Possible remission? So confused!

[Candy&Company]

Hi, totally confused and still need to get my SS TOTALLY updated. *sigh* But here's the summary of Fena for the last 12 days in SS, and more below.

Her last vet curve they suggested 3 units, up from 2 - it worked for a good while, then her numbers started coming down so I decreased per .25 units (starting Dec 8th) until now, as you see on the sheet. In general she just kept responding well and falling. Sometimes I had to reduce a lot more than .25 as it seemed liked she got a LOT more sensitive to the insulin?

Anyway, here we are, now...

So... I'm not sure what to do other than monitor? She didn't want breakfast this morning, but she's eaten A LITTLE since then... not sure why she's off her food, but she has been since yesterday morning along with her brother (non-diabetic, different story) - so been trying to coax them as much as I can into eating.

She still gets 3.5 tablespoons water per meal, all left overs at night get 4 tablespoons water - she still gets 1/8 Miralax in the morning and night, plus 30 days of Fortiflora (along with her brother).

The Forti is giving her more regular BM's, more bang for her buck so to speak, and the Mira is helping to keep it soft so the constipation doesn't get hold of her again. She's been on Forti every day since Nov 29th.

Otherwise she's been ok, a bit more tired than usual but nothing too worrying - as for me, I am worried, both for her and her brother heading into this holiday stretch which means no vets except the ER. :/

Wanted to get some opinions? I had read that after a bad enough hypo they could be more sensitive so I stopped all shots, and to give her ears a rest I stopped testing too for a few days. I hope it didn't hurt her, but it let me focus on her brother who is a whole other ball of wax. *sigh*

Oh I've also only been feeding her THE lowest carb cans I have, the ones under 5% - I have a range from under 5 up to 10, but only been giving her under 5 since the 18th, to try and keep her BG low.

Any suggestions?

 

[Bear & Lora]

Wow! I'm not sure why but I think your thread has been missed. I'm tagging the regular members that have helped me so much. @MrWorfMen's Mom @Kris & Teasel @Djamila @Rachel
Try putting a question mark in your post in the prefix spot and tagging absolutely helps when you are having a situation.

Those green numbers are beautiful and I hope she is heading for diet controlled remission.

 

[Rachel]

Oh my gosh, Candy! I'm so sorry...I completely missed this post. I have no idea how. If we ever don't answer you after you see some posts coming up, please do feel free to bump your thread or tag us. It's rare we miss something, but it's happened when we're all really busy and it's never that we just refuse to answer...we honestly just miss it somehow! Thanks, Lora, for the tag!

First off, how is her eating now? Is she eating okay? Showing interest in her food? Acting nauseous at all? Have you tried different foods or things like putting parmesan cheese on the food or adding some tuna water? Or heck you mentioned the forti flora...if you put that on her food will she eat it?

Yes, a bad enough hypo can cause them to be far more sensitive to insulin and CAN on occasion sort of "shock" them into remission (for any lurkers out there we would NEVER RECOMMEND THIS APPROACH. Remember that hypos can be extremely dangerous and this is NOT ever the way you want to try to cure your cat. It can cause lasting damage). Fena seems to be in greens lately...I would like to see her numbers over the last few days if you've got any. I would definitely monitor for now...if she starts getting into higher numbers and isn't eating, that's a tricky situation and you want to be aware of it ASAP.

Again, I'm so sorry we missed your question! Trust me, it was just a mistake.

 

[Djamila]

I wonder how we all missed this post? So strange.....?
Anyway, Candy, that hypo cycle is scary! It's lucky that you caught it and she was able to recover from that kind of overdose, as that's the type of thing that really can take a cat, or leave them with long term damage.

To anyone lurking - this is one of the reasons why using the spreadsheet regularly is so important - it gives us as caregivers a reference before we give a dose, so that on those overly exhausted mornings, we can see what the last dose was and use that as a guide and safeguard to avoid errors in dosing.

A serious hypo like this can often lead to a few days of apparent remission, followed by a slow rise back into diabetic numbers. So I second Rachel's suggestion to continue testing over the coming days/weeks and keep an eye on the numbers. I would also say to keep an eye on her overall health to see if there are any long term impacts from the hypo - coordination, vision, appetite, etc. and take her to the vet if anything seems off.

Fena was already nearly in remission before the overdose, so I don't think the overdose shocked her into remission as much as it just shocked her. Since you were testing and intervened, hopefully that will soon be a distant memory and she will simply continue on in the direction she was headed (remission).

