? regulation issues (acro kitty)

[Magda]

I would like someone to take a look at my SS.
I had Menda at the vet twice in last month for constipation. Since Lantulose didn't work and he had almost no BM I had to resort to sending him in for a day and having Dr do enema.
He had megacolon and finally recovering from it.
Wasn't able to give insulin on time on couple days, plus he was little low on few days so I had to delay/lower insulin.
Trying to get him back on track. Any suggestions.?
Mind he is acro kitty so doesn't always react same as regular diabetics.

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

I'm not really familiar with dealing with acro kitties, but I think the "rules" are pretty much the same

I'd go back to the last "good" dose......but looking at your spreadsheet, there's a lot of inconsistent dosing. The L insulins do best when given consistently so the depot has a chance to "settle" at a particular dose before changing it again.

Looks like 17 might have been a little too much....how about starting over at 16 and holding that dose for at least 6 cycles? (unless he drops too low of course)

 

[Wendy&Neko]

I agree with Chris - the rules aren't much different for acrokitties, just the dose numbers larger which can mean a bit more caution if kitty is low. However, since Menda is on Levemir, it's not uncommon for them to have their lowest numbers around preshot time. I would shoot Neko as low as 51 at preshot time, cause I could monitor and I knew that her meal would bring her up and then the Levemir wouldn't onset for 5 hours so she'd keep going up until then. The 17 unit dose was getting nadirs in very high greens, so it looks like a good dose to me. I would stick with it for now.

For your spreadsheet, I find it a bit hard to read when you stall. It's easier to keep the actually preshot number in the PS cell. In the +11 cell, you can put the tests that showed you delayed. For example, if this morning I would put 178@+12 in the +11 cell, then in the AMPS cell you could put 247 @+13. That would let us know you shot one hour late. And you could the dose back in the U column.

 

[Magda]

I did 15 last night and he is still low. Went with 10 today and will start building up from there.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

The larger depot can influence 6 cycles after you reduce. The reduced shot, good idea by the way, will help reduce that larger depot. It could be that the megacolon was causing discomfort and some pain and the need for more insulin. Now that is taken care of, and he feels better, he may need less insulin.

When you've been delaying the shot, have you been giving the following shot 12 hours after that? You should be changing shot times earlier by no more than 1/2 hour a day (or 15 minutes a shot).

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

I agree with Chris and Wendy - I think it would be ok to go to the 16-17u range. It was a fine choice to give a token 10u tonight, but it does look like the 16-17u is a pretty good dose.

To say a little more about what Wendy's saying, your hours count is always counting from the last shot. It's not counting from when you ordinarily would shoot, but always how many hours it has been since the last shot. If you go past +12, you just keep counting +13, +14, +24, etc.

Just brainstorming about the megacolon/constipation issues . . . There is a good link about IBD (Irritable Bowel Disease) kitties and probiotics, and there is a second good link about cats that vomit a lot. My cats don't have megacolon, so I'm uncertain if this would be helpful for Menda or not, but I'll give you the links for you to look at and decide if you want to try it with Menda.

Digestive Problems:
Constipation, Maggie11 & Ann; Feline Constipation
Hairballs/Chronic Vomiting
Probiotics in IBD (or other) cats

My short haired cat, McGee, was vomiting daily and also very constipated. Those links suggest that this can be from a cat having very slow motility of their gut, causing them to both vomit and be constipated. We followed the directions in the probiotics link, giving him the Renew Ultimate Colon Care 80,000 cfu dose. We started small and took a couple of weeks, gradually increasing the dose until it was 1 capsule per day. Then we gave him that 1 capsule per day for 2 months before moving to a maintenance dose of one capsule every other day.

We also give him a tiny sprinkle of ground flax seed. You want people-quality seed. I started with just a few grains, very tiny amount, then worked up to slightly more. It's still smaller than the amount that a coin like a dime would cover. I just kept increasing a little bit until his stool was normal consistency instead of rock hard.

You might want to ask your vet if the flax seed would be ok to try for Menda. It's effectively adding fiber and bulk. Some people give canned plain pumpkin to provide that bulk/fiber.

Having a high dose cat keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?! How is Menda doing otherwise?