Tonka 25/3 AMPS 101, PMPS 90 (OTJ Trial Day 14)

Yesterday: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...1-3-110-otj-trial-day-13.135169/#post-1393571

Well, Tonka decided to show everyone that his mom is a worrywort for no good reason, and came back down to the 90s tonight...

 

Congratulations Jordi and Tonka on being officially OTJ!!! Got any other pictures of him you could post?

Good luck on the upcoming dental, let us know how it goes.

 

Pictures, hmmm. I'm afraid that my selection of pictures is going to make Tonka look like a Very lazy cat, since about the only time I can keep him still enough to get a photo is when he's snoozing. That said... I can't even seem to upload photos right now: My browser keeps freezing. I suspect that the new antivirus program is having it's fun with me. Sigh. I'll see if I can get a few of his finer moments up later, after I have fortified my luddite self with enough wine to cope with this fussy machine

In the meantime, thanks to eveyone who has provided us help, suggestions and support throug all of this. I feel much more confident in dealing with his diabetes now that I have been exposed to so much generously shared knowledge and ideas for approaches that I never would have come up with on my own. Thanks for keeping at trying to convince me to "shoot low to stay low" - getting the Tonka bean (one of his nicknames, so this group's calling the humans "beans" has always made me smile) to stop bouncing wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had all of your experience and encouragement (I'm not very brave on my own).

I'm sure we'll be lurking on line, watching the progress of all the other kitties and adding my hopes for them and adding my two cents when there's something worth adding... and I'm sure that there will be more questions to come from us too. I will definitely keep you informed of how it goes with his dental.

Thanks again!

 

So, here are some pictures of my Tonka and his best buddy Teeger, and a few captions of Tonka's journey...



Tonka came to us as a rescue from the Meow Foundation in Calgary, to be a friend to my poor lonely cat Teeger (sucks having an archaeologist field worker as a personal slave, since we're so often away). They hit it off immediately


He soon discovered that he really liked the giant scratching-post-in-the-window perch (so much better than dumpster diving, which is where the rescuers who'd brought him to Meow had apparently found him, if I'm getting my stories straight - and it wouldn't surprise me in the least, knowing this guy).


There were other places to snooze as well, however... Chilling on mom's knitting...


Cuddled up with Teeger on the bed...



I suppose he spends at least some time of the day awake. Mostly plotting, whilst trying so hard to look innocent...


After Tonka got sick with diabetes and lost his spunk, Teeger finally had a chance at the coveted scratching post


This didn't last for long though. Once Tonka-bean stopped bouncing and started coming down to healthier blood sugar readings again, he started moving about, and set out on his get-back-in-shape program (stalking Teeger is great exercise)


And before too long, he'd found his spunk and was managing to leap back into his very most favorite snoozing spot (where he is currently snoring, by the way)



Take that, Feline Diabetes! (he does love his catnip, too )

Thanks to everyone, and especially to those who started the Feline Diabetes Message Board and those who have continued to keep it running. I'm so glad our vet gave me the link to check out. It's fantastic to have him back in fighting form again

 

Hooray for Tonka! He and Edwin can be OTJ day buddies. I enjoyed your pictures. Most of my pictures involved Edwin sleeping or almost sleeping too. It's sometimes the only way to keep a cat still enough to get a photo.

I'm pretty sure that's what Edwin does with his awake time too.

Here's hoping for a long and healthy remission!

 

aw, those are fun pictures! I love the one of them snuggling! The wooties have been having a blast today - lots of partying time!

Congratulations on getting Mr. Tonka Bean OTJ!
We're all very glad for you!



This little kitty is busy making confetti for the party:

​

 

LOVE the photos! So cute with the boys cuddling. Thank you for posting them. Happy day with two OTJ.

The yellow catnip banana is know affectionately here as the nanner, a fav of many of the kitties.

 

Well done on getting the pics up I'm still not that advanced on the new board (combined with a new computer)! And such gorgeous pics too - I particularly like the nanner pic. I'm so happy that Tonka bean is back in fighting form and has reassumed his rightful position on top of the giant scratching post!

Many congratulations on achieving OTJ status

Hey Tonka we celebrate good, Ize bringin de special Aussie gum leaf likor - dat keep de party goin for days - Vyktor

 

AMEN to that!!

WHOOP!! to Tonka!
Love the photos....thank you so much for posting. Keep up the good work and stay off the juice!!!

 

Oh wow! Looking at Tonka's spreadsheet and see .1 and 2 drop doses! Yikes! I can barely manage .5 (although I do have a nice magnifying glass coming). How in the world do you determine what 2 drops is?

