? 6/17 OZZY. General Questions

Hi Kitty Committee!

Just checking in in LANTUS land. Hope everyone is well and safe, kitties included!

Have a few questions on Ozzy. Was wondering if you could take a look at his SS and offer some thoughts on his numbers. I know I need to test.more but this is what I have recorded on the SS. We do try to test daily. Just harder to get the mid cycle tests.

I have been worried about Ozzy for a few months now. He has been losing weight for last 6 months. At his fluffiest weight pre-DM diagnosis, Ozzy was almost 19lbs! Vet said for his body shape size and breed, she didn't think he should be under 14 lbs. In December last year I noticed he starting losing weight. He had gone down to 12.7 lbs then back up to 13lbs and now down to 12.4lbs. Everyone I ask says he looks healthy. I do feel like he is boney feeling more than before. At one point I thought he looked dehydrated and made sure to try to give him more water regularly and in his food and have been trying so hard to keep his BGs as stable as possible. But it seems impossible! He is just all over the place. Always has been. Same food same time same doses same times same environment..... you think with such constant external factors you could have some more reliable BGs --- NOPE!!!! He eats Darwins raw food 90% of time and some fancy feast LC or tiki cat the other 10%

He also has had a chronic vomiting problem. It's not everyday. Many days or even weeks its nothing and other times its several days in a row. Test him and its when he's high, or low, or even with regular numbers.

He mostly sleeps all day. He hates/is scared of our toddler so just keeps in one of the back bedrooms.

I feel sad for my sweet kitty. We have been at this routine for several years now. But I question Ozzy's quality of life.

I'm just feeling really discouraged right now. We have spent thousands of dollars on Ozzy over the years ($5k to save him from DKA alone with this initial DM diagnosis) and I cant keep taking him to the vet at the tune of $400+ every visit. Our vet said some diabetic cats are known to have chronic vomiting.

Any thoughts??

 

Hi Joanna and Ozzy,
Why some cats vomit moe than others is a mystery to me.
Have you thought of giving him some slippery elm bark powder for the vomiting. It can often help.
https://draxe.com/pet-health/slippery-elm-for-pets/

Most cats sleep a lot during the day I find. Even my 2 young 3 year olds love to find a spot and sleep.

Looking at your SS....yes you do need to try and get at least one test in during each cycle. Try and get a before bed test in every night as well, Just to see he’s not going to drop too low. I suspect he is getting some low numbers that you are missing.

On 5/31 he got 37@+3 and you didn’t test again until PMPS and he was 48 and you skipped. He was probably dangerously low all day. And then you didn’t decrease the dose, but increased to dose to 1.25 units. Not sure why you did that.
A BG of 37 is an immediate decrease in dose.
In other places you are getting low 50s and are not testing again to see it is not dropping lower.

It is very easy to drop the ball after a few years and not be as strict with testing etc.
My suggestion would be to get back to testing before every shot (which you looks as if you have been mostly doing lately) and getting those all important middle tests in every cycle.
If you are following the TR then take the reductions when they are earned and increase in 1/2 unit increments when needed.

Maybe try and post each day for a while to get back into good habits and get a bit of support.
He’s a lucky boy to have you.

 

Yes, agreed that at almost 4 yrs in now we have been less strict. What happened was a baby who then became a toddler and I work a 9 hr day in a high paced corporate job. I am feeling run ragged around here and it's hard to do anything for myself let alone keep on top of multiple tests a day. It's been very challenging especially since my husband has not wanted to help as much. He is tired with a toddler too and a ft job. We have a lot of responsibility and it's been very hard these last 2 years.

I can't recall what happened when we got those lows, but I always feed Ozzy up. He reacts quickly to food when he has low numbers and it always shoots him up. I usually will give him HC immediately followed by either some more HC or medium carb over the next 2 hrs and then leave him some regular food over night. Every time he has dropped low food has always brought him back up and kept him up the rest of night and then he bounces next morning. This happens every single time. I agree with you I shoudve gotten some extra tests in during those lows but just want you to know that he was fed up in each of those instances. The 5/31 event is a head scratcher though. I should have definatley tested more and feel pretty bad now looking at the ss and big picture.

My frustrations with this dosing is we go up to 1.25 and only last for a short time then back down to 1+ down to 1 then numbers increase and back up we go. I just wish we could find a magic dose and stay there for awhile and know he his numbers will be good for awhile.

Over the years we have tried SEB, aloe vera, probiotics. Nothing really works for his vomiting long term. Vet will only allow anti nausea meds for short periods of time.

Thanks for your comments and looking at his SS. Will try to get in more mid cycle tests.

 

Do you think we should try a different insulin?

 

I completely understand how busy you must be with a toddler and a full time job....that is hard. I think you are amazing being about to juggle all that with a FD kitty. I was retired when I had Sheba.
All you can do is the best you can. That is all anyone can do
Try and get some tests in on the days you are at home and maybe a test before you leave in the morning if that is feasible or one when you get home. If you can get those, that will tell us a lot more about Ozzy than just preshots. And the before bed test would be very useful too.
And I would not increase at all unless you have been able to get in some decent mid cycle shots to support the increase.

Is the vomiting anything to do with Eating, or does it happen later in the day?

I would try getting some more tests in first and see is we can get him sorted on Lantus
If not then you could think about swapping to Levemir. It’s another good insulin but you would still have to do the same amount of testing with any insulin.

If you can post daily or every few days or even weekly if you are pressed for time, with your thoughts and results and we will see what we can do you help you.

 

Hi Jo, good to hear from you.

It's not normal for cats to vomit frequently. Combined with weight loss, it's a sign something else might be in play. Has he had blood work recently? Some of the things to look for are IBD or other GI issues, food allergies, hyperthyroidism, maybe even kidneys. Most of these are treatable and treatment will improve his quality of life. Article on Chronic Vomiting is Not Normal.

Cats can change behaviours over time. If you are so busy with toddler and work (completely understandable), I think I'd be inclined to lower the dose a bit, so avoids those low points, but still is overall in decent numbers.

 

Thanks for your response. Will take a look at that article you linked to. Ozzy is due for a vetty visit and will get more bloodwork soon.

Funny how we are talking about reducing dose when just a few months ago convo was to increase. And so goes this dance.... or rollercoaster as we like to say here in FDMB land! On both higher dose and lower dose his weight has dropped so agree soemthing else could be at play.

 

Very informative article. Thanks! Ozzy has all the symptoms of chronic small bowel disease listed in that article. I will def discuss with our vet and get him back on SB probiotics asap! Wonder what causes that and what foods are good for cats with IBD? He eats 90% raw diet (Darwin's chicken and turkey)

 

You might want to try a novel protein diet, something he hasn’t had before. Raw is great for giving you options like lamb, venison, rabbit, to name a few. I used to also feed kangaroo, wild boar, elk. Also check out https://www.ibdkitties.net/ and http://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/