I just made my spreadsheet, I need help with my cat

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by MunchieMA, Dec 29, 2017.

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  1. MunchieMA

    MunchieMA Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    Hi everyone, I posted this in the prozinc forum but I'm going to throw it out here as well. My 10-year-old cat, Munchie, was diagnosed in November. He began on 1 unit of prozinc and his numbers eventually steadied in the 200 range for the first few weeks before a recheck, then the vet upped him to 2 units. His numbers spiked to the 600's and I was advised that I shouldn't jump a full unit at once, so I moved to 1.5. we seemed pretty steady for a little bit then we started spiking again. He has been peeing all over the floor in front of his liter box, and doesn't always seem to want to eat. He eats an entire can of fancy feast classic twice a day at 6:30 am and again at 6:30 pm when he gets his insulin, and I give him about 3 1/2 can servings throughout the day/night as he requests it... but he usually eats only 1/2 of those servings. He has been drinking water regularly, not as much as before but still a good amount... and he has been going to the bathroom regularly (urine on floor is the only thing unusual)...

    I'm looking for help in figuring out what's wrong with him and what I can do better to help him. He's not eating dry food, but I keep catching him eating our dog's kibble (meant for large, adult breeds). Right now he's off of dry food except for the stolen kibble from our dog. I just made a spreadsheet today and I'm not positive I did it right, and I know I was fairly bad about recording readings but sometimes they disappear by the time I wrote them down and I couldn't remember exact numbers (between my family, pets and work... life is busy!) My vet never asked me to do home readings and certainly never suggesting recording but I learned some things through this site, now that I am trying my hand at the spreadsheet I will be more proactive about always writing down readings.

    Any help, advice or even words of encouragement will be greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm losing the battle :(


    *** UPDATE*** I just checked him at +8 from this morning's reading and he's at 71 he has never been so low I'm not sure what to do or if this is OK he has been doing nothing but sleep lately and I'm so worried... He goes to the vet in half an hour and I just gave him some fancy feast gravy lovers to help him... please help me

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...oSYn5Hv-rNbSpzhKq_b4RJ8mo2htHKSGVxPQE/pubhtml
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2017
  2. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    Jun 8, 2016
    Looks like 2 is too much. Can you go back to 1.5 and do a curve this weekend? It's hard to suggest a dose withought many mid cycle numbers.
     
  3. MunchieMA

    MunchieMA Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    I only went up to 2 after his numbers were so high to help bring them down, my vet had told me to jump from 1 to 2 but he was having super high readings initially at 2 so I was told I jumped him up too fast and to be more gradual with my climb. I am going to go back to the 1.5 now. his numbers were in the 600+ range again this evening. No UTI. I can do a curve this weekend but i've never done one before, I'll search around the site and look for some info on how to do them. Thanks for you help :)
     
  4. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

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    Jun 8, 2016
    A curve is just testing every 2 hours for 12 hours. Helps to see what the insulin is doing.
     
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  5. JeffJ

    JeffJ Well-Known Member

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    Jul 7, 2016
    Agree with Janet (as usual). Please take +6 hr readings whenever possible. Those will help establish a trend of the effectiveness of the dose. If you are not home during the day, then try +4hr readings after PMPS.
     
  6. MunchieMA

    MunchieMA Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    I am doing the curve today- 3 tests down and I'm surprised at how good his numbers are during the day- I never realized ! For a while I was wondering why the hell I kept giving him all these shots and testing when his numbers were never improving... but right now i'm feeling a lot better, all this work seems to be helping and that's not something I have felt before today :)
     
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  7. JeffJ

    JeffJ Well-Known Member

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    Jul 7, 2016
    I don't know if Munchie was getting kibble pre-December 2017. The food component of diabetes management is important. It takes awhile for BG regulation to occur. Glad to see the progress with Munchie.

    Leo tries to get the dog food too.
     
  8. MunchieMA

    MunchieMA Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    he was, admittedly, eating a very high carb kibble. I had no idea how bad it was for him- and I only gave him gravy lovers fancy feast. diet changed entirely in November, now only fancy feast classic, some chicken for a treat, and some of the dogs stolen kibble here and there...
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2017
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  9. Nan & Amber (GA)

    Nan & Amber (GA) Well-Known Member

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    Mar 19, 2016
    Munchie is looking good today! I am wondering, looking at the spreadsheet, if maybe on some earlier days he might have been going low and then bouncing back up by the next shot time. Yesterday hitting 71 at +8 was very suggestive-- if it wasn't just a bad test strip (possible), he might have gone even lower earlier in the day.

    It definitely does take time to get a cat regulated. Hang in there!
     
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  10. JeffJ

    JeffJ Well-Known Member

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    Jul 7, 2016
    We have seen cats on the forum - go Off The Juice (OTJ) just from food regulation and a month or two of insulin. It doesn't always happen. But it does show the importance of food in the diabetes balancing act. Please continue to keep your spreadsheet updated, and do nadir tests when possible. Munchie's numbers are looking good today!
     
  11. MunchieMA

    MunchieMA Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    we are back in the scary high numbers- 591. any ideas why we have such insane jumps in numbers throughout the day? :(
     
  12. Kris & Teasel

    Kris & Teasel Well-Known Member

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    Aug 17, 2016
    Those look like bounces in reaction to the blues earlier. Try not to worry about them too much. Keep gathering data.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2017
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  13. JeffJ

    JeffJ Well-Known Member

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    Jul 7, 2016
    Agree with Kris (as usual). We are looking for trends over time. There will be bounces.
     
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