4/6+7 ELLIOTT OTJ: May have Eaten Dog Kibble..AMBG=166,+4=96, PMBG=81... AMBG=67, PMBG=73

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/posts/1645235/

 

Everything OK Fran?

 

You know to feed and test again in 3 hours, right? Don't get discouraged at this point.

 

I agree with Elise...retest in a few hours. Could he have gotten into any contraband?

 

He ate again at 6 am or so..will test again in 1 hour..I was just a little disappointed to see the BGresults. As I wrote on the OTJ page, there was a small bowl of dog dry kibble on floor BUTthese cats have never eaten anything but cat food..never even would touch a shrimp, ribeye steak, only would eat the fresh baked chicken made for Elliott when diagnosed..AND my thought is even if he had eaten the kibble, a normal body would not overproduce glucose..but we'll see in an hour...hoping this is a fluke....

 

He may have gotten in to the kibble...I've heard many people (myself included) say "My cat never does 'fill in the blank' " - only to find out said kitty DOES do that one thing!

One thing to remember is that once a diabetic, always a diabetic. Elliot is now "diet controlled" but not "cured", which does mean that any sort of high carb food can and most likely will cause a high BG reaction from him. I've seen it happen with Trix when she's managed a raid with the civvies kibbles.

 

Don't stress out, Fran. It's only one number. Yesterday was an exciting day and Elliott certainly picked up on that (not to mention the party!).

Come back down, Elliott. You're OTJ now and we want you to stay that way!

Ella & Rusty

 

10 am CST BG=96..(AT=148)..Maybe Elliott did eat the dog kibble that Frank left on the floor because I c/o that the dogs should be fed more than once/day...whewh!!! If I did not stress out over this, it would have been something else. If you haven't noticed. I am an expert at worrying and stress..It's a real shame!!! I surely hope that it was the dog food because THAT will never happen again. ALSO, I was going to mention to you soon... that I actually felt bad that Trouble is allowed to come to my bedroom when Elliott is not around, where I keep a ziplocked bag in my desk of IAMS cat kibbel. During the day, I allow Trouble a level tsp of it a few times a day as a treat...THEY LOVED THEIR DRY FOOD!!! And when Elliott arrived the other day, I allowed him to eat 10 morsels of the cat kibble as a treat. Then, I noticed that Elliott was catching on to Trouble's sneaking up to my room..and gave Elliott 5-10 morsels a few times more. He was so happy..but maybe...today needed to happen as a reminder NOT to stray from the low carbs that probably helped, along with the insulin, Elliott go into remission. Sometimes I learn the hard way..

Yes..the OTJ party was great. I am still watching the video over and over and shared it with many people, who think you all are just great people!!!

 

AH, you are one of us...a big group of worriers who love our kitties to pieces!!

 

Oh..I read this after posting..I will make sure I do not resort to anything other than Elliott's low carb diet. Trouble is on it too..I will weigh them both now and hope all is okay. I still worry over the drastic change that persists with Elliott's hair being so thin as compared to before when it was soooo thick. He looks fine but there is no doubt that much of his coat (fur) has gone.. somewhere...The first thing I thought of (1/1/2016) was 3 of my dogs...that along with thirst, eating alot, and hair loss were their first signs of Cushings...but all of Elliott's labs were normal except BG..Thanks for the reassurance!!!

 

I'm glad Elliott came back down. You have to watch. They love to get into contraband (forbidden food).

 

Hope it's just the kibble Fran!

 

Glad he came back down.
Think he may have been plotting with Bubba today to do a doggie kibble raid

 

It may be a year or more before you see his thick coat return to normal Fran, with Scotty I was thinking one day that it would be a lot easier if I had shot areas shaved and I realized that he finally had his before diabetes coat back. I bet Elliot ate a piece or two of dog food, it would be higher carb than dry cat food and even a piece or two could shoot his blood sugar up. I think as long as you keep Elliot on a high protein low carb wet diet he is going to be just fine.

 

I'm glad he came down. I know digs like cat food but I guess a dry food junkie kitty will like dog food too!

 

China started raiding the drooler food too when I first took the kibble away....they find a way!!

 

It's easy to become complacent when your kitty goes OTJ. I did it with Cinco. First it was just a piece or two of his favorite dry, then it was a handful, and pretty soon I was leaving the door to the pantry where the bowl of dry food lived wide open. Needless to say, Cinco relapsed. I felt awful for months, until I found out that wasn't the only reason - he also had an infection that easily could have pushed him off the wagon. But it's a lesson I learned well, and from then on I was VERY careful to keep all dry food out of reach. When my girls passed, I gave away all the dry food I had, so there could be no accidental snacks.

