Introduction for Oreo and me

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Ben and Oreo

Ben and Oreo

Member Since 2022
Hey my cat Oreo was diagnosed very early last month and put on 1 unit of lantus at the time. Since then it’s been an adventure (one way to put it haha) shes had a close call with keytones and a few bouts of pancreatitis. Through all of that I have been reading past threads to help guide me through. She’s currently eating a mix of tiki cat Liao/after dark and fancy feast pates and her numbers although needing work have progressively gotten better and she’s doing much better since diagnosis. Up until this point she’s pretty much been on start slow but now that I have a grasp on ear poking and she’s more acclimated to it (though it still tears my heart out to do it and she’s not a huge fan on the lancing) I plan on beginning tight regulation though I might still be a little conservative at times as I live on my own and work full time.
 
Hi and welcome Ben and Oreo

I'm glad you are here, congratulations on all you've already accomplished being able to test regularly is great and one of the best things you can do to help Oreo,.

Being a single parent of a diabetic cat and having a full time job can be tiring sometimes so if you know of someone who can give you a hand once in awhile a friend or a vet tech that you can convince to help you in case something gets in the way it would be good if you get them on board early, also having an automatic feeder with a timer can be helpful if you need to make sure Oreo has some food mid day

As soon as you can set up a spreadsheet for Oreo so that everyone can have an idea of how he's doing and better help you are the related links and if you need some extra help in setting it up just let us know and someone will help you with it

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-use-the-spreadsheet.241653/
 
Ben and Oreo said:
Hey my cat Oreo was diagnosed very early last month and put on 1 unit of lantus at the time. Since then it’s been an adventure (one way to put it haha) shes had a close call with keytones and a few bouts of pancreatitis. Through all of that I have been reading past threads to help guide me through. She’s currently eating a mix of tiki cat Liao/after dark and fancy feast pates and her numbers although needing work have progressively gotten better and she’s doing much better since diagnosis. Up until this point she’s pretty much been on start slow but now that I have a grasp on ear poking and she’s more acclimated to it (though it still tears my heart out to do it and she’s not a huge fan on the lancing) I plan on beginning tight regulation though I might still be a little conservative at times as I live on my own and work full time.
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Wow Ben, it sounds like you are handling things well despite Oreos issues! Hopefully others will weigh in with help, but as Veronica said, the spreadshhet and posting in the insulin threads are the keys to the kingdom! Im a solo cat caretaker as well and my guy has similar issues to Oreo. Its a tough haul but it can be done. The members here are helpful and encouraging. Good luck to you and Oreo.
 
Hi Ben and welcome to the forum.
Would you mind putting ketones into the signature please?..as it can make a difference when helping you to know there have been ketones in the history. Thanks.
 
Spreadsheet is up I left out much of last month for now really it would just be a ton of red, black, and occasionally yellow on one unit and I did add keytones to the signature though I believe the ketones came more as a result of the pancreatitis and other factors around that event as I have spot checked her urine but have not caught any since. Her last severe pancreatitis event about a month ago produced blood work with higher lipase than the machine would read but was completely negative for keytones, during that one I had to syringe feed her for about 3 days. At that time she was constantly dehydrated and underweight. She's now right about where she needs to be with weight and hydration. She's also much stronger and energetic. Something I've also been wondering about is often times when she's not feeling 100% her breathing after eating begins to sound like a snore/squeaking sound and eyes will also water a bit. When she was first diagnosed it was one of the most prevalent symptoms (loud enough to keep me awake at night) but has greatly diminished as her general health and numbers have improved, never really been sure what that is and the vet just writes it off as probably a sinus infection but I'd think that it would be a constant breathing noise if that were the case and wouldn't have stuck around for several months. Has anyone here observed a similar phenomenon, maybe its just a pain response to the pancreatitis.
 
Thanks for updating the signature with the ketones.
No I havent heard that sound sorry and can’t imagine what it might be.
Sheba used to get pancreatitis but didn’t make any noises with it.
 
Ketones are the result of an infection or inflammation being present + not enough calories + not enough insulin. The pancreatitis may have been part of the issue. Also, lipase levels are not a reliable indicator of pancreatitis. A Snap or Spec fPL is the definitive test. The Snap test can be done in the vet's office and it's much like a pregnancy test with a "+" or "-" result. The Spec is sent off to a lab. If Oreo is eating well and feeling better that's a positive sign.

If you're following TR, remember to raise Oreo's dose. You increase the dose every 3 days/6 cycles if the numbers aren't in a desirable range.
 
Yeah she has had a great apatite all month (to the point it cant be satisfied easily *sigh*). With dose raising I held her on the 1.25 until we started getting better with the ear pokes. Currently with the 1.5 she's within the 3-5 day range for an increase but it also calls to hold the dose for slightly longer if they start seeing nadirs in the 100's, last nights pmps was 217 and then todays amps was 318 which makes me wonder if she might have bounced around the high 100's around +2. I know its an assumption because I don't have a test for that point in time. I'm not sure how accurate the libre was but something similar on the 10th and 14th of this month occurred. Given all of that if I was gonna raise her dose to 1.75u tomorrow wouldn't be a bad day because I'll be home all day. Would that be your recommendation Sienne?
 
I think your plan sounds fine.

Also, do you know how to tag someone? I just happened to stop back. If you "tag" a member, we get a message in our "Alerts" box. (Look at the top right above of the board. There's an Inbox and an Alerts box.) If you type an "@" sign (without the apostrophes) and start typing the member's name (e.g., @Ben and Oreo) a list of members with matching names appears. Click on the person you want and they will then get a message in their Alert box. The alert will allow the member to easily locate your request. You should now have an Alert in your box.
 
@Sienne and Gabby (GA) I didn't, I haven't really ever used a forum. Raised her up but I'm considering giving her a break on testing through this cycle she was over it this morning, first test she's growled through and she usually doesn't ever growl or hiss.
 
Good job with the tagging. The only downside of the process is that the member you're tagging has to be logged in to get the alert. Many of. us get an email alert if you sent an Inbox message which is one of the differences between the Inbox and Alerts.
 
Ben and Oreo said:
she's not feeling 100% her breathing after eating begins to sound like a snore/squeaking sound and eyes will also water a bit. When she was first diagnosed it was one of the most prevalent symptoms (loud enough to keep me awake at night) but has greatly diminished as her general health and numbers have improved, never really been sure what that is and the vet just writes it off as probably a sinus infection but I'd think that it would be a constant breathing noise
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I'm not sure it has anything to do with diabetes but what you describes sounds like when Babu-Chiri gets a sinusitis flare so yes as the vet said it could be related to his upper respiratory system ( his nose and respiratory conduits ) it could be related to an allergy or sinus inflammation (sinusitis), it could be a mild one so you just hear it when he eats or drinks water since is when he struggles the most to breath and that could be the reason you don't hear it all the time,and it could last a long time till what ever is irritating him goes away or the inflammation goes away
 
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