5/6 Jinx AMPS 402, +11 411

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Joe and Jinx

Joe and Jinx

Member Since 2012
Since yesterday, Jinx's stool has been very loose. Does anyone have a similar issue with their cat? He's had a history of a weak stomach so that could very well be it. When I started him on the wet food 3 weeks ago, his stool was loose so the vet prescribed him some medicine (have to find the name; starts with an "m") but he's been off that for at least 5 days.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

one thing that many cats like that helps a lot is Fortiflora. It's a probiotic - i've bought other brands and not had as good of luck as i have had with the fortiflora. We have a civvie (non-diabetic) kitty that has chronic problems and a tiny sprinkle of the fortiflora a couple times a day clears it up. she's had it her whole life - 3 years. it's something you can use long-term without any problems.

you can get fortiflora from a vet, or buy it online. Lots of places sell it - i usually get it through Amazon.com.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

by the way, jinx has had 8 doses of 1.0 unit and it looks like he might benefit from a little more insulin. according to the protocol, i think you could increase his dose by .25u tonight. i've bolded the parts below that i think may apply to jinx. he's looking fairly high and flat, like he needs a little bit more. what do you think about it?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581
"General" Guidelines:
Hold the initial starting dose for 5 - 7 days (10 - 14 consecutive cycles) unless the numbers tell you otherwise. Kitties experiencing high flat curves or prone to ketones may want to increase the starting dose after 3 days (6 consecutive cycles).
Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).
Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.

Increasing the dose:
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.
Click to expand...
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

I agree w/ Julie on the probiotic. We've been using one for Tess that our vet recommended, Petdophilus. It's a live culture and you get it at a health or vitamin store.

Good luck on the dose increase/
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Thanks, everyone. Here is recent feedback regarding dose increase questions I've asked.

5/5, Sienne and Gabby
It looks to me like Jinx decided to bounce off of the blue numbers on 5/3. It can take up to 72 hours for the bounce to clear. Unfortunately, you need to just wait it out.

5/4, Ann & Tess
It can take up 6 cycles for the dose to stabilize the shed. After that you can increase the dose. We usually do .25u increments.


Considering these comments, does everyone still agree with a .25u increase tonight? According to the protocol, I agree he needs an increase. I haven't done it yet, though, based on these suggestions.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Also wanted to add that most of his nadirs have been above 300. So if I find the consensus to be that he needs a dose increase, do you all think it should be .50u (per the protocol).

Julie and Ann, about how long did it take for the probiotics to take affect? I'm going to pick up some Pet Dophilus tonight and will order some Fortiflora to have on hand just in case. I'm wondering if I should get another prescription for what the vet prescribed me for his loose stools, to take care of the problem in the short term.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Just took a 228 BG at +6. This is confusing... Could the drop be related to dehydration from loose stools over the past day?

I know I'm asking a lot of question (2 others before this post). Thanks again for all the help everyone.




Joe
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

sienne's right about the bounce from the 194 on 5/3 (and she knows a lot more than me so i would defer to her if there is ever a disagreement in advice!) - and today mid-day is 72 hrs since that 194. usually we allow 72 hrs for the bounce to clear and see what it does.

it looks like he's resolving it now. so . . . i think you could reasonably increase tonight. if you want to wait one more cycle to see what he does, you certainly could.

if he bounces again from the 200's today, which is possible, then you will want to wait until that bounce clears before you increase.

what time is your shot time tonight, and what time zone are you in? i'll try to get another opinion on it.

the probiotics work immediately. i'd probably try those first before trying another prescription med. if the probiotics don't help, then you could ask the vet.

oh - and the drop at mid-day today is because the bounce is clearing out. it's normal.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Thank-you, Julie. I'm in Denver and his PM shot is at 9pm. Still looking for a local place that carries Pet Dophilus...
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

I don't think the numbers are a result of dehydration. I think you're seeing a nadir! The question is whether Jinx will bounce by shot time. I think it would help to make a decision about dose if you could get a test and post at +11. Please remember to update your subject line with the test data.

If you can't locate the Petophilus or FortiFlora (you generally need to order it online), I've also used ReNew Ultimate. I've found it in the refrigerated supplement section at Whole Foods. You use about 1/3 of a capsule twice a day.

If Jinx is prone to tummy problems, you might also want to try a novel protein. Venison or duck may help. You may want to avoid fish and beef since many cats have allergies to those foods.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Hey Joe! Tarragon had the same issues when we switched to wet food. He was put on metronidazole (flagyl) off and on for three months. That helped a lot but the loose stools would come back a few days after the pills were done. He is now on flagyl as needed. Whenever he has a loose stool, we give him a pill and it clears it up. He takes about one a week. Our vet said that some kitties tummies just can't handle the wet food, most like IBD and they have quite a few on the pills long term.

One thing that has helped is adding physillium to his food. We buy it at Walmart and it's around $3 for 100 capsules. Be sure to get the 100% physillium. Most of the others have sugar in it. http://mobile.walmart.com/m/phoenix...um-Husk-Fiber-Therapy-Capsules-100ct/16940559

We open two capsules per one can of Fancy Feast. The probiotics others mentioned are really good as well. This is just what has worked well for us.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Melissa and Sienne, thank-you so much for the help. I will take his BG at +11 which will be 8pm MST and post right away. If you think you might not be able to get online between 8 and 9pm MST, would you let me know what numbers would indicate not increasing his dose? If you're going to be around during that time, I'll just look forward to hearing from you later. Thanks again!



Joe
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

Joe

It looks to me like he bounced again from the 200s today. I believe he is going to need more insulin but you have to let the new bounce clear first.
 
Re: 5/6 Jinx AMPS 402

sorry you didn't get an answer - although he bounced so we'd have had you wait.

hang in there - you'll want to increase by .25u when this bounce clears.
 
Julie and Marjorie,

Thanks for checking in. Are there guidelines on what constitutes a "bounce" and how that affects the dosing protocol? Or can you just tell by the disparity between the pre-shot numbers and the nadir, that he still hasn't adjusted properly to 1u?



Thanks,


Joe
 
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