Skye's Thread Part 2

Copying what I said from Skye's first thread.

Those timed feeders always show dry food in the slots, but they are perfectly fine for using with wet food too.
symian277 said:
This morning is 86. I'm crossing my fingers for this evening.
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Well, what do you know. You now have 6 cycles in a row where you have skipped the insulin.
If Skye keeps those good low BG levels for a total of 28 consecutive cycles, or 14 full days, then she could be considered OTJ. But the numbers need to be within the range of a normal cat, which is < 100. So right now, she only has 2 cycles in OTJ trial territory.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Copying what I said from Skye's first thread.

Those timed feeders always show dry food in the slots, but they are perfectly fine for using with wet food too.

Well, what do you know. You now have 6 cycles in a row where you have skipped the insulin.
If Skye keeps those good low BG levels for a total of 28 consecutive cycles, or 14 full days, then she could be considered OTJ. But the numbers need to be within the range of a normal cat, which is < 100. So right now, she only has 2 cycles in OTJ trial territory.
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She snuck in under the wire @ 98 last evening and was below with 66 @ +2 and 81 @ +4.

This AM we are @ 75.

The vet wanted another curve on her done in a couple of weeks so next weekend after getting my mom moved out this weekend we are totally doing it. I am very interested to see how she does throughout the day. I’ve gotten some evening numbers before I go to bed but having to work kind of puts a damper on getting day numbers.
I am absolutely going to look into an auto feeder for her (and Finnegan too). I can’t be 100% sure that her evening check is two hours without food since I am not home but I’m not going to limit her access to food the rest of the day. AM I am definitely sure because I get my happy bottom out of bed at 5o’clock to pull her dish.
I can never say that I am glad she got sick because it was very rough on the both of us, but the information has been invaluable. Even with this nasty disease I feel like she is healthier than she has been in a long time. And moving forward I feel like Finnegan is going to be healthier than all my previous cats simply with a complete diet change. I do have the remains of the packages of dry food, but there will not be any new coming into this house. And as soon as he finishes his current stock of food, Finnegan is going to be on the exact same food as Skye.
 
Does Finnegan your civie (civilian, non-diabetic) cat like canned food?

p.s. Is your signature up to date, with the food you are feeding to Skye?
If not, please take a bit of time to update it please.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Does Finnegan your civie (civilian, non-diabetic) cat like canned food?

p.s. Is your signature up to date, with the food you are feeding to Skye?
If not, please take a bit of time to update it please.
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Finnegan was fed wet food when he was rescued so he is not resistant to the wet food. I had him on twice a day wet with dry available for in between for about 10 months but after all that I have seen here he is totally on wet food now. I have the remains of his dry food and hers but I am probably going to get rid of it. Currently he is finishing up the Royal Canin Adult Instinctive I ordered for him but he is going to be on the Weruva as soon as that is gone.
I can take out the prior two foods for Skye if it makes it easier. I did that to show her progression as she was switched from the Weight Control to Glycobalance the first week of her diagnosis and then to the Weruva within the next week. I tried fir a slow change but she wasn’t having it. She is totally on Weruva Slide and Serve now. Most days she gets chicken or chicken with chicken liver but I also have a Weruva combo pack that has fish or fish blends that she LOVES but I am keeping that to a meal or two a week. She tolerated the switch well without any nausea or diarrhea. Bonus she preferred the food that was actually better for her.
 
Seeing only the current foods in your user id signature does help. So if you could do that change, that would be good.
Our memories aren't so good sometimes, to remember all the details.

Lucky you! Having a cat that loves the lower carb wet food right off the bat is so much easier than a lengthy food transition spanning weeks or months. Some cats are more stubborn than others, to realize what is good for them.

I got rid of all the dry food in the house, once Wink was eating wet food. He loved the dry and as I was collecting the bags of dry, I left one in the hallway, so I could grab another bag. I was gone for less than 2 minutes, and in that time, he had chewed through the heavy duty Hill's food bag, and gotten into the food. :rolleyes:

DFAA (Dry Food Addicts Anonymous) founder and spokescat, that Wink.:nailbiting:
 
Deb & Wink said:
Seeing only the current foods in your user id signature does help. So if you could do that change, that would be good.
Our memories aren't so good sometimes, to remember all the details.

