? 8/17 Chispa, 137 AMPS, 66 +2.5; food & dose question

Karen and Chispa (GA)

Karen and Chispa (GA)

Member Since 2022
Hi all -- happy Thursday,

I have a question about proactively reducing the dose for weight loss reasons. Chispa had a vet appointment last week, and one of the things I asked about was her walking on her front "wrists," which she has been doing for many months now. I started her on Zobaline in February and she's been getting Cosequin as well, but I've seen no improvement at all. Some have said it looks like neuropathy, but her BG numbers don't seem high enough to support that, and also that's usually the back legs whereas this is only noticeable on her front legs.

Her current weight is 14.5 lbs, which is 1.5 to 2 lbs more than at any other time in her life. She has been getting 2.5 mg of prednisolone daily for about 2 years for IBD and it's been like a miracle -- her digestive issues totally cleared up, AND she stopped overgrooming (she'd been nearly naked for 7 years before that, despite every test and treatment under the sun except pred, which our old vet didn't want her to be on long term because of diabetes risk). So the pred fixed everything, but that's when the weight gain started. The vet thinks the excess weight could possibly be contributing to the collapse of her ankles and said I could try tapering back the pred to 2.5 mg every other day, which might also help her diabetes.

Here's the question ... I recently reduced her insulin from 2.75 to 2.5 units. She's been going into the low 50s and I've been shoveling 13% food into her as an alternative to staying up all night because I just can't. I'm also, two months after moving, still up to my eyeballs in trying to do my job AND get organized at home, and I'm forced to admit that I am sometimes failing to be as vigilant as I want to be over what and when she is eating. I'm afraid that balancing food and numbers will only get more complicated if I try to put her on a diet so she can lose a little weight and possibly get her mobility back. So the question is, can I preemptively reduce the dose, without her earning a reduction, and then cut back on her food, or at least stop having to feed her 13% to keep her numbers afloat so that I can get things done without worrying that she's going to go hypo while my back is turned?

Sorry for the length of this note but I'm too tired to be efficient.

Thanks so much for any advice.
 
Karen and Chispa said:
Hi all -- happy Thursday,

I have a question about proactively reducing the dose for weight loss reasons. Chispa had a vet appointment last week, and one of the things I asked about was her walking on her front "wrists," which she has been doing for many months now. I started her on Zobaline in February and she's been getting Cosequin as well, but I've seen no improvement at all. Some have said it looks like neuropathy, but her BG numbers don't seem high enough to support that, and also that's usually the back legs whereas this is only noticeable on her front legs.

Her current weight is 14.5 lbs, which is 1.5 to 2 lbs more than at any other time in her life. She has been getting 2.5 mg of prednisolone daily for about 2 years for IBD and it's been like a miracle -- her digestive issues totally cleared up, AND she stopped overgrooming (she'd been nearly naked for 7 years before that, despite every test and treatment under the sun except pred, which our old vet didn't want her to be on long term because of diabetes risk). So the pred fixed everything, but that's when the weight gain started. The vet thinks the excess weight could possibly be contributing to the collapse of her ankles and said I could try tapering back the pred to 2.5 mg every other day, which might also help her diabetes.

Here's the question ... I recently reduced her insulin from 2.75 to 2.5 units. She's been going into the low 50s and I've been shoveling 13% food into her as an alternative to staying up all night because I just can't. I'm also, two months after moving, still up to my eyeballs in trying to do my job AND get organized at home, and I'm forced to admit that I am sometimes failing to be as vigilant as I want to be over what and when she is eating. I'm afraid that balancing food and numbers will only get more complicated if I try to put her on a diet so she can lose a little weight and possibly get her mobility back. So the question is, can I preemptively reduce the dose, without her earning a reduction, and then cut back on her food, or at least stop having to feed her 13% to keep her numbers afloat so that I can get things done without worrying that she's going to go hypo while my back is turned?

Sorry for the length of this note but I'm too tired to be efficient.

Thanks so much for any advice.
Click to expand...
Hey Karen I can try tagging a few members
@Wendy&Neko
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
Thanks in advance ladies :cat:
 
Sorry to hear Chispa has mobility issues. B&B too are hobbling around - both of them get Gabapentin for it. Joint supplements and Cartrophen shots (we don't get Adequan or Solensia here) didn't help. You might want to speak to your vet about Adequan or Solensia. But losing weight does help.

Normally, we do not pro-actively reduce the dose when tapering off pred etc but you have to look after yourself to look after Chispa. :bighug: Also, as far as weight loss is concerned, it's the number of calories that count and not the carb%. She hasn't earned the reduction by try going down to 2.25U. She might just hold it.

Have you seen this section of Dr. Lisa's site dealing with weight loss?
https://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/
 
As Bhooma said, we don't proactively reduce the dose. However, if the caregiver needs to take a break to get sleep or take care of themselves in some way, it's OK to reduce the dose temporarily. Think of it as a vacation from FD stress. And who knows, she might hold the reduction. If not, you increase back up.

Neko got buprenorphine for her arthritis, it was a game changer. I also tried a bunch of supplements, MSM, hyraluronic acid (brand Hyaflex) and Duralactin. The last one seemed to have the biggest impact. Another thing that helped was acupuncture. Neko was also larger. Part of that was Maine Coon heritage, part the acromegaly. Excess growth hormone tends to do that. :rolleyes: I fed her raw, and she seemed more satisfied with less volume of it than her canned food.
 
@Bandit's Mom @Wendy&Neko @Mikanmama
Thank you all so much for your excellent advice and the virtual hugs (boy do I need them). I read Dr. Lisa’s article and bookmarked it for reference … feeling very lucky that Chispa loves her wet food and even welcomes the extra water I’ve been stirring into it since her extractions in February. I tried counting her calories and portioning her food into daily containers of 200 calories but would often run out of food before bedtime, when you really need to make sure they have enough to eat overnight! It seemed like a losing battle and eventually I gave up.

I took this week off from work and enlisted my sister’s help to get everything unpacked and organized. Progress has been much slower than I’d hoped, and I still can’t find the TV remote, but we have three days before I have to start working again on Monday. I’m determined to start the week with an organized work space and everything else that hasn’t been put away can at least go into clearly labeled bins. Once that’s under control, I’ll refocus on counting Chispa’s calories. I talked with the vet about Solensia and acupuncture, but we didn’t talk about gabapentin or buprenorphine. She examined Chispa’s back and legs for signs of arthritis and said that her range of motion was ok and that whatever arthritis she might have was “not bad.” We set up an appointment for acupuncture in a couple of weeks and will try Solensia if that doesn’t help.

I just had a flashback to the last time I brought her in for vision loss … she came home and climbed up on a shlef under my desk that she’d never noticed before, then climbed up from a chair to the kitchen table, which she also hadn’t done in a year or so before that. I had thought it was the “miracle of vision” that inspired these feats of exploration, but maybe it was the gabapentin I gave her before the visit??? I’ll talk to the vet about that and buprenorphine when we go back for the acupuncture.

Thanks so much again, and happy Friday :bighug::bighug::cat::bighug::bighug::coffee:
 
I hope the reduction holds and you can get some rest too.
The other advantage of Gabapentin is that it helps with stress. Bella still gets it every day, and she stopped overgrooming, I am not sure if it's due to her dental and not having tooth pain anymore, or Gaba, but everything improved.
:bighug:
 
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