Atlas by the Numbers

[Beth & Atlas]

Weight...today we officially crossed the 12lb mark! Atlas has officially doubled his starting weight of 6lbs. We are at 6.5 units BID, which is technically down from the 8 units BID we started at when he came back into foster care.

We continued with the food "prescribed" and the dry food as prescribed in order to restore the much needed weight and muscle. His strength is back and he jumps, runs, and plays. This evening he was even chasing my female civvie around the house in a "serious" round of trap and hide.

AMps: 454 (pre-feeding)
+2 310 (post-feeding)
+4 92, retest 5 minutes later 122
+6 108
+8 225
+10 367

I am making the official decision to finally begin eliminating the dry food, Purina DM. Atlas has been getting several cans and a cup of dry per day. Tonight we start to cut the dry back. Instead of his evening half cup of dry at the +2 mark, it will be only a quarter cup. He has been allowed to snack on the dry throughout the day/night.

It has been weeks on the Humilin N and at the 6+ dosage. It appears to me that the insulin is doing all it can do. Now, it is time to really evaluate the food and its role in Atlas' recovery. I have chosen to ignore the food issue due to his lack of body weight and surgical recovery.

I realize many here did not understand the challenges that Atlas has faced in his recovery and some didn't "approve" of the protocol I've been using.

Atlas now has the strength to really begin tweaking his BG numbers. One change, one challenge, one thing at a time. This lesson was hard for me to do.


Tonight we begin our final leg of recovery. Normalization.

Purina DM from Binky's charts is fine for diabetic cats. Refer to the charts for the protein and carbs. numbers.

Ingredients are:
liver, poultry by products, meat by products, water, chicken, salmon and oat fiber

vs.

Purina Fancy Feast
chicken, chicken broth, liver, meat by products, fish, and poultry by products

And so our recovery journey continues a whole lot stronger and a whole lot wiser.

 

[kate and lucky]

Hi,
can't see that you've posted anywhere else.
Have you got an ss?

6.5u is a lot of insulin, but then I note you say Blue has been on dry.

Not a fan myself of Purina DM-Not convinced of it's nutritional value. To help Lucky bulk up I fed her freshly boiled chicken. High in protein and negligible carbs.

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

Blue, how is Atlas doing since he dropped low the other night? Did you drop the dose a tad after that?

FYI, while Hills canned DM is not horrid carb-wise, it does not have the best ingredients. The quality of protein is better in FF since chicken is the first ingredient, not liver followed by by-products. And FF is cheaper, I believe.

When I adopted Jeddie, he was on DM and I transitioned him to the FF/Friskies mix that my other cats were on right away. They also get about 3/4 oz each of lightly boiled chicken breast per day too. I feel it ups the quality protein for them - used as treats after testing.

Anyway, he weighed about 8.5 lbs then (last Oct) and has steadily gained weight since, sort of evening out at 12.5 lbs. He is at least part Maine Coon, I think, so that is a good weight. I can still feel his spine a bit. Also, his fur is magnificent now! When I got him his belly was bald, his tail was thin and scraggly and he had no ruff on his neck, just weird tufts that stuck out from his cheeks.

He was also on vetsulin (similar to N) and went OTJ in a few days after I started the transition. He was not getting any dry food though. Just be watchful for dropping BG as you make food changes away from dry and away from the poorer quality proteins. Jeddie is back on insulin now but on Levemir, not vetsulin, and a very small dose (.5u).

I hope you are looking into Levemir or Lantus for Altas. They are really a lot easier to work with - in my experience. Easier to get shallow curves and more stable numbers with less rapid drops and climbs. The dry food will mask those attributes, I think, but as you phase it out you should see better curves.

Sorry about the dust up over spreadsheets on your Health thread. :roll: