3/17 Chispa, 139 AMPS, 51 +2.75, 58 +3, 54 +5, 64 +5.5, 118 PMPS, 155 +3

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...4-amps-62-3-58-4-57-4-5-82-6-155-pmps.275342/

Looks like another day of drama in the making ... Chispa was meooooowing at +2.75 so I tested and am at least convinced that Wednesday was not an accident of shooting incorrectly!!! I've fed her two generous 2-tsp servings of MC 13% in the last fifteen minutes, and now she is meowing and looking at her dish again. Time for another test, oh boy!

ETA: twenty minutes later we are at 58, following two 2-tsp servings of 13% BFF turkey & duck pouch. Carb sources are tapioca starch and guar gum. I just googled "what is guar gum?" and found this very interesting article that says it can have an overall beneficial effect on Type 2 diabetes in humans: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/guar-gum#TOC_TITLE_HDR_1

In any case (note to self), it is doing a better job of raising Chispa's BG than the 16% Royal Canin renal food I was giving her on Wednesday.

 

Wow! 4th cycle on this dose and she is rocking the reduction!

 

Way to go Chispa! But maybe you could make your point a little more gently?

 

Guar gum is also very good to keep the gut moving, to prevent constipation!!

Chispa is keeping you busy today!!

 

So under the heading of Very Bad Parenting ...

I gave Chispa another couple spoonfuls of 13% after the +3 test and set an alarm for 30 minutes to test again. She crawled off to nap in her carrier, which is next to my desk, and I went back to work. I have a job where I get in a groove and don't realize the passage of time, and that's why I have alarms going off throughout the day to remind me to do pretty much everything. It's also why Chispa gets up in my face and MEOWWWWS when she's hungry -- she has figured out it's the only way to get my attention sometimes! Anyway ... TWO HOURS went by before I realized that the "Test Chispa" alarm hadn't gone off!!! I panicked -- dragged the poor sleeping kitty out of her carrier and over to the testing area, still blinking --- 54 -- which is fine, but the really bad part (on par with my being an Unfit Mother) is that now I have NO way of knowing whether she went below 50 during that time, earning another reduction. Up to now she has been SO good about "notifying" me when going too low --- would she have napped right through a hypo???? I just don't know.

 

If this dose takes her below 50, you'll know again soon enough. The other possible interpretation is that the MC you gave was a good amount and kept her surfing above 50.

I wouldn't rush out and add guar gum to my cat's diet. It's benefits in humans have not been studied in cats. There have also been studies linking it to IBD. Here is one. Quantity is important.

 

Oh, yikes! Thanks, Wendy -- that's good to know. Tapioca starch is listed above guar gum in the ingredients of the 13% food, so hopefully it's a relatively small amount of guar gum. And I'm reserving this food for low numbers (sorry, Chispa -- I see how you've been gobbling it up, or as a Costa Rican friend once said, "googling it down"!!).

 

The key is quantity, I suspect it's not a huge amount in her food.

 

Usually it's a very small amount when it's a food additive. I would never think of giving it as a supplement.

I have seen rogue "articles" on guar gum being used in holistic veterinary practice, but I wouldn't take a risk without scientific research. Some of the 'poop' you see online is scary.

 

Wow Chispa! Look at you!

 

She's all drama queen this week! I'm surprised that her PM preshot is so reasonable.