Shadow update

[DianeM &Shadow]

Yesterday Shadow ran in the lower 200's after 4 days on a PZI dose of 2.5 units. It was good to see that! It all went to hell this morning when both my husband and I overslept after being up very late and Shadow finally got his insulin and food two hours late. PS was 394. I allowed him to free feed on the plain green beans after breakfast since he was frantically ravenous. Ugh. I will make adjustments with the time of his insulin dose this evening and tomorrow morning and do a few spot check bg's. I have been continuing him at one dose for about 5 days and then increase by .5 units. He is due for an increase tomorrow and so we will see how it goes this week. The good news is that he is negative for ketones and he is beginning to feel better. Last night I heard a cat run from the sunroom into the kitchen and leap on the counter, sending things flying. I thought it was the usual culprit, Mickey. It was SHADOW!!!! He is also using the scratching thing and enjoyed some laser tag. His peeing is way less and his icky coat is now more silky than gluey with less dandruff. He has taken to watching the birds and chattering after them. He sat on my husband's lap for a good while last evening so all in all, he is improving. I 'think' the BCP PZI may be getting a grip as we approach a therapeutic dosage, hopefully. This next week will give more info as we go up to 3 units. So that's our story; I hope everyone is doing as well as possible. Any suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated.

 

[Robin&BB]

It all went to hell this morning when both my husband and I overslept after being up very late and Shadow finally got his insulin and food two hours late. PS was 394.

Hi, Diane - It happens! Puts me in mind of that old saying re: "The best-laid plans of mice & men ..."

He is also using the scratching thing and enjoyed some laser tag. His peeing is way less and his icky coat is now more silky than gluey with less dandruff. He has taken to watching the birds and chattering after them. He sat on my husband's lap for a good while last evening so all in all, he is improving.

These are all encouraging signs!

Read through your posts a little bit ago, and just wanted to ask: Is Shadow a normal-size kitty? (Meaning: he's not a Maine Coon, is he?) What is his current weight, and is that an optimum weight, or does he need to lose a little? The reason I'm asking is that it's clear from your posts re: Shadow being ravenous much of the time that his diabetes is still doing a lot of the talking here.

And unless he's an extra-large breed cat, 4 cans of FF might possibly be more than he needs (unless he's actually underweight currently for his body size.) Which Classic formulas does he normally get? Some kitties are more carb-sensitive than others. (My cat is one of those; if I give her low-carb food that's any more than 3% carbs, her BG#s rise pretty sharply!)

Hope you don't mind all the questions; just trying to help you troubleshoot your situation a little bit if I can* ... - Robin

*I am unable to view your SS; when I click on the link, it keeps popping a "Not Found/ Error 404" message.

 

[Robin&BB]

Just realized I would be remiss if I didn't add this caveat: Any change you might make in lowering carb content and/or reduction of daily rations can result in a significant drop in blood glucose levels when a kitty is on insulin (which could even result in the need for a reduction of insulin dose), so it's important that any such changes in diet be done gradually - and that you do it when you're able to keep close tabs on BG levels during the process, to ensure that kitty stays at safe BG levels.

 

[DianeM &Shadow]

Just realized I would be remiss if I didn't add this caveat: Any change you might make in lowering carb content and/or reduction of daily rations can result in a significant drop in blood glucose levels when a kitty is on insulin (which could even result in the need for a reduction of insulin dose), so it's important that any such changes in diet be done gradually - and that you do it when you're able to keep close tabs on BG levels during the process, to ensure that kitty stays at safe BG levels.

Robin: here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xktV7uVpZ0hBu-cPzsVF9vb29k/edit#gid=361360320
I hope that works. He is a medium large cat; he weighed in at around 10 pounds at his initial check and was a bit thin. He has the 'classic' diabetic cat build with a pot belly and not much on his ribs. He has gained some but has not been back for a check to see how much. I email the spreadsheet to his vet to save money. I am working to cut back on the FF a bit by cooking his green beans in chicken broth(hard to find low sodium, no onion broth, I might add); I may have to make my own. I just tested him at 5 pm and he was 340 so I made the decision to give him his insulin at the regular time. If there is overlap, it may work to get his bg down a bit more. I was reading about Young Again Zero Carb but was kind of put off because the company recommended free feeding and it looked pretty pricey. We have other cats that go in and out(we have a 16-cat semi feral colony) so it would be pretty hard to free feed and still have any money to live on.

