Hitch,s AMPS was 311 gave .7

Discussion in 'Prozinc / PZI' started by dana moore, Jun 9, 2016.

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  1. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    So far so good. He is down to 145 at 3+. I did a few different readings one right after the other and they all were within 20 points but it was different every time. Should this be a concern? What if it says he's 60 and he's really 40??
     
  2. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    The FDA allows a meter "variance of +/- 20% on ALL meter results, whether a human-type meter or the AlphaTrak2 pet-calibrated type. So no, it is not a big concern. Also keep in mind that blood glucose, just like blooc pressure, is not a static thing; it changes from one minute to the next. But that said, I will caution you to not allow these little variations to scare you - I know this is hard at the very beginning of treatment because everything is so new to you. (I remember how so many things freaked me out at the beginning of Bat-Bat's treatment in 2013 - I was a nervous wreck a lot of the time!:nailbiting::rolleyes:)

    I see that Hitckcock is "surfing" some VERY NICE blue #s for you as of +4. So tell me right now: What is his usual feeding schedule? Does he normally get a snack mid-cycle or not? If he does, I would prefer that you wait to see what his +5 # is before he gets anything. (Since we're trying to see how he does on this dose, you know?)
     
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  3. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    His 5+ was 198 He eats morning at 6:00 shot time afternoon when I'm home and evening at 6:00 shot time. Thank you for the info on the glucometer.
     
  4. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    You're welcome. Nice +5 BG#, too!:) (He's doing really well this cycle.;))
     
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  5. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    I remember Sue telling me to give Riley small meals to get the pancreas working is that true for Hitch or is it different? I'm not so sure this diabetes is type 2? What if it is type 1 them it can't be controlled with food right?
     
  6. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    Why are you thinking it might be 1ype 1 diabetes? Frankly, type 1 is very uncommon in cats; I'd say it's way more likely that Hitch's is type 2.
    There are people who feed their diabetic kitties several small meals a day; others who only feed 2 bigger meals (at AMPS/PMPS) and feed in between only when they need to steer up a too-low BG # somewhere in the cycle.

    Some people think that feeding several small meals a day helps give the pancreas more time to heal. And there are some cats, perhaps because they were accustomed to grazing/free-feeding on dry kibble all day before their diabetes diagnosis, who might fare better getting several meals per day; maybe those cats would stress out more at feeling "deprived" by only having their meals at AMPS/PMPS time, right before they get a dose of insulin.

    And for people without the luxury of being able to stay home all the time (because of the work week or whatever), using a timed feeder and mini-meals during the 12-hour cycle can provide them some added "insurance" against too-low BG numbers that may occur when they're not around to monitor.\

    Every cat is different, and every cat guardian has a different opinion on how to feed a diabetic cat, even though we agree across the board that low-carb foods are best for diabetic kitties.

    As for my the choices I made on when to feed my Bat-Bat and why I did it that way: Not working outside the home, I'm able to monitor her all the time.
    And I feel pretty strongly that - at least at the start of treatment - it's important to be able to see how your cat processes the insulin through the 12-hour cycles. So I feel that feeding mini-meals, when you're still not certain of when your cat's nadir time occurs, tends to muddy the waters in terms of "seeing" your cat's unique metabolic patterns in the spreadsheet. Once you have a good idea of when your cat hits his lowest point during the cycle, I don't think it's that bid a deal if you choose to feed, say, 4 times a day.

    But ... I have my own little theory about the way my own cat ended up a diabetic, and I think this is a fairly common story: She was allowed to free-feed on mainly dry kibble for the first 9 years of her life, getting only a very small amount of canned (and I obviously wasn't paying any attention to carb levels because no vet ever told me to do that:rolleyes:). In early 2009, she got a really bad UTI, and one of the Hill's "prescription" foods she was given for that was chock-FULL of corn meal. She put on quite a bit of weight then; in fact, I was so alarmed by it that I finally called the vet's office & asked if I could take her off that stuff! Then I went back to free-feeding what I believed was "healthy" grain-free, salmon-based organic dry kibble. :)banghead:) The weight didn't come off.
    I started cutting back on the amount of kibble available to her throughout the day; I bought a special type of food bowl to help slow down her eating; I bought a little "kibble ball" that she could bat around to get the food out of and get some more exercise at the same time. (By this time, she weighed 18+ lbs!) We had to do some traveling in 2013, and she suddenly started losing weight. I mistakenly thought it was a combination of my having "put her on a diet" and our travels that resulted in the rapid weight loss; but it wasn't: It was feline diabetes, and she was literally wasting away at that point!

    So what's my point here? I think many of us (historically) overfeed our cats by allowing them to graze on dry foods, and the weight gain creeps up on us before we even think much about it and before long - bam! - they are drinking and peeing buckets, and then we find out one day that our beloved cats are diabetics.

