7/29 Freya AMPS 400+

[Tim & Freya]

Freya just started her treatment this week. My main stress point is that she's barely eating. She refuses any of the lower carb pates, I've tried 10+ different flavors/brands at this point. She's lost 1.5 lbs since June. Per the vet, I've given her some of the gravy lovers fancy feast she usually would eat even though it's higher carb content. She ate some of it at least, but it still seems like not enough.

No vomiting or obvious signs of nausea. No diarrhea. She's not peeing huge amounts or having incontinence like she was a couple weeks ago. She seems to be acting fairly normally still. Vet said her electrolytes were good and also that she didn't have active pancreatitis. Gave her some transdermal mirtazapine this morning to see if that'll help her appetite.

We put on a FreeStyle Libre 3+ yesterday to get constant monitoring instead of the every 3 hours I was doing with the ReliOn. The Libre (and blood test at the vet) seems to have results about 50 points higher than the ReliOn but it also caps out at 400.

We're starting off at 1U of Lantus at 7AM/7PM. Last night with the Libre she saw a drop down to ~230 at the midpoint, then bounced back to 400 by the time for her morning shot. It's been just over 3 hours since then and she's reading at 392.

 

[Karolina & Nestle]

Welcome to the forum, you're in the right place and hopefully soon you'll get some advice from the senior members.
I hope sweet Freya eats better soon. Have you tried adding any food toppers to entice her? It could be any LC snacks/treats that she might like.
I'll tag a few members so they can take a look at hopefully give some advice.
In the meantime we're sending healing vines
️️️️️️️


@Wendy&Neko
@Marje and Gracie
@tiffmaxee
@Christie & Maverick

 

[Dyana]

Here's your thread from the Main Health forum for continuity.
She could still be bouncing from the 135 she had on Sunday?

Have you tried any toppers on her food? Mine love the Marie's Magical Dinner Dust.

 

[Tim & Freya]

I've got the pate version of the gravy lovers coming today and will try that for her dinner. She also seemed to tolerate the FF chopped grilled feast for lunch. We'll see if that sticks as something she wants.

She's still hovering around 370-400. Only difference I can think is that I injected to the side of her stomach area where the other shots I did closer to her shoulder. I'm sure I didn't get a furshot, but maybe it's not absorbing quite the same where I hit it? I'll switch back to her shoulder area tonight.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Lantus is a depot style insulin. It takes 5-7 days when you first start to fill the depot and see what a dose can do. We highly recommend patience pants here!

It is very important that the spreadsheet reflect the doses and numbers you have seen, especially those lower numbers. Such as that 135 mentioned above and in your first post. We determine how to change the Lantus dose based on how low it takes the cat. Also include the Sunday numbers, if that was the day she started insulin and the skipped dose that evening? For a skipped dose, put either NS for no shot or Skip in the units column so we know you didn't just forget to enter it. Sounds like you aren't sure what you dosed Sunday morning? If so, just put your best guess with a "?" after it, and explain what happened in the Remarks column.

Are you using the Libre going forward, or just for now? The signature should reflect which one you primarily use. The Libre and blood glucose meters can read differently especially in lower numbers, so it's good to know which device the readings come from.

Have you tried ondansetron with her? If she's not eating the amount she normally does, that can be a sign of nausea.

Lastly, take a look at our Sticky Note on Dosing Methods on the top of this forum. We'll need you to decide which of our two dosing methods will work best for your lifestyle and your goals for Freya.

 

[Tim & Freya]

Updated with previous days. I'm not sure how useful they are because it wasn't good a good experience with the pen and I messed up by retrying when I didn't think any got in. It's very possible I gave too much the morning of 7/27.

For now, I'm using the Libre. I may spot check with the ReliOn to check discrepancy though. I also ordered an AlphaTrak since the vet was getting on me about using a human monitor.

I'm not sure she's nauseous, since she will eat her old gravy lovers and she also really wanted her old dry food when I offered some. I think she may just be very stubborn to having the new food.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Thanks for the additional data. It gives me a better idea of where the depot is at. It's also not uncommon that cats have a stronger reaction to the insulin for the initial doses, like what you did see. If Freya is bouncing, it's possible you'll see some better numbers tonight or tomorrow, or six cycles after the last blue numbers.

Is the vet OK with you using the Libre? It too is a human meter. The AT test strips are outrageous, you don't really need to use it unless you want to spot test some numbers for the vet.

If Freya is insisting on high carb food, and/or dry food, then the dosing method you have to follow is the Start Low Go Slow Method. At least until she decides the low carb food is acceptable. Cats!