OTJ...what next?

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yogakat

yogakat

Member Since 2013
Hello again to all. Coleman and I have not checked in in a few weeks, so here we are with a few questions. First, he seems to be OTJ! He has not needed a shot in over 3 weeks. Before that, he had a shot only once in the 2 weeks before (he got that shot due to stress from being boarded at the vets, I think...could not find anyone willing to care for him at our home). Before I get to the questions, here's his info...I am doing BG only 1xday now as his #s are always around 60-80. He is still eating Wellness Chicken (can) 3xday and I put down a little EVO dry in the eve so everyone will let us sleep. He has not had any keto issues since that very first week of dx. So, here's what I am wondering...

1 - Our feline-only vet said that this is very unusual...he was only dx at the end of November and he was pretty much OTJ by the end of December. Anyone else have it turn back this quick?

2 - I have almost an entire bottle of Lantus left...do I keep it 'just in case', do I just keep it for a little while then donate it while it's still viable or what? For $200+ I would like for it to be used by someone, if not us...but I am scared to give it away this early on.

3 - Is testing 1xday enough since he's always posting good numbers? Can I cut down to less than 1xday?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. And tremendously big hugs to all :YMHUG: for your help and advice during our adventure!
 
I was in the same boat as you with Dusty. He was diagnosed 19 Oct and by 9 Nov he was officially OTJ. I still have a full vial of Lantus and syringes too. I went from testing daily to every other day to currently just once a week with a weight check too. Just hold on to your insulin in case god forbid you need it again, just keep it in the fridg. Some people go with monthly testing but I'm not there yet. I'm still feeding only Fancy Feast and no dry... I know, I get woken up at 2 AM every morning... :shock:
 
You can phase out the blood testing to weekly, or even monthly, so long as you remain alert to other indicators of issues. See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for a list of possibilities. Many of these are questions your vet may ask whenever you go for a routine checkup.

If he ever becomes ill - respiratory, bladder infection, etc - immediately begin glucose testing again as these are notorious for raising glucose. If he also stops eating when ill, test for urine ketones, too.
 
Hi!
So happy for you and Coleman! You probably know this, but just a brief note: (1) Keep an eye on the expiration date of your Lantus vial. (2) Regardless of Coleman's behavior, I would test for ketones on a weekly basis, as some cats mask their serious condition really well. (3) Always, always have insulin in your fridge - window for a second remission closes fast. (4) You might reconsider the dry food at night and leave some canned with water mixed in. It seems that your kitty might be very carb sensitive.

My Pudge is on his 2nd remission. I attribute it to immediate start of insulin (Levemir, in his case) as well as, frequent small canned pate meals (support for his pancreas).

Best wishes,
Sophie
 
sophie said:
Hi!
So happy for you and Coleman! You probably know this, but just a brief note: (1) Keep an eye on the expiration date of your Lantus vial. (2) Regardless of Coleman's behavior, I would test for ketones on a weekly basis, as some cats mask their serious condition really well. (3) Always, always have insulin in your fridge - window for a second remission closes fast. (4) You might reconsider the dry food at night and leave some canned with water mixed in. It seems that your kitty might be very carb sensitive.

My Pudge is on his 2nd remission. I attribute it to immediate start of insulin (Levemir, in his case) as well as, frequent small canned pate meals (support for his pancreas).

Best wishes,
Sophie
Click to expand...
Sophie,
Can you attribute Pudge's loss of remission to anything in particular or did it just happen out of the blue? Just trying to be really careful with Dusty.
 
@yogacat. I'm delighted to hear about your success. My sugarboy Clarence, was diagnosed dec 28/13 and has been on an OTJ trial since jan 18th. I'm hoping and praying he will graduate to OTJ next week.

Your offer to donate your insulin is extremely generous and thoughtful but I do think you should keep it around for at least a while longer. Of course you are right tho, it would be better put to use, particularily someone with limited means.

That brings me to a question...

Being a newbie here, I'm not sure if this has been discussed or not, but wouldn't a donation forum be of help to many people?
 