And for Candy (as well as anyone else), if you ever post and it doesn't get a response, it is absolutely fine to tag some folks, or to bump your post - no one gets missed on purpose!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

I'm glad the others weighed in. That overdose aftermath was really scary!!

 

[Candy&Company]

Wow! I'm not sure why but I think your thread has been missed. I'm tagging the regular members that have helped me so much. @MrWorfMen's Mom @Kris & Teasel @Djamila @Rachel
Try putting a question mark in your post in the prefix spot and tagging absolutely helps when you are having a situation.

Those green numbers are beautiful and I hope she is heading for diet controlled remission.

Oh that's okay, I understand! I didn't even think to tag anyone or anything, not sure why, LOL. Just been an emotional roller coaster lately. Thank you!!

 

[Candy&Company]

Oh my gosh, Candy! I'm so sorry...I completely missed this post. I have no idea how. If we ever don't answer you after you see some posts coming up, please do feel free to bump your thread or tag us. It's rare we miss something, but it's happened when we're all really busy and it's never that we just refuse to answer...we honestly just miss it somehow! Thanks, Lora, for the tag!

First off, how is her eating now? Is she eating okay? Showing interest in her food? Acting nauseous at all? Have you tried different foods or things like putting parmesan cheese on the food or adding some tuna water? Or heck you mentioned the forti flora...if you put that on her food will she eat it?

Yes, a bad enough hypo can cause them to be far more sensitive to insulin and CAN on occasion sort of "shock" them into remission (for any lurkers out there we would NEVER RECOMMEND THIS APPROACH. Remember that hypos can be extremely dangerous and this is NOT ever the way you want to try to cure your cat. It can cause lasting damage). Fena seems to be in greens lately...I would like to see her numbers over the last few days if you've got any. I would definitely monitor for now...if she starts getting into higher numbers and isn't eating, that's a tricky situation and you want to be aware of it ASAP.

Again, I'm so sorry we missed your question! Trust me, it was just a mistake.

It's okay! Thank you for reminding me, I don't know why I didn't - everything's just been kinda... off for me, since I almost killed her. *sigh*

She's eating a lot better now! I've been mixing in some of the 5-10% carb food, in with the 0-5% stuff to see how she does - not surprising, the more carbs the tastier she finds them. I'm not sure though if that's what's been elevating her BG into the blues...? (SS updated). I've had to still entice, chase with the bowl, use sprinkle cheese, etc. but she's getting back to normal, for her, eating/finicky wise.

Not acting nauseous thankfully, but she HAS been perkier than I've ever seen her - big bright eyes, zoomies (which was once in a blue moon for her before recently but now it's been a couple times since the OD - running, talking out loud, playing with toys, etc.

The Fort is a weird story... her brother Mao got prescribed it at the vet awhile back since he was having diarrhea from the Clavamox he was on. Fena somehow smelled it on his food, refused her bowl and started stalking his so I thought, huh. Called the vet, asked if it would help her with her on again/off again constipation and they said it SHOULD help and would be worth a try, so I got her her own box of it. Then? She doesn't want it! LOL.

If she could shove Mao out of the way, she'd eat his whole bowl.. but once she had her own, she was back to her "eat a little/walk away for a bit" routine. So I started mixing 75% of a pack into her food, then sprinkling the other 25% (eyeballing) over the top and that seems to work better for her.

That's... kind of scary, how many possible outcomes there are to an OD, I had no idea. All I was thinking at the time was, "OMG NO NO NO NO NO NO" then all the poking, she was growling, combative so I took a risk I know, in stopping everything for a few days - but then greens hit me and I didn't know what to think?

K I'm definitely into monitor mode now and again, to everyone, no worries on missing my post, it's all okay!!

 

[Bear & Lora]

Oh that's okay, I understand! I didn't even think to tag anyone or anything, not sure why, LOL. Just been an emotional roller coaster lately. Thank you!!

Your Welcome. Christmas time can be great but it also adds more to our plates. I ride the same roller coaster frequently.

 

[Candy&Company]

I wonder how we all missed this post? So strange.....?
Anyway, Candy, that hypo cycle is scary! It's lucky that you caught it and she was able to recover from that kind of overdose, as that's the type of thing that really can take a cat, or leave them with long term damage.

