Sam's update - part 2 (renamed since he is past the "bad" incident)

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Rachel said:
Sounds like this vet knows her stuff!
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The only thing I didn't like was that she didn't want to give him anything for pain. She said he didn't respond to the tests like cats do when they're in pain, so she thinks he's fine. I would have preferred to have something to give him just in case, but didn't feel like insisting since he seems pretty okay to me too.
 
If he does act like he's in pain later, call the vet and insist. But if he doesn't seem like he's in pain to you, he's probably not. He's peeing fine right? My guess is that you're not going to find any bacteria and that it's just going to be a behavioral thing or something...we'll see!
 
Vet update: The regular vet called last night and said the preliminary results were all normal, so most likely it's behavioral. Grrrr.... I can't figure out what's got him upset though - nothing out of the ordinary going on here that I can discern. The C&S won't be back for another day or two, but most likely those will be fine too since he hasn't had any more incidents since that one.

Also, does anyone have a pair of patience pants I can borrow? I know there's no reason to complain about his numbers at all...I'm just feeling impatient today. Maybe because I'm home sick (and bored) today and just keep staring at him and willing his pancreas to heal.
 
Adult-Rainbow-Swirl-Tie-Dye-Drawcord-Pants_61114821.jpg
 
Lol you're so welcome! They come in all sizes!!!!

Sam may have just been stressed out that day...you say he hasn't done it since right?
 
Nope, he's peed quite appropriately since then. I was thinking about that day, and it was at about hour 20 without insulin, and his number was rising at the time. Not terribly at all, but I wonder if it was his way of letting me know. Or maybe he was just being a cat. :cat:
 
Has anyone else noticed that their cat's BG is higher when he's constipated? I'm not sure if that's a thing yet, but I noticed it last time he was overdue to poop, and I'm wondering if that's what's going on this time? It's also possible that I gave him a fur shot yesterday (I didn't check after the shot), and also possible that it's just one of those things...
 
Djamila said:
Has anyone else noticed that their cat's BG is higher when he's constipated? I'm not sure if that's a thing yet, but I noticed it last time he was overdue to poop, and I'm wondering if that's what's going on this time? It's also possible that I gave him a fur shot yesterday (I didn't check after the shot), and also possible that it's just one of those things...
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Have you tried adding 1/8 tsp of mirilax? Yoshi had hard dry poos when this started, and he felt like a ton of bricks. It's definitely helping.
 
Aha! So it's not my imagination! I give my civvie miralax from time to time since he gets bound up every few weeks. Sam will eat pumpkin though, so I'm hoping that will be enough to get him going. If he doesn't produce soon though, we'll move to miralax. I also added even more extra water to the food today. Hopefully he'll have pooped by the time I get home from work tonight......Ah, the things we talk about!
 
Djamila said:
Aha! So it's not my imagination! I give my civvie miralax from time to time since he gets bound up every few weeks. Sam will eat pumpkin though, so I'm hoping that will be enough to get him going. If he doesn't produce soon though, we'll move to miralax. I also added even more extra water to the food today. Hopefully he'll have pooped by the time I get home from work tonight......Ah, the things we talk about!
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Good vibes for a nice poo gift when you get home!
 
Djamila said:
Aha! So it's not my imagination! I give my civvie miralax from time to time since he gets bound up every few weeks. Sam will eat pumpkin though, so I'm hoping that will be enough to get him going. If he doesn't produce soon though, we'll move to miralax. I also added even more extra water to the food today. Hopefully he'll have pooped by the time I get home from work tonight......Ah, the things we talk about!
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This is one I can explain! While thirst can increase with high BG, so does urine output. The kidneys are trying to flush the extra glucose out, and so all the extra water leaving in the urine mean there's less water staying in the stool which causes those hard, dry poops and/or constipation.
 
C&S results are back - no bacteria, everything looks healthy, all the other tests came back perfectly normal -- including the BG. The vet congratulated me on getting him back into remission. I tried to refrain from yelling "ANTI-JINX" into the phone, since we don't consider him in remission yet.