Lucky you! Having a cat that loves the lower carb wet food right off the bat is so much easier than a lengthy food transition spanning weeks or months. Some cats are more stubborn than others, to realize what is good for them.

I got rid of all the dry food in the house, once Wink was eating wet food. He loved the dry and as I was collecting the bags of dry, I left one in the hallway, so I could grab another bag. I was gone for less than 2 minutes, and in that time, he had chewed through the heavy duty Hill's food bag, and gotten into the food. :rolleyes:

DFAA (Dry Food Addicts Anonymous) founder and spokescat, that Wink.:nailbiting:
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I have enthusiastic members of DFAA living in my house.
I will modify my signature.
 
BOTH my current kitties. I have a long line though. Keiko towards the end had renal failure and he wouldn’t eat much wet food. Demosthenes had a malformed kidney and was on renal food for years and would eat NO wet food EVER.
 
Today makes it official. Skye has been off-the-juice (OTJ) for 14 days, 28 cycles. I think you can consider her to be in remission! (Diet controlled, since she will always be diabetic. Congratulations! :bighug::bighug::bighug:

When you get a chance, would you please add a reply to the Info RECENT REMISSIONS? thread at the top of the forum and tell Skye's story? Gives other people using Prozinc hope for their own kitties. Thank you.

Here are some tips to help keep Skye stay OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice)
1. Never feed dry - not even treats. (freeze dried is ok, Dr. Elsey's chicken flavor is ok.) If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission. Too much of a weight loss alerts you to other issues, such as hyperthyroidism.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely if possible. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month. BG checks can sometimes alert you to other issues.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check. (Steroids may be needed for other medical issues. But remind your vet your cat is a diabetic, diet controlled.)
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission. Or another medical condition like Hyper-T or kidney disease.

6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quickly!

7.Continue to ketone test even if your cat is OTJ. Ketones can develop if the cat’s pancreas is not producing enough insulin, or burning off too much fat if your cat is not eating properly and other reasons.

If your cat does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any. Pancreatitis, hyperthyroid, dental issues are the most common reasons cats fall out of remission.

"Once a diabetic, always a diabetic." They are simply diet controlled.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Today makes it official. Skye has been off-the-juice (OTJ) for 14 days, 28 cycles. I think you can consider her to be in remission! (Diet controlled, since she will always be diabetic. Congratulations! :bighug::bighug::bighug:
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I could NOT have done this without ALL of your help. You and all of the moderators made a confusing and scary situation a little better. Diagnosis and all of the things you have to do are so overwhelming. What a life changer! We all want to do the best for our kitties and it feels like you have a sword hanging over your head to keep the condition from getting worse and treat all of the current complications. I felt like I caught it quickly and I DID NOT want her to start experiencing neuropathy. I also felt like if I didn't get it controlled quickly the chance that she had to go into remission decreased (sometimes it felt like by the second :nailbiting:) I worked for years as a paramedic and going against the vet just seemed so wrong. In the end all of the support gave me the courage to do what I KNEW was right for Skye and not what the vet thought was right. She was started at too high of an insulin dose and testing was mentioned but really not emphasized. The second I lowered her dose she stopped with the crazy highs and lows. Intuitively it makes sense that if you want the sugar to be lower you give more insulin. Her body's compensatory mechanisms put paid to that idea. I am still amazed that veterinary medicine is so woefully uninformed about this nasty disease. Testing is not optional it is MANDATORY! I have medical training and knew better than to give insulin without a baseline blood glucose level but because it was my cat all my training went out the window and I just blindly followed my vet's advice. I cannot imagine someone without any training. I have read on this site as well as the FB page that not only do some vets not emphasize it, they actively recommend against it. :mad: Don't even get me started on the food! I probably helped put my cat into diabetes trying to prevent it by having her on a weight loss food that was insane with carbohydrates. :( When she was diagnosed I put her on a food specific to her condition only to find out that it was rubbish too. :mad: Since the switch to all wet food her coat is back to being soft and fluffy and she is moving so much better. She is still on joint supplements once a day but I feel like it is a combination of both. I though she was on the greasy side because it was hard for her to groom with the arthritis. Now I feel like it was both her diet and her arthritis. She used to have dandruff with that greasy coat and that is almost gone as well. I am so happy that I may have just saved Finnegan from suffering from diabetes or some of the other diseases I lost my past kitties to.

Again - THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!
 
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