Hello to all from Wynken

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Cara and Wynken (GA)

Cara and Wynken (GA)

Member Since 2012
I am so glad to have rediscover this message board. My name is Cara, and I have an aging population of kitties that I rescued in the late 90s and early 2000's. They are my life. I have lost 3 of them in the last year or so (stroke at 19, carcinamatosis (cancer everywhere) at 16, and liver failure at 17). I do all I can for these kids, who really are like children to me, as I never had kids.

My sugar Cat Wynken was diagnosed about three years ago. He has been the best diabetic patient! I almost feel guilty about how easy everything is with him, having read about the various issues that people have had. On the other hand, while I did many things right after he was initially diagnosed, I NOW wonder if I shouldn't have been doing more to keep his blood sugar under control, all along…

Wynken is a 15 pound guy who was was born in Sept 2003. He and his littermate, Blynken (girl, 6 pounds - and not diabetic!) are completely white and congenitally deaf. They were born to a feral mother who I had spayed, and found homes for the rest of the litter, but not these two. These two were special and I loved them when they were tiny. Once I realized they were deaf, in my mind there was no good enough home for them, where I was SURE they would be kept safe. And I wanted them to be kept together. It's hard enough to find a home for a cat, much less 2 deaf cats... So I've had them since they were weaned from their mother. Wynken has been a tremendous joy to me. He is a quiet, profound thinker who stares right into your soul. His "baby sister" is a complete spazz with one brain cell, but of course I love her too.

Wynken had one other issue, when he was about 5 years old, he started to have periodic urinary blocks that didn't respond to any medication or diet changes. So he had a urethrostomy and pees just fine ever since. . The next issue didn't surface until he was 9, and I noticed him being lethargic and drinking a lot and peeing a lot. I worried about his kidneys, at the time. He then had what I learned later was a keto-acidosis event & was hospitalized... . The diabetes diagnosis caught me by surprise, and like many of you I went into major research mode. Kibble went away. Free-feeding went away... I learned to give shots, take blood sugar & have been feeding exclusively high protein wet food in measured portions at approx 7am and 7pm for three years. We use pro Zinc insulin and his current dose is 2u, given right after he starts eating.

WHY WE'RE HERE: I am NOT happy with his blood sugar levels at all. His curves have stopped making sense... I want to move toward tight regulation (now that I realize what is possible!!) and stop messing around with the 12 hour thing. I have no idea if it's possible for a three-year diabetic to go OTJ, but even if not, I just want him down below 150... Which I haven't seen in ages. After years of this twice daily routine, I am a bit afraid to start giving insulin at different times, but he is an ideal kitty to try this on, so good about EVERYTHING! I will be reading and posting!

Thanks for reading..... Cara Madee
 
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Larry, thanks! I just followed the link to the spreadsheet that is used. So I see I will need a google account (which I will initiate or reactivate if I ever had one) and also need to be on a PC which I don't have at home, only my iPad. I have lots of data though so I will fill it out tomorrow from my work PC. Interpreting his results is absolutely what I came here for. ☺️

As far as food, their whole lives, Wynken and Blynken shared a plate. Since diabetes arrived, it is a morning and night offering of a combination of 2 wet foods... They eat it immediately until it is gone, 99 percent of the time. (As far as I can tell they always share pretty equally, or at least both keep eating until the plate is clean. He is more than double her size... Maybe he always eats a little more! ). When I feed my cats (they all eat twice daily, mainly due to trying to manage Wynk's diabetes) I am opening multiple cans of food and some is shared with other cats who eat in a different room) but this is the jist of what Wynk and Blynk eat, in 2 large equally sized portions of about about 5 ounces, each:

I always add 1/3 Wellness "grain free" turkey or chicken

The other 2/3 on the plate varies, but it is always throughly and equally mixed with the Wellness:
Either of Natures Variety Instinct rabbit, chicken, lamb or venison OR
Ziwipeak lamb or venison OR
Tiki gourmet Carnivore flavors & occasionally the Tiki chicken, the salmon or tilapia