The only thing that wasn't perfect was the urine concentration which indicated that he's a little dehydrated. Might also explain the constipation this week. Hopefully the extra water added into the food will help get that sorted soon.
 
Yes, and I won't be home during the day to celebrate with him (anti jinx) because it's my moms bday... I may have to postpone the celebration (anti jinx) until Monday.

I'm just over here trying to keep quiet!

I talked to my vet and she said to test him twice a week for a bit and then we can move to once a month (I'm way too neurotic to only test 1x per month). I asked her if she wanted to see him for any blood or urine work and she said no that as long as he is normal she would only have to see him in six months because diabetes was the only thing his blood panel showed. I kind of feel like she doesn't believe that he's doing so well and I kind of feel like she realized that she gave him too high a dose to start with. I also think she realized that the micro dosing that you guys suggested actually helped him get to where he is. I kind of don't think she thinks this will stick or realizes how much diet helped (and hopefully will help in future).

She didn't even want him in to check his weight, which I think I might suggest. I mean he was supposed to lose a couple pounds. He probably did, but I want to make sure it's not too rapid etc

Lots of love to my Prozinc fam!!
 
After a couple months into Sam's remission, I went from weekly tests to about once every two weeks, and then bonus tests if he was acting funny or seemed to be drinking a lot. I do sort of feel sorry for our vets sometimes. It has to be a little uncomfortable when a client comes in and says, "I heard from some people on the internet...." ...and then ends up being right!
 
Djamila said:
Tomorrow is day 14 for Yoshi, isn't it?
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Djamila said:
After a couple months into Sam's remission, I went from weekly tests to about once every two weeks, and then bonus tests if he was acting funny or seemed to be drinking a lot. I do sort of feel sorry for our vets sometimes. It has to be a little uncomfortable when a client comes in and says, "I heard from some people on the internet...." ...and then ends up being right!
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how long was Sam in remission?
 
September 9, 2015 until February 5, 2017....so about a year and a half. I got complacent about the food and started feeding Stella and Chewy's Salmon and Chicken. The package said it's a freeze-dried raw food that's like 98% meat or something. I didn't bother to do the research -- turned out after he ended up with active diabetes again and I wrote to the company that it's over 20% carbs. I will never ever ever again feed him something without doing the research first!
 
Woohoo Sam!!! It's like he really wants to try that R word again (anti jinx!!!!).

ALSO...CONGRATS YOSHI!!! (anti jinx)
 
Djamila said:
September 9, 2015 until February 5, 2017....so about a year and a half. I got complacent about the food and started feeding Stella and Chewy's Salmon and Chicken. The package said it's a freeze-dried raw food that's like 98% meat or something. I didn't bother to do the research -- turned out after he ended up with active diabetes again and I wrote to the company that it's over 20% carbs. I will never ever ever again feed him something without doing the research first![/QUOT
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Rachel said:
Woohoo Sam!!! It's like he really wants to try that R word again (anti jinx!!!!).

ALSO...CONGRATS YOSHI!!! (anti jinx)
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anti jinx everywhere!!
 
He's going to get a for-real trial over the next few days. I'm leaving for a conference and he's with the pet sitter again. He'll miss five shots while I'm gone. :nailbiting:
 
She did last trip - although when I got home there were blood splatters all over and his ears were super bruised. :eek:
 
Ouch!!! I was just wondering what his numbers would be like without the insulin, but might not be worth it for that!
 
Stressedcatmom said:
Yes, and I won't be home during the day to celebrate with him (anti jinx) because it's my moms bday... I may have to postpone the celebration (anti jinx) until Monday.

I'm just over here trying to keep quiet!

I talked to my vet and she said to test him twice a week for a bit and then we can move to once a month (I'm way too neurotic to only test 1x per month). I asked her if she wanted to see him for any blood or urine work and she said no that as long as he is normal she would only have to see him in six months because diabetes was the only thing his blood panel showed. I kind of feel like she doesn't believe that he's doing so well and I kind of feel like she realized that she gave him too high a dose to start with. I also think she realized that the micro dosing that you guys suggested actually helped him get to where he is. I kind of don't think she thinks this will stick or realizes how much diet helped (and hopefully will help in future).

