Advice/update on Cooper(recovering from DKA)

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Marc & Cooper

Marc & Cooper

Member Since 2021
Hi all! My second post here and everyone was extremely helpful on my initial post so figure it’s time to start a new thread to ask this question!

Cooper is now acting more like his old normal self. Is that good or bad? That’s up for debate as he loves getting into mischief .

His BG numbers still concern me. They seemed to start hanging consistently at around the mid-300 levels but today so far they have hung in the low 400s. He’s still testing negative for ketones and I’ve started giving him freeze dried treats to introduce something low in carbs to him.

I’m wondering if at this point I should start switching him over to a complete low carb diet. I know between you guys here and my vet I was told to just feed him what he likes(which has been dry, high in carb food) as with the recent DKA scare it’s important that he eats a lot and gets his insulin but I’m wondering if it’s been enough time to now swap him fully to that type of diet? Thankful for all of you here and for all of the help so far.
 
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Marc & Cooper said:
I’m wondering if at this point I should start switching him over to a complete low carb diet. I know between you guys here and my vet I was told to just feed him what he likes(which has been dry, high in carb food) as with the recent DKA scare it’s important that he eats a lot and gets his insulin but I’m wondering if it’s been enough time to now swap him fully to that type of diet? Thankful for all of you here and for all of the help so far.
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How about starting slowly? Start by offering 25% canned, low carb and see if you can get him to eat it. Crushing up some of the kibble and sprinkling on top may help or there's a powder called FortiFlora that's made of the same stuff they spray on kibble to make it taste so good. If he'll eat the small amount of low carb canned, then go ahead and put down the 75% of what he's eating now. If he doesn't eat the LC canned, go ahead and give him what you know he'll eat but leave the LC down. A lot of us add extra water to it to not only keep it from drying out and getting crusty, but to help add a little extra water into the diet which helps to flush those ketones out.

Marc & Cooper said:
Cooper is now acting more like his old normal self. Is that good or bad? That’s up for debate as he loves getting into mischief .
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It's great that he's acting better! It means he's feeling better! Now of course if he's into mischief making, that may cause you some problems!....LOL
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Are you home all day to test him?,can your fiance test him while you are at work ?, I see on your first post you mentioned she's home all day
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Unfortunately she isn’t able to do the testing or his insulin yet as she is still in the process of getting used to everything with him. She had a pretty big fear of cats.

I’m off and home all weekend this weekend coming up so maybe that will be better to wait for then?
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
How about starting slowly? Start by offering 25% canned, low carb and see if you can get him to eat it. Crushing up some of the kibble and sprinkling on top may help or there's a powder called FortiFlora that's made of the same stuff they spray on kibble to make it taste so good. If he'll eat the small amount of low carb canned, then go ahead and put down the 75% of what he's eating now. If he doesn't eat the LC canned, go ahead and give him what you know he'll eat but leave the LC down. A lot of us add extra water to it to not only keep it from drying out and getting crusty, but to help add a little extra water into the diet which helps to flush those ketones out.
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Thank you for the response! I will definitely try that method! I’ve never changed Coopers food so I’ve never had to slowly adjust and introduce new food to him until now.

I know exactly what that FortiFlora is! My mom had to use that to get one of her cats to eat a special prescription food and it worked like a charm! Never thought about using it for Cooper until you brought it up though so thank you for that as well!

I know eventually I should switch him over completely to an LC diet. How long should I wait for that? I’m actually going to be taken a vacation from work in a few weeks and I’ll be home for 7 days at the end of the month. So for testing purposes that would be great!
 
Marc & Cooper said:
I’m off and home all weekend this weekend coming up so maybe that will be better to wait for then?
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How about trying it in the evening? By starting with a small amount it shouldn't cause him to drop so low that he'd require lots of testing all night but it would start getting him used to the idea of eating canned over kibble.

IF he does decide that canned food is good stuff, you could be more aggressive over the weekend when you're there to test him.

The big question is going to be "will he eat canned food at all?"
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
How about trying it in the evening? By starting with a small amount it shouldn't cause him to drop so low that he'd require lots of testing all night but it would start getting him used to the idea of eating canned over kibble.

IF he does decide that canned food is good stuff, you could be more aggressive over the weekend when you're there to test him.

The big question is going to be "will he eat canned food at all?"
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Yeah, he is extremely picky. I’m hopeful he will like what I try! I’m leaning towards the Weruva brand “paw lickin’ chicken”. The instructions for that say to feed 1 oz per pound. He’s 13 pounds so does that sound about right once he is fully switched to that if he enjoys it?

He has always been a dry and wet food fed cat so I have no idea what the correct amount of strictly wet food is.
 
Marc & Cooper said:
He has always been a dry and wet food fed cat so I have no idea what the correct amount of strictly wet food is.
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A good starting point is 20 calories per pound of ideal weight and then weigh once a week and adjust as needed, but with the recent DKA, you'd want to try for 30 calories per pound...as the DKA episode gets further and further behind him, you'll be able to drop the amount he eats down but it's still too early for a "normal" amount.
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
A good starting point is 20 calories per pound of ideal weight and then weigh once a week and adjust as needed, but with the recent DKA, you'd want to try for 30 calories per pound...as the DKA episode gets further and further behind him, you'll be able to drop the amount he eats down but it's still too early for a "normal" amount.
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Not surprisingly with how hungry he has seemed he is LOVING the LC food. I ended up going with the fancy feast pate’. I’ve started giving him a quarter can of the wet food and still giving him the amount of dry that I have been giving him.

