Brody hopefully headed to OTJ

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BrodyCat

BrodyCat

Member Since 2011
:shock: I rarely post on the boards (but I read them) and it has been over a year, at least, since my last post. Brody was diagnosed almost two years ago (Dec. 2011) and worked his way up to 4 units of ProZinc twice a day. After switching him to all canned food he went down to 2 units twice a day. I started doing home testing and my own curves and after a mild hypo incident, he moved down to 1 unit twice a day. Well, now he is on .5 unit twice a day and BG numbers have been in the 72-120 range. Today he was 94 (at +4.5) and 78 (at +7). His preshot was 104 this evening. His highest number on .5 unit was 137 and that was half an hour after feeding him and preshot six months ago. Today his high was 104 for his +12 evening preshot (but before dinner).

I am hoping that soon he will be able to come off the insulin. What numbers should I be looking for? I'm unable to do daily testing due to my work schedule, but I do have a meter and try to do curves or mini curves when I am able to on the weekend. Sorry that I do not have a spread sheet. Maybe when grad school is over :YMSIGH: Hopefully by then he will be OTJ though.

Thanks,
Mickie (servant)
and Brody (the cat)
 
It sounds like he is headed in the right direction! In general, we consider a cat in remission when they range from 40 - 120 with the mjority of the time in double digits (off insulin). A cat is considered regulated if they are in the mid 200s at preshot and in double digits at nadir (on insulin)

Did you shoot .5 for 104? That's a non diabetic number. Even PZI users with lots of data rarely shoot under 120-150. Do you get nadir numbers? I'd be worried that he was in hypo numbers at nadir (40 and under) and then be bouncing back up.
 
What kind of meter are you using? the pet meters (Alphatrak) normal is 80-160 and human meter normal is 40-120 like Sue said. If he can stay in normal range for a week, or drops low the low end of that range then reduce the dose.

Wendy
 
I have an AlphaTrak meter. And I have some questions:
When not getting insulin, when does the BG spike after eating? Or does it go down?
When do you do your pre-shot test? Before they eat?
Do you test them, feed them, then shoot? Or do you test them after you feed them, but before the shot?

Using the AlphaTrak meter, what range would I would looking for in order for Brody to not need insulin? For example, if his pre-shot was 110 and after eating he stayed in the 90-120 range, would he be ok? Or would I still want to be giving him 1/2 unit? He is on ProZinc and all canned food (Wellness Turkey).

Thanks for your replies. Without this forum I would be feeding him the vet recommended dry food and he would be on 4 units twice a day - ugh!

Thanks again,
Mickie and Brody
 
These OTJ trial instructions might help.

Here are the instructions for an OTJ trial:
  • Test at your normal AMPS and PMPS times. Feed multiple small meals throughout the day as much as possible (small meals are less likely to overwhelm a newly functioning pancreas). The morning test is now called the AMBG. The evening test is now called the PMBG.
  • If your cat is green (0-99 mg/L human meter, 0-130 mg/L pet meter, 0-5.5 mmoL) at your normal test times, no need to test further until the next "PS" time, just feed small meals and go about your day. If the numbers are blue (100-199 human meter, 130-230 pet meter, 5.5-11 mmoL), feed a small meal and test again after about 3 hours. Food raises BG's. So if the number is lower 3-4 hours after a meal, then the pancreas is working!
  • After 2 weeks, if everything is looking good, we have a party! And boy, do we party hearty. :cool:

Sometimes, the trial doesn't work the first time and we have to give a little more support by starting the cat with a tiny dose of insulin again. I had to do that with Wink. We simply start the cat back on a tiny dose of insulin to support the pancreas with healing for a bit longer. Our goal is a strong remission and it's better to be safe now then sorry later that you rushed it. With just a little more time we will probably get that strong remission we are looking for.

If the pancreas is working, the BG will go down by around the +3 hour mark, which is why you want to test then and also have the before food test, just like you would if you were giving insulin.

Pre-shot test is always before they eat. Whatever was your normal shot time, that is your new AMBG/PMBG test time.

Test before you feed, for that new AMBG/PMBG test. Think of that test as if you were still giving your cat a shot, but needed to skip. The +3 test is only needed if the cat is in the higher range, see above for values depending on meter type.
 
Thank you for the information. My vet was wanting to keep him at 1 unit even though during his curve he was dropping into the 80's and slightly lower. His last curve on just 1/2 unit of ProZinc his was nadir was 72. His PMBG last night was 110 so I did not give him any insulin. At +2 he was 112, +3.5 he was 96, +4 he was 91 and this morning before he ate he was 115. So it looks like maybe his pancreas is working? Should I be starting an OTJ trial?

I really appreciate all the help and if I continue to ask questions I'll try to get a SS set up to make it easier for everyone.
Mickie
 
On starting an OTJ trial, the suggestion is maybe. It's up to you. Since you are using an Alphatrak for testing, those numbers are all in normal non-diabetic cat ranges. It might be something to consider.


Would you please add some data to your user control panel, profile tab, edit signature? Like your name, cat's name age and sex, insulin used, diagnosis date, meter used, any complicating health conditions your cat Brody may have. This will show up at the end of all your posts and be quicker for us to see and help us to help you better. It only takes about 2 minutes. Thanks.
 
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