6/8 Champ PMPS 359, +3 187, +4 136, +5.5 90, +6.5 113

Yesterdeay

Today was an early wake-up for me so I woke Champ up this morning with kisses and hugs!!! He's so soft and snuggly first thing in the morning, all floppidy and huggable. His little motor just started going which makes me happy cuz that means I made him happy!! I figured out that if I warmed his food up in the microwave for a few seconds, he doesn't mind eating the food from an opened can that's been in the frig. I guess he doesn't like cold food!! Maybe cuz it doesn't smell so much when it's cold and he likes smelly stuff! I mean, he does have a shoe fettish, especially smelly tennis shoes and sweaty flip flops!!

I'm not diggin Champ's numbers at all on this last dose reduction, but I'm wondering if it's food related. I have a suspicion that Wellness is acting as a medium carb food for him. I also think Fancy Feast chopped grill is acting as a medium carb food for him. Anyone else experience this? Champ seems to be very carb sensitive. When I stocked up on Fancy Feast, I took Janet & BInky's food list with me and bought only flavors that were 2-3% carbs. I had someone mention in Champ's condo before that there have been reformulations and the carb values are no longer correct...what used to be 3% in some is now closer to 5%. How does one go about getting the correct values? I don't mind making a phone call, but who do I call and will they take the time to answer my questions? Also, how would I word the question in order to get the correct information? Any help would be appreciated!!

The one good thing about Champ being in the low to mid yellows is that he really seems to like being there. He's so normal with these numbers!! Of course, I'd like him to get below 150 and stay there always so his body adapts to that and he starts to act himself at those numbers. I have a feeling he was diabetic way before the weight loss started and I noticed there was a problem. He's always drank a lot of water since he was little so if the increase in water intake was progressive instead of immediate, I didn't notice. I only started noticing an increase in thirst when he was drinking over 20 ounces a day and I noticed drinking episodes that I timed at over ten minutes each.

I hope Champ sees some lower numbers today. I don't want his progress to stop, He was doing so well!!

I hope everyone has a really stupendous day!!!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359 - Food Question

Hey Patty-

You and I are facing the same Wellness Conundrum (See Trix's condo today :lol: ). I'm wearing my patience pants, though, and am going to give the Wellness 10 full cycles before I ditch it yet again. But I have a feeling Trix uses Wellness as MC rather than LC, just like you think Champ does. I'll make the final call in a couple days.

Sounds like you had a lovely snuggly start this morning, and hopefully Champ will come down soon!

Have a great day!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359 - Food Question

What a nice way to start your day with kitty kisses and hugs. I am with you on the yellows. I really want Tarragon to get used to the blues and greens. However, he is just so darn happy and more like himself in the yellows. Hopefully, he will eventually get that way with the lower numbers.

Hope you have a great day!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359 - Food Question

Paws crossed that this reduction works. They don't always take the first time, but Champ is definitely on the way down. Some cats (like Tess) need shaves off in reduction, not full .25 unit.

Yes mfgs. can change the recipes without notice and things have probably changed and J&B's list was made. Janet has put up a page of FAQ and there is info there on what to ask, also Dr. Lisa has tips on getting the info out of the companies and explains in depth how to evaluate what info you do get. http://catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods Unfortunately when you call the companies you usually get stuck w/ an inexperienced operator who really doesn't know anything but the script they have been given. :YMSIGH:

From Dr. Lisa's page:

Use the following dialog when calling the companies:

"I would like to know the percentage of calories that comes from protein, fat, and carbohydrates." This is also known as the "metabolizable energy (ME) profile".

Stress that you do not want the 'guaranteed analysis' figures as they are nothing more than minimums and maximums and this information (as it pertains to protein and fat but not carbs or phosphorus) is already contained on the can.

Click to expand...

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359 - Food Question

Unfortunately, I can't answer your question since Blackie's been on FF Turkey & Giblet (3% carb) since the day I switched her foods. I do hope that you'll get some answers from the manufacturers very soon with regards to the carbs in the foods, and hopefully get Champ to lower his #s. This does take time, and like you, I'm having to wear my patience pants, too. It will come. Otherwise, he's looking really, really good. You could always try giving him a bit of steamed chicken as a midday snack if you're feeding him somewhat similar to what I'm doing. Just a thought.

Keep up the excellent work, you 2!

Hey, Champ... Pssttt... Iz Blackie!!! Come on down to da blue room, ok? There'z plenty o' room for ya there, my fwiend. You going to da parteh on Friday? ~ Blackie

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246

just stoppin in to say hi and cheer champ on. looks like he's on his way to a nice nadir!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246

Come on back down to those greens, Champ! He's still only 3 cycles from the last green, let's see what happens when the bounce clears.

Here's the link to the thread where I got the most recent FF info I linked before. A few people in the PZI ISG gathered the data and Donna (Buddha) was nice enough to put it into a goggle document...that was about a year ago. Maybe reading through the thread will help you figure out how to get the info you want. It appears that they are unwilling to give a lot of data to one person, so it might require a community effort to get the most recent breakdowns for FF. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7743&p=77100&hilit=fancy+feast#p77100

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246

Hi guys .. how nice that champ got to be woken up with hugs and kisses! And a nice drop at +3 .. maybe a dash of blue before the day is over? have a great day guys!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246

Pink to yellow....how bout some blue? Champ...c'mon I know you can do blue!

