of increasing him on a Monday when you can't get any daytime tests in. TR says to hold it for 6-10 cycles when you see nadirs under 200. Tonight makes just five consecutive cycles at .5+, so you definitely have an excuse to hold the dose a while longer.

Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
Other than this....Ozzy is doing fantastic!!! He has not thrown up food in about a week. :)He still has some liquid toss ups in am or pm before meals but those are getting less and less and his poos are perfect! He seems to be happier and much more alert.
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This made me smile and even say YAY! out loud!!!! Remember, don't get so caught up in the numbers that you lose sight of the whole cat. Your whole cat looks pretty good right now (anti-jinx).

I also agree about trying to get a ketone test or two when you can. Just for peace of mind.

 
Great Ozzy report - love to hear he's getting into trouble. :cool: And that his tummy if feeling better. :)

You could definitely increase. Even if he did see green last night, it would have been a high green. And though the protocol calls for a 0.25U increase, at times I would sneak Neko up by a 0.125 unit amount to skootch the nadirs down a little bit if she was seeing occasional high green. And a little more insulin usually helps reduce the height of the bounces. The question for you is whether you are OK with leaving higher carb food for him if his +1 is lower than you'd like it to be, and more importantly, would Ozzy eat it.

If you did an increase tonight, could you monitor? Some cats show a bit of reaction to the first cycle of an increase.

Are you watching the Kitten Bowl today?
 
Went ahead with the .5u fat but just a smidgen fatter than before (not quite .75u) We will monitor tonight. Good thing with my earlier new schedule (bahhh 530am!!) we get an earlier start so I can monitor Ozzy on the PM cycle till at least +5 nightly and longer if we have a worried cycle in the PMs. The AM cycles are no monitoring. Hubby might be able to check on him a little on tomorrow's AM cycle.
 
I think that you should strive for consistency at any given dose and not try temporarily to fatten or skinny the dose based on what might happen in any particular cycle. Lantus likes consistency! But you have to do what you feel comfortable with, especially if monitoring is problematic.
Great "whole-cat" report.
Hang in there!
 
Just updating our condo for today, too, and pooped in to yours. What have Ozzy's numbers done for the rest of the day/eve?

Also, what are you currently feeding and to what do you contribute him feeling better? (just curious)
 
Taffysmama said:
Just updating our condo for today, too, and pooped in to yours. What have Ozzy's numbers done for the rest of the day/eve?

Also, what are you currently feeding and to what do you contribute him feeling better? (just curious)
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@Taffysmama SS updated. He has been yellow most of the day and so far this PM cycle. I'm sticking with the .5UF because others have suggested he might be bouncing and I don't want to increase too much since I have to go to work tomorrow and can't monitor for next 4 days on AM cycle past +1. I'm up late and now only going to get about 6.5 hours of sleep! :arghh:

We have been giving him the same 'variety' of food for the last few weeks- Ziwipeak Rabbit/Lamb and Weruva varieties- Foul Bowl, Paw Lickin Chicken or chicken Frickazee.....we mix in Rad Cat raw in about 1/4 -1/2 of their meals. Writing this..I realize how crazy it sounds because we have not totally stuck to the feed only one kind of food rule while Ozzy was going through GI problems. But I really am not sure about a cat eating one kind of food only.... We have just stuck to the above (instead of a ton of multiple brands and proteins) and things have finally settled which is good. Also, we throw in the ziwipeak for extra calories and fat because the Weruva foods listed above are really low calorie (146 per can vs 207 for ZP) and he has been losing weight. I don't want him to loose too much more.

What I contribute to him 'getting better' (and I'm assuming you mean the vomiting and bad poos) is the slippery elm bark and probiotics to be honest. We had been giving the AV juice, and still continue to 2xs a day, but I really think it wasn't until the SEB that Ozzy started pooing normally. Figgie also had a bought of smelly soft poos too (food changes as well) and he also is starting to get better poos (no more stinky ones - YA) after we started him on the SEB. They both get AV juice, SEB, and probiotics twice a day. I think it took about 2 weeks for the probiotics to kick in. Honestly though, between all 3 (PB, SEB, and AV juice), I really noticed improvement within 2-3 days with the SEB. I can also say this from personal experience. I also started taking a shot of AV juice 2xs a day a few weeks ago (1 for me, 1 for my homies) but as soon as I started the SEB (I also now take that 2xs a day- HEY, I have a lifetime supply, remember), I noticed an improvement on my end. Like immediately- 2 days or so. I have autoimmune thyroid disease which messes with your GI system and the SEB immediately showed results. I am actually so excited about using it and gave some to my mother in law and have been telling everyone about it. Give Taffy some SEB!

