4/16: Pablo's AMPS 190; raw food question

[Holly and Pablo]

(No condo since 4/2.)

WCR: obnoxious this morning, waking me up at 5:30 on the FIRST day this semester that I didn't have clinical or work to go to. :roll: And now he's piled in my lap, cutting of circulation to the lower half of my legs. Naturally, he'd like to go back to sleep now that I'm wide awake.

So, exciting news: I made my first batch of Dr. Lisa-style raw food last Saturday night, and Pablo didn't even bat an eye at the change! He still squawks for food like normal and inhales it in two minutes. But, and this may purely be coincidence or that lovely brain tumor just messin' up my numbers, he has been in the yellows since the very night I started the raw food. What the heck? Shouldn't his blood sugar decrease with raw?

I've been frustrated with his numbers because he nearly hypo'd on 6.25units (his current dose) two weeks ago, and now I can barely get a blue number on the same dose! Should I say it's the tumor and NOT the food causing the issue? I hesitate to increase because he can be so all over the place! Maybe I'll increase by a drop tonight.

As for me, I'm a bad mom because I forgot TWICE this week to get night-cycle checks. :shock: Between fundraising for Pablo's SRT at CSU on Monday night (which hasn't been going all that great) and the semester coming to a close, I've been distracted. And clearly since I've posted here twice in a month, I've been preoccupied!

One last interesting thing: We have a new vet working with us at the hospital where I work. He graduates from vet school in two weeks, and I absolutely love him to death. I would marry him today if he asked...but I digress...we have had lengthy discussions about treating diabetes and using Lantus. He actually came to me for advice about it last week! One of my favorite client's cats was diagnosed with diabetes last week after a history of MONTHLY steroid injections for several years (my vet/boss sees no problem with this treatment for mouth ulcers) and chronic PD/PU. We did an in-house blood glucose, but at my insistence, also a fructosamine. My vet literally saw the in-house BG of 499 and told me to get insulin for the cat. I was like, WAIT! I am not comfortable with just starting insulin based on ONE BG! Turns out this cat's fructosamine was horrible, but that's not the point! Anyway, this year, I've insisted that every client with a diabetic animal (we see mostly dogs...mine is the only diabetic cat) home test. We've stopped in-hospital glucose curves because I made such a stink about how inaccurate they are! :thumbup I schedule a time with every client to set up their glucometer and teach them how to test and all that jazz. It's awesome. So the new vet totally thought my idea of switching the newly-diagnosed diabetic cat to low-carb food BEFORE starting insulin was a good idea and having her test to check his BG at the same time. And he followed my suggestion of starting the new cat on 0.5 units of Lantus BID and holding the dose for one week. He sat down and discussed my thoughts on treating and actually LISTENED to me.

All I have to say is...one vet at a time!!! Now onto my boss who still thinks dosing insulin based on one BG and the cat's weight, dry Purina DM, no hometesting, and fructosamines a few times a year are all good ideas. :roll:

 

[WCF and Meowzi]

So, exciting news: I made my first batch of Dr. Lisa-style raw food last Saturday night, and Pablo didn't even bat an eye at the change! He still squawks for food like normal and inhales it in two minutes. But, and this may purely be coincidence or that lovely brain tumor just messin' up my numbers, he has been in the yellows since the very night I started the raw food. What the heck? Shouldn't his blood sugar decrease with raw?

My memory is suspect here, but I vaguely recall Jill seeing BGs climb, too, for a short time after starting raw, but they came back down not long after. Send her a PM and share her response with us?

He actually came to me for advice about it last week! One of my favorite client's cats was diagnosed with diabetes last week after a history of MONTHLY steroid injections for several years (my vet/boss sees no problem with this treatment for mouth ulcers) and chronic PD/PU. We did an in-house blood glucose, but at my insistence, also a fructosamine. My vet literally saw the in-house BG of 499 and told me to get insulin for the cat. I was like, WAIT! I am not comfortable with just starting insulin based on ONE BG! Turns out this cat's fructosamine was horrible, but that's not the point! Anyway, this year, I've insisted that every client with a diabetic animal (we see mostly dogs...mine is the only diabetic cat) home test. We've stopped in-hospital glucose curves because I made such a stink about how inaccurate they are! :thumbup I schedule a time with every client to set up their glucometer and teach them how to test and all that jazz. It's awesome. So the new vet totally thought my idea of switching the newly-diagnosed diabetic cat to low-carb food BEFORE starting insulin was a good idea and having her test to check his BG at the same time. And he followed my suggestion of starting the new cat on 0.5 units of Lantus BID and holding the dose for one week. He sat down and discussed my thoughts on treating and actually LISTENED to me.