Elliott, you partied too hard last night! Now you see what happens! No more kibble raids and try to be a little less wild at the next party!

 

Ah, he was eating his celebration cake????

 

I'd encourage you to be 100% rigid with little Elliott. Remission is a fragile state in many kitties. Not sure if you've read the following from the Tight Reg sticky, under Reducing the Dose:

Test the cat's BGs once per month.Approximately 25% cats that achieved remission using this protocol relapsed and required insulin again (frequent causes are hyperthyroidism or bouts of pancreatitis). Therefore, it is important to keep your diabetes kit up-to-date. Then you can react immediately by giving insulin and home testing. Importantly, the sooner you react to a relapse (i.e. preventing hyperglycemia and initiating other necessary veterinary treatment), the more likely a second remission will become.

The longer a cat has had diabetes, the less likely it will go into remission. Many long-term diabetics get stuck in Phase 3 or 4. Yet there is a benefit of using this method for such a cat as well: keeping the cat's BG levels as normal as possible is much healthier for it long term. Insulin requirements will often decrease to very low levels too."


Glycemic Status and Predictors of Relapse for Diabetic Cats in Remission
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That article link above is worth reading. Essentially what it says is what Amy said - once a cat is diabetic, they are always diabetic. If they are lucky they may be able to become diet-controlled. I can't tell you how many cats I've seen come back onto insulin because they were given dry food after they were in remission.

Looks like he's coming back down again today - fingers crossed he'll have cleared all the dry food carbs by tomorrow morning.

 

Thank you...I had not read this and it's an extra good reminder to NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN...Frank feeds the stray cats but all cat food will be in a garage closet from now on..I am going to make him read this right now..Again..thanks for all of the info!! Oh, and I think I'll even stop his brother, Trouble, from dry cat food treats..Why take a chance when doing the right thing will only help our kitties' health!

 

These are the type of articles that I would have liked when researching the "why, what" of feline DM..Do you subscribe to The Journal? ANYWAY...I read a lot of it but was tired and want to read it all later. What I gathered (right or wrong?) is that by eating a large carb meal, some cats have secondary "glucose tolerance issues" that could trigger the need for insulin therapy again. i.e., It's not just the matter of the pancreas getting healed but "staying" healed and "some" cats may have less glucose tolerance than others. What worries me is that if he ate the dog kibble, his glucose tolerance is not good (related or unrelated to DM)..that I never considered. My rationale for it not being food related was faulty because I never considered glucose intolerance. (As I told Frank, when this happened)...I can eat a stack of chocolate and buckets of ice cream, but my glucose level will not jump to 500 because my body regulates the glucose/ insulin response....I surely hope to keep Elliott safe from unnecessary troubles like this in the future..Really..Thanks!!

 

right - i think you've got the idea. A normally functioning pancreas will adjust to put out the right amount of insulin, regardless of how many carbs you eat.

In many cats who have become diabetic, even after they have gone into remission the pancreas remains impaired. They only remain in remission as long as they stay on a healthy, low carb diet and don't get sick. Things like infections (dental or bladder) or pancreatitis, or developing a thyroid issue, can all throw the cat out of remission.

That's why it's important to continue to feed them as diabetics and to be preventative with dental care.

 

Thank you sooo much for all of this info...It is a shame that something potentially bad has to happen to keep me on my toes !!

 

Glad to see that Elliott's back in green numbers - looks like no harm done and you've learned a lot by the experience that will help protect Elliott as you move ahead!

This whole thing is one great big old learning curve, isn't it, Fran?

 

Me too...and Yes it is..I was thinking that maybe frank should test his BG in the evening instead of the early am..since it is always sooo low???

 

Cat's highest blood sugar is typically in the morning because of Dawn Phenomenon. I would continue to test then, because when a cat is OTJ, the important numbers are the HIGH numbers.

If Elliott's not high in the morning, just step away from the glucometer and enjoy your day, knowing that he's doing fine!

 

Thanks I did not realize that!! Also, I have sent my newest pc back to HP. As you can tell, I am not too thrilled using my old ones and the Ipads just drive me a little nuts!!! Hopefully, HP can return it soon.