I think mixing in a little coconut oil in the food will help with constipation too. My kitties had the opposite of constipation, but just throwing that out there. BTW...Figgie LOVES LOVES LOVES coconut oil. He's a freak about it. Every time I open the jar to use it for a moisturizer, he goes NUTS and wants some so bad! I don't even know how to explain this because coconut is not in the regular diet of a cat and I don't even understand how or why he would even want some. I did some research and learned it's ok to give in small amount to kitties. So I will let him take 2 or 3 small licks off my fingers every once in awhile.

As I was writing this, Ozzy was chasing Figgie all across the house. I just saw Ozzy walk through the hall crying because he finally chased Figgie off and he still wanted to play!! Haha!:woot::woot:
 
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+6 = 293. Great, does this mean I'm going to wake up to a 400+ PS? He has never had a 400 anything (except one time with vet stress and that was the vets number not mine). When I got the written report from the vet, it was in the 300s, so not sure why the vet tech said he was in the 400s.

I gave ozzy a thigh shot with the insulin tonight. He didn't like it and cried and then hissed at me (he will hiss if you accidentally step on his toes).... I was trying to move the shot around because I have been religiously been shooting him in the scruff. He doesn't seem to mind it and will stop and wait for me to do it and it doesn't seem to be painful to him. However, I'm worried about scar tissue so I tried to move the shot elsewhere. I need to learn some better spots to shoot him. I felt awful for hurting him tonight.:oops:
 
Taffysmama said:
and pooped in to yours
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LOL, just saw my typo!!!
But, you are talking poop, so it's appropriate! Not that SEB isn't great stuff, but I would bet my bazookas on the fact that the probiotics are doing a lot to help in the poopy area. I work in nutritional supplement and have seen probiotics change lives, human and animal (including mine!) If I recall, you were using the S.Boulardii, which is specifically helpful with soft poos and stinkies. It is a yeast-based probiotic, not a bacterial one. Both are great for GI health. But, that is great about the SEB, too! I do use it myself! FOr Taffy, it does not seem to help much, but his problem is not soft and stinky. I have tried it for him many, many times, but we are still experimenting. Do you make it into a syrup or slurry, or just mix into water? For Taffy, I do give him Raw Coconut sometimes. It is the coconut oil, but without the coconut fiber filtered out, so he gets some fiber, too, and this fiber feeds the gut flora. He likes it!
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
As I was writing this, Ozzy was chasing Figgie all across the house. I just saw Ozzy walk through the hall crying because he finally chased Figgie off and he still wanted to play!! Haha!
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Well, he is feeling good, so that's what matters most!!!
Right now taffy is tripping me out, he is laying on the arm of the loveseat and staring across the room.
Get some sleep!
 
S
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
+6 = 293. Great, does this mean I'm going to wake up to a 400+ PS?
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So, probably bouncing.
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
I need to learn some better spots to shoot him. I felt awful for hurting him tonight.
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I know, I feel terrible when Taffy "feels" the shot, but this is becoming less and less often as my skills improve! I do pretty well shooting on his sides, and I vary each side and front to back a bit. I just pull up some skin and shoot into the "tent." Of course, I have to move some fur so I can see well.
 
Ozzy Pawzbourne said:
I gave ozzy a thigh shot with the insulin tonight. He didn't like it and cried and then hissed at me (he will hiss if you accidentally step on his toes).... I was trying to move the shot around because I have been religiously been shooting him in the scruff. He doesn't seem to mind it and will stop and wait for me to do it and it doesn't seem to be painful to him. However, I'm worried about scar tissue so I tried to move the shot elsewhere. I need to learn some better spots to shoot him. I felt awful for hurting him tonight.:oops:
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I think those shots in the flank/thigh are the most painful. Whenever I tried it with Stu he cried out. I used to shoot Stu just behind the shoulder and that worked pretty well. Rusty has such long hair that the shoulder shot never worked for him, so I shoot always in the scruff: I pull up some hair, find skin, and shoot. I've been doing this for as long as he has been with us (since Nov. 2010) and have never had a problem with scar tissue. Shoot where it is most comfortable for Ozzy.
Have a good day. I hope Ozzy's numbers will come down today.

Ella & Rusty
 
Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) said:
I think those shots in the flank/thigh are the most painful. Whenever I tried it with Stu he cried out. I used to shoot Stu just behind the shoulder and that worked pretty well. Rusty has such long hair that the shoulder shot never worked for him, so I shoot always in the scruff: I pull up some hair, find skin, and shoot. I've been doing this for as long as he has been with us (since Nov. 2010) and have never had a problem with scar tissue. Shoot where it is most comfortable for Ozzy.
Have a good day. I hope Ozzy's numbers will come down today.

Ella & Rusty
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Thanks Ella, I will continue to use the scruff and shoulder area. I felt so bad with his reaction last night. He cried out so loud. :(I never want to hurt him. He does so well with the scruff shot and will let me do it while he is eating. He'll just stop, wait for me, and then go back to his meal. We will continue with this routine since it's working well for us. Appreciate the feedback. I thought there was some 'rule' of sorts that you shouldn't stay in one area for fear of scar tissue.
 
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