Dosage questions - Jester's PMPS 142

He's supposed to be on 2U, but he hasn't eaten much today.

 

You can skip. Or give a small token dose (0.25-0.5)

 

Tyk!

He's finally starting to eat now, but not much before.
His AMPS was 263 at 7:30. Hoping this is the start of a downswing.

 

@JanetNJ - do you think I should test Jester again before bed? Six hours would be 1:30AM for me.

 

No need to stay up that late unless she's going too low. Why not grab a +4 of you want to see where is heading.

 

Okay.
What should I do if he's low? I went with the .5U. Now he's really hungry.

Finished off a can of FF between 7:30 and 8:00pm. Now he's working on another can.

 

I haven't been watching your threads, but a +4 is usually a good indicator of where kitty's going for the night Hope you don't have to stay up too late!! Looks like his little P might be kicking in! Don't be suprised if his AMPS is a little high, but don't let it discourage you. I probably don't need to say it, but it's only because he got a lower dose since he was low.

If he's hungry feed him Maybe go ahead and grab another test too. He could be hungry because he's dropping and his instinct is to eat when his body perceives low BGs.

If he's underweight let him eat till he's happy. I know I do with mine.

 

What's a little P?

He's just started a third can. This is pretty extreme. He hasn't eaten this intensely since he was undiagnosed.

 

little pancreas did you get that bg test?

 

Not yet. Just gave him the shot about 2 hours ago.

What does little pancreas mean?

 

His actual pancreas, the organ that is responsible for insulin production and other hormones. Sometimes once we've kept our sugar kitties in nice healing ranges their pancreases start to work a bit better, even to the point of remission.

 

Ah. Jester actually had a remission briefly in September. But then he just plum stopped eating for about a week and a half.

I was syringe feeding him off and on. Then I tried some dry food and it kicked off his appetite again. But the only food I could get him to eat was a high carb canned thing.

The vet wasn't worried and, until Jester started losing weight again, didn't bother testing.

He came out of remission officially after about a month and he's been bouncing around ever since.

 

Did he have pancreatitis? The only time I've had to resort to syringe feeding was during a pancreatitis attack.
Gonna ask has he had a dental recently?
What's he currently eating?

 

Vet did blood tests - nothing. He finally did an xray and still didn't see anything.
He finally came to the conclusion that it may have just been a bad case of gas. Then having not eaten, couldn't find his appetite again until the dry food appeared.

For most of the time prior to diagnosis, his favorite canned food was high carb Friskies indoor chunky chicken and turkey with gravy and rice.

Finally got him down to the Friskies filets with gravy - about ten less carbs - with occasional forays into a couple of single digit pates. The non-eating days wete right after I had been aggressively pushing him towards really low carb foods.

This time I've been taking it slower and more cautiously. In fact, Jester sort of jumped into the FF almost on his own.

That's almost all he's eaten today, in fact. From the previous experience, I'm almost worried about a repeat.

Just crossing my fingers that it'll work out better this time.

 

The test for pancreatitis isn't in your normal lab workup. The specfPL is different. So it *could* be possible that was what was going on. It's pretty common in our sugar kitties since their pancreas is already taxed.

Glad you're making a move to lower carb food. It'll help with with bg lvls and insulin needs, hopefully.
Don't worry too much. You can only take one step at a time and address things as they arise.

But again, since he came out of remission, has he had a dental? Tooth problems may be one of the number one things that will throw cats out of remission.

 

Two different vets have seen Jester and both are happy with his teeth.

Can pancreatitis go away on its own?

 

It will "go away". However, many cats that have pancreatitis may develop chronic pancreatitis. Some flares are worse than others, but that's why that diagnosis is important - so when it arises again you know what's going on and how to treat it. Most cats are given pain meds, nausea meds, and appetite stimulants. I have a standing Rx for nausea meds, also because of his IBD, but if a flare gets too bad pain meds are necessary.

 

FWIW, my vet was happy with Spicoli's teeth, but when he went from .25u to 4.5u I knew something wasn't right. And against our vets wishes, I had the dental done. 5 teeth needed to be extracted, and now we're doing SO much better. I know it's expensive but it might be worth for Jester's overall health.

 

+4 is 281 - not the best news. I have a feeling Jester's AMPS is going to be high again.
But at least it's not scary low.

 

I've seen Jester's teeth and the first vet who checked them is a cat specialist.
They're in very good shape. I'm not worried about them either.
Jester's been on 2U consistently for over a month now. If his BG would go down and stay down for a week or more, the vet might reduce his dosage. He's playing it cautiously, so far as I can see. His biggest concern is Jester going dangerously low and I agree with that.
I do, however, disagree with his philosophy of only testing a couple of times a week and only four to six hours after insulin.

In any case, I'm going to stay calm and check Jester again in the morning.

Thanks to everyone for helping me through the numbers game tonight!