Raw Food Diet?

Anyone have any info on this? Seriously considering it for Bud. When I tested him this morning I got some lower numbers than usual. Preshot was 23.3 and +2 was 19.7. Maybe he was jumping to get at the dry food! Now he has no access whatsoever.

On a much more serious note I think his backlegs are getting weaker by the day. He lost his balance last night(hind end). I think I'm running out of time:-(

Joanne

 

Hey Joanne

Got your address and I will mail the Methyl-B12 tomorrow, (holiday here today and Post Office is closed) hopefully it will help with his back leg weakness. I don't think you are running out of time, but getting him some relief from those high BG numbers would help. Are you still switching to Levimir?

I've never tried/fed a Raw diet, but there are lots here that feed it to their cats so I sure someone will be along that can help you with that.

Hugs,
Wendi & Milo

 

I'm still undecided about Lantus or Levimir. I was hoping that someone would reply about high dose cats and Lantus and the stinging? I'd prefer Lantus if I could get away with it.

Getting some very strange BG's today:-/ It jumped up higher than preshot at +4 hours.

That would be great about the B 12...I sure hope it works...he's breaking my heart!

Joanne

 

I don't think there is any difference between Lev & Lantus performance wise. I used Lantus for a while and then switched to Lev when Milo's doses got bigger because he wasn't tolerating the Lantus shots as well anymore. In otherwords he started growling when I gave him his shot. Was advised to switch to Lev because of Milo's high dose and the understanding from human diabetics that Lantus stings a bit. Milo has never growled about his shots since I changed to Lev. Also, Levimir isn't as fragile as Lantus. I think pretty much all the high dose cats here are using Lev., lol guess we're not really considered high dose anymore :mrgreen:

 

If you read the product alert info closely, I believe it indicates that the irregularity has to do with a shift of the action to be later, with less short acting, and more of the long acting part of the insulin, with some sharply lower numbers later in the cycle, and that is what I saw when we used it in Nov. First time I saw 100's in years.

 

OK so I need to switch to Lev. And I need to be home for awhile to make the switch. Gonna have to look for some sick days I guess. How long do you think I'll need? And will I need some R for the transition? I'm sure I read that somewhere. I have read all the info on Lantus and Lev and acrocats etc.

Joanne

 

Lots of people do feed raw. See catinfo.org for information and a recipe. My cats don't like it much, although they aren't liking much of anything right so I'll probably give raw another chance.

Lantus is rumored to sting. While I never had a problem with Boo, she did tense up when I shot the higher doses. I was going to change to Lev once I ran out of Lantus, but she went OTJ first.

I would think you would make the switch when you're home for the weekend; I don't think you'll need any longer than that. Give the first shot Friday night? You will need input on the dose...hopefully someone experienced in your insulin (PZI?) & Lev will come by. You will want R because it will take several days for the Lev to build up in his system.

Joanne, could you put your spreadsheet in your signature and turn on the option to attach it - it will make it easier for people to help.

I really think the Methly B-12 and some better BGs will make him feel a lot better. Don't give up yet.

ETA: Sorry - I see your sig now. Disregard what I said before - I'm sick today and probably didn't see it.
ETA: Hey - you got some reds instead of blacks! How about going up to 10 u to see if you can get more pinks?

 

Both times I have made insulin switches, one weekend was enough -- started on Saturday morning or Friday evening -- then back to work on Monday

 

Joanne,
I am currently using Lantus for Shadoe, but we are going to be testing her shortly for IAA and acro, and if any results are positive I will likely be switching her over to Lev as it seems the consensus is that it's gentler when you are giving high doses.

 

I didn't get to speak to the vet today as the vet working for her called in sick so she was double booked. Buddy had his blood drawn and will be sent to the vet college. Yes I know it wasn't needed but I have to do some things that my vet wants me to do in order to get her to cooperate with me on others.

That's good to know about doing that on a weekend Phoebe! I was under the impression that it could take 4 or 5 days.

I skimmed through that catinfo.org website...it's complicated! I think I'll switch to the lev first and see what that does. Can someone explain to me why I need the R and what it does so that I can tell the vet?

I've been tempted many times to put Buddy up to 10 U of Canninsulin but the vet wants me to wait til we hear back from the vet college. I left her a message today that Buddy hind legs were getting weak and we needed to do something fast.

Thanks everyone!

Joanne

 

A couple years ago I tried to research making raw food and it confused me almost more than anything else here. If I recall correctly, to be complete nutrition, you have to add some weird stuff, and commit to it by buying an expensive meet grinder that is strong enough to thoroughly grind up whole raw bones. I tried gently cooking chicken and grinding the small bones in a food processor and it was a mess and Cody got sick. I looked into buying frozen raw and never ordered it because it was really expensive, and when it comes down to it, I just have a mental block about him eating uncooked meat... nailbite_smile

Now, I feed the "dreaded" canned DM that everyone here loves to hate, (which has 5% calories from carbs, as fed) and I add cooked, canned, or dehydrated chicken breasts as a supplement or treat (for peeing IN the litter box).

I'm sure there are recipes and people here that would share what they know as far as making raw, but you might have to post it on health to get more views.

...but maybe you just want to focus your efforts on switching to Lev. (I would)

Joanne, are you stocked up on test strips so you can keep a eye on his numbers while switching? I don't know about Canada, but Hocks.com (green box at the top of this page) is saving me a ton of money on strips. I bought 200 strips for my new Maxima meter for the same price I paid for 50 freestyle strips at Walgreens ($65). :!:

Sounds like we should be getting test results on 3 kitties by next friday: Pablo, Barnbuddy, and Shadoe. Am I right?
I would love to know what percentage of kitties needing over 5-6u, test positive for acro :?:

 

I love Levemir for Leo. We did have the stinging problem with Lantus on him and the Levemir has not caused him to flinch even once. We are somewhere in the vicinity of 26-28u right now.. hard to say, his dose is dropping.. but it's a lot of insulin so if it was painful, I'd know it. I'll come back over here tomorrow and write up some help for you on Lev and R usage. You'll start out real low, just a .1u dose at first, which you'll have to monitor. Then you'll gently increase that dose until you find one that shows some response. After you find a good one, we'll help you create a sliding scale so that whatever your preshot is, you'll have a good R dose to use.

Remember the R is only going to be used to knock the preshot value down lower in the first hours of the cycle so that when the basal insulin (lantus/levemir) kicks in, the numbers that insulin starts to work at are lower. R acts very quickly, and also has a rather short duration. With Leo, it's all but gone in 4 hours, with full action right around 2 hours. Later, we can use it midcycle as needed as we learn how it works in BB. more tomorrow, almost 2am here!

 

I haven't stocked up yet but will do so tomorrow. I'm buying a glucometer called the Sidekick. I pay $30 Cdn for the glucometer and 50 strips. I just buy the whole thing when I run out. Seems to be a good deal to me.

The test results that I'm waiting on are not for Acro.

Carolyn do I start out that low even when he's on 9 U twice a day now? Also how do you spell R? Romilin??? That 26 - 28 U is that split in 2 or is that twice a day???

Joanne

 

Some of the high dose kitties are VERY high dose. That is 26 u twice per day -- and arrived at using "start low and go slow" approach.

R is Humulin R
http://www.diabetessupplies4less.com/0002821501.html

 

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papartman, you've registered for and posted on a feline diabetes board, not a human recipe board ;-)

 

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