All I have to say is...one vet at a time!!! Now onto my boss who still thinks dosing insulin based on one BG and the cat's weight, dry Purina DM, no hometesting, and fructosamines a few times a year are all good ideas. :roll:

Nice work! Because of you, many more sugarkitties will have better care, and more informed parents! You should be very proud of yourself :thumbup

Gotta say about your boss - old-school though he is, sounds like at least he hasn't disagreed with your views, if they've stopped in-house hospital curves. One vet at a time ....

Good luck with the fundraising for Pablo's SRT. cat_pet_icon

 

[Mindy & Max]

Way to go with the vet! Mine is responsive to the protocol here...but I'm the first client she's had that will do home testing, and the first that will have an OTJ kitty (paws crossed). Once Max gets through his trial, I will make sure the vet's office knows to call me or give my name and number to any newly diagnosed sugar kitties--I didn't get much initial support from the vets office due to lack of experience, and I'd like to make the diagnosis a little less overwhelming for others if I can (I was thisclose to trying to find a new home for Max because I just didn't think I could handle his treatment properly).

Anyway, thanks for posting about the raw food. Once things calm down around here (hahahahaha), I am hoping to make the switch to raw, or at least partially raw. I'm trying to store any nuggets of info about it that I can, so hopefully I don't find a way to make myself panic when we make the switch.

 

[OptOut]

An obnoxious cat is a happy cat! Poor baby just wanted some company. :mrgreen:

Congratulations on your "convert a vet" program! It must feel so good to know you are making a difference for all future kitties. Good job.

As far as the numbers...some of them really do change quickly. Gayle/Shadoe plunged within the past month and now they are on their way back up. You might peek at her ss - she did a great job of managing the dose and has almost got it back up to where it needs to be.

 

[Holly and Pablo]

Anyway, thanks for posting about the raw food. Once things calm down around here (hahahahaha), I am hoping to make the switch to raw, or at least partially raw. I'm trying to store any nuggets of info about it that I can, so hopefully I don't find a way to make myself panic when we make the switch.

Here's my nugget of information about raw food: Just jump in and do it! I worked myself into thinking it was going to be really difficult and kept putting it off. I ran out of canned food but refused to buy more in bulk because I knew I was switching to raw. Well, after three weeks of buying canned food individually ($$$) every few days because of my procrastination, I finally stopped buying the canned food. I figured, if I have an absolute NEED to make food, I can't put it off! So that's what I did. I have about three cans of food left, in case of emergency, but I'm not going to keep it at my house anymore!

And you know what's even better? There's sooooooooooooooo much less poop in the litterbox! :lol:

 

[Blue]

Holly,
Take a look at Shadoe's ss around mid-March, and you will see that she tumbled down the dose ladder so fast I was decreasing on every single shot; she was freaking me out with all her greens.
Then we had a good week or a few until the numbers started to slowly get less pretty and she started to act just tiny bits different.

We dropped from 14u down to 2.5 before the freefall stopped. We are likely going too slowly but we are currently at 5u on cycle 4, but did get one bloo.

I don't think acros like to follow any rules or any patterns, so it's almost one day at a time with them, watching for those little signs of something changing.

As for raw, I think I should go that way with Oliver cuz talk about filling the LB!!! He's the king of dumpers, and must be part dog!

 

[Holly and Pablo]

Gayle,
I saw Shadoe's tumble down to 2.5u, and I had to do a double take! She was on less than half Pablo's dose, and that was certainly unusual for her! She seems to love keeping you on your toes (you know, and intimidating the other kitties she lives with..hehe)!

I suppose I've been lucky that Pablo's only at 6.25 so far. I pray to God that we never get much higher than that, because that would mean the SRT worked. Dear God, please let it work! I can't stand the thought that it might not. :sad: Less than four weeks before we're in Colorado...