So it's always 2/3 of one flavor plus 1/3 Wellness turkey or chicken

I hope that all makes sense. Feeding my cats is a an elaborate ritual for me, and I always mix, remove any veggie chunks (peas or carrots) and rinse the gravy from the cans with a little water from my hot water dispenser at my sink and add it and stir... They seem to love the foods and the consistency.
Cara
 
Welcome back to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
 
Thanks BJ! check to all of the above... I think I just need to get the dose and the timing correct... To get Wynk back to being regulated. I appreciate you pointing me back here!
Cara
 
It would really be helpful to see some of the numbers he gets - numbers before the tests and then in that low point of the cycle - 5 to 7 hours after the shot.

ProZinc is a flexible insulin that can be dose in different ways. You can dose 11/13 or 13/11 if his numbers are higher in the am or pm. You might also be able to give it every 8 hours. That takes a lot of data, as you want to shoot only when the number is rising, and you need to be able to test often to be sure he is in safe ranges

If you could put your numbers in our spreadsheet, we may be able to help with his ranges. Yes, it's a google document so you have to be signed in to Goggle. It can be used on your IPad. I think you need Goggle drive and the Goggle document app. You might post on the PZI forum to see how others are doing and to check out their spreadsheets.
 
So frustrated right now because I wnated to share Wynken's blood glucose numbers... But the only PC I really have access to (to fill out the spreadsheet) is my PC at work. SO I re-activated my google account (had forgotten password because I never use it) but when I went to click on the link for the spreadsheet, my company's security poilcy says the site is "forbidden". GREAT (not)! I have all of Wynk's numbers in an excel file I have been keeping and that I send to his vet. I wonder if I could post that, somehow?? (I know it is not the standard format, so maybe too much of a pain?) If that won't work, I will try again with my iPad tonight by downloading the suggested apps... BUT the apple store an I don't get along all that well. (sigh)
 
Computers cam be so frustrating. The problem with the Excel file is that people have to download it to your computer each time they need to see it. If you use the Google doc, you can just share it with anyone with the link. I have an Ipad and yes, it is a bit of a pain, but it is possible to get it up using Google drive and google sheets. If you go to the thread we have for spreadsheets, it does give specific instructions for using with a tablet.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
 
Thanks, Sue - I understand. And I do want to be on the "same page" as everyone else and use the correct format. I will follow the iPad instructions and hope the apple store lets me actually download the apps I need tonight!
 
I am having a lot of trouble with the SS. I have a google account and downloaded the "Drive" and Google Sheets. However, when I click on the link for "US spreadsheet Template for Pet Meters", my iPad just goes into load, load, load mode... never showing me a file. I have tried 3 times today, using Verizon and using Wifi at home and at work. Option 2 in the instructions also assumes I can even GET the template. Which I CAN'T! So very frustrated... At least my kitty is doing well, but the last 2 curves (this past weekend) were between 204-478 (highest and lowest value). Help?
 
Any help appreciated. If someone could email me the template, maybe that would work ? I think there is a little plus sign on Google Drive where you can upload a file?
 
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Cara

I set it up for you and google emailed the SS link to your email address above (which you probably want to go back and edit your post and remove your email address). Please let me know you received the link.

Once you do, if you have any problems linking it to your signature block here in FDMB, please send me a private message as I will get a quick email notification and can be on faster than I was tonight.

If you have an older iPad that doesn’t allow the latest software updates, than the instructions might not work for you. I’ve run through the directions again on my iPad and they worked just fine. But anything else you need help with SS wise, please just send me a private message (to do that, click on “Marje and Gracie” to the left under Gracie’s picture and then click on “start conversation”.
 
Marje, I could not have done it without you.... Thanks again! I think (hope) I made the link and will now go let everyone know, in the PZI forum...
 
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