Someone please take a look at SS how are we doing ?

It's been 2 1/2 months since DX. Mr Grey looks physically healthy. How ever he has an insatiable appetite. I am so afraid I'm either under or over feeding him for this treatment protocol to be most effective. Sometimes if he eats his meal then steals one of the other civilian's last few food bites, he might curl up and take a food nap. But most of the time after eating he wants more !!! Seems like he wants to eat every 3 hours. Can anyone tell by his SS if we are moving forward and doing the right thing. Thanks.

Rick, I'll let someone else comment on the SS, but I will say hello and I know what it's like to have a cat who is SOOOOOOOO hungry! That is a symptom of unregulated cats, as they aren't being adequately nourished because of the disease. Have you done a calculation of how many calories he should be having? I'll let someone with more experience comment on the food issue, too, but short-term, I think the goal is more to get Mr. Grey regulated over weight loss.

Good luck as you get things figured out -- keep asking questions! People here are very generous with helping with all the questions!

Hey, Rick.

I think the reason Mr. Grey is still eating like crazy is that his BG isn't regulated yet. He's still spending a lot of time in high numbers. I think you've been doing a good job of raising the dose based on your kitty's numbers. I would not hold the dose for more than 3 days, though.

Once we see a cat get to 6.0u, we suggest that you consider getting the tests run for a high dose condition. The tests for insulin resistance (insulin auto-antibodies; IAA) and acromegaly (insulin-like growth factor; IGF-1) are run through Michigan State University vet lab. Your vet can draw the blood and ship it to the lab. You'll need to follow the instructions for shipping so the sample gets to the lab directly (vs. spending time at the loading dock). Without the tests, there's no way to really know how aggressive you need to be regarding dose. There is also information in the high dose forum about these conditions.

Hi Rick, my cat Neko has one of the high dose conditions, acromegaly. Something to think about when you get the tests done, Michigan State U only runs the test for acromegaly on Wednesday with results on Friday. IAA test doesn't take as long. So, if you want to minimize waiting time for the results, try to make sure the blood gets shipped there on Tuesday.

ETA: Neko actually tested positive for both high dose conditions, but acromegaly over rules IAA. IAA can go away over time, acromegaly will not unless you have it treated.

My cat Tiggy is on almost 7 units now. He may well have acromegaly or something, we haven't tested. However the treatment is essentially the same, just keep increasing the insulin until you hit a good dose. There is an acromegaly forum you could look at.

Hi Wendy, I suspect Mr. Grey has one of the high dose conditions as well now. I want to get him the two tests. I printed out the order forms for both to show my vet. I did read the High Dose Forum. I just raised his dose to 7u this AM. @ +4 BG only dropped 74 points. It's strange if you look at his SS he had periods of low 200's and thought we were in business ! but posting.php?mode=reply&f=9&t=90045# no he just shot back up with each dose increase over 5u it seems. And still no regulation.

Hi Rick, that is typical of the high dose conditions. It looks like you are getting somewhere, and then the resistance battles back again. To me, it felt like a dose was "getting stale". You are doing a great job keeping on top of the dose increases. Eventually you'll get there.

WOW !!! Mr Grey at 3am BG 111 then woke up @ BG 140 ! A breakthrough I hope... I guess I need to watch for Hypo for the next 6 hours ?

Hi Rick :smile:

Great AMPS!
You definitely want some early cycle tests to see what Mr. Grey has planned ;-)
He could well be on his way up, but you need to know.