Referred from the Main Board by Wendy-Honeymoon Over

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Robyn and Penny

Robyn and Penny

Member Since 2013
I was over on the main board and Wendy referred me here. Penny, who has been OTJ since Halloween 2013, may be coming out of remission. There are many variables, including a formula change with Young Again kibble, so here is the original thread with Penny's ss attached. Wendy is wondering if we took her off insulin too soon? She was on Lantus and then Levemir because she was jumping with the Lantus shots, and she responded very quickly to the Lev and went OTJ 2 1/2 weeks later at the advice both here and on the Feline Diabetes Facebook page as well as vet's orders.

Here's the original thread..I hope I'm doing this right. Not used to message boards. Her SS is on this thread as well as my signature.

Thanks for your help and I hope I didn't break the rules here! lol viewtopic.php?f=28&t=118021&p=1237352#p1237352
 
I don't think the numbers are a result of decreasing the insulin dose too quickly, as Wendy suggested. You have months of Penny's numbers being just fine. If the dose was dropped too quickly, you'd have seen a rise in numbers well before now.

There are a couple of things that come to mind:
  • Could Penny have found contraband?
  • When was Penny's last vet visit? Problems like a UTI or the need for a dental due to an inflammation such as gingivitis or other dental problems are notorious for throwing a cat out of remission. Often the first thing you see before a cat is really sick is a rise in BG numbers.
  • I would also not minimize the stress of a "visiting" kitty in the house and the territorial issues of that cat spraying.

If Penny hasn't been checked over by your vet, after scouring the house for contraband, I would suggest a vet visit.
 
Okay..we did come up with Plan B to get the foster out of his room without spraying all over their territory. We will lock them up for a second and take him down to the unfinished basement. He'll have a ball exploring down there and they are not allowed down there (it's a mess but the foster will be supervised lol) so that will hopefully minimize the stress of him being here for this last two weeks. I can imagine it's upsetting to them that he's spraying up their territory!

She had a dental just after her OTJ trial was over on 11.15.13 but I'm going to make her another appt this week so we can rule that out or nip it in the bud.

There's ZERO possibility that she got into anything she shouldn't have. Her sister is on her food, Andy's (foster) food is in a sealed container under lock and key and is removed from her site/smell before she has access to his room for the 10 mins per day she's allowed to go in and explore.

I must add that since the Young Again formula change, she's been EXTREMELY gassy and today was her first somewhat normal BM in the past 5 days. She has a very sensitive system to begin with, but she's been walking around her stinking up the place tonight with her gas. Forti Flora doesn't even work on her (I tried that when she was on Clavamox after her dental). Could the digestive upset from the formula change bring her numbers this high?

Thank you so much Sienne! I've been so careful to keep her in remission and am extremely upset about this!
 
yes, the formula change could definitely be a factor in her gassiness and upset digestive system. i don't know if that alone could drive up her numbers, but if they added carbs then it certainly could.

i see in your signature line that she's on 75% canned low carb and 25% kibble - if it's possible to get rid of the kibble, i would. the value of canned food is more than just that it's low carb - it has more water in it, so it's better for the kidneys and bladder as well.

i just wanted to say welcome to Lantus/Lev Land! I'm glad you're here! Hope we can get to know you and Penny and help her get stabilized again.
 
Hi Penny and welcome to Lantus land.

I just wanted to share with you that I thought my Scooter was not getting any contraband either. Once I removed the kibble from my house and put all of my kitties on wet food Scooter not only went from high 500's to low he went into the 30's within 24 hrs and had to be rescued. Many of the women on here stayed up with me all night to help him stabilize. It could help to get your kitty totally off kibble and only on low carb wet food. Just try it for a week and see what happens.

As you can see by my signature Scooter is off the juice and doing well despite being a carb hunter. :-D

Linda
 
Thanks Linda and Julie!

I didn't want to change up her routine too much so I'm still feeding wet meals and put FF classics wet in their kibble bowls today so that it's just business as usual and the only difference being the FF in their bowl rather than the Young Again. The problem is that her civvie sister, who's not as obsessed with food (although was going hog wild with that Young Again formula change, which is VERY unlike her) may not be getting any except at mealtime b/c Penny is eating everything in site. She's especially hungry today b/c she coughed up a hairball the size of a small mouse (she's a 14.5-lb part Coon cat) and she also had a BM so she's super hungry.

Do you free feed your wet or meal time it? I work from home so I'm home most of the time so I can do either way.

