I follow suggestions, directions, I trust, I feed Corky the lowest % in carbs of Fancy Feast foods, decrease or increase when he needs it, I test him every 2 hours without fail, threw away a half full bottle of ProZinc, started a new one, I document every meal he intakes and I still can't get it right? Corky's Bgs to me, they don't add up. Can please someone help me understand this? I bend over and backwards for him, yet it seems not to be enough, I am frustrated, confused and in pain for him. Please make me understand what could be going wrong. I have no, no money for Vet exams, he is very very healthy otherwise, is disconcerting even mad at times not seeing results, What am I missing here??
Hi Maria, I know it’s frustrating to not see greens but you are doing a great job. It is a normal thing to adjust dosing up and down as his needs change. He’s consistently getting blues which is still a great thing and you are doing great making sure he stays safe!
Maria, this is not anything you are doing wrong! You are NOT to blame. Nobody is. It’s kind of disappointing that we didn’t see some better numbers today, but we need to be patient. Hold on a couple more cycles and if he’s still all blue we will increase. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it doesn’t mean anything other than Corky is keeping us on our toes. Cats have their mysterious ways of surprising us and perplexing us! They really do. I do not think that there is anything physically wrong with Corky so don’t worry about that! It’s just that Corky is not a machine who does everything in a linear fashion, but a dynamic living being….. and a CAT to boot (just ask a vet… cats can be very perplexing.) We will do this together, Maria. Please stop blaming yourself every time something goes wrong. You have been so “put down” by other people in your life — and blamed for things that are not your fault— that it’s a natural reaction, but it is NOT true. Corky is going to be fine. His numbers are NOT bad at all, so let’s keep our perspective. He only needs a little tweaking most likely. Okay?
Thank you for your encouraging words, but I do feel defeated at times for him, and this is a rough month for me, my oldest daughter's birthday, two of mu granddaughters, and no one to say happy birthday to, and then Corky, He and Coco is all I have and we have worked so hard making him better, I do nothing, nothing at all but take care of my Corky to get better, and my Coco, I have a really hard time, with this, I want him to get better so bad it hurts. I know I must sound like an exaggeration, but some days I feel so inadequate with him, thank you for being here with me, O guess I'll be alright.
Believe me, I understand. I often have the same feelings that you describe. It’s really not fair though — or even reality. It’s emotional overload. You are not inadequate. You are just not able to control every single variable— that is just life. I wish I could. Let’s keep on working to help Corky and keep things in perspective. Remember how he was when he was first diagnosed and how he is now! You have both come a long way!
I will never stop trying Corky depends on me to get better, and he knows, he loves me, it's incredible that the moment he sees me with the monitor he sits exactly how I can get his ear with his paws in front, it's adorable. He knows I love him
The hardest thing for me to deal with was when the realization hit that Gabby wasn't going to go into remission. I worked diligently with a cat whose numbers tended to drop hard and fast and who had an early nadir. The more time I spent here, the more I realized that some cats never go into remission. In Gabby's case, she was so ill when she was diagnoses, there probably weren't very many beta cells that were functional left in her pancreas. I just did my best to keep her regulated. I'm not saying this is the case for Corky. But it may help to step back and look at things from the perspective that Corky is more than his numbers. Is he doing all of the things a cat should do? Is he playful? Is he happy? Is he eating and using the litter box?
When my first cat was diagnosed I cried almost every day because she wasn't responding like I thought she was supposed to. Other cats on the board seemed to be doing much better and it felt like I was failing her. I tested all the time, kept track of every bite she ate and was terrified of doing something wrong and hurting her. It was driving us both nuts. One time it looked like she wasn't breathing and I panicked, screamed her name pretty close to her head, and she shot straight up in the air like a cartoon cat. I had literally scared the pee out of my precious girl. It finally dawned on me that I was treating her more like a science project, nearly forgetting how she had charmed me as a tiny orphaned kitten and claimed my heart. The last thing I wanted was for either of us to be unhappy. That was 20 years and a bunch of cats ago. I've learned that remission and perfect numbers are a nice goal, just not always realistic for every cat. I figure as long as my cats are eating well, maintaining weight, using the litter box, have decent numbers and good coat condition, and most importantly are healthy and happy, we're good. With no rhyme or reason, sometimes they test high, sometimes too low to shoot anything. Fluctuations in blood sugar are normal so I no longer stress over them because tomorrow will be different. You need to be kinder to yourself because you're not doing anything wrong. I took a quick peek at your spreadsheet and it looks fine to me. I cannot even imagine testing every 2 hours but think that it must be very frustrating - so much about treating diabetes is. What's really important is that Corky is healthy and happy and if you're accomplishing that, you're doing great. Try not to get so caught up in the little details that you lose sight of the big picture.