Hi! Dusty Bones,

please tell your bean that a year after going OTJ, Pudge came down with some bug and stopped drinking, eating, peeing much, and just lay in a closet. Vet never found anything, I syringed water & food but became convinced that he wasn't getting enough nutrients. I didn't want a stomach tube so I gave him about 3 or 5 pieces of dry kitten food. Miracle happened! My dry food addict roused himself & ate the dry, looked for more. Wiped his face with his paw, took a swallow of water... I fed him dry kitten food for about 48 hours before I dared to switch him back to canned low carb pates. By then, his BG level was around 250. After just a few days on Levemir & following a single drop of insulin, his BG dropped to 46 scaring me big time! He's been in his second remission since May 2013. I fed him the dry realizing that he'd probably lose his remission.
Best of luck to everyone,
Sophie
 
Being a newbie here, I'm not sure if this has been discussed or not, but wouldn't a donation forum be of help to many people?
Click to expand...

We've got one of those forums already. It's called "The Supply Closet". Anyone who has excess supplies can post there and ask people to PM them with more specific info.
 
Many thanks to all who posted with suggestions and their own experiences with a fast OTJ cat.

I did a keto test yesterday, negative (woohoo!).

I am going to try to go to every other day for the BG test, tho I'm nervous to test today after not doing yesterday!

Yes, Coleman is really carb sensitive. I put PurinaOne down for him twice (that was what we used to feed) and his levels went waaay up. They hold steady with the EVO, which is only 7% carbs. Okay, I feed the EVO dry for 2 reasons...1 - My husband has to get up at 4:30am and the 2pm wakeups were not working. 2 - the Fancy Feast classics and the Friskies makes another one of our cats throw up...since we have 7 of them it is much easier since we feed 4xday (Coleman's BG will rise if he goes too long between meals) and the Wellness canned is costing us ~ $90/wk. Yikes! (of course, if they weren't so picky we might be able to feed something that didn't cost quite so much).

Any large # multicat households (we have 7) have any money saving food ideas that keeps them all on the same diet but doesn't cost $400/month? I've tried many brands and they'll just walk away.

Also, I printed out a 4-page list of carb and phosphorous appropriate canned foods but I can't find it. confused_cat It's not the Binky list or the Dr. Lisa list...I've looked at them and they do not look like what I printed out. There was no grid or underline for the numbers, just a list of food brands, the flavors, carb %, phosphorous % and maybe something else, each flavor had the info right after it on the same line. Help!

thanks bunches!
 
You can try some of the affiliates at the top of this page or Petco Online like I do. They usually have pet food at 10 to 15% off and you get free shipping with purchases of $49 or more. Plus if you sign up for their Pet Rewards, which is free, for every $100 you spend you get a $5 coupon to use in-store or online. I get my Fancy Feast that way and get free shipping all the way to Hawaii! It beats any price on Fancy Feast here locally. dancing_cat They carry Wellness too!
 
I think you are looking for this post, Shortcut food list- all 8% or less, which lists the foods how you mentioned it. You might want to bookmark it, click on the little "bookmark this topic" at the end of the post, so you'll have it in your user control panel for later. From the UCP, you then select "Manage Bookmarks" to bring up a list of the posts you have bookmarked.

Yes, it's hard when all your kitties are not on the same diet, to manage who gets to eat what. Is there anyway to separate the Friskies/Fancy Feast kitty and feed separately. You are meal feeding, so this might be a possibility if you have a small bathroom for instance. Just a thought.
 
Dusty Bones - thanks, I will look into those...I have pet perks with pet supermarket, but it only helps if what you need happens to be on sale and you have a card...poo

Deb & Wink - THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! yes, this is the list that I wanted...bookmarking and printing now...and, our barfy cat is a grazer and would have to be locked up for a long time in order to eat his whole plate...and since he's king of the house, he won't tolerate that cat(2)_steam ...so, we have our DK, a cat who can't eat the more affordable food, 3 who throw up if there's beef in it, one who doesn't care much for pate, the king who gets to eat on prime real estate on the counter and everyone knows to stay away from his spot, and on and on and on...

in reality, I am just their personal (purrsonal?) assistant who tries to organize their schedules, catalog their preferences and make everything go as smoothly for them as possible...my own life be damned :lol:
 
Thats great news! heres some tips that may help..

Tips to stay OTJ

We say a cat is in remission if the cat can maintain BG levels for 14 days between 40-120 with most of that spent under 100. However, please keep in mind that once a diabetic always a diabetic.

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.

Wendy
 
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