5/19 Ozzy AMPS 274 +5.5 32 +6 47 +6.5 80 PMPS 335 +270

Ozzy Pawzbourne back on the scene!!

...and with his lowest number yet.

I have been so busy with my new job and working 12-15 hours a day so haven't been able to be on the board much lately. I've been missing checking in on my favorite kitty and beans! Hope everyone has been well!

Ozzy has been doing really well and I'd say overall his numbers have been trending downwards which we are happy about. We thought we found the perfect 'goldilocks dose' which for Ozzy was 1uf. This brought him to greens but not too low...until today when he hit 32. I had to test him 3 times because I didn't believe my eyes. He has never had a 30-anything before. This low number was quite late in his cycle (5.5 hours in) but since it was the lowest yet, I went straight to the HC food to try to bring his numbers up as quickly as possible. He ate like a beast and ate his brother's food too. I tested him about 30 minutes later (after the first test, not after he finished eating) and he went up to 47. Will grab another test here in a few minutes to make sure his numbers keep rising. He really didn't show any hypo signs.

We decided to wait for the 3 drops under 50 rule and I for sure see at least 2 drops under 50 on this dose, but I suspect he has dropped lower on other occasions too and we just were not here to his monitor. Like yesterday when he went from 166 to 111 in 2 hours of his am shot. We left him MC f,ood out but he bounced to 326 at PM shot time so I think he dropped low during the day.

This rollercoaster has been fun. Ozzy will officially hit the 6 month mark from when he was diagnosed with diabetes in 11 days. While we've been so hopeful he would go into remission, we are not as hopeful anymore. I
think his chances become less and less after 6 months. This is unfortunate. We haven't left the house in 6 months either. But, on the positive side of things, we have really gotten into a good routine and treating his diabetes has become a regular part of our day.

 

+6.5 = 80

That HC shot him up fast. Good. No more worrying your meowmie Ozzy!

 

I always interpreted the articles to read that remission was more likely if the protocol was started within 6 months of DX, not that it had to be achieved within 6 months of DX. Of course that's what I want to believe. Go Ozzy.

 

That was always my reading as well. There are certainly lots and lots of cats on this board who got to remission after much longer on the juice, so don't lose hope! He is doing really well overall, and spending a decent amount of time in blues and greens.

Now, about that 32-- !!!!!! Whattaya doing, Ozz-man???? Trying to give the bean a heart attack!

Glad he came back up quickly! You know the drill from here...

 

Thanks @MJW and @Nan & Amber! Ok, holding on to some hope. I really want this for my sweet kitty and I'm SO tired of poking his poor little ears everyday. I just want to give my little guy a break from all this.

Ozzy has been spending a good amount of time in blues and greens which makes me very happy. He must feel better, too.

 

I hate to reduce Ozzy's does because I am afraid he is going to start seeing higher numbers again and don't want that.

My hubby has suggested a different approach: give him 1.25u and feed him MC food every day. I'm not sure what I think about that. You guys???

 

Congrats on the reduction. The "three drops under 50" has a second part "or once under 40". It is strongly rcommended that you reduce for a number in the 30's. I would try the reduction this time, maybe do the slightly higher carb if you end up going back up in dose.

 

I second taking the reduction. You don't want to mess with numbers in the 30s. Don't give up hoping for remission. Furball went OTJ after 3 1/2 years.

 

I hope that 32 is a sign of good things to come, as well as the increased frequency of blue pre-shots over the past 2 weeks.

 

Hi Jo !!! You and Ozzy have been on my mind so much lately . Elmo and I are pulling for him to go into remission regardless the time that has passed !!! That's our hope and prayer !!! Cannot begin to imagine the pressure of your job !! Give DH and Figgie a hug too

 

Thanks for all the positive and thoughtful comments! Ozzy bounced up at PMPS which was to be expected with his 32 low this afternoon. I checked him again at +4 and he hasn't come down too much so I slathered up his ears good with some neospoirin and am giving him a pokey break for the rest of the night. He earned it.