Patty, I know....I am so addicted to green numbers....and I only have seen them a couple of times. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I am pleased with the new vet.....he seems good and I think we will be able to work together. What a relief!! ;-) What will be nice, is his son just graduated from Vet school and is there, too, but he is not the primary vet for Zoe......

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246, +5.25 114

I don't like these deep dives. I'm so used to him doing the gentle curves, even if the numbers are higher, that this is making me wonder what's going on. I'll have to keep an eye on this and see if there's a trend developing that I can figure out!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246, +5.25 114

I'm just really glad to see him clearing blues and greens so frequently and snapping back to those numbers from bounces in a much faster turn around.

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246, +5.25 114

Patty: I use Wellness exclusively with Gracie. The 4% varieties (chicken, turkey, beef/chicken) for every day and I haven't noticed her numbers being any different. I keep track of what I feed her and I know Champ's SS is pretty detailed. I also know that Gracie does get a bump from the 6% or higher varieties. 6% would include chicken/herring, turkey/salmon, beef/salmon.

Ann is right that you have to be persistent with these companies. Some are very forthcoming...like Wellness. Others want you to believe they don't have anything but the guaranteed analysis which does not work for our needs.

Hope he continues to a nice number for you. BTW, one thing Laurie told me once when I was bouncing around on food (not that you are) is that consistency in the food would help. She is very right. We keep it consistent on regular feedings with % carbs and amounts. I think that has really helped to control Gracie's dives...which used to be awful.

Have a great day!!!

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246, +5.25 114

Hi Patty!

Willy is also seems to be very very carb sensitive and I do exactly what you're doing with buying the FF. Not too long ago I actually read that people were having issues with Wellness spiking BG on the main board, I will try to search it and see if I can find the thread because I don't remember what exactly was said about it or what formula(s) it was.

I have also made a list of what I, personally, consider to be "low" "medium" and "high" carb foods based on Willy's reaction from various brands (and then the high high carb foods for hypo). For us, low is between 0-3% carbs, medium is 4-6%, and high is anything over 7% (with very high being the normal 16-18% for cases of hypo).

Willy also seems to have spikes with certain ingredients, despite the carb content. I could be imagining this though but he seems to spike when he's fed Fish or Beef and seems lowest when he's fed poultry. Sometimes Chopped Grill sends him soaring (it did at first) and sometimes he's fine. We use it sparingly. Turkey and Giblets seems to keep him the lowest.

What we do for Willy is we keep a healthy stock of the normal low carb FF varieties that don't seem to have a large impact on his BG-- specifically Chicken and Turkey and Giblets. Then we keep a smaller stock of mid carb FF varieties such as Beef&Chicken, Beef, Chopped Grill, or Fish. Willy gets 3 cans of food a day (split 1.5 for 2 meals) and we mix 1 can of low and half a can of mid (normally-- sometimes we will do all low if he is doing well or we are home to monitor). This seems to work for us, even if we're just imagining it! :lol: I think being consistent with the low carb food and only adding a little mid carb for variety has been helping him immensely.

We also throw in some Evo 95% beef to give some variety. I believe it's also listed as 2-3% carbs. The feed store only carries the beef or I would buy other formulas too. When we do this, we feed 1 can FF and "half a can" (replaced in weight minus one or two tsp since it's better quality) of Evo. My civvies don't like Wellness at all (neither does my dog, which is irrelevant but just a point that they don't like the brand) or I would use that for variety. Once again, probably imagining this, but even though he had higher spikes with Evo, it also seems to keep him much more even through the whole cycle. I will have to look into this when we buy more because 4 cycles really isn't enough information to determine that and I tend to read into things when there is nothing there.

Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey is listed as being 0% carbs on the food chart. I just special ordered it from the local feed store and my PLAN is to substitute that for the "1 can" of FF (by weight, minus a tbs or so) and add in half a can of FF for variety. You can check on the company website (I want to say it's Natura) to see where in your area carries it-- generally it can be found at pet stores (not Petsmart/Petco but locally owned shops) or local feed stores. Because they are local, they usually will have it or will special order it at no additional charge and often give discounts for buying cases of food but you would have to check all this with your local stores. The manager mentioned that SOME BRANDS (she wasn't sure if Evo was one of them) will allow you to INCLUDE cases of wet food in their frequent buyers programs. She gave me the information, but I haven't had a chance to call the company to ask.

For me, it's too expensive to try to order online because of shipping but you could look into that too (I also didn't want to order online incase they don't like it for some reason-- I can return it to the store no problem).

Anyways, sorry to ramble, it seems like Willy and Champ are similar in more than just stunningly good looks! :lol: :lol:

Re: 6/8 Champ AMPS 359, +3 246, +5.25 114, PMPS 359

Well, matching AMPS and PMPS. Too bad it's a crappy number!!! Oh well, maybe I'm in for a good night's sleep!