Wet food switch - dose reduction advice

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Manx-Luces

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I've been putting off switching to wet food for the past month as I am generally away eight to twelve hours a day and was hoping to make the change August 6th when I'll finally have some time off to see how Gil reacts and be able to keep a better eye on his numbers. The last eleven days worth of high numbers and little help from the vet have convinced me that there's likely no time like the present to prevent this from developing into something serious (no ketones... YET). I took the food charts to the store, stood around making comparatives like a complete tool, and decided to try some wet Friskies to see if Gil will even touch the stuff. Here is what I'm wondering on the impending journey to the unknown:

He's still on 4 units of Caninsulin twice a day. What's the best approach to a dose reduction, if any should be made right away? I'll be gone about twelve hours both Thursday and Friday so I'm worried about starting this tonight but equally worried about putting it off another two days given he's sucking back water like a hoover and he seems to be losing weight quickly (although he can stand it as he is still a chubster). Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Are you testing blood sugar at home?

Does your kitty leave any food or chow down everything you give?

I would suggest you start by mixing the low carb and high carb food until you are going to be home or until you are home testing blood sugar.
 
I looked at your spreadsheet. Sadfully it looks like you may not have to worry much about reducing the dose since your recent data shows a peek in the 300's.
 
sorry - didn' t notice the link to your spreadsheet when I posted earlier

Should be ok to start a food change == just don't go cold turkey until the weekend when you'll be home
 
Caninsulin/Vetsulin has been having issues with quality control. The manufacturer has issued an advisory to NOT use it right now. The US FDA has sent out a warning to not use it right now, too. Perhaps the issue is not only the wrong diet, but the fact that this particular insulin is not working properly. Have you talked to the vet about a change of insulin? 4 units of vetsulin, BID, could really be a bad thing if suddenly, it kicked in and Gil got a whopper of the crystals in that particular dose.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/new ... 188752.htm
http://www.vetsulin.com/vet/Vet_ProductAlert.aspx

Personally, I would switch Gil over to a different insulin: Lantus, Levemir, or one of the ProZincs - and start him over at one unit of insulin per day WITH a diet change to all low carb canned foods. I honestly think that you will see better numbers very soon if you do that.

~M
 
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