OK that's good to know. When Martin was diagnosed HyperT, was he put on a prescription food to help treat it?
Regarding his current diet, you said he gets half a can AM and PM with his shots, right? And he weighs in at 9 pounds.
I think part of the problem may be that he might need a little more food per day. There are various formulas I have seen on the board and off the board that calculate how much to feed, but the one I like is very simple:
20-30 calories per pound of ideal body weight, per day. That will keep a healthy cat at it's ideal weight. The range of calories is dependent upon a few factors, one of which would be level of activity. Anyway, by this formula, if there were nothing wrong with Martin, he'd need at least 180 calories per day to stay at 9 pounds.
From what I read about HyperT, the major issue is that cats with that have a drastically increase metabolism rate, which would translate to a big increase in caloric needs. The medicine is probably doing something to handle that aspect of the condition I would think. Also, as we all know, a diabetic cat needs more food than "normal" because their body can't get a normal amount of energy out of a normal amount of food. Their cells can't absorb glucose like they are supposed to, so in effect, we have to add glucose by feeding more (and then use insulin to help the cells absorb it), and all the glucose that can't be used ends up staying in the bloodstream or spilling over into the urine and then showing up on our meters.
So, in Martin's case, he's got two "reasons" for needing more food. One, the diabetes because he can't metabolize the food effectively, and two, the HyperT which makes him have an increased rate of metabolism.
A can of Friskees Liver and Chicken is listed on Binky's charts as having 172 calories, which is a little less than the 180 that formula says he'd need. No big deal. But throw in the diabetes and the HyperT, and I'm betting that he needs more food per day.
One of the things that sticks out on his SS is that he gets huge swings in BG from such a mall dose of insulin. I am thinking that if you could feed him that same half can at AMPS and PMPS, but then more food mid-cycle, his curves would improve. If you fed him a snack at +3 or +4, you might be able to stop him from going so low in the middle, and that might help him not bounce back up so high at the end of the cycle. There is a possibility that this would increase his insulin needs, but that is no big deal as long as you can make his curves not so extreme. It might stop or slow down the roller coaster he's riding.
One thing I know nothing about is "what is the appropriate dose of methimazole"? I have no clue if it is determined by weight, or by some follow up tests that get run after diagnosis? And I also don't know exactly how it works once you give it to him, or if the timing of the pills matter in relation the to meals and the insulin injections. Do you know, or did the vet explain what it does? Has the dose always been 2mg?
The other thing I am really not sure about is what the HyperT condition (increased metabolism) does to how he would metabolize the insulin....if it would mean that he absorbs it faster than "normal", or if the methimazole would slow the metabolism rate down so that there would be no effect on the functionality of the insulin?
Don't know if any of that helps or just makes things more confusing...
Carl
