Lu Ann & Tracy ?

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Hi!

HOME AT LAST!!! :-D

Tracy took off Friday morning, my flight was last night (Saturday) at 5:30. From Tracy's post, I think they nixed Yosemite for the sake of getting home and calling the trip over! She should be home tonight. I got home about 1:30 this morning... ugh!!! SOOOOOO glad to be home - Grayson is too! My sleep patterns are totally toast, so my plan was to get in bed early tonight... 6:30 eastern time comes a lot earlier than 6:30 mountain time... and they might actually expect me to accomplish something tomorrow at work OTHER THAN telling everyone about Grayson's trip! :o :lol:

Hopefully we'll see some changes in the weeks ahead. They say 7-70 weeks, so nothing to be expected too soon... but I have to tell you... Grayson's eyes are not saucers any more. I've seen the pupils dialated to 50%, 30% and even almost slivers! I don't think they've done that in some time. Maybe caused by pressure from the tumor on the optic nerve? Not sure, but I'm good with it!

Will keep you all tuned in... but for now, I'm heading home to crash. Gonna spend part of tomorrow w/ our IT guys and my dead laptop! (I know, I sound like a broken record!).

Thanks for checking in on us!!!
 
Welcome back! Glad you are home safe and sound. Get some sleep!

You mean 7-10 weeks right? Not 7-70? And I think you mean pupils constricting? Getting smaller? That is odd that they were so dilated (large) before. I don't think that would e caused by pressure on the optic nerve. Pressure there would cause partial field blindness. Maybe loss of vision causes dilation because the eye/brain is perceiving some light and trying to make it possible to see more? That's is just a guess. Did he seem to have vision loss before?
 
I WISH it was 7-10 weeks, as I'm not terribly patient, but you read correctly - 7-70. Based on the others... Punkin is seeing marked reductions - and he was done in September; Tigger was earlier this year, and he's already less than half of his former insulin dose (which was a MAJOR reduction!).

Good to be home, but forever reminded that my pets aren't good housekeepers while I'm away! :lol: Cleaned up a little yesterday (enough to make it tolerable!), went to a friend's for a b'day dinner (hers), then popped into work to post here before heading home & to bed. GOT to get in bed earlier tonight! :shock: A friend offered to buy me a Coke this am, apparently I looked like I needed one! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
OK - well, that sounds like my sister's situation. She was never diabetic, but all the other symptoms of acro can take months to a couple of years, I think, to fade. It's just a weird way to put it instead of "up to 16 months" or something similar.

Ah, Coke. There are some times when I just crave the stuff, but I try to avoid it because of the high fructose corn syrup. I'd take a coffee over coke though for being tired.

Keeping paws crossed that Grayson (and Leo) don't take 70 weeks to see major improvements!
 
Glad to hear the two of you are back home again. I hope that you see signs closer to 7 weeks than 70 :-D .
 
Thanks Heather - me too!!!

Sheila - I've always loved the smell of coffee - grinding, brewing, etc... but never liked the taste. By the time I'd mix enough stuff into it, I might as well drink the high fructose corn syrup! :lol: And I've always loved the "bite" of a Coke! Although limiting the quantity has been very beneficial over the years. Both from the dental cleaning time to the excess weight attributed to it. (and it doesn't help that I haven't been swimming 6 days a week like I used to!).

Gonna throw this on a post in health... but if any of you guys can recommend a food that will be beneficial for IBD and is low-carb, I'd love to know!
 
I was able to get to Ft. Collins and meet Lu-Ann and the incredible Grayson while they were here. It was fun to put a face with the names (of course, we have Grayson's picture, but not Lu-Ann's). I also hope that the results come sooner rather than later. The more cats that do this, and the more owners willing to do this, the easier it will be for the ones that follow. Thanks, you guys!
 
Raw food. Barring that, a novel protein food they have not had before. And maybe salmon oil. There are some studies saying it can reduce inflammation. Stay away from any of the Rx foods designed to "help" - all they do is help the pet food manufacturers.
 
And if you can't do raw, get as close to a pure meat diet as you can. I found "Grain Free" is generally a marketing gimmick. However Merricks BG did work and seems to be free of veggies. For ibd my first choice is poultry. For ckd, ibd, and low carb, Merricks BG Turkey fits the bill.

Fancy Feast did not work and seemed to be about as bad for ibd as anything from Hills. If Grayson is intolerant of poultry, then you can try the novel proteins. For my 18 yo I'm feeding Merricks BG Turkey mixed with Beechnut turkey or chicken baby food (cuts the phosphorus and sodium a bit) along with added taurine and a phosphorus binder. It's given her a new lease on life, now more than 14 months after the vet gave her only weeks to live. It seems for her ibd was a bigger concern than ckd. I asked the vet if the food could be a problem, and she bald faced lied about it, and said no it couldn't be the food.

And the vet also said should the kitty ever eat again she could only have Hills k/d. :roll: Couldn't be more wrong, kitty survived by passing up the k/d and stealing Chip's m/d, until I had to take her(and him) off that too. I suspect the plan was to kill off the old girl before I discovered that all along it was the food that the vet was selling causing most of her problems.
 
That's what I was afraid of!

He's been eating, almost exclusively, FF Classics: Chicken, and Turkey/Giblets. Beef doesn't work well for him. He loves seafood flavors, but I limit that. I guess it's time to expand my horizons! Really wish we could do the diet change free from diabetes, but I guess that only works the first time (before insulin started).

Thanks... looks like a trip to Petsmart or another source is warranted! Dogs will be crushed if they have to go! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
My aunt fed both her cat FF for years. One of them clearly has IBD and both have symptoms of low digestion (loss of enzymes) with oily coats, dandruff and pretty severe weight loss. They have been tested for everything. I have been telling her to change their diet for at least 3 years and I have given her enzymes to add to their food. I got her to a mixture of wellness and another canned food, but she recently went back to FF because it's "just easier". And her male cat is now on depromedrol shots every 3-4 weeks. Sigh. When I get home, I will pick up some of that Merrick if I can find it and see if I can get her to use it.
 
Thanks - They actually did a test at NCSU vet school to check Grayson's enzyme levels. My dog Murphy had Maldigestion (Malabsorption?) issues, and had to have Pancreazyme (enzyme) added to her food 15 min before eating. Of course she was eating dry, which probably didn't help! With her skin condition, after trying every med and shampoo, I changed her to a wheat-free "Natures Recipe" - both Venison & Veggetarian varieties, and the stinky, itchy, scaley skin issue went away! The vet was totally surprised that my food change made a difference! Clearly diet has SOOOOO much more to do w/ a pet's health than most of us ever realized!
 
Lu-Ann posted some great pictures of their SRT experience here:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=75611
There's even a picture of Lu-Ann, Grayson, Sue (Oliver) and I when we met for lunch on their last day in Colorado. Grayson is a very handsome boy and he has the brightest and most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen. I think we all did a great job of handling the heat of the day while dining out on the patio.
I can't wait to hear how Grayson progresses over time.
 
Thanks Marcy! II think Grayson is pretty handsome too!!!)

Marcy, Sue, and Grayson were the real troopers though... Since it was too warm to leave Grayson in the car, and he wasn't welcome inside the restaurant, we all sat out on the patio. It was warm... maybe 95 or 100 degrees... and they visited with us (without complaining) for nearly 2 hours! Yes, it was warm... but the humidity is considerably less in CO than it is in NC, so I was very comfortable in the shade of the umbrella. I have to say, the climate in CO every time I've been there, summer or winter, has been WONDERFUL!!! But not to get too spoiled...I was reminded of life with humidity as soon as I got off the plane! :lol:
 
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