Indie OTJ... question...is she in remission? Will she remain?

So my Dr. is comfortable saying that my lil girl Indie is in remission. I haven't updated her spreadsheet but since 11/1 she has remained under 120. I'm posting to ask if because I did the trial run so abruptly if you foresee her going right back on the juice in the near future? Since you all have had experience with this stuff wanted to just start an open dialogue on the topic of OTJ. And get your input. I realize I didn't do the trial run how one would do it ideally. And also know that I need to update my spreadsheet soon!

Here's some background info on how we got here...

Indie was in the hospital a couple weeks earlier (I posted on here during it). She basically became unresponsive and since I had been concerned with her heart and high resting respiratory rate I never checked her BG at the time (big mistake in hindsight). I just took her to the hospital. While there they took 2 BG readings. First from ear said 33. Second from vein in leg said 115. Her BP was low and body temp was low. She was responsive and seemed fine once at vet. To this day we don't know what happened to cause her to be unresponsive. They sent us home once vitals were fine. My Dr. says could have been a hypo incident. We will never know.

So days following she saw a cardiologist just to double check all was well, everything came back normal and great. So again cardiologist attributed her "incident" to going hypo.

I consulted with her Dr and we decided to go down to 1 shot a day. I didn't have the time at that point to be posting on here. So I just went with it. She remained a bit high with her numbers because I would shoot in the AM and leave HC food out for fear of her going low. Dr and I chatted and we both agreed that to get accurate readings I needed to stop leaving HC food out BUT I said I would only do so if we did away with her morning shot. So we did. Again, a lot was going on at this time. Life ended up geting in the way. And wasn't posting. Then most recently had wake, funeral, and travel and just kept with the routine of no shots. And so far she has remained under 120 since 11/1 -- I've just been randomly testing. I will update my spreadsheet soon.

Bottom line am curious your thoughts. If I continue doing random testing and she stays under 120....do you all think we did it and she's OTJ and in remission???

 

Sorry about the scare you had. If you're using the AlphaTrak meter anything under 150 is within normal range. Only time will tell if she'll hold the remission or not. Keep testing and catch it early. Just my 2 cents.

 

Thank you! Will do!

 

IMHO, 150 on an Alpha Trak is too high for a cat in remission. When we do trials for remission for a human meter, we like to see the numbers mostly between 50-80, certainly under 100, with a low blue number being ok from time to time.

When we are talking about normal numbers on an AT, there really is no set number although my vet has said 68-130. The normal range on bloodwork (labs) are higher due to the different equipment used and taking into account the stress which might be caused by a vet visit.

If it were my cat, even on an AT, I’d want them consistently under 100 for remission. If you can update the SS, we’ll have a much better idea.

 

I was afraid you'd say that. I had a feeling 120 was a tad on the higher end.

In terms of the spreadsheet....am I doing it correctly now? If I am just randomly testing can I just put that time in the "Time of Shot" column. So it may be 7am it may be 2pm. It just seems to look so inconsistent and odd. I feel like I need a new spreadsheet to use that just has every hour of every day and I can just input the BG reading when it taken.

 

My cat is in remission since the end of May.
I use an AT2 meter, and he is constantly between 90 and 110, with only a few peaks around 120.
During this remission phase, I have taken 2 measurements with a human meter, and his BG were between 60 and 70.

 

Here’s what I’d do on the SS, if it were me (and also because I developed these new ones ), if her normal shot time, if you were shooting, was 7 a.m./7 p.m., then I’d put the test numbers in the appropriate column for how long since that “normal” shot time. For example, using the 7/7 shot time, if I tested her in the a.m. cycle at 10 a.m., I’d put it in the +3 column. If I tested her at midnight (p.m. cycle), I’d put it in the +5 column. That is a better picture for us.

That “33 or 115” on 10/22 is pretty odd. I’m wondering if they had a bad strip or someone didn’t know how to test. However, I wouldn’t want to dismiss that 33 and assume it was wrong. However, since that 33 and no insulin, she’s just doing “ok”. I don’t want to advise you to go against your vet’s advice, but if it were my cat, I’d probably start her back at 1 drop twice a day (discuss with your vet and then make your decision). To draw a drop, you just push the plunger in all the way and hold it, insert the needle into the vial/pen, and then let go and let it draw up a dose that you probably cannot even see. If you decide to do that, see how she does for a few cycles, post if you need help, or have questions.

Of course, another thing you can try is to feed her at what would be +9 and see if it brings the pre shots down. So, first, sort out the SS as I have recommended. Then if you want to try it for a few days with the +9 feedings, test at AMBG and PMBG and then feed. You can then check her three hours later to see if her pancreas is bringing down her numbers. Feed a +9 snack and see if her AMBG/PMBG drop to green.