? 3/19 - Gen, AMPS 293, +1 320 - advice on dosing & steroids?

Allie & Gen

Allie & Gen

Member Since 2025
Yesterday

Good morning, friends! The week is moving along! I hope you're all doing well today. Please give your cats a kiss from me if that's something they enjoy! I miss getting to keep up with them a bit more than I've been able to recently.

Gen's still high, and I really think yesterday's AM nadir was a fluke (it took him awhile to eat much, I suspect because the apartment was such an icebox and we were huddling for warmth). I am fairly certain that the budesonide is keeping him up there; I know correlation isn't necessarily causation, but he did see a pretty dramatic change in overall BG values immediately on receiving his first dose, and that trend has continued (though I realize of course that we're only on day 4).

Does anyone have recommendations about how to approach dosage when your cat is on an insulin-antagonist medication like this? Any recommendations beyond the obvious? By which I mean: following TR and holding each dose for at least 3 days before doing an increase (depending on nadirs)?

It's all rather discouraging after we had those few days of lovely numbers/sudden increased insulin sensitivity (which I am still so curious about). Still, we have to get his poor intestines into better shape, and I know that hanging out in the mid 100s/200s isn't necessarily poor regulation for diabetes (just not tight regulation) based on all the literature I've read. It's just not what I want for my Gen.

Apart from displeasure over our cold conditions yesterday, he's been in good spirits, snuggly and alert, and litterbox stuff is all looking good. And I guess it is nice to get a bit of a break from Libre alarms. (I really need to get a remote access app installed on my phone, though, so I can restart the Libre app/Gen's phone as needed. It's lost the sensor connetion again about half an hour ago, and I can never be sure if it'll come back on its own since I'm not there to poke at it.)
 
I hope you get some good advice, Allie. So much to consider with our complicated kitties.
Gen is such a good boy and glad he's doing well!
Hope things warm up so it's not quite so cold...it's time for SPRING!
Hang in there with your sweet boy, you're both doing so well together!
Ivy and I send you back lots of hugs and calming vines 🍃 🍀 🍃 🍀 🍃 🍀 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖
 
From what I gave seen here some cats do not have a bg reaction to budesonide and others do. It looks to me like it is helping IBD symptoms. Am I right? I think if you get a handle on the IBD it will then become easier to manage the fd. 🙏
 
Jessica & Indy said:
Remember what we are told...we have to wear our patience pants. 3 days between dose increases is still pretty quick, have to give depot a chance to kick in and do its job too. You got this!
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Ughhh, I know, you're right. 💕 It just feels like such a setback, and the fact that I had to start administering the budesonide after I'd been forced to reduce so much because he wasn't eating means I'm starting at such a low dose, much lower than was working to control these kinds of numbers the last time he had them! But I'll cope. I'm just wondering if this is going to change how he responds to insulin/how uniform the effect is likely to be. I suppose that's also patience pants territory; lots of new data to gather! Normally I love gathering and compiling data ...

/whines

Staci & Ivy said:
I hope you get some good advice, Allie. So much to consider with our complicated kitties.
Gen is such a good boy and glad he's doing well!
Hope things warm up so it's not quite so cold...it's time for SPRING!
Hang in there with your sweet boy, you're both doing so well together!
Ivy and I send you back lots of hugs and calming vines 🍃 🍀 🍃 🍀 🍃 🍀 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖
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Thanks Staci! 💖 And I am looking forward to spring so much, but I'm okay with a slow start (I hate it when we rush too quickly into more summery weather, honestly)! I just would prefer the heat in my building continues to work while we're seeing below freezing temps. Gen definitely agrees with me on that part! Yesterday was rough for a bit there.

tiffmaxee said:
From what I gave seen here some cats do not have a bg reaction to budesonide and others do. It looks to me like it is helping IBD symptoms. Am I right? I think if you get a handle on the IBD it will then become easier to manage the fd. 🙏
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Yeah, I mean, that's why we're using budesonide and not prednisone, but we seem to be on the unlucky side when it comes to its effects on blood glucose. As for the IBD symptoms, I'd say it's a little too soon to tell; they've tended to fluctuate a lot since they started two months ago. (The difficulty predicting them has been one of the worst parts, honestly. He's fine for awhile and then suddenly stops eating, or pooping, or suddenly there's really soft poop or streaks or what have you.) The internist and I agreed that we'll check in about how he seems to be doing after 2-3 weeks on the med.

My hope is that we get the IBD under better control, then do the dental surgery finally, and then ... see how managing IBD and diabetes together works in terms of meds and diet, without the oral infection in the mix.
 
Allie & Gen said:
Ughhh, I know, you're right. 💕 It just feels like such a setback, and the fact that I had to start administering the budesonide after I'd been forced to reduce so much because he wasn't eating means I'm starting at such a low dose, much lower than was working to control these kinds of numbers the last time he had them! But I'll cope. I'm just wondering if this is going to change how he responds to insulin/how uniform the effect is likely to be. I suppose that's also patience pants territory; lots of new data to gather! Normally I love gathering and compiling data ...

/whines
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Yep! I feel you! You are taking such good care of Gen and the data will guide everything. *huge hugs* One cycle at a time. As long as Gen is eating and his IBD symptoms stay minimal, then Gen should feel pretty decent. <3 That is what matters. You will get his numbers back to where you want them to be.
 
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