Never thought I’d be so happy to be in the red. Frosty amps 470, +2 428, +4 250, +6 169, +8 218

Looks like the bread might finally be out of his system. So good to see 400s instead of 500-600s. Going to adjust his dose after today’s curve. Then next curve will be next weekend.

Ana

 

Wow, even some yellow in there! He is working the juice!

 

Nice to see Frosty working the juice! Paws crossed for next curve.

 

So we were at 169 at +6, but then I noticed Frosty had a 5 x5 mm wound on his right side - it was through the skin and I could see muscle and everything inside. Off to the vet we went... they tried shaving it to suture it closed, but he FREAKED out at the sound of the buzzer. (I'm surprised all cats don't react the same way... the vet techs seemed surprised. I don't think I would let them near me with that thing either, LOL).

So they just cleaned it and gave him oral antibiotics, since he's diabetic and all. I agree with this because that's what we would have done for a human with diabetes, but there goes another $100 for something I could have done myself. Ugh. He also had an accident in the car on the way there, and there's pee in the corner of my back seat now. Again.. for the 3rd time (Frosty's 2nd time, and my other cat Bella did it last time). Can't wait to spend another $100 to shampoo my back seats... AGAIN.... Sigh...

The vet also noted he lost weight - from 14 lb 8 oz to 14 lb 1 oz. I weighed him at home on my baby scale, and he was indeed 14.05, down from 14 lb 12 oz I got on 1/25. I don't know what that's about. He had a really fat belly but had no muscle on his legs when he came to me. He seemed to have evened out, his belly has definitely shrunk... but I don't know if that's a bad thing? He seems normal to me, I think his back legs are more atrophied from the diabetic neuropathy rather than cachectic, which makes him look thin. But now I am wondering if I should feed him more - may 2 cans of FF pate twice a day instead of 1.5?

When we got back, at around +8.5, we are 218. I think we are definitely going up to 0.75 units tonight, and that's where he will stay for the next week, especially if I am going to give him more food.

I really don't know what his ideal weight is. The vet doesn't know either. He is a BIG cat. Not fat, but big, long, his eyes are huge. He's my little tiger. I don't know how much I should be feeding him or how much insulin he needs. It's as if we are starting from the beginning again...

Ana

 

If he is not regulated I would let him eat what he wants for now. If he is hungry that is.

 

Sorry about needing the vet visit. Why the wound? Any ideas?

Your SS is missing data for 3/9 both cycles. Did you get any test in?

Glad that he is coming down.

About the food and how much to give: Is his weight right now a good weight or should he go back up to what he was? The formula I use to know about how much food to give is this : Use the ideal weight of the cat X 13.5 +70. Let's say 14 is the ideal weight. So, it's 14 X 13.5 = 189 + 70 = 259 calories a day. Total the amount of calories you are feeding and see if it is 259. The best I remember, most of the pate FF cans are about 94 -98 calories a can so he would need about 2.75 cans a day to maintain that weight so he could use some more food.

If you think he needs to gain some weight use that weight in the formula to get the amount of calories a day. This formula is a good starting point.

There is chart that shows the body types of cats and whether they are too thin, just right or obese. I will see if I can find it for you.

 

No idea about the wound, vet thinks maybe he got stuck on something ? He thinks it’s from some trauma. The only thing I can think of is maybe another cat scratched him and then it got bigger because of his uncontrolled DM? It’s not infected at least. I just hope it heals.

I didn’t get any numbers yesterday, both him and I needed a break. Today looks better than 2 days ago, and based on the nadir of 169 I think we need to go up to 0.75 units to keep him between 70-150 at peak time.

I increased him to 2 cans per feed for dinner. He’s CONTANTLY begging, even when his sugar was well controlled. That’s why he broke into the bread box. He will lick crumbs and whatever else’s he can find off the counter/sink, and tries to break into the pet food closet and knock over the dog food to get the food out of it. He has stolen food from my plate before and ran with it... I had to pry it out of his mouth and he wasn’t happy about it. I had his thyroid checked because I wasn’t sure if there was something else going on that we were missing. I did some research and found some info that strays can act like this sometimes. Since he’s declawed, I think he relied of stealing food to survive in the city. Either that or he was fed from the table at his old home, or maybe was in a hoarding situation where there was a lot of food competition? Who knows... but if I let him eat ad lib, I think we can eat 5-6 cans, or until he throws up.

He’s old-looking and disproportionate because he has neuropathy in his hind legs, so a chart won’t help. I’ve had cats for 20 years and he’s not like any other cat I’ve ever seen. My goal was to maintain his weight but help him built muscle and lose some of the belly fat. I’m not sure if he lost weight because his sugar wasn’t well controlled, or he wasn’t eating enough, but i think I’ll try the 2 cans and weight him in a month.