Theresa W
Member
Izzy is an 11 year old Maine Coon diagnosed in early January. Prior to diagnosis he and his BFF Dash were free grazers on Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Rice as well as FF Grilled entrees. Once diagnosed I switched to what I thought was a lower carb canned food Wellness Chicken (not CORE) and EVO dry. The dry is only for Dash (a dry food lover) and I placed that on the kitchen counter as Izzy is having trouble jumping that high so he could not access it. And I only place 1/3 of a cup out each day for Dash.
I started him on 2 units twice a day. (8am/8pm) He is fed at shot time and then since he has been a grazer, I leave out extra canned food while I am away. Fast forward to two weeks post diagnosis for his first recheck. His BG at 4 hours after dosing was in the high 400s, so not much change. The vet instructed me to up the dose to 3 units per day. I was nervous about the big jump so over the course of a three days upped the dose .25 at a time to reach 3.
At this point made the discovery that the Wellness food I thought was low card was not. Sigh...but that hard lesson led me to the Cat Carb Calculator which has been a godsend. I tried a bunch of different varieties (he likes what he likes) and have found he prefers FF Classics and Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee.
Then I also decided to start home testing just to try and get a handle on things. The following weekend I performed Izzy's first BG curve. The numbers were still high but the curve looked good. A few days later was Izzy's next vet check. I tested him at home and it was 230! The vet did a blood draw and he tested 260 at the office. But the next day she called to say the fructosamine level had not changed much so I she instructed me to bump him to 4 units/twice a day. Again I was weary of making that increase so quickly so I spread it out again.
I tested him 3 days later (Friday) and his BG was 403. But then the following Monday, I discovered something. While he may not be able to jump up to the kitchen counter to access the dry food that I leave out for Dash, I caught him leaping from the kitchen island (which he has access to) to the counter with Dash's food. Immediately, that food went into the cupboard and I will figure out how to get Dash to agree to the wet food diet.
Tuesday I stayed home from work and decided to do some random testing. 5 hours after his dose of 4 units his BG was 180! Then 6 hours later it was only at 275. I was nervous if I should give him his 4 units at 8PM so I called the vet office. My vet was not in but I spoke with another vet and gave the history (high numbers but sneaking dry food then low numbers the next day) and she said to go ahead and give the 4. The next day my standard vet called and said to decrease his dose to 3 units again since perhaps the high numbers were from the food. So I did and now his numbers are wacky again. Some in the 300s, some 400s and one in the low 200s.
I am kind of at my wits end. My biggest concern is these high numbers doing damage to other things. As I have mentioned a few times, he is having trouble jumping. He can manage chair height but you tell his hind legs struggle to make it. I even put a box next to my bed to make it easier for him to access it.
Thanks for sticking with my long history and for any insight that is offered. It truly does take a village with these sugar cats.
Theresa
I started him on 2 units twice a day. (8am/8pm) He is fed at shot time and then since he has been a grazer, I leave out extra canned food while I am away. Fast forward to two weeks post diagnosis for his first recheck. His BG at 4 hours after dosing was in the high 400s, so not much change. The vet instructed me to up the dose to 3 units per day. I was nervous about the big jump so over the course of a three days upped the dose .25 at a time to reach 3.
At this point made the discovery that the Wellness food I thought was low card was not. Sigh...but that hard lesson led me to the Cat Carb Calculator which has been a godsend. I tried a bunch of different varieties (he likes what he likes) and have found he prefers FF Classics and Weruva Chicken Frick A Zee.
Then I also decided to start home testing just to try and get a handle on things. The following weekend I performed Izzy's first BG curve. The numbers were still high but the curve looked good. A few days later was Izzy's next vet check. I tested him at home and it was 230! The vet did a blood draw and he tested 260 at the office. But the next day she called to say the fructosamine level had not changed much so I she instructed me to bump him to 4 units/twice a day. Again I was weary of making that increase so quickly so I spread it out again.
I tested him 3 days later (Friday) and his BG was 403. But then the following Monday, I discovered something. While he may not be able to jump up to the kitchen counter to access the dry food that I leave out for Dash, I caught him leaping from the kitchen island (which he has access to) to the counter with Dash's food. Immediately, that food went into the cupboard and I will figure out how to get Dash to agree to the wet food diet.
Tuesday I stayed home from work and decided to do some random testing. 5 hours after his dose of 4 units his BG was 180! Then 6 hours later it was only at 275. I was nervous if I should give him his 4 units at 8PM so I called the vet office. My vet was not in but I spoke with another vet and gave the history (high numbers but sneaking dry food then low numbers the next day) and she said to go ahead and give the 4. The next day my standard vet called and said to decrease his dose to 3 units again since perhaps the high numbers were from the food. So I did and now his numbers are wacky again. Some in the 300s, some 400s and one in the low 200s.
I am kind of at my wits end. My biggest concern is these high numbers doing damage to other things. As I have mentioned a few times, he is having trouble jumping. He can manage chair height but you tell his hind legs struggle to make it. I even put a box next to my bed to make it easier for him to access it.
Thanks for sticking with my long history and for any insight that is offered. It truly does take a village with these sugar cats.
Theresa
