Feeburt 4.17

Hi all,
Think I'm finally getting somewhere. Not sure where that red number came yesterday. Since he's not really a diabetic, does the diet really make a difference? and will the liver still go into overdrive is he goes low? are those dumb questions? and last...is there a good acro board?
And now I am thinking of raising him one more unit tomorrow night. So far I have not seen one blue number so I feel like I have the room. Any thoughts?
See ya!

 

does the diet really make a difference
All cats should eat a high protein, low carb diet. However, I don't know if dry food would actually affect numbers in an acro...I don't know that anybody has ever tested it.

will the liver still go into overdrive is he goes low
Yes, you can still get bounces if he goes low.

is there a good acro board
This and catacromegaly.com are the only two I know about. Unfortunately, both are very slow. I don't know why the acro-moms post so rarely. Even sadder is that the most experienced ones rarely post at all anymore, so the newer people don't have anybody to learn from. I offer the bit I know, but our "acro journey" only lasted a total of 6 months from acro diagnosis to OTJ.

You should just keep raising those doses until you hit blues. You're getting so high that I think it would be okay to raise in 2u increments (I see you did once) - as you get closer to nice numbers, you'll raise in smaller increments.

You're doing a good job. Hang in there.

 

I don't think of my acrokitty (KB) as not being diebetic, he just has a different kind of insulin need.

I'm not sure how carb sensitive my kitty is, but I don't take chances. It took a long time to get where we are. I noticed a difference when I removed all dry food from his diet, and we're told to give HC if we need to bring numbers up quickly. When KB snitched a roll one day his numbers soared.

ECID. Some may choose to compensate for feeding higher carbs by just giving more insulin.

The LL forum (used by Lantus and some Lev users) has more eyes on it but Heather's right in that it's not easy to get acro support, partly because every cat seems to do its own thing and what works for one may not for another.

 

I have started to think that A stands for Acro and also Attitude.
Acros just don't seem to want to follow any rules or patterns, so you pretty much have to wing it and try stuff that others have tried for acros.
Since I started Shadoe on Lantus before switching to Lev, I just stayed put in LL because there's more traffic in that group.

 

It's hard, I know, But I have gotten some good advice. We're kind of Acro pioneers. I can't figure out why Feeburt makes hills instead of valleys when his preshot is in the yellows. THis is the best day we have ever had so I think we are making improvements. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to push him up 2 units tonight or just one. Any thoughts?
Why is it that when an acro cat goes too low that low carb food sometimes drives the BGs down?

 

Well, a small low carb meal causes the healthy pancreas to kick out insulin -- so he is essentially getting extra insulin.

With Norton, I DID notice carb sensitivity.

When on dry food -- he needed 13u BID

When we finally switched totally to 100% low carb canned food (less than 2%), he only needed 8u BID

 

I am probably wrong but I had thought that acros have functional pancreas so foods are handled differently. you eat, produce insulin, BG goes down.
Don't go by what I say as I likely have a bunch of explanations I have received all mixed up by now.

 

Thanks all. I decidd to keep him at 16U for tonight but I did split the shot. We'll see how that works.

 

Cody definitely soars when he sneaks food he's not allowed, like the drooler's dry food.(and then they stay messed up for days). He also does better with frequent small meals, which keeps the pancreas working more steadily. He also soars whenever his bg dips into blue territory. I really think this is his defense mechanism from low numbers i probably never knew about before I tested everyday. His kidneys are better than his civie brother, probably from the daily fluids, so i'm trying to chilllll and not fret about his numbers so obsessively.

As I understand it, the excess growth hormone (or some by product of that) fills up the insulin receptor sites on the cell walls throughout the body, so the insulin cannot bind into those receptors, (like a key that's already in the lock, so the insulin key can't get in) so the "door' doesn't open, so glucose can't enter the cell, so the cells starve= weight loss.

Of the 12 units I give Cody possibly only 1u is actually binding to the target cells that still have empty receptor sites. The trouble is that the tumor fluctuates hormone output, so suddenly he can have lots of empty receptor sites and 12u of insulin floating around to fill them up= hypo. then his liver kicks into high gear and ...

Recently I've been reading about Vitamin D cancer prevention/immune boosting possibilities in humans; and i'm thinking about adding salmon food to his recipe. Salmon is high in vit d.

 

Hi Shelly...

As the others have said, yes, an acrocat has a functioning pancreas so food can actually lower bgs. That's why if I see Fletch heading too low, he automatically gets high carb food, sometimes with Karo mixed in. He should still get a good meat based, wet diet because that is what will keep him healthiest. Acro cats can hypo, they can go into rebound, and they can get ketones/DKA-- they're like a normal diabetic in that way, we are just fighting an unkown level of IGF-1/GH.

Believe me, it does get easier... you'll develop an instinct as to what Feeburt needs dose-wise. (((hugs))) and sorry if you feel you aren't being helped. I've been at this a long time and sometimes I just get burned out and feel like I don't have much to offer...

 

No! i hope youguys don't think I'm being helped. I'm fine and I think I'm doing good. I kind of had a ead start on the new diabetics. This is my second round of blood letting and insulin shooting. I can tell he's feeling better even if his BGs haven't really lowered. He attacked Spaceman this morning and thought about doing it again this afternoon...I stopped him.
Just trying to get enough insulin in him is the hard part. Cosmo was easy in comparison. The best part about this time is the insulin is so gentle that I don't feel the need to get up in the middle of the night and I don't worry about leaving for work. I used to do both of those things when I had Cosmo on PZI.
We're good! and I appreciate all the help I get. I wish I could give it back.
BTW...raised to 17 tonight.

 

100 point increase at +6, that's a drag! Have I heard lantus is sensitive to handling and temp?

do you think that's 1. a fluke/incorrect reading, 2. a dropped vial 3. an inverse curve= too much insulin 4. no stinking idea 5. a full moon 5. just needs time to settle?

what meter do you use? Do you ever retest when you get one unusual?
I guess time will tell.
FYI, your bulling ahead up the dose ladder made me a bit braver- Unfortunately, my current syringes only go to 12u so 12.5u is maxed out. Next is 2 syringes, I guess, but then today seems worse so...

I saw these cute little coozies for insulin bottles on Hocks. pretty cheap if you order from them anyway.
sending you yellow thoughts!

 

I'm not sure where that increase came from. Seems like he does that sometimes when he has a decent preshot but I keep in mind that preshot has nothing to do with Lantus. So I am going to go with #4. No stinking Idea with a little bit of #2. Dropped vial mixed in. I'm going to get a new vial on Friday and this time I will get the vial rather than the pens since we are blowing through it so fast there is no need to worry about it going bad. I'll see how he does tonight. If I still get a bad # in the morning I may have to suck it up and buy a new vial before pay day. :-|
Can you get larger syringes? that stinks that you might have to use 4 syringes a day!

 

heres the link to that insulin vial coozie http://hocks.com/hocks-healthcare/hocks ... /SB-6.html

Cindy and Mousie are mailing me some 20u u40 syringes she doesn't need, so pretty soon I'll be in business. In the meantime Ive got about 60 of the small ones- probably could switch them out at the vet, but someday we may come back down.

The 12.5 u didnt help his numbers for us but he did act a bit more like himself. Slept out on the couch for an hour which was pretty cool/cute.