So some odd or not so normal for Ozzy behavior I have noticed recently is that Ozzy seems to eat his food really show now. He will still eat a good amount and actually looks to have gained a little weight back since his DKA, but he used to be a hoover type eater and he just doesn't seem too thrilled with his food options. Wondering if I should switch him to something else besides the weruva. We got the darwins raw and mix it in with their canned and neither cat seems too thrilled with this brand. They both really liked rad cat raw which is two times more expensive- figures. The other thing is Ozzy has picked up a new habit of drooling. He only seems to do it when he is happy and purring (or at least that's the only time we ever notice it). Even though he is a slower eater, he doesn't seem to have any issues chewing his food and hasnt given us reason to think he has any dental problems. His last checkup said he had some mild dental decay but they didn't mention more or it being a problem. Both kitties are due for a vetty visit soon so will have thr vet check his mouth then. For now, Ozzy has become a slobbery kitty.

 

Thanks Beth! How is Mr Elmo doing?

 

Wow! Just wow!!! So there is hope yet! Thanks!

 

We did take him back down to 1u tonight. Will see how he does. Thanks for the reminder on the protocols.

 

Thanks Adrian! Love the new pics of ur kitties!

I checked out your ss this afternoon and couldn't believe it was Chino's ss! He has spent a good amount of time with better numbers and tons of greens!!! You must be soo absolutely thrilled! Congrats on such great progress!!

 

We feel similar, but Taffy's dose keeps creeping up. Glad you guys have been doing well. I don't have remission as a goal anymore, but still as a possibility! A goal would be regulating, however. I feel very all over the place with Taff. No predictability at all. (from him or from me!!!)

 

Love seeing those color changes on the spreadsheet! We like to see you in the greens Ozzy, just not in such a dramatic fashion!

 

Holding steady . I need to update his SS from my daily notebook . Have had a ton of family stuff going on so keep track of him on paper is easiest for right now

 

Glad to hear Mr Elmo is well! Family is fun and stressful but we love them!

I do the same thing- we have a notepad that we keep track of everything on. It is more accessible than hopping online everytime we do a test and it is a good communication tool for hubby and me- we can see what the other has recorded for the day and hubby can see what I shot in the am and vice versa or make notes to eachother if the next dose needs to be adjusted,etc. I then bulk upload the data online if I haven't been on in a bit. Hubby and I have really been sharing responsibility with Ozzy pretty fairly IMO. Hubby still hates doing the ear pricks and Ozzy clearly likes his mommy to do them over daddy when possible, but Hubby does them too and will get the food and shot ready. So we are being good at taking turns. Team Ozzy!

Another great thing is we are pretty much used to this routine now and are not so stressed over Ozzy having diabetes. Even when Ozzy had a low of 32 yesterday, it was fine. I just gave him a bunch of food and got his numbers up quick and we went about our day. No more freaking and panicking. Of course it's imperative to have all the right supplies on hand (hypo kit) always.

 

I used to worry about the dose going up and not down because we really wanted it to go down to zero too and have Ozzy in remission. But what was more concerning was seeing Ozzy always in yellow numbers or worse most of the time. I kept thinking what kind of preventable long term organ damage is he risking by having such high sugars for months and months at a time. I am now more focused on keeping his BG in a safe range as much as possible than I am on what his dose is. He needs whatever it is that he needs to get him there. That's how I try to think to not stress me out about the dose bobbling that constantly happens. I know you have this as your primary goal too.

I bet if you look at your SS as a whole and think back over the entire time you have treated Taffy, you will start to see some subtle patterns even if Taffy hasn't reached regulation yet. Ozzy is also not regulated and I have felt was very unpredictable- but small patterns I have noticed emerge lately are: 1. His oveall numbers are trending downwards, 2. He is getting blue and green PS numbers more frequently now (did you see I shot a 52 a few weeks ago!!!- even if it was a BCS!) 3. I actually do think that I can tell where he is going to go on a given dose after 2 hours in and can then decide if he needs higher carb food, more monitoring, or less pokies. This was a big deal for me because we have to leave him alone when going to work and not knowing if Ozzy would be safe while we are away caused me immense anxiety. Before he was so unpredictable and I never knew what was going to happen and now I can have a little wee bit of certainty to put my mind at ease.

Look over your SS some more from a higher level view and see if you can spot some patterns that show that even though Taffy is doing things his way and on his own time, he is still making improvement.