She didn't even want him in to check his weight, which I think I might suggest. I mean he was supposed to lose a couple pounds. He probably did, but I want to make sure it's not too rapid etc

Lots of love to my Prozinc fam!!
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Just doing an extra day for good luck! ;)
 
@Yong - switching over here so we don't confuse Caitlin's thread anymore....Sam is getting a mini trial over the next couple of days while I'm gone. Unfortunately, I don't think he's actually ready for it though. His AMPS was 172 this morning, after his NS last night.

He'll be alright until I get back, but he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get off of insulin right now. I'm curious to see where he's at when I get back on Tuesday.
 
Well, 131 isn't bad, but it wasn't exactly the welcome home surprise I was hoping to find. Tried a 0.2u dose this morning. Not easy to pull that up and get rid of the air!!! And the plunger moves so little, I wasn't entirely sure I even gave him anything this morning....but his numbers did go down, so I think it worked out.

He's certainly taking his own sweet time right now! The most important thing though is that he's super active lately, eating a healthy amount, weight is good, eyes are bright, and he seems happier than I've seen him since this whole thing started.

Although that also might be because he just got a bunch of catnip and he's higher than a kite right now! :cat::cat::cat:
 
Djamila said:
Well, 131 isn't bad, but it wasn't exactly the welcome home surprise I was hoping to find. Tried a 0.2u dose this morning. Not easy to pull that up and get rid of the air!!! And the plunger moves so little, I wasn't entirely sure I even gave him anything this morning....but his numbers did go down, so I think it worked out.

He's certainly taking his own sweet time right now! The most important thing though is that he's super active lately, eating a healthy amount, weight is good, eyes are bright, and he seems happier than I've seen him since this whole thing started.

Although that also might be because he just got a bunch of catnip and he's higher than a kite right now! :cat::cat::cat:
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Looking good! Don't you love how silly they get on catnip?!
 
Djamila said:
He's certainly taking his own sweet time right now! The most important thing though is that he's super active lately, eating a healthy amount, weight is good, eyes are bright, and he seems happier than I've seen him since this whole thing started.
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It's great that he's obviously feeling better. That has to be more satisfying than just about anything else.
 
PMPS is 151

I lowered to 0.2 this morning because the 0.4u dose was giving me flat cycles and NS cycles right before I left so I thought it might be too high. Any other thoughts on this? Should I keep trying 0.2 for a few cycles? Or stay with 0.4?
 
Hmmm...tough call. I think if he was mine, I'd stick with 0.2 for a couple cycles...see if he trends lower. Then you can raise in a few days if that doesn't seem to be working.
 
Any thoughts on a No Shot number for Sam these days? At the 0.2u dose, he is just getting subtle drops which makes me feel like I can dose pretty low without danger, but it seems silly to give him a dose when he's at 120 since that's in the non-diabetic numbers at that point. But where would I cut it off? 125? 130? 121? And now that I'm asking this, I'm feeling silly because that list of options I just gave is a little like splitting hairs. I'm just not sure what to do. If I had given him a dose this morning, he likely would have just been in in the 70's or 80's. But at what point do I just say 'good enough' on his numbers?
 
Djamila said:
Any thoughts on a No Shot number for Sam these days? At the 0.2u dose, he is just getting subtle drops which makes me feel like I can dose pretty low without danger, but it seems silly to give him a dose when he's at 120 since that's in the non-diabetic numbers at that point. But where would I cut it off? 125? 130? 121? And now that I'm asking this, I'm feeling silly because that list of options I just gave is a little like splitting hairs. I'm just not sure what to do. If I had given him a dose this morning, he likely would have just been in in the 70's or 80's. But at what point do I just say 'good enough' on his numbers?
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You might want to post on the main forum, Djamila. You can ask for input on dosing a near-remission kitty. I really wouldn't know what to say. :)
 
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