Remission already???

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Little One

Member Since 2012
So for a stretch of about 1 week my wife and I had a really hard time keeping up with home testing. We were very carefull on dosing and erroring on the side of no shot many times as you can see by Little One's SS. So we got back to in on Tuesday morning and his BG was 68 (6:45AM) after only .5 units at 10:00PM the night before. So obviously we gave no shot and tested again in the evening. That number was only 123 so once again no shot. Tested yesterday morning and his BG was only 112, once again, no shot. We were not able to test last nigh because it takes two and sometime three of use to get the testing done and I was not home to help, but we tested this AM and his level was 119. Is this a very good sign that he could possibly be going into remission already or is it still to early to start jumping to that conclussion?

Thanks in advance.
 
Right now, let's just keep our fingers and toes crossed and watch for a bit longer....yes, it IS possible his pancreas is working again! Keep testing!

BIG HUG TOO!!!!
 
We consider a cat in remission if numbers stay in a normal range for 2 weeks without any insulin. Little One's numbers look very promising! Can you get at least a test day for the next two weeks? What sorts of problems are you having with testing her? Once she's in remission, you still will want to test her once or twice a month because the sooner you catch a relapse (dental problems, infections, getting into high carb food and other health conditions can all cause a cat to relapse), treat the problem and get BG back under control, the sooner she'll go back into remission.

Some things that make testing easier:

Test in the same spot every time (I used a basket just a little larger than Bandit lined with small fleece blankets). Give a low carb treat after every test. Cats love routines, so make sure you're going through the same motions every time.

Using a larger gauge lancet (26-28g). Many people use the 30-33g lancets that come with the glucose meter but these are really tough to get a drop of blood with. Cats have very few nerve endings in their ears so the pricks don't hurt them--what they hate is being restrained, having something new done to them, and they can sense their owner's nervousness which makes them freak out. Here's a picture of the "sweet" spot that you want to be hitting: http://felinediabetes.com/images/laur_danny_famoussweetspot.jpg

If you're using a lancet device, back the ear with a piece of tissue or a cotton ball. This allows you to get a firm prick instead of the lancet device glancing off the ear. Warm the ear to get the blood circulating. If you're using a lancet device, try free handing it, or if you're free handing try the lancet device. You want to use the method that works best for you.

Make sure you're applying pressure for 20 seconds to the spot after the prick, and you can also dab a little neosporin + pain relief on the spot. This prevents bruising.

If your cat is struggling, wrap her up in small blanket or towel like a burrito with just her head poking out. I had to do this the first two weeks with Bandit. Make sure you're calm and in charge as you're testing each time. If you're nervous or scared, the cat will be too. Some owners assume they're hurting the cat, and so they bring that negativity to the testing and the cat picks it up. Once the cat settles into the routine and realizes a treat comes with each test, they are perfectly ok and even start to expect and want you to test them. :-D
 
Thanks for the feedback.

The only real issue with testing is our schedule I know, no excuse, but sometimes is very hard for my wife and I to be home to test at regular times. The routine is my wife does the ear prick with a hand held lancet and I do the meter part. We typically don't have a problem getting enough blood for a test. We typically don't have to warm the ear either. I actually feel like we have been really lucky at being able to adopt the home testing process with little to no issues other than it take the two of us. We have tried teaching my oldest daughter to do the meter part of the test, but she is nervous and shaky and has a hard time putting strip where it needs to be to "suck" up the sample. Sometimes he struggles more than others, but we have not gotten to the point of being able to keep him still long enough for just one of us to test. We have done the treat thing yet because I typically feed him and his dad right after we test.

We should be able to continue to monitor at a minimum of one time a day for the next couple weeks and we will just see what the numbers tell us. We have a vet appointment on Monday. If his numbers have been in the low 100s to that point do you think the shock and anxiety of seeing the vet could still give us a false high reading? I guess it really doesn't matter much because we haven't been doing what the vet told us to do anyways. We have gotten nearly all of our direction from this site. I had made my mind up that if we hadn't seen an improvement my his next visit I was going to request a switch to Lantus, but hopefully that won't be needed.
 
Oops, sorry! I missed that Little One is a him, not a her. :oops:

Yes, stress from being at the vet can absolutely falsely inflate his BG number. Bandit is usually in the 200-300 range at the vet, and then his BG is back to normal once we get home. I've seen Bandit get into the 300 range before just from getting a bath, so you can't put much stock in stress-related numbers.