    Where Bat-Bat's history is concerned, I think the food (kibble) and the manner in which I fed her - letting her graze at will, all day/night long - actually helped her pancreas grow lazy and shut down. Being constantly bombarded by carbs, I think her pancreas finally just ... gave up the ghost! So when she was diagnosed, I transitioned her to all low-carb canned exclusively, and she was fed only two meals per day - at AMPS & PMPS, before her insulin doses. Except for the times that I had to steer her out of hypo numbers, I stuck to that schedule. (Again, I was able to be around all the time to monitor, so this worked out quite easily for me. For others who have to work all week, it may not be a manageable way at all.) I did not switch her over to 4 meals per day - which is what she gets now - until she was very well-regulated on insulin AND on a really, really tiny dose of that insulin. So my own little theory about Bat-Bat's barely-functioning pancreas is, in a nutshell: I needed to wake the darned thing UP, not baby it and let it keep on "sleeping.":p

    Again, every cat is different, and some cats may do better on the mini-meal plan throughout treatment for their FD. I only know what worked well for Bat-Bat.;)
     
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  7. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Dana, there are, like Robin just said, several theories about how to feed your diabetic cat.
    From my own experience, my Baco gets 2 meals every day, one at AM and one at PM, but there is a catch here… Baco gets an amount of food during AM and PM, so she can’t eat whatever she wants… she gets 90 grams (6,35OZ) every 12 hours.(she has excess to the food the whole 12 hours, but she doesn't get more that the amount that i've given her) This is what works for HER. And like Robin said, we all have our little ways of feeding BUT we all agree that LC food is the best for our little diabetic friends. Baco is on a strict raw diet and she is never ever EVER going to get LC/MC food anymore, even not dry kibbles. I won’t risk it.

    I agree what Robin says here, Baco is a little piggy and why? Because she could graze on dry food all day long for 8 years. But Baco also got steroids to cure an allergic reaction and that in combination with her being overweight caused her diabetes. Luckily I was quick enough to handle and got the diagnose early so I could get her OTJ with insulin and raw food diet.
     
  8. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    BTW, I think the dose of 0.7 is a little to much, let me explain: This because the protocol says that if a cat is a curtained # at PS it shouldn’t go lower than 50% after a dose at his lowest point, the nadir. (@Robin&BB please correct me if i'm wrong)
    Today Hitchcock gave you a 311 at AMPS, so that means that the lowest point should be around 155, but Hitchcock went to 126 at nadir.
    So there is a possibility that he will ‘bounce’ from that low nadir. So I would advise you to give a lower dose, but not like yesterday's 0.2 (that was a little too low).
    Let’s wait until PMPS and we will see what Hitchcock will give you at PMPS. Isn’t PMPS in 30 minutes or so?
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2016
  9. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    So how's Hitch doing this evening, Dana?
     
  10. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    I just read your post, I'm always too late with the advice. I gave him another .7 he was at 373. Oh well. Maybe feeding him in the morning and night is best then, for now anyways.
     
  11. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    His nadir is lowest around 4+ maybe a little after.41/2 hours.
     
  12. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    That's ok, Dana -it may turn out that he does well at this 0.7 dose - as that PMPS # isn't all that much higher than this morning, just 62 pts. It's a funny thing: I notice that my cat's PM pre-shot #s are often a bit higher than her AM pre-shot #s, even now. Hmm, I wonder if it's kind of like blood pressure ... I seem to recall reading somewhere :bookworm: that a human's BP #s are usually higher later in the day than they are early in the day. (And mine usually is.:p)
    Yeah, that's not a bad time at all to be hitting nadir.:)
     
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  13. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    I hear we weigh more in the p.m. too. That's why you always weigh yourself early in the morning, naked! haha.:smuggrin:
     
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  14. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    It's so odd I have not seen Hitchcock drink any water since he's been inside? He has to be drinking right? We have 9 animals with waterbowls throughout the house. I've only seen him urinate 2 times. I got a litterbox with styrofoam in it so I can chk his urine but he's not going in it. I need to lock him in the bathroom by himself but he freaks out major and I hate seeing him stress.
     
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  15. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    I had a TERRIBLE time with Bat when the vet once wanted me to get a urine sample from her: I tried everything I could think of that would not absorb urine: washed aquarium gravel, etc., but she would NOT pee in her box until I put her usual litter (Feline Pine pellets) back into it. It was so frustrating.:banghead: I ended up just having to take her into the office, where they had to do the usual thing with her: Put her in the gas box so that she could be touched by someone other than me:rolleyes:; then they could extract urine from her bladder. (She is SUCH a brat!)
     
  16. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    He just pee peed for me!!! No ketones! 2+ 233
     
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  17. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    HOORAY!!!!!!:D Way to pee, Hitchcock!;) And that +2 # is making it look like you may have another cool blue surfing session on the way tonight!:cool:
     
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  18. dana moore

    dana moore Member

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    yes 146 3+
     
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  19. Robin&BB

    Robin&BB Well-Known Member

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    Wow, that's almost identical to his +3 earlier today!:D
     
  20. Sarah Smith

    Sarah Smith Member

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    Amazing how happy Pee and poop can make us sometimes :cat: Great job catching him finally and awesome numbers tonight!! :bighug:
     
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