That is what upsets me the most he is doing all of these things, he is happy he plays tag and resells with Coco they chase each other, he eats well, well hydrated, plays with toys that have catnip spray, he uses his scratch pad ,he is happy , is ME that's not happy, perhaps you are right he will never go on remission, but he also doesn't stay long in greens and when he reaches two or three greens, he hikes up, I suppose I can't make him do what he can't do for now, as long as I do what's right for him and not faulter in his care, that should give me hope he will be ok for a long time, even with the Pretty Litter, his urine is perfect. I just worry a lot about him I guess, thank you for all of your support, Corky or myself, would have never gone this far, if not for you guys. You guys inspire me, help me, calm me, teach me, thank you so much
I am so glad I am not the only obsessing!! I've never been sick neither any of my children or family members, aside from Alzheimer that my dad had, so I have had a very difficult time dealing with Diabetes totally unknown to me, and because there's so much time in my day I do nothing but the normal things around the house which is spotless, Corky and Coco have my undivided attention, and yes there has been times that Corky is sleeping so deep, I shake him ( I am actually laughing as I type this) to make sure he's breathing, it's like your first child. It's crazy, but if we need to increase his dose it's just fine with me, because I know all of you have my back..
I am like Deborah, when my cat was first diagnosed, there were people joining the group I was in at the time and their cats kept going into remission in about two weeks. It kept happening. I was depressed. I wasted six months and let my cat go into DKA which nearly killed him. I had finally come to the conclusion that he was not a “normal” diabetic cat. When I finally found out he had acromegaly and that he was probably never going to go into remission, I was just happy if he was happy and I could get him into better numbers— even if it took 42 units of insulin to do it. Corky sounds like a super happy cat. Be happy. And yes, we are here to help.
Well…. you have been hoping to see green. Since you are able to carefully monitor him through the cycle, I would shoot the full dose.
You have carbs available if you need them, I can check in with you at 8 o’clock and afterwards. We can see how he is and make decisions about feeding. Isn’t he late for his shot now? 30 minutes late?
Please keep checking in here with me Maria. Make sure Corky eats a good dinner and do your usual +2 test and snack. I am wondering if I need to come back here at 8:00 or closer to 8:30 because Corky’s usual shot time is 6 p.m. Eastern and it was closer to 6:30 when you said you were shooting. Please let me know because I will make a point to be back here on the Board for you.
What kind of medium carb food do you have? That would be something with 10-14 percent carbs. Also, what kind of cat food do you have that has around 8/9 percent carbs?
I fed him @ 9:30 with 74 bg 1/2tsp of Chopped grill 3%, I re tested @ 10:00 he's @ 66 I fed him 1/2 tsp Medley Florentine light broth I think is 10% and 2 tsp of Chopped Grill 3%, I am testing again right now 10:30PM 71BG, what follows, continue checking? or?
I’ll try although he left some of the last meal I have a really bad headache, did I do the right thing here?? 11:00PM 96 I guess this would be the first time that I can go to sleep with this BG? or is not safe yet?
Looks like a nice cycle. No steep drops. No drama. Corky is well fed and you didn’t give high carb that we have to worry about wearing off. He should be safe tonight. He is not dropping. All good. Good night
Ha! You didn’t believe me that he was okay and going up! But I am very glad because you verified this and you could see how he operates. Look at what you learned last night. I know you thought he was going to tank.
Yes Tank with lid closed. Everything went just fine, but was great to have you close, to ease my nervousness, I remembered as he's BG went lower the lesson that Red taught me to do without HC, and it worked. Corky woke up pretty good this morning, let's see if there will be surprises today, so so strange that when he hist greens, HE HITS GREENS! I am really glad I made the choice to test every 1/2 hour, when he hit 74 if I would have waited to 10PM he would've tanked. So everything turned out awesome, without you I would have been going crazy. Thank you Suzanne What does the yellow OTJ emoji means??
Cool, I think we should start a new Thread! calling it Understanding Cycles 06/16/24 - "Follow up from Make Me Understand" @Red&Rover
yup!! mission to accomplish tonight!! although he tested 172 @ 4:00PM . What would you say about my post # 37 I would like your approval, or if you suggest a different title
No. Whatever you want to call it is fine- although the thread title should always have Corky’s name in it.
