Day 15 no insulin, but on the rise

[dirtybirdsoaps]

Well, we're on day 15 with no insulin but his numbers seem to slowly be rising Ive cut back the Young Again dry food to 1 TBS twice a day (yes sad, but he loves the dry food) Ive been making sure his wet food has been extremely low carb 0%-3%, but mainly 0%
I am so excited that he hasn't needed insulin and I'm trying to stop it from rising. Ive been trying to play with him a bit more but it doesn't seem to be helping. I don't want to lose his progress nailbite_smile

 

[Deb & Wink]

Well, I took a good long look at Hidey's SS. I see that you are feeding some good foods, and keeping great notes on that in the remarks column. Thanks so much for doing that. I reviewed the food choices and they all look good to me.

Yes, I see that Hidey's BG readings are creeping up a bit, with a couple of readings in the 130's. My suggestion would be to keep a close eye on him and just like we suggest in the OTJ trial instructions, if the BG reading is in the blue range, >99 on a human glucometer, then you want to test at +3 or +4 hours to see that the BG level is going back down after the food has been processed. This lets us know that Hidey's body is producing some insulin on it's own. I do see those drops with a couple of tests you have done in the +3 - +4 timeframe, so it does look like his body is producing some insulin to help him out.

He's reminding me a bit of my Wink, on his first OTJ trial. His numbers crept up and I got uncomfortable with the higher numbers so I put him back on a tiny dose, 0.1U for a bit. Turned out, he was getting another of his UTI's and had a bout of diarrhea which seemed to be the cause of the bump in BG readings for my Wink.

There is a possibility that an infection or inflammation of some sort, maybe hidden like teeth, could be affecting the BG readings. I think that is much more likely than the food you are feeding. You are there with Hidey. Any possibilities of infection/inflammation going on?

How about added stress? Changes in the household such as a new cat, even a neighbors cat that causes Hidey to get his hackles up could be a possibility. Have you changed your daily routines? Cats hate change and can get stressed from that and stress can raise the BG levels.

So, 2 choices for you as I have said.
1. Keep a close eye on the BG levels and test around +3 to +4 to see if the BG levels are down after food.
2. Put Hidey back on a tiny dose of insulin, maybe 0.1u of the Prozinc.

My recommendation is for #1.

 

[LindaMS]

Didnt you say Hidey needs dental work? Or am i mixing him with another cat?

 

[Deb & Wink]

Good memory Linda! Yes, she did say that Hidey has a dental appointment coming up on 4/17.

If it looks like Hidey's BG's are going up too much before you can get him in for that dental in a couple of weeks, then it may be time for a tiny bit of insulin. Still recommend holding the course for now, maintain your testing regime and reevaluate when you have more data or the BG readings get worse.

 

[BJM]

The nice thing about Prozinc is you can wait for shootable numbers, as well as dose by drops of insulin.

If he goes up over 200 mg/dL, you may want to try dosing by drops.

 

[dirtybirdsoaps]

Thank you everyone for the responses. Ive been trying to hold off on insulin because Id love for him to stay off it, thats why Ive been sticking to VERY low carbs. I have a few foods that are around 5% carbs but Im closely monitoring them to keep his numbers below the shoot mark.

Yes, he does have a dental on the 17th, and Im thinking that may be the cause (another reason Id prefer not to shoot). I know he does have one bad tooth for sure, not certain about others. He had a cleaning last year and needed 3 removed. When I took him in for his curve about a month ago, I asked about his teeth and she said one was bad and that he needed a cleaning. When I take him in on the 17th Im also going to tell them if he has any that look like theyre getting bad to take them out. I dont want him to keep going through this. Luckily he seems to be eating ok, but it does seem like he walks away sooner from his bowl than usual so Im wondering if that tooth is getting worse. Id love to get him in sooner for his dental but thats the soonest they had. Maybe I'll call and see if they can get him in sooner if they have a cancellation.

I like the idea of waiting till the 200 mg for me to give him a dose, Im hoping to keep him below that before his dental. Any watnings I need to give his vet for the dental?