 

Yo Tonka! Let's whooop it up tonight to celebrate your OTJ. Here's my party menu. Hope you like the fuds:

~ Chef Rusty

Appetizers: Alberta Microbrews; Maplesap Niptinis; Assorted Paw Prints Pizzas; Lamb Kabobs; Sushi Bar manned by L&L Sushi Chefs Neko and Tess.
Entrees: Elk Stew; Wild Boar Roulade; Grilled Bow River Trout; Chef Rusty's Thunderin' Bison Chili with Fresh Salsa; Chef Mannie's Renowned PNW Poached Sockeye Salmon with Catnip Mayo.
Salads: Butthead's & Donny's Field Greens with Fresh Prairie Grass Garnish; Marinated Fiddlehead Ferns; Confetti Slaw.
Desserts: Maggie's Signature Cheesecakes with Blueberry topping; L&L Chief Pastry Chef Tess's Surprise Dessert; Tobey's Cimmamum Cookies; Chef Stu's World Famous Catmint Parfaits.

Kitchen Krew, Let's get going. We're heading to Canada!


Such great photos! Congratulations Jordi and Tonka! Enjoy life at the Falls!

Ella & Rusty

 

The magnifying glass should be a great help. My eyes are just starting to go these past couple years, and I resorted very quickly to using my hand lens to see the dose.

I measured the "0.1" dose visually, using the picture near the bottom of the "New to Group" sticky as a guide since we used BD syringes too. I suspect that that's actually a bit more than 0.1, based on the number of drops that I could get out of the same dose when I started trying the drop counting method, but as has been pointed out, consistency in the dose is the important part. It was an increasingly small dose, in any case.

I did the drop counting for the "2 drop" dose, but it's a bit of a pain. I think it was BJM who suggested trying just pushing the plunger in as tight as you can before inserting the needle into the vial, then releasing and letting the pressure draw up a bit of insulin. That seems to be about the same amount as I was getting by dropping out 3-4 drops from my 5-6 drop "0.1" unit (I count as a "drop" as soon as I can see a bead of insulin at the end of the needle, that can be shook off). I aimed to get the plunger about midway between the bottom of the "zero" line and the absolute end of the syringe. And used the hand lens to confirm each time. Re-dos were necessary on a regular basis I think the negative pressure method would probably save a lot of time and sanity

 

Congratulations Tonka! Time to party!!!

I'm using the negative pressure method to measure Rosa's insulin at the moment. I'm calling it 0.05 - I'm not sure if that's really exactly what it is, but it is consistent at least where the zero marking on the ReliOn syringes I have sometimes don't seem to be. I still never did manage to get the drop counting consistent enough or with small enough drops to be confident with that.

 

Ooh, that sounds fabulous. (Although I'd put in a vote for Winnipeg's Fort Garry Dark Ale too if we're going the Canadian microbrew route ). Tonka likes all things fish (I had to duct tape the lid down on the gold fish tank when he was a younger guy: picture guilty looking grey cat on the cupboard, wet up to his arm pit, with an irritated gold fish flopping around - said gold fish amazingly lived another 5 years after this event). He also just purged his system by feasting on some early greens outside this evening (followed by the usual spring feast barfing), so he should be all set for the party now

And it's a perfect night for a party too: we had a chinook out here this morning, and the temperature rose to at least 20 degrees celcius (I think that's around 70 degrees F). I got home early from work today and the boys spent a lovely hour out exploring in the sun.

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAA!

great stories!

 

I know - it took practice. I hadn't even thought of the negative pressure option until I saw the post on another thread (yours?) with that suggestion. And I think by then we were almost at the trial. If he needs a little help in the future, I'll definitely be trying that way too.

 

Yup, as I keep telling him, he's lucky he's so damned cute

 

I think it was mine yes - I think it was Chris who recommended it. It definitely makes it easy to measure that tiny little dose - even half asleep there's no way of really getting it wrong!

 

Hehehe, chinook. You crazy Canadians with your strange words and metric system.

 

oh my gosh - i read that and thought it meant that you saw a chinook salmon . . . we only THINK english is the same between Canadians and Americans!

by the way, this little icon was made just for you:

I'm not sure if it's available as the post icon (in the subject line) but if so, you oughta be flying it loud and proud!

 

Chinook is a wind that blows over the mountains and picks up warmth on it's way back down. It brings a lot of mid-winter thaws to the foothills in the south half of Alberta (and sometimes farther east). Also makes for some nasty air pressure headaches in some folks! I've lived out here for over ten years and still haven't gotten used to the weird weather in Calgary. (I'm sure anyone in Montana would know the wind I speak of, although you might have a different name for it)

We were still using the Imperial system when I was a kid; I know that my parents kept their house temperature at about 65 F, and it was definitely warmer outside last night than it was in our house when I was young. We used to hand out sweaters to visitors on their way in during the winter

 

Doesn't seem to work in the subject line. I tried cut and pasting, but it only shows up as text. Oh well - Tonka appreciates the thought. He is a very proud cat
(And after weeks of hovering up in the higher 90s and low 100s, Tonks decided to come back down to the 80s yesterday and is still there this morning. Weird guy. He must have heard me threatening to start giving him a little microdose again if he kept creeping up)

 

So great another kitty gets OTJ. Love the pics.

