7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68 PMBG 91

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Julie + Muffin

Julie + Muffin

Member Since 2013
Hi Everyone
Looks like Purrcee is going to make it through the 14 day trial period which is absolutely so exciting for both of us. There is one thing for sure. This could never, never have happened without YOU! All of you! Each and every one of you who stopped by to help, answer my 911s when I was in a panic, answer all my ? which I'm sure were sometimes stupid and just generally being there for someone in need. I do believe Purrcee would not have survived his diabetes without you. Many vets do not promote home testing and I feel he would have been hypo more often than not had I not been advised my you. My gratitude is beyond measurable and I would like to send you many thanks, hugs, and good wishes to you in all you do.

I guess I have one more question and that is what do I do next to keep Purrcee safe. I know I will continue feeding low carb canned food and he will never be able to indulge in dry food. Do you have some guidelines that I can follow to ensure his health?

Hugs!!!

Yesterday:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=100463
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

First we party. Chef Rusty is cooking up a storm and Wink is on the Kitchen Krew. ;-)

Tips to stay OTJ

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.
Click to expand...

ETA: I forget to say you can sleep in now and sorry, but no more pajama parties. :sad:
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

Julie:

I would take a look as some of the SSs of kitties that have been OTJ for a while. Libby's Lucy and Jill's Alex are ones that immediately comes to mind. Alex's SS may be one that is particularly useful since Alex has gone OTJ three times. Both Libby and Jill are very experienced caregivers so their cats' SSs provide a good deal of insight.

I think it's important to get BG checks every so often especially if your gut is telling you that something isn't quite "right" with Purrcee. BG levels are an incredibly good early warning system that there's an infection or inflammation brewing. (I wish I could remember who it was who's kitty was OTJ and numbers spiked. The kitty needed a dental and afterwards, numbers went back to remission range.) As you'll see on Lucy and Alex's spreadsheets, weekly testing isn't necessary forever. I do think it's hard for new OTJ kitties' caregivers to give up frequent testing. On the other hand, I wouldn't completely stop testing since tests are an invaluable means of monitoring a cat's overall health.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Purrcee is still diabetic. Remission doesn't equal cure. However, he's a food controlled diabetic. Keeping him on the straight and narrow when it comes to carbs will prevent your renting another condo in LL. We have a member who's nephew was cat sitting for her after her kitty went OTJ. He fed her cat dry food. Needless to say, we had a temporary visit back in LL. Not everyone is so lucky in that their cat is able to go OTJ a second time so low carb, canned food is a forever commitment on your part.
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

I think you're thinking of Rhiannon's Shadow, Sienne. Just wanted to stop by and say congratulations! Job well done! Enjoy the falls and get some sleep!
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

The lessons I get from looking at Jill's Alex SS are do not become complacent with the testing and know your cat really well.

No indication of how often Jill was testing after the first OTJ on 10/31/06 until he fell out of remission on 8/4/09.
Again, no test data after 2nd OTJ on 10/20/09 until he fell out of remission for the second time on 3/17/10.
Alex has not been back into remission since. Jill does manage very well to keep Alex in those blues & greens most of the time.

You test to your comfort level. Besides, that opened vial of test strips will expire at some point. ;-)

There is something here I like to call CTWS or "Caregiver Testing Withdrawal Syndrome". ;-) It's hard for the bean to stop testing until they reach their own comfort level.
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

Thank you all for all the advice. I think it's going to take me a long time to not test Purrcee regularly. I was going to start with at least 2 x a week and see how he does at different times of the day, with or without food. Reaching that CTWS as Deb put it will be challenging. I will never ever give him dry food again although I was wondering about the no carb food Young Again. Is that a possibility? Do cats really like it? It's expensive that's for sure but I'm willing to try it as treats if advisable.

I will check out the SS of other kitties that have been successful OTJ as Sienna suggested.
I printed out Deb's tips and will keep them out forever!
I am going to email my vet and let him know what is going on. I'm trying to find a way to tell them had I followed their path he probably would be dead but how do you tell someone that! I am very disappointed in them in that I had given them the SS link and asked them to monitor but never heard a word.

Thank you for being so awesome. You have no idea how close I was to throwing in the towel because of some other major stresses I am involved in. You actually saved Purrcee and me and I am forever grateful.
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

Julie:

How I would handle the vet is to drop a note as an update on how Purrcee is doing. In fact, I'd treat it as though you meant to do this on a regular basis given how concerned you know Pepper's vet is about Purrcee's wellbeing. And you wanted to let the vet know how excited you are that Purrcee is in remission. If you're dropping off a note at the office, you can always attach it to the article I'm linking below as an FYI for your vet's interest.


I don't see any point in trying to prove to your vet that you did the right thing -- especially if the vet is an "I'm the doctor" type. You'll still need the vet for things other than Purrcee's diabetes. It's best to keep the relationship cordial and professional. There are a lot of vets who regard sites like FDMB as made up of crazy cat ladies. However you can slip in that you found the site to be a resource for people who have a diabetic cat (but don't try to threaten the vet's competence), you may go a long way to helping other caregivers that use your vet. You can even offer to talk to other clients in the vets office who may be scared when they hear about their cat being diagnoses. You can offer to reassure those people that FD is a manageable illness and not a death sentence. That would do a huge amount of good!
 

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Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

It was Donovan who was OTJ and then his BGs spiked over 200; turned out he needed major dental work. I was still testing him several times a week. A few weeks after surgery, his BGs returned to normal.

MJ

p.s. I am giving Zero Carb Young Again to my foster sugarcat, and the civvies eat it too.
 
Re: 7/22 Purrcee OTJ Trial Day 14 AMBG 68!! Thank You What n

CONGRATULATIONS JULIE AND PURRCEE ON COMPLETION OF YOUR OTJ TRIAL. We wish you many, many years of being insulin free.
 
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