Testing her shortly. Keeping fingers and paws crossed. I know it will take a couple of days to see a change in her numbers if it is, indeed, the new bag of Young Again that started this. She also had a lake in the litter box this morning, so I'm really nervous about seeing her number...
 
Hi guys .. sorry that Penny might be coming out of remission .. I sure hope it's a simple fix and nothing serious .. Mocha who is OTJ is cruising in higher numbers lately as well and it's a scary feeling!
 
Yes it is! Penny's also been more exciteable and playful. We are trying to let the foster roam the basement so he's not spraying all over their territory (read my initial thread attached) but he was too scared to go down there today b/c our well pump was running. I'm really thinking it could be a dental infection. She just had a dental after her OTJ trial, but she could just have really bad teeth. She has a vet appt tomorrow to get blood drawn and check her toofers. Hopefully that will reveal something. She was 135 this morning during a time she's usually around 70. She had only had FF Classics this morning prior to testing. I'm not gonna drive everybody nuts testing her all day today like yesterday. We know she's up and tomorrow will determine if I put her back on insulin (even if my vet objects, which he will lol).

I hope Mocha stabalizes. Penny started running higher after the time change. I'm wondering if she tends to get more exciteable, etc with the longer days in spring and summer? She went OTJ 5 days before the time change in the Fall and the shorter days, so I haven't ruled that out...
 
That's very possible, especially b/c I live in the Pine Barrens of NJ and she's been rubbing her face a lot lately. Some days, she will get a winky eye, but I've never really seen a lot of goop coming out of it.

I still think it has to do with Andy the foster being here.

I'm waiting for her blood work to come back, but the vet noted a little inflammation by her one tooth, but she only had a bit of tarter that popped off when he felt it. He didn't feel she needed a dental. Her BGs on their Alpha Track was 148 at the vet, where she was upset, and my meter read 102. Now, about 4 hours later when she was home, she was at 112 on my Relion.

I think it's telling that her BG was lower at the vet than at home...
 
certainly could be the foster kitty. i think that tartar sounds suspicious, though. if there was enough build-up to pop off, that is quite a bit, and i would think it's possible it's under the gumline as well.

however, about the seasonal thing. Marje's Gracie has seasons where her blood sugar is more difficult to control than others. after 3 years of spreadsheets, she has noticed and commented on this. Punkin had repeating bladder infections - probably 8 years or so in a row, and finally my vet asked me if i realized they always occurred in the fall. this was before he became diabetic, but i thought it was a very interesting observation. not sure why that would be, but that's how it was.

when you get the bloodwork back, look at the eosinophils. that is one indicator of allergies.
 
Just an update...Penny's blood work came back fine. Her numbers the past few days were 78, 73, 102 and then 92 on retest an hour after she ate low carb wet, 66 the next day, then 90 yesterday and 107 today. The vet listened to her heart and lungs while she was there and said everything is good, but right now she's resting and wheezing/snoring a bit.

I thought I had noticed that when we let the foster down in the basement while they were locked up for 20 mins that her numbers were lower. He hasn't been spraying in her territory while he's been out, we've been making sure of that! But, today, he was only out for 10 mins and in the basement and her number is higher. As I'm sitting here typing and she's taking a cat nap I just noticed she's wheezing/snoring a bit. No signs of URI but sometimes her one eye bothers her she keeps pawing at it and walking around with it half closed, just a bit here and there. I do live in the NJ Pinelands and everybody has been cutting grass here the past few days (us and our neighbors) so I'm wondering if it really could be allergries. Pollen is pretty high here today. I can barely see the past few days from it! I'm curious to see when it rains tonight and I test her tomorrow or when we put the central air on Friday (it'll be warm Friday and I'm almost certain we will be putting the AC on) if her numbers go down as the pollen goes down.

Could allergies REALLY raise her numbers this much? The day she was 66 it was sunny but it had rained the night before, I think. I'm gonna track the weather with her numbers and see if I can find a connection. I already track what she eats and what our foster did during his little "outing" each morning. I'm running out of room on my little log sheet! lol
 
One easy option for allergies is to give omega-3 oil (fish oil). Providing your kitty isn't allergic to fish, omega-3s help to reduce inflammation and allergy is an inflammatory process (which is why it can raise BG numbers). Nordic Naturals makes a good brand of fish oil and it's calibrated for small animals. My vet has also recommended Zyrtec and I can get you that info if you prefer to go the pill route.
 
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