 

I understand the confusion between Metric and Imperial only too well! I'm from the UK originally which runs a half and half system - distances are in miles, temperature is in Celsius, weight of produce has to be in kg (Europe insisted) but most people still weigh themselves in stones and lbs and we still use Gas Mark numbers 1 through 9 for temperatures for gas ovens. I spent time in Europe, which is fully metric, on vacations. Then I moved to the US at the end of 2013! Confused doesn't even start to cover it - the first time I was asked to pre-heat the gas oven to 450 degrees I had no idea what to do!! And then there are the language differences - for two countries that both claim to speak English, there are huge, huge differences. And no, I still can't work out temperatures in F either - having freezing point at 32 degrees just seems so wrong because 32 to me is hot!!

 

In college I had a boyfriend from the UK. I once mentioned the BTU of something in conversation (British Thermal Unit, commonly used on heaters and air conditioners in the U.S.) and he looked at me as though I were insane. I reminded him that it was his country's unit and he said that even the British don't use BTU's anymore.

He left behind some British cookbooks (and his mother's recipe for scones) and I had to call him up and make fun of "what is this Gas Mark crap? What kind of temperature measurement unit is that?" We always had great fun teasing back and forth about differences in UK and U.S. "English." He once sent me a Christmas gift (Happy Christmas? Really? It's Merry Christmas in my book) of a "proper" English Dictionary (I do have a great fondness for dictionaries) so I could learn to spell "correctly." But really, tire spelled with a "y," what kind of goofy thing is that?

By the way, I like all my temperature measurements in Kelvin. That's how I roll.

 

Hahaha I can well believe it. Some of our funniest conversations here start out with that sort of discussion! Along the lines of "so what is a stone?" "Well, it's 14lb". "OK, so who decided what size stone to use? What sort of measurement do you call that - it doesn't even mean anything."

Though I have to admit I do understand BTU's - thanks to dating someone for a while who worked for a plumbing and boiler supplier in the UK. I've always said Merry Christmas - I think that might be a regional thing in the UK as even my son (jokingly) refuses to answer anyone who says "Happy Christmas". And now, after almost 4 years of needing to be able to spell words both ways, I've got it just about down - I spell one way for emailing my parents and the other for everything here!! Having grown up with tyres (and cheque is another one that always causes hilarity in this house) the spellings don't seem odd to me, though I couldn't possibly explain why they are the way they are. And I still say you can't beat a good scone recipe - I use my mother's recipe too - so easy and so good!

I'm actually all good with Kelvin thanks to enjoying Physics enough at school to pay attention! So uncool at the time yet so useful since!!

 

I always assumed that the size of the stone was decided by the same guy who had that "foot" and "hands" (for measuring horses).

 

You could well be right there. Probably the same guy who decided what a fathom is too. Some of the really odd measurements I don't even understand and I grew up in the UK - doesn't give much hope for anyone else trying to figure out the strange way we have of measuring all sorts of random things!

 

That's why you should always measure your car's gas mileage in rods per hogshead .

 

Well the numbers certainly look a lot better that way than the usual mpg.

 

Oi

Something that confuses me: how is it that the States uses mg/dl? (milligrams per decilitre, I think). That would be a metric measurement. And why did Canada (and most other countries, it looks like) move onto the mmol/l measurement? I started up with mg/dl when I was first started blood testing in the mid-80s (by which time Canada had selectively adopted the metric system), and we didn't switch to mmol/l for several years. So I can make sense of both measurements, although it took a bit of work to get my brain back to working along the line of the mg/dl numbers again for Tonka and this forum.

 

I have absolutely no idea - I can't even find a decent answer on Google, except that mmol/l is the International Unit measurement and the US has decided to be different. I did see one site that claimed that mg/dl is imperial, but that clearly isn't the case as neither milligrams nor deciliters exist in the imperial system!

I can, kind of, work with both systems now - in fact I have more problems with the mmol/l numbers now (even after all my years in the UK and having had a diabetic friend when I was in my early 20s) as I had to make such a quick adjustment to reading and understanding the mg/dl numbers when I moved here for both my stepson and then later for Rosa.

 

Hi Jordi,

Bit late to the party but I just want to say how thrilled I am for you both that Tonka is OTJ. Woot! I really enjoyed seeing the pictures of Tonka and Teeger, and hearing their stories, too.
.

 

Absolutely the way to go!

.

 

Never too late Thanks for the thoughts. You've been in mine: I hope Saoirse is doing better this week

 

Hi Jordi!

Eddie and I are also very late for Tonka's party. Just wanted to tell you two congratulations on OTJ! You should be so proud of what you've accomplished!