A week ago I switched to a Human meter which has been fine. Tonight his PMPS is 210 and I am not sure whether to shoot the1.2 we have stayed steady with recently or try a lower dose. I know he had some Dr. Elsey's dry within a hour before I tested.So he might even be lower. Any advice?
I think you made the right decision tonight. On a human meter, and given the numbers you generally see, I would think anything near 200 you could just go ahead and shoot the regular dose. Eventually you hope those PS numbers will go even lower, so fingers crossed that Ramon is heading in the right direction.
New question: I can;t always get him to eat when its time to shoot. I have been forcing a fingerful or two in his mouth and then shooting. Is it okay to shoot without much food? He is very picky and I freefeed. He eats plenty during the day, but its not reliable. His vet has tentatively diagnosed him with IBD and prescribed budesonide. I am stalling on starting that with him (he already gets probiotics and Atopica for another condition), but it may be why he doesn't always want to eat.
He should be OK with maybe a tablespoon of food. ProZinc’s onset is generally around +2 or so and that gives him time to graze a bit more.
You could also try a novel protein and limited ingredient diet. It gets expensive, but cheaper than vet bills and definitely cheaper than increasing the insulin (which is what happens with budesonide). Rabbit is usually pretty easy to get, but there is also venison (easy to get at some times of the year, but disappears at other times so you have to keep a big stock at home), lamb, or kangaroo that are commonly used for very sensitive IBD kitties. You take away all other food, and feed just the novel protein - something they've never had before - and see if in a few weeks things improve. It does take some time. How long has he been on the probiotic, and which one are you using? If it's been over a month and you've been very very consistent in dosing, then you might consider changing to something new. Not all probiotics are the right match for a particular cats gut. And finally, can you remind me about the results of the pancreatitis test, and which test was given? (spec-fpl vs. snap-fpl?). Regardless, a cat can show a negative result, but still have pancreatitis. It's not a very reliable test. If I'm remembering correctly (and I mix up cats all the time around here, so forgive me if I'm not), but I think you said Ramon responded well to the cerenia shot? That makes me think panc, as IBD is usually more lower gut - diarrhea and constipation - as opposed to nausea, vomiting, and inappetence.