Also, I’m sure I just am over thinking and stressing myself out but his numbers seem to be all over the place. If you look at my SS literally 2 hours ago at his PM dose he was over 400. He is now in the low 200s. I feel like this is not normal at all with how much his levels fluctuate.
 
Have you been able to get Cooper to eat strictly wet yet? I'm in week one with Mocha and at first he gobbled up the wet food (he was a previous high carb dry free feeder) but now he's being fussy. I was so hopeful in the beginning to make a smooth conversion but he's not having any part of that now. I think he's holding out for his old kibble.

I'm hopeful that if I convert him to an all wet LC diet his numbers will begin to come down a bit. Maybe the same thing will happen when you take away Cooper's dry food (and he doesn't sneak into the dog's bowl - lol I saw that on your ss)
 
Mocha's_mom said:
Have you been able to get Cooper to eat strictly wet yet? I'm in week one with Mocha and at first he gobbled up the wet food (he was a previous high carb dry free feeder) but now he's being fussy. I was so hopeful in the beginning to make a smooth conversion but he's not having any part of that now. I think he's holding out for his old kibble.

I'm hopeful that if I convert him to an all wet LC diet his numbers will begin to come down a bit. Maybe the same thing will happen when you take away Cooper's dry food (and he doesn't sneak into the dog's bowl - lol I saw that on your ss)
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I have not fully put him on the wet food diet yet as many people here and my vet recommended to let him keep eating the dry food until we are sure the ketones are far into the past. He does still gobble up his wet food when I give it to him with no issues and I’m hoping that will remain as usually cooper is extremely fussy too. He was also a dry food free feeder for the first 3 plus years of his life up until now.

I can already see an improvement in coopers numbers now that I’m only feeding him the dry food at insulin times and other feedings are either the LC wet food or freeze dried treats.

Yeah he’s so hungry he’s willing to eat the dogs prescription food now I feel so bad for him and I hope he doesn’t think I’m starving him. I’m excited to see how his numbers react to an all wet food diet when I do switch him completely.
 
Hi Marc, I’m very pleased to see you are testing daily for ketones! Well done. It is so important to keep a tract of them after DKA.
How much are you feeding Cooper? You mention he is always hungry. Is he under or overweight? Or just right?
Looking at the SS, I think you need to increase the dose of insulin to 3.25 units.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Marc, I’m very pleased to see you are testing daily for ketones! Well done. It is so important to keep a tract of them after DKA.
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Yes! Trying to make sure we keep the ketones away and can eventually switch him to a full wet LC diet.

How much are you feeding Cooper? You mention he is always hungry. Is he under or overweight? Or just right?
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I am currently feeding him 1/4 of his dry food to him at dosing times. Then at +6 I am giving him a half a can of wet LC food. Whenever I check his BG he gets 2 freeze dried treats. He is currently at 12.7 pounds and the vet said that is where he should be.

Looking at the SS, I think you need to increase the dose of insulin to 3.25 units.
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I don’t currently have the half unit syringes. I am planning on getting them once I run out of the current syringes which are full unit ones. I thought the 3 units was actually starting to work and then yesterday he got into my dogs prescription food which caused him to jump to his highest post DKA number which scared me a lot.
 
Marc & Cooper said:
am currently feeding him 1/4 of his dry food to him at dosing times. Then at +6 I am giving him a half a can of wet LC food. Whenever I check his BG he gets 2 freeze dried treats. He is currently at 12.7 pounds and the vet said that is where he should be.
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I’d add in a snack at +3 each cycle as well if you can. Otherwise it looks good.


Marc & Cooper said:
don’t currently have the half unit syringes. I am planning on getting them once I run out of the current syringes which are full unit ones. I thought the 3 units was actually starting to work and then yesterday he got into my dogs prescription food which caused him to jump to his highest post DKA number which scared me a lot.
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You can still give 3.25 units without the 1/2 unit markings…I did for years. And I’m sure my eyes are older than yours ;)
You just need a magnifying glass and good light.
Mentally divide the space between the 3 and 4 units into 4 and go up a 1/4 of the way between the 3 and 4 units and there you have 3.25 units.

His numbers are still too high on the 3 units so he does need the increase. Don’t worry about that black BG…you know what caused it.
You are doing well
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You can still give 3.25 units without the 1/2 unit markings…I did for years. And I’m sure my eyes are older than yours ;)
You just need a magnifying glass and good light.
Mentally divide the space between the 3 and 4 units into 4 and go up a 1/4 of the way between the 3 and 4 units and there you have 3.25 units
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I actually got some half unit marked syringes! Now the full unit ones were 6mm in length and the half unit syringes are 8mm in length. Is that ok? That shouldn’t hurt him right? Can I still stick the needle all the way in?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Yes the 8mm syringes are fine.
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Great! I am going to start him on the 3.25 units tomorrow morning! He goes in Wednesday for his final curve at the vet before I start just doing them at home. Do we know how long I should wait before trying to switch him to a full LC wet diet? I’m assuming his numbers are still going so high because of the dry but I know we are keeping him on the dry until we are sure ketones are out of the picture.
 
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