To anyone lurking - this is one of the reasons why using the spreadsheet regularly is so important - it gives us as caregivers a reference before we give a dose, so that on those overly exhausted mornings, we can see what the last dose was and use that as a guide and safeguard to avoid errors in dosing.

A serious hypo like this can often lead to a few days of apparent remission, followed by a slow rise back into diabetic numbers. So I second Rachel's suggestion to continue testing over the coming days/weeks and keep an eye on the numbers. I would also say to keep an eye on her overall health to see if there are any long term impacts from the hypo - coordination, vision, appetite, etc. and take her to the vet if anything seems off.

Fena was already nearly in remission before the overdose, so I don't think the overdose shocked her into remission as much as it just shocked her. Since you were testing and intervened, hopefully that will soon be a distant memory and she will simply continue on in the direction she was headed (remission).

And for Candy (as well as anyone else), if you ever post and it doesn't get a response, it is absolutely fine to tag some folks, or to bump your post - no one gets missed on purpose!

Yeah I've since been reading even more than ever before about bad hypos, and it just scares the crap out of me. Going through it once, with that low of a number, was bad enough but now I know it could've been sooooo much worse (besides her dying I mean), aka, the possible long term damage.

I have my notebook, which isn't a spreadsheet, granted, but in it every day I list her doses, times, test results, food given, how much eaten, when finished, etc. My problem, I think was that I didn't even CHECK the book. Least I don't remember checking. I know I wrote the "'3 unit" dose DOWN because I found it after noticing her symptoms and testing her but I don't "remember" checking the book or even writing down the "3", let alone filling the syringe that much. That I think, more than anything, REALLY shook me.

I was just way too tired and trying to do too much, since now Mao is sick. Between work, chores, errands (car broken down AGAIN), watching Fena close because her dose kept needing to be lowered, dealing with Mao's latest problems, trying to take care of myself took TOO much of a backseat. Least that's what I think happened. *sigh*

So far though, she's back to normal - coordination, vision, etc. everything seems back to her usual but the appetite was slower to come back, but it is finally, getting better everyday. I'll definitely keep watching her, I can't seem to do anything BUT now.. which is hard trying to balance it with Mao, but am trying. She's of course thrilled that most of my attention has been back on her, ugh, LOL. Thanks again so much for replying and helping, all of you.

I updated her SS from over the holidays (last few days).

 

[Djamila]

she was growling, combative

My kitty has had a couple of rounds of low numbers recently, and he gets like this too. Gave me a nasty bite the night before last when I was trying to test him. I think they get like that when they're low - I'm sure Fena has long since forgiven and forgotten that she was ever feeling that way.

So sorry to hear that your other guy is still sick and your car is broken. It does seem like when it rains it pours, huh? Hopefully your luck will turn soon!

 

[Candy&Company]

I'm glad the others weighed in. That overdose aftermath was really scary!!

Yeah I swear it aged me about 20 years.

The worst was that hour between the 23 and the 57 reading. The karo on the gums and mixing a tsp. of it into the HC carb didn't seem to kick in as fast as I thought it would or had hoped it would. I was fully dressed, her carrier was out, everything was ready to go (including the kit to give her karo rectally) to jump into the car (which broke down on me again 2 days later but had been working good at the time) if that "57" reading WASN'T there, or I should say if she was still under 50. Vet was on standby too.

I don't think I settled back down from "ready, set, go" mode until I saw the 120 reading. *sigh*

 

[Candy&Company]

My kitty has had a couple of rounds of low numbers recently, and he gets like this too. Gave me a nasty bite the night before last when I was trying to test him. I think they get like that when they're low - I'm sure Fena has long since forgiven and forgotten that she was ever feeling that way.

So sorry to hear that your other guy is still sick and your car is broken. It does seem like when it rains it pours, huh? Hopefully your luck will turn soon!

*winces* Sorry to hear about the bite, those're the worst. But yeah I didn't low numbers could cause that, or add to it - good to know for future reference definitely! I usually try to leave her be when she's like that, and she leaves me be - the downside is if Mao is close or comes around out of curiosity or concern, she'll turn on HIM which is hard to stop unless I'm immediately there with the squirt bottle (water) and a booming voice. Fun times.

The Feliway diffuser I have seems to be helping though, least, a little bit, or so I think...? Nothing overt, but little things, signs of calming and such. I got a refill too, thank god. And yeah I'm gonna be needing another car on top of everything. I used to say pours but this year is more like a monsoon. Happy hopes for 2019! LOL.