? Questions about continuing without insulin

[AngelaMiao]

Hi guys!

So Jack is going onto his 10th cycle without insulin. I did TR for 2 months before switching to my own custom dosing - got him regulated within 8 days of the new dosing plan and off insulin within 6 days of being regulated. I know my dosing method is not recommended and don't recommend anyone try it - it was very specific to my cat and his BG patterns and all dosing was based on how I knew Jack to respond to insulin.


So I have a few questions about him being OTJ.

1) Did I take away the insulin too quickly?

I didn't follow the recommended protocol for refusing the dose where you reduce the dose by 0.25 until the cat is receiving drops. I had been doing more of a sliding scale dosing kind of thing with some dose splitting to keep momentum once he was staying within normal numbers and then just stopped one morning following a skipped dose because his number was lower than it was prior to me skipping the dose 12hrs before. Worried that it might make him more likely to come out of remission.

2) Are his numbers low enough?

Since we stopped the insulin, all of his numbers have been in green with the exception of one reading of 117 on his 2nd cycle without insulin and 112 this morning. I know his numbers are all within normal range but sometimes it bugs me that he never has any numbers below 70 and I kind of panic everytime I get a number that's close to becoming blue. Can a cat in remission actually have blue numbers or not go below 70 on a human meter?

3) How often should I be testing and when can I reduce the amount of testing and by how much.

Im always scared that I'll wake up one morning and he'll be at 22 lol. Can't wait to be able to test less for the sake of his ears - they look so botched right now, always red and he's losing hair on them, especially the one that I use more often.

To understand my spreadsheet a little better, starting at the part labelled "Custom Dosing" AMPS is not actually a preshot number, its just whatever time I woke up in the morning (between 4:00pm and 5:00am) and PMPS is 12hrs later. I used the U field if I gave a shot at those times, otherwise the insulin doses are noted along with the BG readings in between the AMPS and PMPS collumns.

Thank you guys

 

[Erin & Scott]

I can't comment on your dosing method. As I understand it, a cat who is in remission may have an occasional number in the low 100s and it's not a concern.

As far as continuing testing, generally it's recommended that you test at AMPS and PMPS for 14 days, with an occasional test at his usual nadir, to confirm that his pancreas is producing insulin. As far as worrying about a hypo episode, you can stop worrying. A cat who is not on insulin is not likely to hypo (unless there is some other serious medical condition going on); hypoglycemia (sometimes called insulin shock) is caused by giving too much insulin. Since you're not giving any insulin, he can't have a hypo event. So please stop being scared!

 

[Larry and Kitties]

There is really no set dosing protocol for going into remission and each cat reacts differently when going off insulin. My Nala has not had insulin since December. Like you Nala never gives really low (<70). In the moring I have gotton BG as high as 125 but in the following evening it is in the 70's. I always get a higher BG in the morning.

 

[Dusty Bones]

Early on Dusty was bouncing like crazy because we started off with too high of a dose and his dosing came down quickly and had to skip his evening doses. I stopped his insulin within a week and he stabilized and has been OJT since 2013. The only time his BG climbed a bit was due to teeth issues and once they cleaned/removed some of his teeth he went back to normal. I went from testing every other day to weekly to every two week, to monthly to every couple of months to a few times a year. Just keep an eye on his weight, his food intake and water intake to make sure he doesn't fall off the wagon.