With Velvet, I used PZI as a kind of basal insulin in combination with small amounts of Regular insulin. I would give her a small amt along with the PZI in order to drop the bg quickly; the PZI would kick in a bit later when the BG was lower, etc. She got off the juice that way. My vet is new to us and not willing to work in that way. So we are working with the food and insulin as best we can! So that's our story*** Thanks for the questions, I appreciate it.

 

[Robin&BB]

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, Diane. Wow, I'm always in awe of our members who can manage having a multi-cat household, esp. when there's a diabetic in the mix; my hat's off to you! But that leads me to a couple of questions:

1) Does everybody get fed on a schedule (i.e., all @ the same time, including Shadow) and is Shadow fed separately from the rest?
2) If any of your other kitties are "slow-eaters," is there any way that Shadow could sneak into their rations later on, when you're not looking?

If you have a regular bathroom scale, you can weigh yourself, then take another weight holding Shadow in your arms, then calculate the difference to get his weight. (I have a digital step-on scale - cost me about $30 on Amazon - designed to weigh like that for a mother & infant. It reads out down to tenths of a pound; works great!) Bat-Bat, too, had lost weight due to "wasting" by her out-of-control diabetes, down to less than 9.5 lbs. (She'd actually weighed 18 lbs+ at one point before diagnosis!) But although she's a large & very long cat (think mini-panther), her optimum weight is just around 10 lbs. or so; slender - not skeletal-bony, though. She eats just 2-1/3 cans FF low-carb pate per day to maintain that optimum weight.

All I can tell you is that the food-to-insulin ratio really can be something of a tricky balancing act! To put it in perspective: An additional pound on a 10-lb. kitty is like an extra 10 pounds on a 100-lb. human! So it's a good idea to weigh frequently at home if at all possible, while you're still trying to get that balance just right.

As you no doubt already know, Shadow will continue to exhibit those ravenous behaviors until his #s start coming down. (It was so hard for me to stand firm when Bat-Bat would follow me around crying for food all the time; hurt my heart!) If you already have strict portion control in place for him, I'd recommend that you have the vet rule out all other possible medical complications, such as a UTI, gum disease/bad teeth, or any other conditions/ infections that can cause BG levels to remain elevated while on insulin, despite your best efforts.

Will be rooting for you and Shadow; keep us posted on his progress!

 

[DianeM &Shadow]

Thanks so much, Robin. It's a juggling act with feeding for sure. First I set up the testing stuff for Shadow then I take his bowl INTO the refrigerator where I mix a handful of cooked green beans with one can of FF(beef, chicken and beef, liver and beef) and heat in in the microwave while fending off the cat. I then whip it out and he eats while I test. I then take him and the food into the back bedroom and shut him in. I have another special needs kitty who eats in our bedroom then the rest of the in-house cats and then 12 dishes for the outside kitties. After that, I mix 1/2 can FF with methylcobalamin and zip down to Shadow and give him his insulin while he is eating that. He stays in there until all the cats are done eating and I have picked up every dish in the house. Latecomers from outside eat dishes that are set out in our bedroom so technically he doesn't have access to other food. He occasionally ferrets out a kibble or two and sometimes succeeds in stealing the treats if I forget to put the wood through the handles of the cupboards. We pretty much have the routine down. I am now giving his mid-shot snack at +6, it is green beans soaked with chicken juice. That will bring him down to three cans a day. See how that goes. We are just now catching up with his numbers from late insulin yesterday. He had an increase from 2.5 units to 3.0 units this morning and for the next few days I will only test him pre-shot as long as his numbers are not low - give his ear a rest. You mean I have to check my weight to check his?? I have been putting that off - we do have a digital scale. I am going to have to take him in for check sometime in the next month so his vet can lay hands on him and charge me a fortune. At his initial exam in February, his labs looked good, his teeth looked good, and he was on Amoxicillan for a potential urinary tract infection for 2+weeks. No renal disease, no thyroid problems and no Cushing's. He was easier to handle when his bg's were higher - the lower they get the more feisty he is! He was an outside cat previously, a stray who just showed up and stayed, mostly with the folks next door. We are still getting to know each other. Anyhow, that's where we are today, and I so appreciate the encouragement.

 

[Rachel]

Robin...the idea of weighing while holding the cat is brilliant!!! That never occurred to me. I always weighed them in the carriers, but this is much less stressful!

 

[Robin&BB]

Well ... I have never been able to train Bat to sit still on the scale by herself.