Briana + Binx
Active Member
Hi FDMB! This is my first post, but I've been reading and following along for months.
My cat, Binx, was diagnosed in early May 2024 at a routine vet appointment... we had caught it early! However, I haven't been able to get him regulated since and I'm at a loss for what the numbers/readings are telling me... so I thought I'd try this great community.
Binx started on a combination diet of DM wet and DM dry, for a couple months. We started him on 0.5, using the SLGS method and gradually ended up increasing him to 3.5 units. Around the same time, after reading some posts here, I thought I'd try switching him to an entirely wet food diet. Since then he's been on a combination of DM wet pate and FF assorted pate. Immediately when I switched him to full wet food, we noticed improvements. 3.5 units was much too much. We tried 2 units, that was too much. We tried 1 unit and that was too little. So, eventually we landed on 1.5 units. We held this for a while and after curving him at home (using the AlphaTrak 3), noticed a regression and no signs of stability. We gradually upped him back to 2.5 units and we really saw improvements, but once again hit a road block of excessive bouncing when curving (you'll see this in his spreadsheet). Binx has had 4 rounds of a Libre 2 sensor and the results have been a mixed bag to say the least. Binx's spreadsheet shows the latest two Libre 2 sensor readings (note, it doesn't provide numbers higher than 22.2 mmol/l or 400 mg/dl... but from manual readings I know he hovers in the low 20 mmol/l or high 300 mg/dl when insulin is not effective). I've also input some AlphaTrak 3 data, when I was taking readings before every dose.
Overall, Binx's temperament is great. He plays, he cuddles, he grooms. He is quite hungry, but he doesn't drink in excess (compared to his really bad days). His hind legs have been impacted and they are weak, but when he is doing well on a certain dose, he gains strength back. He has lost about 1 pound since being diagnosed and this is concerning. However, my vet initially gave me the wrong calorie target and I just found out this week. Initially I was told to aim for 270 kcal but now I've been told to aim for 300 kcal, so I've just adjusted.
I don't know how to make sense of any of these numbers and neither does my vet at this point. I'm wondering if anyone in this community can review the numbers and hopefully catch something we're missing?
My cat, Binx, was diagnosed in early May 2024 at a routine vet appointment... we had caught it early! However, I haven't been able to get him regulated since and I'm at a loss for what the numbers/readings are telling me... so I thought I'd try this great community.
Binx started on a combination diet of DM wet and DM dry, for a couple months. We started him on 0.5, using the SLGS method and gradually ended up increasing him to 3.5 units. Around the same time, after reading some posts here, I thought I'd try switching him to an entirely wet food diet. Since then he's been on a combination of DM wet pate and FF assorted pate. Immediately when I switched him to full wet food, we noticed improvements. 3.5 units was much too much. We tried 2 units, that was too much. We tried 1 unit and that was too little. So, eventually we landed on 1.5 units. We held this for a while and after curving him at home (using the AlphaTrak 3), noticed a regression and no signs of stability. We gradually upped him back to 2.5 units and we really saw improvements, but once again hit a road block of excessive bouncing when curving (you'll see this in his spreadsheet). Binx has had 4 rounds of a Libre 2 sensor and the results have been a mixed bag to say the least. Binx's spreadsheet shows the latest two Libre 2 sensor readings (note, it doesn't provide numbers higher than 22.2 mmol/l or 400 mg/dl... but from manual readings I know he hovers in the low 20 mmol/l or high 300 mg/dl when insulin is not effective). I've also input some AlphaTrak 3 data, when I was taking readings before every dose.
Overall, Binx's temperament is great. He plays, he cuddles, he grooms. He is quite hungry, but he doesn't drink in excess (compared to his really bad days). His hind legs have been impacted and they are weak, but when he is doing well on a certain dose, he gains strength back. He has lost about 1 pound since being diagnosed and this is concerning. However, my vet initially gave me the wrong calorie target and I just found out this week. Initially I was told to aim for 270 kcal but now I've been told to aim for 300 kcal, so I've just adjusted.
I don't know how to make sense of any of these numbers and neither does my vet at this point. I'm wondering if anyone in this community can review the numbers and hopefully catch something we're missing?
. I let the vet know that I was following a dosing protocol that has been peer reviewed and published in a veterinary journal (Tight Regulation). I gave her a copy of the document. For the first while I would drop off spreadsheets every week. Until she asked me to change to a chart format she was more used to. I think I did that once or twice, then stopped. Too much work. Our conversations changed to her asking "what dose is she on", then that was it.