I would print out and bring your spreadsheet into the vet so you can show him/her exactly what you've done and how well the diet change worked. Little One looks like one of the lucky ones where he just needed low carb canned food, which is true for about 25% of cats, and that's why it's best to do the diet change before starting insulin. Had you followed your vet's advice and not started hometesting and kept him on high doses of N and W/D dry food, Little One most certainly would have either had a hypoglycemic incident, or his condition would have continued to worsen. I'm a big fan of spreading the word among vets that treatment recommendations have changed quite a bit in the past few years, so that future diabetic cats at the practice get the right treatment. Most vets are very open to this information, and the vets who aren't willing to consider updating their treatment are not people you would want treating your animals anyway. Can you imagine if a human doctor insisted on using outdated treatment guidelines for diabetics? They'd be sued for malpractice!

I would also drop off a copy of the AAHA guidelines for him, so he can get a little more up to date with his treatment:http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/AAHADiabetesGuidelines.pdf, and the N dosing guide: http://www.uq.edu.au/ccah/docs/diabetesinfo/link2.pdf
 
My sugar baby Lee's numbers dropped from the 500's when testing at the vet's office to the high normal and then to the low range just by changing his diet! I almost could not believe it. We also had problems getting him to cooperate, one because we were so nervous about poking him that he picked up on it and got scared. The more confident I am the calmer he is. We do the same routine, he knows he is not going to get dinner until it is done, we go out on the back porch in the sunlight so I can see that precious little blood drop on his black ear, I use the "sit on him' method. Sounds weird, but it is effective. I found it being used on Youtube, you get your supplies ready and place them in reach of where you will do the deed, kneel on the ground and tuck kitty between your legs and squat. make sure not to get the tail kinked. Kitty's butt rests right against my feet keeping him from escaping out the back and his body is between my legs with his head between my knees. He can't twist or run off and it is hard to try to bite, if he is a biter. I rub his ears to get the blood flow going, a quick poke and sip and he is done and dinner's on!
Good luck and hang in there! Lee has not had to have insulin now for a couple of weeks and is feeling great.
 
Re: Remission already??? UPDATED

Little One was at 136 this AM. Probably a little high because i had to feed a little higher carb content wet food last night. I am still having a hard time getting him to eat pate so i have been feeding tuna with egg in sauce flaked. Had to feed him a half can of shreds last night because I was out of my lower carb stuff. Still very happy with his number and he is acting more energetically and his dry skin is nearly gone.
 
Is Little One a little overweight? How close to his ideal weight his he? The reason why I ask is because Bandit was carrying around an extra lb or two when he went into remission (his ideal weight is about 12-13 lbs, he weighed about 14), and his numbers were on the high side of normal, ranging from 100-140, instead of 60-120 where he was supposed to be. Once I switched his food to something lower fat and he dropped the extra weight, his numbers dropped into the normal range. Just wanted to mention it, because a little extra weight can make a difference in BG. Diabetes in cats is very similar to type 2 diabetes in humans.

Have you tried sprinkling some Fortiflora on the pates? That stuff has worked wonders for me. You can get it from your vet, but it's much cheaper to order via Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Purina-Fortif...ment/dp/B001650OE0/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. Or you can try a little tuna or mixing a chunky canned food with it. There are some other chunkier low carb foods out there, also.
 
Thanks for the reply.

"Little One" is a very big framed cat. He probably stands 14 to 16" tall @ his back hips. He was around 22 lbs, but is currently setting @ around 16 lbs. I would say he is still probably a couple pound over his ideal weight for is frame size.

I have tried sprinkling parmesan on the pate and it seems to help, but they still don't eat it like the flakes. I will look into the stuff you mentioned.

If he stays in the 100 to 130 range, will I be able to take him OTJ or will the vet recommend a very low dose to continue?
 
I wouldn't give any more insulin unless he starts regularly creeping up and getting numbers over 160-180. I would really try a weight loss program first, though, because it does make a difference. Here's a great link to get you started: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Implementing_a_Safe_Weight-Loss_Program. I struggled with Bandit's weight for a while and when I switched him to the Merricks (which is high protein, low fat, low carb), the extra weight dropped right off him and he's been maintaining his ideal weight ever since. I highly recommend that food for weight loss, at least until you get him down to a good weight and it's easier to maintain him. A few friends of mine have also used it for weight loss on my advice and they had great results. The three flavors I use are Cowboy Cookout, Surf and Turf, and Grammy's Pot Pie.

Here's a great resource to help determine his ideal weight, but I would also ask the vet what they think it should be: http://www.pet-health-care-gazette.com/cat body condition chart.jpg
 
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